A/N: Awww . . . I feel so touched guys I got several awesome reviews this time! I LURVE YOU ALL! hug Oh, one reviewer did have a question: No, Xiahou Dun isn't dead . . . he's asleep. Ok, and since I feel the last chapter could have been SOOOO much better, this one is going to be spankin'! YEAH, BABY!!

Hua Wan, Daughter of Pirates

Chapter 7

"Storm Runner the Equine Strategist"

((Gan Ning's POV))

I awoke almost falling off the bed and my brain throbbing in my cranium in the shear pain from a powerful hangover. Diao Wan was turned away from me still fast asleep. Such a cruel unloving woman! Sleeping the farthest away from me as possible, and hogging the blankets no less! Wait . . . I kicked those off last night . . . and Wan does get cold in her sleep. Ok, so I was the drunk, brutish husband who scared my wife away with rancid wine-breath. Terrible, I am. Pushing my luck, I rolled over to Wan and hugged her tighter than I probably should have.

"Wan . . . WHY ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING?!" I said loudly in her ear.

I swear I've never seen that woman jump so high. She turned around, socked me one in the stomach, and pulled all the blankets and pillows over her eyes and ears as possible. Ok, so I was more than a terrible horrific man, I was annoying as a mumbling mother-in-law that chews with her mouth open. She moaned angrily for a moment before going back to sleep. My dear beloved wife was anything but a morning person. In fact she'd rather muck out the royal stables than wake up at this "untimely hour" of eight thirty. I rubbed my now also hurting stomach, and stared at the ceiling. I had never noticed the beautiful world of light and color that had been painted on the ceiling. It was a picture of a sunset in the mountains just east of the border of Shu. It was a monochromatic painting done in red. The mountains looked like dark jagged shadows that protected the skies. The many clouds were a vivid pink and the sky grew from a deep dark red to a brilliant scarlet as the horizon came closer. My head seemed to clear as I studied the painting for several minutes. In fact it cleared up so much, my eyes unconsciously closed and I dozed off until the door to our bedroom opened with a loud bang.

I lurched upright to see my daughter, Hua Wan, standing with her eyes wide open in the door frame. Her scared eyes and loud, clumsy entrance said that something was terrible wrong. Diao Wan threw off her fortress of bed sheets and cushions with a startled jerk.

"What's wrong?!" both Diao Wan and I asked quickly.

"Li Wu is missing!" she gasped, out of breath.

Both Wan and I sprang out of bed, not bothering to dress or put on shoes. Hua Wan stammered about some kind of fight and him not being there this morning, a horse and his belongings gone, and that she had been looking for him for a good twenty minutes and said everyone she asked hadn't seen or heard of him. I went to the persons who know all that goes on in Shu. No, not Liu Bei, and Zhuge Liang, nor Guan Yu and Zhaing Fei, but Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei. The kings of all bad, mischievousness, rebellious deed ever thought of that were only second to me. I marched down the hall looking for the two when I ran into Xiahou Dun, Hui Ying, and a younger girl that looked about Li Wu's age.

"Have you all seen my son, Zhao Yun, or Jiang Wei?" I asked.

"Ning . . . did you not bother to dress yourself this morning? You seem to be out of . . . your normal apparel," said Xiahou Dun.

I looked down to the simple drawstring pants made of a grey cloth that I had put on last night to sleep in. Also, my bare feet felt as cold as ice blocks as I stood on the cold marble floor.

"Well if my daughter hadn't burst into the room announcing that her brother was missing and had been for an estimation of one hour, I might of thought of putting on a shirt," I retorted.

The young girl giggled at my satire before being shushed by her mother.

"This is my daughter, Xiahou Ting," Xiahou Dun said gesturing toward the girl.

I nodded my head at her and gave a simple bow. She returned the bow politely.

"To answer your first question, Xingba, no we haven't seen them," Hui Ying said for her husband who seemed to of forgotten that I had said anything.

I nodded again to say my thanks and turned from the group to leave when I was plowed into and knocked over by a strong incoming force that knocked out my wind with a great push. I soon realized this powerful blow was given by my son.

"DAD?! You're awake? I mean –uh- you're awake. I was just out taking a walk. It's nothing to be worried about! Just out for a little walk," I said flustered.

Of course, I wasn't buying.

"Li Wu, let me guess: Your sister and you got in a fight. You got mad. You ran away, but you forgot something, or you got scared/lonely and came back. You've now plowed into me and are suspecting me of knowing everything, which I indeed do," I said simply while rising from the ground.

He stared at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears.

"How'd you . . .?" he breathed.

"Know everything? Your sister told me- I mean it's a father thing . . . yeah a father thing," I said.

