Okie, back with another chappie. Here we go!

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All of the girls were going back home the next day when the phone rang.

"Hello?" Sun Jian answered.

"Hi. This is Qiao Yuan, father of Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao." the voice said.

"Oh, how are you? Your girls are a pleasure to have over. A real joy." Sun Jian said.

"Thank you. And I have some bad news... I have to be out of town for a long while, would you mind having them over an extended period of time?" Qiao Yuan asked.

"I'd love to! I'll take good care of them . Feel free to call at any time. Bye."

And the conversation ended.

"Sun Ce!" Sun Jian called after he hung up the receiver.

Sun Ce came downstairs, who was followed by Zhou Yu, who was followed by Xiao Qiao.

"The Qiao sisters are staying longer than expected. Tell them for me." Sun Jian ordered.

Xiao Qiao jumped with joy. "I get to stay! I get to stay!"

Zhou Yu was also elated, but he didn't show it by jumping around.

Sun Ce, however, wasn't very pleased. He went upstairs without a word to inform the older Qiao. When he returned, he couldn't find Zhou Yu or Xiao Qiao.

"Where are they?" he inquired of everyone, but didn't receive an answer, so he went around looking.

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Meanwhile, Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao had snuck outside.

"Where are we going?" Xiao Qiao asked, but Zhou Yu only said, "Follow me."

After a while, they reached the market-place, where vendors were selling their goods.

"Here." Zhou Yu said when they reached the center.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Qiao asked, "Why?"

"Oh, this is just a pit-stop. Let's get a drink and something to eat, I can tell that you are hungry." He answered.

Zhou Yu walked over to a booth that was selling jugs of water and purchased two, and then he bought a sack of mixed nuts and dried fruits. When he returned, she followed him to a tree, where they sat beneath the shade to protect themselves from the sun's rays.

Squinting from the sun's light, Zhou Yu handed her the bag and a water jug. She gulped down both within a minute, and they sat under the tree resting.

Xiao Qiao rested her head on Zhou Yu's shoulder. "Where are we going next?"

"To the park. It's a wonderful day, and I thought you might enjoy that." he said.

"Yes, yes, I love the park." she replied.

Zhou Yu smiled.

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When they finally reached the park, it was quite dark, but Xiao Qiao still enjoyed the lake ample with gold-fish that she loved to play around with and the wide spaces that gave plenty of room for running and chasing.

Zhou Yu wasn't a big fan of the gold-fish or the spaces, he just loved to watch Xiao Qiao.

As it grew darker and they grew weary, Xiao Qiao said in a tired tone, "Let's go back. I'm beat."

Zhou Yu nodded in agreement and began to retrace his steps when he remembered a short-cut. "Let's cut through that forest. We'll get home quicker."

Well, many hours past as they strode through the dense forest, with no sign of home. It was completely dark now, with a full, grim moon. Only a few stars shown their brilliance.

"Zhou Yu..." Xiao Qiao stammered as they took a seat on the cold, wet ground.

"Yes?" he replied as he pulled her closer.

"Are we lost?" she asked, her voice trembling from both fear and the cold.

"I wish I could say 'No' without guilt striking my heart... but yes, we are lost... I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have taken that dad-burned short-cut!" he replied in sorrow.

"That's okay, maybe we'll find a way out tomorrow..." she answered.

Zhou Yu held her close to keep her warm. "I hope so."

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Sun Jian realized their absence and issued and order in the province that every one was to search. Sun Ce was worrying every second about his friend. He could concentrate on nothing.

That night, he lay awake pondering about his best friend until the early morning hours, when heard his father girding on his armor and reining his horse to go and search. Sun Ce knew what that meant, it meant he had to care for his little brother and sister and her friend during the time his father was away.

He got up and got dressed, and went to wake his bro. His bro wasn't in his room, instead, there was note noting that he had left with their father to join the search.

"Well, only two to care for now." he chirped as he went into his sis's room.

She and Da Qiao were already up and dressed, Da Qiao was crying about her sister's absence.

"She'll be back, Pop's out lookin' right now." he comforted her.

She looked up at him, her chest-nut eyes all watery. Something struck Sun Ce... a feeling he couldn't describe. He longed to console her more, but his sis butted in, "Is breakfast ready?"

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Zhou Yu was refilling the two jugs with water with the water from a stream that ran through the forest. Xiao Qiao was beside him, watching.

"Do ya think we'll get out today?" she asked.

Zhou Yu shrugged. "I don't know. I hope so."

"Well, I'm hungry. What can we find to eat in this forgotten forest?" she asked.

Zhou Yu looked around. "Hmmm... there's a squirrel... if only I had my bow..."

"You'd kill it?!" Xiao Qiao squealed.

"For food yes. We're lost, it would be a well welcomed treat." he answered.

"Yeah... hey, is that an apple tree?" Xiao Qiao chirped while pointing towards Zhou Yu's left.

Zhou Yu turned to see, "Yes! It is! Xiao Qiao, you wait here while I go and pick us a bunch. I'll be back in a bit." And with that, he ran to the tree and began to climb up towards the glowing balls of red clustered in the bushy green.

Xiao Qiao watched in amazement as he came back down with the juicy, ripe apples.

"Yay! Zhou Yu, you're the greatest!" she sang as so ran over to him and gave him a peck on the cheek.

She eagerly took an apple and took a huge chunk out of it. Zhou Yu did the same.

"Hmmmmm! These are good!" they cried out at the same time.

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After the meal, Zhou Yu said, "Well, I guess we should try to find our way back."

"Yup!" Xiao Qiao chirped.

Zhou Yu smiled. He loved her more every second.

They weeded their way through the uncanny forest, passing trees, rocks, streams, bushes, and other growths.

They finally saw a way out, and made a dash for the whole in the brush.

When they burst out, they didn't find themselves at their home town, they were in an unfamiliar town.

"Where are we, Zhou Yu?" Xiao Qiao asked as he helped her off the ground.

Zhou Yu looked around. He saw a familiar tower, one he had seen in paintings.

"Oh, crap!" he groaned.

"What? Where are we?" Xiao Qiao begged.

"In Wei territory." Zhou Yu said grimly. "Enemy territory."