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 11

Zhou Yu paused at the end of this story, and Chen Hao adjusted his back against the wooden side of the wagon, which was growing uncomfortable after sitting against it for so long. The wooden planks were splintered and rough, and Chen Hao could feel remnants of the peeling wood catch on his clothing as he shifted. He wondered absently how long they'd been in the wagon. It had been late afternoon when they left the battlefield, but they were certainly into the thick of night now. Chen Hao knew it was a long way to Han Ni Castle, having walked from it himself the day before – it would probably be at least dawn before they arrived, and that only if they made good time. Chen Hao wondered if Zhou Yu would even live to see Sun Quan and the others who'd stayed behind at the palace, the two Qiaos among them.

"Lord Lu Guo was a fair warrior, it's true – but his greatest contribution to Sun Jian and his empire would be the addition of his son, Meng, to our army a few years later." Chen Hao shook his thoughts away as Zhou Yu began speaking. "Meng was two years younger than Ce and I, but no less talented, and he was sour to the core. Still is, come to think of it," Zhou Yu mused, eyes shifting to the ceiling. "I have never met a more pessimistic man. Even as a boy, he had a decidedly gloomy outlook on life that went even beyond my cynical realism. I'm not sure why, but Meng chose to see the bad in everything, a fact he and Sun Ce quarreled over often when they were becoming acquainted."

Chen Hao started as the names suddenly clicked in his head. "Lu Meng? Are you talking about Lord Lu Meng?"

"Indeed." Zhou Yu nodded vaguely in confirmation. "But we always just called him Meng, because his father was Lord Lu."

"I didn't know Lu Meng served the Sun family as a child." Chen Hao had always been under the impression that Lu Meng was one of the generals who joined Wu later in the three kingdoms' timeline. Zhou Yu closed his eyes and held back a shiver.

"He didn't. Meng didn't join our army until he turned eighteen, a few months after Sun Jian's death at the hands of Huang Zu. But because his father was so active in Sun Jian's campaign, he spent a good deal of time around the palace even before he formally offered his services to Sun Ce in light of his father's distant promise. We did not immediately take to each other – it took some time before the roles of power and seniority were established – but eventually Sun Ce and I came to an understanding with Lu Meng. Now, I would count him as one of my best officers, although all of them are—" He broke off with a sharp cough and blinked a moment before finishing. "Very talented of course."

Chen Hao wanted to urge the general to rest for a moment, but the increased pace of Zhou Yu's words told him the suggestion would simply be ignored. Zhou Yu seemed to sense his condition worsening, and he hurried on with the story after a painful swallow.

"As you can tell, Sun Ce and I were starting to be less discreet in our conduct toward one another. In the first months of being together, we had been careful to never so much as hint at the possibility of anything more than close friendship between the two of us, going so far as to use our first names only when we were alone. Eventually, that passed into common use, but it wasn't until around Sun Quan's ninth birthday – a few weeks before New Year – that we began losing the edge of caution we'd been maintaining.

"Neither of us wanted to have to face Sun Jian – or anyone else, for that matter – concerning our relationship, but with time the potent fear of getting caught faded and practically disappeared. Winter came late to Jiang Dong, and there was little snow as compared to what I remembered from Shucheng, but the cold kept us inside for a few months – and during those months, Ce and I narrowly avoided being stumbled upon many times. Sun Ce, in particular, seemed to have forgotten that our relationship was a secret, and I can't even count the number of incidents that nearly led to our discovery.

"There was one time, in particular, when I recall thinking everything was over. Sun Ce and I had been…" He paused and staggered over the words for a moment. "…kissing in one of the storerooms, and Lady Wu appeared in the doorway with a lantern and stared right at us for a moment. Ce and I both thought that was it, and I leapt away from him, but his mother only gave us a smile and a greeting before going on her way, and never mentioned it to anyone." He shook his head in bewilderment. "I'm not sure she even understood what had happened. Lady Wu was… not the most forthcoming woman I have ever met."

