Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.

Warnings: Minor violence, minor adult content, slash.

Description: A story about Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's past – will eventually be Zhou Yu x Sun Ce, with other pairings mentioned on the side (LM/XQ, DQ/LX, and GN/SSX)

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Secession – Part 8

Zhou Yu couldn't help it. In spite of everything behind him, in spite of the darkness slipping across his shoulders and through the wind like sand, in spite of the weight of the sword at his side and the meaning it carried, he smiled.

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Chen Hao smiled, too, his eyes light against the backdrop of the shadows crisscrossing his face. It had never even occurred to him that Zhou Yu might not go to Jiang Dong, knowing as he did that the general served the Sun family all his adult life, but he supposed the sudden decision had been startling for anyone who didn't know the end of the story. He tried to imagine what his own mother and father might have done had he simply walked out their door one day, but their faces were faded with time and distance and the picture in his mind only looked watery. So he stopped, and thought instead of young Zhou Yu and Sun Ce riding through the night toward a future neither of them could predict.

His hand wandered unconsciously to the sword at his own belt, and he touched the cold metal hilt with thoughtful fingertips. He himself had never carried a sword until he joined Sun Quan's army six months prior, but he understood the feeling Zhou Yu must have felt wearing one for the first time – the weight, the pressure, and most of all the responsibility that seemed to seep out of the cold steel and into your skin when you held it. He wondered idly whether the sword Zhou Yu used now were the same one he had taken from under his bed all those years ago. It seemed unlikely, given the madness of war and the frequency of shattered weapons, but it was such a fantastical idea that he decided to believe it, and that put another smile on his face.

Zhou Yu's hands were fingering the empty sheath at his side, and Chen Hao remembered with a rush of sadness that the general had dropped his sword after being shot. In the confusion, no one had thought to pick it up; he wondered if it were still lying in the mess of the battlefield, caked in dirt and rusting under the splatters of war. He wanted to send a message back for someone to go find it – it seemed like a shame for such a renowned sword to drown in the damp earth and vanish – but he had no way of sending such a message and was not sure Lord Lu Meng would appreciate it in any case. He consoled himself by gripping his own sword more firmly and watching the stars slip by overhead. He wasn't sure why the degradation of the sword bothered him so much. But it did.

Zhou Yu's lightly shaking hands pulled away from the scabbard and resettled across his bandaged chest, brushing at the cloth distractedly. Chen Hao tried not to notice that his lord's breathing had softened to a mere whisper and threatened to disappear into the cold night air. He didn't want to think about Zhou Yu fading and dying in the back of this wagon. If he thought about that, he'd have to realize that there was nothing he could do to save the man in front of him – nothing at all.

"It was a long ride from Shucheng to Jiang Dong," Zhou Yu murmured, twisting the edge of his shirt in his fingers. "It takes about two and a half weeks to reach Jiang Dong by horseback if you ride hard each day, but Sun Quan was still only eight and couldn't go very fast for too long, so we expected to travel for a little over three weeks at best. I had never ridden so far, and it was hard at first to make myself get up and back on the horse every morning. But that passed soon enough, and I came to enjoy the hours we spent passing through the countryside.

"We crossed the Yangzi only a day or two after leaving my parents' home, and moved soon after into a region of the land I'd never visited before. There were villages scattered around through the dense trees, and we passed through them sometimes, but for the most part we were completely cut off from the rest of the country. It felt as though we'd ridden right out of reality."

His expression became a wispy smile that scattered after a few moments. "There was danger involved, of course. Although we heard no rumors, there was still a chance Yuan Shao would follow us, or send word ahead for someone to ambush us. We kept on the lookout, and I never let my sword stray far from my side." His fingers slipped coarsely across the empty scabbard again. "Sun Jian told us that we must be wary of bandits as well, which Sun Ce thought was a grand prospect but I kept in the back of my mind just in case."

