Disclaimer: Characters depicted in the story aren't mine. They belong to Konami and W-Force.
A/N: Okay, here's the final chapter. Please don't hate me for what I did in the end. I've always had this ending in mind from the beginning of the story though I'm still quite unsure of it. And maybe that was the reason why updating the story chapters had always been a problem for me. ^^; Anyways, thank you so much for keeping up with me until the end. Now, on with the final chapter. ^^
Of Exquisite Beauty
His teeth grazing the inner walls of his mouth, Zhang He tasted his own blood when an enraged Cao Pi struck the side of his face with a mighty closed fist. No matter how much He towered over the Cao heir, fierce jealousy lent force to the already powerful blow Pi inflicted on the lithe warrior, forcing him to stagger a step backward. Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth as He regained his balance.
Cao Pi narrowed his eyes when Jun Yi merely straightened up, wiped the blood off his face, and smirked right back at him. "Some just reward I get for taking care of the Lady Zhen," he deliberately goaded the Cao lord even more.
"You took her for yourself!" Pi shouted, not minding the fact that the other powerful Wei Officers were right there watching both of them with detached curiosity. Cao Pi and the small army he took with him to escort Zhen Ji back to He Fei Castle arrived that morning, causing quite a ruckus as he barked orders to keep the Lady Zhen locked up in her chambers as long as he deemed necessary while he commanded Zhang He to follow him to the conference hall where the Lord Cao Cao and his generals were gathered for a meeting.
"Oh, please, my lord," Zhang He scoffed and barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes in exasperation, "what proof do you have of such a vile accusation?" Still garbed in his peasant clothing, Jun Yi ran his hand through his unbound hair and rested his other hand on his slim waist. With the bored, flamboyant General now back in place, he continued, "I was just looking after the Lady Zhen. Just as you have instructed."
"You lie! You weren't even planning to go back to Wei, were you?"
"And whatever, pray tell, made you say that?" Zhang He replied with a raised brow. "Surely seeing us together in the same room with her braiding my hair couldn't possibly have meant anything, could it?" he said, exaggeratedly flipping a lock of dark hair over a shoulder, "For all you know, we could just be trading beauty secrets." A chuckle unceremoniously broke out from one of the officers which made Cao Pi's scowl even darker, "And besides, we're here now, aren't we?"
"Which is all thanks to me!"
"Aye, both Lady Zhen and I are indebted to you, my lord," Zhang He said as if appeasing a petulant child and even executed a graceful bow which was subtly meant to insult. And Cao Pi clearly got the message, causing him to take a threatening step toward the lithe warrior.
"You treacherous scum! When I get the chance to prove your---"
"My lord, please, you're getting agitated over a most petty thing," Zhang He cut him off with a dismissive wave of his hand, "Surely you wouldn't want to bore our comrades to tears with such an insignificant topic?"
"Enough!" The powerful voice came from Lord Cao Cao himself as he stood up, "You are bickering like children!" He looked from his second son to his eccentric general, "Settle this nonsense elsewhere and in your own time! We are discussing our battle tactics now and if both of you are not interested, then leave!"
"My apologies, my lord," Zhang He quickly bowed before the Wei overlord.
"I request for Zhang He of Heijan to be demoted to a captain and be moved under my command," Cao Pi said, not backing out from his father's command, "If you grant me this, I will not say another word about this subject."
"Demoted to a captain?" Zhang He exclaimed in disgust, "That is preposterous! My rank must not suffer because of this minor misunderstanding. My pride will not allow it."
"You're pride?" Cao Pi challenged with a raised brow, "Or are you afraid of me as your commanding officer?"
"But you've always been my superior officer," Zhang He replied in mock confusion and resisted to add the word idiot, "Unless, of course, you've never considered yourself as one?" Since your skills had always been inferior to the rest of us, he added silently to himself.
"Are you provoking me?"
"Would never dream of it, my lord," Jun Yi was quick to reply.
