The Quest 2: The Search for Oneself

by UkyoRafa

The sequel to my story, The Quest In the Name of Friendship. Sora and his friends have wakened from their sleep and have been confronted by new enemies the time has come for the heroes to gather and bring light to the darkness once more. BIG CROSSOVER

6. Chapter 5: China's Sons

Hey, guys. It's been a while, huh?

Well, I suppose it's useless to tell you what happened. This semester turned out to be beyond hideous. This time, I didn't do too well on my subjects (but I passed, nonetheless). My professors weren't exactly the nicest ones this time around... But no matter. At least I'm free now :)

That said, this chapter is pretty long, so that should make up a bit for the delay.

I hope you enjoy it :) Until next time, have fun! Happy Holidays!

Chapter Five: China's Sons

Narrator: Jam

"Aahhh! Boy, that feels good!" I practically moaned as I lowered my body into the water. Not that the water was very warm, but I sure as hell needed to take a bath. All of us did.

I have to say, Mulan had really hit the spot with this idea about taking a bath. It'd been a week since I had last showered... a week! Can you imagine how much we all stunk? And worst of all was that we were always training, always battling, always striving to be the top of the class (well, me at least). If it would've been a week of just laying around in a bed of roses, it wouldn't have been as bad... Oh, and let's not forget we were always next to smelly men. I reckon none of them minded, but we were about to cry. It was worse than lying in a field of frying onions, for crying out loud.

Anyway, enough of scatology. We, the girls – and Baiken – had all decided that it was time to put an end to all that. So there we were, all by ourselves, butt-naked in a lake which wasn't too far away from the camp. We would've been just asking to get caught if it would've not been for Mushu, who had somewhat offered to stand guard. He would let us know if any men would come our way – unlikely as it could've been. Well, that was the plan, either way...

"Mark my words, you girls are going to get into a lot of trouble!" the little dragon warned for the fifth time, his back turned to us. "If anyone comes here, they're going to find out a couple of strange things..."

"We heard you already, Mushu, take it easy," Mulan said. "Besides, I don't think anyone will come."

"It's not like men are craving for a bath anyway," added Sakura.

"They should, though, because they smell," Akane giggled.

"Besides, we also need a break from our phony voices," I said. "At least I do, because I have such a sweet voice and to fake it really hurts my throat."

"Sweet like the screech of a dying cat or like the sound of fingernails scratching a chalkboard?" wild Baiken asked with a mocking smile while Kuonji held her laughs.

"No, sweet as in I actually sound like a girl," I retorted.

"Oh, I'm sure that's what they told you at whore-academy," she contested, marveled by her own wits, I should think. Oh, I had the perfect reply for that, if it wouldn't have been for Kuonji...

"Please, guys, let's not start again," she said. "I'm in a very good mood right now and I don't want it spoiled, okay?"

"Is that so?" asked Felicia while grinning, keeping the argument from continuing. I decided to let Baiken think highly of herself for the time being, with that stupid reply. I'd get her later, though... "How come?"

"Well, Wilheim and I made up," Kuonji said with a big smile. I swear, if she would've looked at me when she announced that, I would've given her another black eye... even though that statement had been dedicated to me, no doubt.

"That's great!" they all exclaimed happily. I merely rolled my eyes and faced the other way.

Okay, I know what you're thinking: "What's with Jam, anyway? What a bitch! Why was she so obsessed about stealing Wilheim from Ukyo?" And you would be right: I was being a major bitch at the moment. The thing is, I didn't like Kuonji from the start. I suppose it was because I had just lost my restaurant: I had struggled so hard to get the funds to build it and it had gone away just like that. I had sort of tried to make a compliment to Wilheim when I found out he had saved me and then Kuonji butts in, acting all territorial... That really pissed me off.

She once asked me if I was doing all of that because I hated her or because I was just a shameless slut eager to get Wilheim at all costs. Mostly it was because I couldn't stand her. Although I must say, I would've left it all at peace if I hadn't liked the guy... Sure, I would've liked to have Wilheim a few times. Mostly just to piss Kuonji off, but with an added bonus to it.

Yet that wasn't going to happen. Even though Kuonji was a stupid little girl (and a bit of a weakling, too), Wilheim was entirely devoted to her. Perhaps his chivalry and his loyalty was that which turned me on the most. But, even though he was a lost cause for me, I would still try to bother her a bit... And, finally, I admit I'm a bit too much of a proud person. I can't apologize to someone that easily, especially if I don't like them at all.

"So, what happened?" questioned Sakura. "I bet he told you something really nice, didn't he?"

"You know my Wilheim..." Kuonji mused.

"That boy surprises me a lot," Baiken added. "He's quite different from the rest of the other nimrods we have for companions. He's as clueless as a gopher above the ground, but he has his way with words."

"I would think that would have to do with his age, right?" Akane murmured.

"No, he's always been like that," Kuonji said.

"His age? I don't think he's that old," Mulan giggled. "He looks just a little bit older than Ukyo... but that's it."

Kuonji, Akane, Felicia, and Sakura looked at each other and chuckled. Weird... How old could Willie be, anyway?

"It will be difficult for you to believe this..." said Kuonji. "But, at least in terms of time, Wilheim is the oldest one of us."

"The oldest??" I exclaimed. "Nah-ah, no way. He can't be older than that relic," I added, pointing at Baiken.

"Well, if Wilheim would have the brains of a three-year-old, then he would be much more mature than you in my book, Marmalade Jam," she snarled.

"Guys..." whined Sakura, Akane, Felicia, and Kuonji.

"Okay, okay," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "But seriously, that's just a lie. He can't be the oldest. What's more: so Baiken won't get pissed off again, he can't be older than me."

"Take a shot," Kuonji defied.

"Twenty, at the most," I said.

"Way cold... He's seventy."

Upon hearing this, I, of course, burst out in laughter. Mulan herself giggled and hid her face behind a lily, while Baiken – surprisingly, because they had become such good friends – stared at Kuonji with a "don't give me that BS" look on her face. However, Kuonji and the other three remained perfectly serious.

"Kid, I know you're trying to impress us with your boyfriend and all, but that's past ridiculous," the handicap dryly said.

"I'm not joking," Kuonji calmly replied. "You can ask any of our friends and they'll tell you the same thing."

"True, true," Akane, Felicia, and Sakura pledged.

Strangely enough, I began to believe this... what had seemed to be mendacity at first suddenly became an intriguing question. This could mean trouble... The only beings I knew could live so long without physically aging were the Gears... and if Wilheim turned out to be one, then he would be in mortal danger, because Baiken hated Gears with all her heart.

I think a small parenthesis is necessary here: Gears were beings – 'bio-weapons' – created by 'magic' (not sorcery, though... it's an alternate form of energy. I won't go into details here, since I don't know much of it myself) that ran amok not too long ago. They destroyed many populations, and I have reasons to believe old Baiken's town was one of the many cities ravaged to the ground. I remember she once said to me that she would slay all gears, even if it would be the last thing she did. I have never seen so much hatred in one person. I believe she was after an unidentified Gear which I – officially – defeated (off the record: I just claimed the bounty on her head for myself... What? No one else came to pick it up. So, what the hell?). Either way, she would not speak a word about it, especially to me, seeing how much we liked each other.

"Okay, let's say I believe you for a moment," I said. "Then what is he? He can't be a human, if he's seventy years old. And if he is, I'd like to have the prescription of what he's taking," I added, amazingly making Kuonji laugh for the first time ever.

"He is a human," she explained. "But, for fifty-one years, he lived as a vampire."

"A vampire?" Baiken, Mulan, and I muttered... well, in a way, that was a relief. "Are you shitting me?" added the samurai tomboy with a skeptic look in her eyes.

"I swear I'm telling the truth," Kuonji said, with perfect seriousness, raising her right hand. "I know it's hard to believe, but trust me, he was a vampire. I met him when he was still one, and so did Akane, Felicia, and Sakura."

"Again, that's the truth," the other three assured.

"If he's really seventy, then he has a severe psychological problem," Baiken said, still unable to believe Kuonji and the others. "Because he acts like he's eighteen – maybe even younger. And the speech thing doesn't count."

"I know, and you're right about that," Kuonji said. "The thing is, he sort of forbade himself to grow up, if you take my meaning. He always hoped he would become a human again so that then he would age naturally. So far, I feel he's been true to his word. I've spent six months with him and I feel he has matured, even if a bit."

"...So, you're not lying on this. You're actually serious," Baiken said, seemingly surprised. At last she had chosen to believe this incredible story.

"A vampire... what's that?" naïvely asked Mulan. Baiken rolled her eye and looked away; the rest of us merely giggled at her innocence.

"Think of it as a sort of Chiang-shih," I said.

"Oh... Oh!" Mulan exclaimed, horror filling her face. "But those are evil spirits... They prey upon women and rape them!"

"Wilheim wasn't like that when he was a vampire," Felicia quickly intervened. "He's always been a good guy. Sometimes he gets a bit carried away by his emotions, but he's righteous and good-hearted. The vampire I knew was nothing like a Chiang-shih, or whatever you call it... he's just like you know him now. Well, he did drink blood for a living before, but he didn't kill. He drank from me a few times."

"Oh, didn't that hurt you?" asked Mulan.

Felicia unavoidably grinned and turned bright red. Akane and Sakura chuckled while Kuonji literally forced a smile upon her face and shook her head.

"No... h-he didn't hurt me," she stuttered. "He was very g-gentle..."

"Why so nervous all of a sudden, pussy?" asked Baiken, raising an eyebrow. As an answer, Felicia immediately turned to Kuonji and said:

"I'm really sorry, Ukyo... but he had to drink..."

"I know. It was either that or the most terrible pain you could imagine. Don't worry about it," she answered, shrugging her shoulders.

"No... Actually, it felt nice," the were-cat said.

"Nice like, 'it was okay' or 'I wish I could do it right now'?" I asked while grinning.

"No, don't say that...!" she shyly answered, turning even redder and sinking into the water.

"Hmm... Dang: I wish I had met Wilheim when he was a vampire."

"That doesn't matter, does it, Ukyo?" quickly said Akane before Kuonji or anyone else could reply to my comment. "I mean, you probably did it all the time. He did spend some days at your place when he was a vampire, didn't he?"

"'All the time' was only twice, Akane, now that you mention it," replied Kuonji. "We only did it once when he was staying at my place because we were still in the process of falling in love for each other. And the second time was in Atlantica."

"Yeah, we all figured you'd be doing something funny when you asked for a separate room for yourselves," giggled Sakura and the others joined her.

"I hadn't seen him in such a long time!" Kuonji said. "It was the least we could do, you know."

"A lot of things happened in Atlantica," Akane said. "That was also where Link and Aeris got together, I think."

"You know, I don't think I saw that one coming..." Kuonji muttered. "I mean, Link is always so devoted to his princess and all; always speaking about her... it was hard for me to picture him with someone else. But, then again, he's a true knight, loyal to his land. I guess that's why he loves his princess so much, but always as a warrior that serves royalty."

"Yeah, I suppose our little quest helped us strengthen some bonds," Sakura added, giggling.

And right then, before any of us could say another word, we heard the maniacal screaming of our companions from the encampment... heading in our direction.

With frozen hearts, we turned to see Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po running like mad toward us. Holding our breaths, we all sank into the water, hoping that they hadn't seen... anything that might give us away. Naturally, not one of us was at ease. Hell, even Baiken, who's been an iceberg as long as I've known her seemed quite disturbed to see those three wailing like animals. It was as if they wanted the entire camp to join us!

"Oh, shit!" muttered Baiken as Yao and Ling entered the water noisily, splashing each other as they went in deeper into the lake. For his part, Chien-Po stuck his toe into it to see how cold it was, just like a little boy. And then, just like a little boy, he jumped high into the air and came into the water with a massive splash that drove us away from them.

"That was a good one, Chien!" laughed Ling, splashing the huge guy friendly. "You should try another one!"

"Hey, wait a minute..." muttered Yao as he turned around and fixed his eyes on someone... it had been Mulan, who, despite her best efforts to hide behind a lily, had sort of screwed up. Horribly screwed up, I have to say, because the other two found out the rest of us almost instantaneously right after her. "If it isn't our good friend Ping and company!"

"Um... hey, guys," Mulan greeted, faking her voice. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing," Ling answered. "We just came in for a little swim. What about you, guys?"

"Same," gulped Kuonji.

"You know something?" Ling added, approaching Mulan and putting his arm around her body. My God, if his hand dropped a few inches he would run into a very unexpected surprise! "I think we all got up on the wrong foot. Let's start again, right guys? Nice to meet ya, Ping. I'm Ling!"

"And I'm Chien-Po," muttered the gentle giant as Mulan swam away from Ling and crashed into his stomach with her back, thankfully. But nothing had us prepared for what was about to happen next...

"And I am Yao!" cried the third man as he stood up straight on a tiny rock which was in the middle of the lake... butt-naked. Mulan was the first to look away and then we all, as discretely as we could, did as she. Dang... I suppose the water must've been really cold or something... "And I'm King of the rock!"

"You're lucky if you can even call yourself 'Count'," whispered Baiken. I don't think Yao and the others heard her, but the rest of us sure did. Although I don't quite like Baiken's sense of humor, that was the best joke I'd heard in a long time and really had to struggle to keep myself from bursting out in laughter.

Encouraged by his friends' cheers, Yao leapt into the water, splashing us even more. The three then became locked up in a wrestling contest or something. Taking advantage of their own distraction, we discretely swam away from them. Yet if things were only so easy...

"Hey, where do you think you're going, guys?" asked Ling, glaring devilishly at us.

"Um... to the other side," grunted Felicia.

"No, you don't," muttered Yao. "Come on, Reinhart: I thought you were the captain's favorite! Time to defend your title!"

"Maybe some other time," I answered in a hoarse whisper.

"What are you, chickens or something?" Ling mocked and began to caw like mad.

"No, no, it's just... it's a bit late..." muttered Mulan.

"Late??" laughed the three soldiers. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know that the kids were supposed to be at bed at this hour!" said Yao. "Now, are we going to get to fighting already or not??"

"Just a second guys!" exclaimed a fourth man as he and his two friends swam near us. The moonlight fell on them and we let out a low, relieved sigh as we noticed that they were none other but Ryu, Ken, and hot-hottie Wilheim himself. "If you want to battle the real stuff, you should try getting over us, first!" said Ken. "Come on, who's first in line?"

"I'll get you, pretty boy!" exclaimed Yao with a mad smile, cracking his knuckles.

"Sweet... but before getting to the semi-finals, you have to beat all the other contestants, you know," Ken murmured.

"What was that?" cried Yao. But before he could throw himself against Ken, the yells of a really big bunch of men reached our ears. Turning back in alarm, we saw how the rest of the guys from the encampment dived into the water and rushed at Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po, practically dragging the first two away from us, while the gentle giant remained stationary, gazing at his frenzied companions with amusement.

We stood still and quiet, our heads half-way submerged in the water, panicked by the sight of those guys. Yet right then, our friends walked near us and began to drag us away from the crowd as silently as they could.

"That was a close shave..." Ken whispered.

"You should try to be more careful!" said Wilheim, actually trying to sound mad... "Your little escapades have endangered us all! If it would not have been for Mushu's timely warning, you could have been uncovered! How could you be so careless?" The words seem harsh, no doubt... but if you would've been there, you would've also found out that he was in fact very, very nervous. In fact, I think we all noticed that and didn't take him the least seriously.

"Wilheim-honey, you're overreacting," Kuonji giggled. "It's not like we're completely helpless. I mean, come on! You're talking to the army's bully!"

"I am not joking, Ukyo!" Wilheim insisted. "You are not supposed to—Oh, Lord, please don't do that!" he exclaimed, turning bright red as Kuonji hugged him from behind. Smart move, I have to admit.

"Every man has a weak point, Wilheim," laughed Ryu. "I suppose it's more than evident which one's yours."