Chen Hao blinked a little at the assessment, and Zhou Yu contemplated him with a smothered glare for a moment. Chen Hao merely stared back. He assumed the general was embarrassed about this particular portion of the story – he himself was probably somewhat red in the face – but he could see the words riding in Zhou Yu's eyes, and they needed to be said. Chen Hao tapped his fingertips against his knees and shifted his back again. He would do his best not to say anything, and then perhaps Zhou Yu could pretend no one was actually hearing his story.

Zhou Yu's voice reentered the wagon, and Chen Hao's eyes followed the movements of the general's pale lips. "Somehow, despite our less than cautious behavior, we managed to avoid discovery all through the winter. I'm amazed sometimes that no one seemed to suspect anything – Sun Ce was often far more tactile with me than he ought to have been, and my unfortunate lack of restraint coupled with his impulsiveness led to compromising situations for us throughout Sun Jian's palace. But somehow, remarkably, nothing irrevocable happened." He sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead. "Until late spring."

"Southern China, and with it Jiang Dong, is prone to typhoons from spring until autumn, and it is often miserably wet. On one such occasion, I was standing outside on the roofed corridor and watching the rain."

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Spring had come earlier here than in Shucheng – and it had come much wetter, too. Zhou Yu closed his eyes as the wind blew a mist of water into his face, feeling the drops collect and trickle down his cool skin. It had rained every day that week, and the week before – Sun Ce was getting tired of it, and complained loudly and often about the influx of water spoiling his fun. But today, Zhou Yu couldn't help being mesmerized by the storm.

And so he stood under the roof of the covered walkway, a few feet back from where the rain came down in torrents and splattered against the mud and weak grass sprouting beside the palace's foundation. The stairs a short distance ahead caught the water in uneven fissures and held it tight within the stone, forming pools and crystal mirrors all over the well-worn flight of steps. Puddles were slowly beginning to show in the ground of the garden, and Zhou Yu watched the spinning water with glazed eyes. A vicious gust of air swept rain into the walkway and sprayed the youth, but he hardly blinked.

Zhou Yu was lost today. Not lonely, or depressed, or homesick, or anything like that – just lost. He decided that was all right so long as he found his way back eventually. Everyone probably got lost from time to time. He stared at the currents of wind drifting between the sheets of rain and sighed.

Zhou Yu walked forward and stuck his arm out into full range of the crying sky. The rain was different here than back in Shucheng. He wasn't sure quite why he felt that way. It was warmer, certainly, and came down faster – but that wasn't it. There was just something different about it. Maybe because the clouds above drew on the ocean for the water they heaved through the muggy air – or maybe because the ground didn't swallow every last drop of the moisture and yet call for more, as it did up north. The drops fell thick across his arm and painted lines down his skin as they fell onto the stone floor. Or maybe there wasn't anything different about the rain at all; maybe it was just him.

He sighed again and twitched his sore fingers under the downpour of water. Yesterday's training had been hard – despite the wet and perpetual rainfall, Huang Gai had trained him and Sun Ce for several hours. The hard veteran had dragged them both out of their comfortable reading – well, he'd been reading… Ce had been talking – and onto the practice field because, as he put it, they'd both been relaxing far too much recently. He'd asked a few of Sun Jian's guardsmen to practice with them – and though both he and Sun Ce had beaten the various guards, the fights had not been easy. His hand was covered in bruises from a particularly strong strike to his wrist, and he watched the water slipping across the discolored skin with dispassion.

Zhou Yu was improving, and he knew it. Beating the soldiers was becoming easier now, and as the weeks wore on, the sword in his hand had started to become part of him rather than a metal tool – he could move it skillfully without conscious thought. Strikes and blocks were becoming automatic – foot movement turning into common sense. He was becoming a warrior instead of just a boy with a foolish weapon in his hands. It was a strange feeling. It felt kind of like iron inside of him – and every time his sword became faster, the iron spread a little. In the beginning, he had wondered what the feeling was. But now he knew. It was the only way to survive as a warrior – detachment.

