Summary: One-shot with four sections centered around four of the 30 Kisses themes.

Note for 1st part: Gai is the Chinese word for calcium and gai lan is the word for Chinese broccoli.


Unforeseen Events (Themes #'s 28, 18, 22 and 20)

Part 1. Lost (theme #28, calcium)

Sheets of ice cold sleet came down around them and they trudged through the snow, eyes squinting against the frozen rain that fell on them like daggers. Their thick military style boots were designed to protect their feet from the harsh elements, but after being out for so many hours in this weather they both felt the cold and damp seeping in.

The visibility was negligible and their heads were bent as they moved forward, no hope of shelter from the storm in sight.

She could barely feel her fingers as she grasped Khan's reins, leading him along on foot. He shook his head violently, shaking off another layer of sleet that had settled on his mane. Chancing a worried glance at Shang she noted the blue hue of his lips, how tired he looked as he kept his jaw set, working to keep an outward façade of his usual strength and control. But she could see that he was slipping. As cold as she was, he was already affected by it much more than she was. His gait was unsteady and an image flashed into her mind of him stumbling and falling to the ground. As strong as she was from her workouts, she was unsure if she would be able to lift him up and carry him very far. Her stomach knotted up as the fleeting thought touched her mind. What would she do without him?

Women can last longer in the cold than men. It's the way we're made.

It was one of those sayings she'd heard from her mother when she was growing up and it popped into her head now. Women could survive longer in the cold. Eating lots of gai lan would prevent them from developing a hunched back as they aged. She didn't know what proof there was of these facts but her mother believed them adamantly. Mama also had a reservoir of sayings and superstitious tales that had been passed down from generation to generation. As a child she'd heard at least one every night as Fa Li tucked her in, kissing her lightly on the forehead. And with every tale came one of the many catch-all phrases and a lesson to heed.

Mulan held out a supportive hand toward Shang. His face appeared grayish and he looked exhausted. She feared he would fall over in any moment. But he grasped her hand firmly as they ventured on blindly, trying to find their way back to the mountain path that they'd inadvertently strayed from in the blinding weather. If they could find it again, maybe they could figure out where they were instead of continuing to wander around in a miasma of ice and snow until they froze to death.

How had they gotten themselves into such a predicament?

The weather had shifted so abruptly and they were stranded before they even knew what had hit them. And now it was very possible that they would die, all because of a vacation that they'd decided to spend hiking in the Black Horse Mountains.

Their bags were saddled on Khan and Shing, Shang's stallion, packed with their personal belongings and, more importantly, blankets and rations of food. Unfortunately the food would run out unless they could find their way back to civilization soon. Her mind settled on that thought now and then, causing her stomach to lurch, but she quickly pushed it away and concentrated on trying to get her bearings.

Everything looked the same. The shapes of the tree line on the horizon and the mountain peaks all seemed the same and she couldn't pick out any unique characteristic that would help her figure out where they were.

"There."

Shang released her hand and pointed. It was impossible for her to make out what he was pointing to and she wondered if maybe he was hallucinating, but she just nodded and followed his lead.

"I know where we are," she heard him mutter.

"You do?"

"This is not where we were intending to go. But I know this place. I've been here before."


Part 2: Shelter (theme #18, say "ahh…")

They managed to build a small fire and now settled down to spend the night in this abandoned, sparsely outfitted wooden hut. Though they were now sheltered from the storm and somewhat from the cold, it was still quite chilly inside and they had both already become terribly frozen moving about in this storm for so many hours.

Shang sat by the fire shivering. Boots removed, Mulan padded across the decrepit wooden floor in bare feet.

"I wish I had some dry socks," she remarked through chattering teeth, rummaging through their packs and withdrawing their clothing and blankets. Unfortunately practically everything they owned was damp. She began to spread everything out on the floor near the fire.

"Hopefully they'll dry quickly."

She grasped one blanket.

"This one is pretty dry. We'll have to share it."

"We need to get out of these wet clothes," he muttered, peeling his shirt and pants off.

