Author's notes: While I was writing my other DW fanfic 'Ties That Bind', I thought of a scenario with Shang Xiang confessing that she once had a crush on Zhou Yu, only it didn't work out. And that got me wondering 'Why didn't it work out?' since there are no apparent obstacles, apart from the age factor in history which we do not have to consider in Dynasty Warriors as Shang Xiang is supposedly older than Xiao Qiao. So this spawned another fanfic! I meant to keep it a one-shot, but it grew longer than I expected and in fact, I'm still in the midst of writing it, so I decided to split it into a couple of chapters. I used some characters (Zhou Shang is a real character) and events from the history, but the timeline of the fanfic is as historically accurate as Dynasty Warriors' is (meaning barely accurate), so don't flame me for the inaccuracies! Hope you enjoy this one and do leave reviews!

Chapter 1: The Meeting

Sun Jian awoke to a warm ray of sunlight streaming in through his bed curtains. Yawning and stretching himself luxuriously, he clambered out of bed. His wife, the Lady Wu, was no where to be seen. No doubt she was already up and busy with the domestic affairs of the household. He too, had a busy day ahead, but at the moment, he was feeling reluctant to trouble himself with it. He stood by the window and rested his palms on the sill. The brightness and clarity of the morning sky promised a beautiful new day.

Closing his eyes, he savored the pleasure of emptying his mind and enjoying the melodious symphony that Mother Nature had orchestrated for her appreciators. He heard the chirping of birds, the buzzing of cicadas and the tinkling of wind chimes blending together in uniform perfection. Then, he also heard something that did not quite seem to belong; the pattering of feet, urgent shouts, followed by the sound of his bedroom door being flung open.

“Father! Father!” Fifteen-year-old Sun Quan dashed into his room. Sun Jian groaned at the disruption of his momentary bliss.

“Father! Shang Xiang has taken my sword again!” Sun Quan cried in a panicked voice.

Sun Jian frowned. The fact that his youngest daughter was playing with swords did not bother him as much as his teenage son’s inability to solve such a simple problem.

“Well, son, you’ll just have to think about how to get it back yourself,” Sun Jian said as he walked around his room, selecting and putting on various items of clothing.

“I was practicing with my sword this morning when Shang Xiang snuck up on me and grabbed it. I’ve tried taking it from her, but she won’t let me have it back!” Sun Quan trotted along his father’s side as they both headed for the dining room.

“Have you tried sneaking back up on her?” Sun Jian asked, stifling a yawn.

“I can’t, she’s been on her guard ever since she took my sword,” Sun Quan fretted.

Along the way, they passed the courtyard, where they came upon thirteen-year-old Shang Xiang swinging a sword precariously about her. Sun Quan broke into a run towards his sister. Upon noticing Sun Quan, Shang Xiang hugged the sword protectively and said smugly, “Finders, keepers, you weak little…”

“Don’t call your brother weak,” Sun Jian said sternly as he walked towards the two youngsters.

“Besides, finders, keepers is an adage that only applies to things that are unowned or abandoned. You didn’t find my sword, Shang Xiang, you took it,” Sun Quan declared.

Shang Xiang wanted to tease her brother for his bookishness, but she did not dare to in the presence of her father. She merely greeted her father with a meek ‘Good morning.”

Sun Jian generally chose not to meddle in the affairs of his children for he disliked promoting dependency and would rather have them iron out their differences themselves, whatever method they chose. However, he was expecting important guests later in the day and it would be sacrilege to allow his children to make nuisances of themselves around the house.

“Return the sword to your brother,” Sun Jian commanded.

Shang Xiang looked up at him in surprise, but she handed over the sword without further ado. Sun Quan grabbed it back in relief.

“That’s my girl,” Sun Jian cracked a smile. Taking her hand in one hand and placing another hand on Sun Quan’s shoulder, he marched his children off to breakfast.

--

When Sun Jian and his children reached the dining hall, he was greeted with the galling sight of his eighteen-year-old son Sun Ce snoozing at the breakfast table.

“Get up, Bofu, you don’t want your father to see you in this state,” Lady Wu was desperately tugging at the young man’s collar, but he showed no sign of wakefulness.

“Harrumph!” Sun Jian announced his presence. Lady Wu looked at her husband apologetically, but Sun Ce merely covered his head with his arms.

Sun Quan, Shang Xiang and Lady Wu took their seats around the dining table as Sun Jian took over the duty of waking up his eldest son.

“Wake up, son!” Sun Jian bellowed into Sun Ce’s ears.

Sun Ce shot up straight upon recognition of his father’s voice, his ponytail smacking Sun Jian in the face. “Sorry, father, good morning,” he said sheepishly. Sun Quan and Shang Xiang giggled, earning a glare from Sun Ce.

“Why do you look so unkempt? Did you even wash your face? Did I not make myself clear about why you had to get up early this morning?” Sun Jian demanded.

“Yes, you said that Lord Zhou Shang, the Grand Administrator of Dan Yang is visiting us and I have to receive him. But he’s your friend, not mine,” groaned Sun Ce.

“Correction. He’s our friend. The Zhous have extended friendship and political benefits to our family. You, as my heir, must not only present yourself as a good host, but be politically empathetic as well,” Sun Jian said.

