A dark pair of eyes slowly shifted up to look at the stars above. The night sky was clear, the stars were shining bright and the moon was only half its full size. For a moment, Lan Fan completely forgot her surroundings, something that hadn't happened to her in years. She couldn't help but enjoy the beautiful view of the sky above her. Her mind wandered back to a time many years ago, when she had only been eleven years old.
She was already assigned as bodyguard to the Twelfth Prince of Xing, along with her grandfather. People told her she was a protégé, an incredibly skilled bodyguard with devotion they had never seen before.
But all she was able to do was seeing her faults, her mistakes. She knew she couldn't let that happen if things were to get serious. She had to protect the prince, even if she had to die in the process. It wasn't just her duty, no; it was something she wanted to, as young as she was. She was driven to protect Ling Yao, and she had been since she had found out her grandfather was the prince's bodyguard.
She often exhausted herself during training, giving all she had and not stopping until she was about to collapse from sheer exhaustion. More than once, her grandfather had needed to carry her home after a training session.
One night, however, she hadn't been able to sleep despite her tiredness. As quietly as she could, she'd climbed up to the roof of the small house she lived in with her grandfather, and had gazed up to beautiful sky filled with bright shining stars. She sat in silence for many minutes, when suddenly she heard a sound not far away from her. Lan Fan cursed herself for not brining any kind of weapon, but she stood immediately on defence.
''Well now,'' she heard a familiar voice saying. ''You weren't planning on attacking your Lord, now were you?'' To her surprise, the boy wasn't speaking Xingese, but Amestrian instead. Lan Fan immediately jumped up straight, before dropping to the ground and bowing before her master. ''Y-Young Lord,'' she mumbled. ''Please forgive me—I thought you were an assassin of some kind.'' She felt her cheeks burning up, knowing it wasn't very proper of her to look directly at the prince without wearing her mask.
''Nah, it's fine,'' the prince said, and raised his hand as to stop her from apologising any more. ''I can't blame you for that.'' He dropped down beside her, and stared up at the sky. ''The night sure is beautiful, isn't it, Lan Fan?'' He asked his young bodyguard.
Ling and Lan Fan had known each other since Lan Fan had started her training, now more than seven years ago. Being of the same age, they spent quite some time together. When Lan Fan didn't have any training going on and Ling managed to sneak out of the castle, they would play together, or just lay on the ground, talking, telling each other short stories. Usually, Fu watched them from not too far away, however, he never said a word about them hanging out together. The old man knew it wasn't proper, but he couldn't ignore the smile on Ling's face whenever he saw his granddaughter, and more importantly, he didn't want Lan Fan to be all alone all the time. She deserved to have some kind of company besides him.
Lan Fan gave Ling a small nod. ''Y-Yes my Lord,'' she said quietly, wishing she had her mask with her to cover up her face. Her gaze slowly shifted back to the sky. ''It's very beautiful. It seems like the stars shine even brighter tonight,'' she added, although she knew that was no more than a simple illusion.
Ling's smile grew. ''It sure seems like it.'' He put his hands back in the opposite sleeve, clasping his elbows in his hands. Ling was quiet for a while, but after a while he opened his mouth again. ''Hey, Lan Fan,'' he said. ''You must promise me not to tell anyone I was out of the royal castle tonight, okay?''
Lan Fan nodded immediately. ''Of course, my Lord,'' she said quietly, and after pondering for a few seconds, she added: ''but may I as why you chose to come outside tonight? And chose to go to the roof of my house, out of all places?'' She hoped the question didn't feel like an invasion on his privacy to Ling.
''I couldn't sleep,'' the Prince replied. ''I often go here when I cannot sleep at night. Sometimes I hope for you to be here, and sometimes I enjoy the quiet night all by myself. It seems like you picked out the right night to be here, though. I didn't want to be alone tonight.'' His voice suddenly had a darker tone to it.
''Are you alright, my Lord?''
''Oh, I'm fine, Lan Fan. Don't you worry about me.'' He turned to look at her, and gave her one of those typically Ling grins.
''B-But my Lord! It's my duty to care for you! I have to worry about you! If I don't feel any worry for you, I cannot do my job properly.'' She was slightly flustered by the way he was talking to her- as if she was his equal.
''Besides, I am just a dog of the Yao clan; my status is even lower than that of a commoner. You... You shouldn't treat me like one of your equals. It isn't right, my purpose is to protect you, and I have no other purpose than that.'' Without noticing, her voice had taken on a firm, almost reprimanding tone. Lan Fan held her breath, hoping Ling wouldn't get mat at her for speaking so rudely to him just now.
''What are you talking about, Lan Fan? You know I see you as my friend. I don't care about your background. You're equal to me, even though you have to protect me. I don't want people to care for me all the time; I want to be able to protect my people as well. I want to take care of you and Fu if I have to and I don't want you two to protest, do you get that, Lan Fan? You aren't a dog of the Yao clan; you're as important as I am. Everyone is.''
Lan Fan bowed her head. She felt like a little child being chided by their parents. ''Y-Yes my Lord. I'm sorry.''
A smirk grew on Ling's face again. ''You don't need to apologise, Lan Fan. I just wanted to get my point across. I am serious about what I said. I really see you as a friend, Lan Fan, maybe even the only real friend I'll ever have.''
Lan Fan slowly looked up, with a small smile on her face. ''I understand, my Lord. It's not proper and I don't know what would happen to me if anyone were to find out, but I'm grateful for your kindness, my Lord.''
''Please,'' Ling said with a chuckle. ''When it's just the two of us, sneaking out like this, promise to call me Ling, will you? Never mind the firmness and statuses, I am your friend, you don't need to address me like that all the time''
''If that's what you wish my L-'' Lan Fan started, but caught herself on time. ''I mean: If that's what you wish, Ling, then I will.'' She paused for a moment. ''But you must promise me this, then. I'll be the one to protect you no matter the cost. Even if that cost is my life, I want you to know that it was my wish.''
Ling's eyes widened just a little. ''Lan Fan...'' he started. This was going against to anything he had just said. He looked at the girl sitting next to him, and noticed the fierce devotion in her eyes. He knew Lan Fan was a loyal, devoted and determined person, but it was only now he realised how far that loyalty and devotion went.
''All right, then,'' he said. ''I promise. Just make sure you don't die any time soon. That's an order, okay?''
And with those words, Ling disappeared again, back to the safe castle to finally find some rest, for what was left of the night.
Lan Fan smiled at the memory, as her eyes turned back to watch her surroundings. There was no threat around her whatsoever, so she allowed herself to laugh quietly as she touched her automail arm briefly.
They had kept their promises.
She had called him Ling (though she still referred to him as Young Lord, or young Master much more often), and he had let her sacrifice a part of herself for him.
And she hadn't died.