Mulan smiled slightly, relieved that he still seemed to have his wits about him. She took a seat on the floor beside him, beginning to wrap the blanket around his shoulders; he reached over and began to pull her clothing off as well.

"You won't warm up either if you're in wet clothes."

She lightly stroked his cheek. "You don't need to explain."

He draped an arm around her and enfolded them both in the single blanket.

"Ahh," she heard him sigh as she snuggled closer to him. She released a sigh of her own as the warmth from his body enveloped her.

"Are you alright, Shang? You were looking pretty blue out there."

"Yeah. You were, too."

She turned her face up to look at him and he leaned down, kissing her lips tenderly.

"Cold lips," she whispered.

"Mm-hmm. You'll have to help me warm them up."


Part 3. The Mountain Hut (theme #22, cradle)

Leaves rustled and a large shadow crept toward him. Muscles tensing, he crouched, ready to pounce, knife poised.

This was tigers' territory, cradled among the slopes of the high mountains. He could always hear them prowling, stalking him, but he never saw them. His fires kept them at bay at night, and he always kept several branches on hand to use to hold them off should they attack. But he hadn't been able to build a fire yet tonight.

Golden eyes gleamed in the dark and he stared into them, remaining still. His breath caught in his throat momentarily with his tension, but he released it quietly, letting it flow in and out evenly. He could feel that he was upwind. Perhaps the animal hadn't picked up his scent, though he was sure that he could see him.

Shang could sense that the large cat was crouched in the brush, ready to spring. But he didn't pounce. Neither man nor beast moved, each eyeing the other warily in the dark. An eternity of silence passed and Shang could feel his heart pounding thunderously in his ears.

"Shang?"

He woke with a start, blinking up at Mulan in bewilderment. His head was cradled in her lap and she was stroking his hair. The other blankets had dried and two of them were now draped around her shoulders.

"You never finished your story."

"I didn't? Oh…I'm sorry. I fell asleep."

"It's okay. I know how tired you are."

It took him a moment to remember where they were. The hut in the mountains. This had all been part of his survival training and his lessons in the art of Kung Fu, observing the tiger's swiftness and sharp precision. He'd camped outside in the mountains every day, armed with nothing but a small dagger. As the days went by, he'd ventured further up through the pass, climbing higher. After two weeks he'd made it to the top, surprised to find the hut and the old hermit that lived in it.

Even more surprising was that the old hermit had been expecting him and knew his name.

"What have you learned of tigers, Li Shang?" was the first thing he asked as he set a cup of soup down before him and coaxed him to eat.

And Shang had told him what he'd learned from observing the tigers and the other animals that he found there. Their movements, their style of hunting, their way of being in the world. And he learned how to be like the tiger, maintaining the poise, grace and balance of the great cat. A silent, elegant and deadly hunter that could strike swiftly, with precise aim, killing in the blink of an eye when necessary.

Mulan listened as he recounted tales of his training there, fascinated.

"Did you ever come face to face with a tiger?" she asked as he finished his story.

"No," he answered. "But it's odd that I was just having a dream about it before I woke up."

"You are like a tiger, and not just when you're doing Kung Fu," she murmured softly, leaning over, her lips coming to rest on his.

"Behave yourself," he chided teasingly, his heart beginning to flutter at the quiet half-brushing of her lips against his.

He puckered his lips to kiss her more fully and she obliged. Then she lifted her head and gazed down at him adoringly.

"Are you hungry, Shang?"

"Mm-mm. No. But tomorrow if it lets up a little I should go out and try to hunt down a rabbit or two for us. We'll run out of rations eventually. I need to start supplementing our food supply, being as we're stuck here until the snow stops and we can find our way again."

He glanced at her worriedly. She'd been exposed to the cold for as long as he had been.

"Are you alright, Mulan? You were affected by the cold, too."

She shook her head.

"I'm fine. You're the one who had a blue face."

He shifted off of her lap and reached up to pull her down beside him.

"Come and warm me up more."

With a soft smile, she shifted and stretched out beside him, snuggling underneath the blanket with him and wrapping the other ones around both of them too.

