A/N: I really don't like this one.

It seemed okay at first when I was writing it. Then after proofing and rereading it about fifteen gazillion times, it seemed a bit off. Then when I uploaded it to here it seems pretty...argh. Bad. There's something wrong with it.

I've reread it twice more and still can't seem to pinpoint the problem. Maybe you can. Either way, here you go.

Theme number fifteen - Wife of a King. It's a pretty odd theme. I was originally going to call it "Queen" but I think the other one fits better. Sort of.

This one is one of the longest I've written. I usually write better short ones, since long ones tend to go on and get boring. I bet this one does too.

(I'll stop bashing myself now. You can just go and read it.)

Cai Jun, year 1780. First Wife of Emperor Zhou. Famous for her lovely embroidery, dancing, and singing.

Mei Yue, year 1817. Favorite concubine of Emperor Yang. Was one of the most gorgeous wives in the history of Xing and wonderful at playing the erhu. Was the only concubine buried with Emperor Yang.

Xue Hua, year 1620. Seventh wife of Emperor Li, but the most beautiful out of the fifty. Bore Emperor Li a son that later became the next emperor of Xing. Elegant and extremely graceful. Extremely loyal to the emperor.

"Lan Fan! Where are you?"

Lan Fan slammed the book shut, and hastily attempted to stuff it back into the shelf of books next to her. It had a complete opposite effect and a ton of books tumbled onto the ground, more than several smashing into Lan Fan's legs. She pulled the books off her, annoyed, before checking the make sure the paper sheets next to her were undamaged. Fortunately, they weren't.

"So that's where you were. I heard that noise. Are you okay?" Ling peeked at her behind a bookshelf. "Have you finished yet? I was just thinking about getting something to eat." He gave a large fake sigh. "Those courtiers…they think I can last three entire hours without a single bite to eat! What are you doing here, anyway?"

"N-nothing!" she spluttered, picking up the fallen volumes and haphazardly began shoving them back onto the shelf. Her cheeks flushed pink, and she cursed herself for taking her mask off earlier.

Lan Fan quickly stuck the last book on top of the rest and stood up, bowing. She quickly pulled her mask back over her face and knotted the strings. "I apologize for my incompetence, Your Highness. I do not ask for your forgiveness."

"Nah, I'm not worried about that," the young emperor said, waving his hand. "Don't sweat it. But," he continued, "I am intrigued on what you were looking at. I was sure I asked you to help me look up the past changes the emperors have made on Xing. But never mind that, what did you find here?"

Lan Fan drew in a shaky breath. There was no way she would tell him what she was looking at. "Nothing much, really," she answered in an even tone. "Nothing of importance. However, I did find the information you requested me to find."

Ling accepted the papers she held out of him and began to skim through them in an almost hungry, eager way. Lan Fan bowed again. "If you'll excuse me, Your Highness. I have matters to attend to." And then she had disappeared.

Ling blinked. She had never done that before. Letting the papers fall onto the floor, he knelt down next to the shelf that his bodyguard had been looking at. He was sure that the book she had been looking at had been dark red leather, with a gold lines on the spine...yes, there it was. He extracted the book out from the shelf and turned to look at the title.

Women of the Court, a History: Tales and Lists of the Wives of Emperors.

Ling's stomach twisted in a painful way, and he knew that it wasn't because of hunger. Dread filled him as he flipped past the title pages, before pausing at the introduction. He glanced around to check that no one was close to him before beginning to read the Xingese characters.

The wives of emperors have been prominent figures throughout Xingese history. Traditionally, fifty wives are chosen for an emperor-one from each Clan. Each wife chosen is said to be beautiful, soft-voiced, delicate, and be accomplished at the womanly arts, such as embroidery and playing instruments. They are expected to be able to sit quietly, bear strong children, and have exquisite manners. They...

Ling stopped, and flipped to a random page. He read the title at the top: Ai Nu, 1715. Fifth wife of Emperor Cao. Known for her knowledge and being able to speak five fluent languages. The music she played on the guqin was "a song fit for gods". Next to the short biography and another long list of her accomplishments was a painted portrait of Ai Nu.

She was, indeed, exceptionally beautiful. Her face was free of any blemishes, and patted down with rouge, while her long black hair was twisted into a style befitting a married woman of high social class. Ai Nu's expression might have been one of a smiling, caring queen but he recognized it as one of high arrogance and scorn. It was nauseating.

