I'm back, everyone! Well, thanks alot for reviewing! I really got alot of those this time:P... I hope you all like this chapter just as much as the last one. I guess I haven't got much to say except for, here's Chapter 18 for you!

Enjoy.

'Most esteemed Ruler of Wu, and Tiger of Jiang Dong,

It is with a heavy heart and countless pleas that this Duke, humbled before his superior, makes a simple request of your lordship. Do know that I have poured out all my sweat, blood and tears into solving the matter on hand on my own, but to no avail. It is now that I turn to you for aid in searching for the only treasure left to me, my young daughters, Duchesses Da and Xiao, better known as The Two Qiaos of Jiang Dong, famed throughout the land for their beauty. I had seen them last when Summer, the season which brings growth and ripeness to all, had barely awakened, and, after having scoured the lush lands of Wu, have yet to glimpse a sign of them. They have vanished without a trace, and I implore you to try your hand at bringing them back to me. As a father, I have full confidence that you can all too easily understand a desperate man's sufferings at having his arms vacant of his only children. I believe that if there exists a man who has the power and ability to retrieve my daughters, then you are that man.

I pray that you hear word of them before Fall, as that is the season that I have vowed, many moons ago, to place them in the hands of their suitable match. For I believe they have matured enough to be wed. For Xiao Qiao, however, I can perhaps wait for a matter of time, but for her older sister, the time has certainly come, or rather, will, the moment Summer gives way to the season of sleep and painted leaves. I beg of you to accept my request, as it is my last resort, and last attempt to have my daughters returned to me, before I face the terrible possibility that they no longer breathe the air of this world.

Until that time, I remain, most respectfully, your admiring and humble servant,

Duke of Jiang Dong,

Lord Qiao Xuan.'

Da Qiao looked up in horror.

Her lips were slightly parted, and her eyes were wide, her face pale. The fingers holding the parchment bearing her father's name were trembling. Her heart seemed to have temporarily given up beating. Then, gradually, the thumps in her chest resumed, only with much more force than necessary, as the truth, the terrible, dreadful truth, sank in.

Sun Jian's face was impassive. He examined the girl who stood staring at him in shock, looking as though her entire world was collapsing around her. She was beyond terrified. He turned his back on her and paced about the room, allowing her a few moments to recognize the significance of all she had read.

When he faced her once more, she seemed shaky still, but more composed. He advanced.

"Well," he began in low tones. "What have you to make of this?"

She made no reply. She merely gazed at him glassily.

He made another attempt.

"Do you recognize the hand in which this letter has been written?"

For several minutes, Da remained silent. Then, she opened her mouth to whisper one word.

"Yes."

"And whose is it?" Sun Jian prompted. Again, all he received was silence. But Sun Jian was a man of patience, and to wait patiently was the only way one could handle Da at a moment like this.

Finally-

"My father's."

Sun Jian nodded with a sort of finality at the confirmation, before turning away once more and approaching his ajar window to look upon the Royal Gardens. His eyes widened with surprise, and then narrowed when he was able to distinguish, a far distance away, Zhou Yu - not on his own- but supporting the other one, the young lady's sister, on his lap. They were nestling together with his back against a tree. His first instinct was to tear down there and separate the two of them, but then, calming himself from the unanticipated sight, he heaved a heavy sigh of defeat.

"You may leave now, child."

His alert ears heard no motion from her. He wrenched his head away from the elaborated crafted window and back to the girl.

She was still standing there, but in a most peculiar way- quite different from the way she'd stood a few minutes ago.

Her hands were clenched into fists at her side. Her shoulders were heaving slightly and her stare at Sun Jian had acquired an almost challenging look.

Assuming she had not heard, he repeated himself, more clearly than before.

"You may go now."

She didn't. On the contrary, she took a step towards him. It was then that Sun Jian noticed her father's letter crumpled in one of her hands.

"What is it?" he asked, and for the strangest of reasons, his voice came out rough this time.

"What are you going to do now?"

This surprised him. He didn't expect such a straightforward, almost unmannered response from her. Instinctively, he understood that this girl was not going to leave until she had acquired something, although how he guessed this and why he was not ordering her to leave him in peace, he did not know.

"I beg your pardon?" he said stiffly. "My decision on the matter at hand is none of your concern. What is to become of you will be clear in a few hours. Now, I ask you to return to your quarters."

Da took a deep breath. No, she was not going to waver! She would find out his plan no matter what the cost! She must not let him think her weak, she could not allow him to realize that she was fearful of him. She restrained herself from being polite, despite being in his palace, and at his mercy- not that she needed it, but this fact was unknown to her. Mustering all her courage, she began again.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what you're going to do with us."

