Aie, I'm sorry for leaving this for such a long time! Writer's block is a horrible thing but thankfully I don't get it for too long. I decided to make this chapter longer for 2 reasons… 1- the guilt of leaving it for so long and 2- 20th chapter! It's kind of special… enjoy! I'll try and update soon, I'll be busy the next few weeks, what with moving out and stuff... XP

Chapter 20: I Confess

"Now, put the yellow flower next to the orange one… no not there, next to that orange one…"

Huang Gai stood patiently and watched his new student carefully arrange the flowers in a china vase sat upon the dining room table. Sun Ce was trying his best not to screw this up but he was already showing signs of frustration. Every time he put something in the wrong place he felt like taking all of the flowers out, throwing them away and starting all over again.

Ce stepped back from the display and looked at his arrangement from a distance. After an hour of practicing with several arranging techniques he was pleased with what he had done so far. "So Huang Gai, whatcha think? Did I do a good job?"

"Well, it's better than all of your other attempts, I'll give you that!" Gai nodded as he walked over to admire the display. The flowers were trying to express and explosion of warm colour like a sunset, and it was still hard to comprehend that it had been Sun Ce who had done it. "I think the flowers look better in the vase than in your hair, am I right?"

"Hey, I thought there'd be no more jokes about that incident!"

"Ha ha, I'm sorry Lord Sun Ce! But it was funny!"

The Little Conqueror stepped forward to move a red flower that was starting to droop a little bit. "Thankfully that's all over know, but will Da be impressed by this? It doesn't look like too desperate an attempt to buy her over?"

"It's worth a try, we won't know until she sees it. I think she'll love the effort you've made and she'll probably forget what made her all grouchy in the first place. Here's hoping!"

Ce nodded and moved on to the next empty vase. "Now how many more of these do I have to do?" His eyes nearly popped out of his head as Huang Gai pointed down the large dining table, looking at the fifteen empty vases waiting to be filled. "I'm gonna be here all day!"

Chuckling, Huang Gai turned around and headed towards the dining hall exit. "You'd better get cracking my Lord!" was the last thing he said before leaving the bemused Sun Ce to finish his task.

With his chin rested on one hand Sun Jian sighed deeply and looked down the table. It was supposed to be full, and his impatience was growing rapidly. He didn't want to give Ling Tong a bad impression but the way things were going… Tong had already made his opinion of the place. Tong was already annoyed at Gan Ning but Jian knew that it wasn't going to change. There would always be tension between the two and there was nothing he could do about that. And Lu Xun was still sitting there as smug as a bug. Jian had to bring the fire up sooner or later, but was now the right time?

"So, Lu Xun…"

"WE'RE SO SORRY WE'RE LATE DAD!"

Jian looked up as he was interrupted, and three figures stumbled into the room. Sun Quan was red in the face and looked like he'd packed on a lot of weight since the morning. Jian looked at him suspiciously, especially as he was now sporting a dark bruised eye. He turned towards Zhou Tai as he sat in his seat next to Quan. He noticed that Tai's knuckles were red and that he had a cut on his face, on the opposite side from his existing scar. Finally he glanced at Sun Shang Xiang, slightly surprised to see that her hair was out of place from her headband and her clothes were covered in grass stained. There was a rip on her shoulder and a sign of a cut there. Once in place the arrivals looked towards the Wu leader and smiled weakly, trying to look as if they had been there all along. Only the sound of Sun Quan trying to regain his breath gave it away.

Quan grinned and took off his hat, trying to get cool under the weight of the extra material. "So, what's been happening?"

Lu Meng was still stupefied by their abrupt arrival, as well as their shock appearance. "What HAPPENED to you guys?"

"Oh… we were out. You know… somewhere…" Quan stood up and took off a layer of clothing. "Whew, is it me or is it hot in here?"

"It's you, believe me… where did you go?" He looked towards Zhou Tai for any clue, and then towards the Wu princess. Neither was saying anything. "Ah, so you snuck out of the castle?"

Tai lifted his hand slightly from the table. "It wasn't like that exactly…"

"So…" Sun Jian interrupted. "You three go out of the castle, and a few hours later you return with all of you looking like you've just come out of a fight!"