The rain skimmed down his arm and slipped beneath his long sleeve as he frowned. Well, not the only way. Sun Ce was certainly a long way from detached, but he was excelling as a warrior too. Zhou Yu could hardly keep track of his progress, as they didn't spar so much anymore – there were so many other targets to practice on – but every time they did fight, Zhou Yu was shocked yet again by how much Sun Ce had improved. And, in turn, by how much he himself had moved forward.

Zhou Yu let his hands fall down onto the cold, damp railing as the thoughts filtered through his head. He and Sun Ce were still even in their abilities, and traded the victory in their battles almost every time. It kept them both working hard – coming up with new attacks and combinations to defeat each other. Zhou Yu doubted he'd be half as interested in sharpening his skills if he didn't have Sun Ce to face off against.

"Sun Ce…" The name drifted from his cold lips unbidden, and his upturned face caught the spray of another gust of wind. His eyes, dark and clear, stared moodily up at the sky. The rain leaned down and swallowed his words, brushing his exposed skin thoughtfully before retreating back into its shower.

"Yeah?" Zhou Yu jumped and spun around to see Sun Ce standing behind him, eyebrow cocked in question. Sun Ce's arms were folded across his chest, and the red ribbon dangling from his hair danced in the moist breeze. He smiled at the startled look on his friend's face. "What is it?"

Zhou Yu's mouth opened silently, and he watched Sun Ce a moment before facing back into the storm. "…Nothing." He wondered how long the boy had been standing behind him, and mentally berated himself for not noticing. Where were his fighter's instincts? If Sun Ce had been an enemy, he'd have a halberd or two through his back by now.

But Sun Ce was not an enemy, and he walked to stand beside his musing companion without jamming any weapons through the pale skin. The energetic boy sighed and slumped over the railing beside Zhou Yu's still hands, making a face at the oncoming rain.

"Rain, rain, go away…" he muttered. Zhou Yu looked down at him mildly. "I don't really like the rain," Sun Ce told him.

Zhou Yu snorted. "So I've noticed." He turned back to the misty water and watched it a moment before speaking. "…I do."

Sun Ce looked up at him curiously. "Yeah, I know. You've been out here for hours. What are you looking at, anyway?"

Had it really been that long? Zhou Yu had lost track of time in the wake of the endless water. "Nothing," he said again, and Sun Ce sighed.

"It wouldn't kill you to give me a straight answer sometimes, you know." His voice lilted easily over the wet walkway. Zhou Yu remained silent, gaze focused on the back of Sun Ce's head and the ribbon trickling down his neck.

After a moment, Sun Ce stretched and stood up fully. He began unbuttoning his silken shirt, and Zhou Yu looked at him in confusion. "What are you doing?" he asked as Sun Ce finished with the shirt and started on his boots.

"There's only one worthwhile thing about the rain," Sun Ce answered decisively, bundling his clothes up and dropping them against the far wall. "But this is a good shirt, and someone will be angry if I ruin it." Zhou Yu's eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing?" he asked again, and Sun Ce smiled. The ribbon against his bare skin made a striking contrast.

"Jumping in the puddles," he answered simply, and then he had run down the far steps and into the garden. He reappeared beneath the railing a few moments later, and Zhou Yu watched as his bare toes slid through the mud and the rain poured across his open chest. Sun Ce was laughing and stomping on the puddles with a vengeance, and Zhou Yu rolled his eyes.

"How old are you, five?" he accused, but Sun Ce ignored him, giving the puddle another good hard trample before waving encouragingly at Zhou Yu's severely unamused form.

"Come on, Yu!" Zhou Yu scoffed.

"Not a chance in hell," he answered forcefully, and Sun Ce shrugged.

"Suit yourself," he singsonged. "It's fun, though."

"You're ruining your pants," Zhou Yu admonished, watching the mud stain the red cloth vengefully. Sun Ce gave the puddle a particularly harsh pounce in response.

"Yeah, well, there's nothing for it. I didn't want to do this naked." Sun Ce lifted his feet high and slammed them into the water merrily.

Zhou Yu decided not to respond to that, and his eyes strayed from Sun Ce's cheerful activities to the blotchy skin of his hands again. His fingers clenched around the railing, and he watched the way the movement tightened his muscles and pulsed the blue veins out. I must be in a weird mood today, he decided, listening in a background way to the splashing of Sun Ce as he stared at the damaged tissue. I can't stop thinking about these bruises. I can't stop thinking about fighting. I can't stop thinking at all.

