Across the Wall
by the March Hare
Okay, so sneaking away out of the place was not a perfect idea, but Fa Mulan, diplomat of China and feminist activist, had had enough of the pomp and power. All it took was a simple excuse, a need to go to the bathroom, and Mulan shimmied like a monkey over the windowsill without a second to lose. She knew there would be consequences, but she had learned long ago it sometimes was better to heed her heart and not her head.
How do you think she got so famous in the first place?
She threw a black cloak she snatched from her suitcase over herself and decided that maybe some time by the river would do her some good. Leaping from the window to the alley, she slipped into the crowd. The smell could be better and their tongues were crude to her ears, but it was nice to have a chance to get out. All that political talk and flowery language was a soul killer.
Even the horse poop she stepped in didn't smell so bad anymore.
Scrapping her shoe off on nearby building corner, she continued to walk until she navigated her way to the river; the Timeless River, to be correct. It had been here since 1928, when Walt stepped into the ethereal realms of imagination and split the void. Out the void, water came forth, flowing free like the hopes and dreams of the living. It had been there since Mickey helmed Pete's steamboat down it, to when Tiana and Naveen took their own steamboat down on it for their honeymoon. It was a constant presence, a sort of holy river for where all those people who wished to honor the one who started it all.
Mulan found a lonely place to sit down, somewhere in the downtown area tucked away in a lonely alley, and took her shoes off. Dropping her feet into the river, she let the cold, clear waters wrap around her feet. A magic, older than time and more powerful than imagination, traveled from her soles to her head. Her worries, like winged doves, flew into the Western Sky to disappear with the Sun into the Underworld.
Closing her eyes, she felt freer than she had felt in a long time. She hummed a few bars of a childhood lullaby her mother use to sing to her, and soon found herself singing it out loud.
Only Mama is the best in all the world.
With a mama, you have the most valued treasure.
Jump into mama's heart and you have endless happiness.
Only Mama is the best in all the world.
Without a mama you are like a piece of grass,
Away from mama's heart, Where will you find happiness?
For a moment, the passing waters were the only sound.
"Quite beautiful, warrior."
Mulan felt her very soul tingle in fear. Training drove her actions, however, and in a split second she drew her sword, standing ready to sever heads and hack limbs. "Stay back!" she growled
Shan-Yu's yellow eyes glimmered with amusement. There he stood; former Hun lord and the most feared man in all of China. He was large and intimidating, but for once he did not seem like he had come with the intent to crack skulls and ransack villages. In fact, he looked rather calm.
Funny, considering the last time they met the two had an epic sword battle that resulted in five banquet tables smashed; a couple dozen broken windows, and a more than a few loose teeth and bones.
Negotiations between the heroes and villains never went that very well in the first place, but that officially set the record as the world's worst peace talk ever.
"Or what?" his eyebrows rose in curiosity, putting a gigantic hand to his barrel chest. "I come here with no violent intentions, and you draw a blade on me."
He did not draw his sword, nor did he even flinch when Mulan pointed the tip of her sword at his throat. Well, actually, he did not even own a sword anymore (at least not legally). Villains were no longer allowed to carry weapons or use magic since the little negotiation incident, on threat of banishment beyond the walls of the Disney Kingdom. Now, left legally powerless, many of them had parted ways and left to find work wherever they could.
"Why are you here, Shan-Yu? I am not in the mood to deal with you right now!"Mulan's gentle but tired face screwed into rage. A bit of fear sunk into Shan-Yu's face, but was soon overtaken by peace. Stepping away from the blade, he went down to the river's edge and sat down. Completely ignoring the blade at his head, he just sat there, his eyes like golden mirrors for the glittering waters.
Mulan could not remove the infested spot in her heart, where fear had nestled for everything north of the Great Wall. She could not trust the savage, but even the thickest fool could see that she was too tired to stand long. Finding it illogical to stand there with the blade to his head, she lowered the sword. She let herself half-collapse to the ground, hand still on the sword. Settling her feet into the water again, she let her fear and hate pass downstream with the water and the fish.
For now, she was just Mulan, tired, lonely, with only the person she hated more in the world than anyone else to keep her company.