"But we won it didn't we?"

Jian glared at Quan after his comment. "You let my baby get into a fight? LOOK AT HER! She has a cut on her shoulder for crying out loud, she could've been KILLED! SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT WENT ON!"

"I will…" Tai coughed, and then continued. "My lord Sun Quan wished to enter one of those strength contests in one of the small towns, so I said I'd accompany him. The Lady Sun wished to follow so she did. We three went to the contest but when we got there the competition was fierce. My lord had no chance, so when it was his turn I attacked his opponent with a chair."

"And then he chased us once he regained consciousness!" Quan added. "We then realised that we were missing the horses, so we had to run back and get them! We ran back and tried evading him, but he was fast! He caught up with us so we had to fight him. He tried going for Shang so I stepped in and he punched me so hard! In the end Zhou Tai beat him senseless while Shang and I got the horses so we could get back as fast as we could… and then we came here. And that's what happened!"

Sun Jian banged his fist on the table, making the generals jump. "How can you be so STUPID?"

"I thought I had a chance! I need to prove myself don't I?"

"Yes, but prove yourself in something you're capable of doing! Not some stupid contest where you're bound to lose and end up risking yours and your sister's life!" He looked towards Sun Shang Xiang. "And you are not leaving the castle for a while young lady. I warned you about getting into danger."

"No!" Shang Xiang protested. "It wasn't my fault it happened!" She pointed towards Tai. "Nothing would've gone wrong if he had just let Quan get beaten!"

"I don't care; you're to remain inside the castle grounds until further notice. I'll inform your bodyguards later. And you three also failed to notice that Ling Tong is with us in this room."

Sun Quan, Zhou Tai and Sun Shang Xiang looked towards the dumbfounded Ling Tong and waved. "Hi Ling Tong," they said in a despondent tone of voice. Tong waved back and reminded himself never to let Quan take him anywhere.

"Now, back to what I was saying…" Jian turned to Lu Xun. "Lu Xun, you know about…"

Just before he had a chance to finish his sentence he was interrupted again, but this time by Huang Gai who had just stepped into the room. "Sorry if I'm disturbing anything, but the cook says that the food is ready. I think it's time to eat now."

"Well I guess we can continue the conversation at dinner then." Sun Jian sighed again and stood up at the head of the table. "Quan, Tai, and Shang Xiang- you three can go and change and get cleaned up. The rest of us will go to the dining room. And just please try not to get into any fights on the way?"

The trio nodded and hastily left the room before Sun Jian decided to shout at them again. He was already ticked off and anything else was bound to send him over the edge. Dinner would certainly be interesting then…

Waiting outside the dining room Sun Ce stood nervously, hoping that his efforts wouldn't go unnoticed. His hands smelt strongly of flowers and he had a few stray petals scattered on his clothes, but he didn't care much. At least the flowers weren't in his hair! In the distance he caught sight of the generals approaching the dining room so he ran over to join them.

"Hey guys!" he said as he ran over to join his wife. Da gave a little smile and held onto his hand which surprised him; he expected her to bite his head off.

"So I see that my other child hasn't gotten into a fight today?" Jian then smelt the pungent odour of flowers on his eldest son. "Or he's been rolling through a field of flowers instead?"

Ce chuckled as he held Da close, trying to cheer her up more. "Ha ha, no… I decorated the dining table! I arranged the flowers… hey, don't laugh you two!" he said as he noticed his two other siblings, now clean and redressed, about to burst into laughter.

"I take it from your clean hair that you resisted the urge to put them in your hair?" Quan asked before exploding into a fit of laugher with his sister.

"Shut up, I did it for Da!" Ce then looked into Da's eyes and winked. "You'll see when you get inside!"

Sun Jian rolled his eyes and led the group into the large room. Ling Tong followed Jian inside, followed by Ce, Zhou Yu and the Qiao sisters. After Taishi Ci had gone in Gan Ning grinned at Sun Shang Xiang, who in reply blushed a shade of red and walked inside.

"What do I say Meng?" asked Lu Xun before stepped inside. "He knows I left it in there, he's going to kill me!"

