K, well, I'm back! And I'm glad to say that I am NOT late in updating this time! I know that the last chapter didn't contain any fluff, so that was probably why I didn't get many reviews, either...:( But I'd like to thank everyone who did review (as usual:P) and add as much fluffy romance in this chapter as possible to make up for the previous one. I hope everyone still likes me out there! Thank you for reviewing!

So, for all my readers, here's Chapter 16.

Enjoy!

"Ce."

"Pop."

Sun Ce and Sun Jian were facing each other without blinking, without moving a muscle. They hadn't seen nor heard one another for months, and now it seemed as though neither of them wished to be in the other's presence.

Poor Xiao Qiao was looking at each of them in turn, confused beyond words. Needless to say, she had no idea what was going on between these two men who looked more alike than any two people she'd seen in Wu. Who on earth was this person?

Suddenly, she realized what Ce had just said.

"'Pop'?" she yelped, wheeling around to stare at Ce. "Did you just say Pop, Ce?" And without waiting for an answer, she spun back to Sun Jian and flew at him, flinging her arms around him without any warning.

"Oh, wow! You're Sun Jian!" she squealed bouncing up and down even as she hugged him. Letting go of the man, she pulled back and inspected him.

"I'm so glad to meet you! I can't believe I couldn't recognize you! You're the guy whose paintings are all over the place! There's a couple of them in my room, too, but I hardly ever looked at them much! Now I remember what they looked like, it's you! And-" she paused, turning to Ce once more,

"Ce, look! It's your father!" she cried, as though introducing them to each other for the first time. Taking care to keep pointing at Sun Jian the whole time, she demanded of Ce sternly, "Why aren't you meeting him properly, stupid? He's been away for so long! You're being so rude. Or are you just shocked at seeing him here?"

Turning back to Sun Jian, she explained, "He's sorry, he just didn't know you were coming. No one did. You should have written to us, silly! Then I would have at least known who you were, and he and I could have talked to you better! Don't blame Ce, I'm sure he's just really surprised. Right, Ce?"

She turned her head to look at Ce with an inquisitive stare, who gave no answer, but continued to stare at his father.

Sun Jian had been watching his son stonily through it all, even as Xiao had been 'welcoming him home' and in these several minutes- which seemed like millenniums, really- he had deduced from Ce's behavior immediately that not only was he hiding something, but that he had received his father's letter days ago, just as he was expected to, and therefore knew of Sun Jian's early returning news. But from what he deduced from Xiao, he'd told no one. Now why was that? Why ever it was, Sun Jian knew it had everything to do with his unusual silence, with his solemnity at beholding his father, whom he hadn't even greeted properly.

All Sun Jian wanted to do was to embrace his eldest son, walk back to the palace with him, and meet the rest of his family. But he definitely wasn't overly pleased with him at the moment, so he didn't remained indifferent.

Xiao was still looking at Ce expectantly. He wasn't so much as looking at her. She yanked his arm to make him listen.

"Ce, come on," she said impatiently. "Tell your father it wasn't your fault."

Sun Jian's suspicions had finally been confirmed.

"You knew I would be returning one of these days, Ce, did you not?" He spoke so softly, Xiao had to strain her ears to hear him.

"Oh, no," she giggled, "If he did, we would know, too. He wouldn't have forgotten to tell us either, Ce has a really good memory," Xiao added matter-of-factly. "Right, Ce?"

She turned her large, innocent eyes back to him.

Sun Jian ignored her. "Ce. You did know I was returning. Did you or not?"

Ce inclined his head so slightly, it was a wonder Xiao noticed.

She was genuinely puzzled. "You what?" she demanded. "You... you knew?"

Ce finally looked at her- and spotted immediately that her sweet, brown eyes were full of the same fearfulness and innocence as her sister's would be whenever she was worried. This didn't really help him get any of his nerve back.

"Yes, I did," he said stiffly.

Xiao stared.

"Why didn't you tell anyone? I thought we were supposed to be friends! Didn't you... didn't you want us to know?" she whispered.

She was oblivious to the fact that Sun Jian was now eyeing a young woman who had just run up behind Ce a few seconds back, smiling, and then abruptly came to a halt and stood there silently upon seeing the three of them, as statue-like as Sun Jian himself. Her face was quite unreadable, but was turning paler by the second.

Was this the sister this young girl had so enthusiastically described?

Xiao didn't seem to notice her, her whoever she was.

"Why didn't you tell us?" she repeated. "What were you thinking, you idiot? What, did you think we wouldn't like your Pop? Or that he wouldn't like us? Or did you not have any time? If that was it, you could have at least told Yu! He'd have told me, and I could have told Sis, and then everyone else would have known, too! Then he wouldn't have had to come home to such rudeness."

Xiao paused. "Wait," she said slowly. "Wait a minute." She took a deep breath. "How long did you know this for, Ce?"

The seconds ticked by.

"A couple of weeks." Ce's eyes were pointing at his feet once more, not meeting his father's, but his head was still held high.

Xiao's eyes widened. For one of the few times in her life, she was speechless.

