A/N- I update! Wheeeee:) I've added another crazy plotline in amongst all the existing madness so I hope it makes sense! There's quite a lot going on this chapter but nevertheless it was fun to write. Plus a thought dawned on me... when will I end it? Answer probably is not for an extremely long time... 17 chapters already and I still have loads of ideas. ;) Plus I have the rest of my summer holiday to hammer out more chapters, but that's when I'm not packing my stuff and getting ready to move out :P Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 17: Puppet Master

Da Qiao sighed as she watched her sister and Zhou Yu take a stroll together from her bedroom window. They seemed so cosy… apparently all that had faded for her and Sun Ce. Ce loved to fight, whereas she preferred to stay in the castle and take care of things inside. The idea of resolving problems using weapons didn't appeal to her in the slightest. Xiao would always go out and fight on Zhou Yu's side, no matter who the enemy was. Sometimes Da would watch as they returned from battle, and Yu would always be telling stories of how Xiao had managed to ward off enemies using her fans, and how she would shine like a star on the battle field. Their relationship just seemed perfect! Da wouldn't have expected that from Xiao, that was for sure. Her younger sister didn't exactly come across as the type of girl who wanted to settle down in a relationship- she seemed as if she would rather spend her days dancing and singing and being free like a bird. It must've been a case of opposites attracting was the conclusion that Da had been forced to accept, and that her sister's relationship with her husband was much better than her own.

"Hey there my beautiful wife!"

The elder Qiao turned around from the window seat and saw her own husband approach her. Sun Ce stood beside her and grinned, whilst playing with the tonfas that he held in each hand.

"So… how are you doing?"

"Fine," was Da's faint response. There wasn't really much else she wanted to say, life had just grew… quiet. "Why aren't you with your father?"

"You know what he's like, he's gone out somewhere with Huang Gai on business before dinner. Zhou Tai's with Quan, the others aren't around, Zhou Yu and Xiao are on a walk, and you're in here…" Ce could sense that she wasn't alright, but he wasn't one for sussing out the female mind. He would've much preferred the direct approach with her telling him exactly what was wrong but that didn't seem likely. It was hard to get anything out of Da when she was like this- she just kept herself to herself.

Da stood up and faced her husband, the look on her face not one of sadness but defiance. "When are you ever going to take me out for a walk? Or when are you going to ever do anything that is remotely romantic?" She pointed outside to where her sister and Zhou Yu had stopped. "They're always doing nice things together and Zhou Yu is so sweet towards Xiao… what happened to the spark in our marriage?"

Lost for words Ce did the only thing he knew how to do in these types of situations- he scratched his head and hoped that an answer would pop into his head, but unfortunately Da was asking a question with no simple answer. How could he get himself out of this situation? He looked around nervously, hoping that a distraction would present itself… and it did in an unlikely form.

"Shang! What… what happened to you?"

In the frame of the door stood Sun Shang Xiang… dripping wet and standing there with a grin on her face. She didn't seem bothered that she was wearing a dress… both Ce and Da were dumbfounded as to why on earth she was wearing it. It wasn't right at all… was something up with her mind?

Da brushed past Ce and went straight over to her sister-in-law. "Shang, are you alright?" The girl looked like she was in a daze, just standing there like she had become detached from reality. Something had happened to her but she wasn't saying. Well, she still couldn't, but something had to give away what she was thinking.

The young Sun smiled widely and nodded, and opened her mouth to say something. Her response was very faint and quiet, but Da swore she could make out "Of course I'm fine, I couldn't be better!" That was somewhat comforting to hear and as Shang turned back and left Da couldn't help wonder… was everyone happy but herself?

"Have mercy on me Meng! We're buddies remember?"

"Want to rephrase that, pirate? Since when did buddies play such horrible pranks?"

Turning a corner of the castle Gan Ning ran up a large flight of steps in order to escape his pursuer. Lu Meng was in a rage and like a bull chasing red. He wasn't going to stop until he had Ning! To Ning's horror Meng followed him up the steps and on top of the castle. There was nothing but open space and some disused catapults- no where to run, no where to hide so it seemed…

Ning stopped and leant back against one of the catapults, his arms out in front of him as Lu Meng slowed down and approached him. "Please Meng? It was only a joke, you know that!"

"A joke? Well, some joke that was! Do you know what happened to me?"

"Erm… do I want to know?"

Meng slammed his fist onto the catapult next to Ning, causing the ex-pirate to shake with worry. It was scary to see Lu Meng like this- he was normally a calm and reserved general, nothing like what he had become. This Lu Meng was angry and out for blood… the blood of Gan Ning. "Well, let's just say that it wasn't very pleasant for me or the so-called 'Lady Li'… I wish never to talk about it."

"You tried to kiss him didn't you?" Ning noticed the blood rush to Meng's face… well, the space of his face that wasn't already red. "You DID? Oh Meng…"

"Don't 'Oh Meng' me! Do you know how embarrassing that was for me? And no I didn't kiss him!"

"Hehe, that means you nearly did… so I'm saved?"

Lu Meng smiled sinisterly and grinned. "Don't think you're getting out of this so easily my friend…" He looked down at the grounds of the castle and noticed Ning starting to shake.

"You're not going to throw me off the castle are you?"

"Now why would I do that?" Meng chuckled. "No, I'm going to use this situation to my advantage." He watched as Sun Jian and Huang Gai re-entered the castle on the horses and nodded to himself. "I noticed that you and Sun Shang Xiang got a little bit closer on the boat? If my eyes served me well you two were sharing a kiss, am I right?"