Her voice shook as she completed her sentence, but she bit down in time.

Sun Jian considered her, acknowledging her daring. He saw a bit of his daughter, Sun Shang Xiang, in the girl who stood before right now. But at the same time, he knew that this girl possessed a certain quality that had never touched his own child.

"My decision is irrevocable, and I see no reason why I should confide it to you. You have no place whatsoever to demand an answer from me in such a manner, and I suggest you leave before my patience wears thin. I ask you for the last time to leave this room. Refuse, and I shall command you. Leave, Da Qiao."

The sound of her name from his mouth acted as a stimulant. At once, Da knew what she should say. She struggled to remain calm.

"Are you going to send us back?"

Her voice was so slightly above a whisper, that Sun Jian barely grasped her words.

Grimly, he answered, "And if I am?"

Da's worst fears had been confirmed. She took another step forwards in alarm. With an unpleasant shock, Sun Jian saw that her eyes were beginning to flood with tears.

"No! No, please! Don't do this, don't send us back to him, I beg you! Please, we can't go back, he doesn't love us, he doesn't care about us!"

And with that, she covered her face with hands, the letter dropping to her feet, and began to cry.

Sun Jian was at a loss for what to do. He did not like her crying, it had not been his intention, and he certainly did not enjoy being the cause of a young girl's tears. Instead of trying to comfort her, however, Sun Jian curiously took offense at her words.

"I see every reason why I should send you back. It is my duty as a father to another to return you and your sister to him, as you belong with him until you are married. There is no reason why you should stay here, as there is nothing I can give you here."

He turned his back on her, meaning to convey that this discussion was over. But Da was not ready to give up.

"You don't know what it's like over there! You don't know him, you have no idea what's going to happen to us there, even I don't. I mean it, we're better off lying dead in a far-off dump than with hi-"

"Silence!"

Sun Jian could no longer control his anger.

"How dare you insult you father in such a way? Both your audacity and your presumptions displease me! What he will do to you once he has you back is not my concern, but you belong to your father no matter what thoughts dwell in your young mind! Your place is with him, not here! And," he paused, being struck by a most puzzling question.

"And why is it that you wish to stay here at all? Why not return home weeks ago? What is it that you want here? When two of my sons rescued you from the domain of Dong Zhuo- oh yes, I know all about it, as Sun Quan has not spared me a single detail of your arrival here!- the first thing you should have done was to request them to take you back to whence you came. Why remain? What is it you are after?"

Da's gaze was now pointing towards the floor. She could not bring herself to meet eyes with him. Never, never could she answer his question when she'd kept it from everyone, even herself. He had been speaking to her pleasantly enough up until now, but she'd angered him. What was she to do? She couldn't answer him. She couldn't.

"I have also been meaning to find out why my eldest son and yourself seem so very... intimate."

Da gasped. But she still remained silent.

"Well?"

She was horrified. But she had no choice. She had to.

"I... I love him, my lord."

Sun Jian was enraged.

Abandoning all courtesies and kindnesses, he stepped forward and fairly bellowed at her.

"How dare you? Have you any idea to whom you are affirming this? I am his father! I shall not stand for your lying insolence! Remove yourself from my sight this very instant, lest I-"

Sun Jian took several deep breaths to restrain himself from destroying this young girl. He tied to regain his senses. He turned away from her.

"You are young and have spoken in haste. I understand that I must give you a chance to take back your words. Admit that you have been untruthful or mistaken, and you shall be forgiven."

Tears were running down Da's cheeks. This was it, this was the time she would finally own up to just what she felt for Ce. She was scared, oh yes, terrified of what might happen to her. But she knew there was no turning back. She could not hide her heart any longer.

Shutting her eyes, she said it.

"I have not."

Sun Jian whipped around in fury. He would not shout anymore. But he was filled with anger, white hot and expanding, that was terrible to behold.

"So you will not give up?" he said in frightening tones. "I have given you the chance to save the dignity left to you, and you refuse me? Very well, then. Let me see what you will make of my intentions. You and your sister are to be sent to your father's home immediately."

He stopped to see the impact it had on her. None. Her eyes stayed closed, and she stayed mute. Nonetheless, he went on relentlessly.

"My son is to rule the kingdom after I have departed from this world, and will be married as soon as he is of age, which is a mere matter of months away, perhaps a year. Certainly less than two. He is to be married to a royal princess of my choosing, and once I have had a short conversation with him soon hereafter, he shall forget that you had ever existed. Your memories, your face, even your name shall be wiped from his mind. The one person he obeys besides himself is I, his father, and you are an insignificant young woman who has no right over his life or his heart. It amuses me to think of how you fancy yourself dear to him!"

