A.N.) I'll admit to rushing this a bit. I'm sorry if it's bad.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

Special Thanks to SunshineOwl. Your review helped me greatly.

What It Means to Be the Wife of the Emperor

Chapter 3: Look the Other Way

It would be an understatement to say that Empress Lan Fan had a crazy morning. It started with mystification and panic when she had awoken by herself in a bed of silk and sunshine. The Emperor kissing her forehead every morning was Lan Fan's constant reminder that her life was real. Today, however, had caught the poor girl off guard. At first, she opened her eyes almost relieved that everything was a dream, she was still a guard, and all her problems were gone. Although, when she noticed the fabric and what room she was in, she held fear that she was still a guard but slept with someone she shouldn't have. This led to confusion and deeper relief when she noticed she was fully clothed. Then all her fear rushed back, because as soon as she put her feet on the hardwood floor to stand, servants came rushing in bombarding her questions. She had stood at the center of them, completely stunned. It's all true, she thought dizzy from a downpour of realization. That was the end of the morning…

…because she had fainted for the rest of it.

"Man, your husband gives you a flower, kiss, and heart-felt goodbye, while mine just gives me a peck and 'See ya later!'" Winry wined before taking an angry bite into her pastry.

"I never knew my half-brother was a romantic," Mei commented before sipping her tea.

"It must run in the last Emperor's family!" Paninya tossed, with a teasing grin.

Mei just huffed and snatched a cookie with clawing fingers.

Lan Fan and a group of her guests had been sitting in a sunroom for, well, a snack time or some form of lunch. It was smart for Mustang and his team to leave sight seeing in the nearest village; this conversation was nothing but talk of personal love affairs; "Girl Talk" as Winry put it. The Curtis couple was staying in their room until lunch, and Maria Ross was escorting her friend Denny to her most favored aspects of Xing. Dr. Knox went down to the village as well. Though he would never admit it, he was looking for gifts to bring back to his family. Along with the three bickering girls before her, Lan Fan's crowd also included a silent Mr. Garfiel, as if waiting to strike, and an intensely focused Sciezka.

The area stuck out as the thumb of the palace; three of the walls being just rectangles of glass with rosewood frames holding it all together, topped off with a pyramid roofing with venetian red shingles. Chairs and settees with plenty of pillows were scattered to revolve around a square table in the center of the room. On the floor and corner stands, there were pots of grass and vases of exotic, fresh scented clusters of flowers. This room was a perfect place to bring the guests, because then Winry could still keep an eye on her son and daughter playing tag with Xiao Mei and Alex Armstrong outside in the spacious garden.

As soon as silence began to settle, Mr. Garfiel threw more fuel into the discussion.

"So what kind of flower did that man of your leave you, Empress?"

It took a minute for Lan Fan to realize he was talking to her; she'd never get use to being called "Empress" instead of "Servant". Mr. Garfiel, however, took her silence as a way of asking why.

"Ling's an educated man, and from what I'm hearing, is also very poetic, so the flower could have some underline message."

Ignoring his latest statement, Lan Fan concentrated to memorize. "I don't know the name, but it was pale pink, about five petals with wavy edges, funnel shaped…"

"I believe you could be talking about an azalea," Sciezka offered.

Mr. Garfiel hummed for a moment. The entire group (even Lan Fan) leaned toward to the guy, not wanting to miss a word. "An azalea," he started. They leaned further. "It means take care, restraint, first love, and passion."

"How do you know that, Mr. Garfiel?" Mei asked nibbling on a cookie.

"I use to live by a florist in my days as a child."

"I bet that had little influence on your life," Paninya muttered.

Lan Fan looked at her lap and lightly smiled at a mental image of her husband. They had only been a few hours apart, but she still was both missing him and deeply worried.

Sciezka swung her head to Lan Fan with a large grin of satisfaction. "I remember reading that in Xing, the azalea flower is also the symbol for womanhood and femininity."

It surprised the audience to seeing the queen's face suddenly drop into thick dreadfulness.

"Oh…" she mumbled.

A delicate, chilled touch on her right hand snapped Lan Fan out of thought. She turned her head to see that Sciezka was leaning over her chair reaching out with a mixed expression of concern and panic. "I'm so sorry. Did I say something wrong?"

"No. No. You're fine, Sciezka," Lan Fan replied.

"So what's the matter than?" Winry asked with an edge of anger ready to take out the Emperor if he hurt her friend.

"It is nothing important."

"Then how about the Empress talks or I'll give Ling Yao a personal heads up that his wife needs an interrogation!" Mei threatened, grinning ear-to-ear with pride in knowing that she won.

Lan Fan sighed, taking a sip of hot tea to calm her instinctive adrenaline to fight against being vulnerable. Something inside was holding her back, and she figured it was either talk to them or talk to Ling about it. She wasn't ready to face Ling.

Her face became stoic, courtesy of her training. She didn't want to anyone to realize how much this bothered her.

She practically spat off her tongue. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to say, but it was how it came out. "I should have just stayed his guard."

Mei nearly dropped her food and glared with astonishment. "But that would mean never becoming Empress!"

"I never wanted to become Empress."

"You wouldn't have married Ling then."

"Well maybe I shouldn't have agreed to marry him then." Lan Fan hadn't processed what she said until she heard it come out of her mouth.

Mei gasped, horrified by Lan Fan's words.

