Disclaimers: Do I have to?
Chapter 14
Lu Xun felt his world fall apart when he saw Soi, being carried towards the medical tent, bloody and unconscious.
The ecstatic news that the Falling Star's unit has subjugated Lu Bu spread like wildfire and resulted into victory shouts by the forces.
The Wu faction saw the mighty Lu Bu and General Zhang Liao, tied up in the execution grounds of the castle.
Eager to congratulate the Falling Star and finally confess his feelings to go with this wonderful event, Lu Xun looked around, hoping to find her amidst the soldiers. Yet what he found was a bruised, broken, half-dead girl on a stretcher, being rushed by able-bodied soldiers.
"Move it!" one of them shouted, signaling the crowd to make way for them.
"Sis!" Sun Ce shouted, shocked and ran to her. The rest of the Wu faction followed suit.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HER!" Gan Ning growled as he saw the girl being taken in to the tent.
Cao Cao looked at his officers with pride. "Well done men, for the successful subjugation of Xia Pi."
The soldiers of the Wei faction cheered and Sima Yi looked at Wu with glee.
"Ah yes," he taunted. "It seems that the Falling Star is not cut out for fighting after all…"
"How can you say that?" Zhao Yun stepped forward and glared at Sima Yi. "If it wasn't for her, we would've lost that battle and our lives!"
"It's true my lord!" Zhang He vouched, much to Sima's dismay.
"Let us hold a meeting then…we are curious as to how the battle went." Liu Bei suggested and the others followed suit. "We must also discuss about which spoils should go to which side…"
The sovereigns and the other officers went inside a large tent, while Ce went to the opposite direction.
"My Lord! Where are you going? We have a meeting…" Lu Meng called out.
"Sorry Meng…I'll sit that one out. Right now, my sis is important than some meeting with greedy old guys"
Sun Ce along with Zhou Yu, Lu Xun and the women, went to the side of the Falling Star.
Soi woke up with a start as she felt the light hit her eyes. She heard the birds chirp and the calm sway of the trees. She found herself with her MP3 player, with a book of Sun Tzu on her lap, sitting under the shade of the tree. She looked around and saw a building.
How…?
"I'm…back at the library...but how? Was it all just a dream?" she looked at her hands and felt herself. The same clothes, the same shoes, the same dirty boy cut hair…the same ones she wore that day. She was back in her own world.
As she was still contemplating whether it was just all a dream or not, she felt someone look at her. She gazed up and saw the kind face of the old man Zuo Ci.
"It's you!"
Zuo Ci smiled, looking at her with mirth in his eyes. "I wish…this time around you will not run away from me?"
Soi smiled as she remembered and the old man sat beside her once again. He breathed in the summer air and looked up at the sky. "Compared to the other world, it's peaceful right here…"
Soi looked at him and felt serenity emanating from the man…and a little grief.
"Zuo Ci…what am I doing here? How did I get back…?"
"You are given a choice Soi…"
She almost laughed. "Only now? Didn't I already gave my answer last time?"
"You were given the choice by the Sightless One and the Blind One...Now the one who will give you the final question are the Ones that Cannot be Comprehended...the Arbiters of Destiny"
Zuo Ci looked down. "From here on in, you will travel a harsher road which is not for the faint of heart and will."
At this remark, Soi truly laughed, with a little bit of sadness in her eyes. "I've been doing that for quite some time now, don't you think?"
"My dear child…you will be asked by fate to make the hardest decisions, the most painful sacrifices…You will be asked to give up your very soul just to fulfill your destiny. You will suffer, cry, experience unimaginable heartaches like never before. You might even experience an agonizing end…or lose your mind in desperate attempts to be strong. You may even have the urge to take your own life. You may lose everything, or win yet gain nothing. It will be different from what you have gone through so far…I am afraid, this will be the real test." Zuo Ci ended with a grim look in his eyes.
Soi looked at him, fear welling up inside her. "So…you're saying I have no choice?"
