Title: Cast Offs
Author: vanillavinegar
Rating: K+ (mentions of blood/injuries)
Summary: She had sworn to give her life for him.
Warnings: SPOILERS for chapter 47 of the manga/Brotherhood episode 23 (aka, Lan Fan being a badass).
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist and all associated characters, settings, etc., belong to Hiromu Arakawa-san. The only profit I make from this work of fiction is my own satisfaction and, possibly, the enjoyment of others.
Author's Notes: This fic was written for prompt 143, 'fracture', at fma_fic_contest. It won first place that week. Thanks to everyone for reading, and special thanks to Kristen Sharpe, Flower in the Rain, The-Sun-Princess, and silverymoon19 for reviewing!
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Lan Fan knows pain. She has suffered injuries before, both in the service of the young master and through her own foolishness, and she is familiar with the feel of her own blood. She has been trained to recognize the difference between a fracture and a sprain and a dislocated bone at a touch.
She knows when a limb is dead.
She can't move her arm, can't control the muscles at all. It hangs uselessly from her shoulder, just as she hangs uselessly from the young master's. He is saying something, telling her to hold on, and she remembers swearing to protect him when she was barely old enough to understand the words.
"I will give up my life for the prince, if I must," she'd solemnly told her grandfather, and he had knelt to look her in the eye.
"There are harder things to give up than one's life, granddaughter."
"Yes," she mumbles. "Harder things."
"Lan Fan, whatever you're thinking of doing—" the prince says warningly. His head moves from left to right, searching, but there is no escape for them – for him – not as they are.
She stuffs her cowl into her mouth. She will scream – she will not be able to help it – but she can muffle it as much as she can. She twirls her kunai, aiming the blade squarely at her shoulder.
This will hurt her, she knows, but it will not break her.
She takes a deep breath.
THE END