Disclaimer: I don't own FMA/B I own my idea

Well then, This one took a lot of thinking, strategically you understand, and you'll find out why while you're reading.

Here's the second chapter, Summer Daze and Hide-and-Seek…

Lan Fan sat with Ling on the roof, looking over the entire community in the burning heat. Summer was just peaking, and it had been two years since she became Ling's protector. She became much more comfortable with being around him. Before, he just made her nervous.

"Lan Fan." He whined, looking towards her. "I'm really bored."

Lan Fan looked up from the book she was reading. "I'm not sure what to do Master Ling." She said, shrugging. It was almost too hot to do anything today. And of all places he decided to enjoy the breeze, it was on the roof. Probably the hottest place in the palace.

Ling stood up, the breeze blowing his hair back. He had a lot more on his mind that he let on. He had noticed that the Emperor had become violently sick; it was becoming very dangerous to be out and about on his own. So he had Lan Fan in tow wherever he went.

The only problem with having so many brothers and sisters was that as soon as there was even a slight possibility that the Emperor might be dying soon, every clan in Xing jumped at the opportunity to get the Emperor's immediate children out of the way. As a way to cancel them out from gaining the throne. And if that wasn't bad enough, his own brothers and sisters turned against each other.

Ling had yet to figure out what to do to top everyone else that wanted to gain power. It was on his mind constantly…

He turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "What's that you're reading?" He asked, walking over and sitting next to her.

Lan Fan continued reading the Xingese manuscript. "It's about the history of Alkahestry. I figured if you wanted to find a way to gain power on the throne, it would be best to start there."

Alkahestry was used in the medical fields mostly, and she decided if simply getting sick was a problem, and if Ling really wanted to come to power, then he should try for immortality. There was no way that anyone could top that.

But there were no guarantees that someone else hadn't come up with the same idea. The hunt for something like that was going to be bitter work.

Lan Fan kept reading. "But there's nothing here. I can't find anything anywhere."

Ling groaned and laid back, his hands behind his head. This was proving to be harder than he thought.

Lan Fan kept reading and came across a lead. "Wait, there's something here. About alchemy."

Ling raised an eyebrow. "Alchemy?" He asked a bit confused.

Lan Fan nodded. "Yes. It's used mainly in Amestris. But it's not used in the medical field. Well, not as much as it is here in Xing."

Ling frowned. "So how would that help me achieve immortality?"

Lan Fan read a bit farther and then widened her eyes in shock and surprise.

Ling sat up and looked at her. "What is it Lan Fan?"

" 'Alchemy, mainly used in Amestris and a few surrounding countries, is responsible for the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, which is said to improve Alchemic use without the basic rule of Equivalent exchange.'" She read, her eyes skimming the page.

Ling tilted his head. "Okay, so how is some stone supposed to help with the situation at hand?"

Lan Fan closed the book. "I'm no alkahestrist, but don't you think that if we find this so called 'Philosopher's Stone' and combine it with the Alkahestry we use here in Xing, shouldn't that be the next best thing to immortality?"

Ling crossed his arms. "You might be on to something Lan Fan." He said, putting a hand up to his chin. He smiled. "Well I think that's enough studying for a while." He said, taking the book and tossing it off the roof.

Lan Fan scrambled to her feet and jumped off the roof after it. It was a very high point to be jumping from, but this was an important book. He fell towards it and caught it in her hand. "That idiot!" She mumbled to herself, falling towards a tree and landing on a branch. She looked back up to him with the dirtiest look she could possibly give to him.

Ling waved to her with a bright smile. "Nice work Lan Fan!"

She scowled at him. There was some times where she just wanted to kick him in the face for doing such a stupid thing. Why the hell would he throw her book off the roof like that? It wasn't even her book, it belonged in the library.

She managed to quickly and nimbly climb her way back up to the roof. She pulled herself up into a hand stand and flipped over backwards onto the roof. "May I ask what possessed you to throw a LIBRARY book off of the roof Young Lord?" She asked, trying to keep her tone respectful.

Ling smiled at her pridefully. "Just testing my assassin to her maximum potential." He appreciated how skilled she was. He couldn't have asked for a better clansman…or rather clanswoman.

She brushed herself off and flopped down behind him. 'That didn't mean you can play fetch with me.' She thought with a scowl on her face.

Ling looked at the sun, now setting over the mountains in the distance. "Hey Lan Fan. What do you say we play a little game?"

Lan Fan rolled her eyes up to him. "A game? How childish…" She said, a smirk on her face.

Ling laughed. "Yes, a game. Hide and seek. What do you say?"

Lan Fan shook her head and crossed her arms. "Not a chance."

Ling pouted. "Come on Lan Fan. I thought you said whatever I asked you to do you would do it."

Lan Fan blew out a breath. "Not a chance." She repeated.

Ling hugged her and tightly and rubbed her with his face. "Come on Lan Fan pleeeeeaaaassseee?"

Lan Fan tried to push him off. "Gee—Master Ling what are you—stop!" She said, trying to hold in her laugh. "Okay okay! I'll do it."

