AN: Just beat Dynasty Warriors: Empires, yes I managed to go through without loosing a battle, yes it was on easy mode. But the ending scene with Xiahou at that grave just brought this story to mind.
Disclaimer: I don't own it, please don't sue me…I'm poor…
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Xiahou Dun sat at the grave of his Father and poured two cups of rice wine. Setting one on the ground he lifted the other to his lips and took a sip.
"Well father, she has done it. The land is united, and peace lives again…yet…I am still empty…" He heard the grass rustle but did not turn, whoever it was was overconfident, too far out of his reach but one more step…
"May I join you Xiahou? Or is this a family affair?" The Generals hand slowly let go of his sword hilt.
"Highness." He knew she heard all the silent reprimands for putting herself in danger, being without her bodyguards and most of all sneaking up on him, or trying to.
Then she sighed.
Xiahou knew that sound, he made it every night when he looked back on the day and wondered why he'd even bothered waking up that morning. It spoke of doubts and exhaustion, and…an emptiness to match his own.
"Please, sit." He gestured minutely with his hand to the dry patch of grass to his right. He heard Dusk click slightly as she sat, settling the long sword across her lap. Her eyes flicked towards him noting his slightly raised eyebrow and she chuckled slightly.
"It has not been that long since I was on a battlefield General." For a while they sat in silence, Xiahou occasionally sipping from the cup, staring at the grave, the Empress's gaze fixed on the stars slowly revealing themselves in the twilight. He did not know where her thoughts wandered.
"Do you ever wonder if it was worth it?" The sudden question gave him pause. For a moment he thought of replying in the negative, and telling her that her decision was always the right one, like any good sycophant would do.
"Yes. Often." The silence slowly filled the area, like a trickle of water filling a shallow pond. He decided that it was his turn to ripple the surface.
"You?" She nodded tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. It was a small gesture, but so telling. As she revealed her face to the sky so she showed her vulnerability to him.
"And…what do you answer yourself general?" His lips twitched up and he passed her the half empty cup, bowing slightly as he held it out with both hands. Slightly startled she took it, using both hands as well, bobbing her head in a small gesture of thanks. He waited until she'd taken her first sip.
"I answer myself with more questions. If we had not prevailed, how long would the struggle have continued? How many more of our brave soldiers would have died?" He could see in her eyes that she had thought these same things, and for a brief moment he wanted to strangle Cheng Pu and Weng Ho for letting the Empress think she was alone in this cycle of doubt.
"It is natural Highness." She nodded.
"But…those men died at my command. I may not have killed them with my sword, but I sent them to the swords of the enemy in almost impossible conditions…" He heard the emotions swelling up, saw the cracks starting, and also saw her pushing them back. He could not allow that to happen. The Empress must always be able to feel, how else would she know the lives of her people otherwise?
"And yet we always won." Her walls crumbled at that.
"But at what cost! How many men died simply to put an end to the fighting? How many died because we were too stupid to know when to quit!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she averted her face ashamed of her outburst. They sat there like that under the stars as the moon rose; a General and Empress, yet in that moment, both were simply warriors trying to come to grips with reality now that the battle was over.
"My apologies…I should not have intruded on your grief with my own worries." She made to rise but he held out his hand.
"I do not mind, and the dead must surely hear worse than this." He nodded to the still mostly full cup.
"Also, the offering has not yet been finished." She smiled weakly and nodded, downing the rest of the wine in a few long sips. The moon smiled down kindly and the pond of stillness they occupied smoothed. Soon only the crickets and the occasional call of an owl could be heard.
Minutes passed and Xiahou heard the Empress's breathing even out and deepen. He leaned sideways and stretched out his arms, catching her as she nodded off. Not for the first time he wondered how much she had truly slept during this campaign. His own legs were stiff from the period of disuse and his knees creaked as he stood, then complained to him loudly as he bent, scooping up his ruler, making sure to retrieve her sword in the process. The young woman curled into his warmth as the night breeze floated around them and for the first time in a long while Xiahou Dun felt himself smile.
"Thank you father…I needed that…"
The stars watched them go, at that moment, not as Warriors, but as a man, carrying the woman he would give his life for back to her palace…Home.
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AN: Love it? Hate it? Don't care, review it anyway.