Da Qiao slowly rested herself underneath a large blossoming tree, her gaze rising up toward the sky. It was still early, she noted, and the clouds were slowly parting to reveal the rising sun. She took in a deep breath of air, happy that there had been no fighting for the last few days. She still couldn't help but feel worried about Sun Ce, who had gone off to check up on some of the lesser officials of Wu, situated in a camp a day away. He had gone only yesterday, she knew, but it felt almost an eternity. She watched as her sister rushed to join her, both of her violet shaded fans in her hands. Da simply smiled and raised her eyes back to the sky. She knew that Ce would be doing the same at the time. He had always been an early riser, contrary to most belief, and she had caught him looking outside of his window and gazing out at the sky plenty a day. She questioned him only once, and she remembered the man's brown eyes widen slightly when he found he was caught.

"Good morning to you too, Lord Sun Ce," the young woman had said, giving him a small nod and smile. "It is unlike you to be so dreamy, I would think."

"Dreamy?" Sun Ce had laughed, shaking his head. "Naah, not dreamy. I was just thinking, you know?" he paused, then returned his gaze to the window. "...someday we're gonna be able to all enjoy this sunrise and not have to worry about battle..."

Da was unable to mask her surprise and instead glanced aside. She giggled. "I thought you enjoyed fighting, my Lord."

"...not if it means our people haveta die."

She had turned her head back to him, then nodded a little. "I agree wholeheartedly, my Lord."

A small smile touched the older Qiao's face as she recalled the memory. "Sis," she could hear from outside of her train of thought, "Are you paying attention to me?"

Da turned her face toward Xiao Qiao, who was pouting and looking worriedly toward her. The former smiled faintly again, then nodded. "Of course. Continue, little sister."

She watched quietly as her sister's expression returned to normal, a large smile on her face instead of the usually calm one on Da herself's, and her eyes beaming. Da could commend her sister on her innocence and charm. She had kept a close eye on the main officers of Wu, and after watching them for some time, she knew that Zhou Yu had an eye for Xiao. He had always been rather flirty with the women (and sometimes men, Da noted with a serene smile) and the only women he had not gotten some response out of, may it be a blush or more, were the two Qiao sisters. Zhou Yu's advances toward Da were simple, and after a few times, he knew they weren't connecting. Also, he knew better than to bother Sun Ce's object of affection. On the other hand, Xiao had been completely oblivious of his attention, and Da knew that Yu was intending on getting some kind of response from her sister. Zhou Yu had gotten kinder over the years, with always the exception of battle, where he turned cold and composed, much like most of the officers had to be in order to command well. Xiao barely ever mentioned him, and Da knew that the man would have to try harder in order to court her younger sister. She found it somewhat cute that Yu had stopped trying for the other women and had focused, but she was ready, if Yu ever hurt her sister, to give him lecture (and more) he wouldn't forget.

"You're not listening!" Xiao complained again, taking a seat next to her sister. She seemed exhausted, the frown restored on her face.

Da raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised her sister would have such a lack of energy. "What is wrong, my sister?" she tried, and sighed when her response was:

"You're not listening to me, Sis! I was telling you the entire time and I--"

Da Qiao raised her gaze back up to the sky. Her sister usually was like this, moody near her, for they were so close, but cheery and bubbly near the others. She still loved her sister though, and she couldn't blame her sudden changes of expression. Still, she had so much in mind that her sister finally got up and made a face, knowing she was too busy thinking to pay notice to her sister. Da watched Xiao storm off, probably to go to Lu Xun's room instead.

She had seen the two grow up together from afar, and she knew that they got along rather well. The only problem with their closeness, Da seemed to be the only one who knew: Whenever Lu Xun even looked in either Qiao's direction, Da could feel a cold glare from the princess of Wu, who was always busy doing one thing or another, and had barely enough time to rally troops to go to battle. Da felt somewhat bad for Sun Shang Xiang, who always hid her dislike with a cheery smile. Her eyes let on to how she felt though, and Da thought she would confront the princess when she had the chance. Now, though, Shang Xiang had gone off with her brother Ce, so she would have to wait. Da knew that Xiang seemed to have some sort of interest in the young strategist, but the Qiaos had both been her friends when they were growing up, and Xiang had no heart to be mad at Xiao's friendship with the young man.

On the other hand, the one person Da had trouble with reading was Lu Xun himself. He always hid everything personal about him with a shy smile and a blush. Xiao always said how she liked to see his eyes light up when she talked to him, but whenever Da spoke, there seemed to be something deep down inside of the strategist's eyes that held something she couldn't read. She doubted it was pain--the young man was too innocent himself to know much about the world. He was a fairly decent fighter, but he was much better at thinking than fighting. She had seen the young man's eyes light up before, but still, the hidden something could still be seen--unplaced. Xiao seemed oblivious of this as well, and Da never questioned about it. She was just too polite to ask. While the other men were as obvious to read as a book, he was a book filled with symbolism that Da could not quite gather the meaning of.

Da Qiao sighed to herself, getting up and dusting herself off. It was a pain sometimes to be the one who could sense these things. Da herself was still young, and however much she sounded ladylike, it was only because of her standing. The Qiaos were always marveled for their beauty, but were also deadly on the battlefield. She could proudly say that she was as strong as the male officers, but she would never think to say such things. It would be offensive, and she didn't have the heart to offend anyone. Still, it was always a triumph for the young woman when she could announce "I defeated an officer!" proudly through the battlefield. Sun Ce always was the one who would praise her and give her a quick thumbs up when he passed by.

