Are You Jealous Yet??
Well, this story came to me when I was in a theater watching a couple fight. I thought that this would be cool, but the jealousy stuff doesn't come till later chapters.
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"It's tonight, Xiao!" Da Qiao said as she put her dress and gloves on her bed. A huge ball was scheduled for tonight. But it wasn't just a ball, is was the ball. The Annual New Years Invitational Ball. Everyone from all around China came to this ball, and this year it was Wu's turn to host it. Sun Jian entrusted the Qiaos to make the invitations and they were all sent out as of last month.
"I know!" said an excited Xiao Qiao as she too put her dress and gloves on Da's bed. Da and Xiao's dresses matched perfectly. Da's dress was a blue satin with white, thin swirls all around it. It had white gloves that came with it, and they were made of silk. Xiao's dress was a white satin with blue swirls around it. The blue swirls matched the blue in Da's dress and her gloves were blue instead of the white like Da's. The girls had these dresses made personally by the manor's couriers. They wanted to match and show their appreciation to Lord Sun Jian for letting them stay there. But Da wanted to impress the prince more that thank Sun Jian.
Da and Sun Ce had been a couple for about two months now and Da really wanted to impress him at the ball tonight. They had never kissed before, but that never crossed Da's mind that it was a problem. Xiao Qiao and Zhou Yu had been a couple for almost a month and were enjoying every minute of each other's time.
"You will look good in this, my lady." said Da's maid, Hula Ran. Hula was tall and had brown hair that she always kept in braids.
"Thank you, Hula. I am greatly in your debt for helping me so." Da said and smiled gratefully at Hula.
"You will look good in your dress also!" said Xiao Qiao's maid, Taka Chen. Taka Chen always left her hair in two buns on either side of her head. She was only a little shorter that Hula, but her stoutness made up for that. The Qiaos had these maids since they were twelve and loved then like second mothers.
Xiao Qiao jumped up and hugged her, "Thank you, Taka!"
"We have a little surprise for the both of you." Da said as she walked over to her closet. She proceeded to pull out two cards and gave one to each of the maids.
"My lady, you didn't have to do this." said Hula as she read the card. It was a gift card that stated that each maid would go to the village and get a massage while the ball was going on.
"But we wanted to! We know that we can be a hassle, and we wanted to thank you for being so good!" Xiao said, pleased with the look that each maid had on their face.
"Thank you Lady Xiao." said Taka while she looked at Hula. The two maids have become friends while they watched over the Qiaos.
The Qiaos hugged their maids then got down to business, "How should we do our hair?" asked Xiao.
Both of the maids looked at each other and smiled, "Well," started Taka. "May we make a suggestion?"
Both of the Qiaos looked at each other and nodded to their maids.
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"Do you have everything picked out, Ce?" asked Zhou Yu while he and his sworn brother, Sun Ce were sparing.
"Yep, from my socks to my hair ribbon!" he said as he struck his tonfa, only to hit Zhou Yu's sword.
"Do you expect to dance with Lady Da tonight?"
"Yes, and I expect to take her to the fountain tonight." He said smiling at the thought of dancing with Da Qiao.
"Ooh the fountain. Sounds like it's pretty serious." Zhou said as Ce tried to strike another blow.
"Nah, we've never had anything serious ever happen before." Ce stated. "Why are you so curious anyway?"
"Just wondering."
Ce stopped what he was doing and looked at Zhou Yu "I don't know what to do, Zhou. I love Da, but I don't know how to show it to her."
Zhou Yu walked over and put an arm on his sworn brother's shoulder. "Worry about that later, for it isn't the time to worry, but to celebrate!. Tonight we celebrate the glorious coming of a new age!"
Sun Ce grinned, "Yeah! We rule this year, right Zhou?"
"Right indeed!" Zhou said as he swung his sword at Ce.
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Xiao Qiao sat on Da's balcony and looked at the receding sun as it held its face beneath the clouds. Its shy face was hiding from the younger Qiao's beauty. It seemed awfully quiet. The ball was three hours away and every available maid was summoned to help with the concessions. Taka and Hula decided to stay with the Qiaos to help them get ready.