"Do not encourage her..." he muttered, gulping, as Kuonji giggled even more, pressing her body against his.

"So I guess Mushu was a bit right, after all," Mulan said. "I guess we owe him one."

"That lizard should've warned us himself, instead of sending all of you," Baiken grumbled.

"Hey, come on... I mean, aren't you glad we got here?" Ken asked.

"No, because now we're in a very serious predicament," she went on. "Because I'm not going to step out of the water and let you guys see me naked."

"Same here!" we all exclaimed at the same time.

"But we don't have to do that. We can simply turn around," Ryu said, calmly.

"I'd rather be sure," I said. "I have an idea. You guys go first and then, when you've gone far away, we'll dry off."

"That's a good idea, except for the fact that we'll be exposing ourselves, then!" Ken answered.

"Better you than us," Baiken replied.

"Yeah," the rest of us girls agreed. And, seeing how nervous poor Wilheim was, the evil impulses in me pushed me to tease him a bit... if Kuonji got mad, that would be her problem. "Besides, we just experienced a terrible spectacle... Feasting our eyes on you guys would be a nice change of scenery, especially you, handsome." Upon hearing this, Wilheim submerged until the water almost reached his nose. His eyes shone with a bit of fright and he turned as red as a tasty apple. I found that adorable and chuckled as he eyed me with a pleading glance. Of course, the same could not be said about Kuonji, who gritted her teeth silently, yet didn't even turn to face me.

"But we came to get you out of trouble," Ken complained.

"We're the women here!" Felicia said. "Be a gentleman and step out."

"I'm not leaving this lake until you swear you will look away!" Wilheim cried, looking at me. His shyness was adorable!

"I was just kidding!" I chuckled. "Jeez, no one around here knows how to take a joke. See, I'm not looking," I added, turning my back around. "Come on, get out already. I'm beginning to get cold."

"Hurry up, guys," Sakura said and the rest of the girls turned around as well.

The guys chose not to say another word and exited the lake as quickly as possible. I could hear them splashing about as they hurried to the shore and frantically searched for towels and their clothes. I didn't even need to look at them to tell how nervous they were. Again, the impish little Jam in me convinced me to pull another prank on the guys...

"HUBBA-HUBBA!!" I cried loudly. "Now that's a lovely sight!!"

"JAM!!" they all cried, their voices almost turning as high-pitched as mine.

"I'm just messing with you!" I exclaimed while laughing long and loud.

"That was not the least funny!" Wilheim scolded, yet once more, his voice quailed as he spoke.

"Better start dressing up, boys, because I'm sick of being here in the cold water," Baiken declared.

"Just give us a bit of time...!" Ryu said.

"Na-ah. You have thirty seconds. After that, I'm going to turn around, so you better not be there. And I'm not joking."

"Hey, if she looks, I'll look," I giggled.

"But...!" Wilheim began, yet Baiken was seemingly sick of being so cold. I suppose we all shared the same feeling.

"ONE!" she cried. "Two, three, four...!"

The guys muttered something which I didn't quite make out and began to make a lot of noise as they hurried behind the trees and dried their bodies as quickly as possible. I chuckled as I imagined them tripping over their feet, as nervous as they were. And I wasn't the only one: Felicia was also giggling like mad, and so were Sakura, Akane, and even Kuonji. Baiken was the only one that still kept counting, letting the men know we were serious about getting out of there.

"Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty—!"

"WAIT!!" the tree men wailed.

"Like hell we'll wait! Twenty-nine, THIRTY!" and, as promised, we all turned around. Man, I don't think I'll ever forget the scene... just as we glanced to the place where the guys were, we saw Wilheim's half-naked body fall right behind a row of bushes. He had already put on some trousers, so it wasn't as fun... Anyway, the reason he had flown off like that was because Ken had kicked him from behind a three which was too thin to hide both of their bodies. Ryu had practically climbed up another neighboring tree and all we could see from him were his legs. Well, I must say that our three companions had really nice bodies...

You can obviously imagine the reaction this caused upon us. Every one of us – including iceberg-girl Baiken – began to laugh their heads off. To see Wilheim fly off like that had been priceless. Moments later, though, they all got every single piece of their uniforms on and stepped out of their hiding places.

"You guys are so funny!" laughed Mushu as he stepped out from the shadows, laughing as well. "It's been a while since I had seen such a fine show!"

"Shut up!" Ken cried. "That wasn't the least freaking funny. You think you can just come up here and mock—Ouch!" he whined as Wilheim punched his arm.

"I appreciated that much, Ken: thanks to you I gave quite the pitiful spectacle," the kid grumbled.

"No, you didn't! I enjoyed that flash!" I teased. Ryu and Ken began to laugh at this and Wilheim turned even redder. This time, though, I don't know if he was just being bashful or if he had really become mad.

"Come on, baby, don't worry. There's nothing that you should be ashamed of, honey!" Kuonji said. Again, roaring laughter. Everyone but Wilheim was practically out of air from so much laughter.

"Excuse me: I do not wish to be your buffoon this evening," he grumbled and stormed away. Oops... I think he was genuinely angry right then. But after what had just happened, none of us could take him seriously.

"Baby, don't be like that!" Kuonji said. "It's not like there's anything there I've never seen before!"

"Ukyo!" giggled Akane, gently slapping her shoulder. "That's so very mean of you!"

"Well, that's the truth... Oh, nothing that you should care listening about, though. Anyway – Ryu, Ken: scram. We're coming out. And be warned, Ken: I'm going to punch you when I'm all dried up."

"Why??" exclaimed the man.

"Because, although we had a lot of fun, that was a very cheap move. You deserve a good punch."

"The girl's right, you know," Mushu said.

"Who asked you?" Ken muttered. He then let out a sigh and turned to Ryu. "Come on, man. Let's give the ladies some room."

"Yeah," he nodded and then they both began to leave. "You're coming with us too, Mushu."

"Hey, I'm a gentleman: there's no need for those sorts of instructions," said the dragon with a deep voice and went after them.

"Well, girls, let's get out of here," Felicia said once we were sure they were far away enough. "I broke the kitty-rule by taking a bath and now I'm just as cold as any of you."

(Change of scene)

Felicia, Akane, Sakura, Baiken, and Kuonji went straight to their tents as soon as they had put their clothes back on. Ranma and Ryoga, it seemed, hadn't come because they had fallen fast as sleep as soon as the training had been over. At least that's what Akane and Sakura told us. Ryu and Ken stayed up a bit more and welcomed us back as we returned to the encampment. Wilheim, it seemed, had gotten angry for real and had gone to his tent. Kuonji didn't seem the least worried about this.

"He acts tough, but I always know how to make him happy again," she giggled.

As for the rest of the soldiers, it seemed most of them had already returned to their tents. The same could not be said about Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po: word had it that they had seen a snake (my guess was that they had seen a little red lizard – excuse me: dragon) and had stayed on top of the very rock Yao had stood butt-naked.

Mulan and I decided to take a walk through the camp before going to bed. I was still very cold and I needed to move a bit. I guess Mulan felt the same.

We talked for a long time. She spoke to me about her family and how much she missed them. She especially talked a lot about her dad. I could see that she loved him very much and that she only wished to make him proud.

"I utterly fail as a woman, I suppose," she said. "I try to learn the traditions of my family, but I always put my family in shame. It's so frustrating. At least it seems that I can somehow make it as a soldier. But I still won't honor my family. If I get caught, I'll get killed: and if I make it alive, father will be ashamed of me for getting into this charade..."

"Actually, I bet your father would be rather happy to see you back home safe and sound," I replied. "You think that your father expects too much of you, Mulan. Perhaps he's mad at you... but that'll be only because you placed yourself in danger, not because you dishonored him. Mark my words."

"Well... I hope you're right," she sighed. Then, turning to me, she muttered. "Jam... Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I've been talking to you a lot and, well, you're a very nice person... So, why are you so mean to Ukyo? Was it something she did to you?" Somehow, I wasn't surprised at all to hear that question.

"It's not that she did something to me per se... I don't like her at all," I answered.

"But why? I mean, I think she's a very nice person..."

"That may be, but the possessiveness he has over Wilheim just sickens me. When we first met, I just tried to make a compliment and then she goes berserk. That really pissed me off."

"So... you're telling me you're after Wilheim just to get her angry?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's half the fun," I responded. "I do like Wilheim, to be quite honest. Back there, I really did want to watch," I added, with a giggle. "But he would've gotten mad. Anyway, he does seem to be very in love with Kuonji. I'm thinking about quitting on him, but just because he's a real gentleman and a clumsy cutesy. Yet that doesn't change the fact that I can't stand Kuonji."

"Maybe you just need to get to know each other a little better," she suggested.

"Maybe..." I muttered.

Mulan didn't have a chance to press on the matter, because just as we passed by Li Shang's tent, we heard a heated argument between the aforementioned captain and that horrible, horrible man, Chi Fu. Mulan and I froze and listened carefully to their words...

"They're all worthless, I tell you!" exclaimed Chi Fu. "You've got yourself a nice army of savages who can't even take a walk without tripping on a pebble!" it was obvious that he was speaking about us, but I just couldn't believe him. I mean, he had seen me fighting... Okay, that was too conceited, even for me. He had seen ALL OF US in action. There: I fixed it.

"With all due respect, sir, that's not true," Li Shang replied. "I do believe we have some of the finest warriors in the world serving in the army. Have you forgotten about those fellows with the unusual names? You know... Reinhart and Wilheim? Even Ping has shown a remarkable improvement. And let's not forget Ryu, Baiken, Ukyo—"

"How many men do you have under your command, captain?" Chi Fu interrupted harshly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Think about this: the platoon you have trained consists of a dozen of decent soldiers and nearly a hundred savages whose only purpose in battle would be to serve as cannon fodder!"

"That's not true!" exclaimed Li Shang. He sounded quite exasperated at the horrible man's stubbornness. Hell, if I would've been him, I would've already punched his lights out.

"You will do best to remember your place, captain," Chi Fu snarled. "And that is still too much of a position for you. You know you wouldn't have made it on your own. If it wouldn't have been for your father, you would be among the ranks of those brutes."

Right about that moment, I managed to discern their figures as they cast their shadows on the tent. I could see that Li Shang had chosen not to say another word and was having a real hard time in remaining quiet. He stared firmly at Chi Fu for a few moments before he stepped out of the tent with rage in his eyes. Nonetheless, after a few steps, he let out a defeated sigh and walked right beside us.

"Hey..." Mulan said, trying to act all manly, again. "Hey, how's this: we hold him and you beat him up?" I really wished she would stop doing that...

Li Shang turned away, even more pissed by that stupid remark. However, Mulan quickly fixed her mistake by taking a step forth and saying in a gentle (but still manly) voice: "Hey, for what it's worth, I think you're a really good captain."

"I second that," I grunted.

Li Shang stopped for a moment, turned to us with a much calmer expression on his face and then left us without saying a word. Mulan sighed and shook her head.

"I feel that I've disappointed him..." she mumbled.

"Didn't you hear what he said? He's happy with your progress. We've done fine. It's not our fault that that repugnant man doesn't like the way things work around here."

"...Do you suppose there's anything we can do?" she asked.

"Yeah, stay out of Li Shang's way," I suggested. "I'm positive that, all he wants at the moment is to be left alone. If we go try to talk to him or something, he'll shut us up with an overwhelming answer: it's none of our goddamn business."

"What do you mean? We're part of the army..."

"But we're not the ones ordering it around. That's why it's best we stay out of it."

"I guess you're right..."

Yet, right about as we settled this point, Chi Fu ran past us at full speed. Looking at him, I noticed he held a letter on his hand and had a worried expression drawn upon his face. Mulan and I glanced at each other and, without saying any words, followed the man in silence, curiosity overtaking reason. Something told me that, all of a sudden, he didn't think we were such a band of losers anymore...

"Li Shang! Li Shang!" he called out as he caught up with our commanding officer. "Something's come up..."

Mulan and I hid behind some nearby bushed and tried to listen to their conversation. Unfortunately, they were kind of far, so we were unable to hear what they were saying. Whatever it was, Chi Fu seemed really concerned and Li Shang appeared surprised.

Of course, it wasn't like Mulan and I wouldn't find about the news Chi Fu had received. But we got the information from the most unexpected being... or maybe it was the most expected.

"See? It's all working out like I planned. Isn't it just beautiful?"

Turning to the voice that had said these words, we found Mushu standing beside us, smiling devilishly and rubbing his hands with satisfaction.

"Mushu... what did you just do?" asked Mulan, looking at him suspiciously.

"What do you think? You, my girl, have got to prove yourself! God only knows when you'll be required in the field of battle. But you will be summoned eventually! I'm just speeding up the process."

"Speeding up the process? What in the world are you talking about?"

"Oh, here they come!" he suddenly muttered and climbed Mulan's body, hiding beneath her armor. "You'll thank me later!"

Confused as we were by the lizard's (excuse me... dragon) words, we could only stand as puzzled as we were, waiting for Li Shang who walked at us at a very fast pace.

"We leave early tomorrow. Go get some sleep," he said firmly.

"What happened, captain?" I murmured, before he could leave.

"We've just received a message from my fa—from the general," he hastily corrected. "We're needed in the front. Best get ready. We've got a long journey ahead of us and we must travel quickly." He began to move away from us and just briefly turned around to say: "It's time to show China how much you care for her."

Well, there was our answer. Yet it had come so abruptly that we remained still and quiet for a few moments as we allowed our brain to process the facts. Finally, Mulan reached into her armor and pulled out Mushu. She stared at him with a serious expression, her eyes demanding an intelligent answer.

"So, are you going to say 'thank you' yet?" the dragon chuckled. Oh, brother...

"Yes, 'thank you' for not telling us what the hell is going on!" she scolded. "Now, if you please would be so kind..."

"Come on, it's very obvious!" he exclaimed. "I simply left a note for that dude in the blue dress, saying that the army was needed on the field of battle. It took me a while to write it, but it ended up very nicely."

"...Oh, Lord," I sighed, turning away, not knowing what else to say.

"Mushu, are you out of your mind?" Mulan snapped. "Don't you think that, when we get there, they'll figure out that your note was a prank?"

Mushu opened his mouth, ready to reply something, but no sound came from him. He remained silent for a few moments and then he smiled innocently and let out a nervous giggle.

"See, I knew I had left out an important detail."

"Mushu!" Mulan whined, covering her face with her hands.

"Well, I guess there's no use griping about it now," I sighed. "I suppose the best thing we can do right now is to get a good hours worth of sleep. We've got a long walk ahead of us tomorrow, thanks to wonder lizard here..."

"A dragon! For the last time, I'm a dragon!" Mushu grumbled.

"Shucks," Mulan muttered. "I didn't think we'd be facing our enemies so soon. I need some more training... I don't know if I'll fare well."

"You're good to go, Mulan. Besides, you've got us to watch your back. Don't worry, you'll be fine," I assured.

"Yeah, you've got your own personal bodyguard-platoon looking out for you, girl," Mushu said. "Do you think I'd be stupid enough to put you in any sort of danger?"

"You know, sometimes I wonder..." she mumbled.

(Change of scene)

As he had promised, Li Shang roused us pretty early the following morning. The sun hadn't even come out yet. But most of the soldiers didn't seem to care about it. The way I saw it, they were very excited about marching into battle, although I doubt any of them had participated in any real war. Well, it's not like I'm the great veteran or anything, but I've been in tons of big fights. It can be fun, given: yet when things get too out of hand, it's your life that's at stake. Then, it stops being a game...

I wasn't very worried, though. As long as those freaking robots wouldn't show up, I supposed things would be simple enough. If the guys had managed to defeat the Heartless in the past, then it would surely be simple for me. I mean, I practically destroyed Kuonji, and she was supposed to be a bane for those things.

