Author's Note - I own absolutely nothing and hopefully didn't butcher anything too irredeemably in writing this.

CHAPTER ONE -

where there is a flame

"Lord Zhou Yu, you're back!"

The excited squeal had left the young girl's lips before the door had even completely slipped open. In one bountiful bounce, Xiaoqiao had essentially hopped to life - moving from her seated position on the hardwood floorboards and prancing to the aforementioned Zhou Yu's side. Instantly, her small hands had reached out to grasp at his much larger ones.

However, her actions had seemingly gone completely unnoticed by the entering Zhou Yu, as he had made the motion to cross his arms, leaving her grasping at nothing. The raven-haired young man continued to walk into the small room, hands safely tucked into his own elbows. Thin eyebrows neatly furrowed, his lips tightly pulled together as a crinkle above his nose formed from the contortion of his face.

"Lord Zhou Yu?" Xiaoqiao prompted again, the tiny girl blinking up at him as her cheerful grin faded from her face. Her arms back at her sides, Xiaoqiao could only stare at her companion, unsure of what to do next.

After another beat, Zhou Yu seemed to have finally registered that he was not alone in the room - and that someone was also actively speaking to - and attempting to cling onto - him. With a small shake of his head, Zhou Yu absentmindedly reached out his pale cold hand, patting against Xiao Qiao's chestnut head.

"Ah- yes... So sorry, my darling..." Zhou Yu's light voice trailed off, his dark eyes scanning the room as he made his way past his wife. Xiaoqiao's face remained frozen in that blank frown, merely watching as Zhou Yu approached the wooden desk inside their private study, his hands shuffling through the papers and scrolls that littered its surface.

"I made y-"

"Here it is..."

Xiaoqiao found herself being cut off as Zhou Yu held up a single scroll before his face. For a fraction of a second, the smallest twitch of a smile touched the man's lips, but then, almost immediately, it was gone and he was approaching the door again.

"Oh! Are you leaving again, Lord Zhou Yu!?" Xiaoqiao blurted out, "Because I was waiting for you to get back home today since it's almost our three-week anniversary of the first time we-"

"Yes, I need to get back to this council. I-"

"But you've been gone all day!" Again, the words came out before she could stop herself, and for a brief moment, Zhou Yu had actually taken a moment to look in her direction. Xiaoqiao pulled her face together, finally realizing that she had been, for lack of a better word, pouting, "I'm sorry, Lord Zhou Yu. I didn't mean to cut you off. I just... You've been gone all day and I know these meetings are, like, really super important and you have a lot on your plate and I couldn't imagine the stress you must, like, be dealing with and-"

And there it was, the classic word vomit that everyone in the kingdom of Wu knew to expect from Xiaoqiao. It wasn't that she was necessarily nervous or anything of the sort, she just naturally had a lot of words she had to get off of her chest all of the time always. Or, at least that's what her sister had told her when she asked once upon a time ago.

"My darling, I'm sorry - but I really do need to be getting back. Cao Cao is continuing to build his army and we need a proper strategy on how to combat him whilst at the same time managing the relationship we have with Shu." Zhou Yu's face was back into that tight contortion, making him appear significantly older than he actually was. Xiaoqiao wanted to make a joke and laugh about this, but instead, she kept her mouth shut. "Why don't you... go see what your sister is doing or something? I promise I will return as soon as I am able."

With that, his large hand had been placed upon the side of her head and face. For a moment they stood like that - and then it was over, with Zhou Yu exiting almost as quickly as he had arrived and with Xiaoqiao standing there, alone again, barely even registering that her fingers had crumpled around the fragile piece of paper that contained the newest artistic creation of her adoration and devotion to Zhou Yu.

"What'cha doin!"

A startled gasp sounded from the elder Qiao sister at the sharp octave of Xiaoqiao's half-question. In her mild panic, Daqiao's fingers had fluttered to her chest, resting over her anxiety-ridden heart and giving way for the large stack of scrolls and books to effortlessly collapse onto the ground. The sudden noise echoed down the long corridor, alerting any who cared to her presence in the outer courtyard hallway.