A soft gust of wind swept through the wagon and out the back again – Chen Hao watched it ruffle Zhou Yu's hair and send his bangs into his eyes. The general shook his head a little in irritation, and Chen Hao reached out to direct the dark strands of hair off of his lord's pale forehead. Zhou Yu startled a bit at the touch, but closed his eyes and continued his narrative as Chen Hao drew his hand back to his side. "My sixteenth birthday came and went while we were traveling. It was the first birthday I'd ever spent away from my family, but I'd be lying if I said I gave it much thought. I was too busy getting used to Ce's family to remember my own.

"The Sun family was very different from the one I grew up with. For one thing, there was a realm of affection between them that I had only ever glimpsed, even after living with them for seven years. Within my own family, there was a measure of personal space and dignity that wasn't crossed save in extreme circumstances. I can only remember once when Xan sat in my mother's lap after he had breached infancy, and he was deathly ill at the time. But Sun Quan crawled all over his parents and siblings, and was rarely happy if he wasn't being held or played with."

Zhou Yu barely bit back a chuckle, and Chen Hao felt himself smile at the confused image of Sun Quan crawling all over anybody. "He was such a social child – and happy so long as he was with the people who loved him. He was obedient, too, and looked at all of his siblings with stars in his eyes. Even me – Sun Quan may have been the first one to really adopt me as a member of their family. Shang Xiang was close on his heels, and Sun Ce was different of course… but all I can remember is that the first time I truly felt like I belonged with the Sun family, it was Quan who gave me that feeling.

"We had been riding about a week when we reached a small valley where Sun Jian intended to rendezvous with a few of his old companions – generals by the name of Han Dang and Cheng Pu." Chen Hao was surprised to hear the name of his own commanding officer come up in the story, and pondered briefly how old the wizened general must be if he were already a renowned warrior nineteen years ago. "We stopped to stay the night a short distance from the small river at the base of the valley, and Sun Jian went off to find the two generals with Huang Gai, leaving myself with the Sun children and Lady Wu. We were watering the horses and setting up camp for the night, and Sun Ce had started a game in the stream…"

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"Aren't you coming in, Yu?" Zhou Yu looked up from removing the harness from his horse and back to where Sun Ce stood, rolling his pants up to the knees and taking off his shoes. His ponytail bobbed back and forth as he struggled to keep his balance, hopping around on one foot as he forcibly dragged his sock off. Zhou Yu smirked to himself, but Sun Ce was too busy with his footwear to notice it. "The water's nice and cold."

Zhou Yu watched Shang Xiang preparing to enter the water as well and shook his head. "Go ahead. I'll deal with the horses." He turned back to his own horse, and in doing so effectively missed Sun Ce rolling his earthen eyes.

"You could stand to have fun once in a while, you know." He finished piling his stockings on a nearby rock and moved over to take hold of Zhou Yu's arm, giving it a shake to get the other boy's attention again. "Come on, Yu – come play."

Zhou Yu hesitated a moment longer, but the decision was effectively taken out of his hands when his horse pulled away and went to graze with its fellows, robbing him of his reason for declining the invitation. Sun Ce laughed and slung his arm through Zhou Yu's.

"There – see? He agrees with me." He began pulling Zhou Yu back toward the stream. Zhou Yu dragged his feet a little, but didn't put up much resistance otherwise. There was no point once Sun Ce had decided something.

"She's female," he muttered, casting the creature in question another look over his shoulder. The horse ignored him, pulling up plants and chewing on them diffidently. Zhou Yu glared, but hardly meant it.

"Yeah, whatever you say," Sun Ce allowed, wading out into the deep, still water as he waited for Zhou Yu to finish removing his shoes. Zhou Yu frowned a little as the wet mud squished between his bare toes. What an unpleasant feeling. Why did anyone like playing in rivers anyway? All it amounted to was getting wet and dirty.

