I forgot what I was going to put here. Happens all the time. xP

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"Hey! King Meng Huo! We've got some visitors for ya!" Zhu Rong hollered, leading us in front of King Meng Huo.

Sitting in the Nanman throne was possibly the largest man I'd ever seen in my life. "Well HELLO!" he said cheerfully, and his voice boomed throughout the castle. "How can I help you kids?"

"Ummm... I'm Princess Sun Shang Xiang, of Wu--" I began, but the King cut me off. "Say no more! I know you! You're Sun Quan's sister, right?"

"Um, yes, I am," I said.

"Excellent! Your brother's a good guy!" Meng Huo said happily. "C'mon, you kids must be starved! Sit on down and eat!"

"REALLY!?" Ning said, looking excited. "We can eat!?"

"Gan Ning? Is that you?" Meng Huo asked, sounding suprised.

"You got it, buddy!" Ning said, saluting.

"Come over here and gimmie a hug, m'boy! It's been too long!" Meng Huo said, holding his gigantic arms out. I noticed he was wearing metal gauntlets on his hands. "Come on, I won't bite ya!"

Ning grinned and ran over to Meng Huo was, only to be grabbed in a bone-crushing hug by the affectionate Nanman King. "Oof!" Ning gasped, trying to move his arms to return the big hug.

"How've ya been, Ning?" Meng Huo asked, obviously ecstatic to see Gan Ning. "If it wasn't for you, we would have lost our territory a while back! You haven't been by for Gan Ning Day recently!"

"Gan Ning has a HOLIDAY?" Tong yelled, ceasing his scratching for a brief minute. "WHY? What'd HE ever do?"

"Gan Ning saved all our lives from those maniac Yellow Turbans!" Meng Huo said cheerfully. "The majority of our troops were under that lunatic's spell! Gan Ning wasn't affected and he kicked the pants off of Zhang Jiao!"

"That's crap!" Tong said angrily. "Gan Ning's a murderer! He killed my father!"

The entire Nanman population gasped. Meng Huo finally let go of Ning, whose face was turning various shades of blue due to lack of oxygen, and looked enraged.

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK, BLASPHEMER!" he bellowed, making the entire palace shake. "APOLOGIZE! GAN NING IS OUR SAVIOR!"

"Apologize!" I said, frantically shaking Tong's shoulder. "He'll kill us all!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Tong said, crossing his fingers behind his back.

"Well in that case, YOU'RE FORGIVEN!" Meng Huo said, sitting back down again, cheerful mood restored. He noticed Xiao Qiao, lying on the floor where Ning had dropped her.

"What happened to her?" he asked.

"She drank some of the poison swamp," Ning said, inhaling deeply. "Is there anything you can do to help her out?"

"Of course! Jinhuan Sanjie! Get over here!" Meng Huo said.

A dark-skinned man scurried up. "Yes, Great King?" he inquired.

"Go fetch some of those delicious Poison Pastries you made!" Meng Huo said.

"On the double! This girl's life is at stake!" Zhu Rong added.

"Steak? Where?" Meng Huo asked.

"Not THAT kind of steak, honey," Zhu Rong said.

"HONEY!? Are you two married?" Tong asked.

"Who, me and sweetheart? Of course!" Meng Huo chirped happily, clapping Zhu Rong on the shoulder affectionately and accidently knocking her to the floor. "Oops. Sorry, sweetheart."

He turned to Jinhuan Sanjie, the man with the "Poison Pastries", who had just returned.

(AN: Poison Pastries, the next generation of PopTarts!!)

"Here! Have your friend eat one of these!" Meng Huo said, handing me the plate. Tong dragged Xiao over, and I popped a piece into her sleepy mouth. "Xiao, eat," I said.

Xiao's eyes flickered open a little, and she slowly chewed the pastry. She snatched the rest from my hand and devoured the rest of it, then jumped up, completely recovered! "Wow! I'm all better!" Xiao squealed happily. "Thanks, sir!" She bowed down to Meng Huo.

"Aw, it was nuthin'! We all eat Poison Pastries, so the poison don't affect us anymore!" Meng Huo said cheerfully. "Now c'mon! Sit down and eat!"

We all sat down, (me making sure to sit down next to my boyfriend, who was behaving, and not watching the scantily-clad Amazon women walk by; of course, Tong was) and looked at the food. "Eat up, guys! It's good!" Ning said, already stuffing his face.

"Can I have more Poison Pastries?" Xiao asked eagerly, eyeing the plate greedily.

"No, we only save those for emergencies," Meng Huo said.

"Do you have anything to treat poison ivy?" Tong asked, squirming in his seat uncomfortably.

"Afraid not, kiddo," Meng Huo said. "I recommend a nice hot bath when you get home."

Tong groaned and his head plopped into some food. "Curse my itchy butt," he whined.

"Anyway, Great King, I come to you asking for a favor," I said, trying to sound as respectful and dignified as possible. "My brother, Sun Quan, is seeking an alliance with your forces, to help defend our lands from the Wei threat. Our chief strategist, Zhou Yu, believes a symbiotic relationship between Wu and Nanman forces would be beneficiary to us both," I said, quoting what Zhou Yu told me to say word-for-word.

