Disclaimer: All usual disclaimers apply

Chapter 3: Prepared for the Day; Prepared for Life.

Back at the compound, Sun Ce sat with his son on his lap, glancing at some maps on the table. The child cooed, babbling things that weren't quite words.

"Yeah, I know kid. I don't get it either," he said, playing with his boy's chubby wrist. "I don't even think some of these rivers exist."

Sun Ce chuckled when Shao babbled again.

Then Sun Quan entered, scratching his wild red hair.

"Sun Ce, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," he replied, not really paying attention.

"Do you think I need a new walk?"

Sun Ce gave up and addressed his little brother, "I'm sorry? What?"

"A new walk. I think now I'm walking with a strange gait and people are laughing at me."

Sun Ce rubbed his forehead, "Ohhh, Quan, that's not why people are laughing at you."

Quan sat down, looking anxious. Whatever he was looking to do was starting to annoy Sun Ce.

"You think I should get married-?"

"No," Sun Ce said without hesitation.

"Why not?"

"When you grow a some hair on your chin, we can talk about it. Right now it's all on your head and your feet."

Sun Quan smirked, "I have some whiskers. See?"

He pointed to his naked chin, where a few dark sprouts were growing.

Sun Ce looked closely, then snatched one of the hairs, plucking it off Quan's chin.

"Ow! Dammit!" Quan yelled.

Sun Ce wiped his hand on his robe.

"Why do you want to get married anyway?" Sun Ce asked, finding it weird that Quan would want to get married. He figured it wasn't totally out of the realm of reason, but Quan was...Quan. Maybe marriage could be something Quan was better at than anyone else. God knows if he managed to snatch up Lian Shi, he would be the envy of many single men.

"You know…because of Lian Shi. I don't want to risk losing her."

Sun Ce rolled his eyes, "You have nothing to worry about, Quan. Look if Da Qiao is still with me, and Xiao Qiao is still with Zhou Yu, Lian Shi won't leave you if you don't…you know…be a total dick towards her, or use sock puppets as foreplay."

Quan's brow creased, "Speaking of which, where is Lord Zhou Yu?"

Sun Ce shrugged, "Probably out burning a pair of pants."

He glanced up and looked at Quan, "Apparently walking in town with really tight pants he gets a lot of attention, from both girls and men. Some of those guys were beyond impressed. He looked like he had a sausage tied to his thigh."

Quan blinked, "What about Lu Su? I thought I saw him earlier this morning."

"I think he went into town or something. I love the guy but he's starting to freak me out."

Sun Ce glanced down at the top of his boy's head, "Hrm…I guess I should get used to things crapping in my lap."

Early in the morning, Sun Ce went directly to Zhou Yu's quarters. He hadn't really seen Zhou Yu as of late, or rather had time together. It was understandable as Sun Ce was busy doing his own thing and Zhou Yu was doing his. Sure they had a few conversations at dinner or when they passed each other in the halls, but nothing extensive as of late.

Sun Ce scoffed to himself. If Zhou Yu ever thought that the "Little Conqueror" ever missed him he would never live it down.

He knocked, but there was no answer. After a second knock, Sun Ce thought to barge in.

Inside, Zhou Yu was asleep peacefully next to his wife. Sleeping peacefully was only a recent occurrence for him and he treasured it. As the morning came, he became acutely aware of his surroundings. Xiao Qiao's body next to his, her hand on his bare chest, the light from the morning sun hitting his face, the knocking at his door…

He groaned, refusing to open his eyes.

The knocking continued.

"Someone needs you, darling," he heard Xiao Qiao say sleepily.

"Until the morning sun rises, I am only yours," he groaned before resuming his soft snoring hoping whomever was at his door would just leave them in peace.

But the knocking persisted. Someone really wanted him. And he had a rough idea of whom.

He felt Xiao lightly pat his chest.

"You should go see who it is," she mumbled, still half asleep.

Zhou Yu growled and shifted out of bed, "Alright, I'm up."