Daqiao's wide brown eyes flickered to her younger sister, even as she recoiled from the loud collision at her feet.

"Xiaoqiao, what did I tell you about sneaking up on people!?" Daqiao breathed out as she tried to get her heart rate under control. Xiaoqiao's wide grin faltered slightly as she moved to clasp her hands behind her back.

"Uhm. That it's apparently, like, really super annoying..."

"And?"

"...and inconsiderate?" Xiaoqiao volunteered, albeit a bit reluctantly.

"And..." Daqiao challenged back, finally regaining her composure and quirking a thin eyebrow.

"And no one wants to marry a sneaky, inconsiderate girl..." Xiaoqiao sucked in her cheeks, continuing to stare at her elder sister as her hands unclasped behind her back. Daqiao merely shook her head at this response, moving to wag an index finger at her sister.

"Especially not someone like Master Zhou Yu." With another shake of her head, Daqiao finally bent down to recollect the books and papers she had dropped just moments prior. Xiaoqiao mirrored her sister's movements, bending down to assist with the collection, a small giggle escaping her lips.

"Oh sis, don't be ridiculous. Lord Zhou Yu loves me for me! Like today is our three-week anniversary of the first time we fed the palace pandas as a married couple! He knows who I am and, really, he loves when I-" For what seemed like the billionth time in one day, Xiaoqiao found herself getting cut off by someone who was usually more reserved and respectful of others.

"Xiaoqiao, do you not fully comprehend just how valuable Master Zhou Yu is to Wu? He cannot afford to be distracted by your silly little pranks and children's games." Daqiao stopped collecting her things, ensuring that she locked eyes with Xiaoqiao, "Without him, I don't know what Lord Sun Ce would do in the upcoming battles. Please, try to understand that not everything is about what you want." Daqiao's voice had fallen to a quieter, more stern tone and she held Xiaoqiao's gaze as she let her words sink in.

For a moment, neither sister said anything more - they simply stared back at each other. Eventually, though, Xiaoqiao nodded her head, moving to a vertical base and offering up the few books and scraps of paper she had collected, "I know. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Daqiao also resumed standing, taking her belongings from her sister, "I just don't want you to put yourself in a position you can't recover from. I love you; you're my sister." Finally, a small smile flashed across the elder Qiao's lips, "But I really do have to be going. I'm sorry - I told Lord Sun Ce I'd get these to Master Lu Meng." With that, Daqiao made a motion to continue in the direction she was already headed.

"Hey sis," Xiaoqiao's hands had clasped again, this time in front of her small frame, "How do you do it?"

Daqiao's feet were still moving her away from Xiaoqiao's stationary position, but she did take the time to bite the bait being offered, "Do what, Xiaoqiao?"

This was the moment Xiaoqiao chose to second-guess herself. She frowned, her teeth sinking into the flesh of her inner cheek for a beat. Daqiao, exasperated, let out a deep sigh, "Xiao-"

"Spend all day alone but drop everything the second he needs you?"

A pin dropped in the deafening silence that followed her question before Xiaoqiao could even register what happened next.

The distance between both sisters had essentially diminished - Daqiao had seemingly whirled towards Xiaoqiao, much as a magnet would. A hurried, stern whisper passed through Daqiao's rouge lips, "Because that's what you do. That is what you do for love. That is your duty."

Completely thrown for a loop, Xiaoqiao found herself blinking, staring in awe at her sister. Despite the words coming from her sister's mouth, there was no trace of venom, malice, or even impending threat. Xiaoqiao couldn't quite place what it was she heard in her sister's voice, but she was sure she wasn't completely buying what she was half-selling. "Okay."

A long stare from Daqiao leveled Xiaoqiao into saying nothing more, with the younger sister eventually offering up a soft smile to show she truly heard what had been said. After another beat, Daqiao finally turned on her pointed heel again, heading back towards her destination once more. Xiaoqiao found herself watching her sister's figure leave, that smile again falling from her face, her arms wrapping around her body.

