Disclaimer: All characters in this story are the rightful property of Disney, except for Luo Jin, Captain Hsiao Tso-liang and Captain Ma Yuan, who belong to icedragon6171 and Captain Wo Chen and Huo Feng who belong to me!:)

By the way! In my last chapter I forgot to include a brief Historical Note so here it is! (Hope I don't bore you too much...)

For the Chinese Army, as well as for other well known armies of the Ancient and Medieval age, such as the Roman, it was not the number of soldiers that mattered the most when facing the enemy, no; it was the strategy, the way to approach the opponent. That's why order and formation was so important, not only in the battlefield, but at camp, and every other aspect of army life. Good strategy generally meant victory. Even Sun Tzu says so in his book "Art of War".

I wanted to include that after last chapter because you might have noticed that I took special care explaining all the planning and strategy, so I thought you might have wondered why. I did it also because I thought some of you might have wondered why our main characters seemed so horrified when less than a hundred Turkish soldiers attacked the whole Chinese Army (some of you might have thought 'but they know they are going to win, don't they? So why be so afraid?' Well, here is your answer: because they had broken their formation and they weren't ready to face an attack).

Now, to business: enjoy the chapter!

Towards the Setting Sun

Chapter 20

They had begun to march back towards their camp, but since it was too dark they decided to stop and camp for the night.

Mulan got her troops settled fairly quickly, and after doing so, she went to the medic's tent to see if she could help in any way with the injured men. Upon her arrival the medic smiled gratefully at her, although it did not reach his eyes: he was too aware of the fact that there was no place for happiness in the battlefield. As she tried to ease the pain of the injured men, whether it was physical or psychological, she reflected upon all those comrades in arms they had already left behind. Many had died today; it had probably been the bloodiest battle she had ever seen.

Before leaving, they had given their comrades a proper burial, one worthy of a soldier, one that would please the gods and their respective ancestors, and which would grant them reincarnation. As they did so, Mulan wondered what would happen to her family if she died in battle. Right now there were families who wouldn't see their loved ones ever again, and she asked herself if that was her fate as well. It had been too long since she had last seen her parents; so long she was afraid she was starting to forget what they looked like, what their voices sounded like, the smell of her grandma's cooking... She didn't like the grim turn her thoughts had taken, and decided to proceed with her task. Her duty now was to stay alive and to help her comrades do the same: that way, they would manage to end the war as soon as possible and get back home.

"Captain." Said the man she was currently trying to heal. He had been stabbed in the stomach and kept losing blood, even though the wound had been bandaged with great amounts of cloth. She recognised him as one of her archers. "It's been an honour fighting by your side. I couldn't have asked for a better leader". He managed to finish the sentence with difficulty.

"Shhhhh."Mulan said realising he was probably not going to make it. "Don't strain yourself. You're going to need all your energy."

"Captain." He repeated. "Please, tell my family-"He stopped abruptly to catch his breath. "Tell my family I died honourably in battle, in an effort to save my country and my Emperor."

Mulan held his hand to reassure him, not noticing the lone tear that raced down her own cheek. "I will." She answered, but when she looked down, she saw that the soldier had exhaled for the last time. She gently lifted her hand to close his eyes.

Suddenly a soldier came in.

"Captain Fa." He said as his right fist collided with his left extended palm in a saluting gesture. "General Su requires your presence at his tent."

She stood up and walked to the water basin situated at the entrance of the tent to clean her hands and face, both which were covered in sweat, dirt and blood. Once she was more or less clean, she turned to the soldier and said:

"Lead the way."

...

"General." Mulan said upon being granted permission to enter the tent, imitating the saluting gesture the soldier had given her mere minutes ago.

"Please, sit down." He said with a smile, gesturing to the cushions situated around a low table. She did as she was told wondering what all this could be about. As the General sat in front of her, she looked at the map that was on the table to avoid any eye contact.

"Upon our first meeting," The General started in a casual tone. "I told you that I had met your father when he was in the military."

'Yes, he had.' Mulan thought recalling that first meeting at the gates, when they were still in Kashgar. It seemed like so long ago.