When Sun Ce decided he was taking too long, he sent a splash of icy water to remind his friend to hurry up. Zhou Yu nearly dropped his carefully folded socks into the mud as the cold liquid found his back, and he shivered as the drops soaked through his shirt and trickled down his skin. Sun Ce was laughing, which made it a declaration of war, and Zhou Yu stormed into the water to avenge his damp clothing. He knocked some water Sun Ce's way with the flat of his palm, and Sun Ce yelped as he got his first taste of water warfare right in the face.

"Ce! Zhou Yu!" Shang Xiang, who was farther down the stream searching for interesting rocks, looked up at the sound of their game and put her hands on her hips. "You can't have a water fight, guys – your clothes will get drenched and everything else is packed away!" Neither of them listened to her.

Sun Quan, sitting on a nearby rock and watching the fun from a safe distance, giggled as Zhou Yu reached out and swiped at his friend with a wave of water and a grasping hand. Perhaps if he dunked Sun Ce it would count as a victory. The eldest Sun child danced away from him and tried to dodge the artfully aimed stream of water sent his way, but he slipped on a rock and only managed to end up sitting in the river instead. He laughed and wrinkled his nose and held up his soaking clothing for inspection, and Zhou Yu's smile sprang to his lips without his volition. He offered Sun Ce a hand and helped him to his feet, although he nearly overbalanced in the process and sent them both back into the cold river.

Sun Ce was laughing, and the sun on the water was dancing light all over his face, and more than anything Zhou Yu wanted to kiss him – but the gurgle of the stream didn't quite drown out Sun Quan's giggles from his place on the shore, or the sound of Shang Xiang humming as she searched along the riverbank, and he couldn't bring himself to do it in front of them. So he sighed instead and backed up a foot or so, releasing Sun Ce's hand and trying not to let his face show how uncertain he was about his mossy footing. Sun Ce didn't seem to catch his thoughts – he was having too much fun playing in the water to even notice the look that sped across Zhou Yu's face, and for that Zhou Yu was glad.

Sun Ce began chasing the small fish that darted between their feet as Zhou Yu made his way back to the shore, somewhat disenchanted with the river now that his wet clothing was registering in his mind. Sun Quan scooted over to make a place for him on the warm rock, and Zhou Yu took a seat beside the boy. Sun Quan giggled at his brother, who had just taken a dive straight into the water in pursuit of his quarry – Zhou Yu watched him from the corner of his eye as he rung out his sopping sleeves.

Sun Ce, who had emerged from the water coughing but joyous, waved at Sun Quan excitedly. "C'mon, Quan!" His clothing hung off of him like dead weight as he brushed his hair off of his face. "The water's great!" Sun Quan bit his lip and dangled one foot into the cold water, fingers toying with the grainy rock beneath him.

"No thanks," he called back, smiling meekly beneath the fringe of his delicate bangs. Zhou Yu watched him closely. He himself was not big on river play, but Sun Quan's wavering eyes told him the boy truly wanted to join in the game. What was stopping him? Sun Ce would certainly play nicer with his baby brother than he had with his best friend – Sun Quan knew better than to be afraid of rough treatment. Zhou Yu cocked his head to the side and swept his mostly dry hair off of his shoulder, studying the boy beside him.

"Why don't you want to play, Sun Quan?" he asked finally. Sun Quan looked up at him in surprise and regret, almost as though he had expected his fake smile to go unnoticed. "It's truly not that cold…" Not until it's sliding right down your spine, he thought to himself, but left that unsaid. Sun Quan blinked a little and shook his head, tight bun bobbing back and forth.

"I don't mind the cold," he answered, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his thin arms around them. Sun Quan was small even for his young age, and his petite form rocked back and forth as he dropped his voice to a whisper. "I'm just afraid."

Zhou Yu started, and glanced back to Sun Ce in the middle of the river. Afraid? "Afraid of the water?" he asked, needing clarification. He couldn't see anything worth fearing – unless you counted Sun Ce, and that only held true for certain people.

Sun Quan shook his head again and rested his chin on his knees. "I'm afraid that…" He ducked his head down, and Zhou Yu had to lean in closer to hear him. "The fishes will bite me."