"You---"
"Silence!" Cao Cao roared once again. "Very well, Pi, Zhang He shall be put under your command. But he remains as a general. His skills are too good to waste," he then turned to the lithe warrior, "If you have nothing to hide, then fighting under Pi won't pose a problem, will it?"
"Not at all, my lord."
* * *
"Lord Zhang He was sent on another dangerous mission, my lady," a maidservant informed Zhen Ji as she placed the tray of food she brought before her silent lady.
Sitting before the window, Zhen Ji didn't move a muscle as she continued to stare at the vast gardens before her. Weeks passed since she was locked up in her room. Her sleeping quarters had proven to be an effective prison, albeit luxurious in design and comfort, since her freedom had been completely taken from her. She could do nothing else but stare outside her barred window all day and worry how Zhang He was faring. She had heard numerous accounts of him being sent to impossible missions by an enraged Cao Pi. He had survived each ordeal but Cao Pi was not impressed. He would punish the lithe warrior until he knelt before him in defeat.
Not a flicker of emotion crossed Ji's beautiful features when the maidservant continued, "He barely had any rest from his previous mission and now Lord Cao Pi sends him on another one?" She cried indignantly for the said general. She then looked pleadingly at Zhen Ji and said, "My lady, please, help Lord Zhang He. Only you could persuade Lord Cao Pi from sending him to such hopeless tasks!"
When Ji remained silent and impassive, the maidservant walked toward her, "I hear he was sent to protect Han Zhong with Lord Xiahou Yuan this time. I wonder how he manages with his unhealed wounds from his previous battle. I hear the place is overrun by Shu and---"
"Hand me my flute," Zhen Ji suddenly spoke up, cutting the servant in mid sentence, "I wish to entertain myself." The maid looked up at her lady in surprise and confusion, then something akin to anger flashed in her eyes.
"What about Lord Zhang He?" She demanded quite insolently.
"What about him?" was Ji's smooth counter.
"Do you feel nothing for his pain?" the servant gasped, "I thought he and you were. . ." Words failed her as she walked toward the other side of the room and took out her lady's flute from the closet. Had she heard wrong? Had she never truly cared for the beautiful general? Was there truly nothing going on between Lady Zhen and the general? Or. . . was she really just an unfeeling doll? The infamous Ice Maiden? "Do you not care for him?" The servant asked quietly.
The cool look that Ji gave the servant almost made her drop the intricately designed flute. The Empress' answer was obvious. The Lady Zhen Ji never cared. She was indeed cold and distant. Just like the rumors had said about her.
"I-I'll take my leave now," the maidservant, now both truly convinced and disappointed that her lady would not raise a single finger to aid the general, bowed before her lady and walked toward the door, "Please forgive my intrusion." The beautiful notes of the song were the last she heard as she closed the door behind her. The maidservant shook her head as she walked away. Such a beautiful sound coming from an exquisite yet heartless woman? How sad it was.
Zhen Ji closed her eyes as she allowed her music envelop her. It must be done. . . She may appear indifferent and uncaring to others but it must be so. And if the way she acted should reach Zhang He, she knew he would understand.
She was doing it to protect him from any further harm.
If anyone knew how much she really loved Zhang He, then she was sure that death awaited him. For now, their relationship hadn't been proven, and that's what was keeping him alive. She mustn't trust anyone, not even the sincerest servant who appeared to be on her side, who wanted to help both of them. For one slip up on her part could very well be fatal.
* * *
Zhang He hissed in muted pain as he peeled the old bandages off him. That jealous Cao brat had him running missions after missions, forcing him to fight even when at times he could barely lift his arm. He clenched his teeth. There was no way he was going to show him weakness. He was not about to let Cao Pi know how much he was suffering at the moment.
