A/N: The timelines may seem a little screwy sometimes, but since the only ones that connect are Jia Wen and Mei Zhen's stories. Soo, it's always Jia Wen is before Mei Zhen. (Until it matters, Zi Qi is in the middle. Her timeline is give or take a few days/weeks compared to the other two.) Sorry if it confused ANYONE I didn't mean it. (Sobs)

Chapter 13: Li Mei Zhen: Splash

Mei Zhen trained hard during the next few weeks, with her skills it was no surprise when she had surpassed most of the other girls and was the top student in her field. Ever since her last encounter with Ling Tong, she didn't have much chance to ever converse with the Wu general again. Every time she did meet him though, they were in the position of teacher and disciple which made it inappropriate to ask.

Whenever Mei Zhen wasn't with Ling Tong, she would be studying the cultural arts with Lu Xun. Lu Xun, was a crowd favorite among most of the girls at the academy. "The way he always flirts with those other girls." Mei Zhen would often say to herself, "There is no way he was the boy in Wu Hu."

"Mei Zhen!" Hue Ying rushed up to her friend and roommate when it was time for dinner. "Did you hear about the competition Master Ling has opened!" she squealed loudly forcing Mei Zhen to wince in shivering pains.

"What competition?" she managed to calm Hue Ying down, "I didn't hear about anything."

"It's an archery competition! The winner gets to go against Master Lu!" she started to squeal again, this time adding small little jumps. "Master Lu is actually going to fight! I heard he was one of the most skilled bowmen in Wu! This is so exciting!"

"Wonderful." Mei Zhen sarcastically added.

"Mei Zhen!" the tone of Hue Ying's voice suddenly changed. Knowing what was prepared to happen, Mei Zhen turned to walk away when she was held back. "Mei Zhen!" she wailed, "You have to enter the contest!"

"The day of the competition is one of the only days in a month we get to rest and go out to town, I rather do that instead of wasting my time here competing with the rest of you."

"You just want to find out about your parents, don't you?" Mei Zhen spun around with a small glare in her eye. "If you win, you can ask them to help you search?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well the winner of the competition gets a longer break out of the academy, but if you beat Master Lu…you can have one wish granted! Yours can be to find your family!"

"I'll think about it." She pulled her arm away from the tight grip of Hue Ying, walking towards the dinner hall.

"WAIT UP!" Hue Ying screamed, rushing behind her.

Xx

The two girls stepped into the busy mess hall which was located on the other side of the castle area. "Ah Xian!" Mei Zhen hollered to the young cook on the other side of the room before rushing up to table filled with gourmet foods. "What's for dinner tonight? Looks good."

"Oh stop it Mei Zhen." Ah Xian pushed her curly locks of hair behind her ear before splashing a spoonful of their dinner on a plate.

Carrying the small tin tray that was provided to them from the city, Mei Zhen and Hue Ying turned around hoping that seats were still available. Including all the bodyguards, soldiers, servants and students the mess hall was truly a mess when it came to eating. "Strange." Hue Ying noted, seeing two tables empty from their usual group.

"They're gone."

"No, they're just not here yet." Ah Xian pointed out to the two girls. It was clearly a surprise to both the girls, most of the trainees in the academy always found ways to get to the mess hall before anyone else. The hottest food, the best seats, it always belonged to them.

"Well if they're not here." Mei Zhen rolled her eyes, settling herself down on one of the tables, "Make the best of it until it's too late."

As if Yu Di prepared the next events to aggravate Mei Zhen, the doors of the mess hall suddenly busted open with a loud cry. Coming inside was Lu Xun, accompanied by the group of trainees. All of them grabbing onto his arm and bewildering him with questions.

"Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao will arrive." Mei Zhen rolled her eyes in disgust seeing the young scholar trying to tame his posse.

"Master Lu sit here!" the girls tried to yank him towards their normal table when they were surprised to see Mei Zhen and Hue Ying. "What are you doing here? That's our table."

"I don't see your names written on it." Was the reply of the ex-bandit, her hair tied back into a messy bun.

"I'm pretty sure we can all just sit together." Lu Xun tried to break up the tense situation, sitting down on the bench. He took off his hat and shook his head lightly. The girls surrounded him were in awe as the generals brown hair shook and gleamed lightly with the suns rays.

"So what brings you to the mess hall today Master Lu?" Hue Ying inched closer to the handsome man, Mei Zhen looked back astonished on how her best friend would react to him.

"Master Ling had to attend to some things."

"Can you eat here every time Master Lu?"

"You really brighten up this place Master Lu."

"You should accompany us more Master Lu!" the girls all squealed and shook the general silly. Their annoying ramblings were quieted when they heard a loud smack on the table.

"You guys disgust me!" Mei Zhen shouted. She couldn't believe how these girls were behaving. "You all entered this camp to become bodyguards to serve Wu, not to become gu niangs to server their men! Do you all have no morale?" She gave Lu Xun a dirty glare, "And you," she took a deep breath. "Forget you." She huffed before walking out of the mess hall, slamming the doors behind her.

"What's with her?" the girls glared.

