Ch. 25

Disclaimer: "I am not immature, you stinky-butt poop-head!"

Gan Ning opened his eyes with a start, bolting upright in his bed. Wait…in his bed? He looked around. He was indeed in his own bed, in his own room. "'Bout time you woke up, sleeping ugly." Said a familiar dry and sarcastic voice. He swiveled his head towards the source, grimacing at the not-so-dull ache in his neck and head as he did so. "…Ling Tong... am I …home?"

"Nah," a female--though certainly not feminine--voice responded. "You're actually dead. We're just here 'cause this is Hell." Gan Ning grinned. "Shang Xiang. Yeah, if you're here, I guess it'd have to be hell." The princess smirked, green eyes flashing. "You're lucky you're injured, boy, or I'd kick your ass all up and down this palace." An indignant, prissy snort issued from the opposite corner of the room. "I hardly think this is the proper way to greet an injured comrade upon awakening." Said Lu Xun. Ling Tong waved him off. "Keep your hat on, Xun. If we didn't tease him, he'd think something was wrong. Although I suppose it's a bit if a stretch to call anything happening in your big, empty head thinking, eh Ning?"

"Screw you, Tong."

This provoked a wave of good-natured laughter from everyone. Gan Ning looked around the room again. "How did I get here?" Lu Xun spoke up. "Ever since you went missing, lord Sun Jian has had search parties combing the land for you. First we searched the battlefields, thinking perhaps you'd been bested, but soon it became clear that this wasn't the case. A party searching the outskirts of our western territories found you lying by the side of the road and brought you back. This was three days ago. We've been waiting for you to regain consciousness ever since." Gan Ning made a show of being affronted. "This is it? You guys are the only ones who wanted to be here when I woke up?"

"People have been coming in and out." Said Shang Xiang. "My brother, Ce, was in here earlier, but since he has the attention span of a fruit fly, he lost interest and wandered off. He probably saw something shiny and went to go after it." Ling Tong and Gan Ning both snickered, and Shang Xiang beamed at their reaction. The young strategist, however, was not amused. "You shouldn't speak so disparagingly of your oldest brother, Lady Sun. He may be… inattentive at times, but I hardly think he is comparable to an insect—" She rolled her eyes. "Oh, stuff a hat in it, Xun. I'm his sister; it's my job to 'speak disparagingly of him'. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother, but he's still a total ditz." Lu Xun huffed and folded his arms, but said no more.

"So," began Tong. "What happened to you? Bit off more than you could chew?"

Gan Ning looked at his mutilated hands, and thought of Zhang He. "Yeah," he murmured. "Something like that." Shang Xiang noticed him staring pensively at his hands, and, thinking him to be upset over his temporary uselessness, said comfortingly, "Don't worry, they'll heal in not time. You'll be able to pick up your sword before you know it! And don't worry about revenge, father says that when we find the bastards who did this, we'll make them think death is a mercy." She grinned savagely, a dark gleam in her normally bright eyes.

Gan Ning shuddered involuntarily. He did not what to think about Zhang He right now, and everyone seemed determined to make him. "General Gan Ning, who was it who kidnapped you?" Asked Lu Xun. Gan Ning was saved from having to answer by Sun Ce popping his head into the room. "Is he awake yet?"

Shang Xiang grinned tauntingly at her brother. "Nope, he's sound asleep. That's why we're having a conversation with him; he's so much more agreeable when he's unconscious." Sun Ce stuck his tongue out at her, and she thumbed her nose at him. They probably would have continued in this vein, had not Da Qiao, who had entered the room behind her husband, laid a gentle, governing hand on his shoulder. The Little Conqueror smiled sheepishly, melting under his wife's stern but loving glare. "Sorry, Da. She started it, though…" Da Qiao sighed. "I don't care who started it, I'm ending it, dear." Shang Xiang saw this as her chance to stir up more mischief and interjected, "Yeah, Ce. Heavens above, you are so immature. No wonder I'm dad's favorite, instead of you." Da Qiao shot a withering glare in her sister-in-law's direction. "That's enough from you, too. Honestly, the two of you!" The tomboyish princess settled back in her chair, sulking. "You're worse than mother, Da."

"She's absolutely right though, sister." Sun Quan leaned against the doorframe, looking very amused. "Besides," he added, "Everyone knows that father favors me." This caused all three siblings to break into an argument that was far too over-dramatic to be genuine, and littered with silly faces and childish insults. Da Qiao threw up her hands in defeat, while Gan Ning, Ling Tong, and Lu Xun laughed riotously and enjoyed the show. Few things were more entertaining than all three Sun children in one room, and none knew it better than the siblings themselves. While it was true that they did it as much for the attention as for the mere sake of bickering, it was also true that they were no less comical because of it. Gan Ning was grateful for the interruption; he wasn't sure how much of his experience he could tell his friends. Furthermore, if his attention was focused on the ridiculous antics of his friends, it meant that he wasn't thinking about his beautiful, traitorous, butterfly.

I love Wu, I really, really do. XD You may have noticed that The Wu people correctly call each other by their given names, while Zhang He and Zhen Ji call each other by their surnames. Believe it or not, this is actually not a mistake, it's just that I meant to explain it in the fic and forgot to. So I'll explain it here! Zhang He and Zhen Ji, as I mentioned before, have known each other since they were small. One of the games they played as children was to find ways in which they could be different from everyone else. This was more to confuse the adults than an act of rebellion, though. What can I say; they just liked screwing with people. Anyway, one of the things they did was to only refer to each other by their surnames. This meant that no one was ever sure who they were talking about, and caused no end of confusion. Eventually, they got in trouble for it, but it remained as sort of an inside joke to continue calling each other "Zhen" and "Zhang". So there you have it. This was supposed to be in chapter 14, but like I said, I forgot. So nyah. Big ups to my new reviewers, Jewelled Wolf and Kuro.Neko! (BTW, I'm still spazzing over those red streaks you put in your hair, Kuro!)