"They tell me you have been running around keeping peace between the realms." Shan-Yu said, as if he had been talking with an old friend.
Mulan raised her head in suspicion, but it did not get much farther than that. Taking a deep breath, she decided that simple conversation could not kill. Also, if the brute so much as laid a hand on her she would beat him like the dog he was.
"Yeah… yeah, it has." She simply replied, letting her head sink down so she could stair at her reflection. The flow of water was interrupted by her feet, distorting the water and her image in the process.
"I hear Cinderella is getting worried about the fact China has access to the gold mines on what use to be her border." Shan-Yu inquired.
"We bought those fairly from merchants, who are legally outside of her control. Trade between our two nations will restore that loss eventually." Mulan said, mechanically, as if it was the same old, stupid statement she had been making for several days now. Which, it was.
"Is that the truth?" Shan-Yu seemed unbelieving. His relaxed demeanor put her at ease, and Mulan found herself willing to talk freely, willing to get off a little of what was on her chest.
She took a deep breath. "No, most the gold is actually going to the lesser nobles, those who stand guard to the desert. The Emperor wanted to reward them for guarding the lands from rebellious fractions of the Agrabarian armies. That, of course, is the result of the ridiculously low salary that the armies were receiving due to the recent need for the Sultan to pay the reparations he owed for poorly quarantining the outbreak of plague that resulted in the death of countless French citizens."
As the monologue continued, Mulan's voice slowly rose and her tone quicken until she was practically screaming.
"But Cinderella needs that gold to fund for damages recently caused by a series of earthquakes, which of course also damaged the dwarves' mining operations, which also cut off supply for the surrounding kingdoms of Snow White's, Cinderella's, and Aurora's! Now, there is a rumor spreading that the earthquakes were caused by a sorcerous cult from Paris. That, of course, places blame on Phoebus and his band of knights who swore to hunt them down, three years ago! This, of course, is because they had to help the Emperor of China face off the rebellious armies of the Sultan!"
Her face shot up, and she glared at Shan-Yu. "So who else does the Emperor send but the hero of all China to go in and start shoveling horse crap?!"
Shan-Yu went to say something, but Mulan cut him off with a hand. "No, I don't even want to hear 'Well, why don't you go and tell him you can't handle the job?' Well, I'll tell you. I if admit for one second that I can't handle the job, than some creep with suave will sneak in and take it. I've seen it! It is no joke!" she screamed at the barbarian, who had actually been only listening and was completely innocent.
Mulan stopped for a while and breathed in, the wet air sapping all the anger out of her. The water lapped her bare feet, and she closed her eyes. "The Emperor is not well. I don't know how an immortal creature of his wisdom and love can lose his edge, but he is starting to. The court whispers old age, but I know better. This world was built to be paradise, so it is impossible for us to die of old age. But…he is almost gone" she indicated to her head, "and a puppet to the whims of the counselors. Just as long as they keep bowing and crying; "Ten thousand years, ten thousand years!", then the Emperor will say they are loyal and good men."
She picked up a rock and skipped it on the water. It only went twice and then it sunk.
Mulan laughed bitterly. "Like my life," she thought.
Shan-Yu said nothing, leaving the two alone, on a quiet dock, with just the water carrying away all the pain.
"I'm sorry," She finally said. "You did not do anything to deserve that. I've just…not had it easy lately."
Shan-Yu nodded his head. "I understand."
She smiled, half-heartedly. "Thanks."
Somehow, between the water and her unburdening, she found herself no longer afraid of the Hun.
As the pain left, a small twinge of curiosity snuck into her bleeding heart. For a moment, the wound was patched, and she raised her head. Shan-Yu was sitting there, just overlooking the waters and watching the fish swim. She had never really gotten to know what Shan-Yu had been doing all this time. All she ever heard was that the old warlord had been doing the odd job, fixing roofs, chopping down trees, farming, et cetera. He no longer hanged out with the Huns, who now lived in mildpeace in the steppes north of China. He sulked with the rest of the villains in that hovel of a bar called "The Villain's Vogue", only coming when out of money for drink.
