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100promptsTitle: Child of Heaven
Fandom: Dynasty Warriors
Prompt: Table 2, Prompt #004, 'Heavy'
Character: Zhuge Liang, mentions of Liu Bei
Rating: G
Word Count: 354
Summary: The dragon that had long made it his mission to curl his tail around the beautiful kingdom his Lord had built simply tucked his tears away and... carried on.
Authors Notes/Disclaimer: Also on AO3.
***
It wasn't something he directly acknowledged or spent time dwelling on, of course, because there was an army to maintain and a dear dream to fulfill, but the absence of Liu Bei was so palpable and affecting that Zhuge Liang's inner world had become something far less serene and thoughtful. He didn't dare sit and examine it, of course, because he couldn't. There was no time to spare and no room for a crack in the wall he maintained.
Others wept and mourned their beloved leader, the very heart of everything Shu was, but the dragon that had long made it his mission to curl his tail around the beautiful kingdom his Lord had built simply tucked his tears away and... carried on.
There were comments, whispers, talk about his behaviour, but it didn't sway him. Those had always existed. When you projected yourself like Zhuge Liang did there was bound to be some confusion; he's a child of heaven, the soldiers would say, so why would he act like a human? How could we ever hope to understand him? It was better that way. It enabled him to do his job more effectively, weaving myth and legend to create an image that was just as powerful as the wealth of tactics he utilised in battle. Allies would put their faith in his wisdom because of it, enemies would falter in their efforts against him, and Liu Bei's dream would become less and less a kind man's wish and more a distinct possibility.
Even with him gone, taking his light away and leaving a heavy, cumbersome weight in Zhuge Liang's heart, that dream didn't need to die.
So he'd wait to mourn. When the Kingdom of Shu had won, when Liu Bei's son was the one and only emperor of the land, when true peace had settled and the people were content, Zhuge Liang would finally let himself cease to be a dragon and become a simple human. One that could cry, grieve and acknowledge the loss that had shattered his soul, without the fear that it would destroy a precious dream for good.
Fandom: Dynasty Warriors
Prompt: Table 2, Prompt #004, 'Heavy'
Character: Zhuge Liang, mentions of Liu Bei
Rating: G
Word Count: 354
Summary: The dragon that had long made it his mission to curl his tail around the beautiful kingdom his Lord had built simply tucked his tears away and... carried on.
Authors Notes/Disclaimer: Also on AO3.
It wasn't something he directly acknowledged or spent time dwelling on, of course, because there was an army to maintain and a dear dream to fulfill, but the absence of Liu Bei was so palpable and affecting that Zhuge Liang's inner world had become something far less serene and thoughtful. He didn't dare sit and examine it, of course, because he couldn't. There was no time to spare and no room for a crack in the wall he maintained.
Others wept and mourned their beloved leader, the very heart of everything Shu was, but the dragon that had long made it his mission to curl his tail around the beautiful kingdom his Lord had built simply tucked his tears away and... carried on.
There were comments, whispers, talk about his behaviour, but it didn't sway him. Those had always existed. When you projected yourself like Zhuge Liang did there was bound to be some confusion; he's a child of heaven, the soldiers would say, so why would he act like a human? How could we ever hope to understand him? It was better that way. It enabled him to do his job more effectively, weaving myth and legend to create an image that was just as powerful as the wealth of tactics he utilised in battle. Allies would put their faith in his wisdom because of it, enemies would falter in their efforts against him, and Liu Bei's dream would become less and less a kind man's wish and more a distinct possibility.
Even with him gone, taking his light away and leaving a heavy, cumbersome weight in Zhuge Liang's heart, that dream didn't need to die.
So he'd wait to mourn. When the Kingdom of Shu had won, when Liu Bei's son was the one and only emperor of the land, when true peace had settled and the people were content, Zhuge Liang would finally let himself cease to be a dragon and become a simple human. One that could cry, grieve and acknowledge the loss that had shattered his soul, without the fear that it would destroy a precious dream for good.
