General Li Shang always stood tall. He owned a heart of stone, not unlike his expression during most times, and was ever diligent. Though he was known for his strength and bottomless skill, it was only with the presence of a woman that he was caught off guard. He was a man of procedure and strategy, but could form no plan to guard him against it.

Even the shapely young courtesans in his grand village were never defeated in their tasks of rising heat to his cheeks (at least, the dignified ones). There were none inside the walls of the academy that enveloped his time at younger age, so he was not prepared to battle against this towering challenge. They were dreamed about often, of course—among his comrades and him. They spoke of quiet, composed girls with flawless golden skin and lips that put the richest garden roses to shame. Curves defined like a razor edge, carrying hips easy to hold and breasts—

The young men stopped themselves there, each departing with rouge creeping into their complexions. During their studies, it was far from proper to speak of such things; they knew that they would receive women only the matchmaker of their parents had chosen for them. Dreaming was a waste of time for such men.

When the girl he had handled so toughly for the past four weeks appeared suddenly behind her honorable father, the composure he had beaten into himself vanished like evaporated moisture in one's breath. The blush he had long defamiliarized himself with returned so easily. He stuttered like an imbecile, until quickly realizing his actions and presented what he had come to give her. He had so foolishly forgotten that it was not truly hers, but her father's, and the idiotic chattering came again.

It was then that she had taken the piece if armor from his strong hands, coyly looked up at him, and invited him to dinner. He ignored the acrobatic somersaults in his chest at the offer her grandmother followed up with, and gracefully accepted the former offer.

The dinner, he remembered, went as unexpectedly as one could anticipate. Before it, he had managed to nearly break twelve obviously precious artifacts in the Fa household, only just saving a flowered vase an inch from the ground.

Flower vase, He mused later. It had been the translation of the girl's former alias, and he remembered his endless puzzlement as to why such a man as Fa Zhou would name his son such a feminine name.

During dinner, he had managed to nearly spew tea from his mouth twice (the first time at the mention of Mulan's lack of a husband, barely hiding his surprise, and the second time at the suggestion that he would make a fine husband for a lucky lady someday. Her grandmother was obviously a frisky woman.) The rice was exceptional, and no one had failed to mention that Mulan cooked it herself. The General was internally shocked at the thought of his former soldier knowing how to cook so well, although he said nothing.

A small dog had leapt into his lap during his dining, and Mulan scornfully removed him, scuttling off to feed the friendly animal. The General/Captain prayed to his ancestors so vigorously in his head when her dainty fingers nearly brushed the area a woman should not be near until marriage. Oh, did he pray.

When the time came for him to leave, Li Shang departed with a single phrase to the former Ping.

"I do not doubt we will meet again someday soon, Fa Mulan."

And, with a bow of his dignified head, his speckled Imperial stallion sped away at his heed, leaving the young girl within her thoughts.

Only six lunar cycles progressed until a similar stallion entered through the gate of the Fa residence with a message from the young captain, now a General, urgently asking that she return to his camp once more. Mulan nearly went into cardiac arrest when she read of the Huns' swift return to battle. Although, it didn't seem to be so much the effect of that statement—rather the mention of her promotion from soldier to captain.

She closed her lids in astonishment, struggling to fathom the hopeless Ping who scraped past every lesson he was given at the camp only so long ago to now have transitioned identities and looking to teach new hopeless recruits those same exercises. Surely I'm not so honorable a fighter... She questioned her superior's intentions, although truthfully doubting it was any other circumstance. But, she was still a young girl, and young girls were allowed to dream.

Within half a fortnight, she had arrived at Wu Zhong, disregarding the memories that pounded at her chest as she rode in on her trusted warhorse Khan. Looks of amazement followed her as she went to meet the General in his rather grand tent. Whispers surrounded her, not unlike they had when she returned home. They all wondered why she had returned, a woman who had scraped past the law and also the heroine of China. At least one title was honorable.

The General was hunched over a miniature map of China and its surrounding terrains, representative figurines here and there. When he looked up, he saw a girl in a modest female dress, almost expecting her to be in captain's uniform. Then, he remembered he had failed to send it with his letter.

"The new uniform suits you, General," she said coyly in greeting, her brow raising as his did. Maybe the trait was passed on with the rank.

