Author's Note: Okay I must warn you, this chapter is the reason why it's rated T...I also didn't know how far to go (if you get my drift) because I thought it would be too much...cuz I did write the whole thing...but if you want more (this is getting dirty LOL) I will write some in my sequel, I promise. Just tell me. Anyways, I'll just say, there are two more chapters left in this story.

Anyways, special thanks to

TRACKRAT! - don't worry it's not over yet and yes I can't wait to write our story! *huggs!

Koolbroadwayreader - haha it was just a memory that his dragon had, if you want me to say more about that memory I will (just tell me). & I promise in the next sequel, Xiaohua will suffer A LOT MORE. :D

And Chelle93 - my new reviewer! There will be a proposal...maybe, haha you'll just have to see! And no this isn't the short sequel, but I will start writing on it soon! I promise! I think I'm thinking of titling it Our New Mission...idk. :D But I'll keep you updated! :)

But to the readers/visitors...R&R please! I need to know what you think and if I should continue with a sequel

Mulan sat in her room alone. The girls had already gone out to meet up with the guys while she sat prepping herself up. Maids came every now and then to work on her hair or to help her decided on what dress to wear. She smiled because for once, she felt like a princess. But now the dinner hour was fast approaching and Shang was waiting outside her door.

There was loud knock at the door. Mulan didn't answer, but a maid came in because the door was unlocked. "Lady Fa," the maid said, "Li Shang is waiting for you at the door. He wishes that you hurry."

And from outside the door she heard Shang yell, "I don't know what is taking you so long! All you had to do was put on a dress and get your hair done! Will you please hurry?"

Mulan smiled and told the maid, "Tell Li Shang that he may go ahead if he wishes and that I will meet him at the dinner table. All he has to do is just save me a seat."

The maid nodded and exited the room. From outside Mulan could hear Shang groan in impatience. She wasn't really getting ready, but trying to be fashionably late. Her hair was almost complete and Mulan fixed it up a little bit. She also did not want to apply too much make-up, so she skipped the white paint, and added a little make-up around the eyes, and a lighter shade of make-up for her lips. Lastly, she added her hair-pin that her parents gave her. She took one last glance at herself in the mirror, and smiled. Mulan was ready.

She walked to the door and opened it. Shang was nowhere in sight. Mulan frowned. Even though she had told him to go, she had hoped he would have waited and actually escorted her in. Mulan slowly walked to the ballroom which was way down the hallway.

From behind her a voice yelled, "Mulan is that you?" Mulan immediately turned around and saw Mei smiling at her. "You look amazing. Shang will certainly love how this looks on you. And where is he? Why isn't he escorting you?"

Mulan smiled, "Thanks Mei. I told Shang to go ahead and meet me at the dinner table, but to save a seat for me."

Mei sighed, "And he didn't wait?" she shook her head in disappointment, "He should know that that means 'I'm coming just hold on'. Oh men! He's such a pig! I bet he's already there eating."

Mulan laughed. "He probably is. But why aren't you dressed in the proper attire? Did the maids not come? And where were you?"

Mei blushed, "I was with…Mushu in his room. But mind you! We didn't do anything improper. And I am not going to the dinner. Mushu and I aren't even expected to be there anyway. We don't deserve to be there, because after all, we are just guardians, and we aren't even a part of the army."

"Well," Mulan answered, "You are the guardian of the General, and you kept him safe. Plus Mushu was a part of the army. You could be his date, after all Xiaohua is going."

Mei stuck her tongue out at that name, which made Mulan laugh. "No," Mei replied, "I don't really feel like going anyway. And besides, it was you that kept Shang safe. You risked your life to let him go and command the army." She gave Mulan a big hug and walked back to her room. "Have fun at the dinner," she yelled as she walked away.

Mulan waved and then turned back around and walked over to the ballroom. But for some reason she felt like running. So she ran to the room, and luckily her hair stayed in tact. She met two guards there who were watching the door. They whistled at her and Mulan smirked. The two were her friends, so it was okay.

"Where's Shang?" one of the guards asked, "If he isn't going to escort you in, I'd love to."

Mulan smiled. "And how do you plan to do that?"

…

Shang waited patiently at the door inside the ballroom. He was going to escort Mulan in, but she told him to go ahead. Shang smacked his head. "I should have known that meant that she was coming soon," he realized.