She knew better, however. Once a warrior, always a warrior, she had heard. Even if he no longer could carry a weapon in public, he was probably like a lot of the warrior types in the ranks of villainy, bringing in wanted fugitives or escaped criminals for cash rewards incognito. He might of even of slain a few rebellious nobles for the right price.
Maybe she should hire him to assassinate some of these pains she had been dealing with. No, bad thought, bad thought, bad thought…
"Do you just make it your hobby to stare at people or is there something you want to say?" he asked, amused. The suddenness of the moment made her jump. Besides being a powerful man, he apparently was hard to catch off guard.
"I'm so-sorry, I just got…to wondering," She stuttered like a fool, "what have been you been doing lately?" She knew what a silly question that was, but she needed someone to talk to, even to the guy who once tried to kill her.
Shan-Yu smiled; a simple sort of smile with a twinge of mischief. Like all villains he was made of the stuff of nightmares, so even though his heart was now good the darkness could never leave him. It was like a shadow, following him around and leaving wherever he stood with a feeling of doom and despair.
"Nothing much," he replied. "Just waiting for something to come up." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a flask. He took a swig of it, and then offered it wordlessly to Mulan. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, remembering quite well that alcohol was still forbidden throughout the Disney Kingdom. Despite her desire to drink, she politely shook her head no. Shan-Yu shrugged and took another drink.
It got quiet for a while then, just the lapping of water and the occasional zeppelin flying over. It was…nice, something Mulan needed. She got to thinking about her family, and how they would be fairing. She had not seen them since she left a month ago to deal with the political matters. Maybe it was time for her to go back home.
She stood up, taking one last deep breath of the river. Shan-Yu looked up and smiled at her. "Ready to get back on your horse?" He asked.
Mulan laughed. "No, but I'll try." She looked back at Shan-Yu. "Thank you. I guess I needed some time and somebody to talk to."
She bowed, and the Hun did the same. "Until the next time," he said. "May the spirits watch over you."
"And over you too, Shan-Yu," She replied. Picking up and re-sheathing her sword, she smiled, bowed again, and left. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her.
"Shan-Yu!" she cried back, attracting his attention.
"Yes?" he cried back.
"You know why I came here, but I want to know why you're here?"
He laughed, and shook his head. "What? Don't you think villains need a break from it all every now and then also?"
Mulan thought for a second, and wondered why it never occurred to her. Was he just as bitter and fed up with life as she was? Should she go back and listen to his problems? Or was he just looking for a moment of quiet?
The two locked eyes; and she could tell that whatever was bothering was gone now too.
"It's been nice," she awkwardly admitted. She found herself blushing in embarrassment.
"Same here," he waved, returning his attention back to the river, a smile on his face.
Still blushing, Mulan put her cloak back and ran back into town, knowing full well she would be needed back at the palace.
"Oh!" she screamed back down the alley, catching his attention again. "If you ever need someone to talk to, find me, okay?"
The barbarian laughed. "Sure. Just leave the blade at home!"
Mulan laughed. "You too!" Turning the corner, she disappeared like a shadow.
And like that, she was gone.
Shan-Yu realized that hours later he was still smiling and singing the lullaby he had heard.
"Mistress Fa, why are you smiling?" asked one of handmaidens. Mulan blushed and muttered it off as "Nothing". Half-running to the negotiation table, she sat back down and ignored a comment from the foreign diplomat about woman and long bathroom breaks. It did not occur to him, as it did to Mulan's handmaidens, that this was the first time in weeks Mulan looked genuinely happy.
Now for two bits of Chinese lore. For those interested, the lullaby Mulan was singing is the English translation of "Mama Hao" or in English "Mama is the Best (in All the World)." Apparently, it is kind of like the English-speaking world's version of "Hush Little Baby". For those interested in what the heck "ten thousand years!" means, it is simple. Just like the English-speaking world said/say "Long live" to kings of the past or leaders of the present, the Chinese say "Ten thousand years" to their leaders to wish them long life. Come to think about, we're not that different when we come down to it.
Thank you from the bottom of heart for reading.
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story but the idea.