(Disclaimer: The movie was great and everything, but sadly, none of it is mine.)

Fanfiction: Twisting The Tides

Summary: What if Jing had chosen Xiao Wei instead? Bunch of one shots, all centering around Xiao Wei and Jing, and what would have happened if something changed at one point of the movie.

Warnings: Fem-Slash, Lesbians-whatever you call it, violence, extreme drama. This is JingWei (Xiao Wei and Jing)

The Second Chance

The scarred beauty closed her eyes and hugged the ice covered body. She had finally gotten a taste of being a real human, and in the process had awakened feeling that tormented her as she had hung from her chains.

The sight of the Princess in her skin, covered in ice and nearly dead brought a fierce pain to her heart. She had fallen in love with the Princess, and in the process of fulfilling her plans and realising what that strange ache was, she had nearly killed her.

The two bodies were raised up by some strange force, and she fell deeper into a sleep-like state, memories of the woman's voice, her strong, lithe form standing tall, her eyes glistening with tears swimming up in her mind.

'What if I gave you a second chance?'

Those were the last words she heard in her mind before the demon-turned-human was lifted into the light of the eclipse.

She opened her eyes to find herself sitting on the ground before a fire, with the Princess fully armoured and masked sitting opposite from her.

Looking around in bewilderment, the demon realised with a start that she was back in that first night she had spent after first being rescued by Jing.

The Princess gave her an odd look and she hurriedly started to sing and play again, while her mind raced.

This was her second chance… she could change Jing's fate!

Sadly, she had already killed off the Prince of Tian Lang, but no matter. She was nothing if not cunning, and she could plan something to deal with that irritating marriage duty.

The ice soon came and she acted shocked, running behind the Princess and basking in the familiar warmth. She would do this right, and no matter what fate she came to, she would see to it that the woman she loved had a happier ending.

The demon deliberated what to do about Qu Er, deciding it was best to tell her everything and probably act as a demure, mild-mannered guest to the Princess.

Her eyes took on a haunted look as she watched the Princess jump from her horse and climb onto a higher surface before she too lay down to sleep.

Whatever it took.

When she danced before the guards of the border, Xiao Wei again used magic to affect Huo Xin's mind, but instead she gave a mental nudge for him to at least consider his feelings for Jing. When the men started to leave, she hid in the shadows and watched as Huo Xin and Jing's eyes met. She cringed, clutching her chest as phantom pains struck her.

That one look said many things, and the demon did not notice the Princess' staring after her as she hurried away.

The days went by, with Huo Xin gazing after the Princess more often than not, and the demon simply stayed quiet and helped the Princess with anything she needed.

At nights, she would slip out with Qu Er and travel to Tian Lang, secretly killing them off slowly, getting the bare minimum of hearts she needed to survive from her kills.

They tasted disgusting. She soon chose to eat as little as possible, preferring more often than not to forego eating the hearts, not even stopping to drink at least a little blood.

"My Princess, your clothes for the day are here. Later, you have a meeting with one of the court advisors, and the Jiang province has sent some ambassadors to talk about trading routes…"

The demon continued on, informing the Princess of her duties for the day while helping her to get ready and look presentable.

After setting down the comb, she shifted back and let the scarred woman stand up, looking humbly at her feet. She bowed once and turned to leave but a warm hand gripping her wrist caused her to pause.

She turned, still not looking up and asked, "What does my Princess require?"

A hand tilted her chin up and the entertainer looked up reluctantly into the confident brown eyes of the Princess.

"Xiao Wei, walk with me." Her voice left no room for complaints, and she trailed after hesitantly, mind still thinking about events to prevent and ways to get the General to confess to Jing.

It was already a week since their arrival at the border. If things continue at this rate, she might need to give him another push, or find some way to get Jing to make another move…

The thought of Jing in Huo Xin's arms suddenly made her stomach churn, but she ignored it. All part of the plan.

As they walked through the corridors, the Princess asked, "What do you know of the feud between the trade lords?"

Taking the sudden question into stride, she replied calmly. "Lord Cheng has been arguing about the rights to allow passage through his town and set up business. He wants to start charging a toll fee for travelling traders who want to pass, as well as charge new traders who want to set up business in the market."

"And what do you think is the best course of action?"

Replying almost flippantly, the dancer replied, "Knock some sense into the idiot and slap him with a fine for attempting to charge traders when it is not his right to decide such."

She almost slapped herself immediately after the words left her mouth.

The Princess turned sharply to her, and Xiao Wei fell to her knees. "Forgive me Princess! It was not my right to speak as such."

She was shocked when instead of rebuke or even punishment, the most gentle laugh she had ever heard came from above. The masked woman tugged her gently to her feet, before smiling amusedly and saying, "That is actually a good suggestion. Now come along."

