Disclaimer: Koei owns all characters, except Lu Kyoko who is mine.

AN: The Sun family do not live in Jian Ye, they are just a relatively small army living in the capital of Chang Sha, where Sun Jian was Prefect of

Chapter 4: A Reasonable Debate

Sun Quan took a deep breath and was about to knock on the door into the Lu's particular quarters, his fist raised to knock, he had a horrible premonition he knew what Lady Lu was going to ask of him... But his happy memories, both recent and from his childhood kept returning to him

A few months ago

"It's annoying Quan! I don't think I can do this" Lu Kyoko persisted stubbornly, Sun Quan had been trying to help her cast her first spell for hours, to no avail, and she was getting a bit down heartened.

"I think you can do it" Sun Quan replied, they were sitting on the tree outside his study. She looked at him sadly and then lowered her hands "I don't think I can you know? What kind of magic user would I be if I couldn't even cast the simplest spell?"

Sun Quan took hold of her hands and raised them, palm up towards the sky, he was practically begging her to try again. Lu Kyoko closed her eyes as soon as he raised them, Sun Quan felt heat emit from her hands and saw them glow. His eyes widened in awe, was she actually doing it? Soon a small glowing ball rose up from her hands. She opened her eyes and he smiled "You did it Kyoko!" Lu Kyoko smiled "I think it's you I should thank, I couldn't do it until..." She looked up at him "Until you took hold of my hands..."

Sun Quan looked confused, Lu Kyoko didn't seem to understand either, but she shrugged and smiled "Want to hold it?"

Sun Quan frowned "I couldn't could I? I mean, I can't use magic"

"I'll help you" She said, she separated her hands so the ball was floating above her right hand and she used her left hand to hold his right hand up from underneath, she bit her bottom lip in concentration and slowly she seemed to roll the floating ball into Sun Quan's hand. He smiled when it didn't disappear, it seemed to glow a bit brighter and then changed colour, it went from white to a crimson red colour

'Red... The colour of love... The colour of hate... The colour of the Tiger that roars in every officer in our army... She needed my help for the magic, she needs my aura, she knows it, it makes her feel safe... Makes her invincible... And I ruined it... Our friendship, our own special kind of love, not the love everyone thinks we have... She's my best friend'

She smiled excitedly and he smiled broadly "Wow, it's really warm... But nice warm, it doesn't burn, I don't understand, it's fire isn't it?"

"Yes it is fire. It doesn't burn because I make it safe to hold" She took it back off Sun Quan and then got an apple from the tree "But I can also make it do this" She said and then put the little ball onto the apple, the apple was immediately set alight, little flames rose up from it. Then she made a claw shape with the hand which previously held the ball and it came back into her hand, the apple was now a pile of ash. She clenched her fist and the little ball disappeared "I don't know how I know how to do this Quan... It's quite scary and a little freaky... But think how much good I can do with this, for this army, for our families"

"For all of us" Sun Quan agreed and Lu Kyoko raised her hand and the gentle wind blew the ashes away.

Sun Quan now felt a bit worse, how he wished he could go back to then, to when they were friends. He was convinced that she would get by on her own, that she would no longer need him and would want nothing to do with him. Either that, or he had ruined her life.

He shook his head to clear his mind and then knocked on the door, the guards on the inside opened it and Sun Quan walked in "I'm here to see Lady Lu Shan"

"She's in her office" One of the guards, the head guard Sun Quan guessed, replied and pointed towards a door.

"Thanks" Sun Quan had never been in this section before, and it was indeed grand, he knew that the Lu's were a strong and influential family, that's why they lived in the Chang Sha capital with the Sun Family, but he didn't realise just quite how strong and influential they were in this part of the land, and in the land of Wu nearby.

He walked through the main area and knocked on the door the guard had pointed to "Come in" He heard Lady Lu's voice and walked in through the doorway. "Ah, my lord, please, come in, sit down" She said eagerly and gestured to the seat on the other side of her desk. Sun Quan swallowed before he did so.

"You look nervous my liege, would you like a drink?"