Up until now, Sun Jian had been watching the other girl- who still hadn't moved from behind Ce, and who still hadn't been noticed by anyone but he- with great interest. Her face, which had been blank at first, was now taking on the exact expressions Xiao's was, only more pronounced. Her lips were growing more compressed with every breath she took, her skin was paling and her hands were clenching into fists. She wasn't looking at anyone in particular, though. Her eyes were gazing down at her own nose, which was flaring slightly.

Now, Sun Jian turned his attention away from her, and looked back at Ce and Xiao.

"Ce. You did tell Yu."

At that Xiao wheeled around at Sun Jian, her face revealing unmistakeable anger, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Of course he didn't!" she exclaimed angrily. "He would have told me if he knew! He's my best friend."

"If 'best friends' should tell each other all, why would my son not tell his own? Tell me, I am interested in your answer."

Xiao opened her mouth and closed it, but no sound came out. She swallowed a few times, and finally whispered, "Yu would have told me. I know it. Or else Ce never even told him."

"If Ce did not tell him what he should have, why would Zhou Yu tell you much? It sounds as though he does not trust you a bit."

Sun Jian had not meant to sound unkind in the least, but he immediately noticed how the careless phrasing of his words had affected her. For Xiao was now vexed beyond control.

" I didn't think your father was a big, fat liar, Ce!" she cried out.

"Xiao!"

Ce's eyes had finally snapped up. His temper flared. Something like rage began to surge through him- and his anger was directed at Xiao Qiao.

He seized her elbow and roughly pulled her around to face him. So furious was he, he didn't hear the shocked gasp that sounded behind him.

"Take it back," he ordered, his voice shaking slightly.

"Won't!"

"Xiao, you insult my Pop, you insult me!"

"Good!" Xiao shouted, full in his face. She wrenched her elbow from his grip with surprising strength for a girl of her stature. "That's all you deserve anyway, you cowardly meanie! You're a liar and, so is Yu! You two had days, and-" she paused, angry tears sliding down her face as she mentioned Zhou Yu's name.

"I thought you were my friends, but none of you tells anyone anything! If Sis knew that you-"

"You don't know what you're talking about! I- we were just about to tell you both- "

"Liar! Liar! Liar!" Xiao chanted, her eyes shut tight and her hands clamped over her ears, turning her back on Ce.

Ce cursed under his breath, his mind racing, blood pounding in his ears, and turned his back to think of what to say to calm the poor, hysterical girl down.

A look of horror crossed his face the moment he saw Da Qiao. No- the moment he saw the look on her face.

Da had been watching the whole thing, unnoticed by anyone but the man she believed was Ce's father. She and Ce had been together in one of the royal gardens when a worried Zhou Yu approached them and informed them that he'd lost Xiao among some of the rose bushes. Ce and Da had then split up to search for her, while Yu was left behind with a few light-hearted reprimands from Da and a couple of good-natured threats from Ce.

She'd heard Xiao's excited squeals and followed her voice. She found the three of them just in time to hear Xiao disbelievingly ask Ce about how long he'd known it for- whatever it was. And she'd stood behind Ce the whole time, her face not betraying a bit of emotion from whatever she heard. She hid all that she was feeling from the man whom she knew was watching her. She was struck with shock while listening to everything said, and when Ce had grabbed her sister's elbow in that way, she was beyond horrified.

Now, she looked at Ce with all the coldness and ferocity she could muster. Without a word, she turned on her heel and marched back to the palace.

"Oh, hell," Ce muttered. He shut his eyes. It felt like the hottest lump of coal was burning in his throat, and sliding down to his chest, setting fire to his innards. He turned to look at Xiao and his father.

Tears were still coursing down Xiao's face, but her look was replaced with one of panic, mingled with one of guilt. She covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide and fearful, just like before.

Sun Jian's face was blank. Ce didn't have time to figure out what he was thinking, or to apologize to him. But he had to try. He was his father, after all, for crap's sake!

"Pop," he said in a voice just above a whisper, "Pop, I... please..."

What was he saying? Was he making any sense? It was as though his brain had been shut down.

"You.. .you've got to let-"

"What are you waiting for?" said Xiao through her tears, snapping him back to reality. "Go to her! You know you want to! You've got to! "

With one look at her, Ce nodded, turned and sped after Da, before another thought about 'explaining to his father first' could occur to him.

Even as he ran, he could her Xiao's voice calling faintly:

"Ce! Ce, wait! I hope you know I'm still mad at you!"

"Da! Da, stop! Please, just listen!"

Ce had caught up with Da easily in just a few minutes, but she still wasn't slowing her pace. If anything, it was increasing with every stride. She gave no sign if she knew Ce was even there.

"Da! Can't you listen to me?"

It was the plea in Ce's voice that made Da's legs numb. She finally came to a stop, and looked skywards. She refrained from looking into his eyes, afraid that their penetrating green irises might cause her to lose all her nerve.

Ce just stood before her, panting, quickly regaining his breath.

"Look, I'm sorry," were the first words he said. "I didn't mean for you to hear that."