Zhou Yu couldn't keep himself from rolling his eyes. "They won't hurt you, Sun Quan." Sun Quan looked up at him from his huddled position.

"You don't know that," he maintained, wrapping his fingers into the folds of his pants. "Shang Xiang got bitten by a fish once."

Zhou Yu found that hard to believe, but before he could say anything they were interrupted by Sun Ce wading over and emerging from the river to stand on the other side of Sun Quan. "What's the matter?" he asked, the lilt of his voice indicating he'd missed the last piece of the conversation.

"Sun Quan is afraid of fish," Zhou Yu stated blandly. Sun Quan looked up at him in shock as though he had betrayed some great secret – but Sun Ce just smiled widely before hiding it under a stern expression.

"No!" he responded, dramatic disbelief heavy in his voice. Zhou Yu rolled his eyes again. "He's not afraid of a little fish – not Quan!" He elbowed his brother lightly. "Right? You're not afraid of fish, Quan. Not puny little fish."

Sun Quan shifted uncomfortably. "Not all fish," he clarified, shooting Zhou Yu a pout over his shoulder as he looked up at his brother. "Just the biting ones." Sun Ce grinned and nodded authoritatively, clearly deciding this was too good a game to pass up.

"Sensible of you," he agreed, taking on a tone that reminded Zhou Yu distinctly of Sun Jian. Sun Ce raised one finger and waved it in front of his brother's face. "But I am happy to report there is only one kind of biting fish in all the world, and that is the dumpling fish."

Zhou Yu almost snorted, and even Sun Quan looked skeptical – as skeptical as a nervous eight-year-old could look, anyway. "The dumpling fish?" Zhou Yu had to agree – it was a dumb name. If Sun Quan weren't so gullible, Sun Ce's trick would have fallen completely flat, but for some reason Sun Quan almost looked like he bought it.

"Uh huh," Sun Ce assured his brother brightly. He formed his hands into a pantomime of heavily toothed jaws and clacked them together once or twice. "Now the dumpling fish has teeth this big, and if it gets hold of you it'll take your whole foot off." Sun Quan shifted uneasily and shrank away from his brother's hands.

Sun Ce smiled at the worried child and put his hands on his hips in a way that Zhou Yu was sure he'd seen Shang Xiang use. "But don't worry, Quan – there are absolutely no dumpling fish whatsoever in this stream." Sun Quan looked distinctly unsure. Sun Ce winked at Zhou Yu, who rolled his eyes once more but unwillingly played along.

"It's true," he followed, tone bland and face straight as ever. "No dumpling fish at all." At least it wasn't a lie. Dumpling fish. He sighed to himself. He was going to have to talk to Sun Ce about naming the perilous creatures he invented to torment Quan. What was it last time? The Chopstick Bear, perhaps?

Sun Quan looked between the pair of them nervously, and eyed the cool water with longing swimming in his deep eyes. "Are you sure?" he asked, voice meek and childlike. Zhou Yu didn't say anything, but Sun Ce nodded fervently.

"Positive." He ruffled Sun Quan's tightly bound hair and tugged on his feet. "So come on out and play with us."

Sun Quan hesitated a moment longer, shooting his gaze back to Zhou Yu. "You're coming out too, right?" Zhou Yu kept the frown down with difficulty. He had no interest in sloshing back up and down the stream, but the eyes of the two Sun boys were telling him he didn't have a choice. Reluctantly, he rose and waited with Sun Ce as Sun Quan shed his footwear and rolled his pant legs up. Then the three of them headed back into the icy water. Sun Quan squealed as it splashed his face, but it was a happy squeal and Zhou Yu couldn't help the settled feeling seeping into his stomach.