"Why are you out here, my sister?" Da Qiao asked coming from the chamber.
The younger Qiao didn't answer.
"Is there something bothering you, Xiao?" Da asked in pure concern.
"Da, I don't really think I know how to dance." Xiao Qiao confessed as she looked once more at the darkening sky.
Da Qiao laughed, "Is that all that is troubling you?"
Xiao looked at Da in shock. Wasn't this an important matter?
"You know how to dance, Xiao. You and I took numerous lessons!" Da said trying to comfort her worried sister.
"But I'm not sure I remember how."
"Do you want us to practice?"
"Could we?" Xiao asked filling her dark spell lift up.
"Of course, but only for a little bit. We need to be getting ready! Besides, I want to see what hairstyles our ladies came up for us. "
"Okay! I promise that this won't take but a minute." Xiao said as she and Da took to a dancing position.
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The time came when Ce and Yu had to be present at the ball. Ce studied himself in the mirror. He hadn't seen Da Qiao all day and was yearning to catch even a glimpse of her at the ball.
"Are you ready?' asked Zhou Yu popping from the door.
"Yeah!" Ce said as he slipped on his last boot and went out the door.
The ball was perfectly set up and Ce couldn't realize that this was the same hall that he dined in every day. He was in awe even before he noticed the tiger sculpted in ice that dispended punch. He looked to the ceiling and noticed that the old chandelier had been replaced by a huge glass one. There were banners of the Wu signature on all sides of the new chandelier and they hung like they were alive and proud. He looked at the many pictures of his ancestors when Sun Jian came up to him.
"What do you think of it son?" The lord asked as Ce was looking around.
"Is this the same place?" Ce asked still in awe as he kept finding new things to be dazzled by.
Sun Jian laughed heartily, "Yes, son, it is." Sun Jian looked around at his work and smiled proudly. "Ah, the guests are arriving!" He said and he and Ce walked over to greet the guests.
"Good evening, Lord Zhuge Liang." Sun Jian said as the noble strategist entered the doors.
"Good evening, Lord Sun. And good evening to all Highnesses." He said as he bowed before the Sun family.
"I pray you had a pleasant journey over here." Sun Jian said.
"One most comforting. Good evening to you, Lord Zhou Yu." Zhuge said as he rose from his bow.
"Good evening to you too." Yu said as he bowed in his respects. "I hope that your stay here will be a pleasant one."
"How could it not? The Lord has out done himself on this one." Zhuge remarked looking around at the beautiful scenery.
"I thank you for your comment with good graces." Sun Jian said as he bowed. Zhuge Liang went through and kissed Sun Shang Xiang's hand and bowed to Sun Ce and Sun Quan. His wife soon entered and followed in her husband's footsteps.
After all the guests have been greeted, Sun Jian was about to excuse his children as something caught his eye, and breath.
"Of all my planning, I could never come up in anything that will ever shadow the beauties coming from the stairs." Sun Jian said. His children turned their heads to what he was referring to.
They all stared as the Two Qiaos came from the stairs arm-in-arm. They had on their matching dresses with their long hair coming down in long strings of intricate curls. As they moved, the dresses moved with them, fitting snuggly to their every curve. They had glitter on the visible amount of skin that reflected the light as they moved downward to their destination.
The entire body of guests turned and stared, unable to move against the forces that kept their eyes focused on the two emerging beauties.
Zhou Yu was the first to come out of his trance, followed by Ce. They both moved and took the Qiao's hands as they reached the floor.
"You look dazzling." Zhou said as he escorted Xiao to the tiger to get some punch. She giggled and blushed slightly as Zhou stared at her. But how could he not? He was the luckiest man ever to have such a beauty at his side.
"I tried to look good for you." She exclaimed as he handed her a cup of punch.
"Is that so?" he asked, smiling at the fact that she tried to impress him when all she had to do was smile and she would do that!
"Um hmm." She said as she put the sake to her lips.
