Summary: Somewhere between her best friend's car and her house, Victoria got a little lost... How did actual history go again? And why the hell couldn't she have wound up in Shu?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but various and assorted DW games and WO2. If only my ownership extended beyond mere copies of said games...

Queen's Quornor: Well, I appreciate the reviews and points made thus far, but I feel a need to address one thing. I realize that the Chinese of this period knew about other ethnic groups, but I already pointed out that I'm mixing the games' canon with real history and the events of ROTK. I doubt that the real versions of certain characters possessed white or yellow hair (why is DW6 Yuan Shao blond, anyway? There's too much yellow for him to be sun-bleached like Gan Ning, and it's not all grey), and unless I'm seriously forgetting something most indigenious peoples of the Middle-East, where the Silk Road ended, are brunettes. That would have been especially true back in the third century, even with the Roman Empire in control. So despite the trade routes and everything, I doubt most Chinese of the day had seen Caucasians. I'm glad that was pointed out, but I wanted to explain why I chose to have them all reacting to Tori this way.

Breaking the Ice

The trip to Wu was as long and tedious as Victoria had thought. She got to ride one of the captured horses, because she was a woman, and had to stick with Sun Quan and Zhou Yu during the day. The army already buzzed with gossip about the golden-haired, sky-eyed, strangely attired lady who had mysteriously appeared on the battlefield, and Victoria had quickly learned to ignore the awe-struck stares she received throughout the day.

Gan Ning rode at the front of the column with a couple other officers, leaving her with few people to talk to. Zhou Yu had confiscated her iPod and listened to it whenever they stopped to make camp, and Sun Quan was making her read her textbooks to him. Victoria had her cell phone and her PSP, but the former was practically useless--she had opened it up after getting her backpack back, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and had been totally unsurprised by the "No Service" message when she tried to call her family. Every night she opened her photo file and cycled through the shots, driving herself nearly to tears before going to sleep. There wasn't much juice left in the phone now.

She was slowly learning the names of various officers, which was difficult because she had almost no virtual references for them, with one exception. The angry teenager who had caught her attention her first night in China had been identified as Ling Tong, whom she had kicked herself for not recognizing--he had been one of Christian's favorites characters--after they were introduced. He was possessed of a biting sarcasm and sharp wit, when he decided to open his mouth. For some reason Zhou Yu had assigned him to ride next to her, perhaps to provide protection on the road. Victoria was a little intimidated by his aura of unpleasantness, so she usually didn't try to talk to him.

Ling Tong did fascinate her, though. He tended to make himself scarce when they stopped to camp and Gan Ning came to join her, and Victoria wouldn't see him until morning. She wasn't oblivious, and she was becoming increasingly more curious about what made Ling Tong hate her friend so much. WO2 didn't have any clues that she remembered, and if anything had been said about it the reason had slipped her mind.

It didn't help that the teenager was so good-looking. He wasn't as shabby as she recalled, and his smooth face had a youthful appearance she found very appealing, to say nothing of that adorable mole of his. He looked more alert, more emotional--not at all like the sleepy fighter her brother favored. A part of Victoria wanted to reach out to him, try and help him with the anger that consumned him, but she was wary of his icy demeanor.

The army had left Jing and entered Wu when the ice finally cracked.

Victoria had been walking around the camp, too energetic for sleep. It was a clear night and most of the men were asleep, including Gan Ning, who occupied the tent next to her own. Since the soldiers thought she was some kind of angel, and she was under the protection of both Gan Ning and Sun Quan, she felt safe enough to try and work off her insomnia.

She noticed the way the sentries reacted whenever she passed by, and it amused her to no end. To a man, they would stand a little straighter with their chests puffed out, peering into the night with sharper eyes than before. Either they were trying to impress her, or they didn't want "Heaven's Messenger" to think them unworthy slackers. Victoria snickered, and moved past the out-lying tents. The horses had been picketed a short distance from the camp, positioned closer to Wu than the men so they had the space to graze, yet remained protected. Victoria made her way towards them, thinking to just watch them until she felt sleepy.

