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... Well, anyway, if I owned DW, there would be an unlockable Speedo outfit for Gan Ning, Sun Ce, and Ma Chao. So there.
Notes from t3h author: Alright, updated again:D Hope everyone had a good Christmas. Stuff starts getting more interesting from here on in, so stay tuned! I'll most likely update at least once a week, but remember, 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... Xiao Qiao and Sun Shang Xiang just got into an arguement with Ling Tong, so in an angry huff, Shang Xiang storms out, bumping into Gan Ning, who gives her some advice. The Qiaos come along and catch them, then Da Qiao orders Xiao Qiao and Sun Shang Xiang to go apologize to Ling Tong...
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 14!! WOOOOOO!!
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Outside the door to Tong's room, Xiao looked at me. "You first," she said. "He likes you more."
"No he doesn't, you're his flesh and blood," I complained. "You go."
"Uh uh! You go! I don't know what I wanna say!"
"Just say 'I'm sorry'! You don't need to rehearse!"
"What are you two up to?" Quan asked suspiciously, from behind us both. We both jumped.
"Hey, Quan!" I said. "We were arguing about who was gonna apologize to Tong first."
"Yeah, he was being a big meanie, so we yelled at him and punched him in the head," Xiao said cheerfully, apparently thinking this was a nice thing to do.
"You two got into an arguement with a guy who's miserable because his father died? AND you punched him in the head? That's not very nice," Quan commented. "Anyway, I'll pick which one of you goes first. Shang Xiang, get in there."
"Huh? Why me?" I said.
"Because I am the Supreme Emperor of Wu and I said so," Quan said, winking at Xiao. "Now go. Lady Xiao Qiao, you're up next." Quan walked away.
I grumbled and knocked on the door.
"What?" Tong snapped.
"Tong, it's me. Can I come in?"
"No!" was my response.
"I'm coming in," I said, and opened the door. Tong was lying on his bed and playing with his nunchakus. He glanced at me briefly and shot me a dirty look. "What do you want?" he asked, looking back at the nunchakus.
"I, uh, wanted to say I'm sorry," I said.
"Yeah, whatever. Go away." Tong said.
"I said I was sorry, and I mean it," I said angrily.
"And I said, go away. I don't need your stupid sympathy," Tong said, still not looking at me. "Want to punch me in the head again, while you're at it?"
"As a matter of fact, I lied. I WAS sorry. But I'm not anymore. I don't care if your father died! You're a pathetic, whiny little crybaby who never shuts up for a second and I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR STUPID FACE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!" I screamed.
Tong froze and looked at me. "Oh really?" he said. "Alright then, Princess, tell me this-- was GAN NING there for you when YOUR dad died? No, I don't believe he was! In fact, I think he was WORKING FOR THE GUY WHO KILLED HIM!"
"There you go again, blaming everything on Gan Ning!! At least he's not a jerk!" I said, and stormed out, almost hitting Xiao with the door.
"FINE!! BE THAT WAY!! Try to let the door hit you on the way out!!" Tong screamed.
"Ummm," Xiao said, who obviously heard everything. (The way we were screaming, it's a wonder the whole palace didn't.) "He's still upset?"
"What do you think?" I snapped, and stomped off.
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Now I was the angry jerk. I stomped back upstairs to my room, and bumped into Ce and Zhou Yu. "Hey, Shang Xiang! What's the happs?" Ce asked cheerfully.
"Oh, nothing," I grumbled.
Ce glanced at Zhou Yu. "Talk to ya later, Zhou Yu." He turned to me. "Alright, little sister, what'd you do now?"
"You got time?" I asked.
"As much as you want. C'mon." Ce steered me into the direction of his and Da's room, which from my rememberance always looked like a tornado hit it when it belonged to Ce. I guess when they got married, Da insisted it was kept clean.
"Alright, spill. What happened?" Ce asked, sitting down on his bed. I sat down next to him and sighed. "It's a long, sad story. Xiao and Tong got into an arguement this morning, and Tong said he thinks women are tempermental, and I got angry and called him a jerk. Da convinced me and Xiao into apologizing, and when I went in there, I told him I was sorry, and he didn't believe me. He told me to go away, and, I, uh..."
"And... what'd you say?" Ce asked.
"I told him I hated him, I didn't care about his father being dead, that he was a pathetic little crybaby and I never wanted to see his stupid face again," I said, now feeling the full force of the horrible things I just said to my best friend.
"Shang Xiang, how could you?!" Ce cried. "No wonder he's mad at you!"
"Ce, I was mad! I didn't know what I was saying! My instincts took over!!" I said. "What the hell did I do?"
"I don't know," Ce said. "Just do yourself a favor and don't listen to your instincts."
"You hate me too, don't you?" I asked, looking at my brother.
"No I don't hate you, but I sure would if I was Ling Tong," Ce said, putting his arms around me in a comforting hug. "Look, little sister, I'm a guy, and if there's something about guys is that we're always trying to prove how tough we are. Crying like a baby in front of girls, particularly girls we like, isn't tough. So lots of guys, including Ling Tong, is probably trying to hide the fact that he's miserable so nobody thinks he's a wimp."
"That's dumb," I complained. "Besides, he IS a wimp!"
"True. He IS a wimp. But seriously, the thing about us guys is that we love our women and we want to protect them, and no girl's gonna want a wimpy crybaby protecting them. Girls want MEN to protect them, so pretty much guys put on happy faces for the sake of everyone else around," Ce said.