She wasn't sure how to interpret what had just happened - typically she could talk to her sister about anything and everything. It couldn't have been because they were in the courtyard - they had had plenty of intimate heart-to-hearts out here before! And with even worse topics! Like the time Daqiao had questioned if Lord Sun Ce and Lord Zhou Yu were really just friends. Or the time Xiaoqiao had wondered if the Sun family really even had a tiger of Jiangdong. Or the time Daqiao had inquired as to who was behind the recent acts of vandalism and assaults going on around Wu province - everyone had assumed it was Gan Ning because, well, he was Gan Ning. But Daqiao had some whole conspiracy theory cooked up that Xiaoqiao stopped listening to halfway through because sometimes people could just go on and on and on and-

"Oh." A stray piece of paper caught Xiaoqiao's eye and she bent to retrieve it. Almost immediately, the young girl let out a gasp, "Sis! You forgot something!" But it was painfully obvious that Daqiao was long gone, even as Xiaoqiao wagged the piece of paper around in the air as if that would somehow alert the elder Qiao to her mistake. Releasing a sigh, Xiaoqiao lowered her arm, throwing another glance at the paper. Part of her wanted to understand what was written on the page, but another part of her almost immediately lost interest - there were too many numbers, too many words, no pretty colors.

"Who did she say she was going to see?"

It would be ridiculous to suggest that the various aspects of Wu's central core had their own individual sections within every single encampment - after all, why would the cavalry camp need a cook - horses ate hay! Right? Or why would the archers need their own tent - they need to see the sky so they know where they're shooting! Right?

So why did Xiaoqiao feel like she had accidentally stumbled upon the strategists' corner of the world, even though they were in what she liked to consider Wu's main camp? Sure, she understood that the strategists had to... strategize... or whatever, but why did they need an entire village of tents to themselves? Maybe she really was that naive. Or maybe Zhou Yu really kept her that far away from this aspect of the world.

After all, he never asked her to pick up important scrolls to hand-deliver to another higher-up in the Wu ranks.

Would you suppose that was because he was just so insanely swamped with trying to be on top of everything? Or maybe he didn't trust her? Oh gosh, maybe he thought she was just a distraction, as Daq-

"Ooouch!" Instinctively, Xiaoqiao's hands had flown to her head, rubbing at the sore spot on her temple that had just received damage.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay!?" A voice broke out at almost the exact same time as her wail of despair. Xiaoqiao continued to rub at her head, her eyes squeezed shut in an attempt to stop the tears springing to life.

"What's the big idea?! Aren't you guys supposed to be geniuses or something?! What was that for!?" Okay - she'd admit this was purely her whining just for the sake of doing so because my gosh did her head hurt now. Slowly, Xiaoqiao forced her eyes open, a pout pulling at her mouth as she reluctantly dropped her hands from her forehead.

It was only at that moment that she realized the person opposite her was clutching their nose, indicating the source of her new migraine, "Oh wow! Are you okay?!" It might've been a dumb question, given the considerable amount of blood dripping from the young man's nostrils, but it was all she could manage to squeak out in her shock. Thinking better of it, Xiaoqiao decided to follow up with: "I'm so sorry! I thought you were like, a pole or a table or something!"

"What?" The man standing across from her pressed his thumb and forefinger together on the bridge of his nose, finally opening his eyes to glance at the girl. "You thought I was an inanimate object - and - ow!" The young man gave up trying to make sense of Xiaoqiao's logic for a half second, blinking his blurry eyes furiously and tightening his grip on his nose.

"Actually, yeah, that was kind of dumb. I didn't think you were, like, a pole pole - you're, like, really super way too short..." Xiaoqiao offered up a small, awkward laugh. However, her frown very quickly returned as the crimson trail across from her continued to gush about the scene, "Uhm - no offense, but your face really doesn't look okay. Are you, like, hemophilic or something!? Ohmygosh, please don't die on me! I'll go get help!"

"No! No! I'm fine - really!" The young man reached out, instinctively grabbing Xiaoqiao's wrist as she had turned to run off in who-knew-what-direction to locate 'help'. The man's other hand continued to pinch at the bridge of his nose, a part of him heavily trying to focus on ceasing the blood spouting from his face, the other part trying to keep up with the mental jumping jacks of this conversation.

