A/N:

Okay, folks, here it is: my attempt to create a sequel to the movie Mulan (written in 2008)! Now I know it's no Disney creation; Mulan already accomplished her goal of bringing honor to her family in the first film, and without such a great theme it's kind of hard to come up with a very profound plot. But I tried, and here's the result. My main goal was to make it a little more realistic than Disney's sequel, in which everyone immediately learned of Mulan's heroism and automatically accepted it, and besides, Mulan was an airhead in that sequel. In a culture that at the time was so bound by tradition, a female soldier would not be immediately recognized by society for her worth, and Mulan would learn right away how hard it is to fight the daily battle when her fame and fortune isn't there to help.

Anyway, I tried to recreate the characters to the best of my abilities (I love to write Mushu and Chien-Po). But of course there's no Shan Yu, because he was "disposed of" in the last film, so I tried to make a fairly believable new villain with a different personality and motive. I also attempted to form an interesting plot (I hope it's not redundant!), with as much humor as I could reasonably add, along with a bit of realism, though new characters' names are in Mandarin, rather than the Cantonese of the film, and of course it's a ton more westernized that China would have been at the time. Some of it is also a bit – ahem – convenient, but that's how it goes in kids' movies too, I guess.

And it's got to be better than the actual Disney sequel, right?

Riiiight.

I just wanted to write this the way I would have liked to see in a Disney animated movie. :D I also owe a lot to the now-offline story "Three Girls Worth Fighting For" by Therese.

Thank you for taking the time to read my note, and I hope you enjoy the story! Please R/R, I'd like to know how to improve in Disney fanfiction – it's hard to write!

Update 9/26/11: Due to this story being way more popular than I had expected, I decided to do some artwork to accompany it. You can view these pictures here at my DeviantArt account!

wickfield[dot]deviantart[dot]com/gallery/?q=flowers+of+spring

Thanks again everyone!

MULAN

The Flowers of Spring

"She's a hero!"

"She's a woman. She will never be worth anything."

Part One

In China when the spring returns, the entire countryside positively bursts into a field of cherry blossoms. As it was, one year spring was rather tardy, and everyone talked about how odd it was that the cherry tree in Fa Zhou's garden had bloomed so soon, and that their own trees were in rather a withered state, as if they needed to be awakened and given a purpose.

Even stranger was the fact that it bloomed three days before an event no one foresaw. Because on that day Fa Mulan returned.

If one's ears burn when one is talked about, then Mulan's were flaming by the time she appeared in town for the first day after her return. The matchmaker, Madam Suo, was of course the worst. It must have been good fortune to hear Madam Suo's tongue wag, because that was what the lucky red clothing brought to seven girls primly seated on the bench in the matchmaker's parlor.

"Why, there is Fa Mulan," one idiotic maiden observed loudly, while the other six frantically hushed her lest Madam Suo would overhear. But they were too late, and the matchmaker pounced on the words.

"Fa Mulan?" She shoved her head out of the doorway, laid eyes on our heroine, and in five minutes every shopkeeper in town were shoving their heads out of doorways and whispering, loudly enough that Mulan could easily have overheard, until the girl who started it all was in disgrace with her companions.

The truth was that no one had expected Mulan to return. She disappeared the day of her matchmaking attempt, and when her parents had been questioned, they merely replied evasively, "Oh, she's off visiting a relative."

The townsfolk knew very well why a girl would be off visiting a "relative", and so they were more than a little surprised that Mulan, upon returning after nearly a year's absence, had not brought another tiny member of the Fa family with her.

Now yes, this was the same Fa Mulan who had run away to join the army, and is said to have saved all China. So why didn't the town treat her with more respect?

Because Fa Mulan was not the hero of China.

Oh, no. It was ridiculously inconceivable to think that Fa Mulan had disguised herself as a boy, had ever dreamed of joining the Imperial army, and, of course, she had not saved the Emperor and all China.

At least, that was the truth as far as Mulan's village was concerned. News didn't travel very far, even Imperial news; not to mention the fact that Chi Fu was still the Emperor's counsel because they couldn't get anyone else to take his wages. Chi Fu had a grand knack for throwing a wrench into any plan involving Fa Mulan.

So an entire month had passed after Mulan had returned home, and the townsfolk still did not know that the sword of Shan Yu hung in a room at the Fa house, or that the Emperor's own crest hung beside it. And if any member of the family had told them, they would not have believed it.

Fa Zhou knew it, though, and Mulan knew it, which was why she could bear – for a while, at least – the dirty looks fired at her from every doorway at the marketplace.

"It won't last forever," she told herself one day as she walked past the matchmaker's house. "The news has to come sometime soon, and then no one will ever stare at me or my family again." Madam Suo, in fact, was the current starer, and a whisperer besides.

"And I'm not afraid of you anymore, either," Mulan said under her breath. She waved a Madam Suo, who glared. "But I'm glad I'll never have to see you again, too."

Mulan shrugged, adjusted her packages, and started on again when she saw a flash of orange, a smear of ink, and then the sky as she landed on her back.

"Oh goodness, my apologies Miss Fa!" It was Wen Jian-Die who dropped to his knees to help Mulan gather packages with inky hands. "And you a lady. I was just so busy reading I – I didn't even look where I was going!"

He quickly tucked the note back into his shenyi, as if he didn't want it to get lost in the mess. He looked so ridiculous, with the wings of his scholar's cap bobbing as he spoke, that Mulan couldn't help but laugh. "It's all right," she smiled, picking herself up. "I wasn't paying attention, either." But Jian-Die still looked troubled, as if he was turning over matters in his head. She had known of Wen Jian-Die most of her life, but she'd only talked to him once or twice – mainly because of manners, as they were both unmarried – but also because Jian-Die was quiet and bookish and didn't say much. As she looked at him now, it struck her how much he had changed since he himself had returned as a soldier from the war. Where he had always seemed absent, the same look of brooding he wore now often appeared when he was quiet. Mulan suspected he, like many returned soldiers, had seen things during war he wished he never had.