"No thank you my lady. Lu Meng informs me you wish to speak to me"

"Did my son speak to you?"

"Yes he did, about your daughter"

She knew that he didn't really wish to speak on the subject "Well, I hate to give it an overkill, but the matter I wish to speak to you on is also about Lu Kyoko"

Sun Quan resisted the grimace that was about to come on his face. Instead he gestured to indicate for Lady Lu to carry on. "Well then, I have no doubt that you know what season we are in my lord"

"Indeed" Sun Quan answered, he had a horrible feeling that the next question would sum up her meaning to talk to him "We are just entering the rainy season again"

"And, again, I have no doubt that you know how old my beautiful daughter is?"

Now he knew what she was getting at, appeals for courtship were always initiated in the first rainy season of the young girls eighteenth year, and her throwing in the world 'beautiful', even though she was, was a bit of a give away. "Of course, she is 18 years old"

He always remembered her birthday because she was exactly 1 year, 11 months and a day younger than him. Lady Lu knew this as well.

"Well then my lord, now off the simple trivia and into the fine details. I am arranging the opening of Lu Kyoko's courtship in the next few days, I was wondering---" She started

"Forgive my interruption but I do not wish to be involved" Sun Quan interrupted

Lady Lu was not deterred "Please, hear me out my lord" She waited, Sun Quan eventually nodded, she only prayed that he was interested and that had been his nerves speaking "Well then, I will be taking bids for Lu Kyoko over the next few months, I have already had many offers of interest, but so far I am only considering 3"

She paused, Sun Quan's curiosity got the better of him "May I enquire as to precisely who those 3 are?"

"Yes my lord" Normally the affair would be secret, but she could only pray that Sun Quan would be jealous "Officers Ling Tong and Gan Ning, and Lord Bi'Zhen"

Sun Quan could not believe his ears, but at least this proved one thing, the rumours about Ling Tong not attending Sun Quan's birthday had been because he was jealous of Sun Quan, it was only now he realised that over the last few years he had had Lu Kyoko's almost undivided attention, effectively drawing her away from Ling Tong and Gan Ning. But he could not help feeling furious that those 3 were the 3 that she was considering.

"Those are the 3?" Sun Quan asked, she heard the anger in his voice

"Indeed my lord, the others that have applied are simply not suitable"

"And they are?!" Sun Quan never let his temper get the best of him, he had always been the calmest of the Sun children, but he was absolutely furious "Lord Bi'Zhen, well known as being the biggest pervert in Chang Sha. And as for officers Ling Tong and Gan Ning, I cannot even begin to describe how wrong they are, besides it would ruin 3 perfect friendships!"

"I know all of this my lord" Even though Sun Quan's temper was flaring, Lady Lu remained calm, she was glad he still had the Sun Family fire inside him, despite being the quietest and calmest "But if no one more suitable applies then her hand will have to go to one of those 3"

Sun Quan felt despair fill him, not only had he abandoned Lu Kyoko's friendship, willingly, now he was about to abandon her in a part of her life he had never tried to explore, willingly. He could not leave her with one of those 3, but there was only a small part of him which wanted to put a bid in there and then, the rest of him wanted to walk away, to forget that this meeting ever happened, yet he could not bring himself to leave yet

"I have no doubt you have your daughters best interests at heart Lady Lu, but what about your own best interests. I notice that only people of certain power, wealth and influence are being considered, perhaps Gan Ning being the exception"

Now Lady Lu was furious "How dare you accuse me of that my lord! I have only my daughters best interests at heart!"

"But if they further the advance of the Lu family in society, where's the harm in stretching the acceptable, or even shrinking it!"

Now Sun Quan knew he'd hit a big, sensitive nerve, Lady Lu stood up, furious "My lord I can assure you that every man had been judged, solely on how happy they would make my daughter!"

"Then you may want to cross Lord Bi'Zhen off of your list of 'Acceptable People'" Sun Quan said, reading the title of the list with the names on "Lu Kyoko has said herself that she prays she will not wind up with him. I don't think she'd feel comfortable with either of the officers either"

Lady Lu said down again, she prayed that his outburst before was due to jealousy. "Hmm..." She started "Well..."