Shang Xiang yawned. Sun Quan sipped his tea and listened attentively.

Upon seeing Sun Ce’s sulky face, Sun Jian proceeded to wield his triumph card, “Besides, I’ve received word from Zhou Shang that his nephew Zhou Yu will be accompanying him.”

Sun Ce snapped out of his stupor.

“Did you say that Gongjin will be here? Awesome! We can go hunting, sparring, riding, drinking…”

“And participate in military discussions. Mind you, we came together for serious business, not for leisure,” Sun Jian said disapprovingly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now let’s hurry up and finish eating so that we can go and meet them,” Sun Ce grabbed a bowl of porridge and began wolfing it down at top speed.

“Slow down, you’ll choke!” Lady Wu said anxiously.

“And it’s not as though they’ll arrive immediately just because you finish breakfast,” Sun Quan said owlishly.

“You’re rude,” Sun Ce snarled before going back to his food.

“Why is big brother so excited about meeting this Zhou Yu person?” Shang Xiang asked curiously.

“Bofu and Zhou Yu are sworn brothers. We stayed at the Zhous’ mansion in the Shu Prefecture when we were raising an army against Dong Zhuo,” Sun Jian explained.

“Yeah, I’m telling you, Gongjin is one of the nicest and most talented people I’ve ever met. He’s generous and open-minded, he’s skilled with the sword and the flute, and he’s really smart,” Sun Ce hastened to extol the virtues of his best friend.

“Oh?” Shang Xiang said skeptically. She did not believe that such a wonderful person would be good friends with her not-so-wonderful brother.

“You just wait and see. You’ll like him. Most people do anyway, especially the girls. He’s got quite a large following of female admirers in his hometown. Of course, I do pretty well in that aspect too,” Sun Ce said proudly.

“Humph. I doubt I’ll like him. Any buddy of yours can’t be anything good,” Shang Xiang rolled her eyes.

--

The Zhous were expected to arrive at mid-day. Sun Ce stood by the main gate with his father, bobbing up and down on the balls of his toes. Sun Quan and Shang Xiang stood next to their brother. They were not expected to be there, but Sun Quan had always taken a keen interest in politics, and Shang Xiang had nothing else to occupy herself with since her father had ordered her to be on her best behavior. That meant avoiding her favorite pastimes, which mainly included indulging in martial arts, stealing Sun Quan’s sword and trampling around the house.

At the designated arrival time, a horse-drawn carriage clattered up to the main gate and came to a halt in front of the Suns. Sun Ce had to exercise self-control and remind himself to greet Zhou Shang first before running to his best friend. When Zhou Yu emerged from the carriage, Sun Ce flashed a grin at him and waited impatiently for Sun Jian and Zhou Shang to exchange formalities. After talking about the weather, the journey and other mundane matters, Zhou Shang finally directed his attention to Sun Ce.

“How do you do, Lord Zhou Shang?” Sun Ce took a very deep but hasty bow and ran off before Zhou Shang could answer him.

Zhou Shang laughed and Sun Jian apologized. The ecstatic Sun Ce bear-hugged Zhou Yu and began urging him to “go and have a drink” with him.

“Good day, Lord Sun Jian,” Zhou Yu remembered his manners and saluted to Sun Jian as best as he could. He managed a smile at Sun Quan and Shang Xiang before being dragged away by Sun Ce.

Sun Quan stepped over and gave Zhou Shang a dignified greeting. Sun Jian beamed proudly at his second son. He then turned to beckon Shang Xiang over.

To his surprise, Shang Xiang was still as a stone. Her misted eyes were transfixed on the spot where Sun Ce and Zhou Yu stood before Zhou Yu was forcibly dragged off.

“Shang Xiang!” Sun Quan waved his hand in front of his sister.

“What?” Shang Xiang snapped out of her reverie.

“Come over here and greet Lord Zhou Shang,” Sun Jian called to her.

--

Shang Xiang sat mulling on her bed. She had been ordered to stay in her bedroom all day while the guests settled down, but she did not mind that at all. She felt too dazed to do anything else anyway.

For the umpteenth time, Shang Xiang ran the image of her brother’s best friend through her head. Zhou Yu had long flowing hair and soft brown eyes, giving him a somewhat feminine edge which contributed to his aesthetic charm. However, like her brother, he exhibited a manly stature of considerable tallness and broad shoulders. His angular face was clean-shaven, and that was highly-appealing to her, for she had always hated her eldest brother’s stupid little beard. Although he was simply clad, he had a graceful demeanor and looked effortlessly elegant in his red robe. She also admired how unruffled he was even when her overly-enthusiastic brother was practically all over him. If she had been in his position, Sun Ce would have taken quite a beating. It did not hurt, too, that he had a deep and serene voice that brought great comfort to her although she had only heard five words from him.

Furthermore, he had smiled at her.

And a gorgeous smile it was.

If she could just see that smile again, she thought, she would be the happiest girl alive.

Don't mind the slight Sun Ce and Sun Quan bashing. I do like Sun Ce and I'm neutral towards Sun Quan, but you know how siblings are like. I used to call my brother 'ugly' even though everybody says I look like him lol. Once again, please review and I'll have the next chapter up soon!