Burning Ambition

10. Dreams (Yiling/The Bitter End)

~~~ The wait is over. The ending is finally here, and I thank every one of you for reading this story. I know it must have been unbearable with the awful writing in the past few chapters, but I tried to make it better for the ending. Again, thank you for reading this, and I hope you enjoy the ending. ~~~

Time: 220 C.E.

I can't believe he would do something so cruel. He knows that I love him with all my heart, but he has betrayed my love and killed my dearest brother, Guan Yu. I want to hate him, but the thought of it breaks my heart because loosing both him and Guan Yu would be unbearable. I would be alone in this world, and I don't know how I would handle it. I shouldn't have written him that letter. What was I thinking? He probably hates me now because I was angry. How can I ever face him again?

"My lord, I bring an urgent letter from Cao Wei!" A messenger exclaimed, quickly running over to Liu Bei and handing him the letter.

"Thank you." He said, watching as the messenger ran off, and hoping that his worst fears weren't about to come true.

Dear Xuande,

I'm so sorry about Guan Yu. I know you probably don't believe me, but I really am, so please don't hate me for it. I know you're mad at me for his death, but please come visit immediately and I will explain everything. I love you, Xuande, forever and always, even if you now loathe me.

Sincerely,

Mengde

Despite feeling angry towards Cao Cao, Liu Bei could sense the urgency behind Cao Cao's letter, and he decided to immediately set out for Xuchang after leaving things in Zhuge Liang's capable hands. He had no time to lose, so he traveled day and night to get to Xuchang as fast as possible. Within six days he arrived at Xuchang and noticed a glum looking Xiahou Dun standing by the gates. The man easily noticed Liu Bei and grabbed his arm, dragging him to Mengde's room. Once they arrived in the room, Xiahou Dun bowed and left to give Liu Bei and Cao Cao some space, since he knew it was the last talk they would ever have together.

"Xuande, I'm surprised you came," Mengde stated. "I thought you would hate me for what I've done."

"I wish I could hate you for what's happened, but I just can't. It would hurt too much," Liu Bei said, noticing how severely Cao Cao had aged since the last time he saw him. His hair was now entirely gray, and his eyes had dark bags under them, it looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. "However, I am still slightly mad that you got Sun Wu to help you slay my brother."

"I know. I can understand why you would be mad or upset, but allow me to explain myself. I didn't want to kill Guan Yu, I knew how much pain it would cause you, but it had to be done. He stood in the way of peace for too long, and he posed a threat to both Cao Wei and Sun Wu, so we decided to form an alliance to get rid of him. I promised to return the lands of Jing to them for cooperating and doing their part, but those lands rightly belonged to them anyway. I was just helping them. For so long I've sought to bring peace back to this troubled land, but I can't even do that." Mengdde replied, his voice sounded so full of sadness and regret.

"Mengde, it's fine. Please don't talk like that, it makes it sound like you're dying." Xuande said as his face softened with concern for Mengde.

Cao Cao chuckled at the statement despite the throbbing in his head. "I'm sorry about that, Xuande. I'll try to be more careful about it in the future. Can you ever forgive me? For all I've done to hurt you?"

"Mengde, of course you're forgiven. I could never hate you." Liu Bei answered, noticing as a small smile settled on Cao Cao's face.

Mengde motioned for Liu Bei to come near him and sit down with him, since he was too weak to move from his spot on the bed. He patted a spot and Liu Bei sat down, wrapping his arms around him and hugging him tightly as tears fell from his eyes. Cao Cao wiped away his tears and held him close. Liu Bei begged for forgiveness for every time that he messed up, for foolishly choosing to leave, and ruining Cao Cao's life. The man hushed him, saying that he had done no such thing, and that he would always be forgiven because no one could ever take his place.