He, in turn, put his hands gently on her face and kissed her forehead. She blushed and looked at the floor smiling.
The orchestra started to play and Zhou Yu extended his arm to Xiao, "Would you like to dance?"
"Oh yes!" she said as she dropped her cup on a nearby table and took his arm.
They entered the dance floor and were greeted by the already dancing couple of Ce and Da.
"How are ya'll doing?" Ce asked as he and Da slowed their pace so that they could chat.
"Fairly well." Zhou Yu answered. Da Qiao looked at Xiao and saw that she was dancing magnificently. Da had already known that as Xiao would get on the dance floor, she would dance well despite her fears.
"Well, I'm sure my Qiao could use a drink." Ce said and he and Da danced to an edge and quickly got off being careful not to get hit by the oncoming dancers.
"Do you want ice in it?" Ce asked as they neared the tiger.
"No thank you." She answered. "Your father outdid himself on this, Ce." Da said as she looked around.
"I know. It looks great." He said as the tiger filled the cup with punch.
He handed her the cup and escorted her to a table where Sun Jian and the other regional lords sat. He carefully chose her a seat beside him and sat down. Clearly the lords were arguing about something. They were fusing at one another in disagreement.
"Let us ask the woman among us. She would surely know." Cao Cao said as the entire table turned around to Da.
"Da Qiao," Sun Jian started. "Do you think that the people should be without a Lord?"
Da looked at the table for a second before replying, "Let us say that there are two tigers." she started. "One in a cage, one not. The one in the cage is named 'Destruction', the other one 'Peace'. If we let the Destruction one out of its cage, we let all fire come to Peace. So if we let the people out of their cages, we only will disrupt the peace that has momentarily come to us." As Da finished, all the men stared at her disbelievingly. They didn't know that one woman knew and was full of such wisdom. Even Ce was astounded.
"Bravo!" Sun Jian said as he stood up and applauded Da Qiao. The rest followed and Da looked at the floor blushing.
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Xiao Qiao sat on a long couch and signed. This was just too boring. She turned as familiar figures approached. She felt her stomach turn into a knot when she realized who it was. It was none other that the nasty court ladies whom Xiao tried her hardest to stay away from. It was Lady Kun and Lady Shen being lead by none other that the meanest one of them all, Lady Dannai.
"Oh, why mush you be coming over to our usual sitting place and filling it up with your barbarian filth?" asked Lady Dannai.
"Oh, so that would explain it." Xiao said.
"Explain what?" Lady Dannai asked.
"Why no one would sit over here." Xiao said with a defiant smile.
"And why would they not?" asked Lady Shen.
"Because all of your fat bottoms have broken the springs." Xiao said, pleased with the mad face on all the lady's faces.
"I say!" Lady Kun said, finally getting a word in edgewise. "Take that back!"
"She will do no such thing!" called a firm voice behind them. They turned around to see Zhou Yu. "You witches deserve that comment to the fullest extent! You try to torment my Xiao because she's prettier that any of you will ever be because she's pure at heart." Zhou said, causing the "witches" to gasp. "You do not even deserve bowing down and kissing her feet. You have already kissed many men's feet, and other parts." Zhou said.
"You are being unusually crude!" Lady Dannai said. "This is not how you treat a lady!"
"And I suppose you and your posse of women are demonstrating a fine example of how to do that by treating Xiao like you do?" He countered. He then signed and looked at Lady Dannai, "Lady Dannai, what could've happened between us is no more." He said referring to his and Lady Dannai's relationship before Xiao came. "Besides, I don't want a woman who teases people who are above and prettier than her."
At this, Lady Dannai gasped and ran out of the ball wailing.
"Come, Xiao. You deserve to be in the presence of royalty, not it's wannabe." He said as he took her hand and escorted the pleased Xiao onto the dance floor, but not before Xiao turned around and stuck out her tongue at the dumbstruck court ladies.
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Da Qiao was having a pleasant conversation with a lady whom she had just met. Lady Yue Ying was her name and by the way she talked, she was quite intelligent.