Ling flipped past her page, and then the next. All of them were painted with fine looks, had similar accomplishments and talents, and bore the same haughty look of disdain. They were all, in a way, completely identical.

He slammed the book shut and shoved carelessly it back into the shelf, causing the myriad of books to tumble out of their places again. But he didn't care. Ling raced out of the library, ignoring the shouts and cries of surprise the courtiers and servants waiting for him outside made. Lan Fan, he thought, as he sprinted in his silk robes. Lan Fan, where are you?

Lan Fan squished herself tighter between a mass of branches and leaves. Her favorite childhood hiding place was not as comfortable as it had been when she had been six years old, but she couldn't be picky. She felt a twig jab into her side, but ignored it; there were more things to think about than a sharp stick.

She felt angry at herself for being such an idiot. If she hadn't been caught right then, then Lan Fan wouldn't even be in this embarrassing, pathetic predicament right then. For heaven's sake, she didn't even know why she had fled from her Young Master herself. If Fu had found out, he would have been absolutely furious with her. But of course there was no Fu anymore…

Lan Fan shook her head. She had to stop thinking that way. She had to calm down, and then return back to His Highness's side, and apologize profusely for her improper actions. It was pathetic. She was an emperor's guard. Lan Fan was supposed to be top-class and completely faithful and loyal to her duty. So why was she sitting here now, acting like a coward?

Lan Fan clenched her teeth behind her mask, letting herself emit a tight, angry sound of disgust. What a failure she was.

It had been her who had volunteered to help her emperor look for past records of the emperors of Xing in the library. She had found the information he had been looking for, but had wandered off to the other section of the library to check for anything she might have missed. And then she had walked by that section, found that book, and…

She shook her head. Normally something like that wouldn't have appealed to her, but that one time she had paused to pick it up and read it. And it was so stupid…she clenched her fist. Somehow reading the passages had made her feel irritated, baffled and…hopeless. And she didn't understand why.

A trace of qi pricked her skin. Before she had time to react, she heard a voice. "Lan Fan!"

After muttering a few choice cuss words under her breath, Lan Fan quickly jumped from her current tree to the next one. Her arm gripped a slender branch, and she began to pull herself up before she was seen—and then the branch broke off with a brittle snap.

If she had been less worried about books and Ling not finding her, she would have been able to land soundlessly and flawlessly. But this time, Lan Fan fell through the air and hit the ground with a dull and sickening thud.

When she came to, she found herself in a swirl of softness. The scents around her were gentle, and she heard utter silence and peace. For a while, she lay there, simply enjoying the comfortable spot she was in. Then Lan Fan remembered what had happened and immediately sat up, her eyes wide. She felt her body complain and a dozen different spots began hurting, but she ignored it.

Her surroundings were completely unfamiliar. She was in a bed of white sheets, and the softness of them was astonishing. She looked down, and found herself wearing a night shift, one made of high-quality cotton. Lan Fan found her right hand swathed in white bandages, and the spike-strap on her automail removed, along with the blade.

The room she was in was painted with lotus flowers, while exquisitely carved furniture decorated the sleeping chamber. She glanced at the table next to the vast bed, and saw her spike-strap and blade lying on the glossy maple surface. There was no doubt. Lan Fan was in the palace.

What was she doing there, though? She attempted to recall back the finer details of what had happened after she had fallen, but remembered nothing. Lan Fan had blacked out once she had hit the ground.

But that wasn't important. The first thing she had to do was get out of the palace. It was definitely no place for a commoner like her to be. She pulled back the sheets and set her feet down on the ground. Pain flooded her body once more when she applied pressure to her feet, but she ignored it again. Lan Fan had almost completely slid off the bed when the door to the chamber slid open, and Ling stepped in, accompanied by a servant holding a tea tray.

Before she could even react, Ling had crossed the room and none-too-kindly shoved her back under the sheets. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he snapped in a very un-Ling way. "Are you nuts?"

"Your Highness, I…" Lan Fan started, but was abruptly cut off by Ling again.

"You fell out of a tree, Lan Fan, in case you haven't remembered. You suffered heavy bruising, scrapes, a cracked rib, and a messy break in your wrist. If it wasn't for alkahestry you'd be in some serious trouble. But you're still weak, and your right hand is still tender. Don't even think about getting up and moving for a while." He looked at her sternly for a while, before lowering his voice and switching to Amestrian, so the servant wouldn't be able to eavesdrop. "Please don't let that happen again. It scared me to death. I…I don't want to lose you again."