Lu Meng shook his head and tried to calm Xun down. "He won't, I promise. He won't do anything like that, but be careful when you explain yourself. He's in a horrible mood right now and, sorry for the bad pun, but he's like a bomb about to go off. Now, go inside or he'll think you're hiding from him on purpose." Xun nodded and sped up to go in, and finally Lu Meng stepped in, closing the door behind him.

Inside the room Sun Jian took his seat and looked down the table. Finally, everyone was where they were meant to and some normality had returned. Ling Tong was sat next to Sun Quan after swapping seats with Sun Shang Xiang; it had been decided that sitting opposite Gan Ning was not the best place for him to be if everyone wished to have a peaceful meal.

"You did all of this by yourself?"

Sun Ce smirked and nodded as Da Qiao admired the work of her husband. The flower arrangements, she had decided, were simply beautiful! Even Xiao, the Wu expert on flowers and all things pretty, had to admit that it was of a high standard. Ce ignored the snickers of the male generals and continued to bask in his glory. He had accomplished his mission of making his wife happy and her face seemed to say it all. She was glowing with happiness and it was all thanks to him. "You really like it?"

"Of course I do Ce!" She looked further down the table at all of the remaining filled vases. "You must've worked really hard, I'm proud of you!" She hugged Ce tightly and kissed his cheek, and in the embrace Ce could see Taishi Ci and Sun Quan make kissing noises and girly poses.

"Well, I'd do it again for you, anything to see you happy!"

Da blushed and started to eat her food. She was eating faster than usual, but Ce put it down to the fact that she must've been hungry. His instincts weren't that great so he couldn't detect any underlying problems.

After eating a few mouthfuls of food Sun Jian resumed what he had been trying to get started- the all important matter of the fire. "Right… with no interruptions, Lu Xun, you know about the fire don't you?"

Lu Xun looked nervously towards Gan Ning and Lu Meng, not knowing what to say. What was there to say, that he had accidentally caused the fire? "Erm… I do?"

"Yes, you do… because I found out that it was you who'd left the bomb in the kitchen, am I right?"

Xun's eyes darted back and forth- he'd been caught. He put his hands nervously under the table and looked down towards his plate. Sun Shang Xiang, in her slightly love struck state as she thought about Gan Ning, looked at her father.

"I know Dad; I'll save you from punishing anyone else. Let's just say Lu Xun's already had his punishment…"

Confused, Jian looked towards his daughter who had a sly look on her face. "What do you mean?"

Shang Xiang sipped a bit of her wine and grinned. "Remember Lu Meng's 'date'?"

"Yes I do… it was Lady Li. What happened to her by the way?"

She giggled and looked in Lu Xun's direction. "She, or he as is the correct term, is sitting just there… just a little prank Ning and I played on Xun and Meng." She looked at Lu Xun's horrified expression and then at Jian. "Whoops, I've said too much haven't I? You might as well punish me again, how about this time you lock me in my bedroom?"

Lu Xun gulped down what wine was left in his cup and buried his head in his arms. Lu Meng glared at Shang Xiang and decided to save his student's blushes. "Sun Jian, while we're all letting out each other's secrets, here's something. Your daughter and Gan Ning are…"

He didn't get to finish what he was saying as Gan Ning covered his mouth with his hand, stood up, and proceeded to drag Meng outside. Shang Xiang quickly slid her chair back and ran after the pair, locking the door behind them.

Sun Jian poured himself some more wine and decided that he was now definitely too old for anymore surprises. As he drank he signalled to Lu Xun. "I think you've had enough now Lu Xun, let's forget about the fire for now. I think we all need to put this behind us… now what's going on with those three?"

On the other side of the door Gan Ning let go of Lu Meng's mouth and pushed him against the wall, with Sun Shang Xiang standing next to him. "Now Meng… you can't say a thing to Jian about this!"

Lu Meng wiped his mouth and glanced at the pair. "I warned you though about telling everyone about what happened that night!"

"But I didn't tell them that you kissed him, so I believe the deal is still intact." Shang Xiang leant against the ex-pirate's arm and smiled. "We don't mention the kiss, you don't mention us."