"Yu! Hey, Yu!" A sudden tug on his arm distracted him, and he looked into the smiling eyes of Sun Ce, who had taken a soppy hold of his sleeve and was pulling insistently.

Zhou Yu jerked his arm away. "Don't touch me," he demanded. "You're soaking wet."

"I'm not that wet," Sun Ce protested. Zhou Yu scowled at him beneath the fringe of his bangs.

"Yes, you are," he snapped. "Look – you're dripping all over the place." Pools of water were forming at Sun Ce's feet and spreading across the cold stone floor, and Zhou Yu wrinkled his nose at the muddy water leaking onto his shoes. Sun Ce rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he allowed. "If you want to be in a bad mood, that's your business. Just come here – I want to show you something."

With that, Sun Ce dragged his unwilling companion down the length of the walkway until they stood just at the edge of the stairs, rogue raindrops misting them as they stared out into the dark sky. Zhou Yu grumbled beneath his breath, but Sun Ce's words cut him off.

"See?" Sun Ce was pointing to the clouds above – or rather, to the rainbows. There were two of them, one arching just over the other, and they formed a colorful cascade through the thunder sky and down into the green of the garden. Lightning flashing somewhere lit up Sun Ce's expression. "Isn't that cool?"

Zhou Yu nodded, eyes pinned to the sky. Sun Ce took advantage of his distraction to slip one drenched elbow through Zhou Yu's arm, and smiled at the drips running down his damp skin and falling onto Zhou Yu's pristine silk jacket. His ponytail flopped against his bare back as he scratched his neck.

"Rainbows are supposed to be lucky," he announced with a grin. Zhou Yu looked down to meet the eyes of the boy just barely shorter than he was, and then looked back to the sky. The rainbows seemed to sparkle from their position high above the showered palace.

"Especially if…" Zhou Yu cut himself off abruptly, deciding halfway through his sentence that it wasn't actually worth finishing. Sun Ce's eyes echoed curiosity as he pulled on the sleeve of the young strategist's jacket with his insistent fingers.

"Especially if what?"

Zhou Yu didn't answer. He was not a sap – there was no need to go around saying things that sounded like they could have come from books of love poetry. It was just a common superstition anyway.

But Sun Ce didn't seem to like his silence. "Yu?" he prompted, taking hold of Zhou Yu's hand. Zhou Yu nearly gasped at the cold fingers on his skin.

"You're freezing," he hissed, gritting his teeth against the icicles pressed into his skin. A memory of Sun Ce's illness the winter before flashed through his mind, and Zhou Yu slipped the jacket off of his shoulders and dropped it around Sun Ce, hoping the slight fabric could keep him warmer than bare skin. Sun Ce scowled at this continued avoidance of the question, but he pulled the jacket on anyway.

"Especially if what?" he prompted, grasping the front of Zhou Yu's second shirt in his hands. "Come on – tell me!"

Zhou Yu sighed, giving up. Sun Ce was frustratingly persistent when he dug his heels in. "Especially if you see them with the person you love," he answered flatly, eyes defiantly ignoring Sun Ce's gaze. "But it's just a superstition." More than that, he decided, it was just a line for men with bad intentions to use on whatever pretty girl they happened to be spending a rainstorm with. He wondered how many innocent women had been taken in by that overused phrase.

"Oh." Sun Ce's voice sounded distant and thoughtful. Zhou Yu kept his eyes stubbornly pinned on the sky. He didn't look back down at the other boy until cold hands reached up to grasp his shoulders, and then he was met with a dazzling smile. Sun Ce wound his fingers into the fabric of Zhou Yu's shirt and moved forward until he was right up against his companion.

"Then… kissing the person you love under a rainbow has to be super lucky, right?" he quipped. Zhou Yu balked at Sun Ce's impossibly pleased expression.

