Back again with the third chapter of this story! I must say, even though I haven't received as many reviews as I normally do, I see that my fanfic's been getting quite its share of hits. So I'm encouraged enough to keep posting more chapters! But please people, if you have read this story and liked it so far, do go ahead and review. You have nothing to lose! I really want to get your comments and feedback about whether you liked it or not, plus I wanna know that you've been here! lol This story kind of started out as an experiment because I didn't want to keep an idea like this to myself, and now, its come to mean alot to me personally. So I decided a long time ago that I was going to go through with it and finish it before continuing with anything else.

Anyways, I hope more than a few people are grateful for this update! So, here's Chapter 3.

Enjoy!

The third lily was in the tiger pit. No, not in the pit itself, but in the grounds where the tigers were kept. The doors to the grounds were enormous and black, connected to a thirty-foot high stone wall that was built around it to form a chamber. All around the tiger pit, a twenty yard radius away there were identical, open-roofed huts made of straw and mud-bricks. There were two long, rectangular holes for windows and a bare doorway. Every hut housed several plush chairs, mats, and attendants preparing treats. These attendants were ever-ready to wait on both the tigers and visitors.

The circular tiger pit itself was massive, more than ten yards deep and over a quarter of a mile wide. At first sight, it seemed like a miniature jungle for the majestic cats that dwelt within it. There were shrubs, short, stout trees, and even a pond built especially for the tigers' use. And, around the walls of this pit, ropes were attached for the caretakers to swing themselves in, and ladders were propped for them to climb out. Since tigers had always been the emblem of the Sun Clan, it was customary for the kingdom of Wu to breed the noble creatures. There were currently about a dozen adult tigers altogether, and several cubs. From time to time, these trained, loyal tigers were used as mounts in battle. But their main purpose was to serve as the delightful pets of the Royal Family of Wu, as well as other dignitaries.

Princess Sun Shang Xiang was a great favorite among them. More so was, of course her eldest brother, who shared and commanded their respect as well as their affection.

The Two Qiaos were still relatively strangers to them, since the tiger pit wasn't a place they visited too often alone. But they were gradually warming up to the sisters.

Da Qiao had now made her way into the gates of the pit and was heartily greeted by the caretakers she hadn't seen in a while. They very hospitably escorted her into her usual hut, offered her refreshments, were politely declined, and left her to herself.

At first, Da simply looked about the one-roomed hut, taking in everything she'd neglected to visit during her absence. It had been over four months that she had been in here last. Yes, it was exactly as she remembered it... not exactly dim due to the afternoon sunlight streaming into the room, having a comfortable air, some cushions facing each other arranged about the place... Absently, she swept her eyes over to the place where she usually sat- and gave a start. For there, cradled right into the deep dent of the crimson cushion, was a gleaming, snow-white parcel.

The much-missed smile lit Da's face up once more.

For the third time in three months, Da was unsuccessful her attempt to keep from rushing to her priceless gift. Breathless, pink-cheeked, and excited as she always was at times like these, she knelt onto her cushion and pulled out her beloved's eagerly anticipated letter from the folds of the satin. Her heart pounding, she began to read.

My Beloved Da Qiao,

Hey, sweetheart. How've you been so far, my love? I really miss you, darling. More than anyone knows. Reading your letters makes you feel so close, but so far away at the same time. I hope this month didn't go by as slow to you as it did to me. And if we're lucky, we'll only several more to go through instead of dozens the way things are progressing. I'm sorry, honey. I know I seem really down at the moment. It's just, I hoped we'd have made more victories by now. That would have made me closer to seeing your gorgeous face. How I miss it, Da. I would give so much to be where you are right now, in that hut we used to sit in together by the tiger pit. Or anywhere with you, actually, would be heaven compared to this. It would be heaven compared to anything. What wouldn't I give, to hold you in my arms right now, Da? I'm pretty sure I'd be willing to give my life up, if I had to. I've risked it enough times in these past few months anyway, and it would be so much more peaceful to give it up for you.

We've had... quite a few battles since my last letter actually. Cao Cao now has a clear idea of how powerful we are. So he's been taking care to send enough armies to break us down little by little, rather than attempting to wipe us out completely. It looks like he wants to destroy our morale along with our bodies. Don't worry, Da. We're all safe and accounted for so far- all us generals, anyway. Many of our troops haven't been so lucky. It's been... hard to see them fall like this. Very hard. But I think we'll stand a chance yet. Remember how I whined last time, about not getting the chance to fight the actual Generals of Wei? Well, I'm not missing their company anymore, let me tell you that. We've faced some of them enough times to realize that Cao Cao doesn't just waste their strength on anyone. I'm advising all our soldiers to keep saving as much of their strength as they can. No doubt they're going to need it when they least expect it, judging by how Cao Cao fights. For days, Yu's been working so adamantly to decipher his tactics, I practically had to wrestle him to make him get some sleep a few nights ago.