The Battle at Han Zhong, as expected, was lost. His current lack of endurance and incapability to fight for a long time had been a hindrance to victory. He was just too exhausted from all those fighting. After all he was only human. He barely had any sleep due to the rapid succession of attacks in his missions and the wounds he attained from a previous battle also slowed his progress, forcing him to fully depend upon his comrade to protect the area in his stead. Lord Xiahou Yuan had fought fearlessly and valiantly against the enemy but bravery wasn't enough against hundreds of Shu soldiers. They barely escaped when Han Zhong fell.
And now, he was back in He Fei Castle, back in his dark sleeping quarters, worn out and sore. He must take advantage of the little sleep he could get for he knew that Cao Pi would once again send him to another mission the next day.
The little bastard. . .
As he was about to drift off to sleep, he heard the door slowly swing open. All traces of sleep disappeared from his head as he stood up and stealthily moved to the wall, grabbing a small knife as he slowly inched his way toward the door. The door opened only a fraction, just enough to allow a person to slip inside his room. Jun Yi narrowed his eyes in the darkness and waited for the intruder to close the door behind him.
Ah, so the Cao brat had finally made a move, eh? Sending an assassin to finish him off?
Jun Yi realized it was a woman who was sent to kill him when he snuck behind her and grabbed her throat, pointing the knife to her delicate neck. He scoffed, "Now Cao Pi sends a woman to do his dirty job for him---" He stopped when he recognized the woman's gasp of surprise and her familiar feminine scent, the scent he had dreamt of and longed for months. "Ji. . ." His weapon clattered on the floor when he dropped it. Ji turned around to face him, and he pulled her roughly toward him, burying his face in her fragrant hair. "By the deity, it's been so long. I was so worried about you. How are you faring?"
"Not so well," Zhen Ji admitted, emotions clouding her voice as she embraced him back just as tightly. "I was so afraid for you."
"You need not be," He assured her and drew her back to see for himself if she looked well, "I'm all right." Zhen Ji, he saw, looked as exquisite as ever yet her eyes spoke volumes of misery and pain though not a single trace of suffering could be found in her outward appearance. And he perfectly understood why. She had learned that appearances should be kept up to conceal what was truly inside her. Zhang He marveled at how she expertly carried herself and thought that both of them were indeed two of a kind. They had both kept up appearances for the entire world to see yet they skillfully hid their true selves behind beautiful masks.
And somehow, beyond those years of pretenses, behind the façades of the unfeeling doll and the eccentric general, they had found each other.
"I was so worried about you," Ji confessed as she looked warily back at him, "that I had to see for myself how you were doing. I knew it was dangerous but. . ." She shrugged and looked away from him. Jun Yi wanted to tell her off, to lecture her of the danger she risked just to see him. He wanted to be angry at her for not thinking of her own safety. But he didn't. He just pulled her back to him and kissed her.
After a while, he drew back and smiled at her, "A servant loitering around at this hour would be very suspicious," he said, looking pointedly at her clothes. She was garbed in servant's clothing and he easily surmised that she snuck out of her room after rendering a servant unconscious and putting on her work clothes, thinking that walking around as a servant would raise no suspicion in the soldiers of the castle. "Your maidservant would sooner or later wake up," he said, placing a chaste kiss on her lips, "You have to go back before she realizes what's going on."
"I understand," Ji replied and stepped back, longingly looking him over once again before they parted. "Take care of yourself."
"I will."
"I shall come back here to see you in the future."
Zhang He shook his head, "It's too dangerous for you. I will come and see you."
"But you are prohibited to even come near my room."
"I'll think of something," he promised, closing the gap between them and kissing her once again. It would be a long time before he could see her again and for now, he would cherish this little moment they had together until the next time they meet. Out of breath, they parted. Zhang He rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes, "It pains me to say this but we must part ways once again."
"Yes," Ji agreed, her hold on him tightening. And then she released him, "I shall await our next meeting."
"So will I," he said and led her to the door. "I apologize I could not take you back to your room. Cao Pi would have my head."
"I will be all right," she assured him.
He nodded, "I know. You've always been strong." He smiled and gave her one last kiss, "Take care now. And have a pleasant night."