"As I hope yours will, Captain Fa." He straightened his back, recognizing his posture to be unworthy in such a creature's presence. He turned and picked up the wrapped parcel, bequeathing it to her with a slight bow of his head.

He watched her face glow with pride and amazement. Her skin tone began to resemble that of which he used to dream of.

Waiting for her to tuck the bundle under her arm, he began to explain the situation at hand. "The reassembled Hun army have attacked in these pivotal places on China's borders." He pointed to the three places he spoke of. "They are anticipated to be twice as large as before, which leads us to believe that Shan Yu only came with about a third or so of his original army—and I'm sure you remember how many that was."

Mulan swallowed the lump of stress gathered in her throat. It might take more than one cannon and a snowy mountain to defeat them this time.

"Though, our troops have grown in size as well, considering how we weren't the only troops left, and two alliances have been formed by the Emperor's hand—including Mongolia. We hope they will show the Imperial army to be a great help." The dignified General scratched lightly above his knit brows. His dark and slanted eyes scanned Mulan's expression, which had softened with relief from what it had been before. "You have the responsibility of training many of the troops housed here."

The young girl knew better than to say anything, though still analyzing her own competence and ability to achieve her duty at hand.

"C'mon, Mulan. If I hadn't thought you would be worthy of the job, I wouldn't have recommended you to the Emperor. Don't look so unsure." Li Shang's seldom-used light tone of voice startled Mulan, though reassuring her. It seemed he had read her mind as well.

"Now, go change and show the soldiers their place." He escorted her from his tent, placing a firm hand on her shoulder and then retreating. Little did the intelligent General know that she intended to show them their place in her current attire.

The camp grounds were loud, small brawls in different places and boisterous soldiers bragging about themselves to others. In shadows, she practiced Shang's authoritative figure and tone he had often used with her so many weeks ago. When she perfected the task, she went to address the soldiers.

"Soldiers!" She bellowed, power surging through her small frame as the rowdy men meekened themselves, now standing in a pristinely straight line. She inspected them through her almond eyes, each and every one of them with backs straighter than a staff of bamboo.

"I will not accept such unruly behavior in my camp. I doubt that any of you are fit to face even half of a Hun, and until you are, you are not permitted to act as such. If you understand me, be silent."

Not a word was uttered, and Mulan smirked triumphantly.

"Very good. As you know, we cannot waste time, so your training begins tomorrow. I expect you all here when the sun is immediately risen. You are dismissed."

The many men grumbled quite audibly as they each retreated to their respective actions, resuming quietly. Mulan, nodding in contentment, started back to pitch her tent. Sadly, said tent was to be pitched to the immediate left of General Li Shang's in the event that she could easily be reached when there was urgent news. Though she was able to pitch her tent in half the time she formerly could, it benefited her very little, now giving her too much time on her hands. She was always taught in childhood that idle hands were the work of evil, so she chose to use the time to admire herself in the sparkling captain's uniform, sculpted to fit snugly against her lithe female form. Obviously, someone knew of her preferred colors, as the cape was not red but green of the forest trees. She had mused many a time that it suited her skin more than that awful crimson...

In the early morning, her white nightclothes were replaced by a fitting camp uniform. Mulan preferred her attire to be fitted—she wished not to hold sparring matches wearing something similar to the tent she slept in. She picked up the plain comb she had brought, ready to swoop her hair into a topknot—until she concluded that it was best she didn't. The soldiers must get used to her female identity, or it wiuld continue to be awkward for the duration of training.

She exited swiftly, disappointed that she found her men in the same state as yesterday. Loud and obnoxious, they brawled with each other, much like her comrades had on that first morning of training when she was simply a lowly soldier, the lowest of ranks on the ladder. And now, as she stared in exasperation at the many men now inferior to her, she couldn't help but internally yield to the nervousness mercilessly gripping her stomach. She told herself she had to stay composed. This would be a very long training period, and if she didn't feel her best, her fears and trepidations would only get worse.

Mustering up all the voicepower her chords could withstand, she recalled the way her former leader had addressed his troops that first morning and put it to use. If it worker for him, it had no reason not to work for her, she thought, momentarily forgetting her gender and stature.

"Gentleman!" The men caught her haughty and authoritative expression, once more lining up to form an immaculate roll call. The nervousness in her gut wavered slightly at the sight of this.