Ugh... I don't want to give you any details about our battles, Da. They're pretty gory. But if I know you, you'd want them no matter what. So here they are in a nutshell. A week after that first pathetic excuse for a skirmish, we were ambushed by a force led by Generals Xu Huang and Pang De. Most of the men were either bathing, or preparing their dinner, or beds. It was gruesome, Da. Can you think of a more tragic way for a soldier to die? It wasn't a battle I can say we won. All of us high-ranking officers were in the fray within seconds, of course. I got a glimpse of De, dueling with Lu Meng. I swear Da, if I hadn't rushed to his aid, Meng could've been a goner. But together, we managed to drive De and his men back. He's a pretty powerful soldier, Da, and anyone can see why Meng would have trouble bringing him down. Most of our troops managed to escape with their lives while the eight of us, and some others held off Huang's force. That doesn't mean there weren't enough casualties. When Huang was satisfied that we'd sustained enough losses, he turned back after De. Of course, I gave chase for as long as I could, even though I wasn't on horseback, even after they were out of sight. I was furious at this treachery, Da. Falling upon us, when we weren't even armed, or a threat! Is this how Cao Cao amassed his power? I guess it is. I guess that's how war works.

The third battle, which was granted to us after we demanded another, introduced Generals Xiahou Dun and Xu Zhu. Their jointed power was unbelievable. Xu Zhu seems like a huge, fat ox at first. But that didn't stay funny after we learned that he could fight like one too. And as for Dun... Well. He may have lost an eye in a battle against the Legendary Lu Bu. But he hadn't lost his life, and I could see how he had survived. He's lethal with that sword of his- I've never seen skill like his before. Yu and I were a match for him, though. I'm proud of how well were able to push him away from our men. Now that we were prepared, we did much better than before. Still, Da. Still. I stayed up for two nights, finding and burying the bodies of my dead men, separating them from the unconscious. These are horrors I never want to you to see, my love. It tortures me to even remember them. By the way, Quan was wounded by Dun after he fled from us and towards the others. Quan won't be fighting for a while. Or walking, for that matter. I'm going to make Dun pay, Da. I swear to you, he'll regret attacking my brother. Zhou Tai's as livid as I am. I called a retreat when I saw what Dun had done to Quan. We just couldn't keep fighting after that. Heck, I'll just say it. I couldn't keep fighting after that.

But enough talk about this, Da. There's no need to scare you with any more. I love you, and you love me, and that's all that matters, my angel. Don't you worry about me, sweetheart. When I come back, I promise you, all of this will be gone for the longest time. I won't let you worry anymore. I'll make sure that you're nothing but happy, safe and loved. It'll be just like it was when I was there, only better. Remember? Remember how happy I used to make you, Da? I was good at that, wasn't I? You said I was, didn't you, sweetheart? You told me I didn't even realize how happy I make you. Well, I could say the same about you, cutie, only I would replace the work happy with ecstatic. Remember the first time I took you to the tiger pit? It was a few weeks after you'd arrived at Jian Ye. You told me you'd never seen a tiger before. You said you'd never even owned a cat, or a pet. That made me determined to show you some of the awesomest pets you'd ever see! You weren't sure you'd like tigers, remember, honey? You even told me you were nervous about them. You were afraid they wouldn't like you. Man, I had to fight back a laugh. Not like you? You're so funny sometimes, sweetheart. Anyone who doesn't like you is probably crazy. Or an idiot.

Well, we talked for quite a while in that hut you're sitting in right now, didn't we? It sure was fun, to say the least! We talked about the tigers, about your stay, about your father, about Xiao, Yu... just about anything we could think to talk about. And I think I may have let something slip about how much I loved your eyes... Ha, did they widen to their fullest extent when I said that, or what? Then I decided to show you Ni-Ko, the tiger cub I named. You sure loved him! I'll admit, it even surprised me to see how quickly he warmed up to you. That was when you decided you liked tigers, and I gotta say, I felt proud at having influenced your decision. I also realized there was more I loved about you than just your eyes. And I felt, or rather hoped, that maybe, just maybe, that there was more than just a friendly feeling of fondness for me on your part. I had a feeling there was. I'd sometimes see it in those beautiful eyes of yours, in those adorable blushes of yours, and only hoped it was what I thought it was. There were so many times, when I thought I'd just ask you how you felt and be done with it, but I stopped myself. To be honest, I was scared that I'd get an answer I wouldn't like. You were always too proper and polite to fall in love with who was protecting you is what I thought, and I was sure there was no chance of it happening if your father forbade it. But still... Still, I couldn't help but keep hoping... and I couldn't help but keep falling for you more and more...

