When we got back, everyone was waiting. It was like they expected us to come back early. I slipped off of the horse and stared as the maids hurried to get Sabo off. Sabo had fell asleep by the time we got back. His body was limp... as if he was no longer. My tired eyes watched as they hurried away with him.

"Welcome home," someone said to me. I looked up to see Izo. He smiled at me with a worried and understanding smile. "Come rest... It's been long. Marco will come later to tell you some things. He is currently a bit busy," he told me.

I nodded and patted the horse. She let out a neigh, then some kind of whine. The horse was looking in the direction in which Sabo went. I stepped closer to her and ran my hand over her snout. "It's alright... He's going to be okay. He'll come see you once he is better," I comforted her. Talking to a horse... Did I expect her to understand? To my amazement, she did. The horse nodded and pushed my hand.

Before I could say anything, Izo called for me, "Ace? Come on. Have you eaten?"

"Ah- not really," I replied before turning to wander over to him. I looked back at the horse, then smiled. "I'm real hungry. I want to eat Thatch's cooking again. The food there was awful," I told Izo.

He laughed and nodded, "I will make sure to get Thatch to cook something for you... and your precious guard."

I paused and watched Izo walk off. "Sabo... right- he never ate... He must be starving! How will he eat though," I asked as I ran up to him again. Izo shrugged and sighed.

"Let's see... If he wakes, you may go feed him," Izo told me. "But," he quickly added, seeing my face brighten. "That is only... if you rest yourself first," he said.

"Yeah! Yeah! I'll do that," I answered. Izo nodded, content with my answer, then we continued to go to my room. It seemed perfect.

❁

I went to wash and get checked for any wounds. Thanks to Sabo, I had none... I was kept in bed and given new clothes. Then, I got food and tea. Just one bite of this food was heaven to me after what happened. Izo stayed with me the whole time and made sure I ate. He told me some things that happened while we were gone. Of course, there was a declaration of war. A dove who was so luckily picked to send the letter was received a while before we got back. By the time we got to that topic, Marco came into the room, so Izo told me to ask him.

Marco knew the most. He was closest to Pops. We were all close, but he was a bit closer... or at least, it was he who spoke most about the war stuff to Pops. I never payed much attention to it. For most of my life, there was no war... There was some tense times, but war was never a thing that happened. I would hear about it in from the other provinces maybe, or in the foreign countries, but never here.

"Preparations for them may take a week or so... They are awful at it," Marco started answering as he sat himself down. "Even so, we will have to get ready immediately. We don't want them to get near here to fight. It will endanger the citizens."

I laid on my stomach, horizontal of my bed's proper direction. Not near here... That would make sense. "So... we'll be far from the ones fighting," I mumbled in question.

Marco looked back at me and stared for a bit. "Of course... Getting one of us killed is not an option," he said to me.

"Getting anyone killed shouldn't be an option," I suddenly said back loudly. Realizing my raising of voice, I looked away.

I saw Izo take a look at Marco, then sigh. "Ace... You know that we don't want to lose anyone, but," he said to me in a comforting tone.

"I know," I replied before shoving my face into my crossed arms.

"If you believe in him enough, maybe he will come back," Marco then said. My eyes widened and my head quickly came back up, somehow surprised that he knew. "This is what happens when you fall for one who needs to fight for his province on the battlefield. You can't control love, but... you should have kept this in mind," he told me. His tone was cold, but there was a slight bit of understanding.

My mouth opened for a response, but I quickly closed it and pushed myself up. "I know that... Don't remind me," I muttered before getting off my bed and storming out. I know that- I know! As I went, I could feel my eyes watering again. I'm being such a crybaby recently. I didn't want to think about it again. Why must this happen... What was I supposed to do though? Let him die? Watch him... be burned alive? I couldn't possibly.

My hand caught onto one of the maids as we passed. Without looking at her, I asked in my broken voice, "Sabo- wh-where is he?" She didn't question the matter and just told me, then watched me go off. I could barely walk straight, for my eye vision was blurred by the stupid tears. Why do I do this to myself? What reason did he give me to make me fall for him like so? I couldn't understand... this feeling.

When I got to the room in which he was supposedly in, I hesitated. Did I want to see him? Wouldn't it be better if I just... don't see him? So, when he leaves... I slammed my teeth together, unfortunately catching a bit of my lower lip in between. My hand trapped the handle and slid the door open.

There he was... He laid quietly in the bed, silent. I swallowed, then wandered forward. "Sabo," I mumbled out quietly. There was no reply and I never expected a reply. Stopping at the side of the bed, my tired eyes looked down. I was told love was a weird thing. It just comes out of nowhere. One day, you will realize it... the person you love. Then, it's hard to let go.

My nervous hand moved to his fair face. A second of touch was already enough. I quickly pulled away and in, I guess, panic. Why did I panic? I don't know... My eyes shut tightly as I mumbled out his name again. "-nce," I heard. My eyes widened and I quickly looked up. He was awake. His exhausted eyes slowly opened. From under his long lashes, I could see them again, his different-colored eyes... They stared up before they started glancing around. Was his vision blurry? Even so, he eventually found me...

In that instant he did, I saw his eyes light up and soon there was a smile on his face. He repeated what he called me with a soft voice. Already, my eyes were watering again.

"Sabo- Sabo," I repeated. I wanted to hold him... I wanted to feel his warmth, another confirmation. I wanted to know that he was here again. "Sabo... tell me... What should I do," I asked as I gripped the blankets. "War... we're going to war. What am I to do... when you leave? You... may not come back to me-"

"I will... my Prince," I heard his calming voice mumble. Sabo looked at me quietly for some time before he kept smiling. "I have to come back... Prince needs his guard... so... I will come back," he told me. It was supposed to be perfect.

❁

How could he be so sure? Why is he so sure... I don't understand... and I didn't understand. He's my personal guard... I need him by my side. What will we do if someone sneaks in? I need him... I need him here, not out there. Let me keep him by my side, I beg.

".. but we need another commander to take the front." were the words that bore into my already pained heart. Don't stand... Please don't stand... but he did. It was a few days after we had gotten back. Sabo stood from my side and walked over to the strategist before taking a knee.

"Sir. May I take that position. I will follow any command," Sabo said. I said nothing, only keeping my head down and letting my bangs cover my face. After that, I just heard mumbles of the discussion until... "Prince," I heard. I quickly looked up, knowing it was him. Sabo looked at me with his calm eyes. Then, like all those times before, he smiled. "Prince told me... to make my own decisions... so I will do so selfishly now, my Prince," he mumbled.

My eyes widened and in that moment, I wished I had never taught him such a thing. I wished he listened to my every thought and word. Stay with me... You can't go anywhere else. For once, I wanted to chain him down to keep him from the war, but alas... It was too late and I wasn't that sort of person. All I did was smile back to him painfully. I could feel the muscles used to smile were twitching.

I knew he saw how I hated this. Sabo carefully stepped towards me and knelt down as the others were leaving. With no hesitation from worry or embarrassment, his arms wrapped around me and pulled himself close. He buried his face into my neck and tightened his hold. "Prince," he said softly. "Please forgive my selfishness... I want to protect this place. Our home. Our people. Our family. Our royalty. My prince," he listed. There was a pause, then he pulled back to look at me. His scarred, yet soft hands cupped my face. There was a slight shaking... I couldn't do this. Sabo watched my eyes start bubbling. He shook his head and shut his eyes, somewhat successfully keeping himself from joining me. Then... with his sparkling eyes, wet from the held back tears, he smiled a big smile and told me, "I love you, Ace."

That was the last thing I heard before the times of wait...