He let out another small groan, straightening himself up somewhat, "My blood is perfectly normal - this is just what happens when the fragile cartlidge of your nasal passage collides with a blunt object with moderate force - in this case, your head," The man made a motion to try and clean himself off somehow, awkwardly swiping a sleeve across his mouth and effectively staining the cloth, "And I'm not short."

"I didn't say you were short. I said you were too short to be a pole." Xiaoqiao shot back almost instantly, resulting in a dubious look from the man across from her. Trying to somewhat remember her manners, Xiaoqiao patted about herself, her small hands tapping against the pockets of her tangerine-tinted shorts. Finding them empty, she glanced down, noticing an ivory-tinted material at her feet.

Xiaoqiao let out a small "oh!" and bent down to retrieve the item, quickly bouncing back up to present her finding to the man. However, upon her rather energetic vertical shift, the young girl had over-extended her knees, leading to a small bounce. The all-too-familiar thwonk of her head colliding with something returned.

"Ouch-"

"Ohmygosh-"

Once again, the young man's head had flung backwards on impact, both of his hands returning to his nose as a new wave of crimson warmth swept down his mouth and chin. Xiaoqiao made a strange noise of despair, completely uncertain as to what to do. She made a move to bring the ivory cloth-like material to the man's face to act as an impromptu handkerchief - the quick motion resulting in the young man recoiling like a cat to water.

"No, no, no - it's okay!" His voice had jumped up an octave - perhaps due to a mixture of the shock, pain, and desperation to not have further harm done upon him by Xiaoqiao. The young girl instantly withdrew her arms back to herself, clutching the ivory material close to her chest as a frantic apology rushed out of her lips.

"Well, well, well - what do we got goin' on over here!?" A raspy, foreign voice intruded upon the scene, prompting both assailant and victim to swivel their attention in the source's direction. Immediately, Xiaoqiao found herself blinking blankly, whereas the young man offered a tight frown. "Lu Xun - what the hell happened to your face, man? Did..." The new figure paused ever so slightly in his approach, those hazel eyes of his shifting between the tiny Xiaoqiao and the bloodied man standing beside her, "Did you get beat up by a girl!? Hah! Hey guys, get a load of this -"

"Gan Ning, pleas-" Lu Xun attempted to interject, but it was too late. The aforementioned Gan Ning was already cackling with hearty laughter, his voice carrying across the immediate area and beyond for all to hear.

"I know we all crack on about how fragile you are, but man - this takes the cake!" Gan Ning's laughter continued to sound about, the much larger man finally closing the distance, "Speaking of cake..." Gan Ning paused for a brief moment, affectionately slapping his large hand on Lu Xun's shoulder as he turned on the heel of his boot to face Xiaoqiao. The tiny girl continued to blink, completely lost as to what in the world was actually going on - even as Gan Ning's eyes very, very slowly ran up and down the course of her body. He released a long, slow whistle, "Well, don't you look delicious, doll. Hope my boy here didn't spoil you on all men - not all of us are a bunch pu-"

"Gan Ning, I trust you can see your way out." A fourth voice interrupted Gan Ning's inappropriate ramblings. Two of the three bodies turned to face the newcomer - one out of sheer curiosity, the other out of devoted respect. The third - Gan Ning - remained just as he was, eyes fixated on Xiaoqiao, though this time he actually seemed to have the decency to look at her face.

"Aye, aye, Captain Lu Meng." A small smirk twitched at the corners of Gan Ning's lips. The general lazily slung his fore and middle fingers up to his forehead in a half-hearted attempt at a salute, "Come find me if you wanna match Lu Xun's nose to your hym-"

"Gan Ning - that is enough." Lu Meng's voice broke in again - thankfully before Gan Ning could finish his sentence. Xiaoqiao found her cheeks burning - and strangely enough, hot tears sparking into the corners of her eyes, blurring her vision. The young girl kept her lips tightly drawn together, refusing to blink and release those tears. Lu Xun finally turned away from Lu Meng to throw a glance in Xiaoqiao's direction, a deep frown pulling at the corners of his own lips.