Flashback:-

"Will this really be your first time ever seeing a real tiger? I mean, you've never seen one from a distance or anything, right? Never glimpsed one from a carriage window?"

"Not at all! I'm kinda nervous... But very excited too. I have no idea how I'm going to react, to be honest."

Da Qiao beamed up at Sun Ce, the sunlight bouncing off her face and making her green eyes twinkle.

He laughed at her enthusiasm, and kept on leading the way towards the tiger pit, slow enough for her to keep up with his stride.

"Still, though, you do know what one looks like, don't you?"

"Yes. Or at least, I'm sure I do. They're sort of like really big, black-striped orange cats, aren't they? I've seen paintings, and heard descriptions."

"You're spot-on. But I'm sure I'll be able to find something you won't be expecting... Here, this way."

Ce led her up to a pair of gigantic black doors that were attached to a wall that resembled a fortress. He pounded three times on the gate.

Almost immediately, the doors began to move.

It took nearly a minute for the doors to be completely opened, but soon enough, half a dozen attendants stood before them, bowing graciously at both Ce and Da and welcoming the pair in.

Da's eyes took in all of it- the huts, the greenery, the scores of caretakers, and, a deep, circular pit some distance away that she was unable to discern porperly.

Once the servants had finished with their greetings, Ce raised his voice.

"As you know, this is Lady Da Qiao's first time visiting these grounds. So I do hope you'll do whatever you can to help me make this a worthwhile visit. Who's with me on this?"

His words were met with cheers of approval from the attendants, and suddenly, loud, rumbling roars, obviously from the tigers who had recognized their master's voice.

Da gasped with surprise, and impulsively grabbed Ce's arm, clinging to it fearfully. Ce laughed at her reaction again.

"Hey, don't worry about a thing. It's gonna be fine, trust me."

Da looked up at him, her eyes wide and her face reddening. She wanted to tell him she was more nervous than he knew, but simply wasn't able to get the words out. She cursed the hotness of her cheeks. He must think her so foolish right now! He must have seen these animals his whole life, of course. She was sure he wasn't able to understand why she would be afraid of them.

Ce's expression changed from amused to concerned.

"Hey. How about we have some refreshments first? I know you're new to this whole tiger thing. I don't want you to meet them without being prepared, you know?"

Da relaxed at once at this. Thank heavens he understood!

"Please," she said, a relieved smile forming on her face.

As Ce immediately gave orders to the attendants to prepare one of the huts nearest to the pit for them, Da couldn't help but notice that many of them had smug, excited looks; even grins, on their faces as they carried out their tasks. She wondered why they'd look that way... it was very curious. Then she realized she was still holding on to Ce's arm. She released it at once, embarrassed again. No wonder the attendants looked so interested by the pair of them.

Da resisted the urge to snap at them all.

It's not like that, she wanted to say. Ce's just protecting me, and trying to make me feel as at home as possible. He'd do the same for anybody else... wouldn't he? Then she realized, that that wasn't all the truth. Ce never paid this kind of attention to Xiao Qiao. Sure, he did talk to her very kindly whenever he saw her, and asked her if there was anything he could bring for her, anything lacking in the care that was given her. He was always very nice to her, and Da knew that at the very least, he did like the younger Qiao sister. But as soon as Xiao merrily answered that she had everything she needed, aside from just a bit of teasing about Zhou Yu beating him to the question every time, Ce hardly exchanged any more words with Xiao.

Well, maybe that was because he already knew that Zhou Yu was there to make sure she was happy. But still, even Xiao was beginning to tease her about Ce every so often. And Sun Shang Xiang would smirk in encouragement whenever Ce asked Da for her company. Why was that? It wasn't as if Ce had those kind of feelings for her or anything... he was much too proper and respectful of her to fall in love with who he was protecting. But still... still...

Still...

She sighed.

"So, how do you like it?"

