Author's Note: Hello everyone! I keep getting such amazing reveiws for this story, and it just makes me so happy! There is a responce to one of those below, as I was having some tenchnical issues with my PM! Also, I just reached 10,000 veiws on this story, and I am so thankful for every single person who reads this story! Please enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Forty Seven: Explanations
After that, things pass in this feverish blur on the thin line between consciousness and delirium. I often wake to fuzzy-looking faces standing over me, and if Mushu is absent from the group, I go into a panic that ceases to end until he is by my side and holding my hand. Sometimes I wake up to the stinging pain of someone touching my side, and I try to scramble away but am always shushed and soothed and lied back in the bed. Some things are clearer, like Mushu helping me to choke down terrible tasting herbal teas, and then helping me when they refuse to stay down. Often, I wake up sweating with fever, and Mushu wipes my face with a cool rag I always try to lean into. He talks to me much of the time, but most times I can only tell because his lips are moving, as his voice always sounds muffled and far away or is not there at all.
Finally, I wake up, and my head feels clearer than it has in a while. Mushu tells me that I am looking better, and he goes to get the doctor to check me out. When he comes back a few minutes later, the doctor, and all of the guys, are with him. I surprise even myself when I find the strength to sit myself up on my elbows, a task that I have been too weak for as of late. The doctor ushers me back down and sets to work unwrapping the bandages that cover my wound. He examines it for a few minutes before wrapping it once more in white bandages. He then removes the bandages from around my head, examines the wound there, and places a hand on my forehead to check my temperature. I sit myself up all the way and turn myself so that my legs dangle off of the side of the bed as he speaks.
"The wound on your side looks like it will heal nicely now, though it will leave a scar. The bleeding is much lighter than before and should stop soon. I think that the stitches can be taken out in about two to three weeks. It should stay bandaged for now. However, the stitches in your face can be taken out, and the bandages no longer need to be on. All signs of infection are gone, including the fever." Everyone smiles at that.
"Does that mean I can leave, then?" I ask.
The doctor gets a concerned look on his face. "You can, but I would recommend you stay until the wound heals a little more. It is still delicate, and the jostling of horseback could pull at it quite a bit."
"What if I ride slower, and I'm careful?" I persist.
"How far do you plan on going?"
"It's about a three-day ride from here," I answer, hopeful.
"If you take it slow, it might work, but there is still a chance of something being pulled. And it's going to be uncomfortable, to say the least," he tells me. "I'll be back later to remove the stitches from your face." He nods to us before leaving and closing the door behind him.
"So, what's the plan?" Mushu asks me.
"The plan is, I get these stitches out of my face, and then I'm riding home."
I see looks of concern pass on my friends' faces. Ignoring them for the moment, I carefully push myself off of the bed and onto my feet. I wobble like a drunk for a moment, and Mushu catches my arm.
"Sit, you big idiot," he tells me.
"I'm not gonna sit while you're all standing. I've gotta crane my head all the way back if I wanna look anyone in the eye but Yao."
"Hey, chicken boy! That a short joke?" Yao demands, using the old name he used to call me at camp.
"Not a joke Yao, a true statement!" Ling cries out, cracking himself up. Yao looks about ready to punch him but refrains from it for now.
Mushu rolls his eyes as he pulls over stools from the other side of the room for everyone to sit on. "You should stay put and let your side heal a little more before you try traveling home like that," he states, taking his seat.
"Not a chance," I tell him.
Mushu sighs. "You've been gone two years already. What difference will two more weeks make?"
"It could make all the difference!" I retort.
"Your stubbornness will be the death of you!" he spits back.
"Let's all calm down, shall we?" Chien-Po interrupts. I had forgotten the others were still there. They look at me and Mushu a little shocked now. I realize they've never seen us argue before; we always did that away from the other, because when I was angry, I forgot to keep my voice low like a man's. All of them, except for Qing, seem a little perplexed at the fact that Mushu is so okay with fighting with me over this. It is obvious they don't want to say anything that might make it seem like I am incapable of taking care of myself. They don't know how to act around a woman who acts like a man, yet Mushu is comfortable enough with it to argue with me.
Mushu and I mumble "yeah, sure"s under our breaths in response to Chien-Po's request.
"Good," Chien-Po states, once again taking charge of a tense situation. "Maybe we should all talk this over and make plans for when we do depart."
"We?" I ask.
"Well you live one village over from the one Ling, Yao, Chien-Po, and I live in, and Qing's is on the way, so it makes sense to travel together," Mushu explains. "Oh, and Pretty Boy is tagging along for the ride because he lives here in the city."
"Great," I say, smiling. I'm not ready to say goodbye to these guys yet anyway.
"Alright, so what I wanna know is what's going on between you two?" Yao asks.
"Yeah," Ling chimes in, "since day one you two have seemed incredibly close for two random guys who had just met at camp."
I look at Mushu and shrug my shoulders. "Guess there's no point in keeping it a secret now, huh?" I ask.
"Nah," he replies.
He turns to the others, who are listening intently. Well, everyone except for Qing, who is smiling that big smile of his, taking childish pride in the fact he knows something Ling, Yao, Chien-Po, and Shang didn't.
"You see, Mulan and I have known each other since we were five. I knew who she was the whole time."
I roll my eyes. "Yeah, he knew as soon as I told him who I was."