Still shocked when ten minutes later, she found herself sitting beside the Princess, giving advice about various political matters as Jing asked for it, Xiao Wei couldn't help but smile a little.

The usual court advisors had at first raised their complaints when Jing, after seating herself looked up to her right at the woman she had brought in with her standing at a corner and patted the spot beside her. The dancer hesitantly stepped up and sat at a distance until Jing actually took one of her sleeves and pulled her nearer.

Jing silenced the men with a look before asking the first lord to speak, where he proceded to ask for permission for the rights to set up some sort of deal to supply the guards of the border with armour, whereupon Jing turned to Xiao Wei and asked her insight before making a decision.

By the end of the session, even her court advisors agreed that Jing's decision to bring in her guest to court had helped them all see new solutions that seemed impossible before.

And so, Xiao Wei became a regular fixture at court, the only person in the whole palace who was granted the honour of being invited to sit beside and give advice to Her Majesty.

Another six days later, and here Xiao Wei was walking through town, pondering.

She had finished off the last of Tian Lang the previous night, but had sustained a few injuries as well. She could not eat though, not unless she wanted to compromise her position.

Meanwhile, the Princess had taken to bringing her everywhere, not just to court. The scarred Princess would take her to training, to meetings, even when she just wanted to ride to the seaside. She would talk about anything and everything, even play silly games with her. Like… a pet or a friend.

Two days before, Xiao Wei was playing a song on her Pi Pa while the Princess relaxed. Her hand flit between songs, and her eyelids fluttered closed as she played out a song about spring and flowers. She soon finished, twisting her hand in a flourish, with a quiet sigh escaping her.

Suddenly, something sweet pressed on her mouth and her eyes flew open in shock to see Jing holding a slice of peach, prodding it on her lips. She pressed her lips firmly together, her expression slowly turning to one of annoyance as Jing insistently pressed the slice of peach against her mouth, the juice starting to dribble slightly on her chin.

Her lips opened to question the Princess, but Jing took this chance to push the juicy fruit into her mouth with a smile. She closed her mouth and chewed, looking confused while Jing laughed and continued to feed her peaches. "I saw you staring at these when the two servant girls passed by us earlier."

And from then on, whenever the two were alone, Jing would feed her peaches as soon as Xiao Wei finished a song with a strange, soft look in her normally hard gaze.

It had been three weeks, and Xiao Wei felt both a sense of accomplishment and a strong but dull ache in her chest and head.

Though it was exactly what she had been planning for, it did not make it hurt any less when she turned around the corner and saw Huo Xin hugging Jing just four days back.

Outwardly, it seemed like nothing was different. Jing would carry out all her duties, bringing Xiao Wei everywhere and anywhere. Since that sight though, Huo Xin would smile slightly whenever Jing entered a room and Jing would answer with another smile back.

And so Xiao Wei started to distance herself. Now that Huo Xin had finally done something, anything, the demon was not needed right?

The morning after that incident, after preparing Jing's armour, she stood up hastily and bowed, ignoring Jing's confused look and walked away to waste the day with Qu Er, watching over the Princess from a distance.

Slowly, their time together dwindled until one day, Xiao Wei missed their daily 'ritual', the song playing and peach feeding. Jing was left alone to stare into the courtyard, a plate of sliced peaches sitting untouched beside her.

Xiao Wei was weakening.

The injuries she had sustained in that last fight with the witch doctor were now infected, and the fact that she had not eaten any hearts since then save for some blood were definitely not helping.

She woke up with a blinding headache and a fever, and struggled to get up. Qu Er chirped beside her and she raised a finger shakily to her mouth.

"Shh… the Princess is still sleeping," she murmured, rising up from the floor .

Leaning heavily along the walls, she made her way to the Princess' room. As expected, the Princess was only just waking up.

Silently, she laid out the armour and clothes for the day, then standing to a side as the Princess changed. She moved forward to help comb her hair when a wave of dizziness hit her and she stumbled slightly.

Jing turned around and asked with a worried expression on her face, "Are you alright?"

The demon merely stood up straighter and bowed low before straightening and replying with a smile. "Nothing my Princess. Forgive me for worrying you."

"Are you sure? I haven't seen you around lately."

The demon knelt down and began to unknot the tangles in Jing's hair. "It is nothing my Princess. Think nothing of it."

"Well then, I want you to accompany me today. There is an important meeting with the King of another state, and I would like you to be there. No excuses."

Her hands paused, before the fox inclined her head in acquiescence.

As soon as the meeting had started, the beautiful fox demon had a bad feeling.

The court advisors were nowhere to be found, and save for themselves and the King, they were completely isolated.