From behind him, though he didn't notice, the doors opened. Once he felt the sudden gush of wind, he raised his hand for her to take. One of the guards announced, "Entering the room, is Lady Fa Mulan. Her escort is the person to first meet her up at the door. Who would like to escort this beautiful lady? I'm surprised she doesn't have a date."

Shang pouted and looked away. He knew he messed up. He should have been at her door waiting. He should have at least waited outside the door. Shang looked around and saw all the soldiers staring in awe, including Xiaohua.

"Shang," Mulan said gently, "Are you not going to even look at me?"

He immediately turned around, wanting to explain himself, but was unable to. She was like a goddess to him. Mulan was wearing a pale pink dress embroidered with several beautiful flowers near the bottom. Her dress was strapped together with a beautiful dark blue silk around her waist. Mulan's hair was halfway up and halfway down, with several cherry blossoms in her hair. Her smile was light and radiant and the make-up she wore was not too heavy, but brought out her beautiful features. Shang stared in awe at her and Mulan smiled.

Shang was wearing a simple brown tunic that still made him look handsome. After all, nothing could look bad on Shang. He smiled nervously at Mulan. She loved when he acted nervously around her. Mulan took his hand and walked over with him to the table. Shang pulled out her chair, like a gentleman, for her to sit in. He sat right next to her and smiled at her.

"Let's see how this dinner turns out," Mulan thought.

…

The dinner was fun and lively. There was a variety of foods which Mulan had never had before. Shang had a lot of these foods and told Mulan what to try, but there were some dishes he had never had before either, so they tried them together.

"I have to learn how to cook these dishes," Mulan said as she ate one dish, "This is delicious!"

The Emperor answered her, "Our cook would love to show you after you finish eating, or right now if you wish." Mulan nodded and got up right away to enter into the kitchen.

Shang smiled, "I never knew Mulan showed interest in cooking. I hope she's a good cook!"

At that moment, Mushu, in Aiguo's form, entered into the room and sat in Mulan's spot. "Leave her alone Shang," he answered him, "she may have messed up a little on the Matchmaker's test, but that was because that dragon lady is too strict. Mulan is an amazing cook. And by the way you eat, you'd love to have Mulan around and…make her your wife?"

Shang's face reddened and all at once the soldiers asked, "When are you going to ask?"

"Shang," the Emperor told him, "I'd love for you to have the wedding here. It is the least, I owe to my General and the Heroine of China."

Shang smiled, "I'll ask her when I feel it is right."

Aiguo laughed, "Which is never? You're always too nervous to ask her anything!" The soldiers also laughed along. And at that moment, Mulan entered the room. Once the soldiers saw her, they stopped laughing.

Mulan frowned once she noticed the awkwardness around her. "Okay," she thought, "I'll bite." She spotted Aiguo and turned to him, "What did you say?" she asked.

"What?" he exclaimed, "Are you really going to blame me for all of this? I was defending you!"

Mulan sighed. "Fine, whatever," she waved it off, "I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Goodnight soldiers. Good night Emperor. Thank you for this wonderful dinner and your warm hospitality." She bowed before she left the room and waved to all the soldiers, completely ignoring Shang, which he noticed.

As soon as the door closed, all the soldiers looked at Shang. Yao muttered under his breath, "Oooh, looks like someone is in trouble." Ling, was trying not to laugh, but elbowed Yao to stop.

Shang immediately ran out to chase after Mulan. But right as he opened the door, he remembered he was in the Emperor's presence. Without delay he turned around and bowed to the Emperor, "My apologies for running out so suddenly, but thank you for the dinner and…"

The Emperor interrupted Shang, "Go after her my son, after all 'the flower that blooms in adversity is the most rarest and beautiful of all'." They both smiled and Shang ran out the door.

"You're talking about Mulan aren't you?" Chien-Po shouted.

The Emperor laughed, "You got that quickly! It took Shang a while to understand what I meant." They all laughed as Shang stood near the door listening from the outside. He smirked. Everything after that day just was so exciting for him: following Mulan home, trying to tell her how he felt, the army, training, and everything else. He walked away from the door and towards his room.

Mushu followed right behind him. "Hey where are you going?" he asked.

Shang turned around shocked, to see Mushu behind him, "I'm going back to my room to get changed."

"And?" Mushu asked.

"Relax," Shang said slowly, wondering what the little guardian was thinking.

"You're not going to go into Mulan's room and talk to her?"

"Well, I…" Shang had nothing to say, he was nervous to go see Mulan.

