She watched from above, her automail blade always drawn, always eyes fixed to him. Always concealing her chi, always searching for his.
She followed him swiftly, taking down attackers before others even noticed their presence.
Before he could thank her, she was gone again.
She was unnoticed and invisible. She was to serve her lord, the emperor. She was to not speak. She was to not make mistakes.
She was to be his shadow, nothing more.
To be a lifeless black figure snaking after his every step, though her's were lighter and more agile than the ones she followed.
She preferred the night. Where everything was quiet, and she could focus, watching his sleeping (Or pretending to) form from the window.
During the night, she could get away, surveying the room through the powerful sense of chi her lord emitted, watching for any other forms of life to emerge.
She could do this from a distance, and would, on occasion. There were some nights- when cries of passion from a concubine broke the still night- some nights when she could not bear to be near her lord.
Because she broke the rules.
The girl had fallen in love. The shadow infatuated with it's caster.
Shame dripped from her chi as she sat upon the roof. She believed to be unwatched and dropped her guard.
And she cried.
She remained in the shadows, placid and unyielding. She showed no signs of hurt, no signs of grief. She was unaffected.
But, at night, she cried.
"Lan Fan."
Her breath caught in her throat, and she tied the mask around her face quickly, and turned to bow. "Young lord?"
He frowned, and pulled her up by her hand. "Lan Fan..." He tugged at the ties on her mask, pulling it off of her face. "Why are you crying?"
She flushed, tilting her head down, her hair now covering her face.
"Lan Fan?"
"D-do not concern yourself with me Y-young lord!"
He stiffened, hands curling into fists. "Lan Fan..." Tears slid down his own cheeks.
"Young Lor-" She was cut off as two muscular arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her into a tight hug.
"Lan Fan... My shadow girl... Stay with me."
She remained his shadow.
Until the night.
In the night, in the dark, the lines between shadow and substance are blurred.
And she is just his.
After years, his shadow became his light.
And his empress.