A/N:Hello everyone! This is a challenge from BellaVision. (She (or he)might have even requested one from you before) Anyway, this was long overdue. Like, a month. So, enjoy!
Chapter 1: A not-so-happy happy day
Blossoms a pale pink drifted slowly to the ground. The stream, like molten crystal, stirred gently in the wind as warm rays hit the stone walls of the garden. Azure skies held fluffy marshmallows that partially concealed a single golden marble. The scene in front of her would have been so beautiful, had it not brought up such painful memories.
A lone man sits underneath a cherry blossom tree, a forlorn look on his face. She hesitates, before walking up to him. She's nervous, meeting her father for the first time since she ran away to join the army. As she comes closer, he looks up from the cherry blossom he's holding and stares at her for a second, before realizing who she is.
"Mulan!" he stands up, surprise etched on his face. Before he can say anything though, Mulan quickly kneels down in front of him and presents the items she had brought along.
"Father, I brought you the sword of Shan Yu, and the crest of the emperor! They're gifts, to honour the Fa family." Mulan places them into her father's hands, and looks down at the ground, afraid of his reaction. Suddenly, she hears the sound of something being thrown on grass and she looks up. The sword and the crest! Mulan is engulfed in a tight hug from her father soon after.
"The greatest gift and honour, is having you as a daughter." Mulan is shocked. Does…does that mean he forgives me?
He forgives me. A single tear rolls down her cheek as the revelation hits her, but it is wiped off by a coarse thumb.
"I've missed you so."
"I've missed you too, papa." the daughter buries her face into the father's shoulder, wishing for the moment to never end.
It had been exactly one year after the war ended. One year ago she had stepped into this very garden, carrying her gifts of repentance and hope of acceptance. This time, though, she didn't have a father to meet her and a father to comfort her. This time, though, she was missing a father. Ribbons of salty tears streaked her face as a dull throbbing pain invaded her chest. Why? Why did he have to go? Why did he have to leave Mama? And Nai Nai? But most importantly, why did he have to leave her? It wasn't fair. She didn't deserve this! Mulan knew she was being childish, that her father wasn't at fault, but she couldn't help feeling this way. She still remembered when her father finally told the family, like it happened the day before.
The family sat at the dinner table, enjoying the nightly meal.
"So, Mulan, when are you planning to marry Shang?" Nai Nai teases. Mulan chokes on her rice.
"Nai nai!" she pouts. Her grandmother laughs.
"Anyway, son, how did your visit to the doctor go?" Nai Nai asks. It was Fa Zhou's turn to choke.
"Oh, um, it was okay." he says. It was obvious to everyone, however, that he was lying.
"Papa, what did the doctor say?" Mulan blurts out before she could stop herself. Fa Zhou smiled, although it never reaches his eyes.
"It's nothing. The doctor just said that I have a minor case of fei jie he."
"Nothing? How can you say it's nothing!" Mulan's mother scolds him. Every single citizen in China knew at least one person who had succumbed to fei jie he. It was a dangerous illness that creeps up from behind you, and when you least expect it, jumps and attacks.
"The doctor says that all I need is plenty of rest and I have to drink a lot of water. It's nothing to be worried about." Fa Zhou quickly adds.
"Papa, you-you won't die, right?" Mulan asks quietly, exposing the insecure and vulnerable side of her.
"What? Mulan!"Fa Zhou is shocked as a single tear stains his precious daughter's cheek. He moves over to hug her.
"You-you won't leave right?" she asks, as horror stories of fei jie he comes rolling back to her mind.
"No, because remember my child, death ends a life, not a relationship." he hugs her tighter. Robert Benchley quote.
"Mulan? Mulan!"
Mulan quickly wiped her tears off her face before anyone could see her. Her mother came rushing in.
"Mulan! What are you doing here! You should be getting ready for the banquet!" Fa Li's face was creased with worry. Age had taken a toll one her. Wrinkles could be seen on her face and her once ink black hair was tainted with grey streaks. Still, she was a beautiful lady.
"I'm sorry, mama. I'll get ready now." Mulan smiled. Fa Li gave her a "What am I to do with you?" look and walked off. The moment she left, so did Mulan's smile. She knew how much her mother was hurting from the loss of her beloved husband, but never did she show it. Fa Li was trying to be strong for the whole family, but Mulan knew about the muffled tears and the hours of staring at his pictures. She wanted to tell her mother that it was okay to cry in front of them sometimes, but she knew her mother would not listen to her. After all, Fa Zhou was always the strong glue that kept the family together, and now that he was gone someone had to take his place. Also, if anyone of them cried in front of Nai Nai it would just make everything worse. Mulan's grandmother was not taking her son's passing well. Always in a constant depression, Mulan was secretly afraid that her normally cheerful grandmother was slipping, drowning in her despair. Today was supposed to be a happy celebration for the end of the war, but she was feeling neither happy nor up to a celebration. She sighed, and reluctantly went to her room to get ready for the banquet.
Mulan tugged at her dress. A solid pale pink, it was decorated with white orchids. Her hair was pulled back into a semi-tight bun, and a single white orchid sat on it. Mulan's mother decided that it wasn't formal enough, and made her put a string of golden beads in her hair as well. On top of that, Mulan had to cake on make-up. She sulked. That's why she hated going for formal occasions. She had to dress up like a doll, and walk around all dignified and delicate-like. Mulan sneaked a glance at her mother. She wore the same style of clothing as her daughter, except it was a rich purple, with white and pink cherry blossoms lining the bottom of her skirt. Her hair was also in a bun, but white pearls were wound round the base of the bun. Unfortunately, Nai Nai didn't want to come, and both of them didn't want to force her either. She felt the carriage come to a stop. Finally! It had took then more than 7 hours to travel to the royal palace, and sitting in a carriage for 7 hours was definitely not comfortable. Mulan suddenly realized that the day she "saved China" was in fact a day ago, and not today. But then she remembered that Gui Ren, the empress, had in fact died years ago on the very day before she "saved China". That probably explains it. The emperor couldn't mourn his former wife on one day then celebrate the end of the war the very next day.
"Mulan!" She snapped out of her train of thoughts, and saw her mother standing metres ahead of her. She came out of the carriage rather clumsily, but when she saw the look her mother gave her, she slowed down and tried to walk as gracefully as she could. Soon they reached the palace gates. Mulan's mother showed the 'host' their invitation. He looked at it, before bowing at a 90 degree angle.
"Ah, welcome to the palace, savior of China, and I suppose her mother?" he said. Mulan blushed, and her mother smiled.
"Thank you." Mulan's mother said when she seemed to be tongue-tied, and led her into the palace. Both their breaths caught in their throats when they entered the banquet hall. To sum it up in one word: golden. It was as if the room had been dipped into the purest of gold. Intricate pillars that had dragons wound round each of them were made of solid gold. Gold leaves and flowers were painted on the red ceiling. The tiles on the floor were, you guessed it, golden. It definitely wasn't a mistake when they named it the golden hall of banquets. The place was swarming with people. Important people no less. Mulan suddenly felt so common, compared to the guests around her. Her dress felt so plain compared to the intricate designs of the women there. Also, each of said ladies wore so many precious jewels and jade, if they all pooled their jewelry together it could fill a jewel mine. It made the pearls in her mother's hair look so dull. She gulped. Maybe coming to this banquet wasn't such a good idea after all.
A/N: So how was it? Constructive criticism please.