Comforts of a Man
Everyday Xiao would go down to his grave and lay a flower on it. She would wear dull grays and blacks, a dramatic change from her old wardrobe of bright colors. Xiao was still in denial though, she found it hard to believe that HE had been alive and written a note to her only a moon ago.
Sun Ce also took his death hard but then he had Da to comfort him. Xiao had no one. Or that was what she had thought at first. Gan Ning had proved to be amazingly sympathetic over the last few weeks. He spoke kind words to her and was there for her; things that Xiao had longed to have from her late husband. He would go with her to visit the Grave. At first Xiao had pushed him away because she had wanted to be alone but later on it was because she liked his presence far more than she thought she should.
Yes Gan was older but then had had Zhou Yu. Gan was shorter and closer to her own height a fact Xiao liked because it made it easier to kiss him. Whenever Xiao compared Gan to Zhou Yu she found that Gan had many qualities that he let her know about him; not like Zhou Yu who had always been so private and closed up. However in the back of her mind Xiao knew that the comparison was fair. Few people really knew who Zhou Yu was and she wasn't one of them so she had no real right to compare them anyway. It was just that over the last month she had grown closer to a man then she had with another man over 3 years. Gan Ning would give her poetry, hold her tenderly, kiss her, treated her like a woman instead of a girl. All of them things that Zhou Yu never did even though Xiao had wanted them so much.
Da was torn. She was happy that her sister had found a man that made her happy but then Da knew that Xiao was happy just when Zhou Yu had been around. And now only a month after… Da felt that it was simply too fast and really something that Xiao would go on to regret. Once Da had tried to voice her concern to her sister but Xiao had become angry at Da and the conversation had turned into a full-fledged fight, something that hadn't happened between the two for several years.
Xiao had been angry at Da after that fight but she also felt bad. Da had valid points as always but Xiao refused to listen to her advice for once. It was her life and she would run it her own way. Still memories haunted her. Her scrap book, Da, the Grave out under her favorite tree, it all filled her with guilt but whenever she was in Gan Ning's strong tattooed arms kissing his lips she would forget about all that.
Like right now as she lay by his side and stared up at the moon. He made her feel wanted and safe. Unexpectedly as she dreamily gazed at the moon she felt very uneasy for once while in Gan's presence. Maybe it was the moon or her slight guilt of the lust that was finally being fulfilled but something made her feel uneasy. Just as swiftly as it had come it went leaving Xiao feeling increasingly guilty and confused.
Far off in a small village on the fringes of the Wu controlled Nannam territory a man stood on a small hill looking up at the moon. A gust of wind blew his long hair and his red and white outfit. His 8 companions all waited patiently for him to come down off the hill and start the night's march. Many including himself still had their wounds and so the pace was slow but they all trudged on. They had wives and sweethearts to get back too and they all had been away too long…
A/N: I'm sorry for it being short but I believe I'm about to get flamed nice and crispy. Don't worry you die hard fans of Xiao Qiao/Zhou Yu; I'm with you. I'd hunt myself down and hurt myself but then I wouldn't get to finish this. The R will definitely be in the next chapter as that will be longer and involve a very naughty Xiao and some violence.
Also updates will be only on weekends since I'm swamped with regular school homework and AP Biology and Statistics on top of that. I'll try to update sooner but no promises.