Da blinked, and gave a start. She hadn't realized, that while she'd been caught up in her own thoughts, Ce had already led her to their hut, had them seated, and was now offering her some tea.

She smiled quickly.

"It's very cozy in here," she remarked. "I like it."

Ce smiled with approval.

"That's good. Well, I guess we could sit here for a bit and talk, until you're ready to see them. The caretakers have some tigers to polish up after all, so it'll take some time either way," he said, waving away the attendants. "Thanks, guys," he muttered to them in an undertone.

Da nodded, still smiling as she sipped her tea.

"So I guess you're liking it here more and more, huh?"

Da nodded again, eagerly this time.

"Of course! Everything just keeps getting better, and there's always something to do. The people here are always so helpful. Even though I still miss Papa and home, I think of all the memories with fondness instead of sadness. They don't cause me pain anymore."

Ce beamed, pleased with this answer.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. Makes me feel like a real success."

Da laughed softly.

"You should. After all, you are the main reason I'm so happy here."

Ce's smile faded, and Da bit her lip. Had she said too much.

"Am I really?" he said, his smile returning.

Da refused to make eye contact with him and instead sipped her tea some more, ignoring that it was still hot and hurt her mouth. She continued sipping as she replied.

"Mhmm."

Oh, no. She was growing shy again. Why did this always have to happen? Always, whenever she felt that the two of them would pass a fun, and eventful outing together, something would happen that would render her speechless and blushing. Oh, curse Ce's charm and breathtaking-ness!

"You mean it, Da?"

Once again, it was her name that prompted her to speak more than anything.

Da set her cup down and mustered her courage to look him in the face directly.

"Do you even know how happy you make me, Ce?"

Now it was Ce's turn to be speechless, and surprised at this revelation. Silently, he shook his head.

"Well, you don't even realize what you do that makes me happy sometimes. Even when you do things out of due courtesy for me, it means volumes to me, Ce. And even now, the fact that you're spending all the time you receive in your breaks with just me, when you could be doing so much else, means more to me than you know."

But here, Da's courage waned again, and she cast her face down once more, her face still brightening.

Now what was she supposed to say? She'd caused enough damage. Now there was an awkward silence between them. It'd be better for her to keep her mouth shut.

The seconds ticked by, and Da only felt more and more uncomfortable. Then-

"You have really beautiful eyes."

Da's head snapped up.

Yes, it was indeed Ce who had just said that. Even after her blurted-out confession which had embarrassed both of them, he still managed to tease her. He was now surveying her with his trademark smile, the one that always somehow robbed her of her breath.

She sighed, still regretting that she'd caused him to, as she believed, tease her.

"Thank you."

"My eyes used to be the same color."

Da looked up again, puzzled.

"What?"

Ce laughed at her surprise.

"I'm serious, they did."

Da frowned, scrutinizing Ce's eyes. They were the same as she remembered. Silver. Almond-shaped. Intense. Warm.

"But," she began, confused, "but your eyes are-"

"Colorless, I know. But they didn't used to be until recently. Want me to tell you when they got this way?"

Da stared at him.

Colorless? That's not what I was going to say. It isn't even what I thought of them.

Silently, she nodded, still gazing at him.

"Well, for a long time, they were as green as yours are. When I was young,everyone wondered where I got them from, because Pop had golden eyes, and Mom has blue ones, which explains Shang Xiang's and Quan's. Then Pop died, and well, they just changed. Almost overnight. I don't know why. But they did. A soothsayer told me it was because my eyes were full of swallowing up all the tears I refused to shed for Father's death, for my family and my people's sake."

He laughed humorlessly.

"And they've been this way ever since."

Da was slightly abashed at his revealing such a tragic side of him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Nah, don't be," said Ce, waving away her apology. "Certain things that change you happen to everyone. Father passed away, and that changed everything normal in my life. What happened to my eyes makes no difference to me. They're part of who I am now."

"I... I understand."

Ce smiled again, watching her as she quietly poured them another cup of tea, not knowing what else to say.

"But still, y'know. I really do love your eyes."

Da's hand slipped, and the teapot fell to the ground, not hard enough to break; but hard enough to overflow until it was emptied of every last drop.

Blood rushed to Da's face and her eyes widened to their fullest extent. Oh, what had she done! She leapt to her feet at once, and snatched the pot off the ground.

"I'm so sorry! That was so clumsy of me, I didn't mean to! I'll clean it up, don't worry, I'll-"

Da stopped when she realized Ce was laughing so hard, he was clutching at his sides.

She was shocked. Was he laughing at her?

