Chapter One: The Princess & her Horse

Note: Like most of my stories, there is not much unhappy stuff, so canon deaths might not happen.

In this fic both Sun Jian and Sun Ce don't die!

Enjoy!

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Lu Xun sat back from his desk, rubbing his eyes. It was well past midnight, but Sun Quan had ordered that all the war scrolls had to be copied out neatly by the next day. The previous scribe had messy writing, and some officers were having trouble reading them. So, it was up to him to do the grunt work again – he couldn't remember the last time he'd slept all night.

He blinked, realising that he'd lost concentration again. Xun frowned and sighed with relief as he realised that he was on the final page. He dipped the thin brush into the ink, and began writing again, ignoring the twinging in his fingers.

The sun peeked its' rays over the horizon, just as Lu Xun put down his brush with triumph. He knew that working so much was probably not healthy, but he had to finish, otherwise he could lose his position as a strategist, which he relished.

His father had always said that he would amount to nothing, yet here he was, a good strategist and a capable warrior. Wu was a fair country, and he called the palace home, as opposed to where he used to live. His mother had cried when he left – she had been the only one. Even his girlfriend, Hai Xing hadn't been that bothered.

Hai still meant a lot to Lu Xun, but their relationship was getting strained, because of the distance between them. He had seen her with other men, but was trying to ignore that, because as annoying as she was, he still liked her.

He yawned, and after making sure that the ink was dry, shuffled the papers and began to walk to Lu Meng's library. Hopefully, he'd be pleased that Lu Xun got it done so quickly and give him a day off. Xun snorted – not likely. Lu Meng never allowed his students to slack off, even if they were, like Lu Xun, cleverer than him.

He knocked on the door, and Lu Meng opened the door. He looked slightly flustered, grabbed the papers and shut the door without another word. Lu Xun stood there, blinking. He then turned around and stomped down to breakfast.

"Hey Lu Xun – you okay?"

Lu Xun smiled at Shang Xiang as she sat next to him, smiling brightly.

"Well, I just delivered some papers to Lu Meng, and he looked -"

Shang Xiang put a hand over his mouth as Lu Meng himself came in, and sat down. Lu Xun nodded at Shang, who dropped the hand, and began eating her breakfast. Lu Meng kept sending worried looks at everyone, who just smiled back politely. Lu Xun exchanged a bemused look with Sun Shang Xiang, who kicked him gently under the table.

Lu Xun blushed and looked down at his empty plate when she grinned at him. There was something about her that fascinated him. She was so carefree, always trying to find the bright side to things that seemed impossibly dark. Just a quick smile could make a day seem much brighter.

Lu Xun assured himself that her smile affected everyone like that, but a small voice disagreed. 'She's very beautiful you know…" the voice muttered, and Lu Xun sighed. Having feelings for a Princess was not a good idea. Anyway; since when did he have feelings for her, apart from friendship? Lu Xun cleared his thoughts and watched Shang Xiang as she chatted with her father, who listened with rapt attention.

This was the perfect family, Lu Xun smiled to himself. If only his childhood had been as nice and warm as this family, he would've had to endure fewer problems. Shang Xiang had stopped talking and allowed her father to eat his breakfast. She finished her glass of water, and tapped Lu Xun on the shoulder.

"Come on!" she said, dragging him from the table.

"Where are we going?" he asked, trying to pull his arm from her iron grip.

"Riding, now hurry up!" Lu Xun smiled and followed her as she slid down the staircase and opened a small door, which led to the stables. Lu Xun patted his chestnut brown horse and swung himself into the saddle, following Shang Xiang on her white horse. The wind ruffled her hair and her laughter raised Lu Xun's spirit.

His tiredness forgotten, he raced Shang Xiang as they cantered around the fields, teasing each other and laughing.

"Hey Lu Xun, get your butt over here!" Lu Xun directed his horse to stand by Shang Xiang, who was grinning. She pointed to a gate near them.

"Let's jump it!" she giggled and cantered towards it. Lu Xun followed her, and too late, realised how high it was.

"Shang Xiang!" he yelled, but she was already jumping. Her horse's hooves brushed the top of the gate, and tumbled the balance. The horse fell to one side, and Shang Xiang slipped off, falling to earth with a sickening crack. Lu Xun urged his horse to a canter and rushed to her side.

