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: BWAHAHAHAHA! Since I'm just too good of a person, and I felt bad about gyping my wonderful readers out of a good chapter, I added Chapter 13 to the masses. (And don't worry, I'm not going to disappear again, Chapter 14'll be up either tomorrow or the next day.) Remember, I'm trying to hit 100 reviews, so drop me a line!

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We headed outside, (me the entire time praying Ling Tong would walk by and
see us, and have an insane fit of jealousy) and sat down near a nearby pond.

"So, what's eating you?" Ning asked, sitting down next to me. "Besides that
big-ass bug. Hold still." Ning smacked my arm. Ow.

I sighed angrily. "Tong and I had another stupid fight about absolutely
nothing, again! Don't get me wrong, it's not a big deal or anything, but
we're supposed to be best friends! Best friends aren't supposed to argue
about EVERYTHING, right?"

"The closest thing I ever had to a best friend was my little brother, when I
was maybe 5 or 6. Not really what you have here. If you ask me, though, just
looking at your friend there, and god damn me if I'm wrong, but I think he
likes you," Ning said.

"Oh dear god. Not this again," I groaned.

"Judging by the look on your face, I'd say you hear this a lot, and this is
just my opinion on the matter, but... I don't think he just LIKES you, I
think he's completely in love with you, and you've been doing something
lately that's been pissing him off big-time. Probably why he's on a short
fuse lately." Ning said. " Oh, and the fact that I killed his father might
have something to do with it," he added sheepishly.

I thought it over for a few minutes. Normally, Tong was always in a good
mood, aside from the constant sarcasm. But recently, ever since his father
died, he'd been nothing but a moody, angry, and easily-annoyed jerk, and I
was sick of it! If this was how Tong was gonna be for the rest of his life,
then he was steadily heading for a life with no friends. Jerk.

That's when it hit me. It was GAN NING pissing him off!! (Well, duh. Why
didn't I think of that?) He was angry that Ning was hanging around me, and
probably insanely angry that I had no problem with him, and...

"Yo, Shang Xiang? You in there?" I was jarred from my thoughts by Ning
waving his hand in my face.

"Huh? Oh, I'm okay. I was thinking... I think the thing that's pissing Tong
off the most is YOU!"

"What gave it away, the constant 'I'm gonna kill you!!!' explosions or the
dirty looks?" Ning asked, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, welll... My parents and
my little brother were both killed, right in front of me, by
whatever-his-name-is, Zhang Jiao, when I was five years old! And you know
what I did?"

"Ummm... nothing?" I guessed.

"Exactly! There was nothing I could do! I was just this scared little kid,
stuck in a big country with nowhere to go, no family, no nothing! If Huang
Zu hadn't found me, I'd be dead right now!" Ning said angrily, punching the
ground with his fist.

"So... Huang Zu took you in, and you killed him?" I said, astonished. Maybe
Ning wasn't as nice as I thought.

"Shang Xiang, don't even go there. Huang Zu was like a father to me for most
of my life. But when I started getting strong enough to work, I stopped
being his pride and joy foster son, and more of a servant. Bossing me
around, making me do his dirty work, barely paying me, making me do stuff
and "accidentally" forgetting about me..." Ning's voice was growing more and
more bitter.

"It wasn't until some of Huang Zu's guys told me that once, when Huang Zu
got wasted, he confessed that I was getting too strong and if I got stronger
than Huang Zu he'd have me killed, just to make sure I didn't turn on him.
And you know what that did to me?"

"It would break my heart, if something like that happened to me," I said,
now understanding fully why Ning hated Huang Zu so much now.

"That's exactly what happened! Here I am, a 16 year old kid, practically
worshipping the ground he stands on, and I find out that if I get too
strong, the guy I've thought of as a father's going to kill me. That pissed
me off big time, so I made myself a sword-- the same one you've seen before,
might I add-- and that's how I got where I am today."

"Anyways, to get to the point, my life hasn't exactly been a day at the
park, and you don't (usually) see me going around with a stick up my ass,
especially not taking it out on my friends and family. If I had one, that
is." Ning said, coming to a close. "I know I killed his father, and I only
did it because it was my duty. It wasn't anything personal. How many
fathers, sons, brothers and uncles has HE killed? Compassion on the
battlefield gets you killed."

"I guess you're right," I said. I remembered something. "Are you going to
the funerals later?"

Ning scoffed. "Of course not. I killed the man they're burying, Shang Xiang.
Does the executioner go to the executionee's funeral?"

I smiled sheepishly. "Um, right. I forgot." I glanced up and jumped a foot
in the air seeing Da and Xiao headed my way. "Go! Get outta here! Run!" I
said, turning back towards Ning. "Go!"

"Huh? But--"

"GO!!" I screamed, and Ning ran off, confused. Da and Xiao showed up. "Hi
guys! What's up?" I said innocently.

"Up yours, Shang Xiang. We know what you're up to," Xiao said, smirking.

"Wh-who told you!?" I asked, blushing furiously.

"We have eyes, Shang Xiang. But that's not why we're here," Da said. "Xiao
told me that the two of you had an arguement with Tong, (not to mention
punched him in the head!) and I want you both to apologize."

"Sis, WHY?" Xiao whined. "He was being a big meanie!"

"Yes, I know, but let's remember his father's funeral is today, so he's
hasn't been himself these past few days," Da said. "Xiao, we're the only
family he has left, we've got to be there for him."

"I was there for him, and he was a jerk!" Xiao said angrily, stomping her
foot. "Shang Xiang'll tell you!"

"She's right!" I said. "All Xiao did was hug him, and he got all bent out of
shape about it. Let's remember, Xiao's son is being buried today, too, and
she's not acting like a colossal jerk about it."

"It doesn't mean I'm not sad!" Xiao wailed.

"I know, I know. But maybe you should apologize, just because his father
died. Xiao, we both know Tong never takes anything seriously, but he's way
off base these days, and we should try to help him out as much as we can.
And if he wants to be alone, we should leave him alone," Da said, the voice
of reason as always. "Oh, and punching him in the head was completely
unneccessary!!" she added, scowling at both of us.

I spoke up. "When my dad died, the two of you, and Tong, were always there
for me. And I owe it to Tong to be there for him now. So I'm gonna
apologize."

"Xiao?" Da asked.

"Fine," Xiao pouted.

"Oh, and Shang Xiang? Just a word of advice, but I would highly recommend
against letting Tong know about you and Gan Ning's little, umm, friendship.
I think it would upset him highly," Da suggested.

"No kidding," I said dryly. "But, uh, thanks for being cool about it. And
for the love of god, DO NOT tell either of my brothers, particularly Ce. You
know how he is."

Da smiled and nodded. "Indeed I do. I'll see you two later." She turned and
left.

Xiao turned to me. "Wanna go find Tongie-- er, Tong?" she suggested.

"Alright," I said, reluctantly. This would not be easy.

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WHEEEE!! Chapter 13's done, more to come. Any questions, comments, drop me a line, and I'll answer ASAP!!

You know what'd be really cool? FANART!! XD Seriously, if you're artsy like that, draw some fanart! I'll do something nice for anyone who does ;D

See ya!