* * *
The new Wei strategist Sima Yi could smell a trap some miles away. He watched Wei Yan's and the Shu soldiers' tactical retreat as they scrambled down the Mu Men Pass in Mt. Qi. He was sure that this was another clever ploy by his archrival Zhuge Liang; retreat to a more strategically advantageous position and lie in wait for an ambush.
But something was not right with this tactic, Sima Yi thought. He could easily order his men to pursue the enemy but the first wave he sent had not yet reported their progress. Had they been defeated already? That many archers?
"It's a trap," Sima Yi turned to his left when his comrade spoke beside him. Zhang He stood tall and motionless as he watched the masked Wei Yan until he disappeared from his view.
"I know," Sima Yi agreed and shifted his dark gaze back to the retreating Shu. "The quick-tempered Wei Yan would not normally run away from battle given his strength and skill."
Zhang He did not bother answering. His claws sharp and thirsty for blood, he jumped from the ledge where Sima Yi stood and chased after Wei Yan before it was too late. He must end this now. For another encounter would rise from this and the battles would repeat themselves over and over, just a series of wins and losses. War was a harsh, deadly cycle. And it would go on until one side proved to be the ultimate victor.
"Don't do it, Zhang He!" Sima Yi shouted after the fast disappearing lithe warrior, "It's a trap and you know it!" But Jun Yi remained deaf to Sima Yi's orders as he continued to pursue the masked warrior. He saw Shu's retreat as an opportunity to tip the scales to their favor. And this would undoubtedly quicken the fight.
It did not occur to him that he was being impatient and careless. All he wanted was to end the battle.
He saw the Shu archers crouching behind bushes, lying in wait for an ambush, before they saw him. He silently moved toward their hiding place and zeroed in for a surprise attack. The hunters had now become the hunted as Zhang He continued to strike with his iron claws. After finishing the first wave of enemy archers, he moved to the next and defeated them and then to another. He saw Wei Yan's retreating form in the corner of his eyes and quickly turned to pursue him.
Arrows wheezed pass him as he barely dodged the attacks of swordfighters. Archers were mostly the ones who lay in wait for the ambush while spear and sword wielders attacked him directly. He continued on to his dance of death until most of his enemies had fallen. He attacked enemy soldiers while keeping an eye on Wei Yan. It was a long fight and he started to feel his speed and strength diminishing due to the hundreds of soldiers who met him. Still, he continued on his pursuit.
When he spotted Wei archers positioning themselves behind bushes, he breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, allied forces had arrived to back him up.
The battle in the Mu Men Pass can be won.
All of a sudden, he felt an acute pain on his left shoulder. He looked down at his fast numbing joint and saw a sharp bloody point of an arrow protruding out of his body. An arrow was shot from behind him and the pain that came after it felt like fire. He felt another sharp pain on his right leg. And then on his left. He quickly turned around and the next arrow was shot straight to his stomach. His body buckled against the pain as a series of arrows continued to rain on him.
It was impossible, he thought. How were the Shu archers able to have to clear shot at him?
He looked up and what he saw made his gut clench in fury. The Wei archers, his allies, were aiming their bows straight at him while Cao Pi stood not far away, watching everything with a detached expression on his face.
* * *
A soft rap on her window roused Zhen Ji up from her afternoon nap. She sat up from her bed and looked outside her window, only to see Zhang He's grinning face peering at her. He signaled to her to open her window and Ji quickly stood up and complied
"If you do nothing but eat and sleep, Ji, you'll get fat in no time," was Zhang He's playful greeting as she opened her window. He leaned on the window sill and smiled at her. He was standing on a high, sturdy branch of his favorite elm tree that conveniently stood outside her window.
Zhen Ji dismissed the topic with a wave of her hand, making a face as she did so. She held on to the iron bars that separated them and smiled at him, "It's good to see you again."
"I told you I'd come back and see you, didn't I?"
