Chapter Thirty-Eight

(Song in this chapter is "A Girl Worth Fighting For" from the movie "Mulan".)

Tulio and I had left our romantic boat ride, and were back on land once more, holding hands and laughing as we walked through the town. It wasn't long until we came across Shang, Merida, and Mulan outside a café drinking coffee.

"Hi, guys," I said stopping for a moment to talk with them.

"Hey, Aralyne," they all said grinning.

"You did really well this past month," said Mulan, "We're so proud of you!"

"Thanks," I replied, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Tulio, you should be proud of her, too. She ended up doing better than the men did, and she kicked my butt," Shang said with a chuckle.

Tulio pulled me closer and said, "I've always been proud of her."

I flushed slightly, and before any of us could say anything else, Mantis hopped up onto the table and said, "Captain! Urgent news! We're needed at the front!"

Mulan and Merida exchanged worried glances, Tulio's hold on me tightened, and I felt the smile slip from my face. Off to war? Now?

Shang nodded with a grim expression on his face, and said, "You'd better go home and pack. We leave in the morning." My three mentors stood up and left, and Tulio and I walked home in silence.

At the house I didn't pack much: just a few clothes. Right as I was closing the zipper to the bag, Tulio stopped me, placing a hand over my own. I looked up to see a fierce determined look on his face.

"Tulio," I said, "I have to go, and you know it. So, please, don't try to stop me."

"Stop you?" he said, "On the contrary. I'm going with you." I gaped up at him. "What? Do you think I would let you have all the fun? We'll face the Huns together."

"Tulio!" I cried jumping up and wrapping my arms around him in a kiss.

We had been marching out to meet the Huns for about a week wearing our full armor, and we were really bored, despite all the interesting scenery, that I had missed during my previous adventures. At one point, the men randomly started singing as we passed through the countryside:

"For a long time we've been marching off to battle.

In our thundering herd, we feel a lot like cattle.

Like the pounding beat, our aching feet aren't easy to ignore.

Hey! Think of instead, a girl worth fighting for!"

"Huh?" I said, and Ling wrapped an arm around my shoulders in a brotherly gesture.

"That's what I said! A girl worth fighting for!

I want her paler than the moon, with eyes that shine like stars.

My girl will marvel at my strength, adore my battle scars!

I couldn't care less what she'll wear, or what she looks like!

It all depends on what she cooks like!

Beef, pork, chicken, mmm ...

Bet the local girls thought you were quite the charmer!

And I bet the ladies love a man in armor!"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at their antics. Boys.

"You can guess what we have missed the most

Since we went off to war!

What do we want?

A girl worth fighting for!

My girl will think I have no faults

That I'm a major find"

Tulio winked at me saying, "How 'bout a girl who's got a brain, who always speaks her mind?"

"Nah!

My manly ways and turn of phrase are sure to thrill her!

He thinks he's such a lady-killer!

I've a girl back home who's unlike any other!

Yeah, the only girl who'd love him is his mother!

But when we come home, in victory

They'll line up at the door!

What do we want?

A girl worth fighting for!

Wish that I had

A girl worth fighting for!

A girl worth fighting –"

"Enough," Shang said cutting off the song, "We're an army, not a choir! The Huns are moving quickly. We'll make better time to the Tung Show pass if we don't waste our energy on silly antics. We're the only hope on defeating the Huns."

What a total buzz kill, I thought rolling my eyes at him, which he thankfully didn't see because I was so not in the mood for running laps, or 50 pushups or whatever punishment he wanted to dish out. With a sigh, I glanced back at the wagon I was in charge of. It held all of our canons, and sitting in the back was Mushu, who was never far away from Mulan.

Not long afterwards, we made it into the mountain pass which was covered in snow, and a rocket in my wagon suddenly went off, shooting into the sky. With a startled jump, I looked at Mushu accusingly through the hole that was created. Who's bright idea was it to keep the fire-breathing dragon with the canons anyway?

"What happened?" Shang rounded on me at first but being frightened of his anger, I pointed to Mushu. Shang then yelled at the dragon, "You just gave away our position! Now we're –" an arrow appeared out of nowhere and hit his shoulder, throwing him off his horse. Huns appeared on a cliff, and arrows showered down on us. "Get out of range!" Shang cried tearing the arrow out of his shoulder.

Our army struggled to get away from the Huns but we were intercepted by another group of the villains up on another cliff. They started shooting us with flaming arrows and my wagon caught on fire.

Seeing this, Shang shouted out, "Save the cannons!" The other soldiers helped remove the cannons from the wagon. Mulan cut Khan's reins and mounted him. By the time we had removed the last of the cannons, the wagon exploded, sending Mushu flying. The explosion caused Mulan to fall off her horse.

Mushu landed right before her and grumbled, "Oh, sure, save the horse." Running by Mulan, I helped her up, grabbed Mushu and we ran over to the other soldiers with Tulio being overly protective of me as always.

By the time we had caught up with the others, Shang was ordering the men to set off the cannons. "Fire!" The soldiers lit the cannon, and it exploded on the mountain. More followed with all of us lighting the fuses. "Fire!" There was no sound from the Huns, who were no longer on the cliffs. Did we scare them off? "Hold the last cannon."