When his words seemed to have no effect on her whatsoever, he pressed on, "Da, I swear, I was gonna tell you- "

"That's right," Da whispered, resisting the urge to throw herself into his arms when she saw his face. "You were going to."

She started to walk away from him again, but he caught up with her faster this time, and blocked her way.

"I know I should have told him about you," he said, speaking fast so that she'd stop moving with such surprising speed, "I just didn't because I was too- "

"Cowardly? Weak? Stupid?" she snapped at him. "I can't think of anything worse, but if you can, I'd like to hear it!"

"No, I was scared!" Ce finally let it out. He'd never sounded pathetic in his life, but if it was a question of losing Da, he couldn't care less about that.

"I was scared that you might leave me, Da. I thought that you might..."

Her face was clear of all emotion. She didn't look as though she believed him.

"I thought he'd send you away, or that you might decide you didn't belong here." He'd just stopped himself before saying 'anymore'.

"I thought I might lose you."

There was absolute truth in his words.

Da lowered her eyes, pools of tears welling up in them. When Ce reached out to hold her, it was with all the difficulty in the world that she stepped out of his way.

Looking up at him, she said, "You hurt my sister!"

And then the tears, the tears that she'd been so frightened of shedding before him started trailing down her perfect, smooth cheeks, piercing him, but her face didn't crumple.

"How could you do that? You- you grabbed her arm and- and shouted at her like some sort of animal!"

"You know I didn't me-"

"I never expected anything like that from you! I thought you were the opposite of everything I just saw between you, Xiao, and-" she swallowed. "And your father. But I was an idiot! I never believed you'd ever hurt a girl half your size, but-"

"I've already told you, I'm sorry! And what if- if... if my sister insulted your father in front of-"

"What if I slapped her across the face in front of you? What would you do to me if I hurt the person your mother entrusted to you on her deathbed? The person who thinks the world of you? What?"

Ce stood there, blinking. He loved Sun Shang Xiang. She was his baby sister, and he'd probably die before he caused her harm. But watching this young woman who stood defiantly before him, her hands curled into fists, glaring into his eyes with her indentical ones, he knew his answer.

"Nothing. I'd go to Shang Xiang and hold her till she felt better, for days on end if I had to, I'd talk to her about anything she wanted, I'd listen to everything she told me, but I wouldn't hurt you for anything."

Da's eyes widened, and her lips parted slightly.

"I love you, Da."

Da shut her eyes, and big tears rolled from under their lids. She believed him. She silently forgave him. She knew he was telling the truth, and she wanted to leap at him and apologize for making such a nuisance of herself, she wanted to bury herself into his arms and pretend nothing had happened, that it was all just an awful nightmare she'd been having, she wanted to curl up against him and whisper all her feelings to him, she wanted to tell him she loved him, loved him back with all of herself there was to love. She knew she could do it now. Now, in this state of heartbreak, she knew she could say those words to him as effortlessly as he did to her. But...

Da looked up at him with dry eyes. The tearstains on her cheeks had faded.

"There's nothing more I can say to you," she whispered.

Hating herself more than anything, she forced herself to walk past him and continue her way to the palace.

"Da, stop."

Ce's voice shocked her. His tone didn't sound like any kind she'd heard from him before.

"Just listen to me go on, Da. Da, I'm actually begging you."

She didn't even bother to stifle her gasp of amazement. Ce was a proud young lord, and had every reason to be. He never begged anyone for anything, not once. And this was the closest he'd come to doing it- the closest he'd come to begging, and all because of her. She was the reason for his lowering his pride, it was all her fault. How could she have permitted this? She stood there, unmoving, still stricken by what she'd just heard.

"Don't go, Da. Please."

Da whipped around, ready to fall into his arms and plead for forgiveness.

"Oh, Ce, I lo-"

She froze.

Right behind Ce was his father.

Sun Jian was watching her, stony-faced and foreboding. He knew. Yet she could see that he did not want his son to. His expression was enough to rob Da of her all her courage.

Da backed away, her heart racing and her head spinning. Ce looked confused at her strange actions, but that was nothing compared with the remorse and guilt etched in his handsome features as he looked at her longingly, imploringly.

"Ce, I'm- I'm sorry!" she burst out, before tearing away and absolutely running towards the palace, tears splashing down her front, vulnerable to her heart's wretched cry:

You've lost him! He's gone from your life now forever! You'll never find him again!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! What now? Yeah, I know I'm beating around the bush a bit, but don't worry, I'll try to update as soon as possible! If you wanna know what happens next, hurry and review! There's still time for Da to turn around and confess to Ce! And what about Xiao and Yu? She doesn't believe what Sun Jian said about him, does she? What about Sun Jian? What the heck's his problem? Why can't he be happy seeing his sons( technically, Yu's kinda like a son to him, right?) with the Qiaos? Is there a special, dark reason behind it?

Above all, are the Qiaos doomed to go home now? What'll happen then?

I'd better shut up now before this gets TOO annoying...

To find out the outcome of this new twist, please, please review!