Many of the horses lay on the grass, asleep, occasionally snorting in the midst of some dream; Victoria thought of it as equine snoring. The few that remained awake cropped delicately at the grass, confined to a circle dictated by the length of their rope. Her horse, a bay gelding she had dubbed Hasufel, looked up and nickered as she approached.

Victoria smiled and shook her head, not wanting to disturb the other horses. Hasufel tugged at his rope for a bit, eager for a scratch, then gave up and returned to his midnight snack. He turned to get a choice tuft of grass, affording her a glimpse of someone laying in the field. Surprised, Victoria edged around and realized it was Ling Tong. He was laying with his head against his horse's stomach, staring up at the sky.

Why was he here? she wondered. Was this where he went every night? Before she could stop herself, she was already walking towards him.

When he noticed her, he scowled. "What do you want?"

"Well, I'm trying to beat my insomnia, and I'm curious what you're doing here." She crossed her arms, protecting herself from his irritation. "I know I probably shouldn't be, but I worry about you."

"Sure you do." He rolled his eyes.

She shook her head, trying to be patient. "What is your problem? It's not like I've done anything to you. I've tried to be nice, and you've been a total jerk."

"Well excuse me if I'm not acting like your best friend or something," he sneered. "Just so you know, it's not you I've got the problem with. I just don't feel like being nice right now."

"So what's your problem with Gan Ning, then? You've made it pretty obvious that you hate his guts."

"That's none of your business," he snapped, glaring at her.

Victoria met his eyes. "I'm making it my business. You guys are just like my brothers, though you've got a hell of a lot more self-control. How are you supposed to focus on your enemy if you're too busy hating one of your allies?"

Ling Tong sat up, digging his fingers into the earth. "How could I not hate him?" he snarled, his voice low and thick. "You want to know what your friend did that has me so upset? Fine. I'll tell you. That bastard killed my father!"

Victoria inhaled sharply. How the hell had she forgotten that?

He was looking at her with hooded eyes, visibly resentful that she had seen him this way. But Victoria thought she saw a hint of vulnerability in his posture, like a part of him was asking for help even while he wished her gone. She sat down at his feet, careful to check that she was clear of any road apples first.

"Your hands are tied, aren't they? You can't kill him because he's a fellow officer of Wu now," she said quietly.

"You have no idea how much I loved my father," he told her, averting his gaze to the ground. "My mother died when I was very young, and he was the only family I had. I found out he was gone after his men brought his body back; they're the ones who told me who killed him. I couldn't find him on the battlefield, Tori! That was my only shot at avenging my father, and I couldn't do it!"

She just listened, feeling a sudden kinship with him. In a way, he was as alone as she was. Besides, he had just called her by her nickname, for once. That had to be a good thing, right? "You know, I kind of understand the way you feel," she began.

"You couldn't begin to understand!"

Victoria glared at him. "Don't interrupt me when I'm talking, dude. My family's still alive, as far as I know, but I'm probably never going to see them again. They're as good as dead to me. Even worse, there aren't any people like me around here. I'm American, not Chinese.

"But do you see me crying about it? No! I told myself that railing against the world and drowning in self-pity was pointless, and I decided to try and make my own family to replace the one I've lost. If someone like me, a woman, can get over losing everything she's ever known and loved, why the hell can't a man like you?"

Victoria had never made any such vow. She was just trying to break him out of his stew. But once it was said, she realized that maybe she should follow her own advice.

As for Ling Tong, he just stared at her, his face unreadable. Had he bought it?
"You make it sound so easy," he finally said. "But I can't move on, not until Gan Ning pays for what he did."

"Do you want to be executed as a murderer? If you kill him, you'll be the one paying for it. Would your father want you to die because you avenged him?" she demanded. "I don't know jack about your dad, but I can't imagine that he'd want that for you."

When he looked away, she knew she'd nailed it. "I'm not saying that you should be best buds with him. But things will probably go a lot smoother if you'd stop pushing everyone away when they try to help you. Grief should never be handled alone."

"And you're offering to be my shoulder, right?" he sneered, albeit less harshly than before.

She stood up. "If you want me to be, then yes."

Victoria started away, still not tired but willing to try and sleep again. Long after she crossed the perimeter and vanished between the tents, she felt his dark eyes upon her back.