On a little side note, I have to admit that, up until that point, I hadn't seen her fighting her best with her weapon. It was not until later, when I witnessed her in action, that I realized what a deadly foe I had faced, should she had been carrying her giant spatula (or even worse, Wilheim's sword). We'll get to that later, however...

The guys didn't seem too concerned, either. I suppose their past clashes had given them much confidence in the field of battle. Because of that, they chatted about unimportant stuff as we made our way through the mountains. They talked about their past confrontations and about their other friends. I felt a little left out of the conversation and I bet that Mulan and wild Baiken felt the same, although I doubt that the latter cared at all. Oh, and let's not forget that cute Wilheim was still "mad" at us, so he just walked ahead of the group in silence. He was obviously the target of many of my companions' jokes. Luckily he didn't hear them.

But after a while, the conversation about him took a different turn.

"He's not even turning, is he?" Akane giggled, as Ken finished telling another joke about Wilheim.

"Nah. It seems that he loves to play the victim," the man chuckled.

"Poor Wilheim... you guys should stop teasing him so much," Mulan murmured. Well, she was right... Even Felicia, who, at first glance, is incapable of even hurting a fly was tearing him apart. Hell, even Kuonji was having quite some good laughs.

"But it's so much fun!" the aforementioned kitty said. "It's like, he wants to get angry, but fails at it big time. That's so funny!"

"Besides, like I said, I know how to make it all better," Kuonji added. "He's just making a fuss, that's all."

"Well, after all, you're the one who's... closest friends with him, Ukyo," Sakura giggled.

"It sucks to be him," Baiken intervened. "That boy needs to learn how to get mad. Otherwise, no one will ever take him seriously. Shit, no one does."

"Oh, no, no: he's just on a tantrum right now," Kuonji quickly clarified. "It's not like he can't get mad for real. It's simply not happening right now."

"Either way, it's not like he's that terrible when he's angry," Ranma said.

"You're the one to talk," Ryoga grumbled, turning to him. "I've been around him longer than you have, Ranma. You're not the one he nearly tried to choke back at Gaia, so don't say that crap."

"What?" I blurted out. As left out of the conversation as I might've felt, I just had to dig in further into that subject... "What do you mean 'choke'?"

"No, it's just..." Ken quickly said. He let out a sigh as he reorganized his ideas and then spoke again. "When Wilheim gets mad – for real, I mean – he tends to lose himself. I've only seen him mad twice, and it's not like this. During those times, you have two choices: you can either stay out of his way or try to talk some sense into him. Most people go for the first choice: he can be quite intimidating."

"Please..." Baiken said. "That boy could hardly intimidate a squirrel."

"You haven't seen him mad, Baiken," Sakura said. "I don't know about the rest of the guys, but Felicia, Ryoga, and I at least have seen him angry. And what was worse was when he was a vampire. He was twice as scary back then."

"Oh, yeah," they all agreed.

"Ukyo, you can't say anything regarding that," Ryoga scoffed. "You've never seen him really mad. He's always at relative ease when you're around."

"Believe it or not, I think I was the first to see him really mad," she said.

"Uh-huh, sure."

"I'm dead serious, Ryoga. And what turned out to be worse: try having a half-starved, pissed vampire inside your room with no one else to come help you should he try to kill you."

"...I'm not particularly a big fan of gossip, but this time around, I think it's imperative to press you to tell the details, Ukyo," Ryu muttered.

"He wasn't going to hurt me or anything," she quickly explained. "But... well, I don't think you ever saw him mad when he was a vampire. Ryoga, Felicia, and Sakura know what I'm talking about, though. They know he was very scary. His eyes shone horribly and his fangs doubled their size back in the day, and his skin became paler than usual. He was like a phantom amidst the shadows of my room that night."

"What did you do to get him mad at you?" Ken asked.

"He was weak that night and I asked him to drink a bit of my blood so that he would recover his strength."

"And then what?"

"And that's when he got mad," she said. "He hated being a vampire and couldn't stand the thought of harming me like that. Either way, he calmed down after a while, thank God. I think he noticed how terrified I was."

"Wow, that's awful..." Felicia muttered. "What happened after that?"

At that moment Kuonji smiled and turned bright red. Tilting her head to one side, she answered: "I managed to convince him to take a bite. That made us both feel... much, much better. After that, it wasn't as hard to convince him to drink anymore and he didn't get the least angry at me."

"Oh, I see," Ken chuckled. That last statement had sort of cheered the environment. "The power of a woman can hardly be countered by anything."

"The power of a woman!" suddenly intervened Yao, who apparently had heard these last words. He went beside Ken and put his arm around him. "Oh, you've got that right, pal. The power of a woman is something no one can ever conquer. To have one of them look at you with lovely eyes...! Oh! Yeah, that's really something! Tell me, Ken, did you leave a special someone back home?"

"A special s—but of course I did," Ken answered, letting out a laugh. "Yep, the most beautiful in the whole wide word. Her name's Eliza. We're going to get married soon, you know."

"Oh, way to go, my friend!" Yao said, punching him in the arm playfully.

"I still have to meet the perfect girl," Ling added cheerfully. "But I know what I'm looking for: someone who'll laugh at my jokes and that can dish them out as well as I can."

"What about the rest of you, friends?" gently asked Chien-Po. "Do you have darlings waiting for you when you return?"

"Oh, Ryu has a girlfriend, all right," Ken chuckled, turning to his companion.

"Really?" Ryu muttered, frowning. "Well, she's done a poor job at keeping me informed."

"You underestimate yourself, pal," Ken said. "Chun-Li would be very sad if she knew you denied her like that."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Ryu exclaimed yet, strangely enough, his face turned bright red. Noticing this, we all burst out in laughter.

"And you, guys?" asked Chien-Po. At this point, Wilheim had begun to approach the rest of us, although he kept his distance a bit. I guess he was still a bit mad, but curiosity was driving him near us.

"I have a girlfriend," Ryoga said. "Her name's Sakura. I can't wait to get back home and give her a big kiss."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it, mate," Sakura chuckled with a phony, manly voice.

"And you, tough guy?" Ling asked me. "I bet chicks are all over you, huh?"

"Well, I do have a few admirers," I grunted... What? I really do... Although they're not girls.

"You've got someone too, I bet, eh, Baiken?" Yao chuckled. "You also look like quite the ladies' man!" he added with a big laugh.

"Not very interested in girls," Baiken replied ever so dryly. Really, I didn't think that woman would be interested in anything that wasn't tobacco or booze.

"Ah, a shame for the chicks," the man laughed. And then, he turned to Wilheim and said aloud: "I bet you're normal like the rest of us and do have an interest in ladies, huh, boy?"

"Yes, you could say that," he replied, trying to sound indifferent, but I could see that he was dying to participate in the conversation. To see him try to act all tough was so funny... he was so adorable.

"So, let's hear it!" Yao pressed.

"Well, I do have a special someone, like you say," Wilheim declared. "She is a lovely woman: the most beautiful creature in the face of the Earth. But alas, she sometimes can be a bit mean. Yet it matters not: I endure her insults, for I love her more than I love life."

"Oh, you're such a drama queen, Will!" laughed Kuonji. "She just teases you. You don't have to get all worked up about it. You know, I really do think she'd like to see you and have you give her a sweet kiss instead of whining about unimportant matters of the sort."

"You know, sometimes I can't be sure," the boy mumbled.

"It seems the misses has misbehaved," chuckled Ling. "I think she could do with a little spanking!"

I think Wilheim was about to scold Ling for that remark. I saw it in his eyes. But Kuonji pulled out a card from her sleeve that I would've never expected to see.

"I bet she'd enjoy that," she said.

The guys – those that knew we were girls – almost became petrified, while the rest of the men roared in laughter. Akane, Mulan, Felicia, and Sakura turned bright red as they heard her friend's words. Baiken merely limited herself to smile faintly and puffed on her pipe. I did my best to remain uninterested, but I believe I might've blushed, even if a bit. She really did know how to make Wilheim's anger vanish. You must imagine, of course, that the boy's face had become as crimson as a juicy tomato and had found no words to say. There was not any trace of anger left in his eyes. I bet Kuonji's remark had killed it all. Well... I recognize the girl was more ingenious than I'd thought. That flirt had really been sharp.

But all of a sudden, the laughter stopped as Li-Shang raised his hand and we all turned to our lefts. The cheery, warm mood we had enjoyed suddenly became a cold sensation which chilled us to the bone.

Clouds had covered the once blue sky and snow was falling, coating the road, mountains, and freezing rivers. Nevertheless, the blizzard's chill had not sufficed to put out the fire that had viciously gnawed the houses of the ruined village that lay lifeless before us. Smoke still rose from the fallen buildings and the ashes were roused by the wind and became mixed with the snowflakes. The scent of burnt wood and flesh was all about us. Death had come to this town and had taken it back to the shadows... Ironically, Mushu had done well by writing that fake letter and giving it to Chi Fu. Sadly, though, we had been too late. We had passed from being valiant soldiers to gloomy gravediggers.

"Be on your guards," Li Shang said in a low, yet firm voice. "Scout the town for survivors. And find out where the rest of the Imperial Army is."

Quietly, we did as we were told. However, I don't think that any of us was really that alert. We were simply too shocked by the macabre scene in front of us that it was difficult to think clearly. I really can't recall what thoughts ran through my head as I stepped onto a crumbled piece of burnt wood and moved a shattered door aside to see if someone was alive under it. I found only snow, ashes, and blood. I couldn't reason. I just felt fear, despair, and anger.

Most of the soldiers established a perimeter as the rest of us looked for someone who still had life within his body. But nothing could be seen. The village, which had once, it seemed, been a proud town for humble folks had been erased from existence, but the memory of its fall had been seared on our thoughts. And this was all just the beginning...

I kept on lifting whatever debris I found, yet there was no sign of anything. I was so confused I could barely move about the shattered buildings. My companions seemed a bit more attentive and were scavenging through the debris thoroughly, yet somewhat slowly. Mulan and I, it seemed, were too impressed to do much good. Oh, and Felicia wasn't in the best shape, either. I could see she was trembling and could start crying at any moment. She had to hold back her tears, however... we were still pretending to be tough, valiant soldiers.

As Ryu came near me, I ventured to turn to him and ask him in a whisper: "Do you think the Heartless you talked about did this?"

"Burn the town down?" Ryu murmured back. I nodded my head, waiting for an answer as Mulan walked to us and listened quietly. "I'm not sure... The Heartless we fought in our past battles fought differently. They tried to capture the hearts of their victims... I don't recall them burning any towns or pillaging... Unless they're more evolved Heartless, like the ones we fought in Gaia, but it's unlikely, I think."

"The enemies you seek... they're called 'Heartless'?" Mulan asked.

"Yeah," Ryu answered.

"They should better be dead by the time we find them," Ken suddenly intervened aloud as he lifted a piece of wood. "Because if they live, then I'm going to..." he found no more words and kept on searching while breathing heavily, fire in his eyes.

"Hey!" Li Shang snapped in a low voice and walked towards us. "Enough chit-chat. Keep looking for survivors and keep your eyes peeled. The enemy could be right about the corner. Go on, carry on. And find out where the Imperial Army is!"

"Yes, sir," we replied and resumed our search.

All those feeling within my heart made me want to vomit. But I had to remain strong. I had to keep looking. If I found one living person... just one... it would be enough. But the scent of death was so fierce, I was certain there would be nothing more than burnt carcasses. I felt I was going to lose my mind as I walked to a fallen house, along with Mulan, and began to lift up wood and stones.

A broken, burnt door lay before me. Taking a deep breath, I picked it up. And when I saw what was beneath it, my heart stopped for an instant and I nearly shouted with terror. Mulan immediately noticed the burnt, naked body of the little girl I had just uncovered and gasped, leaping back. Beside her, lay a small doll; her hand tried to reach it, as if by just touching it she would come back to life. But the child had breathed her last. What was more, as we looked closer at the wreckage of the building, we noticed the little girl's parents, also burnt and maimed. Their arms stretched towards the child, never to hold her again... I had never seen something so terrible in my entire life.

"Oh, Gods, help us," Mulan whimpered in a low voice, falling to her knees.

"Those... goddamn sons of bitches," I muttered, gritting my teeth. Even though I was horrified by the picture before me, I also felt a deep hatred I had never known before. I wanted to find the people who had done this and make them pay with the full fury of my fists and legs.

Seconds afterwards, we heard surprised cries from the rest of the soldiers, who had also begun to uncover the missing villagers. What horrid place had we stumbled into? It was a nightmare from which we couldn't wake up...

"God, no," Wilheim muttered at our backs. We turned to him and noticed him staring at the little girl with tears nearly escaping his eyes. He went by her side and knelt by her body. Slowly, he took her in his arms and held her fiercely. He broke into a silent cry and rocked the girl back and forth as his tears fell on her blistered skin. "Forgive me," he gently whispered. "I once took your life and now I have failed to save it..."

"...Wilheim?" I mumbled and put my hand on his shoulder. And if you think that I was trying to flirt with him at that moment, then you have a lower opinion on me than I thought. I liked Wilheim physically, no doubt, but he was also a sweet boy with a tern heart, and to see him like that was truly painful. I wished to comfort him... However, he merely turned to me with intense sadness and fury in his eyes. Not towards me, of course. But as I looked at them, I understood the horror my companions had talked about: though he wasn't a vampire, I felt deeply afraid as I looked upon those green candles which seemed to house fierce spirits of vengeance...

"They will pay for this," he assured, firmly. "I swear it..."

"Men!" Li Shang said, approaching us. "Any luck?"

"None, captain," Wilheim replied and dried his eyes before turning to see the commanding officer. "Sir, I do not think that there are enemies nearby. Otherwise, we would have been attacked already."

"Yes, I think you're right," he sighed.

"What should we do with the bodies, then?"

Li Shang remained thoughtful for a few moments before answering. His eyes strayed to the snow-covered mountains and then he said: "Let us cremate them completely, so may their ashes meld with the spirits of the mounts and find ever-lasting peace and rest."

"Captain! Captain!" shouted one of the soldiers and ran to him at full speed. "We've found the Imperial Army, sir,"

"What? Where? What's their status?" Li Shang hastily asked. I suppose that, more than anything, he wished to know what had happened to his father.

"...I think you should better come and take a look, captain," muttered the soldier gloomily. Those were definitively not good news. Li Shang gulped and with a silent nod, he followed our fellow warrior as he made his way through this horrid graveyard.

"Yes, sir," Wilheim said and got up, still holding the child. As Li Shang walked away, I tried to talk to him again.

"Are you okay, Wilheim?"

"I am very far from being okay," he answered. "This poor girl lies dead in my arms... I... I could not save her."

"It wasn't our fault, Wilheim," I whispered.

"Yes... Wilheim," added Mulan, who had finally managed to find her voice once more. "There was nothing we could do."

"It matters not," he sighed. "Help me carry her parents. They should at least be close to their baby during the eternity of their final rest."

And with that said, he took the child to the center of the town, where the soldiers had already set a fire on the dead bodies they had found so far. With a nod, we did as we were told and placed the girl's mom and dad beside her. With trembling lips and burning eyes, we watched as the family was consumed by the flames in silence.

"I need to breathe some fresh air," Wilheim murmured.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" I said to him.

"Let me be for the time being," he replied and walked away.

Moments later, we found out that our fellow soldiers had in fact found the imperial army. Unfortunately, all of them, all until the last men, lay dead on the ground. Their skins were not scorched, however: they had been cut, clobbered, and torn. By the look of things, they had let loose a fierce battle and had died with honor. Yet their mission had ended in failure.

What was most tragic was that Li Shang's father had been no exception. Chien Po, who had been searching for living men on what had been the field of battle, soon returned to the Captain's side with a sad expression upon his face and a mighty-looking helmet in his hands. With a sigh, he presented it to our commanding officer.

"The General," he said.

