Hello everyone! I hope you guys are all alright! I'm feeling in FMA-mood lately, so expect frequent updates! :D
ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:
StariChanx: Wow, really? Thank you a lot! I'm not sure if I can write Envy so well, since it's the first time I was focusing on him/her, but I hope I managed to at least scratch the surface of what he's feeling and his character in general ^_^ Well, sure if that's what everyone wants, I could even write one shots for (for example) Ed, Winry, Riza, Tucker (that bastard ), Nina, Hughes, Kimbleey…etc. If you have any ideas please feel free to tell them! Thanks for the many compliments! Hehe :3
Anonymous J: Thanks buddy! ^_^ I'll try to do my best!
Jadasimone16: haha will do! I love that pairing too! :3
1-800fangirl: (embarrassed giggle) Thanks! Man, I'm getting red from all that praise! Haha I'll update more frequently since I have so much free time now!
Panic: Yeah, I guess it's a bit different than what I usually write, thanks for the compliment! :D Never thought ever since I started writing fanfiction that my stories would be well-liked ^^"
Enjoy reading this one shot everyone! Thank you for the kind compliments!
Hiding Behind a Mask
Lan Fan had been trained ever since she was little, mostly being trained by her beloved grandfather Fu, who had once been assigned the honorable position of guarding one of the Emperors of Xing, long before Lan Fan had been born.
Lan Fan grew older, she received her first marriage proposal at the age of fifteen. It had been from a boy whom she used to play with as a child occasionally, he had been the second in command of the Guard of Xing, being assigned more dangerous missions to ensure the Emperor's safety as well as acting as spies and the main intelligence body of Xing. Lan Fan declined him, because she had a crush at someone else back then. And still did in adulthood.
By the time Lan Fan turned into a woman of twenty years of age, she had increasingly tried to hide her feelings from none other than the prince and next in line for the throne, Ling Yao. They played together since they met in their early childhood, though their meetings were mostly cut short, since a mere servant of the royal household had been deemed unfit to interact with royalty.
Lan Fan had taken it in stride, as she was taught that between servants and royalty there could never possibly be a relationship other than of servant and master. She swore to herself she would follow all rules, as had her grandfather, who died protecting the prince and essentially the Homunculus Greed as well. The death of the only family member she had left after the war, where she lost her parents, devastated her.
She had assigned herself a vigorous training session in the mountains, thinking she could cope with the pain of losing Fu at the hands of Wrath in King Bradley's body. She was found unconscious, passed out in the middle of the dense forest, where the feral animals only waited until night approached and they could feast upon their easy prey.
The young warrior had awakened in what seemed to be a cave, a fire steadily flickering near her, a heavy black long coat draped over her still form. As her eyes blinked and began to focus clearly again, she spotted a distinctively male figure sitting watch at the mouth of the cave, the long black pony tail, the form-fitting black, sleeveless shirt that clung to a well-trained body she unknowingly had stared at occasionally…she immediately knew who it was.
Much to her dismay the chi she detected wasn't that of the young prince, of her Lord, rather it was from the vile Homunculus, Greed.
"How did you get here, Homunculus?" her question was cold as she tried to slowly sit up.
The man answered without turning around to look at her," Ouch, that hurts ya know? Here I am tracking you for days now and find you half dead, about to be devoured by wolves and all you can say is why I am here? Geez, at least a kiss would be nice," when Greed heard the subtle hiss coming from Lan Fan he ordered surprisingly sternly," Don't move, your body is too weak, you've been denying yourself food for too long and you've been training too hard. Rest."
Lan Fan found herself obeying his command, not because it was an order, but because she found her human body protesting heavily against her attempts of moving. She laid carefully back down, unconsciously fingering the material of the black coat.
"First eat something then I'll answer any questions you have princess," Lan Fan noticed what appeared to be meat, pierced on sticks which were already cooked by the fire, a large boar of some kind on the other side of the cave, already skinned and carefully cut.
She growled lowly at the "princess" remark before she reluctantly took a stick and starting chewing warily on the meat, until her hunger overwhelmed her and she started eating more vigorously.
She froze when she heard the Homunculus laugh heartily, he turned his head slightly to regard her with a large grin, "Well, well, well, looks like you're hungry after all huh?" at Lan Fan's embarrassed blush Greed chided surprisingly gently," Eat as much you want, I sure as hell won't judge, besides you could use a pound or two more,"
Lan Fan, embarrassed blush in place, decided to ignore him as she continued to eat, more controlled, her meal managing to sit up and lean against the cave wall.
Long minutes passed until she finally asked the question that she had asked before in a much softer tone, "You didn't answer me, why are you here Homunculus?"
This time, Greed did turn around fully to regard her, and Lan Fan cursed mentally.