"What, so you two are definitely together then?" He watched as the pair looked into each others eyes and nodded. "Hmm, I'd better be careful about my big mouth then."

"Please don't tell him!" Shang pleaded with him. "And don't blackmail us either, I heard what you made Ning do- he's not your slave and neither am I… got that?" She held onto Ning's hand and grasped it tight. "What do you say?"

Meng stood forward from the wall and stood up straight. "I guess so… if Jian found out now he'd probably hit the ceiling and deafen us with his screaming." He rolled his eyes as the couple kissed each other. "You two are pathetic, you know that?"

Gan Ning patted his friend's back as they turned back towards the door. "Pathetic and in love, get it right Meng!"

Xiao looked worryingly at her sister as she continued to eat fast. Da was now on her second helping and showed no signs of stopping. "Sis, are you alright? You haven't been normal lately!"

The elder Qiao stopped eating and looked at her plate. She looked nervously at Xiao and took a drink. "It's nothing really…"

"Have you been starving yourself? You're eating like a pig!"

"I assure you I'm not a pig. It's just… stuff." Da shrugged and took another mouthful of food. She herself hadn't noticed she'd eaten so much; she'd just had a larger appetite than usual. Of course she hadn't told anyone else that… yet.

Everyone looked up as Gan Ning, Sun Shang Xiang and Lu Meng re-entered the room and sat back down. Xiao snickered as she saw Ning's hand print marked across Lu Meng's face, and Zhou Yu nudged her and warned her not to point it out. She giggled again and went back to eating. "Is everything ok Mengie?" she asked before swallowing her mouthful.

Lu Meng nodded and kicked Gan Ning under the table. "I'm fine Xiao, how about you?"

"Hehe, I'm good! It's Da here that I'm worried about."

Da lifted her head up and nudged her sister. "I told you, I'm fine!"

"But you're not! Look at you; you're eating more than Huang Gai for god's sake! You've been in one strange mood lately, and you got angry at me for picking flowers… what's wrong?"

Everyone's eyes darted towards Da, and it was then she knew she couldn't hide it for much longer. She was beginning to notice the change too, and it was now becoming a reality. She couldn't blame Sun Ce for her problems now… she stood up and faced Sun Ce.

"Ce, I have something to tell you…"

Sun Ce's face went blank, and then turned into one of upset. "You're leaving me? But I worked so hard on the flowers, I swear I did! Please, give me another chance!"

"No no no! I'm not leaving you, why would I do that?" She put his hands in hers, and quickly looked at Sun Jian. "I promise you Sun Jian this shouldn't be anything that would give you a heart attack."

Jian nodded and continued to watch. "That's good; I don't think my poor heart could possibly cope with anymore drama today! Please, carry on…"

Da faced Ce again, holding his hands tighter. "I know I've been in a weird mood the past few days as Xiao pointed out… I'm sorry for taking it out on you, I really am. I never meant to, it's just that you were there at the time, I had to let it out, I'm sorry…"

"It's alright sweetie, I'm your husband, that's what I'm here for!"

"Uh huh… and I was kind of testing you in a way. The thing is... I need you to be more responsible now than I've ever needed you to be. You need to act more mature, for the sake of…" She trailed off, and blushed bright pink.

Ce tried to piece things together in his head but didn't succeed. "So what are you trying to say Da?"

"Erm… I'm… I'm…"

"Hungry?" Xiao jokingly guessed, before she was cut off by Zhou Yu who silenced her.

"No I'm not hungry Xiao…"

"Joining Ce in battles?"

"No Shang Xiang, I told you that before, I'm not doing that!"

"How about giving up dancing?"

"NO!" she bellowed after Taishi Ci gave his incorrect guess. "It's none of those things!"

Ce stood up and faced her himself. "Then what is it?"

"It's… I'm pregnant. We're having a baby!"

Xiao squealed in delight and jumped up, just as Sun Ce smiled and fainted. Da got hugged tightly by her sister as Zhou Yu went to try and revive his sworn brother. The rest of the generals clapped as the room erupted into cheers.

"I'm going to be a daddy…" Ce said dreamily as Zhou Yu repeatedly slapped his face to wake him up. "Daddy Sun Ce…"