"How come you two are from different villages then?" Shang inquires.
"I lived in Mulan's village until I was thirteen when my family moved to Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po's."
"Wow, you knew the entire time," Yao states aloud as if trying to wrap his head around the newest revelation.
"He's not the only one," I say, looking at Qing. The guys follow my gaze and look dumbfounded.
"No way," Ling declares. "There is no way this kid knew before we did."
"Well this kid figured it out before you did," Qing states almost teasingly.
"I guess that clears things up a bit," Chien-Po contemplates.
"Alright, so now that we got that out of the way, will you guys help me convince her that she's being stupid?" Mushu asks, exasperated. I smack him playfully on the arm.
"Shut up."
"I mean, it would probably be safer for you to wait just a little bit longer before traveling," Shang states. The others agree with him.
A thought occurs to me suddenly. "How long has it been since the attack on the city?" I ask nervously.
"Six," Mushu answers.
I curse under my breath. "I need to leave," I stress.
"No, you want to leave," Mushu snaps. "You're not thinking, Mulan!"
"Yes, I am! You don't understand-"
"What, you think your family is just going to disappear in the two weeks it takes you to heal?"
"They might!" I yell back, angry. Mushu shuts up.
"They aren't going to disappear, Mulan," Mushu tells me, his voice gentler now.
"Maybe not literally, but they might not want me back."
The others look confused.
"Why would you think that, Mulan," Chien-Po asks in that special way of his, the way that makes you want to spill out every single one of your fears and worries. No wonder he made such a good counselor back in his village. And, even though I have worked hard my whole life to keep people out, that voice works on me too.
"Maybe it's time I tell you guys the story of how I ended up cross-dressed as a man in the middle of an army camp," I say, instinctively trying to divert attention from my own feelings with a little bit of humor.
Of course, no one objects to that idea, and even Mushu looks a little anxious to hear the story, even though he knows the gist of it. The truth is, I never really told anyone about that last night at home, not even Mushu. I guess there's a time for everything.
"Alright, so you guys know that the reason I joined the army in the first place was to save my father. You see, he is the only man in my family, so he was conscripted to fight despite the fact that he is older and has a wound on his leg that he sustained from fighting in the army before. The injury has left him with a bad limp, and he has to use a walking stick to get around. Obviously, if he were to come and fight, he didn't have much of a chance of survival due to his injury. I tried to convince him not to go, to see if he could be excused from service due to the fact he had already served. He has as much pride and stubbornness as I do, and he would have none of that and instead told me to learn my place." My breath hitches momentarily as I think of his words, words that have haunted me since. "That was the last time we spoke before I-I ran away."
The others seem startled by this fact. I know what they must be thinking. Women are supposed to be obedient, and I had basically defied everything, including my own father, by running away. They also look a little saddened, probably because of how things between my father and I ended. I decide to continue on with the story before anyone starts showing me pity.
"I took his conscription notice and armor, chopped my hair short, and left on Khan that night. No goodbyes or notes, just gone." I shake my head sadly.
"Is that the reason you're so intent on getting home?" Chien-Po asks.
"Yes, one of them."
"And the other?" he pushes gently.
"I'm worried that if I don't get home soon, word will spread about what I've done here." The others look perplexed.
"You mean, literally saving China?" Ling questions. "What, you think your folks are gonna be mad you saved the Emperor from being assassinated?"
"You guys know how news spreads; each time it's told, someone changes this part and adds something to that part. After a little bit, the story has become something else entirely. I'm not naive enough to think that now that I've saved China, everyone is suddenly going to be super thrilled about a woman doing 'a man's job'." The looks on their faces tell me that they already knew as much. "All I'm saying is, my village is traditional, and most of the people there don't like me. They were completely fine with spreading rumors about me when I was younger, and once one of those village gossips hears about what happened here, they are going to twist it so much that it's going to look like I was the one attacking the Emperor. I don't know how my family feels about me right now. I plan on going home and trying to make amends with them, and if they do decide they don't want me anymore, I'll leave. But, I want to be the one who tells them what happened. I don't want them to hear some messed up version in the market and decide right then and there to be done with me. I just want a chance to set things right, and I can't let gossip get in the way of that." I feel unshed tears stinging my eyes. I curse in my head. This is not the time to play stupid little girl. "So, I need to leave soon, before the story reaches my village," I finish abruptly, stating it as a fact free of emotion.
The guys look at each other for a moment, trying to figure out what they were going to do. I look only at Shang, knowing that if he goes along with it, the others will follow suit, despite the fact they still seem kind of sour about the happenings of Tung-Shao.
"Well," Shang states, exhaling, "looks like we leave tomorrow morning."
I smile at him as the others agree with the plans. "Thanks," I say quietly. He simply shrugs but then smiles back.
…Which is a fatal mistake to make in front of Ling.
"Hey guys, look at that! Mister Oh-So-Serious knows how to smile!" Ling exclaims.
"I didn't know you had it in you!" Yao chimes in.
And Shang's discomfort is so much so that everyone bursts into a round of laughs, and I end up clutching my wound in pain while still laughing harder than I have in weeks.
Shoushan: Wow, just two days! That's awesome! I tried to PM you, but Fanfiction wouldn't let me for some reason. Thank you so much for your review, it means a lot! By the way, hurt/comfort is my favorite genre too!