She decided that light and shadow were her biggest enemies right now, the shadows played tricks on her, because of the fire, the contours of the well-defined muscles hidden beneath the tight fitting black shirt Greed wore accentuated his trained physique. Though even Lan Fan had to admit that Ling, while he did have a trained body, he had been very lean, the muscles only just so visible. When Greed had merged with him however, the Homunculus obviously had enjoyed training vigorously at times even with Fu, though the old ninja had often put up with the witty Homunculus against his will. At least at the beginning.
Much to Lan Fan's surprise, Greed had grown on Fu, maybe not as much as the young Lord of course, but nevertheless her grandfather had respected and grew fond of the sin. In the end, he had given everything he had and went beyond his limits to ensure both their safety.
"Alright, how about we call each-other by name? You know, the whole "Homunculus" thing is getting old isn't it? No?" the look she was giving him suggested otherwise, "Well, I ain't answering your questions if you keep calling me "Homunculus","
Lan Fan bit her lip, thinking for a moment before she nodded slowly in agreement, Greed nodded to himself with a smirk, satisfied, "Good, as for your question, you were gone for a pretty long time, so me and Ling decided to search you out,"
Lan Fan's eyes widened in surprise, the prince had missed her? It couldn't be…
Her eyes narrowed, "Why?" she swallowed, keeping her nerves in check.
"Pff, isn't it obvious? Because we were worried duh! Well…alright, Ling kept pestering me, he was the worrywart, I wasn't that much so yeah…what the-" Greed tried to hold his own hand back from trying to slap himself, "L-Ling, fucking ask before you t-take control damn it!"
Ling took control temporarily, striking Greed or rather himself, across the face. Ling frowned in dismay, obviously having a dispute with Greed in his mind, before he focused his attention on the slightly stunned woman before him.
"Apologies Lan Fan, Greed said he never lied but it seems like he's breaking that promise more and more often ever since we defeated Father, the truth is he was the worrywart, of course I was very concerned as well, but it was Greed who insisted we should search for you as soon as possible. I tried to give you your space but well…"
Just then Greed took over again, "Don't listen to that runt! He's been drinking too much!" Greed looked like he could murder someone with the menacing glare he was sporting.
Despite the semi-serious atmosphere and Lan Fan's fatigue, she giggled despite her best efforts to muffle it with her hand.
Greed looked like he was arguing with Ling in his head again, his arms crossed with a irritated scowl on his handsome face, until he heard Lan Fan's laugh and turned to look at her.
"Heh, looks like I can make you laugh after all," he grinned something that Lan Fan could only describe as his trademark "Greed grin". That devil-may-care cocky grin that she could only associate with him as weird as it sounded, "You should laugh more often Lan Fan, your laugh's nice enough to not make my ears bleed,"
As she briefly thought over his words, Lan Fan concluded that that meant in Greed language; I like your laugh, you should laugh more. This time, she let a small, shy smile escape her, she felt oddly exposed to him now.
Greed carefully assessed her mood, before he stood up and dusted himself off with a small smile.
Lan Fan looked up at him, confused, "Where are you going?" Greed turned his head to look at her with a understanding smile.
"As much as I hate to do it after all this trouble of finding ya, I'll head back and wait till you come back on your own. It's no use in forcing you to come," his smile turned soft, "I liked the old man, I can only imagine how hard it is for you since he was your grandpa, so I'll leave you as much time as you like, but if I sense you're in danger I'm staying here longer got that?" he waited for her to respond to him, his hands in his pockets.
Lan Fan was surprised at his understanding of her situation and loss, at the beginning she thought Homunculi weren't capable of feelings and human emotions at all but ever since Greed had merged with her Lord, she was starting to think differently.
She smiled tenderly, resting a hand over her beating heart at Greed's kind gesture, she knew her feelings for her Lord, but until now, she had no idea she started to feel something for Greed as well.
"Thank you…Greed," Greed had never seen Lan Fan smile so openly at him before, with such a warm and happy look, it made him feel slightly uncomfortable as he turned to avoid her seeing his expression,
"Yeah…whatever. Just stay out of trouble and eat once I'm gone alright? Don't make me track you down again and find you starved alright?" Greed had to look at her one last time before he went off, just to make sure it wasn't all in his head like he happened to dream every once and a while.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Lan Fan assured him with another smile, her eyes shining with thankfulness and trust. Greed found that uncomfortable feeling to be back, maybe he was coming down with something.
"Ugh…those pesky humans…their bodies are far too fragile and weak to fight off even the most basic of illnesses…" Greed thought with dismay as his heart began to pound and his hands began to sweat.
"Good, guess I'll see ya around then," before Greed left out of her sight however, Greed hollered over his shoulder, "By the way, I took care of the wild animals around here, you should sleep like a baby tonight!" he grinned
Lan Fan could only dumbstruck after Greed as he passed by two bound bears, who covered and whimpered in fear when he passed by them. Just then she noticed he had set up traps.