"Just go see her Shang," Mushu told him, "As your roommate and guardian helper, I think you should go see her. I mean I don't think she's mad at you. She's just a little tired."

"Well then I shouldn't see her," Shang added.

Mushu sighed. Were things too hard for Shang to comprehend? Mulan obviously wanted Shang to talk to her. "Well nothing! Just go and see her!"

Shang nodded and both of them walked into their room. Mulan, who was watching and listening from the corner, smiled and walked into her room. Mushu was no doubt, the best guardian she had.

…

Mulan was alone in her room again because at it turned out, she would have the room to herself. The three women, that the soldiers found, decided to come along and stay with them. The three sisters demanded that they all share one room together and that no sister sleeps alone. Xiaohua insisted that Mei stay and bunk in with her, so those two were paired up together, leaving Mulan alone in her own room. It was also unorthodox for a woman to share a room with a man, so Mulan had this room all to herself.

As she wiped off the make-up from her face, she decided to try something that the maids had given her. It was some kind of green wash or moisturizer that you put on your face to make it softer. The wash was meant to stay on for an hour. Mulan sat up waiting up for the green stuff, so that way she wouldn't sleep with it on. While she was waiting, she slipped on a small red silk dress embroidered with black lace. It showed more than Mulan expected and dipped low on her chest showing some of her cleavage.

Just before Mulan went to go wash off the green stuff she heard a knock at the door. She wanted the person to wait until she washed it off, but Mulan kept hearing loud knocking at her door. "Who is it?" she asked. There was no answer. Mulan sighed. The maids never answered whenever she asked that, so she figured it was a maid. Mulan opened the door and found Shang at the door.

"Hi, I uh," Shang started but Mulan quickly shut the door. She freaked out. Mulan hadn't yet washed off the green stuff so she ran to wash it off.

Shang on the other hand was surprised Mulan quickly shut the door on him. She was either angry or impatient and didn't want to deal with Shang at this moment, especially since he was stuttering. "Or," Shang thought, "She wanted to wash off that green stuff off of her face." He laughed a little and Mulan opened her door. She smiled at him, and gestured for him to come in. Her face looked a lot more refreshed from the green stuff.

Mulan sat on her bed and looked at Shang as he found a place to sit down. He was wearing a cream shirt and pants which was looser than what he wore earlier. It looked like it was something he'd train in, unfortunately he wasn't shirtless. Mulan giggled a little at that thought. Shang quickly turned around and asked, "What? What are you laughing at?"

Mulan tried to hide in the giggle and just smiled, "Nothing, nothing. Just sit down at the vanity. Take that chair."

Shang looked at the mirror and then sat down at the seat. He kept his back to Mulan and continued to look at the all things at the vanity. "So this is everything that you used to get ready? No wonder it took you a while."

"It actually didn't take me that long to get ready. I just sat at the mirror looking to see if I was ready or not," Mulan replied.

Shang laughed, "So you wanted to be fashionably late? And make an entrance like you did earlier?"

Mulan smiled and nodded. "Except I wanted you to escort me in."

He turned around to face her, "Yeah I'm sorry about that," he added. But before he could say anything else there was another knock at her door. Mulan ran to go open the door and found Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po at the door. "Wow," they said in awe at what Mulan was wearing. She angrily glared at them and covered her chest. Shang also cleared his throat to show that he was there too. Once they saw that he was there, they all backed up and started stuttering. "We're sorry," they said. "We'll leave you too alone." And they walked away. But as they did, Ling shouted, "Sit closer!" And Mulan rolled her eyes and shut the door.

She looked down at her dress, "I guess this dress is pretty revealing, but it's the only thing I have. The maids took my clothes and washed them and promised their return in the morning, so all I have to wear is this." She looked up and Shang just laughed. "So what were you saying Shang?" she asked. Mulan motioned to the bed, "You can sit there if you want, since we are sitting a little far."

Shang smiled and made his way to the bed. He sat at the other edge of the bed, while Mulan sat on her pillow. They sat far from each other because they were both nervous. Shang and Mulan were afraid of going too far with each other. So they sat on different edges of the bed.

Shang answered, "I'm sorry about not escorting you in. I took what you said literally. I guess I should have waited…"

Mulan interrupted, "Shang I was just joking around. Besides seeing your facial expression was priceless." She smiled.