The horse that Shang had been riding was sprawled on the floor, its' legs at odd angles. Lu Xun was more worried about Shang Xiang who was half crushed under the horse, her arm probably broken, and mud smeared on her face. Lu Xun pulled the horse off Shang Xiang and sat next to her.

"Shang? Are you okay?" he asked, his voice shaky. Shang Xiang opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"I feel like hell," she said grimacing. "Help me sit up; the sky is kinda boring to stare at,"

Lu Xun smiled, and put an arm on her back, helping her sit up. Shang sighed and looked sadly at the horse.

"I think I should get somebody now," Lu Xun said, and re-mounted his horse, galloping back towards the palace. Shang Xiang stared ahead, tears threatening her happy manner.

"I'm so sorry Jewel," she muttered eventually, stroking the horses' nose. The beautiful white best was dead, no heartbeat pounding under the smooth surface. Shang imagined the Jewels' soul fluttering to the sky, to rest in peace with of the other horses that had died under the Sun family.

Lu Xun came cantering back, followed by her father and a healer.

"Shang what were you thinking! I was so worried!" Sun Jian said gruffly, ruffling Shang Xiang's hair. The healer sat down next to her, and examined her injuries. Lu Xun and Sun Jian watched and sighed as the healer announced it wasn't too bad.

"A broken arm and ankle," he deduced, and put the protesting princess on a stretcher, forcing her to once again, stare at the sky.

"You know," she said, "The sky sure is pretty at night, but in the day it's boring. Plus the sun hurts my eyes,"

Sun Jian snorted.

"Close your eyes then," Shang rolled her eyes and sighed. Her ribs hurt a lot, but maybe they were just bruised. If they were broken, surely the healer would've noticed, right?

She sat up and gasped as she felt a blinding pain and blood spilled from her side. Sun Jian lowered her to the floor and pulled off the jumper she was wearing. The healer went pale as he looked at the damage.

"A rib must have broken," he explained, "It has punched through her skin,"

Sun Jian growled and smacked the healer round the head.

"We figured that much," he said," But can you help her?!"

The healer pulled a medical bag from his horse and grabbed a pendant.

"I can't deal with this," he muttered, squeezing the pendant until it glowed brightly, "I need Zhuge Liang to help me,"

Sun Jian glanced worriedly at his daughter, who was unconscious. Blood poured from the wound and her face was pale. He knew Zhuge Liang was the best, but would he come in time? A green light flashed, and Zhuge Liang appeared. He saw the Princess and sprung into action. He rolled her top up slightly to see the wound and cleaned it with a small cloth. He then pressed a heavy white towel on the wound. It was soon soaked in blood, and he grabbed another, pressing firmly on the wound. It seemed to do the trick, as when he removed the cloth; the wound was now clean and had stopped bleeding.

He closed his eyes and sent a burst of green healing energy at the wound. The pale green light flowed from his fingers, to the wound. Eventually, the rib healed back into place, and apart from a small scar, she seemed fine. He also healed her ankle and arm, but was instructed not to use them much.

"Thank you so much!" Sun Jian said gratefully, his body relaxing. Zhuge Laing smiled and admired his work.

"It was nothing," then, with another flash he was gone. Lu Xun, who'd remained silent, got off his horse and tapped Shang's cheeks.

"Shang? Hello, are you-"

Shang slapped him and sat up. She smiled at her father and winced when she saw Lu Xun, whose face was red.

"Sorry 'bout that," she said, smiling brightly. "Thanks Zhuge!" she yelled. Her father rolled his eyes, and lifted Shang onto his horse.

"Come on then, Ce was worrying about you,"

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Shang woke up and groaned. Her arm, ankle and side were all bandaged up, so she could hardly move, which she reflected, was probably the idea. Lu Xun was sitting by her bed, his head on her leg and eyes closed.

Shang Xiang smiled at the sleeping tactician, and moved his head slightly, as her leg was going numb. She looked at him for a moment.

His face was handsome, but there were bags under his eyes and a frown permanently on his forehead. It seemed that he was overworking himself, especially by the amount of paper next to him.

Shang pulled a tray onto her lap, grabbed a piece of paper and the brush, dipped it in ink and began to write. She realised that he had been instructed to copy the strategy manual, so, with neat careful strokes, she began.

So, first chapter! Longer than most of my others! Anyway, please review and I hope you liked it!