They were standing on the walkway. Anyone could come up and see them. Granted, it was raining, and most people preferred to stay inside where it was dry – but that didn't change the fact that they were in plain sight of anyone who should choose to step outside. "Ce—" he protested, but Sun Ce wasn't taking no for an answer, and he leaned up to press his lips against Zhou Yu's despite the protest.

Sun Ce's lips were as cold as his skin, but Zhou Yu found his arms moving around the boy's back automatically, and he couldn't seem to stop himself from returning the kiss in spite of his misgivings. Without intention, the worried feeling in his gut faded as Sun Ce deepened the stolen kiss and wound his arms fully around Zhou Yu's neck.

It was raining. It was cold. But Sun Ce's skin was warming under his hands, and – for the moment anyway – that was all he could feel. Sun Ce was always warm. His words, his smile, his laughter – he chased the rain out of Zhou Yu's eyes no matter how many times it spattered a frown across his face. Perhaps that was why Zhou Yu was content to follow him always – even now, when his mind told him to pull away but his fingers refused. If Zhou Yu was thunder, then Sun Ce was lightning – and he knew which of those followed the other.

"Oh. My. God."

The soft, startled voice ripped Zhou Yu out of his thoughts and tore him away from Sun Ce so fast that the breath rushing into his lungs nearly choked him. Sun Ce's face echoed the surprise Zhou Yu felt spreading across his, along with a stitch of mortification and a very dumbfounded expression. Their reactions were not to be outdone by the open-mouthed shock easily visible on Shang Xiang's pretty face, and Zhou Yu had a hard time telling for a moment which of the three of them was most embarrassed.

Silence descended on the walkway for a split second, and then Shang Xiang began to talk very fast. "Oh my god," she exclaimed, taking a step back and slapping her hands over her mouth. "Oh my god, I… I'm sorry, I… I was just… the garden…"

Sun Ce stepped toward her, but she flinched as his unbuttoned jacket came into full view. The youth looked down at himself, and then gave a short laugh as he ran a hand through his soaked hair. "Uh…" There was that laugh again – that awkward, stalling laugh. "I was… uh… playing in the puddles, and—"

"Ahh!" Shang Xiang cut him off with a scream, pointing a delicate finger at the two of them. Sun Ce halted in his wet tracks. Shang Xiang shook her head and met Zhou Yu's eyes with a wide stare as she cried, "You – you two were—"

She broke off for a moment, then gave another shake of her head as she moved slowly back. "Oh my god, I… I never thought…" Zhou Yu was sure every drop of blood in his body had rushed to his face by now. Sun Ce was blushing a little, and Shang Xiang's countenance had gone an interesting shade of white. "I'm shocked… I… I didn't know you two were—"

Sun Ce raised his hands in a gesture of placation and spoke quickly. "Hang on Shang Xiang – calm down, okay? It's not a big deal, or anything—"

"What do you mean it's not a big deal?!" Shang Xiang shrieked. "It's an enormous deal! It's the biggest deal there's ever been! I can't even…" She broke off and shook her head again in disbelief.

Zhou Yu's back had gone completely rigid like a shaft of wood. His shoulders were so tense he thought they might just snap as Sun Ce bit his lip and laughed again. "Okay – so maybe it is a big deal. But you don't have to be upset or anything—"

"N-no, no – I'm not upset," Shang Xiang stuttered, taking a few more steps back. She looked between them, eyes still enormous. "I-I'm just completely shocked, that's all. I mean… it's your life, and all that, and so long as it's—" She stopped and looked between them again before taking another step back. "Scratch that. It's definitely mutual."

Zhou Yu felt the blood draining out of his face. He wanted to just die and get it over with now – between Sun Jian's sword and Shang Xiang's chakram, he'd take suicide any day. Sun Ce had advanced a few more steps, but Shang Xiang mirrored him and continued to back away.

"Come on, Shang," Sun Ce soothed. "Don't get so worked up. I mean, after all… uh…" His words skittered to a stop as Shang Xiang gave another cry and darted back down the walkway, disappearing moments later behind the door at the end of the corridor. Sun Ce stopped walking and sighed, turning back to Zhou Yu and giving him an encouraging smile before collecting his clothes from the ground. "I'll go talk to her," he promised.