He found a robe and tied it around himself. He pulled the covers back over Xiao Qiao securely before heading out to answer his door. If there was ever a time that he wanted to just live in his own house…

Sun Ce barged in with his hand over his eyes, "Whatever perverted thing you're doing, stop! I'm coming in!"

Zhou Yu stared mildly aghast, "Shhhhh! Sun Ce! Xiao's asleep."

Sun Ce peaked through his fingers, finding his friend in a robe, looking like he just got out of bed.

"Ah…good," Sun Ce said but took a good look at Zhou Yu, especially his growing beard, which was growing thicker, "Wow. That thing's really growing in, isn't it."

"Ce-."

"It looks like bear just face-planted on your face."

Zhou Yu sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Of all the things you choose not to be, you choose to be an early riser. What do you want?"

Sun Ce paused, his mouth hanging open, briefly forgetting why he had come.

"I just wanted to hang out again. Is that so bad? I feel like I never see you," Sun Ce pouted and joked, "The children don't even know what you look like anymore."

Zhou Yu twitched, reminded briefly of his impending fatherhood, which always made him feel anxious and nervous.

"You want to hang out…this early in the morning?"

Sun Ce shrugged, "Fishing."

"Fishing?"

"Yes, you always get the best catch early in the morning when the waters are calm. You know that."

Zhou Yu shook his head and pointed to an upholstered couch, "Sit."

"No..no, no, do you not understand what I'm saying? FISHING, man? Hang out!"

Zhou Yu sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. Sun Ce resisted a laugh. He sat down across from his friend, his hand over his mouth, resisting a bout of laughter. Luckily, Zhou Yu didn't notice. He was already drifting back asleep.

"You know," Sun Ce said. "It's nice to see you getting more sleep, but at some point its going to seem like you're getting goddamn lazy. Making Lu Su do all your taxes for you. Goddamn shame. No wonder the poor man doesn't have a life. He's your lackey."

To Sun Ce's amusement, Zhou Yu was already half asleep. The conqueror scooted forward and dragged, Zhou Yu's chair towards him. Zhou Yu snapped awake with a sharp snort.

"Come on bud," Sun Ce's grin showed he wasn't going to let up. With a sigh, Zhou Yu rolled his eyes.

"Fine, fine. Let me get some horseradish and some tea first."

"Fair enough," Sun Ce smiled, rubbing his hands. "Oh and, uh, whenever you're having these late night/early morning talks, cover yourself up, you can see your little dragon when you sit like that."

Zhou Yu cleared his throat and crossed his legs.

If there was anything Lu Su truly enjoyed, it was walks. Walks in the garden, walks along the riverbanks, walks into to town, he appreciated such a simple exercise of amusement.

Even now, early in the morning, just as the town was starting to rise, his walk was used to clear his head completely of any thought. He found that thinking could make a man old and weary. Probably why Zhou Yu and Lu Meng were considered crotchety old men despite their younger ages. Lu Su chuckled to himself.

He inhaled the fresh morning air, the town was quiet and none of the shops were open. Only the fishermen by the docks were bustling about.

Still he paused by the eatery he ate at yesterday. It looked closed, or just empty. Lu Su stroked his goatee. That was when a smell caught his nose. It was fairly faint, but whatever it was it smelled delicious.

Suddenly, a man opened the door. It wasn't Fan Zhu. It was a burly man with olive skin. He had a scruff and small-embroidered hat atop his crown. Another man came out of the eatery. Lu Su had seen him before. Once at the Sun compound. He was lighter skinned with short dark hair, and a gold ring through his nostril. The man looked kind of out of his own element, wearing a short Chinese robe and some dark pants with sandals. Either way, he was speaking to the previous man in some language that Lu Su didn't understand.

The man in the hat nodded, but didn't speak, even as the other man continued to speak to him excitedly. Lu Su clenched his teeth in wonder, listening, trying to gather what they were discussing, but it was futile.

Finally, the man with the nose ring bade goodbye with a smile and turned to Lu Su, greeting him in his tongue, before walking off down the street.

Lu Su blinked, not knowing what to say back, but the man seemed content. The other man in the hat hung up a few lanterns by the doorway, the flames cold until nightfall. He turned a wary eye towards Lu Su.