Ling let go of her and stood up, his hands on his hips. "Great! I'm glad you changed your mind."

He looked behind him, the sky almost dark. "You see that forest over there?" He said, pointing a ways behind him.

Lan Fan looked. "The willow forest? Yeah I know it. What are the rules?" She could tell why he chose the willow forest. There were nothing but willow trees there, and it was hard to find people through the vines. Unless someone sensed the other's chi, hide and seek was the most optimal game to play out there.

Ling nodded. "I'm sure you already know what the object of the game is. I'm going to get a head start and then you come find me. And if you can sense chi, which I'm sure you can, it shouldn't be too hard."

Lan Fan sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I can't believe I'm letting you pull me into such a childish game." She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow with a smirk gracing her lips. "You aren't going to make this easy on me are you?"

Ling grinned. "Nope."

The sky had finally fallen dark and Lan Fan stood up to stretch. The moon was peeking up now and it lit up the sky just a bit. She turned to look up at it. She loved how the moon looked against the dark sky. It was like looking at light at the end of a tunnel. "Alright, when are we doing this?" She waited for an answer. "Ling?" She turned around.

He was gone.

She grinned. "Of course." She sighed and jumped off the roof once again, landing in the tree and standing up on the branch looking towards the forest. "Alright." She said to herself, running towards it.

(-)

Ling was still running towards the forest and he chuckled to himself. He thought it was better to dash away while she was distracted. When he reached the forest he walked between the vines, looking around and his hands in his pockets.

Lan Fan reached the forest and took a breath to concentrate. She felt his chi, but it was faint. Which meant that he was probably deep in the forest by now…

She walked in and began to look around her, looking for him, but not rushing anything. It had been a long two years, trying to keep up with him. He was always eating way too much, or running off somewhere where she couldn't find him. It was extremely stressful for her.

She knew he could take care of himself, but it was her job to make sure he didn't lift a finger. She was supposed to be first in command for that, only after she died was he supposed to defend himself. She could get punished if he even came home with a single scratch.

Ling leaned against the tree trunk and could sense Lan Fan a few miles away. He was still deep in, but he would run off again once she got too close.

He smiled at himself for coming up with such a time occupying thing. It was still boring around the palace, even with someone like Lan Fan with him. They sparred a few times, but she couldn't do any real damage to him, which made her a little more careful in her attacks. He knew that if they were really fighting, Lan Fan would have him on his back in a quick second.

He liked the company that Lan Fan gave him. He still thought she was as pretty as when he had first met her. Unfortunately for him, she gave no signal or hint that she felt the same way. He could see why; her family had been trained not to develop that kind of feeling for their masters. It was a taboo for her to even get that close to him, but he decided that that rule would be out the window once he became emperor. Not just for her, but for everyone else in Xing.

He figured that it was drilled into her mind that she was only his protector, nothing more, nothing less. Any more than that, she could be executed.

Lan Fan continued to walk, silently moving the vines out of her way to see through them. A few midnight butterflies flew up as she took a step and one landed on her hand. She smiled at the simplistic beauty of it. It wasn't colored like the butterflies that people saw during the day. It was colored in tan and brown, it seemed beautiful to Lan Fan. She watched it fly away.

Then she heard a rustle.

It wasn't Ling; his chi was still pretty far off. This was someone she didn't recognize. She flicked her wrist and one of her kunai fell into her hand. She felt the air around her turn dense and stale. A shiver ran up her spine.

Whoever it was, this was sure not to be a nice meeting.

She felt the person move toward her and she turned around, throwing her kunai at the moving object. The person dodged it and landed a few feet away from her. It was a man, a few inches taller than Ling.

"Who are you?" She said, flicking her wrist, another kunai sliding into her hand. She held it up in defense. Her mind turned from game playing more to complete annihilation.

The man grinned. "I'm Li Chang, from the Chang clan." He said, taking out his katana and holding it up to her, preparing for a fight. "And as soon as I'm able to get you out of the way, I can get that idiot prince out of the way too."

Lan Fan felt her anger rise. She threw her kunai at him quickly. No one insulted Ling. He managed to dodge it but just in time, and it gave him a deep cut on his arm.

She grinned, her hand behind her back. "Getting me out of the way isn't going to be as easy as you think Chang." The Chang family had been an enemy since the very beginning of the dynasty. She knew the plan, to take out Ling to reduce competition. She wasn't going to let that happen.

Li grinned and ran towards her in an attack attempt. She grinned at him, another kunai in her hand behind her back. "Come on then." She said teasingly.

Ling snapped his eyes open. He felt a massive amount of chi just a few miles away from him. He automatically sensed Lan Fan's and another that he didn't recognize. It seemed like they were in deep combat. He stood up quickly. "Lan Fan." he said, his voice lined with worry and ran off toward the fight.

(-)

Once he got there, he found Lan Fan standing over the man on the ground, and he was bleeding terribly. She had his katana in her hand and was grinning down at him. "It's a shame that your own weapon might kill you. You'd think if you were going to attack me you would keep it in hand instead of letting me take it so easily." She looked it over and saw his blood running down it.

