This is the second chapter... if you're not a fan of the Xiao Qiao/Lu Xun pairing then you may not like it. I just thought I'd be different (aren't I always?). This takes place a few hours after Sun Shang Xiang has left for Shu...

Chapter Two: Not the Same

As he looked up into the orange sky Sun Jian sighed. Had he made a mistake that he'd regret forever? He honestly didn't know but he hoped he hadn't. He had sworn to his wife Lady Wu on her deathbed that he'd never let anything bad happen to the Sun children, and that was a promise he'd sworn to keep. He knew that Sun Ce and Sun Quan were old enough to look after themselves now but even that didn't stop him from keeping an eye out for them. Ce was always getting himself into all kinds of sticky situations and Jian would always have to bail him out. Quan on the other hand was a bit more careful than that, but there were times where even he made bad judgements. Jian was protective of his sons, and even more so of his youngest and only daughter Sun Shang Xiang.

Right from the moment she was born he had taken an immediate shining to her. She was bright girl with an interest in martial arts and weaponry, and part of Jian was glad that she had found something she had liked. It was better that she was studying and learning instead of chasing the young men of Wu. He was glad that the influence of the Qiao sisters hadn't rubbed off on her- two insanely girly girls was more than what Sun Jian could handle! Thank goodness that they were married. Marriage was something that every girl wished for. At least, that was what Sun Jian had thought…

Sun Shang Xiang had protested defiantly on hearing the news that she was to be married to Liu Bei of Shu. She was even angrier because she hadn't even been told directly about it. Instead she had heard from Da Qiao who was talking about wedding dresses at the time. When Shang Xiang had asked Da whose wedding it was, Da had simply replied "Yours." The Wu princess became filled with rage and let all of her anger out on Zhou Yu who had suggested the marriage. Straight after she had heard from Da she ran through the castle thirsty for Zhou Yu's blood. When she had found him, she pulled out a small dagger from one of her boots and chased him throughout the courtyard. If Lu Meng hadn't been teaching Lu Xun outside then she would've done some serious damage to the strategist. When she was angry she definitely let it show. She had inherited the Sun family attitude of fieriness and all out determination, even more so than her brothers. She was a true tomboy at heart, and that was what worried her father.

Sending her away for marriage seemed like a good idea for getting friends in good places, but he worried about how his daughter would cope. Shang Xiang would refuse to wear anything remotely feminine so Jian could only imagine how she'd react when she'd see the dress that the Qiaos had selected for her wedding. She had already reacted badly when she had been made to wear a dress for the journey to Shu. She screamed and threatened to rip the dress to shreds with her chakrams, but what was really strange was how she acted during her last few hours in Wu. Shang had hardly said a word. No arguing, no crying… nothing. It was as if her fiery spirit had been broken and was no more. She let the guards take her to her carriage without a struggle, and before going inside she had just given a single solemn wave to everyone. No tears fell from her eyes as she stepped inside, sat down, and looked out of the window as the carriage started on its way to Shu. She had turned into the shadow of her former self…

"Do you think he's going to be okay?" asked Xiao as she stood from her and Da's tea room window. She was looking at Sun Jian in the courtyard, and she could sense that he was not himself. She knew that he'd been incredibly quiet since Sun Shang Xiang had left a few hours ago, just keeping himself to himself. At least he isn't locked up inside his office like he was before thought Xiao as she leant against the frame.

"We'll all have to get used to it Xiao," said Da as she poured some tea into two cups. "We're all going to miss her immensely but there's not much that we can do about it. At least we know she's going to be safe in Shu with Liu Bei."

"I suppose so sis." Xiao sighed to herself, and then walked over to the table and chairs where Da was already sat and drinking her tea. "Do you think that Shang Xiang will manage being married?"

Da removed the cup from her lips. "I honestly don't know Xiao. She's not really the marriage type, but at least she'll have some stability in her life. Liu Bei is the Emperor of Shu and can protect her- if not, protect her from herself."

Xiao nodded and sipped some of her tea. She was one of those who would miss Shang Xiang. Being roughly the same age as her they got along quite well. Shang would teach Xiao how to be less 'womanly' and how to be tough and strong. Xiao would've tried to teach Shang Xiang how to be more feminine but she knew that the Wu princess would be having none of it. Nothing was going to force Sun Shang Xiang out of her rebellious ways, not even an arranged marriage so it seemed. Shang just wasn't the type of person who looked like they could settle down in married life. She'd always been different from the start and Xiao had noticed that from the first moment she came to Wu with Da. When they were first introduced to the Wu princess they had to take a closer to look just to make sure it wasn't a pageboy they were looking at. They had expected the 'Wu princess' to be wearing a pretty feminine dress, have long flowing ornament decorated hair and be surrounded by handmaid. What they saw however was a tall short-haired girl wearing battle garments, holding on to two chakrams and trying to beat up her brothers. The Qiao sisters soon got used to Shang's tomboyish charm and ways as had all of the generals who had joined Wu. It was impossible not to like Shang Xiang!