Li Shang took the helmet and stared at it for the longest time. I could not see his eyes, for he had his back turned on us. I can only imagine what sort of pain he felt. But in the end, he managed to keep his cool and, taking a hold of his father's sword, which had also been brought to him, he walked up to the edge of a nearby cliff and there, he buried his father's sword on the snow and let his helmet rest by its side. He made a silent prayer, got up, and resumed the search for survivors. Nevertheless, as he walked towards the battle field, Mulan stood in front of him and told him with a soft, hurt voice: "I'm so sorry." Li Shang turned to her and put his arm on her shoulder, thanking her sympathy with his mere glance...

There was still work to be done. There were a lot of houses we hadn't searched. But before that, there was something I felt I needed to do... This would clearly mark my defeat regarding winning Wilheim over: I walked towards Kuonji and tapped her shoulder.

"Kuonji," I began. "I think you should speak with your boy—I mean, with Will. He seems really upset and you're his... best friend."

Startled by my words, she looked for Wilheim with her eyes and, upon finding him, hastily went to his side, but not before giving me a soft glance and nodding. You might say a truce had been settled.

As I went back to work, I began to think that perhaps the robots that had attacked me that day might've had something to do with all of this mess. After all, they had also burned my restaurant down. Yet there were many sorts of swords on the ground and the footsteps seemed human enough. I tried to look for a screw or a piece of metal or something of the sort, but I found nothing. That could mean either one of two things: either there had been no robots around, or the villagers and the soldiers had not even managed to scratch one. Thinking about this, I realized all of the dead bodies belonged to villagers and soldiers, but there didn't seem to be any foreign carcasses. By the prints on the snow, it appeared that some had been carried out from the field of battle before we had gotten there. Even so, one thing was certain: our enemies were ruthless and evil and terribly dangerous.

I walked to the house which was farthest from the town's center. In its center, lay two more victims of the village's massacre. It seemed to be a young couple. They lay lifeless on a pile of bright, red wood, smoke still rising from their bodies. They embraced each other fiercely. I really didn't know if I would be able to stand all of this much longer.

But that was when things began to get really bad. Because, the moment I approached the dead bodies to carry them away, I heard footsteps. Amidst the falling snowflakes, I immediately noticed a little boy with short, black hair and eyes, whose red clothes were all stained by smoke and ashes. He didn't seem hurt at all. And though that was quite a relief, I saw in his eyes the most horrible suffering you can imagine. He was in shock: he couldn't even cry. Yet, as he advanced towards me, his gaze was lost in the two dead bodies. I could see that he wanted to yell their names, but fear kept him from even grunting. The poor thing shivered intensely and his skin was as pale as the snow. And it seemed that no force on Earth would drive his glance away from the dead couple.

The look of that lonely survivor broke my heart. Unable to remain firm, I began to cry as I rushed to the little boy and held him as hard as I could. I did my best not to sob frantically as I put his head on my shoulder and curled my fingers around his hair.

"It's okay, honey," I whispered in his ear. Obviously it was not freaking okay. But I couldn't think of anything else to say. "It's going to be okay, sweetheart. I promise... I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you, baby!"

I could feel him trembling, still. He was still unable to weep. But at the very least, he returned the hug. I never thought I'd live to see something so painful as this. I could only imagine the things that the boy felt at that time. To see your loved ones burnt to death... I began to understand how Wilheim felt and cursed myself for being too late. If only I could revive them... if only for a few moments so they could say good-bye to their boy... But I'm no miracle doer. I'm just a useless chef.

"Reinhart..." muttered a low voice behind me. It had been Baiken. Without letting go of the kid, I turned to her. She was truly shocked... amazing. Her eyes were fixed on the little boy's parents, also muted by the horrible sight. I dried my tears a bit and kissed the boy on his forehead before speaking. Not to sob was really nearly impossible for me at that moment.

"He's alive," I said. "He... well, he needs to rest." I really had no idea of what to say, as you can see.

"Right... rest," Baiken mumbled. She was out of words, too.

At that moment, Felicia noticed the little boy and came running to us. She knelt by our side and took a hold of the child.

"Hey, there," she whispered. "Come here, little guy. Come: I'll get you something to eat. Do you want something to eat?" The little boy nodded silently. "Come here, then, sweetheart. We'll take good care of you, I promise." The little boy went to her and hugged her fiercely as she carried him away. She turned to me and murmured: "It'll be okay."

I remained on my knees for a while. I covered my face with my hands and wept for a long while. I had never experienced the horribleness of death before. To see it torturing the heart of that little boy had been... God... even now I can't think of anything to say. All I know is that I'll never forget the eyes of that innocent creature.

Baiken remained still and silent. I could not even hear her breaths. But she was there. Something inside of her had stirred... What could it have possibly been? Though I thought I knew the answer, I didn't dare to ask about it at the time being, nor did I want to.

In the end, I managed to stop sobbing and dried my eyes completely. I got up and turned to Baiken. Incredibly, her eyes hadn't strayed from the young couple. I began to wonder if she was doing even worse than me...

"Baiken?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"...Nothing," she muttered, finally coming out of her trance. "You know, that boy knows you're a woman. He could blow our cover."

"Like I give a damn about it," I said. "That poor thing saw his parents die, for crying out loud. He needed someone to hold on to." I let out a sigh and then, turning to Felicia, I added: "It seems she's good with children. That's a nice thing to know."

"Yeah," she murmured. Once again, her glance was captured by the cadavers, but not for too long. "Come on," she said. "Help me carry them. Let's take them with the others."

Nodding, I got a hold of the mother, while Baiken bore the father on her back. She took a few steps forward and stopped all of a sudden. Turning to me, I saw rage in her eyes as she whispered: "Whoever did this deserves to die a horrible death. When we find them, by God, I'll make sure of that." Indeed, something had hurt her...

(Change of scene)

We burned the bodies and prayed for the souls of the men and women that had died defending their town, honor, and children. Afterwards, we moved on, silently, gloomily. The little boy, who was understandably and deeply traumatized, traveled inside a cart which was pulled by Mulan's horse, right next to Felicia, who didn't stop to caress him tenderly and to whisper soft songs onto his ears. It wasn't long until the poor thing fell into a deep sleep.

Regarding this, it was decided that the boy would be safer by our side than if we sent him back to another town with a single rider. For all we know, the enemy could be waiting nearby, ready to ambush us. No, he was better with us. At least that was the general consensus at that moment.

None of us was doing fine. Wilheim had once again separated from our little group and walked all by himself, silently, with wild resolve and fury in his glance. Ken was also seemingly pissed. And let's not forget about Baiken... I think I'd never seen her angrier. The rest of us, however, were simply too shocked and sad to actually depict rage, although it was there, just waiting for a chance to escape.

After a while of walking without saying a word, Akane turned to Kuonji and asked in a low voice: "How's he doing?" I guess she was looking to start a conversation so she could get her mind off the dead villagers. Obviously, though, there wasn't much else to speak about at the moment.

"Wilheim or the boy?" she asked.

"Wilheim... I can only guess what the little kid feels like."

"You know... old memories attacked him," Kuonji said. "He's really mad. I managed to calm him down a bit so that he wouldn't do anything reckless. But the moment he sees the enemy, I don't think there'll be any force on this world strong enough to stop him."

"He won't be the only one to go berserk on the Heartless," Ken growled. "I'm going to beat the living hell out of the son of a bitch who did this."

"I never thought the Huns would be such savages..." muttered Mulan.

"Huns?" we all asked.

"Yes... those are our enemies," she said. "They've been wreaking havoc for a while now. I knew they were terrible... but I guess such evil was beyond my imagination."

"Well, Heartless or no, these foes have to be stopped," Sakura said. "For what we know, they could be allied to the freaking things." They all nodded and kept on walking silently. However, Baiken walked to me and, slightly forcing me away from the group, she said in a very low voice:

"I heard you told Ukyo to go speak to Wilheim."

"She can have him," I sighed. "It was just a whim. That doesn't mean I don't like him, though."

"Never mind that. I'm glad you finally acted maturely."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"You can take it as you like, although I'm in no mood for complementing anyone right now. Nothing personal."

"I understand..." I murmured and let out another sigh. After pausing for a moment, I somehow dared to ask her: "What happened back there? Did something happen to you?"

She took out her bottle of sake and drank a bit. After savoring the liquor for a few moments, she answered: "Ryoga asked me something of the sort some days ago. Do you know what I told him back then?"

"I heard him say something about it."

"Then I'll just spare the rudeness."

"Whatever," I grumbled. "I may be a slut by your standards, Baiken, but you're a genuine, first-class jerk."

"Okay, let's get something straight, Marmalade Jam," she grunted and stopped walking. I halted too and we looked at each other with pissed eyes. "My life is of no concern to you or to anyone – period. And even if I actually talked about it, I wouldn't say it to you. Though I wholeheartedly appreciate your concern, I'm not going to tell you squat, got it?" and with that, she kept on walking. I let out a sigh and shook my head before following the rest of the group. That woman's sarcasm was really annoying.

"Just so you know," I decided to say in a low voice. "I actually was concerned."

Baiken just shook her head and drank a bit more of her sake. Yet she then did something I would've never expected: she offered me the bottle and said: "There're still a few drops left. Care to drink them?"

Although normally the thought of drinking something Baiken had touched with her lips would disgust me, I really, REALLY needed a drink right then. I hastily got a hold of the bottle and drank what was left of the liquor. "Thanks," I mumbled, returning the container. Another truce, you might say... even if it was a really shaky one.

We kept on walking without speaking to each other anymore. Up, up, up the mountain that had kept watch over the burnt town. Soon, we were high enough to see the plains we had traversed to get to the village. It was a very pretty sight: blue lakes adorned with lilies, little rivers, tall, green grass... It sort of took our minds off the dead townsfolk for a few seconds. I think that I even dared to draw a faint smile upon my lips.

But right at that moment, we heard a loud explosion and threw ourselves to the ground. We raised our heads and noticed that Felicia had jumped out of the cart Mulan's horse had been dragging (with the boy in her arms, naturally), because something had just gone off in there. It had been one cannon which had impacted against the snowy mountain. Thankfully it hadn't provoked an avalanche. Mulan quickly realized what had happened and looked at the cart's interior with a furious glance. There was Mushu, looking like a startled idiot, unable to move. All he managed to do was point his finger at Felicia, as if blaming it on her, to which the cat-woman almost hissed.

"What the hell did you just do??" Li Shang demanded as he ran to Felicia and the boy. "You just pointed our exact location to the enemy! Now we're in grave—!" but before he could say another word, a ball of dark sorcery crashed against him, knocking him to the ground.

We all looked up and noticed a platoon of shadows had appeared. The soldiers quickly unsheathed their weapons. Some drew their swords and some other drew their bows and arrows. Li Shang hastily got up and signaled everybody to move away from the enemy, behind a pile of rocks which lay nearby. It seemed that we had finally found our hated adversaries.

"Get the cannons over here!" cried Li Shang. Mulan nodded and hastily grabbed her horse's reins and directed him to safety. The soldiers then unloaded all of the cannons from the cart and eagerly waited for Li Shang to give the order so they could start firing.

It didn't take long for the captain to give the shout: "FIRE!!"

The shadows stepped back as a dozen projectiles flew their way and crashed against the mountain. Some of them died, but not many. A lot of those fiends took cover behind the mountain's stony walls. It seemed that neither of us would do much damage, given the territory. Only a brutal hand-to-hand battle would decide the winner of this fight. Naturally, though, we weren't going to run to them. The territory wasn't favorable at all.

"Wait for them," Li Shang instructed as the shadows started to gather. Their numbers were alarming. I soon realized we were outnumbered almost fifty-to-one.

Yet that didn't seem to scare my companions. Instead, they seemed eager to engage in combat... What am I saying? I really wanted a piece of those bastards as well. That's why, when the shadows began their charge against us, we quickly left our hiding place and waited for them in the open field. The rest of the soldiers did the same. I didn't see fear in any of their faces: just resolved anger. The only one that stayed behind was Felicia, who kept close watch over the little boy.

"If we die," Li Shang muttered. "We will die with honor."

With that said, the soldiers fired a couple more cannons, destroying about a twenty enemies with each blast. Right then, Li Shang ordered the soldiers to halt their firing: it would seem that we would need them again later, should we win this assault; for a dark man sat on his wild horse silently at the very top of the battle field, waiting for the encounter's outcome.

The soldiers fired a rain of arrows upon the enemies, killing a few more of them as they advanced through the snow. Neither my companions nor I fired any arrows. Instead, some of them had something else in store for our guests...

"What say you, Ryu?" Ken murmured. "Should we burst those Heartless-butts sky-high?" So those were the Heartless...

"I think that's an order," grumbled the warrior. "Let's all do this... Come on, guys! Let's blow them to pieces!"

As an answer to his call, Wilheim, Sakura, Ryoga, and Ranma stepped forth. They slightly bent their knees as they began to gather fierce energy to them, alongside Ryu and Ken. The soldiers contemplated in awe as the forces about them became tangible and strong currents of air started to surround their bodies. While not shocked, I was very impressed with their power.

"Ready?? Fry them! HADOKEN!!" shouted Ken and shot a blue beam of potent energy.

"HADOKEN!!" yelled Ryu, Sakura, and Wilheim, letting loose the same type of blast. Ranma and Ryoga did as their friends, only that they used different techniques. "Moko Takabisha" was the name Ranma yelled when he let loose his power while Ryoga shouted "Shishi Hokoudan" upon firing his blast.

Noticing their power and ability to wield Ki, I also studied each projectile as it traveled through the air. Sakura's and Ranma's energy blasts were the weakest. I think that the girl, although able to fire such power without much trouble, still needed to work on her skills a bit, while, as I was later told, Ranma needed to focus positive energy so that he could make a more potent attack. Needless to say, he wasn't feeling very good. Ryoga's projectile was just as powerful as Wilheim's. Opposite to his friend, Ryoga solely focused negative energy to create his blast. Feeling as angry as he was, I guess it was easy for him to make a projectile as brutal as the one he shot. Wilheim had trained a lot, it appeared, and that was why he managed to gather so much energy. Ken's blast had been even stronger than the others, but in the end, they all seemed like child's play when compared to Ryu's energy wave. The man had dedicated his life to perfect the art of the Hadoken... it was obvious his power was incredible. Either way, they all got a few kills with those attacks. Ryu killed an entire squadron of Heartless with that one blast. And, of course, the soldiers could hardly understand what had happened.

The rest of us – those that preferred to employ the use of Ki in hand-to-hand combat – waited for the Heartless to get near. And when they were just steps away from us, I immediately rushed with blinding speed at one of them and, charging my fist with amazing energy, hit him on the head, killing him with that one single blow.

Baiken did not move until one of those horrible fiends – one that seemed like a Kuang-Shi – attacked her. You know... an ugly faced phantom, long sleeves and dress... very nasty. It fired a ball of black energy at her, to which she responded by side-stepping and then flinging her right arm forward. Only that she didn't have a right arm: from her apparently empty sleeve, came a claw attached to a long chain which captured the Heartless where it hovered. Before it could try to break loose, Baiken pulled it to her and then cut it in two with a swift movement of his katana. "TETSUZANSEN!!" she exclaimed a split of second before she sheathed her weapon again and waited for her next victim, the dead body of her clumsy opponent already vanishing. I've got to give it to her: she's the best swordswoman I've ever met.

Oh, but I had only just begun to realize what my companions' true power was. Next came Kuonji's turn: a swarm of Heartless which looked like dark bees with giant mouths attacked her mercilessly. Her answer was to jump high into the air and to start spinning at an incredible speed, her giant spatula (which I thought was a very ridiculous weapon at first) aimed at her foes. Not one of those enemies touched her. Not one. And although she didn't kill them all with that move, she wasn't going to let any of them live. Just as soon as she stopped spinning, she stretched out her arm and grabbed one of the Heartless by its little legs. She used the momentum she had gained from the jump to swing back into the air and performed a single, powerful attack with her weapon. Some of the Heartless weren't even directly touched by her steel... but still, they fell dead on the ground, only to disappear seconds after. This was when I finally realized that, if Kuonji had had her hands on her spatula during our fight, she would've given me hell.

