Disclaimer- As before... always as before...
A/N- I return! It's been over a week since I updated... whoops! I know this chapter isn't incredibly long but I didn't want to put too much into it. Gotta save some for the next chapter:) I'm glad everyone liked the last chapter! I loved all of your reviews- thank you! Now here's Chapter 10 for you... enjoy!
Chapter 10- Apologies and Arguments
"Don't say ANYTHING Sun Ce."
"But-"
"Not. One. Single. Word."
Zhou Yu silently drank his morning tea wile avoiding eye contact with everyone else at the table. He was embarrassed enough- he had been found and 'rescued', half naked, by Gan Ning and Lu Meng, who had laughed their asses off for a full two minutes before offering to help him out! They had to pinch themselves just to make sure that it was definitely the Wu strategist who was being cornered by his horse, and for once it was Ning telling Zhou Yu about the dangers of drinking too much alcohol. Fortunately Yu couldn't remember all of the things he had done the previous night, but Meng had told him it wasn't pretty…
"Zhou Yu?"
Yu turned his head to his wife who was smiling sweetly at him. He now knew not to trust that sweet smile as he had been told about her little 'plan' and how it had worked. He had made a complete fool out of himself in front of the whole of Wu- his reputation as a strategist was now tarnished and ruined, and it was all Xiao's doing…
"Yes my wife?" he replied monotonously.
"I'm really sorry about yesterday!" she said innocently. "I didn't mean for it to go so badly! All I wanted was for you to have fun, and you did!"
Zhou Yu put his cup on the table. "Did I? Did I really?" He chuckled quite sarcastically. "Do you think making a complete idiot of me is fun? I can't even REMEMBER if I had fun! I probably drank more than, I don't know, Gan Ning, and he drinks a lot!" He quickly glanced at the ex-pirate. "No offence Ning."
"None taken Party Boy!" was Ning's hearty response.
"I try and maintain my good reputation and now how do you think I look?" he continued. "How do you think this reflects on Wu?"
"I'm sorry…" Xiao whimpered. "I didn't mean it…"
"No you didn't, and I guess you didn't even consider the consequences. It's not right to make others drink, especially when they don't normally drink and it's in public."
"ZHOU YU!"
Yu turned to face his sister-in-law. "Yes Da?"
"Stop it! You're making Xiao cry! She said she's sorry- just accept her apology!"
Zhou Yu sighed. "Alright then… Xiao, I accept your apology. Let's never speak of this again- I'd rather forget it." He looked at all of the others. "That goes for all of you."
Silence followed as all of the generals looked at each other, their awkward smiles suppressing the laughter they were trying to keep in. Xiao was hugging her husband tight- it was her way of saying sorry. She also did 'apology dinners' and 'dances of forgiveness' and she was already planning on doing those for Yu! She was just so happy that she had been forgiven. After a minute of quiet eating Taishi Ci broke the silence. "Overall it was a good party wasn't it?"
"Oh yes, I definitely agree!" said Sun Jian from the head of the table. "I think everyone enjoyed themselves, even if they were hiding…" He looked at Sun Shang Xiang who noticed he was talking about her and blushed a light shade of red. "At least you came out in the end, that's what matters."
"Gan Ning had to drag her out though!" Lu Xun added. "I think he tempted her with the fireworks! Everyone loves fireworks…"
Lu Meng 'coughed'. "Correction, Xun! Everyone likes fireworks; YOU love them. Just like Huang Gai loves bombs, Ning loves boats, and Zhou Yu loves…"
"Alcohol!" called out Ning.
"Parties and singing!" shouted out Ce.
"Me!" was the response from a cheery Xiao.
"But it was hardly my fault that I was hiding," said Shang Xiang. "I wouldn't have hid away if it weren't for some people's comments…"
Sun Ce grinned. "About those… I'm sorry about yesterday sis!"
"I'm sure you are…"
Shang Xiang merely glanced at her elder brother. Why wasn't Quan this much of a jerk? Sun Ce's apologies were always meaningless so what was different this time? If he really was serious he'd be down on his knees begging for forgiveness! Besides, she still had her head in the clouds from yesterday night- she wasn't too bothered about whether or not Ce was apologising. Someone thought she was pretty…
Ce waved his hands in front of her face. "Hello? Anyone in there?"
"Huh?" Shang blinked and hit his hands out of the way. "What…?"
