"It's almost over," Lu Xun thought, he watched as the flames spread over the battlefield, raising hell on the enemies' morale. He watched the soldiers as they scrambled away in all directions as they tried to escape the fire, Shu's forces were in pieces.

Xun drew his sabers, pointing at the towering castle with one blade, "Now attack, while the enemy is vulnerable!" he shouted, strength and confidence bubbling inside of him. He felt the soldiers around him tense with anticipation as they saw their enemy confused and in ruins.

"You heard the boy!" Sun Quan added drawing his own sword, "Attack!" Instantly, the tides of men surged forward, battle cries filled the night sky and rose like the specks of burning ash. Xun charged as well, his superiors following on horseback.

He was excited, this battle will be Wu's victory, tonight will belong to the glory of the Wu kingdom! One step closer to the peaceful land, ruled under Wu as he had dreamed of, soon the chaos will end.

Suddenly a war cry echoed over the waves of soldiers, shattering the scene was a Shu general crazy with rage, mowing through the crowd.

"You will pay for your injustice!" Ma Chao roared over the dying screams of the men he cut down. Lu Xun met his attack with his own, sending them into a deadlock, he winced from the shock as their weapons clashed, the impact sending vibrations down his body. This man was so much stronger than him, but, he was not ready to let this minor pain frighten him into submission. He looked over to see Sun Quan rushing on his horse to his aid.

"My lord, continue attacking the castle, I will handle Ma Chao myself!" Xun called over to his leader.

"He is too strong for you, let the other's handle this," he replied, Lu Xun looked at his adversary, seeing the man grin insanely, the golden head of a dragon on his helm glinted in the light of the fire, like it had come to life. Xun knew that he was much weaker than Ma Chao, but…he had to prove he could do it.

"It's now or never, win the battle and we will all return home safely," he looked pleadingly at his leader, "Please, Lord Sun Quan, I can do this. Sun Quan gave in, hearing the truth in the boy's words, if he could defeat Liu Bei quickly, it would ensure the remaining soldiers' safety.

"Promise me, that if he becomes too much for you, you will run as fast as you can and return to the main camp," Quan said as he quickly rode away with the rest of the men, disappearing into the burning castle. Suddenly, Ma Chao broke the deadlock and threw the boy back, Xun cried out a little as he skidded into the ground.

"Aw, no one here to protect you, little one," Ma Chao taunted sneering at the pitiful form of Lu Xun, man he is tiny, he thought at the back of his mind. Xun picked himself up, and stood straight trying to seem more intimidating, mustering all his courage, the young strategist challenged the enemy General, "Your days will end by my blade, Ma Chao, prepare to die!" He took his stance.

Ma Chao grunted at him, "Such a cocky kid."

Lu Xun charged, and with swift grace, slashed at the man hoping to at least split his head in two. The much stronger man, skillfully blocked the attack, Xun rebounded and made a piercing move at his heart, and missed, his blade swept aside with the huge spear and with an open palm, Ma Chao struck the young man in the chest, sending him flying back into the ground.

"He's fast," Ma Chao thought, "In less than five seconds he manages to make two strikes at me." He watched as Xun spluttered on the ground, trying to recover from the crippling blow, "Too bad, he's not strong enough."

Xun heaved himself up from the ground once again, he cursed his lack of strength but still, no need to give in he'll just have to try harder, returning to his stance, he charged again, with a battle cry echoing all around them. Suddenly, he slipped…no seriously he slipped!

The blood on the ground failed to soak into the fire scorched earth, making a vast puddle in Xun's path. But he had failed to notice and one moment he felt his legs give way from underneath and the air rushed past him as he soared towards the enemy officer.

"Eh?" was all he could utter before his lips were completely sealed, with Ma Chao's who had by chance was too shocked seeing Xun slip to at least block this. Both men tumbled to the ground.

"What the?" Lu Xun wondered when he felt a foreign wet sensation in his mouth and gingerly opened his eyes to find himself staring into Ma Chao's who was as wide as they possibly be given his smaller pair. Lying on top of the man, he realized why he felt strange.

"Gya!" Xun cried and detached himself and scrambled back as quickly as his panicking mind would allow, his hand over his mouth. He stared back, horrified by what had happened, his face turning from almost pure white to a rose red getting deeper by the second while he felt himself getting dizzier with his brain trying to process everything at one go, while the other General froze plainly on the spot, brain failed to process anything at all, functioning like a bad train crash.

"I-I'm sorry…!" Xun said pathetically, blushing furiously and immediately got to his feet, snatched up his fallen hat and ran, this is the worst thing that distinguished officer like him had had to mess up on. What an embarrassing accident! Meanwhile the shocked Ma Chao was left sitting awkwardly on the ground staring as the young boy quickly escaped. He broke the silence as he grunted and got up from the bloody grass, dusted himself off and rubbed the back of his neck while sighing, "Why'd he apologize?"

Unknown to the strategist, his plan had worked and Wu had obtained victory upon cornering Liu Bei, but at the last moment he had managed to escape with what remained of his army. Lu Xun had not heard the laughter, or cries of joy that resounded over the battlefield, he was too busy wondering how he was going to explain his strange behavior if they noticed, how Ma Chao was still alive which they'd also eventually discover and if he should go back and perhaps finish the fight.

"I'm not strong enough anyway…" Xun mumbled, he stopped, realizing that meant only one thing to his superiors, he had ran, which was technically true!

"Agh, I can't think about this!" he exclaimed, his head in his hands like he'd gone insane.

"Lu Xun!"