And almost in each trap there was some wild, dangerous animal trapped in it. A wolf was hanging by a rope from a tree, trying to desperately climb up the rope when it saw Greed nearby. Two wild boars were trapped in a net, looking like they were praying to never see the Homunculus again while the two bears looked like little defenseless cubs once Greed disappeared out of sight.
Lan Fan had to wonder just what the Homunculus had been up to while she had been unconscious.
"Hm…" Lan Fan pondered it over, she knew Ling and Greed were the best of friends now, Ling letting Greed rule over his body any time he wished and even scheming pranks together, if she let Greed return alone to Xing and leave the new Emperor unguarded…leave a bored Emperor unguarded…
Her eyes widened as she quickly grabbed a few sticks of meat and sprinted after Greed, who was not that far from the cave where he brought her to.
"Greed!" she shouted, trying to catch up. The Homunculus slowed as he let her catch up to him so she was walking by his side, he rose an eyebrow in question.
"What are you doing here? I thought you needed your space," he was definitely confused now…and embarrassed by his little-too-open speech earlier. Damn it he was turning into a damn softie. He should stop hanging around the Elrics for a while.
"I changed my mind…I'm alright, besides, I can't let you return to Xing alone, I'm the Emperor's guard after all," Lan Fan chewed on her meat in determination, trying to not reveal the real reason why she decided to go back home.
"Is that so? Alright then, glad to have ya on board again Lan Fan!" Greed grinned cheerfully, clapping her lower back playfully, dangerously close to her behind.
Greed quickly covered his forehead and groin in his Ultimate Shield, letting the sharp tips of the two wooden sticks bounce off the respective areas harmlessly, a bead of sweat was forming on his forehead as he held his hands up in a fake display of innocence,
"H-Hey, Lan Fan, I was just kidding around there, ya know me…" Greed quickly ducked when he saw the shiny, dangerous glint her weapon gave off as Lan Fan attempted to decimate him to bits, he quickly started running away from the skilled ninja who was hot on his heels.
"I should have let you fall to your doom with Wrath!" Lan Fan shouted as she threw her kunai at him
"Hey! No need to get all pissy with me! Come on! Can't a incredibly handsome guy cop a feel every-hey!" Greed jumped out of the way when Lan Fan made a downward slash with her blade, nearly cutting him in half.
"Greed you perverted fool! Try to act like a gentleman around her!" Ling scolded him sharply, slapping his hand over his face in irritation.
"Oi, oi! Don't try to act like a freaking saint here my Lord, as if you didn't want to cop a feel! It wasn't even a dangerous zone! Hell I was only near the zone!" Greed argued with his seemingly human counterpart about it.
"S-shut up Greed! One thing is to think about it and the other is to actually do it!"
"Oho, so you admit at being a pervert! Well, what would Lan Fan say about that?"
Greed shouted over his shoulder as he was still running for his life, "Yo Lan Fan! Guess what Ling was thinking of just now-"
"Stop it Greed! I command you to stop! That's it! I'm taking my body back! I'll rip you out of my body! Milk you!" Ling punched his/Greed's face before Greed took control and delivered the next punch. Ling mentally cursed himself for developing Ed's new way of swearing whenever his kids were in the vicinity.
"Hey Emperor, I heard I tasted a little salty so I wouldn't-"
"GREED!" Lan Fan shouted in embarrassment, trying to swing at him with her blade with a red face.
"Would you look at that, our little, presumably innocent Lan Fan's having dirty thoughts about me eh?" Greed grinned and laughed when Lan Fan only doubled her efforts to kill him, Ling oddly fell silent at his comment.
Greed enjoyed seeing the bright red blush cover her entire face, he felt a twinge of male pride poke at him when he realized it was because of him and only him.
"I should let Lan Fan beat your ass to a pulp," Ling muttered inside their consciousness with crossed arms and a childish pout
"Heh, you mean she will beat up our ass to a pulp? After all, it's the same ass. Though my ass is better," Greed roared with laughter at Ling's comeback
"What do you mean your ass is better?! It's the same ass idiot!" Ling tried not to let Greed's taunts get to him.
He failed spectacularly
"MY ASS IS BETTER! IT'S ROYALTY DAMN IT!"
Greed could only laugh like a psychopath as Lan Fan continued to chase him all the way back to Xing.
Inside the Elrics home, Edward sneezed unexpectedly, scratching his nose as he read the newspaper.
"You got down with a cold Ed?" Winry asked, combing her daughter's hair.
"Nah, at least I don't think so. Weird…it's like someone was talking about me…" Ed shrugged and repositioned Hohen on his lap so the little troublemaker was comfortable as his father was reading.
Phew….I sure hope Ed won't find out Greedling said those things about him…then again, I'm the author, anything could happen lol :P Hope you guys enjoyed reading it! Suggestiosna re always welcome! I could write about other couples I haven't listed too if you want! Just name them and I'll try to write them to the best of my ability! :D