A/N: Theme number eighteen - Breathing Underwater. I expressed this one in two ways.

I don't like the beginning actually _ but I rather like the ending. It's not exactly romantic...it's kind of melancholic, actually. I think a lot of people are going to start hating me after they finish reading this one xD

His laughter rang out throughout the courtyard, and a high, womanly giggle shortly followed. She gritted her teeth, hating every moment of it all.

The young prince was charmed by the woman standing in front of him, unable to take her eyes away from her. "Oh, Ying!" he gasped, doubling over with laughter. "You're so funny sometimes!"

"Oh no, my prince, that is too much of a compliment for me to take!" she exclaimed, flipping her long black hair, which flowed down her back like a silky waterfall. "You flatter me too much!"

Ling shook his head. "No, I really did mean it, Ying. You're amazing." And then the pair fell into a pool of merriness again.

The girl was a courtesan, a high-class woman meant to entertain Ling. And not only was she having fun, she had clearly fallen head-over-hills with the silly and cheerful prince, even though it was clearly against the code of a courtesan.

It made Lan Fan feel sick.

Ying was beautiful, much more than what she would ever be. Her eyes were rimmed with kohl, and there was just the right amount of rouge tinting her cheeks. Her lips were painted red, and as she rose up on her toes to whisper something in Ling's ear Lan Fan saw a faint red smear being left behind on his skin.

Disgusting.

"You know what, Ying? I absolutely have to agree with you," Ling exclaimed. "How right you are."

"No, no," Ying shook her head, the beads in her hair clacking. "Master Ling, you are so kind!"

And as Lan Fan watched from afar, she felt disgust pool in her stomach. She wanted to throw up. The two of them bantered and laughed, and acted like there wasn't a single worry in the world. It was like nobody else but them existed in the world.

"Oh, Master Ling, there's something in your hair." Ying leaned upward and pulled a rose petal out of his black ponytail. She paused for a split-second, and he glanced up. Their eyes met.

And then they drew one other into a long, chaste kiss.

Lan Fan's throat blocked up. She couldn't breathe. Her heart stopped. Her lungs quit. Every function in her body paused for a single second.

Long enough for her to slip from her perch behind a rock into the lake behind it.

It was a watery hell. Water filled up her body, and she saw a stream of bubbles escape from her lips. The knives and bombs she carried weighted her down, dragging her deeper underneath.

Normally she would have fought for her life. But this time she let the weight pull her under, and let the black press at the edges of her eyesight. Was dying really so easy? Maybe it was better for her, anyway. It was better for the Young Master too. He didn't need her, there was no way her death would affect him. It would be for good.

"LAN FAN!"

A hand gripped hers, pulling her upward until she broke the surface of the lake, gasping for air. Fu's face stared into hers, worry spread across his. "Granddaughter! Are you all right?"

She coughed water out of her throat, and wiped her dripping face on her sleeve, realizing that it only made it worse before stopping. "Yes," Lan Fan murmured, feeling embarrassed. Falling into a lake! It was something only an apprentice would do. And yet she was already fourteen...

Fu shook his head. "Go back and warm yourself up, otherwise you'll catch cold. I'll take over watching the Young Master for a while. He seems to be enjoying himself, no?" A twinkle sparked in the old man's eye. "I'm pleased that the Young Master is happy."

"...yes, Grandfather," she quietly answered before taking off into a full sprint toward her house. She just wanted to get back to her house and relish the feeling of being unbothered and alone. She wanted to get away, forget what had happened—

"Oof!"

"Aaah!"

Lan Fan had collided into Ying, throwing the other girl down onto the ground. The front of her silk robes were soaking wet from the water on Lan Fan's own clothes, and there was no doubt dirt on the expensive clothing as well. Irritation and horror filled Lan Fan's mind, and her hand began to shake.

"Aah!" Ying glanced down at her ruined silks, and cried out. "You dirty dog! Look, you've ruined my clothes!"

Lan Fan had no other choice but to bow down and kneel before the courtesan. Ying was, after all, a higher status than herself. "I apologize deeply," she murmured. "I am sorry, My Lady."

"Hmph! You should be." Ying stood up, dusting and wiping off her robes. "Eurgh! I've got disgusting water and dirt on me now! How awful," she sighed. "This is terrible!"

Lan Fan stood up, and bowed one last time. "I am so very sorry, My Lady."

"Now wait a minute. Who said you could go?" Ying bent down and prodded Lan Fan's face with her long fingernails "You're an interesting girl, you know? You're Master Ling's guard, and yet you're a girl. Why is that so?"

"I was competent enough to protect him," Lan Fan answered evenly, disliking the direction Ying was heading. "Is there a problem with that?"

"That's not the problem," Ying snapped. "You're a girl. Master Ling is a boy. Isn't that a bit ridiculous?"

"I see nothing wrong with it," Lan Fan snapped. "This is preposterous! I see nothing ridiculous with that. Your question is the ridiculous one."

"How dare you!" Ying slapped Lan Fan hard across the face, leaving a stinging sensation on her cheek. "You have no right to speak, commoner!"

"Ying?" Ling ran over, holding a book in his hand, looking thoroughly confused by the situation. "I brought what you wanted. Who are you talking to?"

"Oh, no one, Master Ling. Thank you for this though, you are really too kind to me." Ying slipped back to his side and rested her head on his arm, slipping her own arm possessively through his . "Thank you so much, Master Ling."

Ling saw Lan Fan still standing there, watching them. He had to have recognized her! She bowed down, waiting for him to say something. "Go," he said. "Leave us, please…Guard 512."

He called me Guard 512. All for the sake of impressing that woman.

Something inside her shattered, louder than a glass plate breaking on tile. Lan Fan took off in a full sprint again, running and running and running—and she didn't stop until she reached her house. Once she did Lan Fan stripped off all of her damp clothes and plunged herself into a warm bath, scrubbing herself warm and clean in the steamy water.

She lifted a dripping hand, watched the droplets pool back into the water. The chilly air blew over her bare shoulders, and she slipped back under. Was she trying to drown herself, hide from the truth? Maybe. He would never be his, and he could never be hers.

"Lan Fan! I love you!"

Ling's seven-year-old voice, echoing through her head.

Bubbles flew from her mouth again as she stared through the rippling water at the ceiling. Lan Fan was breathing underwater.

Words: 1,306

Additional Notes: "Breathing Underwater" is a term equivalent to "A fish out of water" or similar. It means to struggle for life or the complete impossible.

Reviews are love :]