Lan Fan didn't argue as her mother grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her off the dance floor. Lady Suyin led them to the nearest empty alcove where they could speak privately. Lan Fan took a step backward when her mother rounded on her and released her wrist.
"Tell me you did not fight with your brother yesterday. In front of the emperor no less."
Lan Fan flinched and lowered her eyes to the floor.
"Look at me when I'm speaking you," Suyin demanded.
Snapping to attention the bodyguard lifted her head.
"Do you deny it?"
Lan Fan opened her mouth to explain but thought better of it. She decided to shoulder the blame for the incident. Any excuse she made would ring hollow. Lan Fan shook her head. Lady Suyin trembled with anger and Lan Fan braced herself for a lecture. She'd heard it all before.
"You know exactly how I feel about Xiang becoming a guard, yet you continue to encourage him," Suyin seethed.
Xiang hardly needs any encouragement.
Lan Fan kept her own counsel.
Peace never lasted long between them. These days their arguments were mere skirmishes compared to the war they once waged. The last several years they'd maintained an unwritten armistice. Now Lady Suyin unleashed her arsenal.
"Reckless! Just like your grandfather," Suyin said in a caustic whisper.
Lan Fan put up her best wall. She pictured herself sinking in icy water, her heart frosting over like a window pane. Tiny bubbles streaming from her mouth until there were no more to be had. "I should never have let you show him how to make a fist let alone how to fight," Suyin continued. It was no use. Lan Fan wasn't suspended in an underwater icescape. No water muffled her mother's words. Only the sound of Lan Fan's heartbeat reverberating in her head.
"Do you wish to send me to an early grave?" Suyin's voice climbed.
"No," Lan Fan monotoned.
"Xiang is a child. You are the adult."
"Yes, mother."
"You should've sent him straight back home."
"I know."
"Keeping secrets!" Suyin carried on. "How am I supposed to trust either of you?"
Suyin's words ignited the short fuse of Lan Fan's temper.
"People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," Lan Fan shot back.
"What in heavens are you talking about?" Suyin asked.
This was hardly the time or place for this conversation, but for once Lan Fan couldn't keep quiet.
"February 1914."
"What?"
"You changed my name. You replaced my father. You are the one who keeps secrets," Lan Fan exploded.
The color drained from Lady Suyin's face.
"How do you know about that?"
"What does it matter how I know? You should've told me. I have more important things to do than report back to you on Xiang's misadventures. Why don't you try looking after your child for a change instead of having someone else do it?"
Lady Suyin struck her daughter across the face. It shocked Lan Fan. By the look on Suyin's face she was just as startled by her action. Suyin didn't make a habit of disciplining her children in such a manner. To Suyin's credit she recovered quickly.
"Now you listen to me. You will not speak to me that way. I've always looked after your best interests. Your grandfather may have colored your opinion of me but I'm your mother. Do you hear me?"
Lan Fan stared at her wide eyed. No one had reprimanded her physically in a long time. The last time Grandfather had struck her clean across the face for losing Prince Ling. For the loss of her arm.
"Do you hear me?" Suyin asked again.
"Yes," Lan Fan answered.
"No more sparring with your brother. No more worrying us with your coming and going as you please without so much as a word. I've had enough. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Lan Fan repeated.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
Lan Fan looked at her mother in defiance. If Suyin wasn't going to apologize for her trespasses than neither was Lan Fan. She shook her head.
"No."
"Then go take care of the things you think are more important than your family," Lady Zhang commanded.
"As you wish."
The Yao bodyguard obeyed.
While Yue-Yan excused herself briefly Sebastian convened with General Mustang. They took up residence at a standing table near a group of acrobats. "Any whispering campaigns?" Mustang asked. Sebastian tilted his head, letting his eyeglasses tip down his nose, and gestured with the hand holding his highball glass.
"Apparently, there's some chatter about a noble from the Zhang clan making an unexpected appearance. Aside from that not much. Idle gossip from the servants. The centerpiece of the dessert table was a croquembouche but someone named Peizhi dropped it on the way from the kitchens. Those sorts of things," Sebastian took a sip of his ginger and bourbon. The carbonation in the ginger beer fizzed, tickling his nose. Sebastian wasn't above eavesdropping if it meant ingratiating himself to General Mustang. He didn't consider himself adept at espionage but he was no stranger to people watching.
Sebastian Schuyler didn't have friends. He had classmates while at university, colleagues at work, and a handful of acquaintances. This was entirely by design. Schuyler had no interest in divulging the details of his personal life. Inquiries into his private affairs were met with polite yet vague responses. Sebastian told any who asked that he had no family to speak of, and he was married to his work. He lived alone in a modest flat. Sebastian was courteous but reserved with his neighbors.
Unfortunately, Sebastian's aversion to making friends wasn't doing him any favors. Though Sebastian stood by his assessment of Alphonse Elric's presentation, in hindsight he thought he'd spoken out of turn. The Elric Brothers were infamous for their influence and close ties to the Amestrian military brass and the Emperor of Xing both. The diplomatic attaché had spent the remainder of the afternoon annotating Alphonse's presentation packet in preparation for their meeting the following morning. If Sebastian wanted any chance at the chargé d'affaires appointment he needed to make nice with Alphonse Elric.
"What about our interpreter?" asked Mustang.
"She's a skilled linguist," he answered.
"Anything else?"