"What's so funny?" she demanded indignantly, still breathless. "I don't think it's at all polite to laugh at a guest!"

Ce's laughter ceased at once.

"Forgive me, Da, I wasn't laughing at you," he said hurriedly, trying to stem a few chuckles. "Just at the situation. I mean, how many times have you heard of a girl spilling a teapot after receiving a compliment, huh? Am I that bad at giving them?"

At that point, he couldn't help but let another snicker escape his mouth.

Da giggled. "I guess that is pretty funny. But you're not bad at giving them at all! Maybe- maybe I'm just flustered at receiving them?"

"But I would've thought you've received hundreds like that already. Why would mine be special?"

"I don't know." Da lowered her eyes again, her blush returning. "The maybe flustered at receiving them from you," she almost mumbled.

Ce's smile faltered to be replaced by a look of wonder, and he stared at Da, as though lost in concentrated thought.

"That means more to me than you think it does," he said at last.

Another awkward silence loomed between them. Da simply stood there, clutching the teapot, and staring at the floor. She wished for something to happen, and interruption, an explosion, anything...

Ce clapped his hands together suddenly, making her jump.

"So! Who wants to go meet some tigers, huh?"

Da looked up in surprise.

"But, I still haven't-"

"Oh, knock it off! Don't expect me to believe you really think I'm gonna make you clean that up. The guards'll take care of it. But for now, there's some tigers you need to see."

With that, Ce took her gently by the elbow, steered her away from the mess she'd been desperately trying to tidy up, and led her outside near the tiger pit.

Once there, he said,

"Okay. So do you want to see a fully-grown one first?"

Da's eyes widened in alarm, and she shook her head immediately.

Ce snickered.

"I thought as much. Alright, wait here. I know just what to bring you."

Before he could turn away, however, Da grabbed his arm.

"Wait!"

Ce turned, surprised.

"What is it?"

"Well..."

Da let go of his arm, abashed. Her fingers began twisting together nervously.

"I'm sorry... It's just that...What if they don't like me?"

Ce looked at her incredulously.

"Are you serious?"

Da nodded fervently.

Ce shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh, come on. You can't mean it. Why wouldn't they like you? You've had pets before, you know how to treat them..."

Looking up at Ce beseechingly, Da burst into speech.

"No, Ce, I haven't! I've never had pets, I've never even owned a cat, or even a bird! The closest thing I've ever had to a pet is my father's horses, but even those aren't the same things as cats, or tigers, are they? I mean I never even saw them as pets let alone treated them as-"

"Da. Stop."

Ce had taken hold of both her hands and held them together.

"You're going to be fine. Alright? It's going to be fine. I mean, come on! They're just tigers! Just a bunch of over-sized cats. Of course they'd like you. How could anyone not?"

When he saw she still wasn't reassured, he continued.

"Trust me. I wouldn't like you this much if you weren't already the kind of person these tigers wouldn't like. And don't worry about them hurting you, if you are. I'll be right here with you. Alright?"

This time, as he stopped speaking, Da took a deep breath, and gave him a small smile of gratitude.

He smiled back.

"You know, we could head back if you've changed your mind about seeing them," he went on. "Have you?"

Da shook her head.

Ce's smile widened, and grew encouraging.

"Good. I'll be right back, okay, sweetheart?"

Sweetheart.

Da could hardly wrap her head around the word in time. Sweetheart? He'd just called her that. Nobody had ever, ever-

But without another word, Ce walked towards the pit, grabbed one of the ropes that hung from the ground into the center of it, swung downwards and was out of sight.

Da waited for his return fretfully. What sort of animal was he going to bring back? As she stood there, she hoped her encounter with the beast wouldn't be too frightening. And she hoped with all her might that she wouldn't make a fool of herself in front of the man she'd so grown to admire.

Within minutes, Ce returned. She could glimpse his head as he climbed up one of the ladders which was propped against the pit. Then his neck, shoulders, and chest came into view... and then his arms... and... was he... Could he be carrying something?

Da squinted her eyes to see better... and almost squealed.

Ce was holding a creature that was hardly bigger than a baby.

Da clasped her hands together. Was this really what a tiger looked like?

She gazed in awe as Ce climbed out of the tiger pit and walked towards her, smiling at her reaction and motioning for her to sit on the ground.

She did so, Ce immediately put the half-asleep tiger cub into her lap.

Da had to resist the urge to cry out in delight at the furry cat's warmth and softness.

