Thank you to all mi reviewers, I don't really have time to thank you all personally :) I CAN NOT DO LING...I SUCK! Go easy on meh Dx

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA {Brotherhood}

Chapter 2 - The Talk

Ling ordered everything off the menu as he always did, but now it was free of charge because he was emperor. Lan Fan watched him eat as she nibbled on her sushi. She wasn't entirely hungry, today's earlier misfortune being the main cause. She'd eat whatever her king shoved in her face, though.

Ling watched her eat as long as he could before she would look back at him, then he'd glance back down before she could make eye-contact. It wasn't that he couldn't look her in the eyes because of what had happened, he simply didn't want her to know he was staring at her for a long period of time. What he saw earlier shocked him as if she had slapped him, and he had wished countless times throughout the night that he had knocked on her door. She deserved that much, but it never crossed Ling's mind that Lan Fan would be standing in the middle of her room almost completely naked. Nevertheless, he'd think twice before barging on in from now on.

The new emperor made light conversation about what he was going to do now that he was king, and Lan Fan nodded and smiled and...nodded and smiled. She wasn't up for talking very much, but she looked like she was really trying to have a good time. A little too hard. Ling sighed, dropping his food onto one of his many plates.

"Lan Fan-"

"I apologize, my lord." Lan Fan cut in with her head hanging low. She looked defeated and hurt, surprising her emperor once again.

"What are you apologizing for?" He asked, his slim eyes opening. His personal bodyguard didn't look him in the eye just as he hadn't the entire night.

"I'm ruining your evening." She clarified in her usual rough, whispery voice. She picked up her chopsticks and fumbled with her meat, not really interested with her food.

"What gave you that idea?" Now the Xingese man was more than serious as he straightened up, propping his chin up on the open palms of his hands. He watched her intently, but still she didn't look at him directly. Lan Fan felt on the spot, and her cheeks flushed pink.

"I'm done," she announced quickly, placing her food utensils down on the table and all but throwing her mask over her face. Ling flinched but concealed it before his body guard could notice. He was good with hiding practically everything about himself. He could slip away from his bodyguard whenever he wanted, even when Fu was around. He could hide his thoughts especially well, but now it was getting harder. One thought specifically kept running through his mind. Lan Fan's matching red satin underwear and bra.

Ling clenched his fingers, now in a fist on the wooden table before him, and his bottom lip quivered. He wanted to take control over his thoughts, but every time he pushed them out they'd be pushed right back in.

"I'm sorry," he ended up blurting out in the midst of an awkward silence. Lan Fan looked shaken, for her eyes were wide behind the mask. Ling knew they were without even glancing her way. He had known her for so long, her reactions were what he memorized. The familiarity was now the cause of the pain inside he felt. It would have been easier had he remained prince. Lan Fan would have refused at first but Ling was sure it would have been because he was of royal blood not that she didn't like him. No one followed a prince's life, no one would have ever known. He could've given the Philosopher's Stone to May Chang, but no. Now he was Emperor of Xing. He'd have to choose an Empress now, and surely a bodyguard would not do. In her, as well as everyone else's mind.

"My lord?" Ling didn't hear Lan Fan speak the first time. He looked up at her quickly before returning his dark eyes to the table.

"For barging in on you." He explained and yet another silence fell apon them.

"I should have been dressed-"

"That's not the point." Ling said a little more harshly than he meant. Lan Fan became quiet as Ling recomposed himself.

"I promise not to walk in on you again." A small smile brought much needed warmth to the man's face and Lan Fan felt herself pushing up her warrior mask, letting it fall behind her head and catching by the small string attached. A smile tore away her cold expression as well. Before her grandfather passed, Lan Fan almost never conversated with her lord. It was against her training to be so very close to him, and having feelings for Ling only made it worse.

Since Fu passed Ling and Lan Fan became closer, for the loss was a heavy one. The wound was still fresh with both of them and neither of them spoke his name unless they spoke it with great pride. It was only a week since Fu was killed, but within that time-span Ling and Lan Fan spent more time together than ever before. By that, meaning they talked when they were together. Ling practically ordered her to relax at first, and when she did finally loosen up the smallest of fractions, she'd end up giggling at whatever Ling had said or done. It wasn't like her to do this when people were around, but when it was just them...she was different.

Right now Lan Fan could afford to relax the slightest bit. No one was around, so threatening vibes didn't penetrate the Xingese woman's heightened senses. The rest of evening went by quickly and the conversation was that of interest.

"You never told me something." Ling wondered aloud, catching Lan Fan's dark onyx eyes.

"What is it?" She asked with a small tilt of the head.

"Why did you become a bodyguard?" Ling looked very curious but it also seemed like a question he just pulled out of the blue. He was hunched over the table as he leaned his cheek on his hand. His attire was no longer a suit like he had worn in Amestris, but more a traditional Xingese outfit.

Lan Fan bit her lip, figuring out how to prepare her sentence.

"It was Grandfather's wish. I started training before I could walk." She explained, trailing off to let her statement sink in. Ling seemed to really listen now that Fu's title had been spoken.

...

"Wow," Ling commented after awhile of listening to Lan Fan speak of her past. His guard blushed when she realized just how much she had actually talked. It had been an hour since she began, but Ling never got bored of hearing her talk. She never talked that much, and quite frankly the new emperor felt honored to her speak like that.

"Did you ever want to do anything else?" He asked with a crooked stare.

"I never had time to think, I was too busy training. But..." Lan Fan exhaled deeply before continuing.

"No, I do not regret the path that was chosen for me. If I hadn't become a protector of the Yao clan...I wouldn't have met you."

So its out there BUT not quite! U kno Lan Fan has a way of covering stuff up! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW I KNOW ITS SHORT!