"I had the privilege of fighting alongside him several times." He continued after a slight pause as if to allow the words to sink into Mulan's mind. "He was one of the greatest soldiers I have ever known. Until today, I thought that you were nothing like him, that you were nothing but a distraction to the men, and you had no place here in the Army. I wanted to send you home." Mulan couldn't help but wince slightly at the rather direct and perhaps too sincere comment. "However," He continued, looking straight into Mulan's eyes. "Today you proved me wrong. The apple has not fallen far from the tree. Or at least not as far as I had thought." He concluded in a jesting tone.

Mulan gave him a slight smile. "Thank you General."

"I believe this belongs to you." He stated placing an arrow on top of the table. Mulan recognized it as her own. She looked back up to him and waited for him to continue. "I am indebted to you. If it were not for you, I would be dead. Thank you Fa Mulan."

Mulan stared at him in awe, not believing what she had just heard. She discreetly pinched the back of her left hand to assure herself that she was indeed not dreaming. Before the awkward silence stretched between them for too long, she managed to mutter a shy 'Thank you sir'

"I hope you continue to honour our Army the way you have today, Captain Fa."

"I will certainly do my best, General." She said, this time with more confidence.

"However do not think, not even for a moment, that this grants you allowance to commit any mistakes." He added in a much harder tone. Nevertheless, when she looked up she saw that a smile was gracing his normally stern features.

The conversation was cut short when they heard the rustling of the tent flaps and saw a figure in General armour enter.

"General." Mulan stood and saluted the newcomer with respect, but her eyes remained hard as she looked upon him. He, in exchange looked at her with shock and confusion, as if asking what she was doing at the other General's tent. She offered no response to his questioning gaze.

"Captain Fa. Go to your tent, you need to rest; we are leaving as soon as dawn breaks. I need to have a private word with General Su." Shang said, his voice showing no kind of emotion.

Mulan bowed and then turned to the elder man.

"Thank you General." She said with a small smile. Then without any more words, she turned and left, arrow in hand.

...

As Mulan rode beside Captain Hsiao she kept thinking about all that had happened the previous night. She had finally proven herself to General Su, hence her chances to be sent home had diminished quite considerably, however she was still aware that any mistakes on her part could still cause her to be sent away in shame. She knew she had to prove herself more than anyone else because she was a woman, but if she had managed to reach her current position, she was determined to keep going.

"Looks like the General's mood hasn't improved much." Hsiao Tso-Liang's voice came from her right suddenly waking her from her reverie. She looked up to him and then to Shang, who was only a few meters ahead of her. She studied his features and agreed with her fellow Captain: despite the helmet the general was wearing, the scowl on his face was perfectly visible. He had been wearing the same expression ever since their argument, so she suspected she had played a major role in achieving his current mood. She truly felt bad about it, and had even considered apologising to him, but then the memory of everything he had said to her that day, how he had disrespected her, struck her like a lightning bolt, and thus her stubbornness returned to her as did her anger for the man.

"Well... we won't have to worry about it for much longer. As soon as we arrive at camp, he will be buried under paperwork and his frowns will no longer disturb us." Mulan answered in a bitter voice earning a questioning glance from the other Captain, which she chose to ignore. But he kept pressing her.

"You two are good friends... maybe if you talked to him..." He said hesitantly.

"If he wants to talk about his problems with me, he'll let me know. Meanwhile I have nothing to say to him." She said more angrily than she intended to. "Sorry."Her expression changed to a softer one. "I'm just tired and want to arrive at camp." Captain Hsiao nodded, but the shocked expression didn't leave his face.

"Halt!" Shang shouted suddenly raising his hand. Mulan looked ahead to try to discover the reason for such an order. It was not hard: up ahead the mist had covered everything, making it impossible to see anything. It would be a perfect area to set up a trap.

"Captain Hsiao! Choose a few men and then scout the terrain up ahead! We'll be waiting for you here." Shang said in his authoritative voice.

'Great!' Mulan thought angrily. 'Not only he deprives me of conversation but he gives another the task he would have given me, were we not in such bad terms with one another!' She stared pointedly at him, but he diplomatically ignored her.