"Oh dear…" Mr. Garfiel mumbled and gawked at the young queen.

Winry looked so furious; she jumped from her seat and rushed out of the room. Sciezka simply looked away, clearly uncomfortable.

Lan Fan gulped back all shame before continuing. There was no stopping now. "At least when we were just master and servant, I could protect him. Instead he's trying to protect me! At least when I was his guard, I could see him everyday. Now as his wife, I have to waste my time separate from him. All a wife's duty is to be around when I'm wanted, right? When we were apart, I could point all my focus on him. Now that were mixed, I'm so overcome with fear and confusion of doing wrong, I don't know what's right for me anymore!" The pressure for salvation put the girl at the point of nearly hyperventilating.

The stunned silence didn't linger long enough to get use to. Winry stomped back into the room with a thick photo album. She flipped the plastic pages for a few moments before hurrying to stand before the sitting woman.

"Lan Fan, look at this! It's a picture of Ling as Emperor before he proposed to you!"

Paninya poked out from behind Lan Fan's seat, gaping at the photo of the Xingese king sitting on his throne, holding a stare that could've burnt holes in the camera lens. "Wow, someone has their mean-face on!"

"Now here's a picture taken an hour before your wedding!" Winry yelled, turning a few pages.

Lan Fan looked down at a photograph of Ling giving a huge, genuine fox grin while prancing around in his marital robes. She chuckled slightly at the sight of his advisor and Edward chasing him out of the corner of the snapshot.

Mr. Garfiel hummed a bit, trying to sneak a peak at the new evidence.

"Don't you see, Lan Fan? He had achieved his goal, but he wasn't happy until you two were together! Why are you letting things like this sabotage everything?" Winry exclaimed almost tearing from desperation.

"Lan Fan, Ling would want to know if you were hurting like this! He loves you!" Mei screamed with big, worried eyes.

"Have you talked to Ling about any of this, Lan Fan?" Winry asked, astonished that Lan Fan actually started to grip the armrests.

Lan Fan stared past the book to her lap, and solemnly shook her head. "I can never tell him. As a good wife, I mustn't bother him with such things."

Winry leaned down, as if to grab her, but that would never be made certain. The blonde woman was forced two feet away from the Xingese queen by a kunai shoved at her jugular. The sunroom became flooded with imperial guards, all dressed in black and masks like Lan Fan's, only different designs.

"That's enough! Back off or you'll be arrested for hostile intent toward the Empress!" shouted the sentinel holding the knife. There were at least two guards standing by each person in the room.

Lan Fan instantly rose from her chair and yanked the man away from Winry. "No, no! Stop it! Get off of her! Its fine," she yelled. The tension settled and Lan Fan waving off the guards. "Wong, please lead the other sentinels back to their assigned posts, while I just… freshen up… a bit," she murmured before stumbling out of the room. As soon as she was out of everyone's view, she picked up her dress and ran back to her room. She didn't want any of the guards insisting to escort her.

By the time the sun entered the stage of twilight, it was officially one of the worst days of Lan Fan's life.

Lan Fan heaved and dipped her head to a bucket, vomiting all she ate at snack time. All her guests had left the palace to go to the local restaurants for dinner. No one mentioned Ling, or anything that wasn't superficial for the rest of the day. She stayed shaky the whole time. There was a sinking feeling in her chest that only deepened whenever her stomach punched up.

The sick woman was kneeing on an open plain of her bedroom, hugging the trash pail.

Her personal dresser held her hair above her head to avoid spiting in it. The woman came to dress the Empress for dinner, but found she wasn't feeling well and was going to retire early for the night. She felt remorse that the girl was experiencing all this on her honeymoon. It only became worse when Lan Fan had collapsed and gagged while leading the woman to the door.

When Lan Fan knew she had finished, she placed the can away from her. With tired, hopeful eyes, she looked up to the servant who was still holding her hair. She was thankful that the only trace of sickness on her appearance was paleness and a thin sheen of sweat.

"Please don't mention this to his Excellency," was all she asked.

The middle aged woman was visibly worried, but also defeated. She nodded. "I vow secrecy under order, but Milady, you must find a way to relax. The Emperor obsesses over making sure you're healthy, so you are vomiting out of stress. This could wreak internal damage and jeopardizing bearing an heir anytime soon."

Is being attractive and giving a boy what my duty is? Is that all I'm wanted for?

The dresser let go of Lan Fan's hair and pulled out a sleeping gown.

Lan Fan cleaned up and was about to change out of her daily robes, but was interrupted by another servant entering the room. The girl was about the same age as Lan Fan, but shorter and timid. It made her sad that she was once among these people, and now some feared her. She could see the girl's legs were shaking while she nearly rammed her head to the floor to bow.

"Madame, I am sorry to, uh… disturbed you, but Lady Yao has arrived at the palace and has requested a private dinner with you."

Lan Fan remembered Ling trying to keep her and his mother apart ever since their engagement. She couldn't possibly push her aside now though. She had no urgent excuse; it would be greatly disrespectful.

"Tell her I will join her shortly."

The servant girl nodded and left with another bow.

"I will fetch your crown and an evening gown for you," the dresser notified before disappearing.

The Empress stood alone and sighed. My night's only going to get worse, isn't it?

A.N.) I hope you like it, and please review, or else I won't know if you want me to continue right away.

Next Chapter: Another Mother-In-Law From Hell