Zuo Ci smiled. "Child, I am here to give you the choice…" he held out his fisted hands out to her.
"In taking my right hand," he motioned to it. "You will travel the harsh road to your destiny, uncertain if there will be love, the comfort of your very own family with the man you love nor peace for you and thus sealing your fate. You will be forced to shape the outcome of your destiny alone. There will only be two choices there: to succeed and live or to be defeated and die"
He motioned to his other hand. "Choose my left hand, and you will lead life peacefully here in this time, find the happiness of love in someone else's arms. You are free to choose and free from the constraints of the gods. You will have no memory of what happened and it will be as if you just returned from a long slumber. Yet there will be a feeling of being incomplete, as you were not able to fulfill your destiny"
Soi looked down and thought back on all that had happened to her. She experienced falling in love with the wrong guy, not being loved back in return, being pressured, desperately fighting against odds and jerks like Sima Yi.
Survival…that's what its all about. Could she keep up with that savage lifestyle? Of course she's afraid to die! And she knew that Zhou Yu will never look at her the way he looks at Xiao Qiao…At least, here in this world, even if she's on the run, the assurance that she will live and be happy is higher in this world compared to the other…I can be happy here…
Yet…
Soi closed her eyes and listened to her heart. One by one, she stripped it of her fears and uncertainty. She forgot about her past experiences and the ache of her heart for a moment. She opened her eyes at Zuo Ci, with determination.
"I'm just a girl Zuo Ci…I'm afraid of dying, I'm afraid of not being loved by the man in return. I'm afraid of being alone, with no friend in the world and being hated. I'm afraid of bloodshed, wars, powerful generals, perverted men and scheming jerks. I'm not a messiah or anything. I'm not a god…I'm just human and I have my faults."
She looked up at the sky. "to say that this world is peaceful is nothing but a joke. This world was shaped by history…by men who prevailed and wrote it. The Sino-Japanese war, the incident at Manchuria, Tiananmen Square, China's painful collapse…everything could've been avoided if someone could've just made a difference. If they weren't so busy waging war with each other, they wouldn't have failed to notice the enemy and could've avoided a series of disasters."
She looked down, with sadness in her eyes. "I know…how the others would die. Sun Ce, Zhou Yu…everyone. Maybe I have to watch them while they do…I know how my beloved Wu would fall…but" she fisted her hands. "…if I can make a difference…if I could prevent the tragedies from happening…I would do it. All the time that I was in this world…I fought for nothing but myself. For no one but me. Now, I found some things worth fighting for…some things other than myself. I admit I have faults…I can be wrong. I can be stubborn, childish, a coward, selfish…I can't bring the land absolute peace. But if someone up there chose me, then to some extent…I have what it takes, right?"
"I have people who believe in me…people whom I've already called my family. I can't leave them now, not when they need me the most…I can't let them down, not when I'm their only hope. Not when I can make a difference. I love them…my heart and soul do not solely belong to myself…but they belong to Wu as well."
"I may have a choice to live a normal, 'peaceful' life…but I don't want to live with regrets nor feelings of emptiness. If I chose a life there… it might be short, and I know I might die anytime. I may be afraid…but I would die with the thought that I have lived my life to the fullest and finally found my place in the world"
She looked sheepishly at Zuo Ci as she realized that she was rambling. "I'm sorry for the speech…I hope I didn't bore you or anything…"
Zuo Ci shook his head, with misty eyes. "No…not at all. I'm happy…"
"Why?"
"You're finally here"
Still pondering on the cryptic words Zuo Ci said, she held his right hand. He opened it and took out a wooden talisman. It had three rabbits engraved on it, and the formed a triangle. Upon close inspection, she found that it can be detached into three separate talismans, each with a rabbit on it.
"What's this…?" Soi asked as she looked at it.
"It's a talisman to ward of some of the most powerful spells. The three rabbits signify rebirth. It is a gift from the Blind One. When the time comes…you will know what to do"
Soi racked her brain for someone with the code name 'the Blind One'. I have an eerie feeling that I have met him before…
"No time to linger further now. It's time for you to go back."