There was a knock on the door. Hopefully it wasn't Ling Tong with an axe.
"Who is it?" Ce called, apparently thinking the same thing I was.
"Me! Lemme in!" said Xiao Qiao on the other side.
Ce made a "my sister-in-law is annoying" face and reluctantly opened the door. "What is it, Xiao-- hey!" he said, when Xiao pushed him out of the way. "Shang Xiang, you big meanie! You made Tongi-- er, Tong-- sad!"
"No I didn't, he was already sad!" I protested.
"Yes you did! When I went in there, he was all sad, and when I asked if he was okay, he hugs me and starts saying he's sorry! He had tears in his eyes!You jerk!" Xiao said angrily.
Ce came over and sat down next to me. "Shang Xiang, you're evil. You made your best friend cry. Now our ancestors are ashamed of you." He paused. "I've taught you well, haven't I?"
"Ce, shut up! Xiao, you're kidding, right?" I said.
"Does it LOOK like I'm kidding?" Xiao asked. For once, she actually looked serious.
"I have to stick with the little psycho, she's serious," Ce said.
"Well, then, what the heck do I do?" I demanded. "I don't want my ancestors to be ashamed of me! How do I cheer him up?"
"You really wanna know how to cheer him up?" Ce asked.
"Yes, hence the question How do I cheer him up?" I said.
"I would suggest gifts, compliments, and going into his room right now and telling him you're insanely in love with him," Ce said, grinning. "That's how Da got me!"
"But that's lying," I said. "I don't believe in lying."
"Aw, come ON, don't even try it, Shang Xiang," Ce said, laughing. "You know you like him!"
"She doesn't, Sun Ce! 'Cause if she did like Tong, then she and Gan Ning wouldn't have been hanging out this morning, and-- uh, I mean, does this dress make me look fat!?" Xiao squealed, grabbing one of Da's dresses on the floor nearby in a feeble attempt to cover up what she just blabbed to my overprotective older brother.
My brother's handsome face was twisted into a mixture of sickened, horrified, and rage. "Xiao Qiao, it's been nice seeing you. Well, not really, I'm not gonna lie. Get out," he ordered, in a low, I'm-very-angry-at-my-sister-and-I'm-going-to-kill-her tone.
"Ummm... bye!" Xiao said, racing out the door.
"Shang XIANGGGG!" Ce screamed, turning on me.
"Hi, bro," I said feebly.
"Don't you "hi, bro" me!! You're having an affair with that new guy, aren't you? The creepy scary one with the tattoos!?" Ce said.
"First off, since I'm not married, it's not an AFFAIR, and no, I'm NOT!" I said. "We're just friends, and besides, it's none of your business who I date!"
"Yeah, it is! I'm your brother, remember? I don't want you doing stupid stuff that'll end up hurting you in the long run!" Ce said angrily. "Besides, that guy looks like bad news! Just look at him! He's covered in tattoos, he's always angry, he's half-naked-- don't you dare look at me like that, Shang Xiang-- and he's... um... a pirate! So there!"
"This is EXACTLY why I didn't want you to know!" I said. "I KNEW you were gonna freak out about it! I didn't care when you started dating Da, now did I? NO! Because I can mind my own business!"
"You dumbass, you ARE my business! I'm your older brother, it's my DUTY to make sure my little sister-- and my little brother, for that matter-- aren't doing stupid things! I make your life miserable because I love you, Shang Xiang! So quit being a moron and listen to me!"
"Why SHOULD I listen to you OR Quan? All you want me to do is marry Ling Tong! I don't want to, alright? I can barely even talk to him these days without an arguement! So get off my back about it! Nobody FORCED you to marry Da!" I said angrily.
"Actually, Pop forced me to marry Da, but I actually did love her, so technically that didn't count," Ce commented. "He just wanted me to get married already. But that's not the point!!"
"Do you even HAVE ONE!?" I screamed, jumping up angrily.
Ce grabbed my arm and pulled me down next to him again. "Shut up and listen to me. Shang Xiang, it's fine by me that you don't want to marry Ling Tong. If I was a girl I wouldn't either, since he's unbearably annoying, AND a wimp. In fact, I don't want him as my brother-in-law."
"Technically, he's your cousin-in-law, since he's Da's cousin," I said.
Ce looked disgusted. "Ew. Look, if you must know, the only reason Quan and I ever considered you marrying Ling Tong was because he seemed to be the only guy around here who you didn't have a problem with. All the single guys are either too old or too young, and Ling Tong's about your age. That's it. So relax, OK? Believe me, Quan knows exactly how you feel about arranged marriages."
"Anyways, I just don't want you getting involved with a guy who gets his head turned by a pretty girl, then sticks with her, until he sees another pretty girl and dumps her. I mean, come ON. Doesn't that guy LOOK like the type?" Ce asked.
I had to admit, big bro had a point. "I guess you're right there," I said.
"Good. So you'll forget about Gan Ning and find a better guy, right?" Ce said.
"Nope," I said. "I'm gonna PROVE TO YOU that Gan Ning's a great guy!" I got up and left.
"Shang Xiang, that's NOT what I had in mind!" Ce hollered.
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WHEEEE!! Chapter 13's done, more to come. Any questions, comments, drop me a line, and I'll answer ASAP! Once again, if you want to draw fanart of the story, go ahead and do so! I'll try and do something for ya :-)
See ya!