Eyes Like Vines

LingxLan Fan

Ling looked out at the landscape before him. The city was hustle and bustle, something he was still getting use to. Being from Xing, he was use to the beautiful landscape and the city life of Xing. The city in Xing was much different from in Amestris. The city in Xing consisted of a large village and the market, where vendors and shops sold many things. The city here in Amestris… was almost too much for Ling.

He reflected on his time spent so far in Amestris. He had gotten himself wound up in affairs that weren't his own, yet they benefited him greatly due to the secrets of immortality, and even all the knowledge he was gaining about this strange country.

But even with all this… Ling was still unsatisfied.

One would think a Xingese Prince so close to gaining the throne would be enjoying himself in a foreign land having such an adventure. But no… not Ling. He felt… incomplete almost.

Ling Yao was a Prince. Granted, he is one of forty-two other heirs to the Xingese rule, in Ling's eyes, he is the closest to gaining the rule of his country due to his knowledge of immortality. Even though there are fifty clans in Xing, the Yao clan was a strong clan, one of the rich clans. Ling had grown up in a life of luxury, but a luxurious lifestyle was not the type for Ling. Not necessarily. Ling Yao enjoyed adventured. He was never one to stay still for so long. Maybe the fact that he was a prince came into play with all that.

Ling was use to getting his way, but he didn't use that to his advantage often. He was use to getting everything in the world. So maybe that's why… that's why when he sees the one thing he'd give everything for to have… he feels a stab of pain. The one thing he would give being Emperor of Xing for… he didn't have… and he wasn't sure if he ever would.

Squinted, grey eyes glanced to the right, and Ling looked at the very thing of his desires. The one who had sworn to protect him until he was buried in the ground due to old age.

"Lan Fan," He spoke to her, "Let's go meet up with the Elrics."

"Yes, Master."

Ling wanted to yell her for calling him that. He use to yell at her every time she spoke to him with a formal title. He would tell her, even threaten to order her, to call him by his name. However, each time she refused.

The young prince wanted nothing more than to tell Lan Fan his inner thoughts, his feelings that he shoves deep down. Yet, he never does… and probably never will.

Their different statuses within Xingese society would sometimes restrain him from saying anything. The main reason why he never voiced his feelings was due to the way she looked at him.

Her eyes… they held adoration, promise… but not affection. There was no love nor hints towards love in her eyes, and that's what always held the young prince back from confessing his feelings to his protector. Her eyes are like vines to him. The way they look at him binds him into never voicing his feelings, into not giving into his heart's desires. Does she look at him the way she does unknowing of how it affects him… or does she know exactly what she's doing?

Either way… Ling Yao will always have those feelings for Lan Fan, no matter how deeply buried they are. Her eyes are not only vines binding him from saying anything, but they are binds that keep him connected to her, and her to him. Whether Lan Fan knows it or not, the only important thing is that Ling knows it. And for the time being, he's alright with that.