"Erm," Lu Su cleared his throat.

He hesitated. Would this man understand him?

"Are you…open?"

He got no reply, just a stare. Maybe, if he got someone that could understand him…

"Is, er, Fatimah in?"

He just received a blank stare.

Lu Su thought to ask once again, "Fatimah. Is she here?"

The man breathed in and jerked his head up and to the side, indicating somewhere around the back of the diner. Lu Su could only nod, hoping whoever that man was would understand. Still, with a tad bit of paranoia, Lu Su cautiously glanced over his shoulder at the man, but he seemed to be busy opening the eatery up.

Feeling like he was stepping into extremely private property he pushed through the rickety fence gate to the back. Lu Su was not expecting this.

The back was a large open green area, with small fences containing sheep and a few chickens clucking about. A woman in a crisp white cooking robe and a shawl wrapped around her head was bent forward, spreading feed for the chickens.

She was singing, though. Softly singing a song as she went about spreading the feed for her flock.

The words, he couldn't understand. But that certainly didn't mean he couldn't appreciate it. It was lulling, like the song of birds, despite the rough consonants it flowed together beautifully. It wasn't natural, the song. It was mystical, spiritual, as if she was on another plane of existence was she was singing it. At least...that's how he felt.

Hating to interrupt Fatimah's song, he cleared his throat to get her attention. Fatimah jerked her head up, some of the grain feed spilling from her palms. Her eyes were wide in shock at seeing him there and Lu Su knew that in a way he was trespassing.

"Oh," she proceeded to utter a name under her breath, "You frightened me there."

"I apologize," Lu Su bowed low at the waist, and still his hulking height failed to convey much humbleness. Lucky, as big as he was, he was not an imposing man of any sort. "The man who opened up told me you would be back here."

"My brother spoke to you?"

Lu Su reeled back. Brother? To him, they looked nothing alike. As dark as that man's skin was, it was not nearly as dark as her beautiful brown skin. Aside from that, there were other features that the two did not share.

"Faisal rarely speaks to anyone outside of me or his friends," Fatimah pondered to herself, before turning back to him. "What is it you are doing?"

Lu Su swallowed again and uttered apologies. Truth was, he had very little reason to trespass here to even go looking for her.

"I was just taking a walk in town. When I saw that your shop started opening up."

There was a pause as Fatimah's dark eyes darted, searching his face for any ill will. She was still skeptical. There was no reason for him to be back here. Lu Su rubbed the back of his neck, finding it damp. He was sweating, nervous.

Lu Su glanced over to her flock that she was feeding, "These your sheep?"

She glanced down at her animals, "Yes, they are mine. And although some of them will be used to feed the bellies of your men, I still treat them as well as I can. I daresay, they are more pampered than the local governor."

Lu Su chuckled deep in his chest, seeing the sheep contently eat the feed with lazy eyes.

"If only I can give them better shelter and places to run," Fatimah sighed. "But for such simple minded animals, I don't think they mind."

Smiling, Lu Su glanced down at a newborn lamb sitting by its mother. It was still knobby in the legs and its wool was just short, fine curls. It couldn't have been more than a few days old. Its mother bent down to lick it.

"How old's that one?" Lu Su asked, seeing the lamb nip back at its mother.

"He's just a few days old, born the night before you first entered our establishment."

Fatimah bent down to stroke the lamb's downy head with gentle care.

"He's one of the first spring has brought us."

There was soft silence as Lu Su gazed upon the woman as she doted upon the lamb. He was at a loss for words and he didn't even turn when something grabbed at the seat of his robes. He felt a tug and he yelped, hearing a tear.

Lu Su spun around seeing a thickly coated sheep staring directly at him, a piece of Lu Su's red robe in its mouth. Alarmed, Lu Su rubbed his bottom, feeling a hole in his outer robe.

"Aiya!" Fatimah scolded, waving her hand furiously at the sheep, shooing it away to the corner of his area. A few of the sheep next to the culprit bleated and went with him.

