()-()-()
For what seems like an eternity, the silence is deafening. Suddenly, Mulan hears the people gasp and shout and she knows what has happened. But if she's been decapitated, why can she still hear the fast beating of her heart? How can she feel the soft breeze whipping at her neck? Is she still alive? Mulan tests this theory by trying to open her eyes. They open alright, and her nose is filled with the pungent aroma of blood.
Her vision focuses. She tentatively lifts her head to see the crowd exactly where she left them, but this time something's different. Standing in the gateway is somebody chillingly-familiar; he sits on his white horse with his fingers still on the bow string, the bow still aimed at a target directly behind Mulan. And she doesn't have to turn around to know who that target was, or if the arrow met his skull. But then it finally sinks in.
"Shang!" she screams, a throaty sound resonating from her chest as she jumps to her feet, lunging across the landing. For a split second she sees his face and so much joy has never surged through her body, like adrenaline almost.
Then a strong hand grabs her face and another clenches around her waist, and the next thing she knows, she's being carried up the flights of stairs in a flash. She can see her name form on Shang's lips and she watches in horror as an arrow strikes his collarbone.
"Shang!" she screams again, this time not happily in the least. As the giant door slams behind her, she watches the Mongolian soldiers charge at her husband and few comrades. Mulan is completely helpless.
()-()-()
"Hurry!" Shang yells at the soldiers. The gate to the Emperor's Palace is in view now, just down the street. It's only a matter of seconds and a few men have dismounted to drag the heavy doors open. They hardly budge at first, but with the help of Chien-Po they give with ease.
All ten gasp at the sight before them.
The Mongolian leader has his sword drawn high in the air, about to swing down upon a kneeling Mulan.
"No!" is the strangled cry from Mushu, who leaps off of Kahn's saddle. Shang, fast as lightning, draws up his bow, slings an arrow, and does not hesitate to release it into the Mongol's forehead. The entire crowd gasps; everyone is frozen with shock.
Shang watches her small body remain completely still at the edge of the tile landing. After a while, she slowly raises her head and he feels his heart pounding in his chest. His breathing becomes very heavy with his rising emotions and he watches her find him excitedly.
"Shang!" he hears her scream. Mulan starts across the landing and her new figure makes his breath catch in his throat; he'd almost forgotten about the child. All he can think is, She's alive! The baby's alive! This is real! She's really here! This is real!
But then as quickly as she had gotten up, Shang watches with dismay as a Mongol grabs her again and flees away up the stairs. Panic floods his vision. No! he thinks fretfully. I can't lose her again!
"Mulan!"
The wind is knocked out of Shang as the force of an arrow throws him from the stallion. It sticks to his chest, but luckily is only armor-deep and he yanks it out, rage beginning to boil in his blood. Mongolian soldiers trample the body of their dead leader as they race down the stairs and toward the gate entrance. But, as Shang looks back at his nine men drawing their swords and then back to the fifty Mongols, he has no fear.
Shang practically rips his sword from its sheath and swings it with perfect precision, slicing the necks of two Mongols. They collapse to ground. As he continues to swing with a mad fury, he briefly glances to his sides and finds that his soldiers are fighting with the same passion, much to his satisfaction. But they are still outnumbered by dozens.
"General Li, look out!" somebody calls. He ducks just in time for a blade to graze his back. We're not going to win with just ten men, he thinks remorsefully. Then he has an idea. Shang grabs on to a metal post and hoists himself above the warpath.
"Loyal citizens," he shouts as loud as he can, "help us take back China! Join the fight!"
An arrow whizzes by his ear just as he drops to the ground and promptly plunges his sword into a Mongol's chest. A roar from the crowd goes up and he knows, gratefully, that he'd been heard.
Suddenly, men and even a group of women charge toward the gate; farmers yielding their pitchforks, others holding small blades and sharp objects. The four women in particular fall behind the front lines, hoist themselves into a nearby balcony, and fling large vases among other items they find in the house toward the Mongolian side.
If it weren't for Mulan, I bet these women wouldn't even be here, Shang thinks, a sly grin on his face as he watches a porcelain pot shatter against a Mongol's head. Then he remembers.
"Mulan!" he exclaims suddenly. "Chien-Po, Yao, Ling- cover me, I have to go find her!"
The men, fighting back-to-back with him, all spit out a 'Yes, General!' and Shang ducks away to sprint up the steps. I'm not losing her again, he says to himself. I can't.
()-()-()
"Mushu!" Mulan gasps. His little body slithers under the door, and she snatches him up immediately. The soldier had locked her in one of the chambers with plans to use her as hostage, but left his position as guard to help fight.
"I jus' knew you were alive!" he says. "All dem other guys lost hope about'cha, but I never ever did!"
"I missed you," she murmurs, squeezing him in a hug.
"Woah girl," Mushu says, noticing her protruding stomach for the first time. "This kid's 'bout ready to pop!"
"It is, actually," she mutters, grinding her teeth over another wave of pain. He raises an eyebrow.
"You don't mean-"
"I've had cramps all day but I thought it was because I'm dehydrated," she whispers. "My water broke ten minutes ago."
"What?! We gotta getcha out of here, girl!"
She grimaces. "I know. I don't know when that guard is coming back, but I don't want to be here when he does. Not like this."
"Wait," he says, "I got an idea. Cri-Kee!"
The lucky cricket chirps happily in response, but then squalls when Mushu pinches him between his claws. With his other hand he twists Cri-Kee's antennas into a thin wire, then sticks them into the lock in the door. After some jiggling, it clicks open.
"One lucky cricket," Mushu says with a toothy grin. Cri-Kee scowls and pulls on his antennas sorely.
"Alright y'all, let's get this show on the road!" he announces, pulling a very uncomfortable Mulan by her hand down the grand hallway.
"Mushu," she groans, "I don't think I can move for very much longer."
He sighs. "Alright, alright, I know. C'mon, I saw a place down these stairs, you're just gonna have to make it for a lil while more, c'mon, you can do it."
Mulan moans, stumbling down the steps. "I'm going to have to deliver my own child," she says irritably. "Who has to deliver their own child? Nobody except the hero of China, that's who."
Mushu tugs on her finger. "Well, if you can save the whole dang country all by y'self, I think you can pull a baby outta your belly all by y'self, now c'mon, we're almost there."
The door to the chamber is agape and she looks inside of it. The room is no bigger than her family temple and includes a two frail bamboo cots, probably meant for a pair of maidservants or concubines, a few brooms, and a water basin.
Mulan sniffles and starts to cry a hiccuping sob. "Shang might be dead by now," she weeps, shakily lowering herself onto the cot, "and I have to have my baby in a closet!"
"There, there," Mushu sympathizes, patting her back comfortingly. "It'a be all over soon. You just gotta get the hard part over with now."
Mulan groans and bangs her head against the wall, exhausted. "Aah, I hate the sound of your voice, it's so irritating! Go away! Leave me alone to die! I said go away, you stupid lizard!" she yells, her contractions now continuous and more severe than ever.
Mushu wonders whether he should pray to the ancestors, but he knows it'll take a lot more than some grumpy old ghosts to help them now.
"Love you too, girlie," he sighs.
()-()-()