Shang Xiang joined them several minutes later, a few gleaming rocks clutched in her fist. She watched as Sun Ce and Sun Quan chased each other through the shallower water, and Zhou Yu in turn watched her simple expression from where he stood out of place in the depths of the current. She was growing to look more like her mother every day, with her cheerful eyes and high, noble forehead underneath a closely cropped shock of auburn hair. Zhou Yu wondered aimlessly what it might have been like to have a sister instead of Qi – if they would have gotten along, how he would have treated her, how it might have made the entire family different. He shook his head to will the thoughts away as Sun Ce skittered across the mossy river bottom and nearly collided with him. There wasn't really any point in wondering about it.

Sun Quan adored playing in the cool, crystal water for perhaps five minutes before Sun Ce simply couldn't help himself. He stood up from the water to watch Sun Quan showing his sister a strand of riverweed and grinned broadly, eyes teasing and bright. Zhou Yu saw the expression, but not in time to stop the impish joke as Sun Ce cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, "Oh no! Everybody run! An enormous dumpling fish!"

Sun Quan screamed. He yelped and hollered and jumped up and down in panic, stretching his arms up and throwing his pleading gaze on Zhou Yu. "Pick me up!" he cried, tears collecting in his eyes. "Don't let it bite me! Pick me up!" Zhou Yu stared at the boy and his panic-stricken expression for a moment as Sun Quan's demands became all the more frantic and high pitched. "Pick me up!" he cried again, yanking on Zhou Yu's dripping shirt.

Zhou Yu didn't know what else to do – he leaned down and lifted Sun Quan up into his arms, where the terrified boy wrapped his arms around Zhou Yu's neck and tried to tuck his feet up even higher. Zhou Yu winced as Sun Quan's knee accidentally slipped into his stomach, and he readjusted his grip on the squirming, squealing child. Sun Quan was bawling and clinging to him as though to life itself, fear of the mystical dumpling fish having completely unnerved him. Sun Ce had doubled over with laughter and lost his footing, slipping straight into the water and down onto both knees, and Shang Xiang had folded her arms in disbelief but was glancing around warily nonetheless.

Zhou Yu rolled his eyes for what must have been the thousandth time, and freed one hand to flick his hair back over his shoulder. "Sun Quan," he said sternly, causing the petrified boy to look a scant few inches into his eyes. "There is no such thing as a dumpling fish."

Sun Quan shook his tear-streaked face and twined his fingers through Zhou Yu's dark hair. "But Sun Ce said—"

"Sun Ce is playing a cruel joke on you," Zhou Yu informed him, shooting the youth in question a glare where he sat half in and half out of the water. "There are no biting fish in this stream, and that is final." Sun Quan's eyes said he wanted to believe this, but he still eyed the rollicking water fearfully.

Sun Ce finally managed to get hold of his laughter, and he crossed the few feet to stand beside Zhou Yu and the terrorized Sun Quan he was holding. "He's right, Quan – I made it up. Sorry about that." He reached out and placed an apologetic hand on his brother's shoulder, but the smile tugging at his lips somewhat ruined the contrite effect.

Sun Quan pouted heavily and turned his face away from his brother, resting it against Zhou Yu's damp shoulder. "I've told you not to do that!" he insisted, just a bit of a whine creeping into his voice. Sun Ce fought back the smile valiantly, but it broke out onto his lips anyway and he finally gave in to the chuckle building behind his grin.

"Oh, come on Quan," he urged. "It's funny. I think it might be fun to meet a dumpling fish." Sun Quan didn't seem to agree, and Sun Ce smiled all the brighter. "I'll bet it'd go right for your itty bitty toes," he teased, reaching out to tickle his younger brother along the bottoms of his feet.

Sun Quan screamed again, and the loud noise coupled with his resumed squirming startled Zhou Yu so badly that he lost his footing. He wavered and slipped for a moment, feeling his foot catch on Sun Ce's as the young strategist toppled into the icy water, taking the squealing boy and the yelping youth down with him. He landed hard against the riverbed and winced as a large, spiny rock found his back. Sun Quan shrieked at finding himself abruptly in the water again and clung to Zhou Yu like a drowning man, which involved much whimpering and pulling of hair. Sun Ce only made matters worse by falling forward onto the two of them – he managed to put one arm out to break his fall, but he smacked his forehead against Zhou Yu's and landed right on top of the sandwiched pair.

