A/N: Theme number three - Mirror.

Lan Fan seems sort of OoC in this one x.x Whoops.

Lan Fan never looked in mirrors.

It wasn't like she needed to. Her job was to protect the Young Master, and checking on her appearance had nothing to do with it. When she did wash her face or retie her hair, she did it without looking at a single reflective surface. To her, mirrors were absolutely useless.

Fu had remarked on this before. "A young woman like you, even one of the guard clan would usually have at least one looking glass in her room," he had commented. "Your mother had one. It broke years ago, but it was something she treasured. It's good you take your guard duty so seriously, granddaughter, but there is no harm in owning something like that."

She told him that she had no use for one, and that she didn't care. He had taken it as an acceptable response, and as the truth. Afterward, Fu had nodded and patted her head in a kind way.

But what she had told her grandfather hadn't been correct. The real reason was a reality buried inside her, one that she hated to see. One that she didn't want to believe true.

When she looked in mirrors, she saw what she really was. Lan Fan couldn't sing, dance, or play an instrument. She was neither pretty nor elegant, and clothes were always ones that would hide the fact that she was a woman: loose and plain. Her face was nothing special, and she was of low birth. Whenever Lan Fan looked into the mirror, she saw the truth.

A girl who was not fit to love a prince.

She was the exact opposite of the many who could become his wife. She was truly useless when it came to fulfilling her duty as a woman. In her position, it would be considered shameful to even see him more than just a master.

It was almost cowardly of her, to hide away from the truth. It was something she had never done before. But Lan Fan still wanted to believe that she could love him, even though she had nothing. She pretended that she was good enough for him.

And she could only do that without looking into a mirror.

Words: 371

Additional Notes: None.

Reviews are love :]