A marriage written in the stars

Young and restless

What's up my people and welcome back to the Alphawave show and welcome to the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS FANFIC! *blows kazoo triumphantly* I cannot believe I managed to not only get to 12 chapters but actually have the patience to work on this story for a YEAR! I might actually get to the end of this! This is the OTP of all OTPs in my handbook and this ship and fanfic ain't dying.

As of this chapter, we just recently got the pics for DW9 Xingcai and HOT DAMN SHE LOOKS GOOD! Have you seen her hair? I have. It's beautiful. And fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately in our favourite emperor's case) the ass flap she calls a skirt is gone. Apparently not everybody likes the new outfit and I understand everybody is subject to their own opinions but personally I like her new outfit. If my theory is correct, some core elements of her outfit will match with Liu Shan so it's fun for me to imagine what he looks like. Hopefully his outfit is more DW8 than DW7 because I'm one of the few who is not as much of a fan of the fluffy coat.

On a VERY SERIOUS NOTE, when I released my previous chapter on fanfiction(dot)net I had an anon send a review threatening to report me for something I had nothing to do with. I won't make any jokes here. I do not know what their deal is but I do not take kindly to threats, whether they be on me or on others. I do not mind if you do not like this story for whatever reason you may have but bullying is unacceptable. I may be able to walk away from this largely unaffected but I know there are others who could be very well affected by these attempts at threatening. If I ever find out who that anon is I will report them but until then, I am putting my foot down. I repeat: reviews expressing your dislike for the story are perfectly fine by me but any bullying/threats to me or anyone else will be reported.

I'm sorry to have had to end that on a depressing note for the few of you who do read these but I hope you enjoy yourself regardless. Remember kids: I don't own Dynasty Warriors, KoeiTecmo, or the stray cat that has somehow made friends with my neighbour's dog. I do own a nice pencil with 6B lead so that's nice.

Chapter 12: Young and restless

For three weeks Xingcai had been in a desperate attempt to find love and in her journey to find it, so many things had changed. Weapons and armour were replaced with makeup and pretty dresses, battles replaced with dates. She experienced the many sides of humans, relearnt the social protocols she had abandoned in her past in favour of combat, wooed the hearts of many men all in a span of weeks. But after all that she had done, Xingcai had not found a man she thought she could marry. That was, until now.

Even then, she was not sure how she felt about being in love with Liu Shan.

On one hand she felt relieved. After all, this was what she was looking for, a man she trusted and cared enough that she could fall in love with and marry. Liu Shan was slowly becoming stronger in both body and mind. With every passing day, she sunk further and further into his comfortable smile, safe and secure into the arms she trusted to catch her if she'd fall. Liu Shan was kind and gentle and if he held even a fraction of love for her, he would cherish her until the end of their days.

At the same time, however, it complicated matters greatly. Liu Shan made no indication before that he would be attending the betrothal party as a suitor. This meant two distinct possibilities: either Liu Shan held no interest in her, or he was too high ranking to marry someone of her social standing. And just because she knew she was attracted to Liu Shan did not mean she could shirk her responsibilities by refusing dates. For mother's sake more than anyone else, Xingcai had to behave under the pretense that she had not fallen in love yet. There will come a time where she must admit the truth to her mother and reveal her feelings for the emperor but for now, she must continue with the dates regardless.