"Damn it, Ce!" Zhou Yu shouted, forehead bruised and back aching, but his anger got lost in the musical laughter coming from Shang Xiang and the sound of Sun Ce coughing up water after accidentally shoving his face into the stream. Sun Quan was crying again and clinging to his probably ruined shirt, and Sun Ce was hacking to get the water out of his lungs and crushing Zhou Yu's legs – but Shang Xiang had her hand to her mouth and was laughing so hard and so freely that Zhou Yu almost forgot to be angry at Sun Ce again once he stopped choking. With an enormous groan, Zhou Yu pushed himself to his feet, one arm holding Sun Quan to him and the other yanking his sopping clothes out of Sun Ce's amused grip.

When he looked up, it was to see Sun Jian standing on the riverbank and laughing right along with his children. Zhou Yu stared for a moment before approaching the cheerful general, clothes dripping and his face set in a stern scowl. As he handed the still wailing Sun Quan over to his father, Zhou Yu felt his annoyance being superseded by an unusual feeling creeping up in between his ribs. It felt kind of like… belonging. Like home. Like—

Sun Ce scrambled to his feet and slung his arms around Zhou Yu's waist. "No hard feelings, right?" he quipped between his ceaseless laughter. Shang Xiang's smile sparkled as she wiped the tears of mirth away from her eyes. Sun Jian's booming chortling covered Sun Quan's soft sniffs like a warm blanket, and a smile crept up onto the shaking boy's face despite his flowing tears. And Sun Ce's eyes were just so bright…

Zhou Yu's arm slipped around Sun Ce's shoulders as he closed his warm eyes. "…You're a mess, Ce," he accused in a mutter that barely carried to his companion's ears. But Sun Ce heard it, and grinned up at the reserved, dignified youth who was drenched in river water and almost smiling about it.

End Chapter 9

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Wow… it's been a while since this fic got updated. Maybe I'll get more done in the next few weeks, but college is starting up and I can't be sure. I will, however, finish it and post it as I go along. Anyway, thanks to all for your continued support despite the time lag.

A note for OraeRyu: Thank you for your kind comments. The reality of the relationship between Zhou Yu and Sun Ce is something I try very hard to maintain, so I'm honored you picked up on that. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the rest of the story so far, and that you continue to read it in the future.

A note for Poached Pears: Thank you for reading and reviewing my fic, and again compliments on your own 'Birdsong'. Lu Meng and Xiao Qiao is certainly not a common pairing, but I see them as a good match because of Xiao Qiao's light attitude as it contrasts to Lu Meng (who I consider a bit of a sour grape). I hope that when I reach that part of the story, you are pleased with the way I approach the pairing of the two Qiaos with their respective partners.

A note for Crimson Jester: Thank you for the compliments and details on the departing scene. I'm glad it came across realistically for you.

A note for Burg: Thank you again. It's always nice to hear that the characters are believable. Apologies for the long wait on this chapter.

A note for Dragon Scales 13: True, parents can be difficult – and Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's parents still have a fair amount of trouble to offer. Thank you for the review.

A note for Chinzty: Thank you again for your review – I have read 'Moonlight Madness'. Thank you for your suggestion.

A note for Winds of Eternity: Thank you once again for the encouraging review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last ones, and my apologies for how long it took me to update again.

A note for Sage Serenity: I also think Zhou Yu and Sun Ce are a nice fit, and am so honored to hear my story has increased your appreciation for them as a pairing. It's also good to hear Zhou Yu's character is not unbelievable. Thank you again for your review.

A note for Crazy Insanity: There is certainly nothing wrong with "huge clumps of review gibberish," but I am pleased that the story is not awkward or uncomfortable to read. I hope you enjoyed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and this chapter as well.

A note for Shen Xia: How was this chapter? Sorry for the lengthy time away from updating, but I hope it was worth it.