"That is no way to speak to Lady Qiao. You will apologize at once." Before he even knew the words were coming, a certain tone of authority had shifted inside of the young Lu Xun. He shifted his gaze towards Gan Ning, who already seemed preoccupied with his lackadaisical retreat from the scene - at least up until this last statement was made. Instantly, Gan Ning had turned back towards the trio, that same smirk playing upon his lips.

"Ooh, this is Zhou Yu's little lady, huh? Sweets, you got a sister?" Gan Ning released another laugh, "Of course you do. We all know the heroic tale of the Qiao sisters. The stories don't do you nearly enough justice, though. Oops - there I go again - trying to pay you a compliment like the gentleman I am. Hope you can forgive me." Even Xiaoqiao didn't have to know Gan Ning personally to understand he was not in the least bit sincere with... whatever maybe fake attempt at an apology that was. Gan Ning again raised his hand, this time wagging his wrist in a loose farewell wave as he again turned to leave, "Have fun choking on your morals or whatever."

With Gan Ning clearly descending from the area, Lu Xun found himself heaving a sigh of relief. Again, he stole a glance at Xiaoqiao, who seemed frozen in place, staring at the ground. Lu Xun made a movement to step closer to the young girl, but immediately thought better of it. Instead, he shook his head, more to himself than anyone else.

"It's no excuse for his words and actions, but he is harmless. That is... That's Gan Ning. I, for one, would like to apologize on his behalf." Lu Xun forced a small smile upon his face, tentatively extending a hand towards Xiaoqiao, "I would also really appreciate that handkerchief if you are still offering it..."

For a long minute, no one else said anything - or even moved. Lu Xun stood there, his olive branch of sorts offered up. Xiaoqiao continued to frown into nothing but dirt - and Lu Xun wasn't even sure if she had heard him. After all, he had a tendency to be pretty meek and what she was probably trying to process was... a lot.

Lu Meng, meanwhile, simply stood there - close enough to hear this exchange, but still far enough so as to not impose. The elder general quirked an eyebrow but remained silent, his arms stiffly crossed before his chest.

"Thank you." Xiaoqiao finally peeked up, allowing herself one tiny sniffle to choke back any potential tears. The small girl planted a smile on her own face, offering up the ivory item from earlier, "I really am sorry about your face." As Lu Xun accepted her offering, Xiao Qiao seemed to think better of her statement, "Not that anything is wrong with it, like, as a face! I meant that I totally broke your nose or something! Not that you're some hideous monster creature we check for under our beds or anything!"

"You're fine, my lady." Lu Xun blotted at the drying blood upon his face with the small gift he had just received. Despite Xiaoqiao's scattered ramblings, Lu Xun's smile did not falter, "I understand that you did not have ill intentions."

This brought about a light laugh from Xiaoqiao, the girl finally moving to clasp her hands before herself, much as she had previously, "Oh thank gosh! I wouldn't know how to make it better if I-" Suddenly, her eyes darted towards the object she had just offered to Lu Xun, "Ohmygosh - no! Crud!" Without waiting for Lu Xun's reaction, Xiaoqiao had reached out, snatching the item back and trying to smooth out his blood from the surface, "Sis is going to absolutely freak if she finds out!"

"That you tried to save a dying man?" Lu Xun interjected - albeit, mostly due to his inability to keep up with what was going on with this girl from one moment to the next. Regardless, Xiao Qiao continued to try and wipe away the splotches of blood from the item. Tentatively, Lu Xun reached out, resting his fingertips on the small material in the girl's hands, "Hey - what's going on? What is it?"

"Xiaoqiao, what are you doing."

For the umpteenth time in one afternoon, another voice broke into the conversation. Xiao Qiao didn't have to look up to recognize this one, though. The small girl's lips instinctively twisted up into a smile, but it immediately faltered as she realized this was no ordinary afternoon. Xiaoqiao shuffled her feet awkwardly, moving to hide the ivory material behind her back, "Lord Zhou Yu! I- uh..."