"See you later Captain Fa." Tso-Liang said with a smile before turning away to heed the General's orders.

She watched as he disappeared in the mist with his chosen soldiers

...

"General!" One of the men Captain Hsiao had chosen to take with him came running towards them. As he reached them Mulan was able to see that his face was smeared with blood. "We were attacked! It wasn't the Turk Army though, just a few bandits. There were not many of them, so we finished them off easily, however four of our men are dead, and the Captain is very badly injured! He needs medical attention urgently!"

"Call the medic!" General Su said to his men and they sprung into action upon hearing his order.

'No time.' Mulan thought. 'If we keep waiting he'll be dead by the time we arrive!' She suddenly sprung into action herself and looked at Captain Wo Chen, who was atop of his horse a few meters behind General Su. He looked back at her, and without exchanging any words but having understood each other perfectly, they spurred their horses forward towards the place where Captain Hsiao was supposed to be. The Generals noticed immediately and ordered them to come back. Captain Wo did as told, but Mulan was bold (or stupid, she still had to decide) enough to disobey a direct order.

"Bring the medic as soon as possible!" Shang ordered one of his men before urging his horse to move forward to chase Mulan. Khan's stride was longer than his own horse's, however Shang managed to reach Mulan's side. She kept galloping with determination, not even acknowledging the man that was now riding beside her, despite the fact that she had just disobeyed him.

"Mulan! What do you think you're doing? I ordered you to fall back and yet you ignore me? I don't care if you are angry with me, I am your superior and you will obey me! Do I make myself clear? Do you think that just because you are in General Su's good graces currently you may do as you please?"

Mulan took a deep breath before answering.

"Shang this isn't about you, me or General Su! In case you didn't hear the soldier back there, Captain Hsiao is dying, and the rest of the men are injured too, which means probably nobody is tending to the Captain's wounds right now! Someone had to go there before the medic was able to gather all the items necessary!"

"Oh! So you decided to play the hero? If I recall you have no medical training Mulan! Don't be a fool!" Shang said matching Mulan's bitter tone. To answer to that Mulan just spurred Khan to go even faster, quickly leaving Shang behind.

She finally reached the area where the men had been attacked. As the soldier had reported, there were several dead bandits lying on the floor. She also spotted four of their men dead, just as the soldier had said. The rest had suffered minor injuries and were tending to one another, but most of them were kneeling around a still figure on the floor, covering his wounds with cloth stripped from their own uniforms. She quickly dismounted her steed and detached her water skin from the saddle. Then she ran towards the Captain.

"Men! Let Captain Fa have some room to treat Captain Hsiao!" One of the soldiers said. Mulan looked at him with a smile and knelt down beside him.

"Don't worry Tso-Liang, you'll be all right." She whispered to the elder Captain. "Here, drink." She said putting the water skin to his lips. As she did so, she heard someone walk towards them. 'Shang.' She thought bitterly, but she didn't turn. Seconds later, he kneeled beside her.

"M...My...shoulder...It hurts." Said the wounded Captain. Mulan's attention, which had been focused on a deep cut in his stomach, suddenly turned to the mentioned area. She touched several places on his shoulder looking for any abnormalities.

"Shit." She said forgetting her manners. "It's dislocated. Shang, make sure you stop the bleeding of that wound while I take care of his shoulder." He was too shocked to argue, and did as he was told. Where had all that confidence on Mulan's part come from? It looked like she knew perfectly what she was doing! "Soldier! Grab that stick over there!" Mulan kept ordering. He did as told and handed it to Mulan who looked at Captain Hsiao. "Bite on this while I fix your shoulder, all right? Everything will be fine." Then to the rest of the men she said:

"Make sure he stays still" Then, with a doctor's expertise she put his shoulder back into place, while the Captain screamed in agony.

Shang, which due to the circumstances had got over his amazement, said:

"It seems the blow that caused this wound reached one of the main arteries."

Mulan nodded in agreement as she watched the blood that still poured out of the wound despite the great amount of cloth covering it. The blood was redder and denser that what it should have been. The medic had better arrive soon.