Zhou Yu still couldn't summon the dignity to move, but he managed to get his mouth open. "Put your shirt on first," he suggested gruffly, turning back to watch the rain and feeling the flames of mortification still licking at his cheeks. He heard Sun Ce mutter something, and then the sound of rustling cloth echoing down the walkway behind him. Zhou Yu scowled at the brilliant rainbows. It was their fault, after all.

Without warning, he felt the pressure of Sun Ce's cool lips on his again. Sun Ce pulled back from the kiss after a moment and gave him another grin. "Thanks for all the good luck," he whispered before scampering down the hallway. He turned back at the end long enough to call "Looks like I'm going to need it!" before vanishing through the door after his traumatized sister.

Zhou Yu raised his hand to his mouth and stood silently beside the rain-washed railing for a moment, staring after the echoing footsteps Sun Ce had left behind. Then he sighed and dropped his head into his hands. He had been right that kissing on the walkway was a bad idea. But somehow, the thought of being able to tell Sun Ce I told you so wasn't making him feel any better.

.x.

The weather in Jiang Dong was downright fickle, Zhou Yu decided as he gazed up at the cloudless sky the next morning. The heavens above were void of any trace of the resounding storm from the day before – he wondered how the weather could change so quickly. In Shucheng, the rainy season stayed wet and the winter stayed cold – and occasionally, somewhere in between, things would clear up for a few weeks. But on the whole, weather was predictable up north. Zhou Yu snorted as he nudged the dirt with his toe. Even the ground was completely dry – it was as though yesterday's rainstorm had never happened at all.

But it had, of course. There was certainly no denying that. Zhou Yu groaned aloud at the memory of Shang Xiang's shocked face and her flight back into the palace. Zhou Yu hadn't seen Sun Ce at all since he'd gone running after his sister, and the young strategist couldn't decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing. He wasn't sure he'd be able to look at the other boy for a good week.

With a heavy sigh, Zhou Yu moved a little way into the glorious garden and sat down in the shade of a large tree. The grass felt nice and smooth beneath his hands, and he closed his eyes to the sun leaking through the leaves above. The breeze brushed his face and tangled in his hair, and he willed his worries about Shang Xiang away in light of the beautiful morning. Might as well enjoy it while it lasted. One thing to be said for the Sun family's gardens – they were even more exquisite and extensive than the ones his family had maintained.

Everything here was like that – bigger, brighter, and more expensive. The money the Sun family must have stockpiled somewhere was astonishing if one actually stopped to think about it. With all the soldiers, dignitaries, and servants pulling a salary at their expense, added to the cost of feeding and housing all of those people – not to mention military spending and banquets and…

"May I… may I join you?"

Speaking of the Sun family… Zhou Yu's eyes flickered open against the sunlight and stared up into the amber eyes and sheepish smile of the Sun lord's daughter. She was leaning over and peering down at him, hands joined behind her back and hair falling casually around her shoulders. Zhou Yu sat up quickly, back straight and eyes wide, and got a splinter in his finger for his haste. It stung, but he ignored it, attention focused solely on the girl beside him. Shang Xiang jumped a little at his sudden movement and backed up a pace before relaxing her shoulders and rubbing her neck self-consciously. Zhou Yu sat in silence for a moment before realizing he still hadn't answered her question.

"Of – of course…" He trailed off uncertainly, and Shang Xiang smiled again lightly as she sat beside him and wrapped her arms around her knees. Zhou Yu watched her face closely – her ceramic smile, her tight fingers, and her uneasy eyes as she stared into the trees before them. After a moment of tense silence, she turned to face him and sighed.

"Look – this isn't going to get any easier the longer I wait to say it, so…" She took a deep breath, and Zhou Yu unconsciously did the same. "…So I guess I'll just say it. Ce talked to me last night – you know, about… um… the two of you – and… and…" She broke off, and Zhou Yu waited rigidly for the rest of the sentence. After a moment, Shang Xiang sighed and slumped out of her edgy position, apprehensive smile falling back to reveal a truer, if shyer, expression. "And I'm okay with it. No, really!" she insisted as Zhou Yu gave her a disbelieving look. "I'm sorry if I came off kind of… um… upset yesterday, but I was just shocked, that's all. I mean…" She gave him a cheeky smile. "That's a hell of a way to find out you two are together."