Sun Ce came up and put an arm around Da Qiao, "Would you care to join me outside?" He asked smiling at her.
"Not at all!" Da said. "Excuse me Lady Yue Ying." She said as they bowed to each other in respect and went their separate ways.
Da was escorted to a patio with a huge fountain in the middle. You could hear the music here, and the way that the moon hung above them made Da feel like this was a dream.
Ce went over to the fountain and dipped his fingers in the warm water.
"You look very beautiful tonight." Ce said as he dried his fingers on his leggings and looked at Da.
"Thank you." She said shyly. He walked over to her and put his arms around her waist. She smiled up at him and felt her cheeks grow hot.
"Dance with me." He told her.
"Out here?" she asked confused.
"Why not?"
"Why out here?" she countered.
He smiled and looked at the star spattered sky, "I hate it when the people in there look at you." He said.
She looked down for a moment before taking his hand and ushering him to dance.
As they waltzed, Da Qiao could've sworn this was a dream. To her, it seemed like no one existed but her and Ce. She felt like they were dancing on the clouds and the moon was their only light in this blissful moment. She felt like she could fly off at any moment and never touch the floor again.
"Ce," she whispered, "this feels like a dream."
"Then don't wake up." He said as he pulled her close. She felt all her fears melt away when he did this. The fear of the impending war, fears of how her mother and father were doing. Just everything. For that moment, that peaceful, happy, moment, she had thought that time itself had stopped.
"I love you so much, Da!" she heard Sun Ce say.
She turned to him and then looked down at the floor. He panicked for a second when she didn't answer. But she rose up with tears in her eyes and whispered: "I have done everything, my dress, and the invitations, to please you."
He put his forehead to hers and wiped away a tear from her cheek. "You don't have to please me, Da. Just being with you pleases me to no end!"
As much as she tried, she couldn't stop the ever flowing tears. She looked into his deep eyes and held her breath as he cupped her chin and pulled her lips to his. Da felt her mind soar and she was surprised at his actions. She slowly gave in and eased up at his touch. She returned his kiss as her eyes fluttered shut. She wrapped her arms around his neck and inhaled his scent and taste. This was no doubt the best moment of her life.
They pulled away from each other at the sound of fireworks crackling above them. They looked up as a big red one explode into a heart.
"I take that as a sign." Ce said as he put his forehead back to hers. He slowly rocked her back and forth as she smiled. He would definitely remember this exact spot where they had their first kiss.
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"They're so pretty, aren't they Zhou?" asked Xiao Qiao staring in awe at the many colors of the fireworks before her. She waved a Wu flag in her hands and smiled. Other people waved their own countries flags.
"Not as pretty as the site before me." Zhou said as he turned to Xiao. She blushed and looked at the ground. He turned back to the fireworks and watched as they lit up the nighttime sky. He turned to Xiao when she poked at his shoulder. She stood on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek. She searched his face for approval and was shocked when he leaned down and kissed her lips. She immediately dropped her flag and put her hands to his face as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
She never knew that kissing would send such a feeling through her that stole her breath in such little time. He lifted her up to his height and kept the kiss going. She tasted so right to him and he never wanted this moment to end.
He put her down as the need to breathe arose. They both withdrew and smiled at each other. He looked towards to the colorful sky, then down to his beauty.
"I will remember this as the best New Years ball ever." He told her. She smiled sweetly at him and turned to the lit sky.
"What wonders do you think this year holds for us, Zhou?" she asked him.
"New love." He answered her and slowly caressed he cheek. She looked at the floor blushing and smiling with excitement at their new level of relationship.
All the guests around them stared in envy at the loving site before them.
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After many more fireworks and a few more glasses of punch, the guests were leaving. This time, the entire Wu occupants came to see them off.
As the last guests went off in their carriage, Sun Jian signed out a breath of relief. "It was a great ball, but I'm glad that it's over." he said. Everyone agreed with him and went to the grand staircase to go to their apartments.
"Did you guys have a great time?" Shang Xiang asked as she caught up to Xiao and Da on the stairs.
"Yes." The Qiaos said in unison.
