Guan Ping was sitting on his bed, watching curiously as his best friend slept.
'Why did father have to make us share a tent? Does he still think that we could be…?'
Guan Ping growled internally. 'That has to be it. I don't understand why he can't just accept that Xing Cai and I are just friends… just friends… that is what we are… right?'
'You don't really think that do you?' a voice in his head asked him.
'Of course I do! What else could we be?' he thought back furiously.
'She's very beautiful you know…' the voice reasoned.
'So what if she's beautiful? There are plenty of pretty girls out there.'
'Perhaps there are… but are they beautiful?'
Guan Ping was taken aback. 'I…I… uhh…'
'You've been staring at her for some time now you know…'
"Well… I… was just…' He stammered in his head.
'You look like a love sick boy… staring at the girl of his dreams…'
'Okay! Okay! So maybe I like her…a little bit!'
'Really? You think so?' the voice teased.
"Shut up…" Guan Ping grumbled aloud.
A drowsy moan came from the slim figure before Guan Ping. "Guan Ping? What are you still doing up?"
"Oh… nothing… Xing Cai, I just couldn't sleep." Guan Ping explained, a little startled.
"Get some sleep. We have an early training session tomorrow." Xing Cai yawned.
Guan Ping nodded. "Okay. Good night Xing Cai."
"Night Guan Ping."
He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.
'At least you admitted it to yourself…' the voice returned.
The sun rose slowly over the Shu camp and only a single person was up with it: Xing Cai. She had an amazing internal clock and rarely missed the sunrise. She sat up in her bed and stretched her arms out. Xing Cai turned her head to the side and saw Guan Ping sleeping, his chest slowly rising and falling.
Xing Cai smiled. 'He's so cute when he's sleeping.' She bit her lip gently. 'He's developed quite a body…'
Her eyes scanned his torso and admired his godly pecs and his perfect six-pack. She so wanted to touch the miscellaneous muscles that accented his perfect body and squeeze his strong muscular arms.
'Keep dreaming Xing Cai…' she thought to herself. "I might as well wake him up to…"
She stood on her knees and hovered over his face. "Guan Ping…" she whispered gently.
She frowned when she didn't get a reaction from him. "Guan Ping." She repeated a little louder.
Still no answer. "Idiot." She growled.
Then a devilish smirk appeared on her face. Xing Cai reached over Guan Ping's face and pinched his nose close. She giggled when she heard him let out a loud snort but didn't expect him to swing his body over her.
"Hey!" she squealed. "Get off of me!"
Guan Ping groaned.
"Guan Ping… come on…" Xing Cai whimpered.
Guan Ping felt a slight pang of guilt and decided to roll off. Xing Cai couldn't help but enjoy the feel of Guan Ping's bare body against her.
"What do you want?" Guan Ping grumbled.
"Why are you so grouchy in the morning anyway?"
"Answer me."
"We need to start training soon."
"Not this early we don't."
Xing Cai made her naturally cute voice even cuter, "I was kind of hoping that… maybe we could… talk…"
'Geez… how does she DO that?' Guan Ping groaned in his head.
'Maybe it's just because you're so susceptible to it…' the voice in his head commented.
'Shut up you.'
Guan Ping pushed himself up and took a few moments to regain his balance.
"What are you doing?" Xing Cai questioned.
"Getting dressed, you don't want me walk around like this, do you?"
Xing Cai smiled adorably. "Maybe…"
Guan Ping swallowed the lump in his throat and began to get dressed. 'Okay… maybe more than just a little bit…'
A musical laughter filled the air in a lush green forest. "That is so stupid Guan Ping!"
Guan Ping chuckled. "What? I didn't know any better!"
The young pair had spent an hour walking through a forest, animatedly talking about the past and shared experiences. They were supposed to start training earlier but it was postponed since Zhang Fei had encountered a slight problem with alcohol the night before. Even though Xing Cai disapproved her father's drinking habits, this was the one time she was grateful since she would be able to spend more time with Guan Ping without interruption.
Guan Ping had felt a rush of joy simply being with his best friend. He smiled genuinely as she spoke to him and never missed a word that came out of her mouth. He paid attention to her every detail: the way she walked, the pitch of her voice, her facial expressions… everything.
'Maybe I…' he began a thought.
Suddenly heavy hoof beats interrupted his thoughts and he turned to the origin and found his father quickly approaching them.
"Guan Ping!"
"Father!"
"I've just heard that we are being sent to capture Fan Castle from Wei. We should start out training soon… Xing Cai, if you would like to join us, you may." Guan Yu explained.
Guan Ping and Xing Cai stared at each other for a moment and nodded. "Let's get started!" they said together.
