Disclaimer: I own nothing!! BWAHAHAHAHA-- oh wait, that's a bad thing! SHOOT! Does anyone actually read disclaimers anyway? I doubt a bunch of KOEI executives are sitting at their desks, surfing the web and finding DW fics that don't include disclaimers. XD Shoot, I'm rambling again...

Notes from t3h author: Hey, guys! I've currently got up to Chapter 30, sitting here waiting to be published on my computer right now, so this lovely update brings you NOT ONE, but TWO (short) chapters, waiting to be read! Oh, and don't be cheap and wait until Ch. 13 to review, either. :D I'm trying to hit 100 reviews! Help me on my quest!! (I'm such a review hog. I'm going to hell, dammit.)

Of course I want to stall you longer, so let's do a recap of what happened so far... Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao's baby son passed away, Gan Ning is now a Wu general, Ling Tong ain't happy about it, Sun Shang Xiang IS happy about it, and a mysterious stranger comes back to Wu, and he is... SUN CE!! YAY!!

As usual, pardon all spelling errors/historical inaccuracies. I go by the games, I don't give a crap what happened in history. Without further ado, I bring to you, the long awaited and fresh off the computer...CHAPTER 12!! WOOOOOO!!

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"Hey, Shang Xiang! Wake up!" a cheerful voice said. I groaned. "C'mon,
Shang, wake up!"

I'd recognize that voice anywhere. I opened my eyes to look at my big
brother, his hair tied back in the usual ponytail and his face clean-shaven,
except for his little goatee (which he only kept because Da Qiao loved it,
she told me herself). In fact, he looked just like his old self, just a
little thinner. Da really WAS an expert at fixing people up.

"Ugh... g'way, Ce," I groaned.

"Come on, aren't you happy to see your big brother after 2 whole years?" Ce
asked, grinning at me.

"I'd be just as happy to see you later on in the morning. Go away." I
mumbled.

"No can do, little sister," Ce said. "I'm on direct orders from Emperor
Little Brother to wake up Princess Little Sister for the funeral service for
Ling Cao and Zhou Yu's little one. Darn shame. I wish I coulda met the kid."

That's right, Ling Cao's funeral thing was today. "Ughhhh... alright, Ce,
I'm coming. Get out so I can get changed." I said, rolling out of bed and
collapsing out of my soft bed onto the hard floor. "Ow."

"You got it, little sister," Ce said, and left. I got up and dragged my
sorry butt into my private washroom. One of the maids, thank goodness, had
already run the water for me and a nice warm bath awaited me. I undressed,
bathed, and pulled on my DW5 outfit. Normally the author would describe the
outfit for you, but since she is feeling remarkably lazy right now she isn't
going to. So there.

I shoved my feet into my DW5 shoes (see above sarcasm) and raced out the
door, slid down the banisters and arrived in the main hall. All generals
who'd spent the night unconcious had awoken, and were now crowding Ce,
asking him questions; Da seemed to be trying to stuff as much food in Ce's
mouth as she could, Xiao was actually asleep, her face inside her bowl of
mush, and Tong was looking down in the dumps.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked, sitting down next to him. "Whatever," he
replied, his voice muffled by the hand he was using to prop his head up. "I
was up all night writing that stupid essay..."

I looked at Xiao. "Xiao, wake up!" I said.

If anyone saw the Little Qiao right now, they'd take back the prophecy
stated about the beauty of the Qiaos being greater than that of the moon.
Xiao had nasty breakfast mush all over her face. Ew.

"Huh?" Xiao asked, looking confused. "Oh, Shang Xiang, it's you. How are
you?"

"Fine," I replied, handing my friend a napkin.

Tong sighed again. I patted his shoulder. I remembered when my own father
died; I hadn't been able to stop crying. I also remembered that every time I
had a nightmare, or every time I wanted to cry my eyes out, Tong was almost
always by my side, ready to cheer me up.

"Shang Xiang, I--" Tong was interrupted by the sound of jingling bells,
followed by a loud yell of "Whoo, I'm starving!" which could only signal the
arrival of one spiky-haired, devilishly-good-looking young man by the name
of Gan Ning. Yay! I mean, uh, oh dear.

Oh dear indeed. I watched as Tong's eyes narrowed, his fists clenched and he
made those annoying growling noises he usually saves for Gan Ning. One of
these days the poor guy's gonna die of a heart attack, if he doesn't control
these anger problems of his.

"Tong," I warned, trying to prevent a catastrophe.

Everything about my friend right now showed pure rage; but then he slumped
lifelessly on the table. "I give up," he said sadly. "There's no way I'm
ever gonna be able to avenge my father. Nobody cares how I feel and as usual
everyone sticks up for HIM."

"Tong, that's not true!" I said, trying to cheer him up. "C'mon, don't be so
sensitive."

"I care!" Xiao added. "Tongie, quit being a big baby! My baby died, but I'm
not moping about!"

"That's because you still have your sister and your husband. I don't have
ANYBODY!" Tong said angrily.