Jian-Die finished piling her items back into her arms, and Mulan took inventory when she suddenly groaned, "Oh no."

"What is it, Miss Fa?"

"Master Wen, do you see a chicken?" Their eyes fell on the snapped bentwood cage and then they saw something feathery disappear under a cart. "I'll help you catch him," the scholar volunteered, and together they shot off down the road, only the eyes of the disapproving villagers following them.

Of course not everyone had such terrible manners. Some of the townsfolk treated Mulan quite cordially, and she had made the mistake of repeating this to her family at home. For example, young Shen Nuan Huo, the daughter of rice farmers, had worsened her already poor country image by talking to Mulan. The little girls especially were glad to see her, and flocked around her whenever she appeared, asking where she had gone and why didn't she have a baby like their mamas said. And most impressive of all was Wen Jian-Die. These social successes encouraged Fa Li so much that Mulan was startled that day when she came home from shopping, kicked the door open because her arms were full of eggs and tea and dates and chickens, and came face to face with her mother, who had on that face.

That face was the one Mama thought no one knew about, the one she put on whenever she knew there would be a disagreement she wanted to win. She always denied it existed, but when Mulan, or Fa Zhou, or Grandma saw it, they prepared themselves for battle.

As it turned out, while Mulan and Wen Jian-Die amiably chased fowl down the high street, Fa Li had been having a discussion with Grandma, who wandered into the front room sucking on a piece of candied ginger.

"Grandma!" Fa Li hissed (a bit loudly, as Grandma had been getting rather deaf lately). "Is Mulan home?"

"No," Grandma replied suspiciously.

Fa Li pulled Grandma to the side and started to fiercely whisper, looking nervously toward the kitchen for signs of Mulan.

"Grandma, when Mulan went to town yesterday, she remembered flour!" she hissed excitedly.

Grandma chewed on her piece of ginger and regarded her daughter-in-law curiously, wondering where this conversation was going. "It's more surprising to me that you forgot…" she replied, tapping her head. "Seems you're getting as addled as me! Ha!"

"Yes…well…that's beside the point," Fa Li blustered as Grandma laughed at her own joke. "Mulan remembered. She's showing responsibility."

"Didn't she show responsibility when she brought back the Emperor's crest?" Grandma asked, creating nothing but a blank look on her daughter-in-law's face.

"Well… yes," Fa Li conceded. "But don't you see, Grandma? She's more suited as a wife than she ever was before!"

Grandma shook her head, and pushed Fa Li away from her ear in disgust. "I know she is, but why the rush, Li? You know there's no one in China special enough for Mulan, and I think – "

"But she's getting older, Grandma, and the tradition – "

"Who came up with traditions anyway? Old people?" Grandma spat, and Fa Li frowned at the indelicacy. "You ought to let Mulan have a say in it. That's what this old person thinks!"

Grandma nodded sternly, but Fa Li decided to pay her no attention. Not only had Grandma been going deaf as of late, she had also seemed slightly…crazy. After all, it was just last Thursday she claimed she saw a small red dragon walking in the garden. Imagine!

It was at this point Mulan came into the room. Not to look suspicious, Grandma stared at the ceiling and whistled, and Mama greeted her smilingly with that face.

Of course Mulan immediately knew something was going on, and that it most likely involved something she wouldn't want to do.

"Mama, what is it?" she asked carefully.

"What do you mean, 'what is it'?" Mama gave a fishy laugh. "And why is the chicken's cage broken?"

Mulan opened her mouth to explain, but Mama just shook her head. "It doesn't matter. No, not today." She smiled widely again and began tactfully, "Mulan," but Grandma interrupted.

"Let's just get it over with, Li. Mulan, we set up another matchmaking meeting."

Fa Li scowled at Grandma, then fixed the same smile and returned her attention to her daughter.

Mulan looked at each of them, thinking they couldn't possibly be serious.

They were.

Mulan managed a weak smile. "Ah…you did?"

Mama and Grandma looked guilty, but they nodded.

Mulan looked at them for a moment, then focused on the strand of hair she was twisting around her finger. "But what about Shan – I mean, Captain Li?"

"He's gone away to the army, Mulan," her mother began. "And I don't think…"

"Your mother doesn't think he's coming back."

Mulan was stunned at Grandma's blunt statement, and Fa Li's look in the old woman's direction was murderous. "Not…coming back?"

"Well, Mulan, you did spill tea on him the last time he was here," Mama reminded her lightly, as Grandma worked hard to stifle a giggle.

"Oh…that. But it was an…accident." Mulan's face flushed as she remembered it –hearing her family call her name in the great, unromantic distance; staring into Shang's beautiful eyes…and then watching them grow wide and pained as she poured hot tea all over his lap.

She waited hopelessly for one of them to admit it was a joke, namely Grandma, but they didn't. And there was nothing Mulan could do about it.

She bowed her head with a disbelieving jerk, and she knew her face was turning red from indignation. "When is the appointment, Mama?" she asked thinly.

"Tomorrow." (Mama had good enough sense to wait till the last moment to tell her rather outspoken daughter.)

Even now Mulan had to bite her lip to prevent the outburst she felt coming on. She nodded, and slipped out of the room. There was nothing to be done, not now. She had to obey her parents' wishes.

But that certainly didn't stop her from complaining to Mushu about it.