Da had been going paler and paler as Sun Jian finished his horrible speech. She stayed silent for several minutes, her eyes wide, surveying the lord of Wu's cold, stony face as she struggled to contemplate the weight of his awful words.

"I can't believe what I just heard," she said at last in hushed tones. "You're ready to deprive your son of any happiness he has if it's against you? You know that he wants it this way. You would make his life's decisions? Even if what you want isn't the same as what he does? How can you say that you have his best interests at heart? How can you call yourself his father?"

"Silence!"

Sun Jian temper had flared again.

"His life has been planned since his childhood, and he knows of it fully well! Do you truly suppose that he would turn his back on my wishes and whatever he was taught because of a girl of inferior birth? Whose indecent capture resulted in her running away from her distraught father's arms, because she was in search of 'true happiness', and voluntarily destroyed her own future along with that of her younger sister? For shame! That you honestly believed you could have made a difference in my son's life! That you made him believe that he found what he was looking for, that you were what he was missing!"

He stopped, his chest heaving with a ferocity he could not suppress. What was this girl made of? What was driving her to keep hold of her hope, keep her from giving up yet? How did she still have the admirable nerve to stare him in the face even now? His own daughter would have dropped her gaze by this time if she were in her place.

Sun Jian turned her back on her, his mind working frenziedly. He was not, and had never been a bad man. He was greatly loved, by both his family and his subjects, and had every reason to be so. But it was widely known that Sun Jian's temper was terrible at its peak, and it was the peak that Sun Jian was trying to keep from reaching, lest he terrified the poor girl out of her senses.

And, truthfully, bizarre though it seemed, Sun Jian did not believe for one second that Da Qiao was a liar. He did not believe, as he had said, that she did not make a difference in his eldest son's life. On the contrary, he'd noticed the moment that he set his eyes on him upon returning that he'd undergone a major change- not in who he was or in his values, or in what made up his character, but the depth with what he felt, and how he would look at things. Sun Jian had no doubt that Da was the reason behind it all. But the main thing which so angered him was the fact that he could not tell whether this was a sign of good or bad.

Therefore, he knew that he had only two options: the Qiaos either stayed, or they went, and he wanted them gone. He could not allow them to interfere in all his work to make his children what they were now- all his sacrifices, his plans, his hopes, his dreams... He bore Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao no ill-will whatsoever, and as a father, did hope for the best for them, but he had to rid himself of them right away, and he had a very good cause for this.

And then there was Da, still standing behind him, waiting for an answer, though he could sense her fear at being alone with him. What should he do? Tell her all? All that he feared would happen if he allowed her to stay here- forever? Would that make her leave? Weaken her resolve? Strengthen her pity on him? Make her understand?

He had no other recourse. The time had come to tell her all.

Slowly, Sun Jian turned to her. She hadn't moved. The tears were still streaming down her face. He took a deep breath.

"Da Qiao," he began, then stopped. Should he carry on? She was listening. There was no way he could stop now. He sighed heavily.

"I see I have to be honest with you. I know that you mean no harm. I know that you are innocent in being here, and I know that, although I am somewhat fearful of Quan's explanation, he had most probably not been as truthful as I had hoped."

He paused. Could an eager shadow of hope have crossed her face?

"And I know that you must truly love- my son."

Da shut her eyes with relief, and exhaled. She thought he finally understood, that he might give in. It pained Sun Jian for having to cloud her happiness, but he forced himself to go on.

"However, I cannot let him know this, and neither can you."

Da's eyes snapped open, wide and disbelieving. Once again, she began to enter a state of panic and fear. She opened her mouth, but Sun Jian cut her across.

"Fear not, I will tell you why. Da Qiao, Sun Ce is to rule this land someday. He is to be an emperor. An emperor! Can you understand that? I do not like saying this to you, but you can never have a future with him, your father plans to have you married to another. I never wanted to have my son involved with a young girl at this stage of his life, and certainly not one who is here against her father's wishes. And against mine."

Da had been silent through this all. But now, she spoke again.

"At this stage of his life?"

Her voice sounded flat, as though she was trying hard to hide her misery.

