AU: hey yeah people ! we are back for the new chapter ! i'm so proud of myself finally i got to finish this story ... but of course i will make another one ! please review review thank you very much !

The next day came and everyone was quiet, very quiet. Shin Shui's chamber was untouched, mostly because no one dared to step in, or even clean her things. Xing was in Ryu's room. She as staring at nothing, her facial expression was blank. Ryu was trying to make her smile and play with him but she just responded with a blank nod.

The young boy placed a hand on her shoulder. "You miss her, don't you?" he simply said. Xing was surprised. She looked up at him, staring into his golden eyes. Slowly tears were forming in her eyes and they fell from her face. "Ryu!" she squealed and hugged him tightly, Ryu returned the hug.

"Ryu" Zhou Tou sighed seeing what happened. He had been peeking through the door. This wasn't his plan. He was about to check on Ryu when he saw them. Seeing his son like this reminds him of Zhou Yu. He always knew something but kept quiet. It's expected if you are a true Zhou.

Closing the door silently, a servant approached him, "Milord the officials are waiting for you in the main hall." Zhou Tou responded with a nod and started walking. 'Zhou Ryu … my only son, will be the next in line … will I allow it? If not, who will? Zhou Yu?' Zhou Tou was thinking hard about this future matter. Will he allow his son to inherit this demonic clan?

Yan Shui was holding a bouquet of Irish flowers. "Shin," she sighed as she looked down at the grave. "Are you together with Papa and Mama?" she asked, placing the flowers next to the tombstone, wiping out some dirt covering Shin Shui's name. "I pray for your peace" she closed her eyes, clapped her hands together and started praying. It wasn't long before she realized that she was being watched. Yan Shui turned around. "Xing," she stood up. "Milady sorry to disturb you," Xing said and bowed. "There is no need for you to call me 'Milady'," Yan said placing a hand on Xing's shoulder. "I see my sister found the perfect confidant in you," she complemented with a smile. "I am forever in her dept." Xing simply replied, eyes looking down.

"She's probably happy to see that you've embraced her teachings."

"Yes, but I-"

"There's no need to bring the past. We must continue on moving forward," Yan Shui mused distantly, "Xing, your young and beautiful, you have your whole life ahead of you." Yan Shui smiled down at the girl, "Xing, I want you to stay here"

"Stay?" she repeated in disbelief

"Yes Xing. I am sorry for shouting at you on the other day."

"Oh that was nothing," Xing waved her hands at the apology. "Please, it was my fault, I interrupted your meeting."

"My sister considered you family and my son as well. You have taken care of them, for that, I am in your dept."

"Oh please, i-its fine I -"

"Please, Xing" she took her hand "I bear another child…I wish to have you be a part of its family."

Zhou Yu rode into the city with head up high, ignoring the whispers, irritating stares and criticism of the people. 'So this what it feels like,' he thought, kicking the horse to get away from the judgmental people of Jiang Dong. The guards immediately spotted him and opened the gates.

"Was that Lord Zhou Yu?"

"So he is finally back."

"The philandering strategist of Wu."

Even the guards were talking about him. It had been a month since he left and he was prepared for this, the questioning of his reputation, people judging him for what he had done. He wondered if Xiao Qiao experienced this before, but he ignored it because he couldn't see it. It hurt for him to be blind and secretive about his life. She was his wife, and she must know everything about him but it turned out to be the opposite.

He dismounted his horse quickly. BAM! Someone punched him in the face, causing him to fall down as he was caught off guard. "What the!" Zhou Yu looked up. "Welcome back buddy!"

It was Sun Ce smiling down at him.

"What's the big deal!?" Zhou Yu barked as he stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes. "What do mean 'What's the big deal?'" Sun Ce tried to punch him again, but Zhou Yu dodged it and gave Sun Ce some of his own medicine, punching his face. The two were deep into a fight, wrestling and grappling with each other and rolling on the ground.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Da Qiao yelled glaring at them, her hands on her waist.

"Is this what you are going to teach your child?" she scolded Sun Ce.

The sworn brothers stood up, dusting themselves off.

"Now Da-"

But Da Qiao cut him off by pointing a finger at him, "That was not the right thing to do! Now apologize!" She further made her point by crossing her arms. Sun Ce blinks in disbelief. "What?" he asked.