::Sun Ce...:: she thought to herself, breathing a soft sigh. She wondered when he was coming back.

~~~

Sun Ce was indeed watching the sunrise, standing atop of hill to get a better view of it. He barely heard the footsteps behind him, and finally called out, "Hey. It's pretty, huh?"

His sister took a hesitant step forward and he turned to grin at her. Her face completely showed her confusion. "Pretty?" Xiang asked, a mocking smile on her face. "I thought you only used that word for Da Qiao."

Ce couldn't help his embarrassment. "Hey," he said quickly, trying to mask it, "She's not pretty, she's _beautiful_."

"Oh gag, don't start being mushy, big brother."

Sun Ce grinned again, then turned back up to the sky. He could tell that Sun Shang Xiang wasn't having such a good time in this other camp either. Shang Xiang always woke up late and she was always the one causing trouble. He sighed. He knew what the cause was. It was obviously because of the lack of Zhou Yu. He had promised he would go along, but then had stayed back, probably to be able to talk to Xiao Qiao more. Ce had noticed Xiang's irritated looks toward the younger Qiao, and he had it all worked out in his head. Zhou Yu had always been liked by the women, and even though his sister was indeed a tomboy, she was still female. Shang Xiang had always seemed somewhat nervous around Yu, and bingo, everything was set straight. Ce was proud of himself for figuring out what was going on.

"Mushy?" Ce finally responded, turning back toward his sister. He took a moment to glance her up and down. Her hair was still shorter than his even though he had chided her to grow it and become more ladylike along with their father. He gave up easier than Sun Jian though. "As long as you don't talk about Zhou Yu anymore," he commented.

He saw Sun Shang Xiang's blush. "Why do you always talk about Lord Zhou Yu as if I'm interested in him anyway? Just 'cause he's your best friend doesn't mean we have to be close." she commented, frowning a little. She rolled her eyes. "You guys are just weird. Anyway, I'm going to wake up Quan. We get to leave here today, right?"

"See, you're anxious." he added, his grin widening.

"I am NOT!"

Ce had some time teasing his sister as he always did, at least when he had time. It passed time and it was fun for him. Even though his sister looked annoyed, he could tell that inside she was somewhat glad. He had been distant for the morning before when he had to leave the camp and now was slowly starting to return to himself. Ce waved his sister off, then grinned at himself, remembering the day that the older Qiao had found him looking out of the window at the sunrise. Perhaps she would be doing the same now too.

"Yeah, right, Ce," he chided himself. "She's probably asleep like every other normal person in this world!" he sighed to himself, then took a seat on the ground.

He had never been much for wooing the ladies, knowing that he was too much of a "tough-guy" to be seen doing anything mushy. He liked fighting, he had to admit, it was a good stress reliever, but he hated actually having to cut down people. Fighting was fun, battle was not. He knew he was good at both, though, a virtue he didn't know if he should rightfully have.

Especially now that he had some interest in the older Qiao. He knew it started the day when she caught him. He could tell from her eyes that she had been somewhat lying. She had seen him plenty of other days doing the same thing. The thought itself was kind of embarrassing.

Sun Ce lay down on the grassy hill, his arms under his head to keep his hair from getting messy. The Qiaos were beautiful, he had to admit, like every other man had said, but the younger one was just annoying. She was nothing more than a pretty face, with no brains to back her up. He smiled to himself, knowing how much trouble he would get into if he said that outloud to her. Xiao was energetic and bubbly, but when she got mad she would whoop out her fans and slam whoever was around. His hand involuntarily went to the side of his stomach, remembering one of these so called days when he vowed never to annoy her again.

Da on the other hand was serene, her expression always calm and a small smile plastered on her face, almost like a porcelin doll. He remembered back when he thought the two Qiaos were the same, both beautiful at the expense of their intellect. But, speaking with Da, he knew that she was much more than a pretty face. She wasn't like her sister, who he would think would be better off if she just _was_ and didn't act or speak. Da Qiao was much more mature and helpful, able to cook, to clean, and to do anything without whining. Sun Ce sighed, remembering one of the days that the younger Qiao was supposed to help out with the cooking and cleaning. It had ended a disaster, and even Zhou Yu wasn't able to think of something good to say to the young Qiao. Da had been the one to comfort her sister and make everything all right again. Ce had a slight admiration for the older Qiao, which was surprising because she was female. He never considered females as equal until he met her, and since then even his tomboy sister was on the same level as him. He scratched his head sheepishly. Then again, if she wasn't, she could easily beat him up as well. Or at least get to a draw. They were almost equal in battle. Ce a little stronger, Shang Xiang a little faster. The three female officers of Wu were rather strong, which made Ce feel proud. Hey, it was better than having them against him. Sun Ce's mind wandered again, this time to Zhou Yu. Yu was starting to act weird, Ce had finally figured, whenever he saw Xiao Qiao. Xiao was ignorant, and Ce couldn't help but laugh at Yu whenever Xiao would simply rush off when Yu was going to approach her. Many a time, Zhou Yu had warned Ce, "Don't even start..."

To which Sun Ce had simply laughed his head off and pointed and then soon enough got Zhou Yu angry enough to stalk away. They made up soon after, like most best buddies did, and then the process started again. Ce didn't know whether he should feel bad or not. Then again, Da didn't know his feelings toward her either, so Ce considered them both on the same block. Zhou Yu was ready to confess, but his obvious object of affection completely ignored him. Sun Ce knew Da would listen carefully to whatever he would say to her, but he wasn't ready to confess. He knew he'd never be ready. He was a man, anyway, and he shouldn't have to go through all this madness!

Sun Ce sighed, rolling over and plucking a piece of grass between his fingers. It would be another day before he could see his dark-haired beauty again, and he knew it would feel much longer.