She was about to continue again, but Sun Quan spoke before she did "Hold on, I'm on that list"

Lady Lu nodded "I do believe that my daughter would feel the most comfortable with you my lord"

Sun Quan wasn't surprised by her thoughts, but pretended to be "I doubt it Lady Lu..." He couldn't bring himself to carry on

She picked up on his silence and awkwardness "You know why Kyoko's been acting strangely?" Even though it wasn't phrased like a question, she knew that he knew, and there was no way he could get out of it

"Yes..." He knew that what he was going to say would get him crossed off the list, and he had to admit, he didn't like the thought of that... Sun Quan just couldn't picture Lu Kyoko spending the rest of her life with any of the men that Lady Lu had suggested... except himself, he knew that Sun Ce and his father and sister were right, they were a good match 'Ugh, why is this thought, this image, stuck in my head? Me, married to Kyoko... a child... I mean, Kyoko's one of my best friend, I like her a lot, I can't picture my life without her, but this? To marry her?' He felt his heartbeat increase again, now he was annoyed, but he realised he hadn't answered her question "You know how skilled Lu Kyoko is with her magic?"

The frown on Lady Lu's face confirmed that, Sun Quan carried on "Well... she once told me, that she knew me better than anyone, better than my sister" Lady Lu smiled slightly "Better than her own brother or maids..." Lady Lu's smile grew a bit more, clearly she liked this part, but Sun Quan had a premonition that it would fade pretty quickly "But..." He knew he couldn't tell the whole truth "Well, I felt that with Lu Kyoko's courtship coming up that... that she wouldn't benefit from there being rumours about... well, me and her being spread like wildfire throughout the Chang Sha forest" Sun Quan put a certain awkwardness on 'me and her' to ensure his point

"I have heard many of these rumours before my lord, but never one about a certain... physical intimacy... between you and my daughter"

"That must be a new one then..." Sun Quan frowned "I only heard it a week ago myself"

"I doubt that Lu Kyoko has heard this rumour, she hasn't really spoken to anyone in a week or so..."

Sun Quan couldn't help his curiosity, he leant forward slightly in his chair, almost as if he feared he would be overheard by her "How is Lu Kyoko?"

Lady Lu couldn't help that she was pleased by the concern in his voice, maybe there was still a chance "She is..." She sighed, trying to think of a word "Uneasy... Lost, almost" She noticed Sun Quan cringe, he knew more than he had let on but she decided not to pry "I hope she will improve, but I do worry about her, she doesn't really talk anymore, she's hardly eating and I don't think she sleeps well"

Sun Quan knew she was telling the truth, but he felt incredibly guilty, Lady Lu seemed to sense this and tried again "My lord, is there any chance of a bid from yourself? For Kyoko?"

Sun Quan had been annoyed before, and now the guilt, awkwardness, nerves and pressure had made him angry, he stood up and slammed his fists down onto the table "I thought I made myself perfectly clear earlier! There is nothing other than friendship between myself and Lu Kyoko! If the rest of the castle could see that then she wouldn't be in this state!"

Lady Lu stood up as well, Sun Quan was over a head taller than him, but she still held his glare "Then it should be up to you to rectify this problem that you have caused! If it weren't for your stupid aura and making my innocent daughter fall in love with you then you're right, she wouldn't be in the mess she's in!"

"I can tell you this now Lady Lu Shan, with the utmost confidence that Lu Kyoko and I will never be together, she does not love me and I do not love her, our level of 'intimacy', as you phrased it, is strictly friendship, and nothing more, and it never will be! Fix her up with one of those imbeciles and then you will just how wrong your decision was!"

Sun Quan stormed out of the office, he did not even acknowledge the guards as he passed them, he was too angry, his head reeling. Lady Lu Shan sat down again, crossed some names off her list so only one remained "It'll have to be..." She said, suddenly worried for her daughter.

AN: Sorry it took me so long, it's only a shorter chapter (as the next one will be) because the one after will be fairly long and it fits better with the overall plot I feel

Chapter 5 should be coming soon