June 28th (Day 3, Evening)

Mushu leaves Mulan's room and heads his way to the ancestral temple. The sky is a mix of dark grey and steel blue. The trees' leaves rustle and the wind whispers a message peacefully over the landscape. The cold air wraps itself around Mushu and he shivers, before he uses his breath to heat the area around him. He makes it up the hill and sees Grandmother Fa in the temple.

Mushu hides behind one of the wooden beams but peaks out as he realizes what's going on. The eldest ancestor comments to Grandmother Fa, "We believe that by doing this Mulan will be forced to enact her position as a bride and find a husband. If we're lucky, she may even respect her role as such."

"No." Grandmother Fa remains calm but stubborn. "Her father's health is already at risk, and she still won't take this role we keep offering her." There is momentary silence, as even the crickets are quiet. "If my son's lack of health isn't making his child play the part they're supposed to, then my death certainly won't help. In fact, I believe it will only make things worse."

"Hmm." The head ancestor keeps his arms crossed but relaxes some. "You may have a point. We don't want her to run off again." He uncrosses his arms and gestures a hand towards her, "What do you propose we do, then?"

Grandmother Fa smiles with wisdom, "The general seems to have at least a small interest in Mulan. I hope that with enough maneuvering we can get them married."

The eldest ancestor questions, "How will convincing this general to marry a failure of a bride help keep Mulan from running away?"

"Mulan has already admitted to me that she likes him. It may not be as soon as we'd like, but there will be a marriage she won't want to run away from."

"I see... and how will she, being a crossdresser, affect this plan of yours?"

Mushu sees the grandmother smile, "General Li Shang is already aware of her unusual behavior, and I don't think he particularly minds. He seems more focused on the fact that she likes him more than anything else, and with their time in the army their compatibility is already assured."

"I see... hmm... I will let you follow through on this plan of yours, but you must make sure they get married." Grandmother Fa nods. "I also expect you to keep me updated."

She bows her head, "Of course, Great Ancestor."

Mushu begins to walk away but is stopped. "As for you—" He turns back around and sees the specter staring straight down at him.

Mushu walks forward and stands near Mulan's grandmother. He quivers in fear and of cold, "Yes, Great Ancestor?" The wind howls.

"How is Mulan doing these days?"

Mushu stammers, "How is she doing? Ah, she's fine."

The ancestor raises an eyebrow and comes closer to him, "Are you sure?"

Mushu laughs uncomfortably, "Ah, yeah." He's inspected even closer, resulting in him scratching the back of his neck in uncomfortableness. "I mean, she did have a weird dream the other night, but it's nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" The ancestor floats a little back to have both of his subjects in view, "What was it about?"

He notices the grandmother's worried expression, before Mushu insists, "Nothing out of the ordinary, I promise." He laughs again. "It was just the usual type of dream." He sees the ancestor grow angry with impatience. Mushu breaks down in tears, "Okay, alright. In it her father stabbed her in the chest with a sword." He continues to cry, "Is that what you wanted to hear, Great Ancestor? I do my best. I really do, but this— It just came out of nowhere." He continues to cry.

The ancestor becomes annoyed but calms down, "Is that all, or would you like to say more?"

Mushu immediately stops crying and stands up, "Let me think here... Um, no... Nope... No." He smiles and his voice grows with excitement, "Oh, but in it she was seeing Shang, so the grandmother's right. Her plan will work." The wind blows through the temple.

"Let's hope so." The great ancestor relaxes and retreats back into his tombstone.

The small dragon and elderly woman remain silent as they follow the path down the hill and through the gardens, but when they're a safe distance away from the temple Grandmother Fa questions, "Why didn't you tell him?"

Mushu takes a second to reply, "Are you asking me why I didn't tell him the reason Mulan's father stabbed her in the dream, or why I didn't tell him Mulan was a man in her dream?" Grandmother Fa remains quiet. "Okay, alright. I didn't say anything, because I was worried that they'd think I wasn't doing my job as a guardian. If they knew I've been even remotely tolerating her behavior, then they'd probably give her to another guardian and make sure I couldn't see her again. Don't get me wrong. I like my pedestal, but without Mulan it's just not worth it."