The King reeked of bear. She could see faint traces of magic leaking from his shadow, and she knew he had sensed her weakened state when his eyes glowed purple upon laying her eyes on her.

He knew.

She flinched when one particular old wound twinged.

Well, this was going to be difficult to deal with.

At the end of the meeting, as the Princess made to leave, Xiao Wei raised her hands, her eyes flashing once before the sword that had flown silently towards the Princess was deflected towards the wall.

The bear demon was undeterred, and simply sent a wave of his magic towards the two.

Xiao Wei whirled around pushing the Princess to the ground as she was hit with the full blow of the magic. She crashed out the wall and hit the ground outside, coughing out blood.

Wiping some blood off her lip, she flew back in the room, just in time to stand between the Princess laying horrified on the ground and the bear demon about to stab her.

She jerked as the sword pierced her abdomen, a cry escaped her. Her face twisted in a snarl as she raised her leg and kicked the demon from the back, the sword pulling itself out from behind her.

The demon dropped to her knees, her violently trembling hand drawing a symbol on the Princess face, and her eyes glowed green. The Princess was then surrounded by a few of her shadow foxes, ready to protect her from the 'King' if need be.

Qu Er then flew in, transforming from bird to her human form. "Qu Er, I need you to look after the p-princess, " she coughed out some blood and wiped it away with her sleeve before continuing, "Take care of the servant's and soldiers, and make sure the advisors don't go looking for the Princess yet. I'll… lead it away from here." She stood up with the bird demon's assistance, silencing her protests with a look.

"Pass me the blood." Xiao Wei took a bottle of Pang Lang's blood and wrenched the sword from the wall, pouring the blood liberally over the blade's surface. A few drops dripped onto her hand, burning her slightly with green sparks but she showed no sign of pain save for a slight twitch in her hand. The fox demon let the Qu Er pass through the doorway before moving to step away herself, pausing when she heard the Princess speak behind her.

"You are not human." Jing breathed. Xiao Wei looked down at the trembling Princess with a sad look, before steeling her features into a cold smile.

"Correct, I am a demon."

And with a last glance at the hurt look on Jing's face, she raced outside to battle with the possessed King.

As soon as she stepped into open ground she was barraged with blasts of fire and she whirled around gracefully, avoiding them all. She returned with a few blasts of her own magic, but her exhaustion and sickness coupled with the wounds she had taken earlier slowed her reflexes significantly, and the fox found herself hit with a few more whips and burns of fire than she usually would have been.

She led him away from the castle grounds towards a forest, where they battled until they finally stood in the heart of the forest. In her demon form, she was covered in blood and her white hair cascaded down her torn and tattered clothes.

She threw the sword, and as expected, the 'King' dodged it, turning back to find a white blur racing towards his face. The fox bit and scratched, and the bear demon finally shed the human form, using its own massive paws to throw her against a tree. Shifting back into her human form, the entertainer removed the sword and stood her ground, howling at her adversary.

The bear demon roared once before running towards her, teeth bared and claws sharp and deadly.

Panting from exhaustion and pain, Xiao Wei snarled once more and ran to meet him, both demon's jumping to meet each other mid-air, swords against claws, magic against magic.

Sword pierced flesh and claws ripped through skin and muscle, green-blue light pushed against purple sparkles tinged with black, and soon two figures lay on the ground, unmoving, while the deadly ice crept up on one of them.

Qu Er's head snapped in the direction of the forest. Jie Jie was hurt, and the ice would soon catch up with her.

She flew around the buildings, spotting the Princess running towards the forest and stopped in front of her.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

Princess Jing looked to her through teary eyes and exclaimed, "I need to find her! Please, I love her, help me, please!"

Qu Er looked shocked at the admission before transforming her limbs, shouting out while she grabbed the Princess by the claws, flying towards the Princess. "Alright, but you need to know some things first…

They arrived to a horrible sight.

The two demons were standing amidst a sea of dirt and burnt, fallen trees. Ice was creeping up from every corner of the forest.

The two demons were laying on the ground, with the bear demon clearly dead. Xiao Wei was sprawled nearby, her body rapidly covering in ice, daggers sticking out from various parts of her.

Qu Er raced over, with Jing right behind. "Jie Jie! Wake up please!" The two did not notice a few shadowy wisps racing towards the Princess, ready to strike.

Xiao Wei, weakly raised her head, spotting the danger. Her eyes glowed an eerie green and her violently shaking hand splayed out towards the darts of darkness. The symbol she had painted earlier on Jing's cheek briefly lit up, with three dark foxes to race out and chase away the darkness, the fox demon's head dropping limply to the ground almost immediately after. Jing had frozen in shock but regained her composure instantaneously and rushed over towards her fallen love.