Zhou Yu nearly choked on the breath in his lungs and let out a slight cough. Shang Xiang giggled a little at his uncomfortable expression and leaned back on her hands, staring at the leafy foliage above them.

"I've had some time to think about it, you know? And I decided… I decided that it's a good thing. No one's ever going to be closer to Ce than you are, and no one's ever going to know him better than you do, and… well, I guess I'm just happy for you two, that's all."

Zhou Yu slowly let go of the breath he'd been holding, but his shoulders stayed tightly tensed. Even if Shang Xiang wasn't mad, the situation was still very awkward, and he wasn't exactly sure how to deal with it.

Shang Xiang laughed a little and ran a hand through her hair. "But it does mean I'm down one marriage candidate."

Zhou Yu did choke this time, and his face went white. "What?" Shang Xiang gave him a flat look.

"Well, someday I'm probably going to have to marry someone – and I figured that when Father brought the matter up, I'd suggest you. I mean, I already know you, so I'd know we'd get along – and you're certainly handsome enough and all that. And you seem to be a good warrior, and pretty bright."

Zhou Yu sincerely did not want to hear these things from Sun Ce's little sister. His face must have shown it, because Shang Xiang laughed again. "You don't have to look like that," she encouraged, patting his arm. "I wasn't planning to fall in love with you or anything. You know you're like a brother to me. It would just be so that I didn't have to marry some awful old guy in the name of politics." She looked at him thoughtfully. "I don't really think you're my type, anyway. Although I did have a crush on you when I was a little girl. But that's all out the window now, in any case."

Where was all of this coming from? Zhou Yu felt heat rising into his cheeks again. He couldn't even think of anything to say in return, which only made Shang Xiang giggle harder. She leaned forward and put a hand on his knee, and he jumped about a foot in the air.

"Besides," she whispered conspiratorially. "I think you and Ce are cute together." Zhou Yu's flushed face adopted a firm scowl, and his eyes darkened. Cute. He hated that word. Shang Xiang dropped her head to the side and bit her lip, but she was smiling.

"Nothing to say, huh?" she teased. "Ce said you'd probably be like that. Well… I guess that's all I had to say." She was up on her feet in an instant, and took two steps toward the palace before she paused and turned back. "Oh… I almost forgot something." Shang Xiang faced the tree behind him and, with one swift motion, kicked a large bough completely off. It crashed to the ground a few inches from Zhou Yu, who leapt to his feet and stared open-mouthed at the smiling girl in front of him.

"Break his heart and I break your skull," she added cheerfully. Then she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Welcome to the family!" she called, waving as she ran for the palace. In a moment, she was gone, disappearing into the intervening trees and the shadows of the warm morning sun.

Zhou Yu stood frozen in a daze for a moment, then shook his head and walked grimly toward the palace. If that was what it meant to be part of the family… but it was too late to reconsider. Not that there'd been a whole lot of 'considering' in the first place. If he'd been in charge of things, he would have thought it over a little more. But of course love didn't work that way.

As he entered the long, cool hall leading to his room, he was ambushed by a shadowy, grinning figure that leapt at him and caught his arm. "See!" Sun Ce crowed triumphantly. "I told you I'd talk to her. Everything's a-okay!"

Zhou Yu thought back to their conversation in the garden and grumbled. A-okay was not the phrase he would have chosen. Sure, Shang Xiang wasn't mad, and that was a victory, but Zhou Yu was nonetheless mildly concerned about her behavior toward him. Besides which, he was still embarrassed about her catching them in the first place. He vowed silently never to let Sun Ce drag him into that kind of behavior in a public place again.

Sun Ce rolled his excited eyes at his scowling comrade. "Oh, don't be like that. It's kind of funny, looking back on it. Your face was like a tomato." He snorted in amusement, and Zhou Yu shook him off and stalked down the hall toward his room. Funny? Hell no.