Meanwhile, a very powerful-looking Heartless had charged against me. It could best be described as a dark centaur with a long spear. I leapt over it just as it was about to hit me. It had his back turned on me now... That was it for the Heartless. First, I ran at it at full speed and threw a quick, powerful kick at its ankles. The foe fell on its knees and roared in pain. Before it could react, I used my arms to jump into the air while kicking my victim in the stomach, elevating it with me. To finish it, I used my favorite combination: following the spinning kick to the abdomen, I spun on the air and hastily focused energy on my leg, letting it loose in the shape of fire and slamming it into my opponent's face. Finally, I delivered the coupe de grace: I summoned more energy to my legs and propelled myself forward while letting out a powerful shout, the shape of an enraged dragon engulfing my foot. I literally went through him with that. I landed on the ground and beckoned the rest of those losers to come get me.

Akane and Mulan fought close to one another. Akane barely used any Ki as she threw her fists at her enemies, while Mulan did not summon energy at all. That didn't mean that they were bad fighters, though. Akane's punches were truly fearsome. I noticed that her favorite move was to grab an enemy, throw it against the ground and then break it with her hand as if she were shattering a pile of wooden tiles. Mulan was amazingly swift with her blade. It was impossible for the Heartless to surround her. Her attacks were extremely quick and certain: it didn't take her much strength to kill an enemy with a single swing of the blade, because she always hit her foes' vital spots. They fought very intelligently, much more than the rest of the soldiers, although they weren't doing too badly, to tell the truth.

Two more of those centaur-like Heartless attacked me. This time, they weren't stupid enough to charge madly at me, which was quite unfortunate. They began to spin their spears with wild fury, cutting the air about them. I rushed back so that I wouldn't be torn apart. It would be very difficult to get around those guys now that they were practically making an impenetrable shield with their weapons... But I wasn't alone in this fight. The Heartless were so concentrated in keeping me at bay that they were oblivious that Wilheim was onto them. He ran at them from the side and swung his sword with rage. The blow was so powerful that even his blade seemed to moan in anger and the snow under the Heartless' feet exploded upwards. The other centaur stopped spinning its weapon and turned to Wilheim, completely caught off guard. The boy simply stared at it with that petrifying glance of his, leaving the enemy at my mercy. Taking advantage of the Heartless' carelessness, I dashed at it and hit it on the stomach. Once he lowered its head, I delivered a flurry of punches and kicks at its face. After ten blows, it fell sideways and I finished him by leaping high into the air and falling on his head with both of my heels. I gave a slight nod to Wilheim, thanking him for his aid, and continued battling.

Felicia hardly faced any opponents, for only a scant few made it through us. She was the little boy's last defense, for she remained very close to him. However, these survivors were quickly dealt with. The feline was even faster than me, although I don't think her attacks were as powerful. She might've been all peaches and cream during our training, but at that moment, she was a tigress looking after her cub. A single swipe of her paws could mow down a swarm of those tiny Heartless. She was really, really mad. Her eyes had changed... since the moment I'd met her, they had been adorable, little kitty eyes. Now she froze her enemies with the gaze of a hungry lion. She didn't spare any mercy on the Heartless. And after hastily dealing with the few idiots that managed to get by us, she immediately returned to the little boy's side. The poor thing hid behind a rock and was scared out of his wits.

Yet another group of Heartless came after me. It seemed to me that I wouldn't be able to get rid of all of them so easily this time. Unless I really showed them what I was made of... I was in no mood of toying with my opponents, so I decided to end it quickly. A swarm of tiny Heartless flew at me, followed by a centaur and two of those Kuang-Shi-like Heartless. I let them think they had caught my by surprise and allowed them to close in on me. Once they were about to attack me, I instantly gathered an enormous amount of Ki within the palms of my hands and produced an immensely powerful explosion which engulfed my body and the ones of my enemies.

"RENHOUKYAKU!!" I shouted as loud as I could for the first time since the fight had begun. During all that time, I had managed to keep quiet, but the intensity of the fight possessed me and so I was unable to hold the yell. I really hoped no one had noticed...

Either way, my strategy worked wonderfully. My opponents disappeared in the blink of an eye. Well, that's what they got for messing with me. Once I had finished doing that, I noticed we were sort of running out of enemies. I think that the ones that had the most company were Sakura, Ryoga, Ryu, and Ken.

The boys were pretty good. Ryoga's and Sakura's skills were nearly equal. Only that he was stronger and she was more resourceful. Ryoga could create small explosions on the ground to distract the Heartless while Sakura attacked them from behind with a swift combination of punches and kicks. They made a great team.

Ryu and Ken were simply frightening. And as a team, they were even more menacing. While he was very flamboyant and his moves appeared wasteful from time to time, Ken could make short work of a centaur in just a few seconds. He constantly pressed the enemy with kicks and punches. Whenever he saw an opening, he stopped messing around and really kicked the opponents' butts with amazing techniques. Aggressiveness was his game... the same as me. I don't know if he fought like that all the time or if it was just the fact that he was really pissed. Ryu, on the other hand, was much more patient and studied his foes more before attacking. Yet, as soon as he knew how to beat the Heartless he was facing, he made short work of them with moves which were even more accurate than Ken's.

The few Heartless that remained were quickly dealt with by the soldiers. Wilheim joined their ranks and began to swing his monstrous sword from side to side, killing monsters by the dozens. That sword's power was unlike anything I'd ever witnessed before. It practically roared as Wilheim cut the air about him. He had no grace whatsoever, but his strength was the one of a titan...

The battle reached its end after a few moments. We hadn't suffered even one casualty. It had been a real massacre. I really couldn't understand why my companions had said so many terrible things about the Heartless when they were clearly just a bunch of weaklings. But then I remembered they had burned that town... and was glad that we slaughtered them like that.

The army was already celebrating victory. However, Li Shang seemed aware that there was something amiss. Because he knew our true enemy had yet to reveal himself. And before long, the enemy's general appeared at the top of the snowy mountain.

The tall, dark man rode a black horse. His height and build were quite intimidating. He seemed to be wearing warm clothes... even if they were covered with dirt and blood. He held a sharp, shiny sword in his right hand; I guess there's no need to tell you that it had red stains all over it... His eyes were truly evil: yellow irises engulfed by black orbs. I could see the lust for blood in them and grew even angrier.

"It's him... Shan Yu..." Mulan whispered under her breath.

Nevertheless, my rage vanished as I saw that the battle was far from over. As he aimed the tip of his sword at us, an enormous army of villains appeared from the snow. These men weren't Heartless – at least those types of monsters –: they were bloodthirsty warriors willing to give their lives for their demented leader. Amazingly, they were much numerous than the former enemies and didn't seem to be no pushovers whatsoever. In an instant, they charged at us. Seeing them running down the hill, they seemed deadlier than any avalanche.

We had been victorious in our previous battle, but we were somewhat tired. I really didn't know if we would be able to take on an army of the magnitude of the one that rushed at us with wild fury... The little boy moaned in fear and Felicia hugged him fiercely, assuring him that he would be okay, before stepping up beside us. The cat-woman wasn't scared at all, and neither were Ken, Baiken, or Wilheim. The rest of us, however, were not doing so good. While I was still really mad, the sight of so many foes had filled my heart with doubt. Even so, we stood still, waiting for our enemies to arrive so we could give them hell before failing, at least.

"Yao, bring one of those cannons over here," Li Shang ordered firmly. I guess the captain had already accepted our destiny: his voice didn't quail as he spoke. Yao, brave until the end, did as he was told and placed the cannon directly at Li Shang's feet. "This one is for Shan Yu. The rest of you, fire at will!" he yelled to the other soldiers. "Let's show them what China's sons are made of!"

Following his words, dozens of explosions took place. Many of Shan Yu's men fell lifeless on the snow and rolled down hill, but not enough. We were still vastly outnumbered. Taking a deep breath, we kept on waiting for the enemies, hoping for a miracle...

"Wait...! Ping, what are you doing?!" shouted Li Shang all of a sudden. At that moment, we all realized Mulan had taken a hold of the cannon Li Shang had saved for Shan Yu and was running up the hill to his encounter with it. "Don't! Get back here!"

Before we could call her name or even run after her, she slid on the snow, falling on her knees, and placed the cannon on the ground. She aimed it to the highest peak of the mountain and struggled to light the fuse. Shan Yu charged at her, his sword ready to cut through her neck. Felicia and I went to her aid, as did Li Shang. But just then, Mulan grabbed Mushu, who had poked his head out of Mulan's shirt, and forced him to breathe fire into the fuse. The cannon flew at full up into the air just one second before Shan Yu killed her.

"YOU MISSED!!" Mushu wailed. "How could you miss?! He was standing right in front of you!!" Before long, however, the little dragon stopped cursing Mulan's aim when he noticed that she hadn't pointed the cannon at Shan Yu...

The leader of the enemy stopped in his tracks as he noticed the projectile fly into the mountain's peak. A low rumbling was heard as the mountain began to crumble. Mulan's plan finally became clear to us... Shan Yu glanced at our friend with rage and, before we could help it, he swung his sword at Mulan, hurting her stomach.

"Get away!!" Felicia roared as we both rushed at the enemy. The cat-woman grabbed Mulan and dragged her away from Shan Yu while I filled my fist with Ki and hit his leg as hard as I could, knocking him off his horse.

"AVALANCHE!!" cried Li Shang as he helped us carry Mulan to safety. The rest of the soldiers had already taken refuge behind a pile of large rocks. If luck smiled upon us, that would suffice to save us from the snow's onslaught. But Shan Yu wasn't done for yet.

The leader of the Huns caught up with us before we could make it to safety. Behind him, his troops were dying under the mountain's assault, but I could see he couldn't care less: in his eyes, I could only see immense hatred and frustration. If he was going to die, then at least he would take Mulan, the warrior who had foiled his victory, with him.

First, he grabbed Li Shang by the shoulders and head-butted him, leaving him almost unconscious. Then, before we could react, he took a hold of Felicia and threw her with all of his strength to the cliff. However, the cat-woman was quick enough to use her claws to hold her ground. Nevertheless, she had been thrown very far from us: the best option for her now was to take refuge along with the other soldiers. She would surely die if she tried to help us now... As for me, Shan Yu kicked me in the face. He was really strong; his attack hurt a lot. That really set me off. I could see that he was preparing to land the fatal blow on Mulan, but before he could do it, I got back on my feet and elbowed his nose, stunning him with that blow. Before he could recover, I leapt high into the air and delivered a terrible kick. Again, I couldn't help but to yell as loud as I could. "RYUJIN!!"

Shan Yu rolled over the ground and landed on the snow, unable to move before the snow caught him. I had really given him quite a blow... but we were lost, now. Li Shang, Mulan, and I were about to be overrun by the mountain. There was nowhere to run with the snow so close to us. Yet right as I begun to give up hope, a loud neigh made us look behind.

Mulan's horse hastily reached its owner and helped her to get on its back. That animal's loyalty was truly admirable. Gathering the last of her strength, Mulan picked Li Shang up and placed him next to her. Then, she offered me her hand just as the snow reached her horse's legs. The animal began to run to the rocks as fast as it could and I barely managed to get a hold of Mulan's hand. But the snow was much faster and deadlier than any army of Heartless or any Huns. It snared my legs like a lethal vine and snatched me away from Mulan's hand.

That was it for me, I figured. No amount of Ki would suffice to save me from the fall I was about to face. Many images began to come up to my mind as the snow entered my screaming mouth and dragged me against the rocky ground. Memories of all my fights, of the days in which I was learning how to cook, of the day I had managed to finally afford my own restaurant... All of that was about to end. Before long, I stopped feeling the sharp rocks attacking my body and only felt the void that beckoned me to my death.

All of a sudden, it stopped. I looked at the ground, which was so very far away, and swung to my left violently. Nevertheless, I didn't fall... because something had caught my leg.

The snow inside my mouth finally made it out of my body. I coughed and shook and yelled in horror as I looked at the deep bottom of the precipice. I had never been so scared in my entire life. But then, I looked up and – you wouldn't believe it – and saw that Kuonji was grabbing my ankles as hard as she could, her own life hanging from a thread. That's what I call freaking embarrassing.

"I've got you!" she shouted.

Before any of us could do anything else, the storm of snow began to pour onto the precipice. From time to time, we could hear the desperate shouts of the Huns, who fell helplessly to their demise. Kuonji and I, however, didn't move an inch... For my part, I was petrified.

"My God..." she muttered. "Wilheim, please don't let go!!"

"For my life, I will do no such a thing!!" responded the boy. Again I looked up and noticed that he was also grabbing Kuonji by the ankles... I couldn't see who was holding him, but there had to be someone, for he was also hanging from the edge of the cliff.

The rocks shook as the snow battered them with all its might. I suppose that's because no one was pulling us up yet. The Huns kept falling to the abyss, yelling in horror as death gazed at them in the eyes. I really felt that at any moment, I would follow them. If Kuonji so much as remembered the beating I had given her some days ago... game over. Okay: so I'm exaggerating. Kuonji was sore at me, for sure, but she wouldn't let me go just because of that.

I never saw Shan Yu fall, but I was pretty sure he was among the rest of the unfortunate Huns. And as this thought leapt onto my agitated mind, I remembered Mulan and Li Shang.

"Where are they?!" I yelled Kuonji. "Mulan and Li Shang: are they okay??"

"They made it to the rocks," she replied. "Just keep the hell still now! You're beginning to slip!"

"No! Don't let go!!" I begged and became as stiff as the dead.

"We are done!" suddenly yelled Wilheim. "Hold on, they will pull us up, now!"

"Hurry! I can't hold on much longer!" Kuonji exclaimed.

At that moment, whoever was holding us began to pull. My heart nearly escaped my mouth as I felt the sudden yank. Little by little, they brought us back to the relative safety of the ground. With every pull they gave, though, I felt how my ankles slipped from Kuonji's hands more and more. I silently prayed that she would be able to hold on until we reached land... And just about the time I felt she couldn't hang on any longer, I heard Wilheim say aloud: "Reinhart, give me your hand!"

Before looking up I threw my arm backwards and found his hand, thank God. He and Kuonji pulled me up and dragged me away from the rim. In a matter of moments, we were laying on the ground, breathing hard, trying to slow our heartbeats back to normal.

"Shit, you three are quite the freaking load," Baiken grunted and rubbed her half arm as she retracted the chain that had been attached to Wilheim's legs during all that time. Perfect: Kuonji and Baiken had just saved my life. I didn't mind Wilheim doing it... what was more: for saving my life twice I decided that I would cook him for free the rest of my life. But those other two goons... damn, I would never hear the end of it.

"Are you okay, Reinhart?" asked Akane, walking up to me.

"I'm okay," I mumbled, still out of breath. "I'm okay..." Evidently, I was still as pale as a ghost and was bathed in cold sweat.

I then felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning to it, I noticed that the little boy was kneeling beside me, looking at me with concern. I forced a smile upon my lips and rubbed his little hand tenderly.

"I'm okay, honey," I whispered. "Thanks, sweetheart."

"He's going to be fine, sugar. Don't worry about him," Kuonji said gently, patting the little boy's head. She was in much better shape than me. I then had to do something that really freaking hurt my pride...

"Kuonji," I said. "Thank you. I really thank you."

I guess she wasn't expecting me to thank her just yet, because it took her a bit of time to reply.

"You're welcome, Kuradoberi."

Oh, but my humiliation had to continue. That's the penalty I had to suffer for being so overconfident.

"And you two... Wilheim... and Baiken," I forced myself to say. "Thank you, too."

"Yeah, sure, kid. Just be more careful next time," Baiken replied, ever so presumptuous. Just because she had just saved me, I let her have that for free. Wilheim was much kinder, though.