"You look much better," she remarked, expertly running her hand underneath the layers of blankets and over his torso. "And your skin is warm again."

"I'm fine. Don't worry so much about me."

"You could have frozen to death, Shang."

He chuckled. "You could have also."

"I saw you stumbling out there. You were much worse than me."

Her arms entwined around him and he closed his eyes with a sigh as she pressed her body up against his once more.


Part 4. Home (theme #20, the road home)

Shang sighed contentedly as they finished off the rest of the rabbit meat that Mulan had managed to stew over the fire along with the berries and nuts that she'd gathered. She looked up upon hearing his sigh and grinned.

"See? It was worth it, wasn't it?" she poked at him teasingly.

"I'm still annoyed that you didn't listen to me," he growled angrily, but he was biting back a belly laugh that simmered just underneath the surface. "You risked your life to go traipsing out there to find this stuff."

"And you risked your life going out and running down a rabbit in this."

"Always have to have the last word, don't you?"

She reached out and stroked his cheek gently.

"You know you don't have to be such a worry-wart with me, Shang. I can take care of myself as well as you."

He reached up and covered her hand with his own, pressing it against his cheek, closing his eyes and sighing. The snow was still coming down, though not as heavily, and they had settled down nicely in old master's hut, now their temporary home.

After they had rested and warmed themselves up, they'd gathered enough energy to take a look around the place, finding a few pots and pans in the abandoned cupboard, dusted with cobwebs but otherwise no worse for wear.

"We can live on spiders if we need to," Shang had remarked, half in jest, as he brushed at the coating on one of the pans.

"Eww," Mulan had groaned, making a face.

Amused by her response, he continued to tease her.

"Well, if we're desperate. Spiders and insects are meat, really."

With a look that told him she was not amused, she turned away and went to rummage through the rest of the hut.

They had eaten from their supply of rations for the first couple of days. As the snow fell more lightly and the visibility improved, Shang ventured out to catch a rabbit. Remembering the hut and his training with old master, he was familiar with the terrain and where to find food. He'd casually mentioned it to Mulan, suggesting that after he got them some meat he could go out and gather other sources of food. Instead, she'd gone to the places that he'd spoken about and gathered it herself. He'd returned to find the hut empty. And when she came back, he whirled on her in anger and relief.

"The horses needed to be fed, too," she'd told him. "The snow is covering everything that they can graze on."

They remained in the decrepit shelter together, sharing a good meal, warmed by the roaring fire in the hearth. When the snow let up, they would leave. He knew where he was now and could blindly lead them back to the main path, down the mountain and back to the road home. But he would wait until the snow finally ceased and it was safer. They had nearly frozen to death and he wasn't about to tempt fate twice for either of them.

And right now he was content, even in this humble place, with just the two of them. Mulan was by his side and they were living a simple life away from family complications, away from his responsibilities as an officer of the Emperor. It wasn't a bad life, really.

Shang opened his eyes and focused on her. She was gazing at him intently and he smiled, closing his hand around hers. He removed it from his cheek and lowered it back to the table, squeezing it gently.

"It was a delicious stew."

Mulan leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Almost makes you want to stay here, doesn't it?" she murmured softly.

"Old master spent his life here," Shang sighed wistfully. "And he lived to a very old age. It is possible to survive up here."

"I suppose. But I'm sure we'd miss civilization eventually."

"Probably."

Pushing his bowl away, he stood up and took her hands, lifting her to her feet.

"Besides, I wouldn't want my family thinking that we disappeared after going on a simple hiking trip."

She draped her arms around his neck and he snaked his arms around her waist, locking them in an embrace.

"I guess we should have planned better."

"No," he answered, leaning down and kissing her lips softly. "It's early for a snow storm such as this, even in the mountains. We couldn't have known this would happen. But it's alright. Once the weather has cleared I'll be able to lead us back home."

"I'm just glad that you're alright," she whispered. "I was really worried about you."

He grinned and embraced her tightly.

"There was no need. You know that I can take care of myself as well as you can."