"You are to assemble swiftly and silently every morning. Anyone who acts otherwise—" she paused to set her bundle of arrows down on a nearby xiongqi table, pulling one lone slender arrow. "—will answer to me."

A young and deep voice rang through the tense air.

"Ooh, how tough."

Mulan remembered distinctively how her friend Yao had remarked similarly to her former captain seven months ago. How perfect, she thought. This might work better than I anticipated.

"Chun," she recognized the voice as one the General had addressed yesterday. She aimed the arrow at the young man, and the rest of the soldiers stepped back to leave only him standing out. His eyes widened to the circumference of a dinner plate, until she shot the arrow with extreme accuracy to the top point of the pole that still stood in the middle of Wu Zhong.

"Thank you for volunteering. Retrieve the arrow."

Behind the thick canvas curtain of his majestic tent, General Li Shang smiled with pride at the tiny woman who was repeating every word he had said in his first exploit as captain. He never expected her to stand as tall as she could with such pride, learning slowly how to mask the fear he knew she possessed inside her tiny body. Even though he should have had the lead over these troops, he wanted to see how well she would train this rag-tag group of clumsy recruits. You might call it payback for the first week of exasperation she had caused him.

Nai Chun, a pompous and disrespectful teenager from Ling's village, held his head high and cracked his knuckles, stalking to the pole and preparing to jump on it. Mulan heard the smothered chuckles of the Gang of Three and a few soldiers that had known her from their first battles with each other as comrades. His naivety almost made her giggle.

"Wait, you seem to be missing something!" She beckoned Yao, who strainfully held a heavy rectangular box in his stubby hands. In it were two bronze weights, each weighing approximately 25 pounds. Nai Chun glared silently at her with features contorted in surprise.

She held up one of Chun's thick wrists high above her head, fastening one of the bronze weights to it. "This represents discipline," she had echoed Li Shang's exact words as she dropped Chun's right wrist, ignoring as the rest of his arm dropped to the earth with it. "And this represents strength." She dropped his left wrist, suppressing a laugh as his arms were pinned to the hard ground. The combination of that and his cross expression gave him the appearance of a gorilla. "You need both to reach the arrow."

Her back was turned to him, but she heard his low growl as he scrambled up the wooden pole, only to noisily drop back to the earth again. Soldier after soldier attempted to achieve this task, and much like before, not a one did so. She shook her head, sighing in hopelessness as she rubbed the back of her neck.

After every soldier was finished attempting to retrieve the wretched arrow, she tossed a long stick of bamboo to each soldier in the line. She used both ends of her stick to toss up large ceramic jugs, skillfully balancing force and flexibility to smash both within a split second of each other. Her ears filled with astounded gasps of the men; the rumors they had heard weren't rumors. She nearly outdid any chosen captain of the Imperial army's troops, previously defeating even Shan-Yu himself.

She found that the soldiers were clumsier than camels that stood on one foot, some even dropping their staffs simply trying to hold it out in front of them. She assumed them worse off than she was at the beginning of training. But of course, she was to be stuck with the younger ones. Mulan had never seen anyone as uncoordinated in all her nineteen years.

She was beginning to understand the General's stress, and admired him no less than she did the Emperor.

The position of Captain was beginning to prove impossible for her.

It was dark now. The moon had shown its beautiful face, surrounded by twinkling stars that decorated the deep blue sky. Pity the others aren't awake to see it... she thought, her eyes narrowing with the slightly evil smile on her face.

It was long into the night. Everyone else she knew of was back in their tents sleeping more soundly than a mossy rock. She was the lone exception as she sat on top of a large hill, gazing up at the sky serenely. If the sky stretched out so far, only the gods knew what lay underneath it. This thought thrilled Mulan, somehow wishing she could see it all before she died. It was only a wish, though, she mused. For now, she was fine knowing about the land she lived on.

The quiet night breeze eased her hair into her face, caressing her pale cheeks with its raven tendrils. She brought up a slender finger to keep it from obstructing her view.

It's no wonder everyone's always writing about that thing. The moon was abnormally bright tonight. Small waves threw themselves at the shores, a sound soft and mollifying to her tired ears.

