Author's Warning: Due to the Violent Nature of this fic, anyone who is younger than fifteen is advised to proceed with caution. This is a rather fierce fic, but it has a deeper meaning than what meets the eye.

Pull Back

"Always keep the doubt of war in your heart, Dame Isadora, for if you let yourself forget it, you will be pulled into an inescapable void... Use that doubt, use it and you will stay human..." - Bishop Renault of the Order of Saint Elmine

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The taste of blood was sweet on her lips.

The lioness of Jiang Dong laughed as she hacked away at those Wei fools. Their cries for mercy and screams of pain were music to her ears. After all, they killed countless brothers and sisters of hers. They slaughtered people whom she had dedicated her life to leading through hard times in the hope of finding true peace. She was the Princess of Wu, and if these ruffians would kill those she cared about, it would be fitting to slaughter them all.

But her bloodlust did not end with the deaths of those brutal soldiers...

Their wives... They were the ones who bore those bastard's children, weren't they? Then they must die as well. Their children, those who would spread their genes to future generations, they too must die in order to ensure Wu's safety.

It was thrilling, to hunt these beasts down and kill them one by one. It was so satisfying to see red liquid run down her chakrums. She felt so wild, so free, so vigorous, and nothing could stop her... She'd keep Wu safe, and she'd kill all those who could prove a threat, no matter how "innocent" they claimed they were.

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He watched her, with chills down his spine.

She was his sworn brother's younger sister... No, she was more than that. He loved her, or, at least, he loved who she was: Sun Shangxiang, the girl who would never let anyone hurt the people she cared about. The girl who would stand by the people of Wu till the end, the one person besides him and his long deceased sworn brother who understood the meaning of the saying: "Everyone is family."

Shangxiang had changed... She was no longer the woman he loved... She had become a monster.

But Zhou Yu couldn't bear watching her like this. He had to do something, and he had to do it fast.

The lioness descended on her prey. Today's quarry happened to be the family of the former Wei officer Cao Hong, whom she quickly dispatched with her blades. As the young mother held her children close to her, tightly and fearfully, she heard a fellow woman smash down the door to her home. "Whore who bore Cao Hong children, stand here and meet your end, or I will make your death slow and painful!" The lioness growled, her face consumed with the thrill and joy of the hunt.

Suddenly, the drawing of a sword rung through their ears, and a window on the second floor was smashed open to reveal Wu's longtime master strategist: Lord Zhou Yu of Lu Jiang.

Sun Shangxiang snarled at Zhou Yu. She'd always thought of him as a worthy comrade... Maybe much more than that, but if he were to stand in her way, well, then he would be betraying Wu, and, thus, he would have to meet a traitor's end: death by decapitation.

Zhou Yu swung his blade at her head. He did not want to kill her, the woman he once, no, still loved, but if she were to force his stroke, well, then though he'd never be able to live with himself, he would have spared the life of an innocent family.

Their blades clashed, three blades of Wu's finest family. Though Zhou Yu did not share the blood of the Sun clan, he was one of them. He had fought beside Sun Ce for so many years as the lad's sworn brother. He had served as guardian for both Sun Quan and Sun Shangxiang... He was family, and yet, in her eyes, he had betrayed them.

But Sun Ce would never have wanted his younger sister to be this way: to be a monster who killed people mercilessly. Shangxiang was a lioness, no doubt, but a lioness protects her cubs with honor, and stands beside her pride with the satisfaction of having stood by its family. She hunts for the good of the pride... Not to kill wantonly...

His sword caught her weapon at a critical angle, forcing her to let go, disarming the tigress and disabling her claws. She lunged at him, fists outstretched, and though he took one blow to the gut, Gongjin grabbed her arms and pulled her close to him, hugging her, holding her tight, making sure that she wouldn't be able to hurt anyone anymore...

Sun Shangxiang fought and growled, snarling like an encaged animal, but as he slowly caressed her back, the growling slowly began to cease. Minutes passed like hours as he held her tightly, never breaking his grip, and finally he heard a gasp and a muffled cry.

He felt hot tears on his shoulder, and she whimpered: "Zhou Yu, I'm so scared... What's... What's happening to me?"

"It's ok..." Zhou Yu spoke softly as he stroked her back. "It's okay..."

"These... These bastards..."

"Are people, Shangxiang... People no different than you or I. They only had the misfortune of serving Wei, and they would protect their comrades as fiercely as we'd protect ours..."

"Gong... Gongjin..." She choked, burying his face into his shoulder.

The warrior smiled. Slowly she began to calm down, and maybe she'd be the girl he once dreamed of again... As she cried into his shoulder and gripped tighter on him, the strategist smiled slightly. Maybe there was hope after all.

He picked her up, his hand supporting her knees and her shoulders, and carried her along. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and smiled. Her eyes softened, and as he smiled at her she smiled back.

"Let's go home..."

"Ok..."

And he walked along, carrying her with him, back to the Wu base. It would take a while for her to heal, but maybe, just maybe, hope was on the horizon for her, no, for them...