Lu Xun scratched his head, "That tone of voice…" it suddenly dawned to him. "Why couldn't I think of that earlier?" He quietly blamed himself; he was usually too busy to identify each of his twenty students separately through looks, voice and talent. "That voice…"

xx

She stormed angrily out of the back gates of the academy and stomped through the heavy layers of grass and leaves. The area behind the academy was their training grounds, but Mei Zhen knew of an area farther which reached a beautiful lake. She knew out of all places right now, that was the only area she could calm down in. "ARGHHHHH!" she screamed at the top of her lungs before flopping down onto her knees. "Why was I so angry? Why is Lu Xun making me so mad?" she often tried to reassure herself that Lu Xun wasn't Lu Yi Bo Yan of Wu Hu but something kept tugging at her heart saying that he was. "Why is he such a jerk? He wasn't like that when I met him." She rambled to herself.

"Mei Zhen?" someone called out her name, a voice that Mei Zhen hadn't spoken to directly in a long time.

"Master Ling." Mei Zhen got up from her crouching position, dusting the dirt off her hands.

"What are you doing here?" the two asked in unison, before breaking out in small chuckles.

"I like to come here when I'm not feeling that great." Ling Tong admitted, he walked forward until the front of his shoe touched the water. "What about you?"

"I guess me too." She smiled, "Did you ever get your letter?" She noticed the sudden change of face on Ling Tong.

"Yeah, it's the reason why I'm out here." He paused, "You know what Mei Zhen, I've never met you but it feels like I've have. For a long time too."

"Huh?" Ling Tong let out a small smile, sitting down on the ground and allowing the water to flow over his ankles. Feeling uncomfortable standing by herself in front of her superior, Mei Zhen had no other choice but than to sit down beside him. The two sat in silence, watching the suns ray reflect a beautiful light onto the water. The colours of the trees and rocks that surrounded them also reflected, creating a vivid image.

"I want to return home." Ling Tong suddenly said, before picking up a small stone beside him and throwing it into the water. He then reached into his inner breast pockets and pulled out a scroll. "I want to know the truth." He whispered into it, before allowing it to join his rock friend in the water.

"What's wrong Master Ling? Shouldn't you be happy you got the letter?" Mei Zhen questioned, confused on why he threw a perfectly good scroll into the lake.

"The letter wasn't even written by her." He mumbled softly, "She's not even allowed to send me letters..." Mei Zhen returned another stare of confusion, but she knew it'd be better off if she didn't ask. "So is something bothering you Mei Zhen?"

"Me? Oh it's nothing."

"You don't have to say anything, but holding up all your frustrations inside won't help you."

"Neither will it help you Master Ling." She retorted.

"Do you know why I come to this pond Mei Zhen?" he waited for her blank stare, laughing sarcastically he rose from the ground with a small pebble in his hand. "Someone very special once told me, that mother nature is the perfect person to tell your secrets too. You tell them your pain and happiness, and they'll keep it with them forever."

"Keep it with them?" Mei Zhen sprung herself up and stared into the beautiful surroundings near her.

"I share all my secrets, my hopes, my wishes with mother nature." Ling Tong turned around, placing a small pebble in her hand. "By telling it your thoughts, it'll make sure no one else can get into them." Mei Zhen watched as Ling Tong held the pebble close to his mouth which moved in a small prayer like fashion before he flung it out into the water.

"Try it."

"I wish…" she whispered into the pebble, her eyes shut tight as she spilt all her anger and feelings into it. Ling Tong smiled at the young bodyguard who began to relax as he suspected. Her broad shoulders slowly loosened in comfort when she chucked the rock high into the air. "I WISH EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST RIGHT!" she screamed after it.

The little pebble propelled high into the sky, it twirled immensely before it landed straight into the water. Making a sound that Mei Zhen would never forget for its true meaning. Splash.

A/N: Alright I lied, no one really knows what Jia Wen asked Zhou Yu to do but there was a little hint. (Psst it upset Ling Tong a lot). Thanks for reading and reviewing as usual and I'll see you next chapter (WITH the TRUE meaning of the favour revealed)

Yu Di: Aka the Jade Emperor, the Emperor of the Heaven and Earth. The superior of many gods and goddesses that help control the world.

"Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao will arrive.": A commonly used saying (I don't know if it was used back then). It's usually used when someone is talking about someone, and boom there that person is. Like a coincidence type of thing.

Gu Niang: Also refers to a young woman, but also used for songstresses/prostitutes.

Adamantina: Jiang Wei's more book nerd can't see him interacting with women much so you can't prove a guy cares until he gets jealous! Plus he sort of confessed to her a bit already let's just see if Zi Qi feels the same way. :P He doesn't seem like the type to drink either, I'll just stick with tea and water for that guy. Sailor Ma. (Imagine him with the little outfit on…oh ew) Lala. There's this really cute Three Kingdom's Comic which made the Wei generals as Sailor Moon. A bit disturbing with the leg hair, but funny of course.

Cenasgirl456: Nah I won't let Zi Qi get drunk! She just doesn't seem the type to indulge herself into the fine tasting wine which would be hogged by Zhang Fei anyways. Yes you could marry both Lu Bun and Sima Yi. Men were allowed to polygamy back then, why can't women? ;D

Reymysterio619: Yeah, Sun Quan does look like a monkey. I think it's his hat…reminds me of the monkey in the Simpsons. Shu banquets are more fair and fun for all genders, but Wu's banquets only involve Sun Quan and women. Poor Qiao sisters and Shang Xiang, never get to party! MNM are funny, but that Gillian girl scares me. Let's just hope that face thing is fake cause I really don't want to believe it's real!