A/N: I WROTE IT! I WROTE LINGFAN! OMG! So proud of myself right now…. It is easier than I expected, though. I should listen to sunarose more often (Though not about her taste in boys….) . And scream in her ear more. Read her Lingfan drabbles- Chiaroscuro. They are rather amazing.
So THIS drabble collection will be Lingfan and AlMei, most likely. There's enough EdWin out there to feed an army (Oookay, should've used a different choice of words there) But Lingfan and AlMei are terribly, horribly underappreciated. Dunno which I'll update more, though, so don't kill me if I ignore either RD or this for forever. I forgot to mention- SPOILERS AHEEEAAAD!
I'll shut up now.
Being Emperor of Xing had its drawbacks. Ling had considered the renewed assassination attempts, the distance between him and former friends and the constant tinge of fear covered by respect whenever he entered the room. He had expected that, and trusted that it was worth it. Lanfan would protect him, and she would continue to be his best friend. It would have been worth it, if that was all he had to surrender to become Emperor. What he couldn't put up with was the 50 different noblewomen fawning over him, the 50 new wives all expecting him to spend time with them and not Lanfan, them and not matters of state. Really, he had overlooked that when contemplating pros and cons of being Emperor. Overlooked and tried to forget.
Maybe it would be bearable if he hadn't been to Amestris. There he had seen how people chose who they married, and it was one to one- equivalent exchange, really. One heart for another, and nothing left over. No one in Amestris had 50 wives, nor did most Amestrians want 50 wives. Women were treated fairly in that country. In Xing, noblewomen were still pawns on the chess board, used to entice other lords into marring them for wealth, or status. Only the poor had freedom in Xing, and even then it was limited.
He took a final breath of the cool night air, sighing as he closed the window. Lanfan would yell at him if she found out he had been leaning out of an open window. Was it bad that he wanted her to yell at him- was it greedy that he wanted to hear her voice like it had been in Amestris, before she practically stopped talking instead of calling him 'Emperor Ling'? No, he decided. He would be greedy if he wanted his 50 wives and Lanfan. Greed had never understood why Ling's gaze lingered a second longer on Lanfan than it stayed on anyone else. Greed had welcomed the possibility of 50 women, all his, while Ling was repulsed.
A thousand possibilities ran through his head, each one more absurd than the last. He couldn't step down- who else would take care of Xing? Mei had lost interest in ruling ever since Alphonse came to learn alkahestry. Now she was fantasizing about living in Amestris with Al, Ed and Winry. Even if he did step down, Lanfan would kill him with that blade in her automail for trying to be noble and choose love over power. He would probably be run out of Xing as well. Was that worth it? Was his happiness more important than his country?
There was one thought he avoided entirely- did Lanfan even love him back? Was it just the sense of duty that Fu had pounded into her at such an early age, or did she secretly feel the same way about him? Ling had noticed how quiet she had been, and how much she had avoided even looking at him ever since they returned. At first, he had written it off to grief over Fu's death, but as the months past he began to suspect something else. She was very good at covering up her feelings with her mask and a face set in stone- Lanfan had learned how sometime during their time in Amestris. Maybe she had learned it from that Lt. Riza Hawkeye- that was a face that never displayed emotion.
Maybe someday he'd figure out a tactful way to get rid of all his wives, or gather up the courage to just grab Lanfan and run away, but for now, he was almost as greedy as Greed himself. He couldn't give up his power, and he couldn't give up Lanfan. He was trying to hang onto both of them, but she was slipping away, slowly but surely.
Maybe that was all he was. Maybe all he was was Greed.
