"So what is it exactly that you want me to do?" Lan Fan asked. She and Ling had been travelling for the better part of the night and it was approaching four o'clock in the morning. Their camels were weary and so were the riders. After trying on and off to doze the time away, Lan Fan gave up and was letting her inquisitive nature get the better of her.
Ling yawned. "I was hoping that you could do me a favour. You see, the Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric gave me the intelligence that there is something extremely valuable hidden in a vault deep within Central. I don't know what it is, but I assure you that it is a matter of national importance. He also instructed me to obtain it without being noticed. That is going to be the real challenge..." Ling's voice trailed off and he seemed lost in thought.
Lan Fan was intrigued but also confused. It wasn't like the young lord to be so vague. But then she doubted that Ed gave him all the details, which was probably why he didn't tell her much more than that. She turned her attention back to the reins of her camel as it trotted alongside Ling's. Beside her, the young lord had fallen asleep. He was snoring softly. Lan Fan smiled in spite of herself. They still had a long way to go, but he was already so tired. She, on the other hand, was excited to return to Amestris. And though this was supposed to be an undercover mission she hoped to see some familiar faces along the way.
Crossing the desert was one thing. Lan Fan had almost forgotten how tedious a journey it was to make the distance by camel, even though this time they had taken a much more direct route which did not pass through the ruins of Xerxes. The train ride from Eastern to Central was another matter entirely. When they boarded the train, the first thing Ling did was find a spot near the back of the train and shut the blinds over the window to block out the midmorning sun.
Already exhausted, Ling flung himself down into the window seat and Lan Fan sat beside him. Now that they were in a more populated area, there was an increased threat to her prince. Though she had taken off her mask and they were in an almost-empty train cart, she was constantly mulling over in her mind the possibility of being captured. Her back rigid, her eyes searching like a hawk's, Lan Fan did not allow herself the time to rest. Ling slept soundly beside her, his mouth slight open and his head leaning against the cool window, his steady breaths fogging up a small circle on the glass. His bangs obscured his eyes and as Lan Fan watched him she felt a flush creep onto her cheeks. She knew that the emotions she was feeling as she watched him there were inappropriate as a master to her servant, but she couldn't seem to clear her mind. She turned her head and stared off into the middle distance in the train cart, feeling the rumbling as the wheels clacked over the rails. A small beam of sunlight broke its way through the blinds over the window and illuminated a small cloud of dust motes which danced in the empty aisle between the two rows of seats. Lan Fan relaxed and felt her eyelids grow heavy. There were no threats in this space. She was beside Ling, and if the emperor wasn't too worried to sleep then she shouldn't be, either.
When Lan Fan next opened her eyes, she was not staring at the dust motes. She also was not sitting up straight in her seat like a guard. She was leaning over on the right, and felt Ling's warm chest under her ear. Confused, she started to get up but then felt resistance in the form of Ling's left arm draped over her shoulder. She felt her body radiate heat in response to his closeness and blushed furiously. She tried to sit up from where she had fallen asleep in a compromising position but Ling wouldn't let her.
"Shh," he said.
Lan Fan tilted her head to look up at him. The prince was smiling. He leaned his head against hers and was soon fast asleep. Not wanting to wake him again, Lan Fan ignored her quickly beating heart and shut her eyes. A smile stretched out on her face. She liked this. A lot. And judging from his tight embrace, it seemed that Ling did too. Lan Fan allowed herself to fall asleep with the gentle rising and falling of the future emperor's chest as her pillow.