We stared at the mountain and waited for the smoke to clear. Suddenly, a horse appeared on the hill and Shan Yu was soon joined by hundreds of Hun soldiers.

"Prepare to fight," said Shang and we all pulled out our swords. I gulped in fear. This was it: my first real battle. "If we die, we die with honor." The Huns charged at us. "Yao. Aim the cannon at Shan Yu." Yao aimed the cannon, following Shang's orders.

"While glancing down at the reflection on my sword, I noticed a glacial overhang. An idea popped into my head, and I sheathed my sword. I must be out of my mind! Shoving Yao aside, I grabbed the cannon and ran towards the Huns, aiming at the overhang.

"Aralyne, come back! Aralyne!" Tulio shouted, and I could hear his footsteps behind me.

Frantically, as Shan Yu drew nearer, his sword raised, I fumbled with the match. Can you really blame me? I was nervous!

"Okay, you might want to light that right about now," said Mushu who was sitting on my shoulder, "Quickly, quickly!" Shan Yu's stupid hawk attacked me, and I lost the match in the snow. Instead of wasting time looking for it, I used Mushu to light the cannon fuse, and it shot off toward the overhang.

"You missed!" Mushu yelled at me riding the cannon, "How could you miss?! He was three feet in front of you!" The cannon hit the overhang with a bang, causing an avalanche that rained down on the Hun Army, burying in them. In fury, Shan Yu roared and aimed for me.

"Aralyne, no!" Tulio shouted, jumping between us, and he was hit in the side with Shan Yu's sword. Holding his side, Tulio grabbed my hand and quickly ran away from the avalanche, pulling me with along. Khan sprinted up to us, and I jumped on. I tried to give Tulio a hand, but he lost his grip and we were pulled into the snow.

It almost felt like when the ocean waves had pulled me under, the current taking me to Ursula and Morgana. Eventually, Khan and I broke out of the snow and raced toward Tulio, who was unconscious, sliding on the snow towards a cliff.

"Tulio!" I shouted, fearful for his life. Reaching his side, I yanked him up onto the saddle in front of me. Mushu then appeared riding a shield like a sled, and jumped onto Khan's back. "We need help!" An arrow flew near us, and I grabbed it, quickly tying it around Khan.

Noticing the cliff we were about to fall off of, Mushu began to panic, "Aaaugh! We're gonna die! We're gonna die! No way we survive this! Death is coming!" Ignoring his antics, I shot the arrow up as we fell off the cliff. I hope this works! I thought squeezing my eyes tight and holding onto Tulio while Mushu screamed in my ear. We suddenly stopped falling, and jerked a bit, but then we slowly moved upwards. I let out a sigh of relief, and was glad Mushu was no longer panicking.

"I knew we could do it! You the man!" the tiny dragon cried, and I raised an eyebrow at him, "Well, sort of."

Finally the rest of the soldiers pulled us up onto solid ground, and I jumped off Khan's back sliding Tulio down with me, and laying him in the snow.

"Step back, guys. Give him some air!" said Ling.

"Aralyne, you are the craziest person I ever met," Shang said looking stunned. I gave him a small smile, and returned my attention to Tulio.

He slowly woke up, and stared at me. "Hey," I said, brushing a strand of hair out of his face.

He caught my hand and held it, saying, "You did, Aralyne. You destroyed the Hun army."

I grinned at him and said teasingly, "Still think I can't take care of myself?"

"Let's hear it for Aralyne, the bravest of us all!" shouted Ling.

"You're Queen of the Mountain!" Yao added.

While everyone was cheering, Tulio and I climbed to our feet, but he suddenly collapsed back onto his knees, gasping and holding his side.

"Tulio! What's wrong?" I demanded kneeling beside him. He moved his hand to reveal blood gushing out. "Tulio!" I screeched tears automatically pouring from my eyes.

"He's wounded! Get help!" I heard Shang shout.

"Tulio, hold on," I begged as his eyes became unfocused, "Hold on." His eyes finally closed, and he fell forward, and I caught him in my arms, cradling him. "Tulio, don't you dare leave me! Please!" I was sobbing uncontrollably, and didn't even notice that the others had quickly built a tent.

"Aralyne, you have to let him go so we can help him," Merida said in a calming voice, a hand on my shoulder. I didn't want to let him go, but I knew she was right. Loosening my hold on Tulio, Chien Po took him from me and went inside the tent. One of the other soldiers – I didn't know his name – was also a doctor and rushed into the tent after Chein Po. Mulan and Merida remained by my side, each giving me a hug, while I continued crying.

After a while, the soldier/doctor emerged from the tent and came up to me saying, "Aralyne, it's okay. He's going to be fine." I gaped up at him for a moment, and the next thing I knew, I was on my feet in the tent. He was awake and upon seeing me, sat up in bed, the blanket sliding down to show his side bandaged. In no time at all I was at his side.

"You stupid idiot!" I screamed, smacking him upside the head and he cringed, "That's for getting in the way!" I then kissed him like crazy. "And that's for saving my life!" I added giving him a hug as well, "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

He laughed, wrapping his arms around me. "That's exactly what I said to you after you had died. Looks like we're even, now."

"Oh, shut up!" I grumbled burying my face in his collarbone.