"You have me!" Xiao said. "Tongie, you're my family too! You're my cousin,
but you're like a brother to me and Sis! So quit whining about everything
and be happy about what you still have!!"

I was shocked. Knowing Tong, he'd probably either start crying and run away,
or worse, attack Xiao with a kitchen knife. But strangely enough, he didn't
react at all. Instead he picked up his knife and said, "That does it."

WHAT!!? He's going to KILL HIMSELF!? NO!! That was what I was thinking.
"Tong, don't do it!" I wailed, jumping on top of him and prying the knife
from his fingers. "DON'T DO IT!!"

"Shang Xiang, what the hell's the matter with you!?! Don't do WHAT!?" Tong
asked, looking alarmed.

"DON'T KILL YOURSELF!!" I wailed, hugging his legs. "You've got so much to
live for!! Don't do it!!"

"Shang Xiang, would you calm down!? I'm not going to kill myself!!" Tong
complained, now looking annoyed.

"B-b-but the knife!! And you said--" Tong cut me off. "I was going to EAT MY
FOOD!!" he said. "Quit jumping to conclusions!! And what are YOU laughing
at!?!" he demanded of Xiao, who was positively shrieking with laughter and
rolling around on the floor.

"Oh," I said, embarrassed.

"What I was SAYING was, I've made up my mind. I'm never going to overcome my
father's death by moping around like a big baby, right? So I'm going to try
and forget the past," Ling Tong said.

Xiao squealed and hugged her cousin. "Yay!! I'm so proud of you, Tongie!!"

"For the hundredth time, don't call me that," Tong complained. "And let go
of me. I can't breathe."

Xiao's big eyes filled with tears. "Tongieeee!! You're a jerk!" she wailed,
and without another word she punched her cousin in the head (hard) and
stormed off angrily.

"Women," Tong growled, rubbing his head. "So tempermental!"

"WHAT!?" I screamed.

"You heard me," Tong said. "One minute they're all happy, the next minute
they're trying to rip my head off!"

"Well, maybe because you're a STUPID, SEXIST, IDIOTIC JERK!!" I screamed
and, like Xiao, punched him in the head and stormed off angrily.

That jerk! I thought angrily. Here I am, wasting my time trying to cheer him
up, and he starts trashing ME! God, sometimes I wonder what I was thinking
when I picked my friends. What a bunch of sexist jerks they all are! Why I
oughta-- my thoughts were interrupted by me slamming right into someone and
falling over backwards.

"Ouch," I complained. "Watch where you're going, you stupid--"

"Whoa, sorry 'bout that," said that wonderful, amazing voice that now made
my little heart jump with joy whenever I heard it. I looked up eagerly and
saw Gan Ning, crouching down and holding his hand out to me. "I'm just
bumping into you everywhere, aren't I?" he laughed, taking my hand and
pulling me up.

I mentally kicked myself for blushing. "Uh.. thank you," I said.

"Listen, Shang Xiang, I'm kinda glad I bumped into you. No pun intended,"
Gan Ning said, looking so incredibly good-looking today I couldn't stop
gawking at him. "I, uh, wanted to apologize for what happened last night. Lu
Meng told me about it and I feel pretty bad for forcing myself on ya when I
was wasted. So, uh..."

"Apology accepted," I said, smiling at him. "Oh, and sorry for punching
you," I added, remembering what ELSE happened last night.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Ning said, grinning at me (nice teeth for a
former pirate). "From what I understand, I deserved it."

"So I guess we're even then," I said.

"Yep."

Arrrgh!! Dammit, Shang Xiang, why can't I think of ANYTHING to say!? I
mentally kicked myself angrily. Come ON, why can't I just talk to him? He's
just a guy! He's just like Tong, and Ce, and every single other guy I
talk to! 'Cept he's a LOT hotter, and REALLY REALLY REALLY--

"Shang Xiang?" Ning asked, looking at me quizzically. "You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine," I said, blushing again. (Damn hormones.)

"Oh. You just looked kinda stressed, is all..." he said.

"Well, actually, something is kinda wrong," I said, looking straight into
his brown eyes and thinking, "I LOVE YOU!!!!"

"Seriously? Well, I'm all ears, but if it's really funny I can't promise not
to laugh. Deal?" Ning said.

"Deal," I said. "Anyway, uh..."

"Want to go somewhere else?" Ning interrupted. "Like, I don't know-"

Your house? Your room? Your bed? "Outside?" I suggested. Once again, I blame the hormone.

"Fine by me!" Ning said. He took my hand (SQUEEEEEEE!!) and said, "Lead
the way!"

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Guess what? I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING!! You're thinking, "WTF, Jen's been gone for this long and all she gives us to compensate for it is THIS lousy, not-even-3-pages crap of a chapter!? Why I oughta..." but WAIT! Before you kill me, (and I KNOW nobody reads the author's notes ;P) if you read the author's notes you KNOW what happens next!! (Review first) THEN go read... CHAPTER THIRRRRRRRRRRRRTEEEEEEEEN!!! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Wow, I've been overdosing on sugar lately. Sorry. :D