Spiral of Time
By Yukira Tsurama

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, and never will be... sigh

"Can you help me?" was Da Qiao's request, coming out in weak gasps.

The elderly witch doctor, Fei Hongwen, remained silent. Then he whispered to her in a quiet voice. "I cannot bring him back to life, for his body will still be wounded, as in death, and his mind corrupt. However, there is an alternate method--"

"Please! Bring him to me! I don't care how; just...bring him back..." Da Qiao's voice was pleading and desperate.

"Are you sure?"

"...yes..."

Then Hongwen began to set up enameled wood statues (spiritual figures) all around the interior of the small pagoda, then motioned for Da Qiao to stand in the center. Hongwen started chanting an incantation.

Da Qiao closed her eyes as she took in Hongwen's deep, rich voice, and suddenly began to feel sleepy. She struggled to stay awake, but succumbed to slumber. Then her mind focused on other, more painful, events...

"Da Qiao, you're the best..." rang clear in her mind. Yes, those were Sun Ce's last words. In an attempt to save Da Qiao, Sun Ce had sacrificed himself. That day was a terrible one for Da Qiao. All she could do was watch Sun Ce as he died.

Her mind brought her to the time when Dong Zhuo, in pursuit of beautiful women, had abducted her and Xiao Qiao. She thought that she'd be stuck with the terrible man forever, until Sun Ce arrived.

"I will keep you safe, now, and forever." He'd said.

Da Qiao just smiled.

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When Da Qiao was brought back to consciousness, she found herself lying on a large, flat boulder in the middle of a desert. The brilliant sun blinded her when she tried to see where she was.

Not too far away, Da Qiao saw a yellow flag, which read: Yellow Turban Territory.

"What the--?"

As Da Qiao started walking around, she saw more and more Yellow Turban propaganda, and she was confused.

"Weren't the Yellow Turbans defeated already?" she thought aloud. "Have they been regrouping and recuperating this whole time?"

Da Qiao, still puzzled, kept strolling about, kicking up sand and dust. Then she bumped into someone.

"What are you doing on our territory?" barked a harsh voice. Looking up slightly, Da Qiao saw a man with a yellow cloth tied around his head.

"Um, can you tell me where I am?"

"On Yellow Turban grounds..." the man stared at her strangely, and then drew a sword from its sheath which was placed on his belt.

Da Qiao ran from the man, and he ran after her, too.

"Go away! I didn't do anything!" she protested.

"Han army spy!" he hissed.

The chase went on for a few more moments, then Da Qiao spotted a man riding a horse who didn't seem to be affiliated with the Yellow Turbans.

"Help!" she cried.

The man turned around, allowing Da Qiao a small glance of his visage. He...looked familiar, somehow. Perhaps he looked a bit like Sun Ce, or maybe the heat was getting to her...

The man on the horse rode toward Da Qiao, lifted her up on the horse, then they rode off from the Yellow Turban soldier. Da Qiao threw her arms around the man, obviously terrified. She was scared, but she was safe. But then she saw men armed with spears and swords ahead of them. It was at that time that she lost consciousness. She cursed herself for doing so.

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Da Qiao awoke slightly when she heard something bump into the wall in the middle of the night. It cursed silently, then became silent.

"Sun Ce?" she called out, half asleep.

Immediately, she heard footsteps...then they gradually began to fade away. Da Qiao wanted to wake up very badly, but found that she couldn't. Yet again, she fell asleep.

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Da Qiao woke up hours later, with the sun directly overhead. Immediately, she ran out of the room to find that same man playing Chinese checkers... alone. He seemed to be having fun competing against himself.

Da Qiao kept watching him, and waiting for him to acknowledge her. She didn't want to disturb him, because she felt awkward. So silently, she stood there.

After what seemed like eternity, the man got up and turned around, seeing her. He stared at her, not sure what to say.

Awkward moments passed. Finally, the man said, "I'm not Sun Ce."

Da Qiao looked a bit embarrassed. "So...who are you, then?"

The man took up a jovial composure, then replied, "My name is Sun Jian. You were close, though." Sun Jian chuckled to himself.

Da Qiao felt the color drain from her face. "So the witch doctor sent me too far back in time..."

"Hey, what's wrong?" he inquired. "Why the sad face?"

"It's nothing, really."

Sun Jian served Da Qiao lunch, and Da Qiao kept asking him questions.

"How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-five."

"What year is it?"

"185."

"Do you have children?"

"No."

The questions went on, and on. Finally, Sun Jian became annoyed by Da Qiao's sudden questions and told her not to talk with her mouth full.

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Da Qiao later learned that Sun Jian held a government job, although he was somewhat cynical about the government. Sun Jian wasn't married, and Sun Jian was a troublemaker.

Da Qiao had also realized that anything she did in the past could affect her greatly in the future. Already, she'd caused problems for her future self by meeting Sun Jian. What if, because of her, Sun Jian became frightened of women, didn't marry at all, and never fathered Sun Ce?

"It's all my fault," she thought that afternoon. "If I hadn't wandered around that day, then Sun Ce would still be alive..."

Late that night, Sun Jian returned home with some women's clothing and small trinkets.

"You didn't have to!" she cried out in astonishment.

"But I wanted to," he replied, grinning.

During dinner, Da Qiao suddenly said, "You're crazy."

"How?"

"You don't know me, and yet you seem to be letting me stay with you. You don't even know my name, or where I came from!"

Sun Jian drank some tea while looking thoughtful. "Are you saying...that I can't trust you?"

"No... You can trust me!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, good."

"And my name's Da Qiao." She then sighed.

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Review, please! I worked hard.