Shang continued and lay down in front of her, "But as for all those things on your vanity, I don't think you really needed to spend that much time on your make-up. You look great without it, even in a soldier suit."

Mulan blushed and Shang got closer, "Do you really think so?"

Shang nodded and scooted in closer to kiss her, but there was another knock at the door. They both frowned and Mulan ran to open the door. But before she did, she whispered to Shang to hide under her bed. When she opened the door, she found Mei and Xiaohua angrily glaring at each other.

"I can't stand her!" They both shouted at the same time, "She's always getting in the way!" They both looked at each other and then started shouting different things. Mulan groaned and then covered both girls' mouths.

"Listen," she said tiredly, "I am tired. And I bet you girls are too. There are two beds in the room and the only difference is that there is a bathroom, for you two to bathe in. There are two lamps dividing you. Let the lamps be your dividing point. And, to make things fair, Mei, you should bathe tonight, so that way you don't have to wait for Xiaohua in the morning. Is that fair girls?" The two girls nodded. "Okay, we'll go back to bed," Mulan yawned, "And don't disturb me unless it's absolutely important!"

The girls quietly walked back to their room. Thankfully, Mulan's room was the farthest away from anyone else's. Mulan waited until they got into their room before she shut the door. She then grabbed a paper from her lamp table and wrote on it, "Don't disturb. Do not enter unless told to. Knock to receive an answer." Mulan then walked outside and placed the sign on her door. She saw a maid walking by and asked, "Am I the only one who has a key to this room?"

The maid nodded, "Yes only you can open that room. The maids do not have a key to this room. Nor do the guards or any palace security. This is the Emperor's oldest daughter's room. She left a long time ago to be married to a prince, and only she had the key to this room, but she never locked it. And the key is so special that it cannot be duplicated. So that key is the original key."

Mulan smiled, "Thank so much." She then closed and locked the door and slowly walked back to the bed. She took off the ribbon in her hair and slowly let her hair fall down. It had grown a lot over the time she had cut it and was now four inches past her shoulder. Mulan placed the key on her lamp table. She sighed and plopped down on the bed, laying her head on her pillow.

Shang sat up and looked down at her as he stroked her hair, "You seem tired," and Mulan nodded, "But you did a good job there dealing with Xiaohua and Mei. You'd make a great mother." Mulan smiled. "If you want, I can leave, so you can get some sleep."

Mulan immediately sat up, "No, no. Stay," she said, "I'm not that tired." She looked deep into his eyes, as if she was pleading him to stay. And he looked back, unsure of what to say.

"I, uh," Shang continued to look into her eyes, "What did you say that green stuff on your face did for you?"

"It, uh," Mulan was slowly forgetting what to say, "It moisturized my face and scared you off, didn't it?"

Shang smiled, and Mulan loved his smile. It always made her heart melt. "It didn't, after all, I stayed there didn't I?"

"That you did," she laughed softly and both got closer to each other, "would you like to see if it worked?"

He nodded and she grabbed his hand and placed it softly on her cheek. Shang slowly caressed her cheek as Mulan enjoyed his touch. She closed her eyes and smiled. "Don't tell me you're falling asleep on me, I can go," Shang whispered and Mulan then opened her eyes.

Mulan slowly leaned in to kiss him. Soon the kiss became more passionate as Shang slipped his arms around her waist. She brought him down to the bed, but Shang made sure she didn't hit her head. Mulan then took off his shirt and threw it to the ground. Her hands made her way around his chest, as Shang moved his down her dress. She gasped to see how it felt to have him touch her and then Shang stopped.

"Do you want to do this?" he asked her and looked her deep in the eyes, "There's no rush at all. I will wait for you."

Mulan wanted to wait, just in case, because she wasn't sure if Shang was going to marry her. But after the way he kissed her, she knew he didn't love another. Shang also was certainly well off and her parents would approve of him. But she was still unsure. From back in her head she heard Mushu's voice, "If you don't give it to him now, someone else will." "Damn, Mushu," Mulan thought. She then looked at Shang. She loved him and he loved her. And the feelings that she felt with Shang seemed to go ablaze. Mulan also felt the urge to have him and let him be her first, but she had to know something first.

"I know you that you love me and that you will wait for me," she said to him, "but I need to know one thing, will you be there in the morning? Will you be the first face I see? Or will you leave?"

Shang smiled as he stroked her hair, "I would never leave you. I love you too much to just let you go." He leaned in to kiss her and she pulled him down into the bed with her.