"I lost you at Sun Quan," Meng Huo said, rubbing his head.

"Honey, her brother from Wu is seeking an alliance," Zhu Rong said.

"Oh! Let me ask you something-- does Wu have a lotta food?" Meng Huo asked eagerly.

"Food!? Why do you need FOOD? You're bigger than a-" I covered Tong's mouth with my hand and said hurridly, "You'll have to forgive my companion here. He's gotten a little too much sun."

"And has various other mental problems," Ning added.

"Wu's got the best food ever!" Xiao said, eating a wierd-looking tentacled thing. "But this stuff's great too! Yummy!"

"Food? Well, that's all you had to say!" Meng Huo said cheerfully, rubbing his stomach. "Any time Wu needs the help of my people, feel free to ask!"

"Alright! You're the best, Meng Huo!" Ning said, grinning at me. "See, Shang Xiang? I told you the Nanmans are great!"

"When are you four heading back to Wu?" Zhu Rong asked.

I glanced at Ning. "We can't get back to Wu before nightfall, can we?" I asked.

"Maybe on a Red Hare that swallowed a carriage full of beans," Gan Ning said. "On foot, it'd take us at least three days."

Meng Huo laughed. "On foot? You think I'd let Nan Zhong's greatest hero-- after me and sweetheart, of course-- WALK to Wu? Nonsense! We'll lend you some elephants!"

"How will we give them back?" I asked.

"We'll even send an entourage with you, to make sure you don't get lost! The entourage'll bring 'em on home." Meng Huo said. "And if you guys need a place to stay for the night, you can stay here in the palace! It's huge!"

"Really? That's awesome!" I said happily.

"Wow, Gan Ning, it's a good thing you came too!!" Xiao said, beaming at him.

Ning grinned back. "Hey, no prob! I didn't even remember I was such a hero around here!"

Meanwhile, on my other side, Tong was sulking, as usual. "Now my own flesh and blood has turned to the dark side! What next?" he wailed.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes with great difficulty. "Tong, you realize without Gan Ning we'd be sleeping on the cold hard ground and dragging our sorry and hungry asses home to Wu, right?"

Tong didn't reply. Apparently he agreed, although his dignity didn't allow him to say it.

"Sweetheart, will you show our new friends where they're staying?" Meng Huo asked.

"Of course, honey. C'mon, all of you," Zhu Rong said, getting up. We all followed after her.

"Unfortunately, we only have three available rooms, so two of you'll have to share," she said, leading us down the corridors and pointing to three rooms, one of which had two seperate beds in it.

"Shang Xiang, let's be roomies!" Xiao said, running into the double-bed room. I shrugged. "Okay, why not. Looks like Tong and Ning get their own rooms."

"Darn right," Ning said. "A man's gotta have his privacy!"

"Yeah, lemme know when you find one," Tong said, rolling his eyes. Then he apparently realized the supreme stupidity of what he just said and smacked his forehead. "Never mind. I call this room." He stomped into one and shut the door.

"Poor Tongie," Xiao giggled. The door was closed, and the only person around was Xiao, so Ning got me in a big hug. "G'night, Shang Xiang," he said, kissing my forehead. "Sorry if I went a little overboard today. You know you're the only girl for me."

I felt like I was going to melt. "Aw, Ning, just shut up and kiss me already," I said.

Ning laughed and kissed me. "See ya later," He said, and let me go. I stumbled back into the room Xiao and I were sharing and collapsed on the bed Xiao wasn't on.

Xiao looked up at me. "Shang Xiang? Are you OK?"

"I'm more than okay," I said happily. "I think I'm in love!! And it feels GREAT!!"

Xiao giggled happily. "I knew it! Shang Xiang, I'm so happy for you!! You were right all along! Ning is really nice and funny, just like you said!"

Seeing the look I shot her, she quickly added, "And he's completely yours! Don't get me wrong!"

I hugged onto a pillow and rolled around on the bed. "Xiao, you know what's the worst part about all of this?"

"What?" Xiao asked, pulling her long white boots off.

"The fact that I CAN'T TELL ANYONE!! It stinks!"

"I remember when Zhouie asked me to marry him! Remember? I was so happy I was jumping up and down, and then I fell out of that window!" Xiao said happily, grinning at the memory. "But I landed on top of Lu Xun, which prevented me from getting hurt!"

"Lu Xun was hospitalized for a month, though," I said, laughing.

"I guess that's what love is all about. It makes you so happy you feel like you're invincible, and I guess you wanna go wild," Xiao said.

"HEY! YOU GIRLS SHUT UP IN THERE!" Tong hollered from his room.

I rolled my eyes and climbed into my bed. "Alright, Xiao, we really should get some bed rest before tomorrow. If we hustle we can be home by tomorrow night."

Xiao nodded and got into her bed. "G'night, Shang Xiang!"

"G'night, Xiao!"

"SHUT UP!!" Tong screamed again.

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All this mushy Gan Ning/SSX stuff is making me sick. xP Well, not really. Well, really. xD

Almost forgot to beg for reviews. :D