"It's fine Lady Sun, there is no need for him to do that," Zhou Yu said and bowed, "Excuse me." He left without saying another word.

Da Qiao eyed Zhou Yu's retreating form. "He looks … somewhat different," she murmured.

"Now Da, what was that for? You've embarrassed me in front of …" Sun Ce stopped complaining upon seeing his wife distracted. He put an arm around her shoulder. "Do you want me to talk to him?" he asked. She shook her head.

"He looks tired, let him rest," she answered.

"Now that was new coming from you," Sun Ce said with a slight chuckle, but Da Qiao ignored it.

"I have done thinking lately … and what you've said before was true"

"Sure now. Now enough with that deep thinking! I'm going to talk to him later."

The couple took a stroll around the castle before heading to dinner.

Xiao Qiao was in her room, hugging her knees, when she heard commotion outside as a sign that Zhou Yu arrived. Not sure what to feel, she isolated herself from the outside world once again. 'Should I say sorry? I pushed him away when he was comforting me. Or should I hate him because he cheated on me? Well it doesn't look like he was. His child was all grown up, so it must have happened in the past, but why he didn't tell me?' Xiao asked herself, lying on the bed.

"Ohh what should I do? What should I feel?" she mused, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes widened as she spotted something.

"AHH!" she screamed, immediately running out her door.

"Zhou Yu, wait up!" Sun Ce called running to catch up with him and Zhou Yu slowed his pace and turned around. "What now?" he questioned with a harsh voice.

"Look buddy," Sun Ce pants. Zhou Yu sure walked fast. "I'm sorry about earlier," he sighed. "Forget about it," Zhou Yu quickly turned around to continue his walk. "Zhou Yu wait!" Sun Ce grabbed his shoulder, "I want to talk to about-"

The sworn brothers pause hearing a scream nearby "That scream?" Zhou Yu murmured. "It's Xiao Qiao" Sun Ce assessed.

Quickly Zhou Yu ran to Xiao's room. The door burst open as Xiao Qiao was running and screaming. "Xiao what's wrong?" Sun Ce asked, she saw them and ran to them, running behind Zhou Yu. "Kill it!" she demanded. "Kill what?" Zhou Yu asked.

"The cockroach!" she pointed at her bed and then she pushed him inside "Kill it! Please!"

Sun Ce watched placing his hands on his waist and smiling.

Zhou Yu was searching for something to kill the bug with. He spotted a book. "Hurry!" Xiao yelled. He walked to the bed but the cockroach flew towards his face and then to Xiao. He avoided it but Xiao kneel down and cover her head as she screams.

"What's happening?" Da Qiao asked popping out of nowhere with Ling Tong behind her. "What's the ruckus?" Ling Tong asked bothered by the screams. Sun Ce points at Xiao Qiao's room. The two peeked through door, seeing that Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao were trying to kill a bug. "Xiao?" Da Qiao murmured and Ling Tong raised a brow "What the-?"

"Over there!" Xiao was pointing at the flying bug while Zhou Yu was trying to catch it. After a few moments of pointing everywhere in the room, he finally caught it, trapping it in the book, killing it.

"EH!" Xiao squealed again. "What?!" Zhou Yu asked, a little bit irritated. "That's my…" she pouts, "…my favorite book." He checked the cover. "Oh it is," he glanced at her, "I'm sorry."

Their gazes met and the awkwardness began. Xiao Qiao turned silent and averted her eyes. "I'll clean it," he suggested. "No, its okay, throw it away … I'm finished reading it anyway," she said in a soft tone.

Da Qiao pinched Sun Ce giving him a 'Do something' look. Letting out a deep sigh, he stepped into the room. "Zhou Yu, we were talking right?" he said scratching his head. "Oh yeah" Zhou Yu replied, walking by Xiao Qiao. "T-thank you" she murmured. He heard it, only him. He couldn't believe it; momentarily frozen by her words.

"Zhou Yu? Come on" Sun Ce pulled him out of the room, "Excuse us Xiao!" She nodded in response. "Ah wait Ce!" Zhou Yu whimpered as he was dragged out of the room. "Take care of this will yah!" Sun Ce snatch the book from Zhou Yu's hand and passed it to Ling Tong.

"Ugh this is disgusting!" he said. "Oh stop whining," Da Qiao lectured, and then she turned to Xiao Qiao who was still standing. She wasn't moving a muscle. It was odd but Da Qiao understood why. As she approached her, Ling Tong left as well.