Soi looked at the library, the trees, the streets and the houses. She knew with a mournful feeling that this was the last time she will ever see her own world again.
"Goodbye…" she whispered, with tears in her eyes. The world she hated…she never knew how much she loved it.
Da Qiao wiped her eyes as she tirelessly dressed Soi's wounds. She never left her side for the girl was deathly pale and looked as if she was going to die any moment. Ce, telling her to take a rest, has reprimanded her but even he had lost his usual energy to badger.
Xiao Qiao took turns with Da every now and then, yet like Ce, she was trying her best to cheer everyone up.
"Don't worry, Soi will pull through, I'm sure of it!" was what Shang Xiang would always say. Yet the princess visited her everyday along with Lu Xun, who fervently prayed day and night for her recovery.
Their worry over Soi was exacerbated with Sima Yi's words: "No one, who suffers an injury by Lu Bu has ever lived"
Yet Shu, with Liu Bei's and Zhuge Liang's comforting words, were not as heartless as the officers in Wei. Even if tension was building between the rival strategists, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang, they mercifully minded their tongues for the moment.
The only Wei officers that visited, shockingly the most well behaved of all, were none other than Zhang He and Xu Zhu.
Soi was moved to Xia Pi, with Wu's soldiers guarding her tightly, and an officer always by her side in case of an attempt at sabotage.
The other officers tried to carry on with business as usual, with Lu Meng debating tirelessly against the execution of Lu Bu.
That day, one month since the incident, Lu Xun stayed in the room to guard them while Da Qiao held Soi's hand just like she would her own daughter. And she felt a gentle tug. She instantly opened her eyes and whispered.
"Soi…?"
Lu Xun practically jumped on his feet and went beside the bed. He held his breath as he waited for her reply.
Soi slowly opened her eyes. "Da…?"
"SHE'S AWAKE!" Da instantly went out and roused the guards. "She's awake! Tell the others…" Da choked as tears finally fell from her eyes.
Lu Xun held Soi's hand and pressed it on his forehead. Without any second thought, he cried in relief.
Soi felt something in her other hand and looked at it. It held the talisman that Zuo Ci gave her. She smiled at looked at Lu Xun. "I'm back…Cotton candy boy…"
In no time at all, the heavy thumping of footsteps filled the halls of Xia Pi and Sun Ce burst in the room, with the other officers.
Holding all his emotions in check, Sun Ce smiled with tears threatening to come out of his eyes.
"What took you so long?"
"What? They executed Lu Bu? WHY? Ouch…"
"Apparently Cao Cao was overcome by the fear of Lu Bu betraying him like what he did to Liu Bei. And lady Xiu Soi, PLEASE don't overexert yourself. You've only just recovered." Zhou Yu sighed as he saw that saw that Soi was beginning to have her usual energy and color back.
"The siege ended a month ago, right? Why are we still in Xia Pi?"
Sun Ce gave her a light jab on the head. "Idiot! As if we could move you from here to Wu without you dying on us! It was already hard to move you in this damn castle without giving you further injury!"
"But seriously" Da scolded lightly. "Broken ribs, a sprained ankle and wrist, damaged legs, head and back injury…you're lucky to be alive"
"Yeah…they found you vomiting with blood. You scared us half to death!" Shang Xiang complained.
"I'm sorry guys…" Soi closed her eyes. She made the right decision…tempting the other life may be, "I wouldn't have it any other way…" she murmured.
"Huh? What did you say?" Ling Tong
"Nothing" Soi merrily replied.
"I think that head injury is getting the better of you…" Gan Ning snickered.
"Hey!" Soi pouted as everyone chuckled.
Lu Xun quietly looked at her, with a peaceful feeling in his chest. Soi was alive…he could ask for nothing more.
Soi looked outside and saw the moon high up in the sky. "It's getting late guys…I think you should all rest."
"Nonesense!" Ce replied. "We'll stay here and guard you!"