Sebastian adjusted his spectacles. Noticing a smudge on the left lense Sebastian removed them. He set his drink on the table. From his pocket he produced a pristine handkerchief to polish the glass. He had the impression their interpreter was infatuated with Alphonse Elric. Miss Yue-Yan became considerably more flustered in Mr. Elric's presence. Earlier in the evening Sebastian caught her looking at the alchemist across the room in a manner he could only describe as longing. It also appeared Alphonse was oblivious to her affection.
"Miss Yue-Yan's translations thus far are accurate. I believe she can be trusted to do her job," Sebastian replied.
If Yue-Yan had a secret crush on Alphonse Elric it wasn't his business. Sebastian most assuredly wasn't going to make it his business. He held his glasses up to the light. Crystal clear. Returning his glasses to his face he blinked his eyes back into focus.
Roy Mustang regarded him with an inscrutable expression.
"May I ask why you decided to study Xingese instead of say Cretan?" Roy inquired.
Sebastian picked up his drink.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," he equivocated.
"You're good at that," Mustang smirked.
"I don't know what you mean, General."
"Evading."
Schuyler didn't dignify his observation with a response. Mustang did him a favor and dropped the subject. The diplomatic attaché had a feeling it was only for now. Upon the return of their interpreter he excused himself.
Edward saw Lan Fan making a beeline for a side exit. He forced his way through a group of people to follow her, ignoring a man Ed was pretty sure called him a racial slur. Ed caught up to her outside. The Xingese young woman slipped on an icy patch of the pathway. The theoretical alchemist wrapped his arm around her waist.
"I've got you," Edward exclaimed.
Lan Fan grabbed onto his shoulder. Between the two of them they managed to keep her upright. They stared each other. Edward could proudly say she stared up at him.
"You can let go of me now," Lan Fan told him through gritted teeth.
He removed his arm from her waist before he lost it.
"You're welcome," Ed laced his words with sarcasm.
Then Ed remembered why he was looking for her in the first place.
"I guess you talked to your mom. I didn't know she didn't know."
"Your ignorance of our traditions is increasingly apparent," Lan Fan accompanied the words with her most contemptuous look yet. Ed had seen that look from her enough over the time they'd known each other.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you if you keep making that face it might stick?" He joked.
Lan Fan didn't crack a smile.
All dolled up she was still terrifying. A chill ran down his spine. Or rather up from his automail. It was freezing out.
"Hey, your automail isn't for cold weather right?"
"It's perfectly fine. Mind your own automail," Lan Fan instructed. "If you would stop meddling in my affairs everything would be fine."
The bodyguard turned to storm off once more.
"You're being an idiot," he shouted.
She didn't stop.
Screw it.
Ed decided to go for broke.
"Here I thought that was Ling's job!"
It worked like a charm
Lan Fan turned to glare at him.
"Do not insult His Imperial Highness," she warned.
"Then don't be an idiot."
Edward took off his jacket as he walked over to her. He put it around her shoulders, held his hand out toward the veranda.
"Ladies first."
Lan Fan wanted to scream. Instead she shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Fresh air and frigid temperatures were what she needed. They cooled off her hot head. Lan Fan opened her eyes and walked up to the steps. Edward followed behind her. Lanterns illuminated the walkway surrounding the Hall of Serenity. Lan Fan hesitated at the door.
"Hey," Ed said.
She looked up at him.
"If you want to stay out here awhile I could get us some coffee," Ed offered.
Lan Fan nodded.
While Edward went to fetch them coffee Lan Fan breathed. By the time Ed returned with coffee she calmed down enough to conduct herself with temperance.
"Thank you."
"No problem."
Lan Fan took a sip. She tasted coffee and almonds. The drink burned the back of her throat but warmed her chest.
"What's in this?"
Edward tried his coffee.
"Amaretto. I asked the guy at the bar for strong coffee. I think something got lost in translation. Sorry, I don't know how to say espresso in Xingese."
"It's fine."
In relatively companionable silence Lan Fan and Edward sipped the coffee and liqueur concoction. Eventually, Ed broke the quiet. "Look," Ed began. He paused. Lan Fan waited while he considered his next words. He continued, "My dad wasn't around when I was a kid."
Silence.
"I mean, he was kinda absent even when he was still around."
Edward warmed his hands around his cup.
"Then he comes back acting all surprised things aren't the way he left them," Ed glanced her way. "Xiang mentioned you didn't grow up together."
"Master Fu raised me after my father died," Lan Fan stated.
"Were you close with your dad?"
Lan Fan looked at him. Ed didn't have a baby face anymore. He had a strong jaw and broad shoulders. With Ed's golden hair in a tail he looked a lot like his father.
"He wasn't around often. He spent a lot of time at the Yao Estate guarding Prince Ling. But when he was home he was present," Lan Fan answered.
"How old were you when he died?"
Lan Fan looked up at the stars. Inside the Hall of Serenity the band played Moonlight Serenade.
"Three." Lan Fan surprised herself by asking, "How old were you when your mother died?"
"Five," Ed took another sip of his coffee. Lan Fan finished her cup. Edward Elric was doing his best to relate to her. Lan Fan thought it more than a little strange but at the same time strangely comforting.
"We should go back inside," she said.
"Yeah it's pretty cold out here."
"Thank you," Lan Fan returned his jacket.
"Don't worry about it."
As Lan Fan and Edward returned to the party together she thought perhaps they were better friends than she'd realized.
