LingXLanFan For KLee

His protector~

What makes you loyal to a person?

His protector kneeled lightly, balancing lithely on the highest tips that her balance would allow. One arm rested diligently on an upraised leg, smiling behind the concealed safety of the Young Lord's throne. If she could call him so any longer. His majesty was more of a fitting title, the title he deserved for such ethic. She discerns the dedication and absolute determination he placed into his quest, and as she thought so her fingers tingled lightly and a grin threatened to push through her features.

Her eyes glided swiftly to the lacy golden and rich purple throne that glowed in afternoon silence. From below it towered over her toned figure, and she began to wonder, no, she was justifying on seeing this throne in her unfathomable brown eyes.

Lan Fan was however worried that he had not yet chosen a wife, a man of his state and power was bound to, 'no' she corrected herself, it was imperative that he selected a wife. A sensation boiled inside her chest and her soft hands briefly tightened around the kunai that rested and glinted brightly in her palm. This was a familiar burst of hot-tempered rage that she knew had to be controlled, and would do no good in her service to let petty emotions affect her ability as a bodyguard. She bit her lip lightly and exhaled. How she longed to tell him… what she would give!

She had seen many women, both Amestrian and Xingese, and often envied them from a birds-eye view, in the beaming rays of the sun. When their hands touched, she was jealous that she could not do the same with his hands. But duty was something that she understood was her first priority. Her heart started to thump in constant palpitations as her imprudent considerations wandered to the next empress of Xing. What an honour it would be to be.
Foolish. She was his protector, stood in the line of duty in the cause for this man, he could never love her. She forced her averse mind to snap back into reality as she felt him rise from his position. She slithered, circumspect and nimble as any snake when her feet made contact with the cool floor briefly.

The sun melted, bleeding pastel colours that sent flaring colours across the palace gardens like an ancient Xing painting. Flourishing flowers twined in a sea of petals and bright colours as she silently followed his majesty, leaning forward, kunai in hand. Her black clothes appeared as if colours of all kinds had been splayed across them, and even across his emperor robes. She was aware and prepared every afternoon for is solemn walk through the flower garden, the sand like gravel crunching quietly under her agile feet. He kept walking, until he reached his favourite section, and delicately brushed the petal with one pointed finger.

His fingers curled around the stem as he plucked it from its peaceful sway and held it up to Lan Fan. "Do you know what this means?" She noticed how this was the first time he had spoken to her for hours, about an insignificant flower! He took her silence as a no, and poked it callously for provoking silence from his bodyguard. He swallowed, bile rising and stinging roughly in his throat and gently wrapped it into her fingerless-gloved hands, earning a shock that formed on her masked face.

"It means Love and beauty. I believe you are the very essence of this flower."
Lan Fan stood, cheeks blushing a very deep red, and was extremely grateful for her mask at that moment, and beamed inwardly at the thought of his fingers touching hers. He felt like she always thought, rough but prudent and soft in the centre. Her eyes locked onto the flower and her heart thrummed with uneasy rhythm. His smile stole her breath, as the afternoon sun blazed in affection, the affection she held for this man. Blinking recurrently, her breath trembled like a rotting twigs branches on a lurid winters day. Its purple tinge had her undivided attention, bursting with gorgeous life that flustered together in the very twining of her soul.

It captured her mind shortly after…. Love?  "wha- love, I don't understand" She stammered uneasily, shivers pulsating up and down her spine as she imperceptibly let her emotions falter. He hesitated, and let his fingers sit on hers gently, his heart smashing against his ribs so loud that he could detect the uneasy thrum in his ears. "What's so difficult to understand?" He slowly twined his fingers with hers, feeling the irregular and jagged material of the gloves. Such a man should not be so worried and anxious about this.
His protector's eyes sparkled, as hard as she tried to hide her emotions from him. It had been years since they returned from Amestris and yet she had waited so long, in her thoughts. The ones she banished, forced from her mind, believed was impossible. He flipped the hand that held the blooming flower and flipped her hand so her could tenderly kiss the fabric. "Will you be the empress of Xing?" It flowed from his mouth in a mixture of frantic emotions and hopeful desire.

What could she say? Her secret and deepest desire begging to be true. Both hearts racing, she poorly attempted to control her raging emotions and shivered lightly, as his other hand reached and discarded her mask. Now in the setting light and bleeding colours he could see her and her outright shock, as if she were a marble statue, carved from the finest Xingese tools and the finest hands that crafted this beautiful woman. She cursed herself, he made her turn to soft putty, she was his bodyguard, his protector…
He may take her for granted, but she still accepted it as part of her families dedication to the Yao's. A bodyguard serving this family cannot possibly marry one of the members!  "I ca-" She almost chocked on her words, swallowing them harshly and growling fiercely when she looked away.

He brushed away some of the dark bangs that framed her soft face, all sense of humility and humour gone from his stern features. Being serious was something he didn't often do until his crowning and even then he slipped into immaturity. Some days he had the demeanour of Edward and others the laziness of Mustang. But she had never seen him so solemn, sombre, staid…

She had coveted, craved for this time to arrive and it finally had, looking back at his features, but she slowly nodded, her automailed arm reaching up to his shoulder. Wrapping both arms around her shoulders and holding her close, she looked down nervously. Only one person could make her insides flutter like butterflies, only one person could make her heart beat with such inconsistency, only one person…

She dropped the Orchid, purple turned deep violet in the rising moon, blessed by two blank shadows, as it fluttered and landed on the slowly cooling ground. She could only keep repeating the words in her head later that night as she sat on her silky bed, words that she wished to hear. "I love you." And had received something so sentimental and almost frightening, a kiss.

The next empress of Xing, sometimes all they need is a push to realise that the women they love are right under their noses. And as she held the Orchid in her hands, she sighed, and allowed herself a small smile to cross her lips.

What makes you loyal to a person?

Is it friendship, respect, possibly through persuading words, or maybe love?