A General's Son

Chapter One

Li Chan sighed. Out of the 17 years he had been in this world, the last two had been the hardest. Not exactly the worst, but the hardest. At least he was able to share those two years with his best friend Xiao. As another thought dawned on him he grinned silently to himself.

"What are you smiling at?" asked Xiao, "I haven't seen you smile like that since before we started at the academy."

"I just realized that in less then a days time I'll be home. Being away for so long has made me realize how much…" Chan drifted off, "well, I miss it that's all."

Not so much the place itself, Chan thought to himself, but the people. My father would be the same; Shang would never change. As for Mulan, would she be her bold, outgoing self, or a dejected mother who missed her son? Chan wasn't sure which one he preferred. Best to wait and see, he decided.

Xiao's words interrupted his thoughts. " I can't wait to see mother and father, and Sun of course," He added.

The thought of Xiao's younger sister Sun Yu made Chan groan inwardly. As if reading his thoughts Xiao began defending his sister.

" Oh come on Chan, she's not that bad. Sure she was hanging around us a lot,"

"Stalking is more like it," grumbled Chan.

Xiao chose to ignore that and continued. "But it's been two years- a person can do a lot of growing up then, and besides she's only a year younger then us. How bad could she be?"

Chan snorted. To him an older Sun sounded just as bad as the Sun he'd known before.

Xiao was getting frustrated. " Fine," he fumed, " Be that way, but she'll always be my sister and you'll always be my best friend so you'd better stop being so mean to her."

Chan was offended. I wasn't so mean, he thought. Sure I was always pulling on her hair and telling her to get lost. As he thought of it Chan decided maybe he was a little mean. After all she just wanted to be in their little circle, it was the coolest (and only) one around. Chan vowed he would at least try and be civil towards her. That is, if she didn't start to annoy him.

Xiao and Chan rode the rest of the way home in silence. As they sighted the compound that their two families shared (along with Ling, Ting-Ting, Chien-Po and Su) they spurred their horses and began galloping home, shouting to announce their arrival.

As they rode through the gates into the main courtyard, Chan couldn't help smiling. It was all as had he remembered it. Here was the main courtyard, with its gate that led to the road. A little ways off there was the home of Chien-Po and Su and their daughter Song Ming, and next to that was the home of Ling and Ting-Ting, along with their twin boys, Jang and Jun. Xiao's house, where he lived with his parents, Yao and Mei, and his sister Sun was right next-door. The next house was the one Chan was gladdest to see. His own home, where it seemed an eternity ago his family had been to bid him farewell.

It seemed odd no one was standing there now. In fact, Chan noted turning to look around the courtyard, there was no one to be seen. Xiao had also noticed that their home, which usually had as much bustling activity as a small village, was now as silent as a ghost town.

"Where is everybody?" questioned Xiao, a perplexed look on his face.

"I've never seen it so…quiet," said Chan, instantly concerned.

"You don't suppose someth-Aieeeeeee!" The peace wasn't instantly shattered by Xiao's surprised scream.

He and Chan whirled around, there minds still set in kill-or-be-killed mode. To their surprise and utter amazement their families stood behind them, all grinning, obviously proud of having stayed so quiet.

" You guys," panted Xiao " almost gave me a heart attack."

Mei stepped forward. " I'm just glad a little old lady like me can still scare two hardened warriors such as you," she said, grinning. Xiao walked towards her and swept her up in a huge hug, clearly considering his mother neither little or old.

Then the explosion of noise Chan was so used happened as everyone spoke at once. He hugged and kissed his mother, shook hands with his father and told the twins that no, they could not play with his weapons. He and Xiao were introduced to the newest member of their extended family, Chien-Po and Su's baby boy, Hiro.

During the introduction 4-year-old Song Ming announced, " I'm his big sister" emphasizing the word big. "That means I'm not little anymore." Of course everyone laughed, which made Song cross her arms and stalk away, pouting.

Amid the hugging and poking and prodding and wonderings of whether they looked healthy enough, Chan heard someone coming down the path from the houses. He looked up and saw a girl he had never seen before. A girl with shy eyes and a gently curving body not even her loosely flowing robes could hide. Chan turned to ask who she was, but never got the words out. At that moment Xiao broke away from the group and walked towards her. He gave her a warm hug and then pushed her away so he could look at her.

He laughed and said " Sun I can't believe it's you, you look so…"

"Different?" she prompted, giggling and giving her brother another hug.

"Well, yeah but…I mean…what happened?" He asked, amazement written all over his face.

Sun rolled her eyes, " Oh please Xiao. I grew up that's all. It happens to everyone eventually. I mean, look at you, you're not exactly the same either."

" I suppose so," he said, embarrassed. Chan remembered the looks that girls had given Xiao when they passed through villages on the ride home. After all, Xiao wasn't exactly bad looking. Chan recalled that some of those looks were aimed at him too, but he hadn't really noticed. As he thought about it, he realized that he'd never really noticed any girl. But now there was Sun standing right there, and she wasn't exactly bad looking either.

" Chan?" Sun's voice interrupted his thoughts. " Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to come over and say hello?" she smiled warmly at him.

Chan? Oh…right…Chan, that's me. Chan realized his brain didn't seem to be working. He would have laughed but he seemed to have forgotten how to move his mouth. And his legs. He was glad when his mother called everyone in the house for dinner. Anything was better then talking to Sun at the moment. Chan knew he wouldn't be able to form simple sentences right now, much less engaging conversation.

When everyone was seated around the table Mulan began to serve the meal. Actually, it was more like a feast. Plate after plate was brought in from the kitchen (Chan had lost track after 23).

Yao looked down at the table piled with food and asked " So, where's everyone else?"

Mulan, not realizing the joke, replied, "What do you mean 'everyone else'?"

" Well you've obviously made enough food for an army so I was wondering when they were coming over."

Mulan scowled. " Can't a mother do something nice for her son? And besides, it's not everyday I need to serve dinner for a great warrior," she said smiling at Chan.

After a moment of silence Shang spoke up " Hey what am I? Chopped liver?" Mulan rolled her eyes in mock annoyance.

"You won't let me forget, will you General?" She gave her husband a kiss on the forehead and then a mock salute, laughing. Chan laughed along with everyone else. His parents could be so weird.

"Eat up everyone," commanded Mulan, " because if you don't, I will give this food to the army." With that everyone started to load up his or her plate. Sun emerged from the kitchen holding yet another steaming dish full of food. Finding the only empty spot on the table to be in front of Chan, she leaned over him to place the dish on the table, her arm brushing his as she did so. Chan glanced up, his face only inches from hers. Sun looked down at him, and noticing how close they were, jerked back.

"Sorry," she said, and rushed back to her seat, her cheeks burning crimson. Her ears ringing, Sun barely noticed that Mulan was talking about her.

"…Helped me with all the cooking, isn't that right Sun?"

"Huh? Oh yes, I did," said Sun proudly, temporarily forgetting the awkward situation she had just experienced.

"Such a good girl," said Mulan affectionately, patting Sun's hand, " Makes me wish I had a daughter of my own." She glanced meaningfully at her son, who chose to ignore the remark.

Chan had been receiving letters from his mother for the past six months saying how much she wished he would find a nice girl while he was away. Kind of hard to do in a camp full of men, he had thought at the time. And since his father was married to the only known woman to ever be in the army, Chan figured the odds of him finding a woman in the same situation were slim to none.