"There is no need to thank us, my friend," he said. "All that matters is that you are safe now."

"Everyone's alive..." Li Shang murmured, unable to believe this himself. We all looked at him as he turned to Mulan with rage. "Ping!!" he shouted. "You are the craziest soldier I've ever known!" Mulan lowered her head and turned red with shame. But then, Li Shang's gaze became grateful and he added: "And you're also the bravest. You're a real hero... You saved my life."

The whole army cheered as Mulan unavoidably smiled happily and respectfully bowed to Li Shang. The captain drew a genuine happy smile on his lips for the first time and put his hand on her shoulder. Yet right then, Mulan grunted and fell on her knees.

"What's wrong?" Li Shang asked as he held her with concern. The girl looked at him with weak eyes and then we all noticed she was bleeding... We had all but forgotten Shan Yu's brutal attack. "Darn..." Li Shang murmured. "DOCTOR!!"

(Change of scene)

The doctor had taken quite a long time in checking over Mulan. The soldiers were restless. They were all very worried that there would be something really wrong with our companion. But we know that the cut hadn't been too deep. No, sir... I'm sure that the doctor had soon found out that there were a couple of things wrong with our manly friend. Yep: we were screwed.

We all knew what was coming. We all thought about it the moment Li Shang asked for a doctor to take care of Mulan's wounds. Even Baiken had tried to convince Li Shang to let her take care of Mulan. I do think she would've made a good job tending the girl's cuts. However, the young captain refused to accept her help...

My companions and I sat by the tent where Mulan was being examined without saying a word. The little boy remained close to Felicia, holding her hand, still too shocked to say anything. The rest of us were pretty concerned about what would happen next.

"You think the doctor will find out?" Ryoga murmured.

"If he's as stupid as you are, then perhaps we'll be safe," Baiken growled.

"I'm tired of you treating me like I'm some sort of retard, Baiken!" the boy answered, doing his best to keep his voice low.

"Then stop acting like an asshole, damn it!"

"Baiken, keep it down!" Felicia murmured, covering the boy's ears. "Please don't shout in front of the kid... he's been through a lot already."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she grumbled. "I know; sorry."

"What's going to happen when they find out Mulan's a girl?" Akane asked Ranma in a whisper.

"I don't know," he replied, shaking his head. "But she did save Li Shang's life after all... that ought to count for something."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Ryu said. "After all, Li Shang's very strict. More than hoping that they will accept Mulan, we should start thinking about what will we do."

As if on cue, at that moment, the doctor stepped out of Mulan's tent and called for Li Shang. The captain went to the physician's side and they exchanged some words before he stepped into the tent. Then, Chi Fu approached the doctor and demanded to know what was happening. Again, they spoke in a low voice and, seconds later, the horrible man's face became red with anger and immediately stepped into the tent.

"Here we go..." muttered Ken and got to his feet.

"SO IT IS TRUE!!" cried Chi Fu from inside the tent. "Unbelievable!!" At that moment, the man stepped out, dragging Mulan by her arm as she desperately tried to cover her breasts with a blanket, while Li Shang silently followed them. "A WOMAN!!" he cried. "This foul creature has deceived us all! Treason! It's an outrage!"

"...Foul creature?" I muttered, beginning to get pissed.

"Please!" Mulan exclaimed, faking her voice no longer. "You have to understand... My father is sick! I had to do this to protect him!"

"Shame and disgrace to your family! Ingrate daughter!" Chi Fu yelled.

"Who are you? What is your real name?" demanded Li Shang. Well, he certainly was very mad.

"My name is Mulan," she replied. "I'm really Fa Zhou's daughter... Please, Li Shang... he would've died if he would've come!"

"Shut up, creature!" Chi Fu demanded, slapping her face, knocking her to the ground.

"Hey, leave her alone!!" I roared, taking a step forth. The rest of my companions looked at me in shock, yet didn't try to stop me.

"You stay out of this if you know what's best for you, boy!" Chi Fu barked. And then, he turned to Li Shang, and said: "Captain, you know what the penalty is for this treachery... go on: kill her."

"No, please!" Mulan begged. Like hell I was going to let that happen.

"If you want to kill her, then you'll have to come through me," I growled and removed my helmet and upper armor. The chill was killing me, but the soldiers needed a clear view of what they were up against. "And believe me; I won't sell my life cheap."

"Outrageous!!" Chi Fu cried, nearly fainting. He was three seconds away from having me kicking him where the sun don't shine. "Another of those creatures, here! Li Shang, kill her!"

The captain was too shocked to do a thing. Actually, the whole army was speechless... well, except for my companions. And again, the most unlikely person stepped forth to back me up.

"I'm not letting you touch Mulan or Jam," Kuonji said, removing her helmet and breastplate. "You'll have to deal with me, too."

"...Shit, what the hell?" Baiken sighed and made her stand beside us, relieving herself from her armor. "I'm a girl, too, believe it or not. Try to be a little manlier, Chi Fu: you sound as if you've never seen a pair of jugs in your life... which wouldn't surprise me at all."

"How dare you, vile beast?!" Chi Fu yelled. "You will pay for your insolence!"

"Impossible..." muttered Li Shang, still incredibly astonished.

"Hey, boy, don't be so stupid," Baiken said. "What's truly impossible here is that you still haven't realized that more than half of your best warriors were actually women."

"WHAT??" cried Chi Fu.

And so Sakura, Akane, and Felicia revealed their true identity. The little boy got up and hugged the cat-woman's leg; after all, he knew all along.

"...Seven..." Li Shang whispered. "How could I have not seen this?"

"Never before had there been a betrayal as terrible as this!!" Chi Fu wailed. "Soldiers!! Kill them!! Kill them now!!"

"Okay, that's it," Ken growled as he and our other male friends stepped in front of. "Chi Fu, if you don't stop your whining, I'm going to break every bone in your sissy body! I'm really tired of you."

"What was that??" the man growled. "I suppose you're a woman, too!"

"I'm not a woman, but, unlike you, I actually respect them and freaking thank them for their help!"

"We don't want to fight against you, guys, but if you insist on harming our friends, then we'll have no choice but to battle all of you," Ryu warned. "And for my part, I won't hold back."

"You all knew they were women?" asked Li Shang.

"Of course we knew," Ryoga said. "And what's so wrong with that?"

"Really, having girls help us out isn't really that bad, you know," Ranma added.

"Li Shang, you must understand," said Wilheim, removing his helmet and walking toward the captain. "These women are our good friends. Some of them are even more than that," he added and put his hand on Kuonji's shoulder. "They fought for us; they risked their lives, and defeated the evil that haunted the mountain. Their courage is admirable. Do you seriously believe that killing them is a proper way to reward their invaluable help? And you..." he said, addressing Chi Fu. "You call them 'creatures' and claim they have no honor. Foolish man: their nobility and their skill are beyond your limited intelligence."

"How dare you insult me like that??" Chi Fu cried and quickly walked toward Wilheim. "I should have your head for that remark, idiotic b—" but before he could finish, our friend unsheathed his blade with blinding speed and placed it on Chi Fu's throat. The soldiers put themselves on guard and Li Shang reached for his sword.

"I am not finished," Wilheim growled. "These women saved your pitiful live, and still you wish them dead. That is the real betrayal here." And with that said, he pushed him away. Again, he spoke to Li Shang. "You and I know that they deserve our respect and our gratitude, captain. Please keep an open mind about this matter."

At this point, Li Shang had stopped being amazed and looked rather pissed. He remained still and thoughtful for a while before unsheathing his sword and then throwing it at Mulan's side. "You saved my life," he grumbled. "We're even now." Then, he turned to the army and ordered: "Let's get out of here."

Chi Fu ran to him and again tried to persuade him to kill us, traitors. "You know what the code is, captain!" he barked. "You have to k—!"

"I said 'let's go'!" Li Shang yelled back, shutting him up at long last. The army began to mobilize away from us. We received mostly surprised glances... but Yao, Ling, and Chien Po seemed quite sad. At least I could say I saw a bit of sympathy. Yet the captain simply turned to our friends and said: "Stay here if you wish." But he didn't even look at us, girls.

"I cannot believe this," Wilheim murmured. "How can you be so obtuse?" He had spoken for all of us. Yet Li Shang chose to say nothing. He didn't even stop his march.

And so the army left us there, by the freezing mountain side. Mulan remained laying on the snow, her face filled by shame and sorrow. With a sigh, I walked to her and got on my knees.

"Are you okay?" I said gently and helped her up. She looked at me and gave me a sad smile.

"I'm fine," she said. "Thank you... thank you all, for helping me in everything. I'll make it up for you somehow."

"Hey, that's what we're here for," Ken said cheeringly. "It's getting pretty dark... Let's build up some other tents and make a fire before we freeze to death."

(Change of scene)

"I don't know what I'll say to my father when I come back home," Mulan murmured sadly. "I've dishonored my entire family forever. I'm a disgrace."

"Ah, don't worry about it. You're not the only one," Mushu sighed. "You know, I'm not really the greatest guardian of the family. Actually, I'm more like that wake-up clock. My job is to yell 'rise and shine' every morning. I'm a phony... I whish I could've been a better dragon so I could've helped you more."

"I can't believe what you're saying, guys," Akane said. "You two did a great job. There's no shame in that. Really, the only ones here who should feel dishonored are Li Shang, that idiot Chi Fu, and their whole gang of thugs. I mean, I know it's the law and all, but they really should considering making this an exception."

"They should," Ryu agreed. "Don't allow them to make you feel bad, Mulan. I'm sure that your father would be proud of you, should you choose to tell him what you've done."

"I'm not sure," Mulan murmured, trying to smile. "My father is very conservative, too. I really don't know what he's thinking right now. Well..." she paused for a moment and looked to the sky. "As long as he's okay, it'll all been well worth it."

"Mulan, that's what any father would want in their child: a noble, righteous, and brave woman like you is a blessing, believe me."

"You know what really pisses me off?" Felicia intervened. "Those jerks left just like that, without even thinking about this little boy. Just because they got bested by a bunch of girls they go into a stupid tantrum and forsake all that's really important." At that moment, Ken handed her a blanket so she could cover the kid, who was almost blue from the cold. The cat-woman wrapped him with the blanket, drew him closer to the fire and rubbed his shoulders. "It's okay, sweetie. You'll warm up in no time. I'll be okay: I'm cold-proof."

"Easy for you to say, with all that fur covering your body," Sakura muttered. "We really should leave this place and return to the city where you guys bought the uniforms."

"That's not a good idea right now," Baiken said. "If we move from here now, we'll end up like popsicles. Our best option is not to move our asses from here and wait it out. Things should be better in the morning."

"Yeah... you're probably right."

"You know, I'm surprised that we beat the Heartless so easily," Kuonji said. "I guess that their major force where the Huns, because we kicked those monsters' butts rather quickly."

"Well, Ukyo, you have to consider that we have three very good fighters in the team now," Ken declared.

"That we do."

"If it is of any help, Mulan, we will personally tell your father about your heroic deeds," Wilheim offered. "I believe that it would be better if he heard all of this from us than from those narrow-minded soldiers."

"Thanks, but I don't want to get you into trouble," she sighed. "Either way, I'm really thankful to you all for all your help. And you too, Mushu," she added, glancing at the little dragon, who smiled faintly and sighed.

"Well, I'm glad you think I helped," he replied.

"You know guys, as screwed up as things are, there is always a bright side," Ryoga claimed as he approached a nearby cliff (not the one that had nearly become my grave) and looked down. "The view is amazing from here. You can see the fields, rivers, and—what the hell?!" he suddenly exclaimed, taking a step back.

"What? What's wrong?" we asked and hastily went to his side.

"Down there! Look!" he said, this time as softly as he could.

We looked down the cliff and gasped in horrified awe. There he was, looking at the city beyond the valley as if the raging sea of snow hadn't even touched him. And beside him, stood many of his soldiers, weapons in hand, hatred in their eyes. Silently, Shan Yu and his remaining men began their march to the metropolis. And as they got away, we noticed a new army of Heartless join them and advanced alongside them.

"...Holy shit," Baiken murmured. "How the freaking hell could he had survived that fucking fall?" Though she had been as vulgar as always, she had nonetheless expressed the feelings of us all.

"Baiken! The kid!" Felicia meowed in a low voice.

"Those goddamn Huns are still alive and you're worried about my fucking language??" she replied, exasperated. Yet she then noticed the scared little boy and let out a sigh. "Sorry, kid. It's not against you, boy."

"Dear Lord..." Mulan said. "How... how could they have survived?"

"I guess that's the real question, isn't it?" muttered Ranma, still shocked by that horrible sight.

"I... I have to go and warn the city!" Mulan exclaimed. "Mushu, lend me a hand!"

"What are you talking about??" the little dragon replied. "Didn't you see how those Huns simply got up and began to walk? They sprouted from the snow like daisies!!"

"Just a moment, sister," Baiken intervened. "You're actually telling me that you're going to help those jerks after the way they treated you?"

"It's not about Li Shang and the others," Mulan answered as she began to load her horse with her gear. "It's about the entire city! I can't just sit here and let the Huns ravage it to the ground because the troops are all sore at me!"

"Yeah, but let's return to the part where the Huns are invincible!" Mushu cried. "We can't stand a chance against them!"

"What's wrong? Are you scared, Mushu?" she asked, smiling mockingly.

The little dragon remained still for a few seconds and then he drew an impish grin upon his lips. "Yeah, you're right," he chuckled. "Let's go kick some Hun's butts!"

"That's the Mushu I like!" Mulan giggled and got on her horse. "Listen..." she added, referring to us. "You don't have to help me this time, if you don't want to. I can't ask you to put your lives in danger again."

"Do you really think I'm afraid of those goons?" I asked, cracking my knuckles. "And do you really think I'm going to let you go after them by yourself? You're good, but you're not me. Oh, I'm helping you out on this one, believe me."

"Thank you, Jam," Mulan replied, with a smile.

"'You're not me'? You really are full of yourself, Marmalade Jam," Baiken grumbled. "Whatever. Either way, I'm in, too. I said I'd make those guys pay for what they did, and I stand by that. Time to make what's left of their lives a living hell."

"See, Mulan? Baiken can be a gentleman sometimes," I scoffed.

"¨Piss off."

"We're all in this," Kuonji declared. "The Heartless are our enemies and we came here to take them out. Even if they weren't here, we can't let the Huns keep wreaking havoc. Even if we interfere with Donald's famous 'world order'. See how I care about that."

"We will all help you, Mulan, make no mistake about that," Wilheim added. "Yet I suggest we stop speaking and make haste. The Huns will reach the city shortly: we have to catch up with them."

"Well, we left five minutes ago!" Ken yelled enthusiastically. "They're going to regret the day they pissed Ken Masters off!"

(Change of scene)

When we got to the city, we expected to find the soldiers and the militia battling the Huns. By the look of things, however, it seemed we had arrived sooner, thankfully, because everyone was celebrating China's victory over the enemy. The Imperial Army was proudly parading through the streets, with Li Shang at its head. The crowd assembled about them, cheering for them, burning fireworks, and thanking them for their courage. As if they had done all the work...

Well, anyway, there were no Huns on sight, which was a good thing. We mingled in the crowd (which turned out to be quite a relief, since our butts were half-frozen from that terrible journey down the icy mountain), while Mulan caught up with them on her horse. We hoped they would at least have the decency to turn to look at us. We were no longer wearing the uniforms, so it was pretty clear we were women.

We made our way through the people as best as we could and reached the army. They gave us just one quick, surprised glance and then they looked away. That made me want to beat them to a pulp, but now wasn't the time for that. Mulan passed through them hastily and soon reached Li Shang. I saw that she began to talk to him, her face filled by concern, yet the captain's head remained still, his eyes to the front.

"How much of a jerk can you be?" Akane grumbled.

"Quiet, let me listen," I murmured. I have very good hearing and as soon as Akane became silent, I managed to discern a bit of their conversation... yes: Li Shang actually answered back.