Then I noticed that Li Wu was at no point looking or listening to me. He was staring at Xiahou Ting. He blinked surprised, as if he'd never seen a girl in his life. Suddenly I caught on. I jerked Li Wu by his collar and made him walk away.

"Li Wu, we're leaving," I said, "You could try and walk now. Li Wu?"

It was done. My son was lost and captured by the alluring beauty of the feminine race. Li Wu was obviously love struck. Very love struck.

((Hua Wan's POV, meanwhile))

"I wonder . . ." I said aloud to myself.

Maybe Li Wu went into the city looking for Zhou Lin, again. I guess it was better than looking around here. Basically, it was obvious he had gone, BUT if he came back he'd certainly run into Mom or Dad. So I took off out into the court yard that was right next to the surrounding boarder stone wall.

To most people the court yard meant relaxation and peace of mind. It had a beautiful natural spring that flowed into it from beyond the stone wall, lush emerald green foliage, and in the spring swam huge golden koi. The air just stopped time as you walked through it. But these things meant nothing to me. To me this yard mean nothing more than a shortcut, but it was an important shortcut. It was a shortcut to Zhou Lin. I had discovered it yesterday afternoon.

In the Shu capital, the palace is in the middle and the city has formed a swelling –ever growing- circle around it. I had ran from where-ever I had been to anyplace with people. I –ironically- ran into my little brother and Zhou Lin brawling in the dirt outside the stable. A little mare stared at them blankly as if confused as to why the human kind was so strange. After I preyed them apart, Zhou Lin directed us to the palace wall, from there we climbed over and landed in this courtyard.

I ran into the yard, zigzagging around the bushes and trees. I used a bend as a springboard as I leapt into the air and launched off the wall and made a quite graceful landing. I headed off to the stable where Zhou Lin worked and immediately spotted him. He must of just been getting to work for her was getting ready to open the wooden door and was carrying his lunch. He heard me approach and smiled. He dropped his lunch sack and embraced me as I ran into his arms. I could tell her was overjoyed to see me, but his eyes held a million questions that defiantly needed answering. I held him close and tried not to look up just yet. I didn't know where to begin.

"Why, good morning, Hua Wan," he said with a playful smirk.

"Good morning," I laughed and finally looked up at him.

He cocked an eye brow at me confusedly as if asking me why I was here, why I was covered in blood the day before, and why I wasn't grounded all in one gesture.

"Li Wu went missing this morning. We had had a fight last night. I thought maybe he ventured over here," I said.

"Ahh . . . I see. Well, haven't seen him, unfortunately for you, but fortunately for me. He's too chicken to leave with no reason," he said.

I opened my mouth to defend him, but shut it quickly. I barely knew Li Wu, how did I know what Li Wu was really like?

"ZHOU LIN!" someone yelled from inside the barn.

Zhou Lin snapped his head around and let go of me.

"That'd be my boss. I had better go. I'll meet you later tonight in the palace court yard?" he asked.

I nodded, "I'll meet you there as soon as the sun sets."

I watched him enter the barn, yelling to his boss. I walked back to the palace the long way around. I loved Zhou Lin . . . but was it right to anger my brother so? I know that it probably wasn't proper for the daughter of Sun Quan's right-hand general to be seeing a stable boy, even if he was very cute stable boy. And to add to the whole mess, I had chosen him without consulting my parents –even though they didn't care. My mother had done the same thing . . . well it had been arranged but I think Sun Quan –or Sun Jian- had put the two together on purpose. I doubt that would happen again. "I need to talk to someone," I said to myself. I considered my options. Dad? Defiantly no! Mother? Another definite negative. Let's see . . . Zhao Yun? No, he and Jiang Wei would probably die if they knew Zhou Lin was only a stable boy. The idea came to me! Lady Sun Shang Xiang! She's younger, thinks for herself, knows about all this mess, and has a superb knowledge of what is suspected of a lady in the house of Wu. She never followed them, but you have to know the rules to break them! One problem, with Lady Shang Xiang being Lord Liu Bei's wife she was hard to get time to talk with her. Perfect. Well, it was early in the day, maybe she didn't have much planned.

Soon, I found out that indeed she had much planned, she wasn't even here. I guess I'd just have to figure out this one myself.

((Gan Li Wu's POV))

It was several hours after I had seen her. Xiahou Ting. I silently thanked Xiahou Dun for naming his daughter the name of an angel. She had extremely long black hair that came to her curvy waist, a delicate form and metallic blue eyes that were glaring the definition of horrendous murder at me.

"Gan Li Wu! If you don't stop staring at me I'm going to tell my father!" she hissed.

Maybe my father and I have some sort of weird taste, but whenever a woman got angered like that at you she seemed twice as beautiful.

"Okay," I said idiotically.

"Imbecile," she said, "You're still staring at me!"