Tentatively, she reached forward and began petting the cub's neck and fluffy head, growing overjoyed when, after initially smelling her, it snuggled up to her even closer. She took in this new creature- its triangular-shaped ears, its pink nose, its white paws, its tail, its whiskers... it was without a doubt, one of the cutest things she'd ever seen.

With shining eyes, Da looked up at Sun Ce, remembering, inexplicably, that he'd called her 'sweetheart'.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Ce beamed back at her, proud of his choice.

"You're welcome. That little guy's really important to me, just so you know. I kinda delivered him."

"You did?" exclaimed Da breathlessly. "When?"

"Less than a month ago. In fact, I think he might have been born..." Ce pondered the matter for a few seconds before finding his answer. "... The morning you arrived here."

He looked back down at Da and smiled knowingly.

"I see," Da murmured, as shy as ever as she cradled the little tiger cub. By now, it had woken up a little, and sniffing around, sensed Ce and tried to crawl towards him. Ce laughed at the cub's attempts to reach him when Da placed him on the ground.

"Actually," Ce said, stroking him behind the ears, "I'm pretty sure the first thing he ever saw was me."

"That's amazing!" Da cried. "You're like his... father!"

Ce snickered.

"Well, if you wanna put it that way, I guess I must be. I named him Ni-Ko for the time being, by the way. When he's older, he'll be given a new name."

"Who's going to name him?" Da asked hesitantly.

"Anyone," Ce said simply. "It doesn't matter. They just have to be the first to do it. It could even be you," he finished, smiling at her.

Da smiled back gratefully. It was all she needed to know.

They spent the rest of the afternoon that way, playing with the cub and laughing together. The only visible difference between when they arrived at the tiger pit and when they left, was that they left with his hand holding hers.

Flash Forward:-

Knowing you, darling, you're probably about to play with Ni-Ko right now. You're probably wondering if, since he's almost a year old now, it's time to name him something proper. You're probably wondering if you should do it. Well, if I'm right about all that, then I give you license to name him whatever you want right here and right now. I know you'd pick a good name for him, sweetheart. I just wish I was there for you to tell me what you've decided. I know this letter's given you alot of cause to worry about me, and about the others, my love. Just know that we're all okay so far. There's no need for you to be afraid. I made a promise to you, and I'm not going to break it. I'll do whatever it takes to be back with you, and hold you in my arms. I love you, more than anything, and I know that you'll wait for me. I'm just so sorry for taking so long, because I know it's hurting you. But I'll be back yet, and when I am, I'll stay true to every promise I made you. You'll never feel alone again, and everything will be just like we imagined it would be. Just wait some more, sweetie. Know that I love you all the more for all the sacrifices you make for me.

Yours and yours alone,

Sun Ce.

He'd said that he was sure she'd pick out a good name for him. So that should have been good enough for her, right?

Instead, she was nervous- as nervous as she was when first meeting Ni-Ko. All her fear of tigers had now been melted away, of course, thanks to the visits she'd accompanied Sun Ce on to these grounds.

But now, as she rubbed Ni-Ko's belly in front of the tiger pit she'd been to with Ce only months ago, she was filled with second thoughts. What should she name him? Ce had told her he was special to him- he had delivered him after all. So it had better be a worthwhile name.

The still-cub rolled over onto its front and now stood up, continuing to purr and rub its fluffy head against her palm.

Da Qiao marveled at him. He was almost a year old now, and was so much bigger since she'd last seen him.

Absently, the hand that was stroking his chin lifted his face to meet hers.

At once, Da gasped. She was looking into the tiger's eyes properly for the first time, and couldn't believe what she was seeing.

What was it that Ce had told her that day again?

I'm pretty sure the first thing he ever saw was me.

True to Ce's words, Ni-Ko's eyes reflected what they'd first seen the very day he was born.

The tiger cub's eyes were as silver and as intense as their master's ever were.

Da beamed with joy, blood rushing to her cheeks and her heart pounding. She knew what she was going to name him now. And she was certain Ce would approve of it when she told him what it was in her letter.

She took a deep breath.

"Conqueror."

I hope you all liked that chapter! Wow, it's been months since I left this story hanging... It's about time I updated it! I know this isn't the update to Finally Found You everyone's been waiting for, but remember, the fate of that story is tied to the fate of this one. In other words, please get those reviews started!

It's seriously been a while since I updated anything for Finally Found You- I need to get going and post another chapter already. So give me an incentive, people! I hope to see you very soon with another update! Do tell me what you thought of this chapter ^.^