"Yes," Sun Jian replied forcefully. "Da Qiao, this is the time I need Sun Ce to realize his responsibilities. I need him to be able to handle this entire land if I am ever to leave it. He has to focus on his tasks and his future, and you are a distraction, if you are in the picture, everything can be ruined. You will destroy all, all my work, as long as you are in his life, his morals and priorities will slip. Sun Ce is first the son of Wu, and then mine. You are a distraction. You can never be with him, for even his family, which is his siblings and I, must come after his duty to the kingdom. Or else everything our forefathers have given up to achieve this will go to waste. If he realizes you love him, then-"

"Nothing will happen, my lord, nothing, I promise you! He'd never abandon his land. I couldn't make him, I won't even try-"

Da was unable to stop herself.

"He wouldn't turn his back on it for the world, my lord, everyone knows that! I'll never come in his way, never. I- I just-"

She couldn't find any words.

"All- all I want is to- to be with him, my lord. Nothing more."

Silent tears started trailing down her cheeks once more.

"How can I make you understand?" said Sun Jian exasperatedly.

"My son is in love with you. I have noticed this, it is true. He loves you, Da Qiao. So much, in fact, that I believe if he realizes you feel the same way for him, if he has to, he may leave everything, just for you. The truth is, Da Qiao, my son had always missed something in his life, and it is you, it has to be. I am his father, and I know this. But it is either you or this empire, and I cannot put him in a position to choose, and the same goes for you. I will not let you stay because of your father. And if he learns that you are being sent home against your will, he will stop at nothing to keep you here. And as for your sister, I believe that Zhou Yu will not let her out of her arms if someone other than you attempts to pull her out of them, and no one other than you can make Xiao Qiao release him, this much is clear. Zhou Yu also has many duties as Wu's future strategist, and your sister well serve as a huge distraction to him as well. The reason I fear so much for Wu, Da Qiao is..." Sun Jian stressed more loudly, for Da showed every sign of interrupting.

He paused, ready to part with his longest held secret.

"I do not have very long to live."

Da's mouth dropped open. That was not what he'd said. It could not have been, she'd heard him wrong.

"What?" she whispered. "What?"

"It is true, Da Qiao."

Da was still gaping, her eyes wide open and astonished.

"I was wounded near my heart many years ago. I was saved, but the injury never healed properly. I still have a few more years to take care of everything, and get my son ready to take on his responsibility. Nobody knows about this but you, me, and the physician who had examined me, Da Qiao. Now, I am nearly finished with ruling the land, And after that...I do not know what lies ahead of me."

Da covered her mouth with her hands as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Do not cry for me, Da Qiao. My work here is done. Soon, I will see Ce sitting upon my throne, Quan behind him every step of the way and Shang Xiang ready to punish those who ever 'messed' with either of them."

She fell to her knees, sobbing, her hands clasped over her heart.

"I swear that I have told you all, Da Qiao. This is why you can never be with my son. This is why he and Yu must have nothing to think about apart from Wu. This is why you must go home."

He took a step forwards and lifted her face with one hand.

Da looked into his golden eyes, which, she was stunned to see, were filled with the sorrow of the world. He seemed like a lone tiger with no one to share his grief with.

"Will you obey me now? Will you understand my reasons? Will you see to what you must now do?"

She was unable to reply. She closed her eyes and let the tears slide through their lashes.

"Will you grant a dying father his one request from you, Da Qiao?"

Da clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle her cry.

"Tell me you will. Please. This is all I ask. Promise me that you will never come between Ce and Wu. Promise me that you will help me make my dreams come true before I am gone. Promise me that you will never let Sun Ce and Zhou Yu know what they mean to yourself and Xiao Qiao. And promise me that you will never tell my sons of my condition."

She sobbed louder than ever. Her every moment with Sun Ce, all her memories of him flashed before her eyes! The first time she met him, gazing up in wonder at his astonished face with her heart pounding, the time when he rescued her and held her before him on his horse, the time when she lay on his lap, his hands running through her hair, there was Ce, the night when he held her in his arms on the banks of Chang Jiang River and kissed her, the times when he told her he loved her, and the stupid, baseless argument she had started because of his one, insignificant mistake...

"Say it, Da."

Forgive me, Sun Ce.

"I promise, Father," whispered Da Qiao.

Nooooooooooooooooooooo! Sun Jian's gonna DIE! And now Da swore that she and Xiao would never go NEAR Ce and Yu AGAIN! Are they gonna go home now and never see them again? Will they just end up marrying someone else? It looks like it, since Da's made her promise, and she's got to keep it now, hasn't she?

But never fear, as long as I'm typing this story, that won't happen! All you have to do is drop some reviews on your way out and let me know you were here, and I'll be back before long! So please, please review, and you'll see what happens soon enough!