Xing finally decided to take glance at Shin's room. It was empty and its aura was very depressing. No wonder even the maids won't come inside. Closing the door behind her, she remembered how Shin taught her how a maiden should act. It was nothing special but those were the moments she learned how to be treated as an equal. Before, she was a street child until Shin found her, giving her a hand. Shedding a tear, the wind came inside from the open balcony. A letter from the desk drifted in the air, falling on the wooden floor. Puzzled, she checked the letter. It was addressed to one person. "Was this was she was working on?" she asked.

The sworn brothers were on the south wing of the castle. Zhou Yu told Sun Ce everything, since he was insistent. After hearing everything, Sun Ce leaned back against the wall and took a sip of wine. "Damn," was the only word that came out of his mouth. "Is that all you can say?" Zhou Yu said raising a brow.

"Well your father was a bad heathen."

"Yes…he was." Zhou Yu took a sip of the wine as he too leaned against wall.

"Are you planning on explaining this to Xiao?" Sun Ce asked in a serious tone.

"I don't know yet," he sighed.

"What do you mean you don't know? You're the smartest guy I ever knew and you don't know?!" Sun Ce was pretty shocked hearing this from him. He can predict a battle and create diversion and win every time but why he can't win with his love life?

"Even though I can read people, I can't seem to read Xiao. She's unpredictable," Zhou Yu murmured as he stood up. "I'm going to rest. I'm a bit tired from the travel. Excuse me."

He left Sun Ce.

"Hey wait!" Sun Ce yelled as he stood up as well running towards him. "Is that how you act in front of your Lord? Leaving him drinking alone," Sun Ce mocked him pulling his face close to his. "Oh shut up!" Zhou Yu pushed his face away from Sun Ce's. Sun Ce chuckled.

The two of them were walking down the corridor. "You know Xiao did improve after locking herself in her room," Sun Ce said out of the blue, this caught Zhou Yu's attention. His eyes widened, "She did what?" He couldn't believe it. Xiao loves the outdoors, the image of Xiao running in the garden popped in his mind but then he remembered their last conversation.

"You told me before not to lie, why are you doing it now?"

"Xiao, I am not lying"

"The more you said that, the more I feel that you are!"

"Guess it's better for us to separate for a while"

"Zhou Yu"

"ZHOU YU!"

Zhou Yu was violently awoken by his nightmare, wiping the sweat on his forehead. Seeing Xiao Qiao in that state compared to the Xiao Qiao now, it seemed like nothing happened. She seemed to be back to her usual self but she was quiet.

Xiao Qiao hugged her pillow tighter as she lie down on the bed. It was too big for her alone. She remembers what happened earlier, 'Why of all the people here it had to be him' she thought. She could not bring herself to hate him or even stay angry at him, even just for a moment.

She stared at the ceiling. "Why? Why can't I…?" she asked herself. Her heart beat fast as she heard a sound. A very familiar sound. "What was that?" she whispered as she slid in her robe and walk to the balcony, the music grew louder.

The song was melancholic, but it sounded so beautiful to her. It was like she could relate to the song. Xiao Qiao followed the sound and it led her to a small garden. There was a man, tall with broad shoulders, his hair was long and he playing a flute. Seeing him, she already knew who he was. She narrowed her eyes as a tear escaped her delicate face. The man noticed that he was being watched. Turned around to see but he couldn't see anyone. "Xiao?" he whispered. Xiao Qiao was fast to hide herself in the bushes before he noticed her. She was covering her mouth trying to be quiet as she cries.

Zhou Yu was in the garden, taking a stroll. He took out a flute from his robe and placed it on his lips and started playing. It was a beautiful melody yet so sad. As soon as he finished playing, he sensed that someone was watching him from behind. "Xiao" he sighed in relief. "That was so beautiful," she complemented walking towards him. "Thank you" he said.

"But it's so sad," she added looking up at him, staring right into his eyes, "Why?"

"It reflects who I am, let's say that. I was left by so many people I love, I thought they felt the same way as I did but it looks like I was the only one feeling it. And then you came along, changing all my beliefs. You gave me hope that I never thought I would ever see."

Xiao remembered that day, the same tone and the same feeling, beautiful yet distraught.

AU: credits to ElGato44 for helping me ! please review review ! thank you !