Chap 1

"Brother if you make me marry him, I swear…."

"Shang Xiang, do you not understand the position we are in? Cao Cao is too strong, we cannot defeat him with our limited resources; our only hope for survival is an alliance with Shu."

"So why the hell am I needed in this? Quan, you know me! Don't you realize what a disaster it would be to marry me off to someone? Me? The tomboy?"

"I must admit your… masculine tendencies are going to have to stop. You can't attract a man like that. It just isn't natural."

"What???? For your information brother I 'm not the type to throw myself at a male okay? Do you want me to dress like some whore on the street?" Angrily, the fiery princess of Wu whirled around and stalked to the door.

"Princess Sun Shang Xiang." The formality in Sun Quan's tone made her stop, and turn hesitantly. "You are a member of the Wu family, and as such, you must do your duty to the Wu kingdom through this marriage. I cannot believe that you are selfish enough to sacrifice others lives to avoid this marriage… for if we do not align ourselves with Liu Bei we will fall."

"Damn. I know he is right. What kind of Princess am I? The people of Wu and my family must be my first priority." The shame began to claw at me, the guilt binding me to my duty to Wu. "Yes brother, I will do what you ask." Even though it will break me. I quickly left the room before he could see the tears that were beginning to fall. I must be strong, I though to myself. You are Sun Shang Xiang, the tough princess of Wu; what would they say if they saw you crying? I was running through the halls of the castle, almost as if I could outrun the destiny that was chasing me. I threw myself into my room and barely closed the door when I burst into sobs and sank to the ground. I curled up in a ball and rocked myself, wishing for someway out of this, for someone to just notice me. I was tired of concealing my emotions all the time to fit the ideal others had of me; growing up with brothers does not promote sensitivity. I just want someone to understand me! Secretly, I was a hopeless romantic. I always believed since I was little that a Prince in shining armor and a white horse would rescue me from all my troubles. Too bad I was old enough now to not be able to deceive myself with those illusions of a true love. Once I felt that I could control myself, I looked at the sun, realizing the time. "Shit, practice!" I immediately scrambled to my feet and started searching for my chakrams. I heard a knock at my door.

"Y – yes?"

"Shang Xiang? You in there?" A gruff voice called.

Gan Ning. "Uh yeah.." I rushed to the mirror. Oh no. My appearance was not good. Puffy eyes, tear stains, a red face… it was totally obvious. "Errr… don't come in… I'm changing."

"Why are your clothes on then?" I looked up into the mirror and saw Gan Ning standing close behind. I yelped and spun around, trying to look anywhere but at him. "Wow the ground sure is interesting, huh?" I felt the touch of callused hands under my chin and instinctively looked into the deep brown eyes of the.. oh god yes, half naked pirate. Why did he have to have such a good body? I swear., those muscles. Shit! What was I thinking! "hehehe how cute a blushing princess."

"Hey stop it!" I angrily pushed him away. "Geez Gan Ning you goof around so much."

"You should've known telling me you were changing was like an invitation to walk right in."

"Pervert!" I then proceeded to bash him on the head with my wonderful practice chakrams.

"Damn Shang Xiang I was just kidding you know Quan would kill me… and your other admirers."

"Oh stuff it Gan Ning you know I don't have any admirers."

He effortlessly caught my arm swinging towards his head, laughing. "Oh you'd be surprised. But on a serious note, you know you can talk to me whenever, right? I am a pretty good listener if I do say so myself."

"There's your arrogance showing through again." I shot back. But then I looked into his eyes, inches from my face. Dare I say he looked hurt? I felt bad. He quickly dropped my arm as if it was poison. "Practice. Now." He grunted and stalked to the door. "Wait! Gan Ning!"

"What?"

"I'm sorry.. I.. I didn't mean it like that. I mean… I just…" I gulped. "I appreciate it; really."

"Now, was that so hard? Race you to practice little princess!"

And with that he was off. "Hey wait up!" Guys could never be serious for long…. Although there was that one… no stop. I promised myself I wouldn't think about him anymore.

I ran out of the castle and into the bright sunlight illuminating the practice fields. Even now, the sight of Wu's best and brightest training to defend our kingdom exhilarated me. And there was Gan Ning, leaning on the fence with his biceps bulging. Okay, so just cuz I don't like the guy doesn't mean I can't stare, right? I am a girl after all.

"For someone your size I thought you could run a bit faster than that."

"Why you.." I then proceeded to punch him while he frantically blocked. "Hey hey calm down fireball I was just messin.."

I heard someone clear their throat behind us. "I hope I'm not interrupting your flirting but you are both late." A shiver went down my spine when I heard that cold crisp voice, the one that pervaded my dreams and stalked me in my waking hours. I turned, hoping that I had been mistaken. "Oh… Zhou Yu.."

"Honestly Princess Sun Shang Xiang I expected this sort of childish behavior from Gan Ning but not from you, given your current.. position."

Why did I always feel so incompetent around him?

"I apologize Lord Zhou Yu." I said.

"What's up your ass Zhou Yu? It's only a bit of fun."

Zhou Yu turned his piercing glare on Gan Ning. "Do not address your superiors in such a manner Gan Ning. Next time I may have to silence that tongue of yours. Now get practicing! We are at war. Not being prepared costs lives." Gracefully Zhou Yu turned away, completely ignoring my apologetic glances begging to be noticed. Why was he always doing that? Didn't he know that all I wanted was a look from him… Anything? Every time I thought I had talked myself into hating him, his superior manner and intellect, his cold arrogance, I would take one look at him and remember us growing up together, being close, back when Sun Ce was alive… things had not been the same between us since. I guess the whole time he had only seen me as his best friend's little sis… but unrequited love is so difficult; sometimes my emotions would drown me and I felt like I couldn't go on without knowing; what was he thinking? Was there one shred of him that cared for me? Just knowing that I was worth something to him would be enough. But the gutsy princess, daughter of the tiger of Jiang Dong, couldn't even admit her feelings; I'd rather face the whole Wei army than embarrass myself with a confession to a man who obviously hated me.

I was interrupted from my reverie by a brutal thump on the head. "C'mon Shang Xaing, wanna practice or not?" Gan Ning smiled. I sighed. "Do I have a choice?"

Our poor princess; Sadly, unrequited love SUCKS! Hehehe tune in to the next episode to see what happens to Shang Xiang… things are just heating up!

thanks for reviews! It means a lot!

My goal is to finish my first story… so we'll see how this goes

Disclaimer: don't own Dynasty Warriors… and yadayadayda