"Yes, and I'm glad that you did," Ji replied. She leaned her head on the bars and Zhang He gladly took in the invitation. Their lips met in a gentle kiss. Ji felt that the kiss was a little different than the ones she had before, it spoke of sadness and of goodbye. Ji wondered about it as they parted and looked at him in confusion when he drew back. He merely smiled back at her.
"I came here to tell you something, by the way."
"Oh?" Ji raised her eyebrows, "And here I thought you came here just to tell me that I was getting fat."
"I already did that, didn't I?" Zhang He appeared thoughtful then he looked back at her and grinned, "I just wanted to see you before I leave, I guess."
"Come to think of it," Ji replied as she rested her hands on the sill, "weren't you supposed to be in a mission today? I heard from the servants that Cao Pi sent you out again. To Mt. Qi this time."
Zhang He waved a dismissive hand, "Let Sima Yi worry about that. Besides, he has proven his worth as a dependable Wei warrior. All would be fine."
"Are you sure?" Ji was doubtful.
"I'll catch up with them soon," Zhang He shrugged, "I'd rather savor this moment with you."
"I just hope Cao Pi won't know that you've been here to see me," Ji continued worriedly, "Else he would become furious and would raise up a ruckus that you---"
"I love you," the words were said so suddenly and so casually that Zhen Ji blinked in surprise. Had she heard right? The words she had so longed to hear were finally said. Jun Yi, her Jun Yi, had confessed to her? She shook her head.
No, she must have been dreaming. . .
Laughing, Zhang He took advantage of her stunned silence and reached out to pull her back to him in a tight embrace. He rested his right cheek against her left and remained close despite the bars that separated them. He repeated what he said earlier with a firmer and more insistent voice, compelling her to believe him.
And she finally did.
The tears came later. Zhang He felt the moisture on her face and drew back. He smiled as he wiped them away, "By the deity, I insult and hurt you with words, you answer back in anger. And now that I bare myself to you, you cry," he kissed her tearstained cheeks, "When will you ever be predictable?"
"I don't even know why I'm crying!" Zhen Ji replied, aghast at her own reaction. She had never cried before, no matter how much she suffered in the hands of other people. Because for her, crying was a sign of weakness. But now, she felt her emotions pour out of her like a gushing river, uncontrollable yet curiously, she left free, as if the large doors that locked her before suddenly opened.
"I want you to remain strong, Ji. Whatever happens, remain strong for me."
"W-What?" Zhen Ji asked in confusion as tears continued to run down her cheeks. Zhang He didn't answer as he ran a finger across a cheek and wiped her tears off.
"Hush now, you're ruining my armor," Zhang He teased as she pulled away from him.
She apologized laughingly despite her tears and shot back at him, "That's for catching me off guard, you great brute!"
"Now what did I do?" He asked in mock exasperation and rolled his eyes.
Just as she was about to answer back in kind, the door to her bedroom suddenly opened. Zhen Ji quickly whirled around to face whoever intruded in her privacy and quickly moved to block Zhang He by the window. When she realized that it was just the maidservant who entered, she turned back to Zhang He to tell him that it was all right, to let him know that the maidservant can be trusted and that she had decided she would rely on her from then on.
But he was gone.
Zhen Ji quickly leaned on her window, finding Zhang He back safely on the ground. He looked up, smiled and waved goodbye at her. Zhen Ji waved back and watched until He disappeared from her view.
"My lady?" the servant called meekly from behind her. Zhen Ji turned around to find her standing by the doorway, her hands locked tightly before her, her eyes refusing to look at her. Ji stepped away from the window and slowly approached her, wondering what could have upset her. When she neared the servant, Ji realized that she was crying.
Sudden and unexplainable apprehension creeping up her spine, Ji asked quietly, a tinge of fear staining her voice, "W-What's wrong?"
"My lady," the servant almost choked with her tears, "we have recently received a report from our army in Mu Men Pass." Tears rolled out of her already swollen red eyes, "Lord Zhang He died in an enemy ambush this morning."