Xun turned to see his lord Sun Quan riding towards him, beaming with achievement, and he seemed relieved to see Lu Xun. After all, he was Wu's only strategist after Lu Meng and Zhou Yu.

"My Lord!"

"I'm glad you are safe, good news, we are victorious thanks to you. You fire attack had Liu Bei cornered, we were able to defeat him easily, though he has escaped, Wu is ever closer to realizing the dream thanks to you!" Quan said happily, praising Lu Xun's cleverness, he felt that soon this boy would be like Yu after he had more experience. Xun plastered a shaky smile on his face, he had meant it but found it difficult to even look his leader straight in the eye, not after what had happened, still plaguing his young mind. Quan had noticed this and felt a little concern through the joy, perhaps he had run into trouble, he assumed.

"What's wrong, you look paler than usual, are you sick, hurt?" he asked. Xun blushed an even deeper red over his paleness and shook his dead fervently.

"I-I am fine, we must return for this will be a long night of celebration."

Quan nodded, accepting the boy's answer, he felt he should leave it, for now. It would be more preferable to everyone if nothing was to ruin the mood tonight. He rode away, letting Xun follow at his own pace.

"Don't think to much now, while the battle is over try and enjoy it," he called back. Xun smiled as best he could and smiled, "I wish you knew why I can't stop thinking," he said under his breath and looked down at his feet, it seemed he had a lot more to think about than the rest of Wu.

Shu forces were sullen and had lost their motive to fight along with their leader, Liu Bei now sat alone in his tent, lost in his defeat, his hopes dashed. The pain from the wound in his soldier had been unpredictable, now and then it would fade until it was almost unnoticeable and then sometimes, the cut would sear with pain, unbearable to the point of numbness. It was as the healer had feared, the wound was infected. Spread throughout his body into Liu Bei's arm and coursing through his veins like black blood. It was too late, the virus would soon completely consume him.

However, Liu Bei had ordered everyone including his brothers no to mourn until after his death, only when he was no longer there to order everyone around were they allowed to act as they wished. Many obeyed but even Xing Cai's father Zhang Fei had a hard time trying to hold back even the smallest of tears, which the observant Bei would always catch and scold him for it.

Ma Chao, felt a little guilty that instead of thinking about his days with his patient Lord and his sworn loyalty to him, his mind always went back to the young warrior from Wu. He was not as sad as he would have liked to be but he was to caught up contemplating about his so called vendetta on all of Wu to notice.

"Ah, who am I kidding, of course I hate them!" he muttered, frustrated with himself, "They're all idiots!"

"Who are you talking to?" a little girl's voice piped up, Ma Chao made a funny noise when he heard it and shot a glance back to see one of his fellow officers.

"X-Xing Cai! What the hell are you doing here?" he spluttered, turning a little red around the ears.

"Yeesh, Chao, language. Nothing just taking a little walk to clear out my mind until I heard you talking to yourself," she said giggling a little at remembering how funny the supposedly cold man looked when he was talking down to his feet. Ma Chao snorted, a little annoyed at her for watching then sneaking up on him.

"Xing Cai, you know how much I hate pranks."

"I wasn't putting a prank on you, I just thought I should give you a little scare now and then," Cai answered innocently, behind her maturity, her devilish feminine side began to show through the adult layers.

"That's the same thing!" Chao sighed and turned away, "Why don't you go back, I'm sure your father is looking for you."

Suddenly, Xing Cai was quiet, and he realized that she wasn't in a good mood, the reason why she had come out here. He looked back at her to see her dark eyes downcast and her usual happy smile had melted away, revealing the sadness beneath. Under her thick dark lashes, tears began to glitter their way to her eyes.

"Cai?"

"He's…too depressed…to be looking for me. It's been the same since Yi Ling."

"Cai…"

"I understand though, his brother is dying so, it's natural right?" She looked up at him, her beautiful, child-like face contorted with tears, Cai clenched her fists tighter and slammed straight into Chao's steel armor.

"RIGHT?"

"Xing Cai, it's…"

"So strange, I always told him I'd be fine and didn't need any help, it's now when father can't even speak to me that I need him the most," she sobbed, trying to laugh at the irony, but only coming out as a louder cry, "What an idiot, I'm all I can do is annoy others!"

"Cai, that's not true, he still cares for you of course," Ma Chao said nervously as he tried to force out those words, assurance and comfort were a weak point.

"How do you know?"

"I, well, I-" Chao stammered uncertainly and took a deep breath, turning his gaze to the sky for the answer.

Then he remembered his father, how he'd seem down for a whole day, then at the end, he'd always come into his room and say, "Sorry, son. Daddy's a big idiot, so it's not your fault. Okay?"

"Sure dad, I believe you" he'd reply sarcastically.

"Grr, headlock!"

" His father always made him laugh, despite being unable to change, getting on his nerves sometimes, he'd always come back. That's my Dad, Chao thought.

"Give him time, don't worry," he said, patting the girl's head, "My father used to say that."

Cai stepped away rubbing her eyes, she laughed nervously, as she smeared the tears from her face, "I must look so mature now don't I?"

"Eh, the look suits you," Ma Chao laughed. Cai was surprised at his sudden change in personality, she wondered if he hit his head during the battle, but felt that it didn't matter Cai laughed too and punched him in the arm, she liked him this way.

"Thanks, so anything interesting happen, I never got around to asking," she said regaining her bubbly cheerfulness. Sweat drop.

Ma Chao was brought back to the dreaded image, he still remembered how the little Wu felt against him. Crap, he thought.

"Nothing so far," he lied, fingers crossed, what a mess…