"Why should I believe you?" he questioned.

"Why would I lie to you about such matters? Besides, you trusted Ping. Why should Mulan be any different?" she replied.

"You tell me."

"In that case, do whatever you want. I'm not going to sit here idly and let something terrible happen." And with that said, she turned her horse around and trotted back to our side. "He won't listen to me."

"I barely heard that," I sighed. "Yeah, it seems we won't be counting with the heroes' help anytime soon."

"We should go to the palace and remain on our guards," Mulan suggested. "It's near here. Let's just follow the parade and remain close to the people... but mostly, we have to look after the Emperor."

"Yeah, you're right," Sakura said. "I bet he's the one they're after. Although there aren't many of them left, and the whole Imperial army if here."

"It doesn't take that many men to take a hold of one person," Ryu said. "Besides, they'll catch the Imperial Army's soldiers by surprise. They won't believe a word Mulan says."

"Then let's get going already," I intervened. "They'll catch the soldiers with their pants down, but that won't happen to us."

And so we made our way through the crowd as quickly as we could. Even though I didn't look like it, I was very worried about the people on the streets. Mostly, though, I was very concerned about the little boy. All this time, Felicia had been carrying him around. He hadn't been much of a problem, because so far we hadn't encountered any opponents. Nevertheless, we were about to face the Huns and the Heartless once more and panic would surely strike the townsfolk. Only God knew what would happen then...

Moments later, we made it to the palace. I had always been fascinated by the historical ruins of my country. Now imagine what I felt like the moment I saw a palace that represented the glory of the days of old. The walls, stones, statues, and tiles were all in perfect state, and shone of a red color bathed in the lights of the festivity lamps. It was truly a happy celebration in a spectacular place. Too bad the Huns were about... rather than enjoying the lovely scenery, we had to keep our eyes peeled.

The palace's courtyard was riddled with people. It took us a while to get through the crowd and actually go up the stairs, to the place where the Emperor would make his appearance. Li Shang left the rest of the soldiers behind him as a huge dragon puppet filled with people began to parade at his back. They reached the top of the stairs and Li Shang kneeled, bowing his head, as the Emperor finally made his way out of the castle. The entire townsfolk fell on their knees and bowed their heads. We also revered the monarch, but kept our eyes fixed on the night. Our foes could appear at any moment and we had to be ready for them.

The Emperor exchanged some words with the captain. I really didn't pay that much attention to their conversation, since I was more preoccupied about the Heartless and the Huns. I did, however, hear the Emperor tell Li Shang that he was sorry for the death of his father. Li Shang nodded solemnly and as a reply, he offered him Shan Yu's sword (which he had probably recovered from the snow on his way to the city, when he and the other soldiers had left us behind).

At that very moment, a dark eagle swooped down from the nocturne sky and snatched the blade from Li Shang's hands. It flew to the palace's roof and let the sword drop right into a hand... Shan Yu's hand. The Hun smiled evilly and leaped down, right beside the emperor.

"What a marvelous celebration," he snarled in a low, menacing voice. "Do you mind if we join the party?"

Overtaken by surprise, Li Shang was unable to protect the Emperor from being captured by the Hun warriors who got rid of their disguise as Shan Yu finished speaking: they had been hiding within the puppet dragon all along. Not even we were expecting that.

It all happened too fast... The crowd began to cry in horror and to run like wild animals away from the palace. Panic was doing its job, as I had suspected. We remained firm and tried to engage the Huns, but we were too late. Shan Yu and his men locked themselves inside the palace, holding the Emperor hostage. And just then, the hordes of Heartless appeared before us and attacked.

Though there were a lot more Heartless this time around, the battle lasted even less than the last one. I suppose that this was because this time, the soldiers were a lot more aggressive, for their ruler's life was at stake, as was their honor as royal guards. For our part, I think that we, the women, fought better this time. I don't know exactly why... my guess was that we wanted to really show the Imperial Army what they had turned down. And if that was the case, then we did a pretty damn good job.

One of the Heartless knocked Wilheim's sword from his hands, but Kuonji hastily caught it. She then slid her giant spatula across the ground, letting it reach Wilheim's feet in a second. The boy began to swing her weapon as if it were a giant battle ax, killing two or three Heartless at a time with each blow. Amazingly, though, Kuonji had become a real slaughtering machine. Will's sword had increased her power tenfold and had turned her into a monster. I swear to you that, if I had faced the Kuonji that now fought against the Heartless, she would've surely beaten me to a pulp... not only because she was stronger, but because she knew her way around Will's blade extremely well. Of course, that would be cheating, but it didn't really matter now that we were fighting the Heartless.

While her blows weren't as brutal as Wilheim's, she was quick enough to kill two times the Heartless the young man took out with each swing in the same amount of time. Akane's fist had acquired an amazing strength and she could easily now punch her way through a row of foes. Sakura unleashed her energy in the form of many powerful blasts, destroying many a Heartless with each blast. Once again, Felicia remained close to the kid, yet the foes that dared come near here were torn apart by her furious claws and her nimble attacks. Baiken was, as always, relentless. Her strength was fueled by her anger, and this showed in every attack that she dished out. She was the best sword swinger around, no doubt about that. Mulan had become an expert warrior: her movements had the grace of a swan and her attacks were as certain as the ones of a venomous snake. As for me, I was using most of my Ki during that fight, meaning that the Heartless didn't last more than two seconds when they faced me.

One after the other, they fell like domino pieces. Theirs was a pathetic attempt to thwart our anger. And no matter what happened, the Huns were next, although, of course, things would turn out much better if we would save the Emperor.

The army gathered about the main door to the palace and tried to bring it down with all their might, not to avail. No sword was solid enough to cut through that sturdy gate. We went by their side and Wilheim quickly pushed the soldiers back.

"Leave this to me," he said, taking his sword from Ukyo's hands and giving her back her spatula. "There is no thing Renamark cannot cut through!" And with that said, he swung his blade at the gate. But before his steel could even touch the door, an explosion of invisible energy sent him flying back.

"Wilheim!" Kuonji yelled in horror and ran to his side. "Are you okay??"

"I'm all right," he replied, shaking his head and getting up. "Blast! What the blazes just happened??"

But before any of us could answer him, a wall of literally solid flame rose from the ground and burned fiercely between the gate and us. The heat was so intense that it drove us away from the entrance to the palace. Apparently, Shan Yu had more tricks up his sleeve than we thought.

"Damn it!" Ken cried. "Now what do we do?"

"We'll have to find another entrance," Mulan said.

"Mulan!" suddenly shouted Yao, as he, Ling, and Chien Po ran towards our friend. "There's another way to get into the castle. There's another entrance on the first floor! But we can't reach it! We don't have any ladders!"

"Oh, so you're speaking with us now?" I intervened. I know that wasn't the time to be nagging them... but they deserved it, and you know it. "I thought you weren't talking to us: men aren't supposed to be exchanging words with creatures as detestable as women, should they?"

"We... I..." he muttered, lowering his head. All of the soldiers looked ashamed. None of them could see us in the eyes. I assure you that if the Emperor's live wasn't at risk, I would've given them the longest guilt trip they could've ever imagined. Macho jackasses...

"We're sorry," Li Shang intervened, walking toward us. "We were wrong about you. I swear on my father's sword that I will do anything to make it up to you. But right now, please help us rescue the Emperor!"

"Getting up there isn't as hard as it looks," Mulan assured, as she eyed a group of concubines that was fleeing the castle. "The difficult part will be to get past the Huns. We have to get to Shan Yu without alerting the warriors, or he could kill the Emperor... Wait here; I have an idea. Jam, come with me."

"Okay," I said and followed her as she quickly intercepted the concubines.

"Excuse me ladies, but this is an emergency," she said. "I need you to give me dresses and make-up right now."

"Dresses and make-up?" I muttered. I suppose it's safe to say that I was just as baffled as the other girls. "What the devil are you thinking about, Mulan?"

My companion turned to me as the concubines began to hand them some pieces of clothing (not the ones they were wearing, of course) and a bit of make up and smiled mischievously. "Payback," she whispered.

(Change of scene)

Ten minutes later we had effectively disguised our male friends (and ourselves) as women. Despite the situation, I'd never seen anything so funny in my entire life. Not just because the guys looked so unbelievably hilarious in dresses and with make-up, but because they were also making such a big fuss... except for Ranma, who had fetched some cold water, had poured it on himself, and had turned into a girl. Confused? I sure as hell was. He claimed it was because of a curse or something... Baiken, Mulan, and I were completely perplexed by the change. However, it seemed that the others already knew.

Whatever the case was, he (well... she) was the only one who wasn't winning like a baby... Although now that I think about it, Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, who had also been forced to wear women's clothes, were taking things much more maturely.

"Damn it!" Ryoga growled. "I've never felt so stupid in my entire life!"

"Now you know what I've been feeling all these years," Ranma said.

"What the hell are you talking about? You're a girl! You can't feel stupid! This is stupid!" he exclaimed, pointing at himself.

"I bet you're all enjoying yourselves like there's no tomorrow, huh?" Ryu grumbled. Upon seeing them so vexed, Mulan and I couldn't help but to giggle. I bet that if the situation were any different, we would've laughed our heads off. Baiken only limited herself to smiling.

Actually, Ryoga and Ling looked silly, but Yao, Chien Po, Ryu, Ken, and Wilheim were pathetically ridiculous. This was because Ryoga and Ling were slim; they didn't look that bad in their dresses, especially Ryoga, who was much more athletic. But the other five were really sad excuses of transvestites. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the sight of Yao and Chien Po's bellies, and Ryu, Ken, and Wilheim were so big that they could barely fit in the clothes we had given them.

"Well, I guess I should look on the bright side," Ken sighed. "At least I don't look as feminine as Wilheim. He's got the longest hair."

"It is not much longer than yours, Masters," Wilheim snarled. "And, either way, I do not dye mine."

"...That's a low blow, Willie."

Right then, Sakura, who had a cell-phone, hastily took it out and took a quick picture of the guys without Mulan or any of the other soldiers noticing it.

"What the hell was that??" Ranma exclaimed.

"Just a little something to remember how cute you guys looked!" she giggled.

"Give me that thing!" Wilheim growled and tried to snatch it from the girl's hand. She quickly put it back into her pocket and stepped away from the angry lad. He remained still for a few seconds and then muttered: "We did not take you any pictures while you were wearing those uniforms, cheater."

"That's your problem, not mine."

"How about you guys stop jerking around and we save the fucking Emperor— excuse me; the Emperor," Baiken said.

"That could very well be considered a blasphemy in these lands, you know," Kuonji teased.

"Put a sock in it," she replied, giving her a smirk. She sure was Baiken's pet: if it would've been me, her reply wouldn't have been as nice. But that's just stating the obvious.

"Okay, this is the plan," Mulan announced. "We climb up the wall and enter the palace, pretending to be concubines. The moment they drop their guards, we smack them down and hurry to the Emperor's chamber to save him."

"How do we know he's not already dead?" Yao asked with concern.

"Because we would already know," Li Shang said. "The Huns want to take over China or humiliate it. They will make us watch them kill our Lord, should we fail to rescue him. So let's get going and stop them!"

"All right, it's time to start," Felicia said. Then, she held the little boy's hand and handed him over to a soldier who wasn't going to accompany us... "Listen, honey," she murmured softly to the child. "I'm going to go with the guys to help the Emperor. I want you to stay right here: you'll be safe. I promise I'll be back. Okay?" the little kid nodded silently to her words. Then, she turned to the man and said: "Protect this boy with your life, or you'll answer me with yours, go it?" and the soldier nodded frantically, taking a big gulp. I never thought I'd hear that kitty say anything like that...

"Okay, let's climb this thing and get this over with," Kuonji pressed.

We then all grabbed a long piece of cloth and used it to climb by the pillars on the sides of the castle. The guys were having a really hard time, since they weren't used to their dresses yet. They looked very funny. And poor Willie was the last horse to make it to the finish line... I had to tease him a bit.

"Come on, it's not like that dress is going to kill you, Wilhelmina," I mocked. This time, even Kuonji and Baiken roared in laughter.

"Since I am a gentleman, I will shun that comment, and make no further retorts... Marmalade Jam," Wilheim replied. He tried to sound mad, but I honestly believe he was actually acquiring a sense of humor. Besides, when Baiken called me that, it was annoying. Willie just made it sound cute.

"Guys, quiet," Mulan whispered. "We're almost there."

We reached the first floor. Li Shang discretely made his way through a contiguous corridor as we began to stroll through the castle, trying to look as pretty as possible.

"Okay, no more goofing around," Akane muttered. "We've got to be serious now."

"Try to be as adorable as possible, everyone," Felicia whispered.

"'Adorable'..." Ken snorted. "As a man I'm adorable. As... This, I'm detestable. This completely ruins my style! Jeez... We have to make a pact right now, girls: you don't tell any of our friends that we dressed up as women and we won't say a word about you pretending to be soldiers."

"Do you really think we give a rat's ass about dressing up like men?" Baiken said. "You've got nothing on us. Either way, for the moment, be quiet. I also have a hard time being adorable."

"Amen to that," I muttered with a giggle.

"Jam, how about you have a nice, big, hot cup of shut the fuck up?" she whispered back in anger, making me laugh even more.

"Guys—I mean, girls, some Huns dead ahead. Time to shine," warned Yao with a chuckle.

With that said, the guys started to try to walk as sensually as they could – a sad spectacle, no doubt. There were a little more than a dozen of them. Beating them would be a piece of cake... the catch was doing it quietly. One sound coming from their mouths, and the Emperor would be dead. Taking this into account, we approached them slowly, seductively... One of them noticed us and pointed his lance at us. Yet before he could make another move, his companion held him by the arm and said: "Easy. They're just a bunch of concubines."

Yao, Ling, and Chien Po began to chuckle uncontrollably. Luckily, they tried to sound as womanly as they could, so that wasn't much of a problem. Still, that didn't keep the guard from muttering: "Horrible concubines... at least the ones on the right." You can guess who the ones standing on said side were.

Nevertheless, men are men, and soon the Huns began to surround us with not-so-good intentions...

"Well, what are you pretty girls doing here?" asked one of them, lowering the tone of his voice as he caressed Ryoga's arm with his finger. I swear that boy was about to cry.

"Oh, um... we were just passing. We were curious about the Huns," Ling replied, between chuckles.

"You don't say..."

"Hello, my pretty, pretty, pretty," hummed one of them, grabbing me by the shoulders... Now things weren't so fun anymore. "Tell me: do you want to find out why the Huns are considered so powerful?"

Despite the fact that that pick-up line deserved at least a kick in the nuts, I remained firm and winked sensually. "That's something I'm looking quite forward to," I forced myself to answer.

"Tell me, love," said another one, approaching poor Willie. "What say you we get to somewhere quiet and have a bit of fun?"

"How dare you...?!" cried Wilheim with his manly voice. Naturally, Kuonji kicked him silently and so he came back to his senses and tried to make his voice as appealing as he could. "...ask me that in front of all my girlfriends, you wicked boy? I am so very shy: I blush easily."

"That's not hard to notice, love," murmured the Hun and curled one of his fingers on his hair. I could see in his eyes that he wanted to tear that guy's head off. The rest of us were busier trying to keep from laughing at the sight of this and of the rest of the guys being sexually harassed by those animals.

As we kept the Huns attention fixed upon us, we suddenly noticed how Li Shang appeared from the other side of the room and silently crept into the Emperor's chamber. Our foes didn't notice this at all, luckily: they were too occupied trying to conquer us.

Moments later, we heard a loud roar. It had been Shan Yu.

"GET BACK OVER HERE, LITTLE MAN!!"

The Huns immediately turned around and got ready to unsheathe their swords. It was now or never.