When it came to threatening Ling, she put all joking aside. She wouldn't allow anyone to even come close to him. If it meant using deadly force, even if it meant suicide, she wouldn't let anyone even talk about it.

Ling smiled and turned to hide again. It seemed kind of silly that he thought he would even have to check on her. It was a natural kind of worry that he had. Even though she was serving him, he was sure that he would be nothing without her. He protected her even if she didn't recognize it.

She knew he was behind her, but let him go. They still weren't done playing their game. Besides, she thought it was best to let him think she didn't know he came. She stuck the katana in the ground next to the Chang clansman. "I'll leave you here so the rest of your clan can find you. Hopefully, you won't lose too much blood and live to see them again."

She turned away from him, her hair now flowing around her from the fight. The tie she had in her hair had broken, and she would have to wait until she got home to tie it up again. It was very rare that she let her hair down like this.

Ling was hiding between the willow vines, looking at the moon, which illuminated the entire sky now. He had completely forgotten that he was supposed to be hiding from her and felt her approaching. He hid behind the tree trunk.

Lan Fan felt him, and he was close. She smiled, looking through the vines, moving them out of her way and stepping through as agile and as quiet as she could. He had to be behind that tree trunk.

She walked closer to it and looked around it, but much to her disappointment, he wasn't there. She let out a breath, half amused and half annoyed.

She felt more movement behind her. She flicked out a kunai and had the person up against the tree, her kunai up to his neck and her hand pinning him against the smooth bark. She finally focused enough to realize that it was Ling.

"Hey it's just me, don't hurt me please." He said, holding up his hands and smiling at her nervously.

Lan Fan widened her eyes and blushed lightly. She had never been this close to him. She lowered her kunai and hand and put it away. "I—sorry young lord I—"

"It's okay." He laughed slightly. "I shouldn't have startled you like that."

She let out a breath. "I know you saw that fight." She said softly, looking down at the ground. "He came after me and told me that as soon as he was done with me, he was going after you." She trembled from the thought. "I couldn't let him do that."

Ling saw how serious she was about putting him before herself. He blinked at her. "I would have been fine if he came to me first. I can take care of myself Lan Fan."

Lan Fan shook her head, her vision still fixed on the ground. "You don't understand."

Ling crossed his arms. "Then explain."

"It's my job to make sure you don't have to take care of yourself. I put my life before yours, that's my destiny in life. Yours is to become this country's ruler, in perfect health." She said, her voice a little more strong than before.

Ling shook his head. "Lan Fan, you might have been trained to fight for me and even told to protect me, even if that means sacrificing yourself, but still…" He lifted up her chin so that her eyes met his. They were shining under the streams of moonlight through the vines of the tree. "If I am to rule this country, it means protecting my subjects. All of them." He smiled at her softly. "That means you too."

Lan Fan returned the gaze, a light blush still on her cheeks. Once again, she was uncomfortably close to him. She gathered herself and took herself out of his grip.

"Master Ling, you don't understand. That's not the point here. The point here is tha—"

Her sentence was interrupted and she found herself pulled close to him, and her lips locked in a kiss. Her eyes were wide and her breath was taken away. His hands were on her lower waist, but hers were glued to her side. This was wrong, all of it. He wasn't supposed to be doing this. If they were found, it could mean execution for both of them.

He kissed her with all the force he could. It was instinct that drew him to kiss her this way. He pulled her to him without giving his mind the chance to think about it and the next thing he knew, his lips were against hers. He could feel her tense up in his arms. He then felt her relax, and hesitantly raise her hands and place them on his back, and return the kiss.

Lan Fan didn't know what she just got herself into. The kiss felt like it lasted for several minutes, but it was only seconds.

Ling pulled away from her, his hands still on her back. She looked up to him, a very confused look of question in her eyes. He smiled. "Even if you are the one that's supposed to be doing the protecting, I am never going to let you give your life for me. I'm never going to leave you behind. You mean too much to me."

Lan Fan couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't even believe she had the gall to return the kiss. Her heart was beating at a million miles an hour. For the first time in her life she felt fear. In fact, she wasn't sure what it was that she was feeling. It was definitely fear, but there was something else. She nodded at him; she couldn't find her voice to protest.

Ling smiled down at her. "You're mine whether you like it or not Lan Fan. Okay? I promise."

Lan Fan accepted his request, but came out as more like a demand. "What about the laws? We could both be killed for this." She said, her voice coming out strong, yet worried.

Ling shook his head again. "I won't say a word if you don't."

She sighed, contemplating the amount of trouble this could cause for the both of them. So much of her, her body and mind, were telling her to decline, to run away from the issue. Instead she nodded again. "Okay."

Ling hugged her again and smiled. This had become quite a game of hide and seek.

I'm a sucker for forbidden love…

That ends Chapter Two!

I'll have the next chapter up in about a week.

Please leave a review, I like knowing that someone actually reads my story and likes it!

Thanks for reading!