Soi rolled her eyes. "Nonsense! You've been doing that for over a month already! Now that's over, it's time you all took your beauty sleep and I'll take my personal space back! Shoo shoo!"
After so much insistence, the Falling Star got her way and got everyone to leave the room. Being the last one to leave, Lu Xun looked at Soi and smiled. "Have a good rest Soi…"
"Cotton candy Boy? What is it you wanted to tell me before the battle?"
Lu Xun looked down and thought about it for a while. He looked at her curious and eager eyes. They were alone at last. Lu Xun thought about the past month, and how Soi must be tired after fighting for her life. He knew that she loved Zhou Yu, and if he told her how he felt, she would worry about hurting him and try her best not to. She didn't need another problem right now…
"Never mind…I'll tell you when you get better"
"Why don't you tell me NOW?"
Lu Xun chuckled. "When you get better…alright?"
Soi pouted yet finally gave in. "Alright. Don't forget okay? You promise!"
"Alright…"
Earlier that night, Soi saw to it that the guards would be dismissed and the shifts over. Assuring them that she would take care of their superiors, Soi slept peacefully, her weapon right beside her, in case of a 'sabotage' like her paranoid brother kept pointing out.
In the darkness, a figure in robes crept along the hallway, careful not to let its steps be heard. It stopped in front of Soi's door and slowly opened it.
The figure went to the window and closed it, engulfing the room with a dark ambience. The figure was now a mere silhouette and it crawled on Soi.
Soi, feeling a dread sense of déjà vu, started to shiver in fright. No…it can't be…
The figure pinned her on the bed violently and began to harass her. Soi opened her eyes and screamed; yet the man took something from his head and stuffed it in her mouth. Helpless, Soi cried as unwanted images of her stepfather played in her mind. She felt her energy slowly drain out of her, replaced by fear and disorientation. Her body froze yet a voice screamed at the back of her mind.
No…No…Stop it…
No…stop it…STOP! She fought back with all her might as she grabbed his hair and pulled. The man growled with pain and at that moment she was able to dislodge the man from her by kicking him in the shins.
Too shocked to use her weapon, Soi took out the cloth in her mouth and did what she could do.
She screamed for help.
The man immediately jumped and ran out of the room.
Moments later, the soldiers ran towards her room along with Zhou Tai.
"LADY SOI?"
She choked and sobbed. She held herself tight. "A man…went in…tried to…he…touched me…"
Zhou Tai nodded and ordered pursuit.
From the light of the lantern held by Zhou Tai, Soi saw something on her hands that practically tore her world apart.
In her left hand, there were strands of long dark hair.
In the other, the cloth that was used to gag her…
Was Zhou Yu's red headband.
TBC
AN: Oh dear! What's the world coming to? Hmm…We'll find out next chapter! Seven reviews please! Suggestions are SO welcome!
Now, the magic seven:
Sirius123: (pats the adorable chibi). Here you go! Hmm…I overdid the 'why you' part, huh? Sweatdrop.
arekuruu-inabikari-no-She: I would kill myself if she turned into one. If she becomes a Mary Sue, tell me and I will massacre her (takes out knife). Sniff.
Lorze The Brookes: Yeah it did…hehehehe. I'm evil!
incomplete-ness: Thanks! Although, the fight scene was a fluke…I'm better at making XXX scenes…XD XD XD XD. Just kidding!
legendoflegends: thanks! Here you go!
Richochet: Thanks! I was surprised myself! I thought I was really never good at making fight scenes...I think I was just…
blackangel04: Dude, sinuwerte lang ako! Akala ko hindi ako magaling sa fight scene eh…(sweatdrop)
Thank You magical 7!
Oh yeah, since I have fallen in love with Soi, I want to share her to the world! If you want to use her in any of your fics, go ahead! But please ask inform me first, ok?
And um…who would be interested in co-authorship with me? I'm thinking of a Yu-Gi-Oh fic but I know I TOTALLY suck at the game…(sweatdrop). Not now though, I still have three fics to finish 3