"Did you, Shang?" Da asked teasingly. She had caught the princess mingling with the Lord of Shu earlier.
"Me? Nah." Shang said.
"Oh, but we saw you mingling with a certain Lord Liu Bei!" Xiao Qiao said unable to contain the giddiness welling within her.
"Must've been another girl." Shang said as they continued to ascend the flight of stairs.
"Oh no, it was you." Da said and nudged her friend. "Do you like him, Shang?"
"Oh, never! I don't want a husband thank you." The Princess said defiantly.
"So you're saying that if you dance and flirt with someone, it's not a crush?" Xiao asked.
"No." Shang said.
"So me and Zhou Yu are only friends?!" Xiao Qiao asked to get on Shang's nerves.
Shang responded to this by hurrying up the stairs and through the many hallways towards her room. The Qiaos started to laugh and began to hurry after their friend when Sun Ce and Zhou Yu appeared.
"And what would two lovely beauties be doing without an escort?" Zhou Yu asked. "Ce, I believe we should be like gentlemen and escort these ladies to their rooms."
"Indeed we shall." Ce said as he extended his arm to Da.
"Xiao, do you know where the gentlemen are?" Da asked looking past Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.
Xiao Qiao giggled at Da's teasing and went along. "No, Da, I don't."
"Alright, we get the memo." Ce said.
The Qiaos giggled and took their men's arms and walked up the steps.
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"Night, Xiao." Da said as the two couples separated. Da's and Xiao's rooms were on separate hallways thus causing the separation of the couples.
"Night, Da!" Xiao said waving to her sister.
"Did you have a good time tonight?" Xiao asked Zhou as soon as their farewells were through.
"A very good one." He said. Xiao let her hand slip from Zhou's arm, to his hand.
She smiled and couldn't resist the urge to ask: "Is that because we kissed, or because you got to see the fireworks?"
"See the fireworks." He teased.
"…" Xiao's mouth gaped.
"I'm just joking! I loved it because I got to kiss you." He said as her familiar smile came back.
She smiled as they stopped at her door and turned to Zhou, "I guess I'll see you in the morning."
"Indeed you will." He said. He lifted Xiao's hand gently and, his gaze never leaving her eyes, kissed it gently. He then pulled Xiao close and kissed her lips just as gently as he kissed her hand. After a moment, he pulled away and marched down the corridors to his room. He knew that if he didn't leave, he would be bound by the irresistible spell that the younger Qiao gave that always seemed to keep him wanting more.
The younger Qiao watched her Romeo turn a corner and disappear. She put her hands gently to her lips and started to daydream about him. She danced into her room and began to prepare for bed. She told Taka everything that happened, and went to bed even though she was too excited to sleep.
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"Wanna go horseback ridding tomorrow?" Sun Ce asked Da Qiao as they were walking towards her door.
"That sounds lovely." Da commented, smiling.
"You don't want to go do you?" he asked her.
"Of course I do! Whatever made you think I didn't?" She asked curiously.
"Nothing," Ce said as they stopped at her door. "just the sound of your voice."
"I was just saying that it sounded very lovely. I would love to go ridding with you Ce. It would be nice…" her talking was interrupted by Ce rolling his eyes and pulling her into a kiss.
"So," Ce said in a teasing manner. "do you want to go horseback ridding?"
Da nodded and began to smile with just the same teasing way that Ce had, "Only if you kiss me again." He answered her by putting his lips to hers and sealing the deal.
He pulled away and shook his head, "I would keep kissing you Da, but then I would want to come in your room with you, and I just can't imagine being with something as beautiful as you." He said as he rubbed his hand against her cheek.
"I'll see you tomorrow then." She said as she turned toward the door. She turned back to him then opened the door. "Good night." She said as she entered her room.
After she closed the door, Ce whistled.
"YES!!" He whispered as he went down the hallway, dancing to his own chambers.
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Well, the jealousy part doesn't happen till later chapters. But I NEED reviews! I would love to hear all of your opinions! I'm sure you guys know how it goes! R&R!