Jing hugged the woman's body to her, cradling it close to melt as much of the ice as possible. The fox demon did not stir, and Jing looked up to Qu Er. "Please, can't you do some sort of magic?"

"It won't work! And she won't heal herself or anything, not after Tian Lang, she hasn't eaten in forever, because she only wants to be human and she didn't want to disappoint you and…" The distressed bird demon rambled on until she started to screech and chirp.

The fox demon opened her eyes slowly, her voice gradually decreasing in volume, "M-my Princess? Why… are you h-here? You sh-sh-should… be with Huo Xin."

"Wh-what?"

"You-you should hate me. I am a demon."

"I love you, Xiao Wei! I don't care if you are a demon! Stay awake, okay, I love you, don't worry, please…"

"No, no… s-she… loves him… Pei Rong… J-Jing, no please, not Wang Sh-sheng…"

Showing no sign of hearing her, the fox demon continued to mumble out as her eyes slipped closed.

Qu Er stood up suddenly and told the Princess hurriedly, "Princess, if you want her to survive, you must tell me, are you willing to give her your heart?"

Jing, still in shock just looked up at her and stared blankly.

Qu Er shook Jing's shoulders with irritation. "When a human offers their heart willingly to a demon, the demon will turn human. However… you may turn yourself into a demon."

"Why did she do this for me?" Jing finally asked, a lost expression on her face.

"She loves you." Came the simple, short reply.

Jing hugged the demon to her even closer, before praying to the heavens to save the woman in her arms. "I don't care," she told Qu Er, "I just want her to live."

Qu Er bit her thumb, smearing her blood all over her palms before pressing them to the spot on her back just above the scarred lady's heart and the spot where Xiao Wei should have had one, murmuring a few words in some unknown language, her eyes glowing white.

Jing closed her eyes, thinking of the feelings stirred up in her chest when she saw the demon, the moment when she realised that she loved the demon when Huo Xin confessed, and the two agreed that they were better off as close companions. It had hurt though, when Xiao Wei started to push her away, but she was determined now to show her the love she deserved and never received, especially after hearing from the young bird demon about what she been through

When Xiao Wei opened her eyes, she was definitely not expecting to find herself under a large blanket, hugged tightly by someone.

She felt a tiny ray of sunlight on her face, and the warmth of a heartbeat in herself. Glancing around, she recognised herself to be in… Jing's room?

She dared not look up, for she knew that were she to look up, the illusion would be shattered. For if it was not Jing, then…

But if she did see the beautiful Princess, this torture, this horrible illusion taunting her with what she could not have… it would break her more than the ice could have ever hoped to have done.

A tear slipped down her cheek, and she almost wanted to laugh.

The arms around her tightened, and she held her breath.

Deciding to go along while it lasted, Xiao Wei burrowed deeper into this woman's chest. Breathing in the smell of flowers and peaches, tears slipped down faster on her face.

"Xiao Wei."

This was the worst torture ever.

Xiao Wei forced herself to look up, and was met with the most stunning look of love on this look-a-like's face. The tears dropped faster.

'Jing' looked surprised and worried, and cupped her face gently. Xiao Wei started to tremble.

"How cruel…" she whispered, before she started to sob.

"Xiao Wei? Why are you crying?" A hand tilted her chin up, and she snarled.

"This is a lie! You are not her! Stop using her face! Stop it! Stop torturing me…" she shouted out brokenly.

Jing grabbed her and said firmly, "No! I am alive. Feel my heartbeat!"

"No, no it's a lie…" Xiao Wei refused adamantly.

Jing grabbed her hand and placed it on her chest. "I am alive, I saved you and I know you love me too so stop crying and listen to me!"

The shorter woman stilled, feeling the steady thumping under her heart. "How? I should be dead."

"I… I offered my heart to you willingly. You are human now too." And with that said, Jing swooped down and captured the woman's lips.

When they parted, Xiao Wei was blushing. "My Princess, this is not proper. Y-you have Huo Xin, h-he loves you and…"

Xiao Wei continued to stammer out excuses as Jing reached for something beside her, stopping her ramble when Jing popped a slice of peach into her mouth with a chuckle.

Watching her love calm down as she chewed on her favourite fruit, the unmasked Princess explained how she no longer loved Huo Xin, and how the confession actually went. When she heard how they were actually friends and not secretly in love or anything, the former demon actually blushed and Jing swore it was the cutest thing she had seen in her life.

"I love you." Jing told her, cupping the other woman's face and kissing her forehead.

"I love you too." Xiao Wei replied with an answering smile.

Edit: Well I posted this earlier, but after reading through it again I realised there was a lot of holes, plus the fight scene was super rushed and incredibly vague. In short: THERE IS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. So, here. Improvement!

Beersmoo