Guan Yu dismounted his horse and offered the reigns to Xing Cai. "Why don't you go on ahead? I need to have a talk with Guan Ping."
Xing Cai accepted the reigns. "Alright, thank you uncle Guan Yu. I'll see you in a little bit Guan Ping."
Guan Ping smiled and nodded. Xing Cai took a quick look back before gently squeezing her heels against the horse's side and riding off.
"What did you want to talk to me about father?" Guan Ping asked curiously.
Guan Yu sighed gently. "Walk with me son."
A red light went off in Guan Ping's head. 'Uh oh…'
Guan Yu only called Guan Ping "son" when he was going to congratulate him or give him some sort of lecture… and Guan Ping hadn't done anything to deserve praise.
"Guan Ping… how are things going with Xing Cai?" Guan Yu said off-handedly.
'I should've seen this coming…' Guan Ping thought. "Things are fine father… why do you ask?"
"I've noticed that your relationship with her had matured greatly over the years… perhaps you may want to move things forward…"
"I don't know what you mean father… Xing Cai is just a friend."
"Ahh… that is something I'm not so sure of. I've seen the way you look at her; you think more of her than that."
Guan Ping blushed. "W-what are you talking about?" he stammered slightly.
Guan Yu chuckled heartily. "It's nothing to be ashamed of Guan Ping. You two seem to share a special bond that transcends the ties of friendship."
Guan Ping stared his walking boots.
"I may be wrong son, but you should explore these feelings you're having when you feel you are ready." Guan Yu said wisely. "You're ARE having feelings for her aren't you?"
"Yes…" Guan Ping answered quietly.
Guan Yu smiled in satisfaction.
Xing Cai had arrived in the camp and found her father by one of the camp fires.
"Father! Are you feeling alright?" she asked with concern.
"Yeah… I'm alright Xing Cai." Zhang Fei answered dizzily.
Xing Cai gave her father a disbelieving look. "Perhaps you should lie down for a little bit longer?"
Zhang Fei shook his head. "No, no… that's nonsense. I'm fine."
"Maybe some training will help?" Xing Cai suggested.
Zhang Fei's eyes lit up at his daughter. "Yes! That would be perfect!"
She giggled. "I'll go get the training weapons!"
After a few more minutes father and daughter were facing off with their weapons at the ready. Xing Cai's usual kind face was now filled with determination. Her battle stance had no flaws and her movements were quick and precise.
Zhang Fei's eyes filled with pride. 'She's gotten so strong… heh… It's a good thing that she's spent so much time with the officers here. Her skills are developing quickly… she might be better than me someday!'
"Ready?" Xing Cai called out.
"Always." Zhang Fei answered simply.
Xing Cai charged forward and slashed with her spear. Her father responded with a quick parry with his spear, then came her shield which was cleverly blocked by the butt of Zhang Fei's spear. The father-daughter pair continued their attack-parry routine until Xing Cai noticed a shadow advancing on her and moved her shield to block a massive sword. She turned her face towards her attacker and spotted Guan Ping's grinning face.
"Hey." Guan Ping smirked.
"Hey yourself." She pushed her shield forward, forcing him back.
Xing Cai noticed that her father was fending off Guan Yu's fierce attacks and she was forced to fight with Guan Ping. She had to readjust her fighting style with Guan Ping due to his heavy weapon.
"Are you ready for me Xing Cai?" Guan Ping teased.
"Always." She answered simply.
The training lasted almost the full day; the four only took breaks for meals and breathers. They decided to call it a day a few hours after the sun set. Guan Ping and Xing Cai were exhausted and decided it was best to wash up then sleep.
"Whew… that was a great work out…" Xing Cai sighed.
"You're telling me, you've gotten a lot faster." Guan Ping commented.
"Don't give me that, you were going easy on me!"
"What are you talking about? I was not…" he lied quickly.
"Oh come on… why are you lying to me?"
"I don't have time to deal with this… I have to go wash up."
Xing Cai rolled her eyes as she watched him walk towards a nearby stream.
'Maybe I should follow him?' she thought devilishly.
After they both had there turn in the stream and gathered themselves in their tent. Before laying down in her bed Xing Cai quickly gave Guan Ping a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Guan Ping blushed deeply. "W-what was that for?"
Xing Cai smiled. "For going easy on me…"
With that said, she lay down in her bed and began to drift into a deep sleep.
'You like her a lot don't you?' the voice in his head asked as Guan Ping closed his eyes to sleep.
'… Yes…' he grumbled in his head.
*************************
Source: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2422292/2/More_Than_Just_Friends
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