Let's face it, I was a stupid Neanderthal that had his first crush. I think Dad had figured it out because he had gone and given me "the talk". Scary it was, very scary. Xiahou Ting scoffed at me. She pouted, protested, ranted, raved, and threated me over and over again trying to get me to go away. Yet she never made me or went along with her threats. Finally, after an hour, she got fed up.

"Li Wu . . . why are you still hanging around me even after all I've said?" she asked after a deep breath.

"Because your cute, and when your mad your even cuter," I said bluntly.

She immediately shut her mouth and her eyes got huge. Obviously, poor Xiahou Ting hadn't been expecting this answer, or my bluntness of the answer as well. Onc over he shock she looked at me for a moment then started down the steps to the outside. I was a bit confused to say the least. She turned and gave me a that looke of promised cruel horrific death.

"Aren't you coming?" she growled.

"You like me don't you?" I asked as I followed her, my hands shoved in my pockets.

"In your dreams!" she yelled.

We walked along outside together as she yelled and screamed at me. I just followed and smiled. She so digged me!

((Hua Wan's POV))

I had returned to the palace about an hour and a half ago and had now hidden myself form the world in the stall of poor old Strom Runner. He had his now gray muzzle in my hands as I blew into his nostrils. The old gelding shook his mane and snorted back at me.

"No, Strom, I'm going to stay right here until you answer me," I said to the horse.

He stared at me boredly.

"Oh common, old boy! What do you think I should do about Zhou Lin and Li Wu?" I pleaded.

Storm Runner stamped his back hoof frustrated and lipped my ash brown hair as if it was hay.

"I don't think I should eat them, Storm," I laughed.

The horse gave a low whinny and I scratched his forehead and tugged at his ears. I found it amazing how an old horse could be so playful. Storm Runner had gone from a fearsome flaxen war horse to a playful fat red roan. Strom Runner flicked his head up and snorted, now extremely alert.

"What is it, old boy?" I asked.

The stall door opened and Liu Shin stepped in. Storm Runner, not interested in him or I, turned his back to us and stared boredly out his stall window.

"Hey," Liu Shin said, "I was looking for you, who were you talking to?"

I stood up and wiped some saw dust and hay off my backside.

"Just old Storm the equine strategist, here. What'd you need me for?" I asked.

He shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

"Heh . . . forget now," he said.

We both laughed. I studied the young prince now. He wasn't all that bad looking. He had very distinct high cheek bones and a big broad smile. He looked a lot like his father, but had the Sun family sense of personality. He gave me a toothy grin. I smiled half-heartedly back.

"Excuse me Liu Shin, I must be going," I said.

He was open with his disappointment. I walked towards the door but he blocked my escape. He suddenly pulled me to him and held my chin up so I looked into his eyes.

"Hua Wan . . . I know haven't even known each other long, but I feel like I've known you all my life. I'm here for you," he said.

He loosened his grip on me and I pulled away quickly. My eyes were wide with surprise, anger, and a little bit of fear. I was like a frightened fawn. Timid and would run at the slightest advancement. Liu Shin made the mistake of reaching forward to try and apologize or comfort me. I turned and sprinted away, running as quick as I could, my feet barely hitting the ground in my flight. "Run," my instincts told me, "Run to protection!" So I rand past my brother, Sun Quan, passed my parents, and feel to my knees and shed tears of confusion in front of the officer I had always gone to for help: Lu Xun.

"Hua Wan! What troubles you?" he asked.

I searched for words but could find none. My throat chocked up and I couldn't say anything at all. Lu Xun kneeled next to me and put a hand on my shoulder for comfort.

"Take deep breaths," he told me calmly.

I inhaled a fast breath and let it out slowly. After several breaths I could finally be still without shaking in tears. I told him everything, my mouth running a mile a minute. He listened carefully. Once I had finished, Lu Xun was silent for several moments.

"Hua Wan . . . your situation is one to be discussed and though over, my dear," he said, "Will you take my up most honest answer?"

"Yes . . ." I said.

"To me Zhou Lin would be ridiculed and spat upon by those who disapprove of him. You cannot always have what fate sees fit for you. So, I think it best you don't bring your relationship further and speak not of it. For you too could be ridiculed from these same people. There is one more point to be considered. You are of age to be married. Above age to be married. It won't be long before Sun Quan or Gan Ning will give you away in an arranged marriage," he said trying to say it in as nice as possible.

My heart accepted these words almost willingly now. I knew they had had a long time in coming. I swallowed on coming tears and looked to the floor. I nodded and got to my feet. "Save your tears . . . you'll shed them later tonight," I told myself in my head. I was now not looking foreword to tonight's meeting with Zhou Lin.

A/N: Hehe hope you all liked it. Hey I got it up quicker than usual! YIPEE!!! dances with much joy