Painful Love

Zhou Yu rolled his body so that he faced her. "Do you plan to kill me for what I did to you Xiao?"

It was said in such calm and a composed manner that Xiao froze. She wasn't sure what he was going to say or do to her and involuntarily shivered under his stead gaze. And the words hurt her as well. 'How could he think that?' She wondered as another shiver ran down her spine.

"Is that why you are here? To kill me?" Zhou Yu said in a low voice. His voice was steady as his gaze but in his eyes Xiao could see and feel the sorrow that shone brightly in his eyes.

"N… no… my lord. I've come… to beg your forgiveness." Xiao said in a rush as she swiftly crouched on the bed to bow to him.

Zhou Yu looked at the frail girl who was bowing on his bed. She was shaking with nervousness and yet something perplexed him. 'Why had she come to ask my forgiveness? It should be me begging for forgiveness.' "Why do you have a knife?"

Xiao looked up a moment and then took the knife from her hip and placed in front of her. "For you to ki… take my life. I was a disobedient wife… It's your right. I am not worthy to remain your wife."

The silence was heavy as Zhou Yu stared at his wife. "You want me to forgive you?" Zhou Yu said in a neutral tone.

Xiao gulped audibly and shivered. "Please… I beg you for your forgiveness. You don't know how much it means to me…" Xiao pleaded with tears starting to form in her eyes. She didn't notice that Zhou Yu had walked over to the bed and sat down next to her.

"Why should you beg for forgiveness from me?" Xiao looked up with a hurt look displayed on face and found she was staring into Zhou Yu's deep brown eyes. "After all I have done to you and still you come to ask me to forgive you. No, I should ask for yours. I've been a terrible husband to you. I'm never around, never there for you and hardly have time to be with you. You only did… that because I was never there. It was really all my fault…" Zhou Yu let his sentence fade. Silence then enclosed husband and wife in a small world where they just stared at each other. Finally Zhou Yu broke the silence.

"Can you forgive me for what I have done?" This time he was the one pleading.

Xiao sat there stunned. Never had she even thought of this happening. As far as she saw things the recent events were all her fault. It was she who had not had faith in her husband, started seeing another man and therefore deserved what Zhou Yu had done to her.

"But you only did what was your right"

"But I acted rashly. I should have never struck you or yelled at you or done any of the shameful things I did to you."

More silence. A bird chirped outside. Still the two lovers stared at each other. Once again Zhou Yu broke the silence. "I've seen Sun Jian. He has given me permission to annul our marriage."

Xiao felt stunned and hurt. "You… you want to end our… marriage." Xiao said in a whisper as she tried to hold back her tears.

"Yes. You deserve a better man to be your husband; someone who will be there for you. I'll be dead by nightfall tomorrow night; I'm leaving everything to you."

Zhou Yu got up taking with him the bejeweled dagger. Xiao just continued to sit on the bed still in shock. Her mind told her to act quickly because she knew this was her last chance. Zhou Yu was slowly putting on the rest of his clothes. As he slowly made for the door Xiao couldn't take it anymore. She wouldn't let it end this way. Xiao sprang from the bed and ran to Zhou Yu and threw her arms around his waist and sobbed into his back.

Shocked Zhou Yu stood there completely still. "Don'tleaveme,ZhouYu.Iforgaveyoulongago.Pleasedon'tdissolveourmarriage,Iloveyousomuch!" Xiao said in a rush. Even so Zhou Yu understood all that she had said. Gently he pried Xiao's arms from his waist and turned around to face her. "How can you love a man like me?" Zhou Yu inquired.

What Xiao did next neither of them expected. Slowly Xiao raised herself up and wrapped her arms around Zhou Yu neck. Just as slowly she pressed her lips to his and gave him a long passionate kiss. When they finally drew apart because of lack of air Xiao whispered in his ear. "Because to me; you're the perfect man." Xiao felt herself blush as she felt Zhou Yu wrap his strong arms around her tiny waist.

"Am I forgiven?" Zhou Yu asked again in a soft whisper.

"I forgave you a long time ago, my husband." Xiao said lovingly as she nestled her head in the clef of his neck. "Please don't end the marriage. You're the only man I ever loved and will love."

Zhou Yu leaned his head back to look at Xiao. She sensed this and looked up at him and saw a questioning look in his eyes.

"You must understand that I did that to try and forgot you. Move on. I thought you were gone so I tried not to let sorrow take me. I was young and stupid and acted without thinking." Xiao said with her head bowed as she stepped out of Zhou Yu's embrace.

"I never paid enough attention to you before. You only did what you thought was right at the time."

"That still doesn't excuse what I did. We are married and I betrayed that trust our marriage gave between us."

"Shh… You forgave me and I forgive you. Let it all go Xiao. That's all in the past now." Zhou Yu said as he stepped forward and embraced Xiao in a tender loving embrace. Xiao welcomed the comforting arms and cried softly against his chest. She didn't think she deserved to be forgiven and murmured this against Zhou Yu's now wet chest.

"I don't deserve to be forgiven or have the love of such a beautiful girl."

Xiao blushed. She hadn't meant for Zhou Yu to hear that.

"I have to go now." Zhou Yu said as he reluctantly parted from the warmth of his wife.

"I know." Xiao said sadly as she watched Zhou Yu make his way over to the door.

"Xiao…"

"Yes."

"I'll come back, this I promise you. When I do we can start anew. I love you." Zhou Yu said as he slipped out of his room and into the halls of the great castle. He didn't look back for he knew he wasn't going to come back.

A/N Thanks all who reviewed. So do you people think there was enough drama in this section? More to come but maybe not for a few days. Major project in English and AP Bio will take up a bunch of my time.