A few minutes later Mulan was briefing the medic on the situation:

"He had a dislocated shoulder that has been already taken care of, and a few minor cuts. Those are the good news. The bad news is that he has two broken ribs and a very deep cut that has reached one of the main arteries. We haven't been able to stop the haemorrhage. It needs to be disinfected and cauterized immediately."

"Good job, Captain." The medic said with a proud smile in his Kashgarian accent. "I'll take it from here."

...

"Dismissed." Mulan said to one of the soldier on watch duty at the camp's wall. "I'll take it from here." Hopefully the cold night air would help her calm her thoughts.

"Yes, Captain." He said with a bow and left.

General Su had insisted they arrive at camp before nightfall, so the medic had finished treating Tso-Liang while riding in the supplies cart. He was currently resting inside his tent, since the tent appointed to be the medical wing was already full.

Mulan was glad they had finally arrived at camp. They would have some time to rest before engaging the Turks in battle again. She wondered what her family was doing right now. It had been a long time since she had last written to them, but the Generals had forbidden sending any messages after having left the fortress in Kashgar. Mulan understood their reasons for doing so; they didn't want any message to be intercepted by spies; however that didn't make her any less sad.

"You did great back there." A voice said behind her. She turned around to find herself facing Shang. She lost herself in his large brown orbs before remembering she was still angry with him.

"Oh, I was just trying to play the hero." Mulan said bitterly.

"Mulan... I didn't mean to say that..."

"And yet you said it!" She said in an angry whisper. There were other soldiers on watch around, and she didn't want to risk being heard answering back to the General by any of them. "Next time you should think before speaking!"

"Right." Shang said seeing where the situation was going. "Maybe we should take this discussion to a more private place." Thankfully Mulan didn't argue and just followed Shang to the mess tent which would be empty by then since all the soldiers, except the officers and those on watch duty were meant to be inside their tents.

"Mulan. You have to understand me! How was I meant to know you had received medical training if you didn't tell me?" He continued once they were seated in one of the many tables inside the mess tent.

"Well as you said not so long ago I am a Captain now! And I have to assume all my responsibilities as such! All the other Captains had at least received basic medical training so what did you expect me to do?"

"What you displayed out there had little to do with 'basic' though." Shang said with a proud smile, forgetting for a moment that they were at odds.

"Thanks." Mulan lowered her gaze in an attempt to hide her blush. "Look Shang... Everything that has happened between us lately... I think it's my turn to apologise... I overstepped my bounds when I said all those things to you." She said referring to their latest argument, the one they had had before the battle in the canyon.

Shang gave her a smile. A true smile. Like the ones she hadn't received for so long but she often daydreamed about.

"I'm sorry too. After all I wouldn't want our...relationship to be jeopardised by rank." He stood up and held out a hand to Mulan to help her stand up as well. Then with his free hand, he reached up to put a strand of her unbound hair behind her ear. His touch left a tingling sensation on her cheek. "I'm glad we had this conversation." He added.

"So am I." She responded.

They were so close she could feel the heat radiating from him. She was again lost in his eyes, and could feel his warm breath on her face. Suddenly the hand he had used to push her hair back went to her waist, pulling her slightly closer to him. She started to experience unbeknownst sensations to her: desire, lust. She craved to be touched by him. He leaned down, his lips approaching hers...

"I should go. It's late and we have training tomorrow." Shang said hastily pulling back. Then without another word he left.

Mulan sat on the bench behind her and she felt a sensation she had never felt for a man before: longing.

Historical Note concerning the Chinese burial customs mentioned at the beginning of the chapter

The ancient Chinese believed that when a person died, they would be reincarnated into either humans again, or animals such as dogs and pigs, depending on how well they had behaved when they were alive. For instance, the good were believed to be reborn as human beings into rich and prominent families, while the evil were either reborn as humans who led lives full of hardships or as animals. Thus, the people made many preparations for their next lives by doing as much good to others as they could and also worshipped their ancestors to seek their advice through priests, diviners and objects such as oracle bones. The dead were buried together with their possessions such as jewellery and clothes, which were believed to follow them in their next life. In the case of emperors of ancient China, when they died the queens and concubines would be sacrificed and buried alongside them to accompany them to the next life.