Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters (EXCEPT Lu Kyoko and Jia Li)

Chapter 3: A Dance For Friendship

When Ling Tong reached Lu Meng he bowed in respect, for he had a lot of it for the older warrior. "Brother, Lord Ling Tong, will you both excuse me?" Kyoko asked them, Lu Meng looked towards Ling Tong and nodded "Uh, yes of course" Ling Tong said, Lu Kyoko smiled at him "So you do speak then" and she walked over to Jia Li and they started chatting. Lu Meng picked up two drinks and handed one to Ling Tong, Lu Meng gestured towards Lu Kyoko and spoke.

"So, what do you think of Lu Kyoko?"

Ling Tong was thrown off guard, fortunately he was a very quick thinker "Well... she looks like she'll fit in well". Lu Meng nodded "I was worried about how... how she'd be welcomed in all honesty, but she's been welcomed very openly" Ling Tong feigned confusion "Why were you so worried?" Lu Meng waved his hand in dismissal, an unreadable look on his face. "It doesn't matter Ling Tong," then he looked at him "well if you want to know ask Kyoko" Ling Tong nodded and drank his drink then walked over to Lu Kyoko, Jia Li saw him coming and excused herself, Lu Kyoko nodded and went over to Gan Ning. Lu Kyoko turned around.

"Hi again" Lu Kyoko said

"Hey, um," Ling Tong started "I was going to ask you..." then he couldn't bring himself to finish it so he changed tactics "Well, I mean you seem cool, and if you wanted to..." he couldn't believe his quick thinking had failed him for the first time in years.

"What?" Lu Kyoko said "Dance? Train? What?" Ling Tong looked around at all the dancing couples and then back at Lu Kyoko "How about both?" Lu Kyoko smiled, warming his heart, and then they started dancing.

Gan Ning and Jia Li walked over to Lu Meng and they started talking about Wei, then Jia Li pointed out Ling Tong and Lu Kyoko dancing, Gan Ning smiled "It's working faster than I'd wagered" he looked over and saw that Lu Meng was frowning "But speed will not determine how well our little wager works Gan Ning" Jia Li nodded "True Master Lu Meng, however I have a good feeling about this"

The music stopped and everyone looked towards the podium, Lord Sun Jian was standing behind it, his hands resting on either side of it, he looked out across the many officers of Wu. "The feast to celebrate all our newcomers, particularly Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's new brides the Two Qiaos, and our Head Tiger General, Lu Meng's sister Lu Kyoko, the food will be served in a few minutes; can everyone find their marked seats please? " He gestured towards a grand table and there were labels indicating where people should sit. Lu Kyoko eventually found her place, she was opposite 

her brother, Gan Ning and Jia Li were sitting a few places to Lu Kyoko's left, she wasn't bothering to look around, she only looked to the seat on her right when someone sat in it, it was Ling Tong, she didn't meet his eyes for a second and looked over the table at Lu Meng looking strangely amused, but she decided to ask him about it later.

The feast was traditional and Lu Kyoko didn't mind that a lot of people were directing their attention towards the Two Qiaos and their new husbands, but after a while Zhou Yu broke apart from them (for he likes his peace every now and then) and he walked down to Lu Meng and engaged in conversation with his loyal scholar. Lu Kyoko just looked around and then turned towards Ling Tong "It seems that people were wrong about you" Ling Tong looked at her, confused "How do you mean?" Lu Kyoko nervously flicked some hair out of her eyes "Everyone... well everyone warned me that you were lively, chatty prankster, but if you are then I can't see any of it" She paused and smiled slightly "You just shy all of a sudden?" Gan Ning had just walked past, he stopped behind Ling Tong and started nodding, Lu Kyoko laughed, Ling Tong turned around and reached out to hit Gan Ning but he jumped back laughing and ran back to his seat, Ling Tong turned back to Lu Kyoko and, smiling and laughing, he asked "What was he doing?"

Lu Kyoko was still smiling "He was only nodding" she fought giggling.

Eventually the feast was over and many of the youngest and the older offices went back to their respective rooms, but Lu Kyoko went outside and into the 'Blossom Garden', she liked the scenery here.

It's a fairly small garden filled with trees and flowers and a pond in the centre of the garden, there are large stones, used as seats, scattered around the area, Lu Kyoko is sitting on one of them close by the pond, her hands resting on her lap and her left ankle was tucked behind her left, it looked almost noble like, her weapon was by her feet within easy reach, she was looking straight ahead, she didn't seem to notice anyone come up behind her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, using her quick reflexes and instincts she flipped the person over herself and they landed with a thud on the floor, she turned herself around and used her own body weight over him to pin him down, she grabbed her weapon and held it by his throat. It was only then she realised the person was Ling Tong, she placed her weapon on the floor beside them "Sorry, I didn't realise it was you... But you shouldn't have snuck up on me like that!" Ling Tong was looking really confused and his eyes showed a slight ebb of pain but he pushed it back "I'm sorry" Then he laughed slightly and looked up at Lu Kyoko "But tell you what, I'm glad we're on the same side, I'd hate to go against you in a duel"

Lu Kyoko actually frowned at his praise, she was still on him but sat up and she looked over at the pond, she loved this place but she felt strange, there was a strange pressure on her heart "I still feel bad about Xia Kou, I know it's hard to believe when people say 'I know how you feel' but I do, almost my entire family was murdered, I only have Lu Meng left" Ling Tong remembered Gan Ning's story and he was slightly surprised that she had told him, he realised that if anyone walked into the garden now he'd probably be in trouble, so he shifted back slightly so Lu Kyoko was actually sitting on his knees and sat up himself "Kyoko" She looked back at him, he could see the sadness 

"Do you know that in Xia Kou you actually saved my life?" She shook her head looking confused, "How did I?" Ling Tong looked into her eyes "You saved me... by stopping me from making a fatal mistake"

Lu Kyoko looked down at her hands, slightly embarrassed, Ling Tong looked around and then looked back at Lu Kyoko "Do you fancy going for a walk?"

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! and thanks to SP for the idea for this and the next chapter

And the spacing and the writing has gone really weird on these chapters!! Sorry that it's all in italic on chapter 1 and the spacing on chapter 2 it's not meant to be. I'll proof read the chapters twice now