Lan Fan swallowed nervously, not knowing what to say in the situation she was in. Fortunately, she didn't. Ling beckoned the servant over to set the tea down on the nightstand. He then dismissed her, and she left with a quick bow.

"Here," he said, pouring out the tea from the teapot. Ling handed her the cup, and she accepted it. The taste was delicious.

"Thank you," she said. "Did you bring me here?"

"Yes," he answered. "What was I supposed to do? Leave you lying there half-dead in the grass? I'm not that much of an idiot."
"You're not an idiot, Your Highness!" she protested "And I'm wasn't half-dead, either. But either way, Your Highness, I don't mean to offend you, but you could have brought me to my house. It's not that far away…"

"But I brought you here, and you're safe. Your injuries have been taken care of. And no, I don't care for your dignity as a guard and not being able to stay here as a 'commoner'. You can complain about that later."

"Your Highness, I wasn't going to—"

"Yes you were. You were trying to escape right under my nose." Ling refilled her teacup, and handed her the steaming drink, which she gratefully took. "You may not know this, Lan Fan, but I don't see you as just a guard. You're my best friend, my companion, and more. You stayed with me and came back with me. You braved the horrors of the Amestrian homunculi and all the things behind it. You still believed in me, even when Greed took over my body. You've done many things for me, Lan Fan."

"I haven't done all that much…I even failed you as a guard back in Amestris," she objected. "Don't flatter me that much."

"You didn't fail me back then," Ling said firmly. "But out of all of the things you're done for me, the most important one is probably what you've taught me. You taught me about love, Lan Fan.

"Back when I was learning how to be an emperor, I was taught that 'love' was a way for the Clan to exist. Marriage was only so we did not die out. I was told that when I became emperor, I would receive fifty wives and I would have to produce an heir with each one. It was not love, Lan Fan. It was survival.

"But then I came to Amestris with you and your grandfather in search for immortality. It was then that I saw real love, actual love—but I didn't recognize it yet. It wasn't until everythingwas over did I actually realize it. During the time we spent in Amestris, we had shared things together. We had seen each other in our worst times and supported one other throughout. In that time period, you always came back to me, no matter what. That was your love to me, your devotion to me, whether you recognized it or not. And when Greed took over my body, I still thought of you every day. I wanted to know where you were, and how you were doing. And once it was all over, Lan Fan…I realized that what I had not only gained a Philosopher's Stone and my goal, but an insight on what love really meant.

"People expect wives of emperors to be stunningly pretty and good at things like sewing and playing instruments. They expect wives to bear strong children and be loyal and submissive. The past emperors expected those traits. I used to as well. But now I don't. I know what love really is now. And now that I am emperor, I can make the choices I want. I'll make the changes I think are right, and I'll make sure Xing benefits from it."

Ling lifted a hand and rested it on Lan Fan's cheek. "You don't have to be good at what they expect you to be good at or be the loveliest pearl out of them all, Lan Fan. I love you, and that's all there is to it."

A tear rolled down her cheek, and splattered on Ling's finger, much to his surprise. "Ah. Don't cry, Lan Fan."

But she couldn't help it. Another one slid down her cheek, and after that another one, until she buried her face into her sheets. Ling patiently waited for her to finish, and occasionally stroked her on the back. After a while she lifted her head and whispered something. Ling tilted his head a little. "What did you say?"

"Grandfather would kill both of us if he found out."

Ling laughed. "Hey, Fu!" he called, lifting his head up to the ceiling. "If you can hear me, I hope you approve."

"If he does hear you, he'll probably pull your ears off." Lan Fan wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and gave a light laugh. "He's never approved of you being close to me."

"Well, that'll change," he answered. "I'll get Xing to accept this change, too. I've had the decision to abolish polygamy since we came back, you know."

"It's been five years since we came back from Amestris," she commented. "That's an awful long time, Your Highness."

"I know." Ling rested her hand on Lan Fan's own, slipping his fingers through the spaces between hers. "But it was a time well worth waiting for."

Words: 2,813

Additional Notes: An erhu is a traditional Chinese instrument, as well as a guqin. The erhu has two strings and a bow, and is played a bit like the cello. The guqin is a flat, stringed instrument that is plucked with a finger. Use Wikipedia for more information.

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