It was Ning's turn to go red this time and he simply gave a little nod, unsure of what Lu Meng was thinking. Meng was a strategist and therefore good at thinking of clever ideas, and it was this fact that made Ning even more worried about his fate.

"Ah, so the princess and pirate have found love… I wonder what Sun Jian would say about that…" Meng smiled as the colour drained from his friend's face. No one wanted to face the wrath of Sun Jian! Everyone knew that Jian was most protective of Shang Xiang what with her being the youngest and only female member of the Sun family, and he was always keeping an eye on her from a distance. Jian had guarded Shang closely for most of her life and that included protecting her from anyway unwanted attention from men. Luckily she hadn't taken an interest in the opposite sex so no man had been unfortunate enough to feel the power of the Tiger of Jiang Dong.

"No… you can't tell him! He'd kill me!"

"Exactly…" Meng paced up and down in front of the frightened ex-pirate. "You will be under my control, do what I ask you to do with no questions asked, and if you don't…" He pointed to the nearest catapult. "…I'm sure it'll be you in that catapult with Sun Jian at the controls. Understood?"

"You can't do that! That's blackmail!"

"I repeat, is that understood?"

Gan Ning gulped at the thought of Sun Jian catapulting him out of Wu. Wu was his home; he didn't want to have to leave it. Considering his options he came to the conclusion that there was only one choice he had…

Zhou Tai hummed to himself as he passed the series of Wu bedrooms to get to his own. It was nice and quiet, just how Tai liked it. Everyone was busy with something, and it was nice to finally have some time to himself…

"Hey Tai, wait up!"

Tai groaned as the familiar voice of Sun Quan sounded behind him. It seemed that whenever Zhou Tai got some time to himself something or someone, namely Sun Quan, would disturb him. The only way he could get time alone was by locking himself in a room and closing the windows but he didn't think that Sun Jian would allow that.

"You called my lord?" Tai turned around and came face to face with Quan who had just stopped running in front of him. He noticed a flyer in the young lord's hand and the suspicious grin on his face.

Quan flattened out the flyer and held it up in front of Tai's face. "I found this in one of the taverns in the next town over… it's a strength contest! First prize is a new horse, said to be just as fast as that horse Red Hare!"

"But you have a horse already, why would you want to enter this? You do realise that the men who enter these types of contests are extremely strong…"

"I know that, but I've been training hard lately. I think I stand a chance, don't you think so too?"

Zhou Tai blinked. He'd seen these contests too many times before- he knew that Quan didn't stand a chance. These men were beefy and strong, over six feet tall and had deep booming voices. Sun Quan didn't come anywhere near close. He didn't want to dash his hopes though as Quan had a tendency to sulk when things didn't go his way.

"You'd really have to see for yourself on that one, it's hard to tell. If you think you're strong enough then go ahead…"

"Great! Will you come with me then?"

Tai nodded. "I guess I'll have to… you need protecting and who knows what'll happen in this. Does your father know what you're planning on doing?"

"You can't tell him! He'd kill me if he found out! You know what he's like… he says that I should stay alive so the hopes for Wu's future aren't completely destroyed." He turned on his unconvincing puppy dog eyes expression. "Please Zhou Tai? Please don't tell Father?" Quan smiled when Tai nodded his head, and patted his bodyguard on the back. "I know you have faith in me Tai, and I promise I won't prove you wrong!"

The lights warmed up the courtyard as Xiao Qiao and Zhou Yu sat on a bench near one of the tall blossom trees. Some of the blossoms started to fall down on them as they gazed out into the distance, watching as the sun began to set on the Wu grounds. Xiao giggled as Yu held her hand, thinking and reminding herself how lucky she was. Something was digging at the back of her mind though- her sister. She had partially noticed how unhappy her sister had been, but then again she was too busy with Zhou Yu to pay too much attention. She may have been dizzy with love but not too dizzy to notice how much different Sun Ce was than Da. It seemed unfair that she was happy in love but her sister was becoming less and less happy with her own marriage.

"Zhouie, have you noticed anything wrong with my sister lately?"

"You mean Da?"

"Well, I have no other sister, of course I mean Da silly!"

Zhou Yu nodded- he had noticed it too. Everyone could tell something was up. "I wonder if they're having marriage problems… Sun Ce's been a bit wild lately and I don't think Da wants to put up with it any longer. What do you think?"

"I don't know. I'm just glad that we don't have any problems!" She snuggled into Zhou Yu's chest and started to sing a quiet little song to herself. She hoped that Da's problems didn't last too long- when Da was sad Xiao felt down too. If only she could share some of her happiness…

A sweat drop rolled down Gan Ning's forehead as he lifted the heavy chest around Lu Meng's bedroom. It was odd that Meng had chosen that particular time to have a change around, and Ning didn't see why everything needed to be moved around. Surely it didn't need to be changed? To Ning it was fine as it is…

"Left a bit!"

Ning shuffled to the left a bit struggling with the weight of the chest. "What the hell do you keep in here Meng? Xu Zhu?"

"Actually I change my mind… right a bit!"

Ning muttered something under his breath and dropped the heavy object on the floor in front of him. "I'm not going to be your slave! Who do you think I am?"

"OH SUN JIAN?" Meng called out loudly. "I HAVE SOMETHING TO-"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I'll do what you say! Anything but that!" He reluctantly picked up the chest again and followed Meng's instructions, while Meng just stood their grinning with a sly look on his face. It was about time things went his way…