"I'm going to miss her loads Da," said Xiao. She fidgeted with one of her dress sleeves. "It's going to be no fun without her."

"Sure it will!" Da patted her younger sister's shoulder. "You can still have fun with the others! How about Sun Ce! I'm sure my husband will find you another playmate! Or Lu Xun? You get along well with him…"

On hearing Lu Xun's name Xiao sighed. That golden eyed boy had been the object of her affections for a while now. She smiled whenever she was around him, and she would often find herself drifting into a dream like state, day dreaming about Xun. She wasn't tied down to anyone yet- Da had married Sun Ce a few years ago and they were happy, but Xiao was waiting to find her perfect man. She had begged her father not to let him marry her to Zhou Yu. She hadn't wanted to spend the rest of her life married to the sometimes emotionless Wu strategist. Xiao wanted to be free to choose whoever she wanted to, and it had hurt her deeply to see how the already seemingly free Sun Shang Xiang had been arranged to marry Liu Bei. Xiao almost felt sorry for her. Shang Xiang was like a little sister to her so of course she wanted to protect her. How could she when she was being sent to Shu? At least she'd have Lu Xun to comfort her- he'd always make her feel better, whether it was taking her for walks or teaching her to ride a horse properly without falling off! All of her memories with him were happy ones.

"I'll miss her though," Xiao said quietly. "It won't be the same. How will we all cope?"

"I know. Sun Ce will miss her, and I'm sure that even though he doesn't show it much, Sun Quan will too. They've never had to see their sister leave for good…"

"What?" Xiao looked shocked. "What do you mean for good? Isn't she coming back?"

"Xiao- calm down! Shang Xiang needs to learn how to be a good wife and to stay at her husband's side…"

"I can't believe this! So now I'll never see my best friend again?" A tear ran down Xiao's face. "This is why I didn't want to marry Zhou Yu! This was all his idea wasn't it? Well?"

Before Da could even get a reply in Xiao had stood up and stormed past her in a fury. Da suspected where her sister was heading, so she quickly got up to follow Xiao before she started any trouble…

Zhou Yu was sitting in his study making strategic battle plans for the future when he heard the loud footsteps quickly approach his door. Someone knocked on it quite heavily- normally everyone knew not to disturb Yu while he was working so it was a bit odd that someone had dared knock. He put his quill back in his inkpot and was just about to stand up when the younger Qiao burst in.

"You monster!" she cried out as she lunged for him. "You selfish, cold, heartless pig!"

"Lady Qiao!" Zhou Yu backed away towards the window as Xiao approached him. He knew better- when the Wu women got angry they definitely got angry…

"You sent Shang away just so you could get your dirty hands on Jingzhou!"

"That's not true Xiao! We need this alliance!"

"Really? Or is that you just need an ego boost?" Xiao grabbed Zhou Yu's sword from by his desk and raised it in front of her. She was about to make a swipe at him just as Da quickly entered the room.

"Xiao!" Da grabbed her sister and carefully disarmed her. "We know you're angry but please don't hurt anyone! This alliance is for the best- we need to defeat Cao Cao together."

Xiao started to weep. "But what if we have to go against Shu one day? We'd have to go against Shang Xiang! I could never do that…" She looked at Zhou Yu. "He probably would… selfish bastard…" She gave him an evil glare as Da put the sword back to where it was. "I hope you're pleased with yourself you stupid strategist!"

Zhou Yu declined to reply as the elder Qiao took her distraught sister out of the room. He hadn't wanted this- he had thought that everyone would be excited about the alliance with Shu. Since he had announced his plans everyone had been quiet, almost silent. All of the senior officers had suggested going ahead with the plan but the generals had been more reluctant. Sun Jian had only agreed because, being Sun Shang Xiang's father, he had been worried that his daughter would never get married during his lifetime, and Sun Ce had agreed because, well, he was Yu's sworn brother and didn't like to disagree with him. Zhou Yu had just assumed that everyone had thought of the plan as a good one so after a decision was reached he set about implementing it. It was hard as there was virtually no cooperation from Shang Xiang. Yu thought that all girls dreamed of a fairy tale wedding to a prince, but here was Shang Xiang with the Emperor of Shu being practically offered to her and she was refusing! Part of Yu had been relieved when she decided to go for the sake of being too upset to rebel.

He sighed and walked back to his desk. He looked down and grazed his eyes over the plans he had just made. Was he that heartless and emotionless? No wonder she didn't want to marry me, he thought as he sat back down. But my job is to what's best for Wu… isn't this the best thing? Zhou Yu's mind went back to that morning when Shang Xiang had left. He remembered the emptiness of her expression- she was like a ghost. He would miss her (even though he didn't admit this to anyone else), and she was like a little sister to him. When she was younger she would ask him about strategies and how to plan battles… he had been slightly relieved when she took more of an interest in weaponry as she did ask too many questions sometimes! It was then that he realised that this was how Xiao was feeling… and for the first time he felt regret…

A/N- Done! I hope that was ok... the ending wasn't brilliant but please review! More coming soon...