Sun Ce took a few running steps and caught up with him, grabbing his sleeve again and pulling him to a halt. "Hey! Come on, Yu…" He tugged on his companion's sleeve again. "I fixed it, didn't I? She's okay with it. Everything's all right."

"Ce… that's not the point," Zhou Yu sighed, turning to face the other boy. "The point is that it was a very compromising situation, and I am mortified to have to admit that it happened, regardless of the consequences." Sun Ce shook his head slowly.

"You're so uptight," he remarked, slipping his arms around Zhou Yu's waist. He smiled and tipped his head to one side. "These things happen, Yu. But it's okay – we deal with it, and then laugh about it later. That's the only way to live. You can't dwell on it."

Zhou Yu most certainly could dwell on it. And he intended to, just as soon as he got somewhere alone. He tried to pull away, but Sun Ce held on tightly and looked up at him with a determined frown.

"It's all okay," he said again. "Shang Xiang's on our side now. Nothing bad happened. So you don't have anything to be worried about, right?" Zhou Yu brushed his hair out of his face and rolled his eyes.

"Just because Shang Xiang wasn't angry doesn't mean no one else will be," he reminded Sun Ce, thoughts focusing particularly on Sun Jian. "And I'm annoyed with you for kissing me in the first place," he added, voice dropping to a mutter.

Sun Ce made a face at him, tightening his grip in the young strategist's robe. "You didn't seem very annoyed at the time," he pointed out. "You were kissing me right back."

Zhou Yu felt himself reddening for what must have been the thousandth time in two days. "Don't say things like that," he chastised, glancing in both directions down the quiet hallway. "Especially not out here."

Sun Ce scoffed. "There's no one around. You're just paranoid, that's all."

"As I ought to be, after yesterday," Zhou Yu shot back. Sun Ce shrugged.

"Shang Xiang agreed to keep her mouth shut. I don't really see yesterday as a tragedy." He gave Zhou Yu a little shake and his face brightened again. "So cheer up." His smile was almost irresistible as he closed his eyes and leaned up for a kiss.

Almost. Zhou Yu put his palm up to block his face, and Sun Ce's nose met it head on. He yelped a little in surprise at the hand now covering his face and took a step back.

"What was that for?" Sun Ce asked, rubbing his nose indignantly. Zhou Yu frowned and dropped his hand.

"Not in the hallway." His voice left no room for argument as he turned and headed back down the corridor. Sun Ce groaned and chased after him, but when he caught up with his fleeing companion he gave the other boy a smile, indignation forgotten as he wrapped himself around one arm.

"Okay, if you insist," he conceded. Then he caught Zhou Yu's stormy gaze with his own and winked. "How about your room?"

Zhou Yu coughed and turned his attention back to the corridor ahead of them. "I have work to do," he grumbled, and the Sun heir laughed.

"Then I'll help you," he offered, his eyes impishly bright. Zhou Yu remembered the last time Sun Ce decided to help – he hadn't gotten anything done all afternoon. But as he closed the door to the bedroom behind them and Sun Ce slung his arms around his neck, he couldn't quite bring himself to care.

End Chapter 12

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Well… another quick update. This story hasn't quite recovered from its hiatus, I think… or perhaps people just lost interest in reading it. Either way, I said I'd finish it so I will. Hopefully, everyone liked this chapter as well.

A note for Sage Serenity: I will do my best to reintroduce the 'perfectionist' idea at a later time. Most of the training stuff for Zhou Yu is still coming up – he and Sun Ce have their first real battle not so long from now – but I tried to put a little more discussion of his skills into this chapter. How did I do? Your reviews are always appreciated.

A note for Crazy Insanity: Rambling or not, reviews of any length are welcome. I enjoy your detailed feedback. Jia wasn't going to play another part in this story - but since he got so important without meaning to, I've found a way of reintroducing him at a later time. Sun Ce's stubbornness is cute from this side… I'll imagine Zhou Yu doesn't feel that way, but that's just how the fortune cookie crumbles. As always, your comments are much appreciated – I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.