With a handful of smooth strides, Zhou Yu had joined the fray. His lean figure hovering over both Xiaoqiao and Lu Xun, the pale man held out his hand. Those dark eyes bore into Xiaoqiao, "Now, little one, what is it you have here?"

"I swear it was an accident! I was doing what you asked and I went to go see my sister and she was, like, super duper busy trying to get all of this stuff to... someone... I don't remember who! But she was supposed to bring it to him for Lord Sun Ce and I don't know-" The story came tumbling out in a mess of excited frenzy. Xiaoqiao continued on, detailing her traumatic adventure across the courtyard corridor, getting lost in the palace hedges, almost falling into the fish pond, admiring a butterfly she had found, following the same hallway three separate times, and finally, here - all for the sake of delivering this piece of scroll.

For a long moment, again, a shared silence filled the air. Xiao Qiao finished rambling, timidly holding out the aforementioned scroll that Da Qiao had dropped. Lu Xun stood beside Zhou Yu, his gaze shifting between husband and wife. Lu Meng held back, continuing to silently observe.

Zhou Yu, however, didn't appear to get the message that he was supposed to respond to his wife. Instead, his dark orbs continued to bore into the item in his hand - detailing the fine material, assessing the damage caused by the crimson stains, deciphering the ruined message as best he could. Again, his face contorted in deep concentration.

"My Lord, I would like for you to acknowledge that it was my fault. I was not looking where I was going when the young lady came in looking for you and I caused all of this," Lu Xun eventually offered up. His words low and even, the young man bent forward slightly in a respectful gesture, "I had suffered an accident and was not paying attention, and as a result, the message was destroyed by my hand only. Lady Qiao had nothing to do with this."

Zhou Yu's gaze lifted to focus upon Lu Xun. He took in the disheveled state of the young officer - the rust-tinted stain engulfing the bottom half of his facial features and hands, the slopped position of his favorite cap, presumably from an accidental run into something solid, the uneasy stance he was now displaying - and most importantly, the volunteering of information not requested of him. All very unlike the extremely reserved, well-kempt general he had come to know. Zhou Yu pursed his lips.

"It is no issue, Lu Xun. Please, take a moment to wash yourself up and meet us back in the council room when you are ready." The words came out evenly, politely, but everyone involved knew there was a degree of authority to them. Lu Xun bowed his head, allowing a formal apology to escape his lips, and then made the motion to leave the immediate area. Zhou Yu took this moment to study his wife, who remained half-shuffling, half-swaying as if she didn't know what to do with herself or how to channel her energy. "My dear, return home. Do not return here; you have no business here. As I told you before, I will be home as soon as I am able to - I do not need nor desire your help. I cannot afford incidents like this to continue to occur, is that understood?"

Even though she was sort of, kind of already expecting something of the sort, Xiaoqiao still felt a small pang twist in her heart. She was sure Zhou Yu didn't mean anything negative by that - after all, what business did she have here? - but it still strangely hurt. She had literally just described the ordeal she had gone through to get this to him and he was just... shooing her away?

Nonetheless, the young girl nodded, clasping her hands once more as she mumbled something along the lines of agreement. Without waiting for much else from her, Zhou Yu had turned on the heel of his boot and retreated back in the direction he had appeared from. Lu Meng took this opportunity to mirror his actions. Xiaoqiao went to swivel her way back towards the exit - only pausing ever so slightly as she locked eyes across the way with Lu Xun, who had ceased his own departure from the scene, for whatever reason. Xiaoqiao scrunched up her face in mild confusion but didn't offer any other words.

Instead, the girl continued her actions, heading back the way she had originally come from, a strange heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach that she had somehow done something very wrong - although she couldn't quite put her finger on what. Perhaps Zhou Yu would enlighten her when he came home tonight. If he came home tonight. Whatever the men were spending all of their time discussing in there had to be important - after all, you wouldn't spend most nights away from your home and new wife for anything less than important, would you?

Maybe Daqiao was right.