"Ha!" Ce laughed. "Little sis is a bit dense today!"
"I am NOT dense!"
"So why are you acting all unresponsive? Daydreaming?" He chuckled to himself. "Or is there nothing up there anymore?" He tapped his head and then burst out laughing. "Maybe that dress affected your head!"
"Or maybe your new found taste in feminine hair accessories is rubbing off onto me!" She laughed. "You're more girly than I am!"
Sun Ce scoffed. "Oh really? So how come I'm married?"
"Simple! Da likes men who are in touch with their girly side!"
"It's no wonder you have no suitors sis! You're practically a man yourself- you scare them away!" While Ce was chuckling to himself something warm hit his left cheek hard. He looked up and realised that his sister had indeed thrown a meat bun at his face.
"You little…!" Ce retaliated by picking up a meat bun from the centre of the table and throwing it at Shang Xiang, narrowly missing Sun Quan. He launched another one at her, this time hitting her left shoulder.
"You're going down brother!" Shang Xiang stood up from her seat and ran over to Sun Ce. She pulled his chair out from under the table, forcing him to his feet. Once he was up she started repeatedly kicking his shins, but she had greatly misjudged the thickness of his boots so he just stood there, pretend yawning.
"Is that all you can do?" he taunted. "How pathetic!"
Not one to back down from a challenge, Shang Xiang picked up her father's cup of tea and threw it over Ce's head. It dripped down from his hair to his face, and it ended up dripping from his goatee beard. It then started to get onto his clothes… he wasn't pleased…
"You IDIOT!" he shouted out before grabbing her. He tipped her upside down from her legs so that her hair hung down touching the surface of the floor. "Apologise!"
"Never!" she cried out defiantly, struggling at the same time.
"Fine then! Don't expect me to let go so soon!"
As they argued, everyone watched in surprise. In all the times that those two argued Ce had never resorted to dangling Shang Xiang by the legs! Sun Jian covered his head with his hands and sighed, He knew his family wasn't normal, and now that Shang Xiang was feistier than ever more 'arguments' occurred and the general level of madness increased. It was time for action.
"RIGHT! THAT'S IT!"
Everyone, including the fighting Sun siblings, froze as Sun Jian's voice boomed through the castle from the dining hall He rarely raised his voice but it was obvious he was at the end of his tether.
"YOU TWO, JUST STOP IT!" he continued. "Ce- let your sister go."
"But she-"
"I SAID LET HER GO!"
Ce obediently put his sister the right way round, but as the blood had gone to her head she nearly fell over backwards. She held onto a nearby chair for balance and support.
Jian stood up from his seat. "Can you two not behave? Can you not go just one day without upsetting each other?"
"He starts it though!" Shang complained. "I merely defend myself!"
"It takes two to start an argument!" Ce replied.
"But it only takes one to finish it," Quan added, feeling slightly left out from the family debate. As the 'quiet one' he loved watching them all argue. It was funny in a way…
"She should finish it by apologising!" Ce said. "She should learn to respect her elders."
"You're not a very good elder might I say!"
"No wonder you're not married…"
"STOP IT!" Jian raised his voice again and they immediately stopped. "You two leave me no choice!" he pulled out from his belt his trusted silver blade. All eyes widened- he wouldn't… would he?
"Dad!" Quan pleaded. "Don't do it! I need my siblings! Please!"
Jian raised his eyebrows at his second son. "Don't do what, son?"
"Kill them! Please don't! If you kill them you have to kill me too!"
"Quan? I'm not killing them."
Sun Quan breathed a huge sigh of relief as did Da Qiao. She didn't want a dead husband OR a dead sister-in-law!
"So what are you doing to them?"
"Them? This involves you too Quan…"
"Huh?"
The Tiger grinned and pointed his sword in the direction of the way out. "Sun Ce, Sun Quan and Sun Shang Xiang- it is time."
All three Sun children exchanged puzzled glances. "Time for what?" they replied in unison.
"Something we should have done a long time ago."
"And that is…?" asked Ce, still very much confused.
"A little therapy," Jian said, and then laughed to himself. "Say hello to family counselling!"
A/N- Another chapter finished! I'll start writing the next one now, and I promise it'll be done in less than a week and a bit. Shame on me! I like to keep the fans happy! I hope you enjoyed this one even if it was a bit short... review anyway please:)