"I apologize," she said roughly, glaring at the sheep. "When they want their food, they'll do anything for attention."

"So they do," Lu Su said, his smile bright as he laughed.

Fatimah laughed to herself, amused, and closed her satchel of feed, beckoning him with her hand, "Come on inside. I will patch that up."

Lu Su watched her leave, maybe a bit too long. It wasn't polite to gawk at a woman for too long, at least that was what Kung Fuzi had philosophized. Whether the woman be from the Han or some distant land, manners were manners.

Catching himself, he quickly followed her inside the tavern.

As they entered they ran across Faisal again, who had leather apron on. He stared at Lu Su. It wasn't suspicious or wary, just wonderment and curiosity. Like Lu Su had another head.

Fatimah proceeded to speak to her brother. Faisal merely nodded and went back out dutifully.

"He needs to put the meat on the fire and keep them smoking."

Fatimah led him to the prep area and pulled out a stool.

"Sit," she said patting the stool. Lu Su took out his outer robe and handed it to her. Even as he handed her the fabric, he felt like he was handing her his trust. Strange how such a simple act seemed to go so far. He knew this trust, being mended by Fatimah with her roughened dark-skinned hands, was in great care. The care she gave to her sheep; her establishment.

Lu Su sat quietly, unable to think of anything but her. He tried not to stare at her for too long. Occassionally, she'd catch him looking at her for a tad longer than necessary and immediately, he flitted his gaze down to her hands, to the pans, to the cookery, anything else. It should've been quite obvious that he was interested her. As a person not a…

He assumed not much more.

"There," she said softly, handing him back his robe. "You'll have a seam on your bum, but at least you won't have to go around town with a large hole in it."

Lu Su took a few seconds too long to thank her, and he wasn't able to because a raspy voice called from the dining area.

"Fatimah! Fatimah!"

Fatimah stood from the stool abruptly, "Yes!"

She ran out to the bar area. Fan Zhu was there, looking blank and stern. Lu Su watched carefully, hopefully she wouldn't be scolded for anything. He couldn't think of anything she could have done that would warrant a scolding by the grounded pirate, but one could never know.
"Yes, Fan Zhu, what is it?"

"Has the food started cooking?" the man asked, running his fingers through his beard.

"Yes, yes, as always," she responded, staring at Fan Zhu expectantly.

"Good, because we have some sailors docking from Xuchang. And chances are they will be hungry. Be prepared."

Fatimah's eyes widened for a moment, but she nodded, "Ah, yes, yes. Thank you Fan Zhu."

The man nodded, "I will be out back if you need me."

Fatimah glanced back at Lu Su, a smile on her lips. Rubbing her hands together she began muttering something in her tongue, sweet and fluid. Lu Su barely caught the sound as she passed him.

"What's…what's going on?" his deep voice rumbled.

"Oh we're going to be very busy today," she sighed as she entered the kitchen and opened up the large basin of boiling water. Steam filled the kitchen and Fatimah frantically began waving her hands to clear the smoke.

"A bunch of hungry sailors. There will be little rest," she continued.

Lu Su stood, contemplating, watching her pour vegetables in the basin. He glanced around the kitchen, his lips parted in anticipation.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked.

In reality, there was very little he could do to help. He knew next to nothing about cooking. Especially trying to quench the needs of hungry sailors. God knows he's been around them enough…

"Help?" she asked, her brow furrowed as if the very thought was foreign to her.

"Yes," Lu Su replied, his voice going strangely soft. "It's the least I could do after trespassing and having you fix my clothes."

Faisal poked his head in, eyes on Fatimah. She spoke to him, giving him orders it sounded like. The man nodded and put a cooking smock on and went out to fetch some meat.

Fatimah turned to the large merchant who had no cooking experience.

"I assume you know how to get drinks right?"

Lu Su nodded, "I know about drinks, yes."

"Then you, sire, shall be in charge of quenching the thirst of the sailors."

A/N: I'm not entirely certain I like this chapter, especially Lu Su's part. I need to develop him more and I will in the next chapter, I promise. As always R&R.