Mulan giggled softly as she thought back on her day. The 'men' scoffed and snorted when she taught them the Final Admonition. "Fulfill your duties calmly and respectfully," She had told them. "Reflect before you act, and this shall bring you honor and glory." Chun had remarked on the relevancy of the phrase to their position, and an exasperated Mulan was forced to explain that in military situations, one must always keep composed and think before taking action. That might not have been what it meant to the women, but it was an adequate motto for soldiers.

A subtle moonlight kissed her skin, the white orb reflecting in the pupils of her eyes. It seemed so close, like she could reach out and touch it. But she knew how far away it must have been. Thousands, maybe millions of miles. Someday, she'd try to find out exactly how far.

She was still thinking about the distance when a voice interrupted her thoughts from behind her.

"Big, isn't it?"

The voice belonged to her general. She knew it. Her head whipped around with such an alacrity that her hair had trouble keeping up; her eyes were as wide as the moon she pondered about. Scornful amusement was written across his handsome features. His famous left brow was raised higher than she ever could have fathomed, and a small smile tugged at the corner of his full salmon lips.

"Sha - Gene - I - I was just- "

"Do you know how lucky you are that I'm not an enemy? As such a celebrated personage, your head would be a very prized possession, and a predator would have it in his hands before you could blink if you're that inattentive on the battlefield."

The deepest crimson furiously laced itself through her cheeks, giving her a rather plum complexion in the dim moonlight. His arms were folded neatly across his partially exposed chest, and his foot tapped impatiently on the ground. She had just been caught red-handed, like a child who had dipped in the cookie jar and had been found with crumbs on her chin, or had just broken an expensive vase and was holding it behind her back.

He left out a soft exhalation.

"Mulan, why aren't you in your tent?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same?"

"I came out to follow you. Now answer my question."

Her gaze averted to the ground, before she quickly brought it back to meet his.

"It's so beautiful out tonight. I couldn't just sit in my tent and miss it."

Li Shang's expression softened. He knew the night was beautiful. There wasn't a cloud in the dark sky, and the stars twinkled like diamonds scattered across fine black silk. Where she was perched on her rock by the pond, he could see the distorted reflection of the glowing moon in the water. Yes, the scenery was admittedly beautiful, but it wasn't safe for her out here. He knew there could be Huns hiding anywhere—in the brush, underwater, in a tree, anywhere.

His dark eyes scanned her small profile. Her dainty face was only partially illuminated in the pale moonlight. He tried so hard to push the image of her being hurt or in danger from his mind.

"Mulan, go back to your tent."

She nodded. It wasn't angry, scornful, hateful, haughty—it was gentle, a tone so uncharacteristic for a man like Shang. She softly tread on the grass that tickled her feet, tiptoeing up the hill to the path that led back to Wu Zhong. He watched her scurry away, her nightskirts blowing delicately with the gentle breeze, doing his best to ignore the painful tugging inside his chest as her movements seemed to express sadness. He truly wished she was able to enjoy the landscape more, but as her superior, he was obligated to protect her. He would have done it anyway had rank never been a factor.

Taking a last glance at the moon, he followed.

Mulan hopped into her tent, taking great care to make sure that the canvas flap made no noise. The size of her tent was substantial; she had been generously provided with blankets of wool and silk to keep her warm through the biting chill of the night. Her entire body froze as a small lump moved from under them.

"Man, how the hell do you— AH! My tail! I—"

"Mushu?"

The small outline of a tiny dragon's head poked out from under these covers.

"Mulan? Could you help out your ol' guardian pal and git these offa me?"

Removing the blankets, Mulan glared down at her tiny ancestral guardian.

"Care to explain what you're doing here?"

"You know I couldn't let you go off anywhere without my help! Remember, if there were no Mushu, there would be no Mulan: Heroine of China."

"Shh!" Mulan reminded her lizard-like friend that tones must be kept to a whisper.

"Mushu, quit being so loud! You could wake someone up!"

Mulan huffed.

"We have to talk about why you're here later. For now, it's bed."

She dropped his limber body on the ground beside her makeshift bed, pulling the blanket over herself and turning her back to him.

"G'night, Mulan," he said with a yawn, climbing under the covers and snuggling against his friend.

Yet, he only found himself squished five minutes later as a sleeping Mulan decided to roll back over.

"You—you COW!"