Baiken withdrew her katana and hit the Hun next to her on the back of his head with the hilt, instantly leaving him unconscious. Mulan grasped the arm of another soldier and slammed him against the ground. Sakura and Felicia each grabbed a foe by their shirt and slammed their heads against each other. Akane tripped her adversary and delivered a fierce chop to his chest once he was on the ground. Kuonji and I involuntarily did a bit of teamwork: she punched the lights out of the enemy that had his paws on me while I delivered a most powerful kick to the Hun next to her. Yao threw an uppercut at his opponent's jaw; Ling kicked his on the stomach and then head-butted him into unconsciousness, and Chien Po threw his adversary across the room with the greatest ease. Our other male friends were not so gentle... Ryu and Ken both used neck chops to knock their opponents out; Ranma and Ryoga slammed the Hun's heads against the ground with great fury, while Wilheim grabbed his opponent by the neck and elbowed him repeatedly until he was out. Not one of them managed to make one noise.

"I think you overreacted a bit, Wilheim," Akane muttered in a low voice.

"Yes, maybe I did, but he deserved it nonetheless," he replied, taking off the dress and make-up. "'I blush easily'... What in the bloody hell was I thinking??" he grumbled.

"Let's help Li Shang!" exclaimed Mulan. But before we could go far, a new army of Heartless emerged from the walls.

"Don't these things ever die??" Baiken roared, putting herself on guard.

"We'll keep them at bay!" Ryu exclaimed. He then turned to Mulan and me and added: "You two go help Li Shang!"

There was no time to argue. Mulan and I nodded and quickly took off our dresses (the concubines' clothes... of course we didn't end up naked. I know what sort of thoughts dwell in your wicked minds, boys) and entered the Emperor's chamber, ready to rage. And we got there just in time: Shan Yu had Li Shang pinned against the ground and was about to cut him in half. The good news was that the Emperor was nowhere near us: it seemed that Li Shang had managed to send him to the courtyard, where the army and the villagers had formed a defensive circle around him. But the young captain's situation was looking quite grim.

Mulan hastily stepped forth and with a swift movement, hit Shan Yu on the stomach, pushing him away from Li Shang. The leader of the Huns looked at us with rage and growled as he pointed his sharp sword at us.

"Dare you defy me, weaklings?!" he growled. "Then you shall meet you end like miserable pups under the edge of my blade!"

"We beat you once, Shan Yu: we're certainly capable of doing it again!" I exclaimed.

"What??"

"Don't you remember?" Mulan said and grasped her long hair so that it would look the way she had it when she was still pretending to be a man. Shan Yu instantly realized that we were the adversaries that had cost him victory on the snowy mountain.

"The snow warriors..." he muttered, completely taken aback by this revelation. Yet his eyes were soon filled by anger as he rushed at Mulan and tried to cut her head off. She skillfully rolled under him and attempted to strike his back with her sword. But the leader of the Huns parried the blow with frightening ease and pushed Mulan back. I caught her before she could get really hurt. At that moment, Li Shang stood up and wiped a trail of blood that came from his mouth.

"Li Shang, go help the Emperor," Mulan said. "Make sure he's safe."

"I can't leave you two..." Li Shang replied in a low voice. Wow... I never expected to see that the young captain was concerned for our safety.

"We'll be fine," I assured. "Just watch me go!" Just after saying this, I leapt high into the air and dived at Shan Yu, kicking him repeatedly while airborne. My opponent managed to block most of my blows and the ones that did connect didn't hurt him much... It seems he was much stronger than I actually thought. Once I landed, I made a split, for Shan Yu immediately tried to cut my neck. As soon as the blow missed me, I kicked his legs, making him lose his balance. Before he could recover, I stood up and gave him a powerful combination of punches and kicks, finishing with a Ki-charged back-fist to his face.

"HYAPPO SHINSHOU!!" I roared as I knocked him against a pillar. It could've ended right there, if the column hadn't gotten in the way: otherwise, I would've knocked him off the roof. But since that wasn't the case, I quickly put myself back on guard and waited for our enemy to attack again.

"Amazing..." mumbled both Li Shang and Mulan. Well, what can I say? They sure got that right.

"You damn bitch!!" Shan Yu howled as he got back on his feet and spat a bit of blood. "You'll pay for that!"

"All I hear is talk and no action!" I challenged. "If you want a piece of me, come and get me!"

Our foe charged with the strength of a rhinoceros. Seeing that I would be unable to stop him with a blow, I chose to leap over him. However, this time Shan Yu outsmarted me. As I passed over his head, he grabbed my ankle and swung me against the ground with fury. The stony floor broke under my weight and I was left out of air. Shan Yu then raised his sword over his head and prepared to impale me. But just then, Mulan stood before him and parried his attack with her sword. She stopped his attack, yet she was unable to keep him still for too long. The Hun hit her on the face and then kicked her away, only to get ready to try to kill me again. Luckily, I had already recovered my breath. I stopped his hand with my foot and immediately got up. With blinding speed, I got behind him and delivered another nasty combination, this time finishing with a low kick to his feet, followed by a spiral kick to his face and then the Coupe de Grace: a terrible attack with a flaming leg which smashed him against the ground.

But just as he fell down, he swung his sword at my face with mad fury. I stepped back just in time and avoided death. Nevertheless, he did cut my cheek, only if barely. I leaped right beside Jam and wiped the blood that came from the little, yet stinging wound.

"Now I'm angry!" I cried. "You're in for it now, Shan Yu!"

"Jam, can we beat him?" Mulan whispered as she helped a very weak Li Shang to his feet.

"I can't be sure," I admitted. "I've hit him with all my strength over twenty times and he barely has a bruise in his body!"

"Whatever the case, we have to get him away from Li Shang!" Mulan said. "Come on, follow me!" And so she immediately picked up one rock from the broken floor and threw it a Shan Yu's head, making him take a few steps back, and fueling his hatred. Mulan quickly leapt to one of the outer columns and made her way to the very top of the castle. I did as she told me to and went after her. Shan Yu's anger toward us was so great that he forgot all about Li Shang and chased after us like a bear with nothing else on its mind but slaughter. Once on the top, the enemy caught up with us, and before we could react properly, he swung his fist with immense power at our jaws, knocking us both to the ground. I really didn't know where the hell he got all his strength from: it had been quite a while since anyone had hit me that hard.

Nevertheless, we quickly rose to our feet. There would be no interventions this time, or anyone to look after. It was just him and us.

"You wretched girls cost me victory," he snarled. "But I will not leave without a consolation prize... I will have both of your heads and will drink your blood from them."

"You first have to kill us for that to happen," I answered. "It seems to me that you're forgetting who you're dealing with."

"Oh, I've all but forgotten," he mused. "That's why I'm really going to enjoy this!" And so he leapt high into the air and raised his sword over his head, only to bring it down a second later upon us. Mulan and I moved on opposite directions, freeing ourselves from the killing blow. However, Shan Yu unleashed a most powerful kick to my stomach before I could move. I rolled back and just barely managed to hang from the roof's edge. I was out of air, so it took me a few seconds to recover and climb back up. Once I returned to the field of battle, I noticed that Mulan could barely fend off Shan Yu: he had her cornered and was about to throw her off the roof. Suddenly, he managed to take a hold of her and head-butted her. My friend fell on the ground, dizzied by the terrible blow, unable to fight for a split of second. Before Shan Yu could finish her, I dashed at him as quickly as I could.

The enemy was expecting me: he turned to me and smiled evilly, aiming his sword at my stomach. Yet, once again, I was quicker than he, and moved to his back. That being done, I delivered yet another combination of punches and kicks. He really liked to swallow my attacks (but he could sure as hell withstand them). During that time, Mulan got up and executed a flying kick aimed at Shan Yu's face, followed by many more attacks. She tried to stab him with her sword lots of times, but the damned bastard was skilled enough to avoid getting cut.

Seeing that Shan Yu wasn't going to let us bury a steel in his skin, I decided to throw him off the roof. I quickly grabbed him and used my legs to propel him away from us. But the Hun got a hold of the edge of the roof: he managed to stay on the battlefield.

"Damn it," I muttered. "He's too heavy! I guess we'll just have to keep battering him until he gives up... Now I know what George Foreman felt like when he fought Mohammed Ali. No one's ever managed to take so many blows from me before without at least appearing hurt!"

"We're going to have to outsmart him, then," Mulan murmured. "I think that our only chance is, indeed, knocking him off the roof. But to do that, we'll need to... hold on a second!" she unexpectedly exclaimed, pointing at a tower before us.

Who would've thought it? There was Mushu, who had effectively disguised himself as a horrendous, dark creature and had scared some guards away. Now, he had taken hold of the fireworks and was aiming them directly at Shan Yu. Now, all we had to do was keep him still so that he wouldn't miss. We only had one shot...

"Enough of games!!" Shan Yu shouted. "I'll enjoy making you suffer!"

"Maybe in your next life!" I exclaimed and dodged him as he ran at me and swung his sword furiously.

Just as he brought his steel down upon my head, I grasped his blade with my bare hands. I was, however, unable to stop fully stop his blow, and he managed to slightly cut my forehead. As he saw a trail of blood run down my nose, he grinned viciously. But then, Mulan kicked Shan Yu's hands, knocking his sword off of them. She then caught it and buried it on the roof, trapping Shan Yu's cape.

"Now you'll pay for all the harm you've done to China!" she cried. "Mushu, now!!"

Upon hearing her call, the little dragon lit the fuse of the explosives and they flew at Shan Yu with the power of ten cannonballs. Mulan and I escaped barely in time, while the Hun desperately tried to free himself from his own blade, not to avail. The rockets crashed against our foe, sending his sorry, yelling butt right against another tower, exploding into a spectacle of lights that literally cheered the grim night.

Mulan and I had landed on a balcony on the floor below and were still working on catching our breaths. That had been too close. But, by the looks of it, we had won the battle: the rest of our friends had apparently already defeated the entire army of Heartless.

"...Well, it seems that your lizard guardian can do something," I murmured softly. Mulan remained quiet for a few moments and then laughed joyfully and relieved.

"Yes... who would've thought it? Mushu saved the day," she said. She glanced at the tower and at the roof and let out a sigh. "I very much doubt that the Emperor will like this a bit..."

"He better be grateful to us for saving his life," I said. "I don't want to get into another argument of the sort..."

"Me neither. Well, let's get out of here. It seems that the Emperor is safe... Look, he's right there, next to Li Shang. Let's go."

(Change of scene)

As we reunited with our friends and exited the palace, we saw that the Emperor was expecting us... and he didn't look the least happy. Well, at least the men had taken off the dresses.

"Women of the Imperial Army!" he shouted. "I demand you come here this instant!"

"Oh, shit..." Baiken grumbled in a low voice. Once again, she had spoken for all of us.

"Sire, please, I can explain..." Li Shang hastily said, approaching the Emperor. Well, that was unexpected... the young captain actually wanted to stick out his neck for us.

"There is nothing to explain, captain," intervened Chi Fu, who had crawled out from the crowd like a cockroach and faced him with a defiant air. "These creatures have betrayed our country! They deserve death!"

"Death?!" Li Shang roared. "You must be joking! They're all heroines! You should be more respectful to them!" Finally, a bit of recognition...

"Stand down, captain," the Emperor commanded as he walked toward us. End of the discussion.

None of us said a word as we stood in front of the Emperor and waited for him to keep on talking; not even Baiken. If it would've been any other man, we would've found our voices right away, but... well, to sum things up: the Emperor is the Emperor.

"You have all infiltrated my troops, pretending to be men!" he scolded. Not a good beginning. Horrible Chi Fu grinned with satisfaction as he saw us so worried. "You have fooled your captain! You destroyed my palace! And...!" he paused for a moment as I gave a quick glance to the roof and the tower that Shan Yu had been blown off to. Indeed, we had made quite the mess... Yet as the Emperor spoke again, his voice became soft and his face was filled by calm. "You have saved us all." Well, I sure as hell wasn't expecting that, nor were any of my companions.

But more amazing still was the fact that he, the Emperor, the ruler of the country, a Deity on Earth, bowed his head before us. I don't think there could be any greater honor than that. Upon seeing this, that coward Chi Fu immediately fell on his knees and bowed before us. I'd never felt a greater deal of satisfaction than at that moment.

Of course, Chi Fu wasn't the only one who knelt. All of the people who were watching us fell on their knees silently. Li Shang and our friends knelt before us, too. That was really incredible. With that horrible man, I just had that "take that" feeling... I'm sure you know what I mean. But as I saw all of those people bow, thankful to us for saving their country, I felt a warmth inside like never before. I was moved... I couldn't help but to draw a happy smile upon my face. My companions smiled too, except for Baiken, but even then, I noticed that she was at peace. And so, we bowed back.

"You have all fought with strength and with courage worthy of legendary warriors: you defended China with the might of a God Dragon. We are all in your debt. Is there any way we could repay our greatest guardians?" Some one had to answer him, and it wasn't going to be me: I was still too shocked.

"Um... we are very, very honored, your Highness," Kuonji said. "But, we won't stay here for very long... we have other places to visit... Yet Mulan will remain here, and she is the true heroine here: this was all her idea."

"Well, I..." muttered a bashful Mulan, but the Emperor hastily spoke, interrupting her.

"My daughter, if this is true, then I would be honored if you could be one of my advisors. What do you think about that, Chi Fu?"

"Oh! Well, I..." murmured the piece of hideousness. "But, there are no more available jobs of the sort, your highness," he said while grinning.

"Very well, then. You will take his position," said the Emperor to Mulan.

"What?? Oh...!" exclaimed Chi Fu before he actually passed out.

As he lay on the ground and Mulan excused herself before the Emperor, arguing that all she wanted to do was to return home to her father, we stared at the horrible rat, not knowing whether to laugh or puke at his cowardice. The answer to this dilemma came quite quickly, though...

"Hey, Chi Fu, your mother called," Baiken whispered. "She said you left your testicles on your way out of the house."

Thankfully, neither the Emperor nor Mulan listened to that comment. The rest of us, however, were struggling not to burst out in laughter. It would've been horribly embarrassing. But, so far, I think that had been Baiken's most accurate joke.

"Shhh, Baiken!" giggled Felicia, using her tail to tap her back. The woman smiled silently and didn't say another word.

"If that is your wish," said the Emperor. "If you will go back to your father, then take this to him," he added, removing his royal medallion and placing it on Mulan's neck. "Tell him what you have done: tell him that you have made China proud."

Our friend drew on her face a tern, joyful smile, one that would've moved even a demon. With watery eyes, she embraced the Emperor and thanked him in a low voice. Now, that's something I wouldn't have even dreamed about doing. I mean, he was the Emperor! You can't touch the Emperor! He could behead you for contaminating him with your peasant essence! However, this ruler was kind and affable and, rather than sentencing Mulan to death, he smiled too and hugged her back.

"Well, I guess our mission here is half-accomplished," Akane murmured. "There's nothing more we can do here, for the moment. If we want to take out the Heartless permanently, we need Sora."

"Aye to that," Sakura agreed. "I suppose it's time to leave. If the Heartless return, the Imperial Army will surely be able to handle them."

"Does that mean we're out of here?" I asked. "You know... the Heartless are not as terrible as you guys said. I think we took care of them pretty fast. They weren't that much trouble." At that very moment, the little boy, who had been hiding amongst the soldiers, ran up to Felicia and hugged her leg. For the first time ever, I saw him smile. The kitty carried him and kissed his cheek. He then reached to me and touched my shoulder. I was so happy to see the little thing so relieved. I patted his head and kissed him as well. His smile grew bigger... I can't describe how comforted and how glad I was to see him like that.

"We just met," Felicia muttered. "Just you wait. The good thing is that you're both pretty good fighters: that kind of eases things up a bit."

"You mean a lot," I said, with a chuckle.

"Jam, how about that cup I mentioned a while ago?" Baiken growled. Annoying her was getting more and more fun by the minute. And to think that she would soon meet someone who would make look like the best person on the planet on her book...