A/N: I wrote another story. I have no life.

I don't really like the ending for this one...I couldn't really get the sentences exactly right. But oh well. It's good enough. Still think it could be better, but. Still.

Ack, I'll shut up now. Go on. Read it.

*Note: I changed Ran Fan's name to "Lan Fan" because that is the actual spelling.

~~~Xing, 1908~~~

It only took a pebble.

Just a pebble in her eyes, a humongous rock in others. It was a hard and sharp ten pound thing the size of four fists put together. Four meaty fists, not like her own slender agile hands perfect for grabbing the handle of a kunai.

She went flying, and poof! Lan Fan was lying on her side, her hair falling across her face. She spat out a wet, stringy mouthful, before cussing a string of words that no eight year old should have known. She was lucky her grandfather wasn't around, otherwise he would have slapped her hands with a stick for speaking in such a way.

"Lan Fan?" Ling squatted next to her. "Are you okay?"

"Ah!" She immediately stood up, her back straight. She felt extremely embarrassed, and foolish. "Please excuse my improper behavior, Young Master." Immediately her knee began to sting, and her cheek felt as if all the skin on it had been scraped off. She was sure she felt something warm oozing slowly down her leg. Lan Fan bit back another cuss word, and held back the tears that attempted to come to her eyes. Foolish. Don't cry over something as small as this. It's stupid.

Ling immediately noticed the pained look on her face, and the barest traces of water around her eyes. He knew she was in pain, and lying about it. "Lan Fan. Show me your knee."

She showed him her left knee. It was completely unscathed, the skin soft and unbroken. "No, not that one. The other one."

"There is nothing wrong with my knees, Young Master." Lan Fan was determined not to show her weak side to Ling. I won't. I must be strong.

"Liar. Your cheek has tons of skin scraped off it. I bet your elbow and your knee is pretty banged up too. Now, show me."

Lan Fan knew there was no way of getting out of it. She rolled up her right pant leg, almost grudgingly. Each time the fabric grazed against the tender kneecap she wanted to scream. When the fabric had been rolled up to her thigh, she stopped. "There. I have obeyed your orders."

Ling wanted to grab Lan Fan and shake her for keeping such an injury in. It was an awful mess of blood and pus, with ragged skin and dirt caught into the soft skin. Even Lan Fan couldn't bear to look at it. "Show me your elbow, too," he insisted. "Don't hide anything. Show it to me."

It was no better, if not worse. He tore his eyes away from the grisly thing. Ling grasped her good arm and guided her toward the palace. "Lan Fan, you're going to the doctor. And you're not getting out of it," he added.

"Young Master, it's fine," she said. "What guard am I if I cannot bear any pain?"

"A king should bear and feel the pain of his people, and help them," he answered. "If I just leave you there, then I am not worthy of becoming the emperor of Xing."

She was taken aback. The words struck true. "But…"

"Come on. We'd better hurry, before your wounds get infected." Ling took her hand, his hot fingers gripping her own. "Come on, Lan Fan. And—" he paused. "It's okay to cry sometimes." He gently wiped away the moisture that had been gathering at the edges of her eyes. "It is. Really."

She shook her head, "No. I won't cry. I won't cry so long you're here with me."

~~~Fast Forward: Amestris 1915~~~

It had not taken her a pebble to fall this time. She had become stronger and learned to bear with such things.

No. It had been the homunculi.

And this time it was not a few gashes that harmed her. It was not something that could be fixed by smearing a dollop of ointment on it and a single layer of bandages. It was not something that would fade away and become nothing more than just a faint memory. It was permanent. Her arm would never grow back, and the pain would stay for a long time.

And Lan Fan had cried. Even with the fat drops rolling down her cheeks, she had told herself that tears were foolish, and that she couldn't waste her strength crying. But she hadn't denied the reason why she was crying.

She was crying not because her arm was gone, but because Ling wasn't there. She had said that she wouldn't cry if he was there. But he was gone, and Lan Fan could not stop the droplets from coming.

"Please let him come back safe," she whispered when Doctor Knox had left the room. "Young Lord…no, Ling."

Please come back to me safe. If you're next to me, I can be strong. If you're next to me, the injuries won't hurt so much. If you're next to me, I won't cry of sadness again. If you stay with me, the tears that roll down my cheeks will be that of happiness.

Reviews are love :]