Grandmother Fa comments, "It would probably be hard to explain the dream in its entirety to them as well." The leaves rustle in the grey landscape.

"You've got that right. I mean, how could I have explained it?"

"Well," Grandmother Fa comments in a wise, calm tone, "how would you have explained it to me?" Her smile remains unseen. "Just give it a try. Knowing how to say something to someone helps you understand the topic of discussion better yourself."

"Okay." Mushu takes a calming breath but remains frustrated, "Oh, where do I begin?"

"The beginning is always a good place to start," Grandmother Fa answers. "We still have a long trail to follow. If we continue to walk slowly, you could probably just tell me what she told you, word for word." There is momentary silence, but eventually Mushu begins the story, trying to remember exactly what Mulan had said to him. Grandmother Fa listens carefully, trying to piece together what her grandchild had confided in her since they got back. She remains calm and asks for clarification for some parts but otherwise does not let the dragon know she's fishing for information.

When they finally make it to the house Mushu comments, "I can't lose her. She's more than just a job to me. She's a friend, and she, me, and the cricket, we're family." His voice goes from soft and sad to loud and caring, "For crying out loud, we all shared a tent for three years. We ought to be close. I— I just can't lose her." He begins to cry again, "You won't tell them, will you? If they found out I haven't been watching her as often as I should, or that I still haven't tried to take away that army outfit she likes so much, they'd probably take both her and my pedestal away from me, and I don't think I could handle losing both of them. I just can't lose them, and I can't lose her. You won't say anything, will you?"

Grandmother Fa replies in a soft, ruff tone, "I won't say a word."

"Oh, thank you so much," Mushu cries on the hem of her dress. "Thank you, so much."

"Oh, don't thank me. You still need to come up with an excuse as to why you still haven't burned her training-robe to ashes." Mushu stops crying. "They will still have a pretty good view from up there no matter what we do."

"Right." Mushu stands tall, "I think I'm just going to check on Mulan. Do you need any help maintaining the fires tonight?"

Grandmother Fa smiles, "No. I'm going to put some more weeds into them before I go to bed, but you can check on Mulan's fireplace if you wish."

"Okay." They enter the house, but when they come into the dining room Fa Li is seen at the table.

Grandmother Fa helps keep Mushu from view and slowly walks him to the hallway. "How are you?" Mushu scurries into the hall, while Mulan's mother stares blankly at the constant tea.

She remarks, "Could be better."

Grandmother Fa nods, "I wish you luck." before she tends to the fire.

Fa Li shakes her head, "We tried that, remember, but even luck won't get Mulan married."

Weeds are tossed slowly into the fire, "Mulan will marry. It only takes time."

Fa Li huffs as she finishes the tea, "Time is a luxury we don't have." She gets up and gracefully leaves the room, her anger only noticeable by her quickened pace.

- Yes. The grandmother can see the ghosts. You probably could figure it out, but how this works is that since she's healthy and yet so old she is on the edge between life and death. So long as she remains healthy, she will be able to leave the physical world when she sees fit (and definitely not when the ancestors want or expect her to. Don't worry about them. They're just jealous). I'm also really liking the portrayal of Mushu as kind of that parental figure that blames themselves for their child turning out to be lgbt+, but it may have turned out even better if he wasn't as self-absorbed as he is. However, I made that work in this chapter by phrasing his words as he likes both his pedestal and Mulan but ultimately likes Mulan more. I don't know. I thought that part was kind of cute, but he really is still so annoying. He's like one of those people who are oblivious in how they're hurting you. "Hey, girl. What's up?" and blah, blah, blah. Sometimes I can't tell who is worse in this fic, Mushu or Fa Li, in regards to how they treat Mulan. Maybe we should do some kind of poll. Put your thoughts in a review as to who is worse, and make sure to give details explaining why. The last time I did a poll only like five people responded, but for those who bother this ought to be good... Oh. Ouch. Hey, so I just scrolled through the next chapter, and I think maybe the poll should wait until after that. I don't remember if Mulan's mother is only in a dream or if she's really saying those things, but if you don't wish to do the "poll" now it may be beneficial to wait a little longer. Time for me to edit the next chapter... which is pretty pointless to say, since I plan on posting all 25 edited chapters at once... All well. All is well that ends well, or some kind of nonsense like that.