Third Person POV
That evening, in the family armory room Fa Zhou opened up a closet, revealing armor he once wore in previous wars, and we are also given views of two other sets of armor reserved for two of the little boys when their time came to serve in the army. All three of Mulan's brothers were much too young to fight, so their father had no choice but to serve in the war.
Outside, Mulan, Trysha, and Jeanette all watched as Fa Zhou took out a sword and began practicing sword fighting moves; suddenly, the father stumbled over his bad knee and fell to the ground.
The girls saw him fall and gasped with shock and fear. "This is serious," Mulan told Jeanette and Trysha, "If my father leaves for camp tomorrow, I'll never EVER see him again!"
Jeanette just held a dark blue ribbon in one hand, and nervously played with her hair in the other hand. Then, the two girls headed back inside the house to have dinner.
A few minutes later, the girls and the whole family was gathered around the table for supper, for this would be the last one with Fa Zhou around. As Mulan poured the tea, she looked at her family members, but no one – not even the grandmother or the little boys – said a word. Finally, Mulan couldn't take it anymore; she angrily slammed her cup onto the table and shouted at her father, "You shouldn't have to go!"
"Mulan!" Fa Li started.
"There are plenty of young men to fight for China!" Mulan continued ranting.
"It is an honor to protect my country and my family," Fa Zhou said sternly but calmly.
Jeanette and Trysha just watched with tension as Mulan shot back at her father, "So you'll die for honor?"
"I will die doing what's right!" Fa Zhou said with an angrier tone.
Mulan started arguing, "But if you…"
"I KNOW MY PLACE!" the father yelled at her, making Jeanette and Trysha flinch with fear, "It is time you knew yours!"
Mulan felt shocked at seeing her father's temper, so she ran away from the table as Jeanette, Trysha, and the family watched. Mulan then opened the door and went outside to cling onto a pillar of her house. She then started crying tears of anger, regret, and fear, knowing that she would never see her father alive again after this night.
Jeanette kept watching Mulan for quite some time, but then she went back to having dinner. As she ate, the redhead repeatedly looked at the dark blue ribbon she had purchased from the market earlier before Mulan went to the Matchmaker.
Mulan's POV
That night, a thunderstorm was occurring as I sat on the lap of the Great Stone Dragon outside my home, still crying over fear for my father. Just then, Jeanette and Trysha came out from the house, sharing a parasol as they approached me. When they got to the Great Stone Dragon, I sadly asked the girls, "What are you doing here? You should be inside where it's dry and warm."
"Mulan, we care about you," Jeanette said with sympathy, "You've been a true friend for me and Trysha ever since we helped your brothers out."
I just turned away from them, knowing that I had no older brothers to take my father's place in the war; I then looked down at my reflection in a puddle of water and began crying again.
Trysha came over to me and gently put her hand onto my shoulder. "Mulan, everyone has bad days," she said with a small smile, "Deep down inside, Jeanette and I see that you're loyal, brave, and true to your family and your heart."
"Yeah," added Jeanette before she thought for a while, "Um… think about this Great Stone Dragon, here. He may look like an inanimate object, but you and your family have always believed that there's something deep inside of him… right?"
I just looked at a lit window, where my parents were having a discussion. The talk obviously didn't go very well, and my mother walked away, while my father blew out a candle.
"Mulan?" Jeanette asked.
I didn't answer. Instead, a look of determination came over me as I made a life-changing decision…
Trysha's POV
Jeanette and I watched as Mulan stepped off of the Great Stone Dragon, and then walked towards the family temple. I looked at Jeanette and asked her softly, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Jeanette also gave a look of determination, and nodded as she headed back towards the house.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the armory room, where Jeanette took her blue ribbon and began weaving it into her hair by braiding it. "What are you doing, Jeanette?" I asked her with curiosity.
"I'll show you in a minute," she said as she finished her braid. She then took the longer end of her ribbon (several inches long) and twisted her braid into a high bun, weaving the long end of her ribbon into the rest of her hair before she made a braided bun. She then got out a light blue ribbon and said to me, "Let me see your hair."
I knelt down on the ground, and let Jeanette do the same hair technique for my hair; she wove the ribbon and my hair together into a braid, and then she twisted the braid into a high bun, weaving the ribbon into the rest of my hair.
At that moment, Mulan arrived with her father's conscription scroll her hand. She gasped and whispered, "What are you two doing here?"
Jeanette put her finger to her lips, silencing me, and whispered, "Trysha and I could sense that you're going to do the unthinkable – disguise yourself as a man and go to war. We're coming with you."
Mulan started, "But, the law says…"
"We know," I said, "But you're are friend, and we should be in this together."
Mulan thought for a moment, and then nodded. She then found a sword in its sheath, knelt to the ground, and then unsheathed the sword. She briefly looked at her reflection in the blade before she took some of her hair and began cutting it with the sword.
As she did this, I looked at Jeanette with confusion, but my friend assured me softly, "Trust me! If anyone asks, we respond that it's against our religion!"
When she finished cutting her hair, Mulan tied her now short hair into a high bun with a green ribbon, and then she motioned for us to go to the closets for armor.
Mulan took the armor with green trimming, Jeanette took the armor with purple trimming, and I took some armor with sky blue trimming. Then, we grabbed our swords and helmets and left the armory room.
A few minutes later, the horses were all in their stables when they saw us come in. The animals thought we were intruders, so they began whinnying with alarm, but Mulan calmed Khan, while Jeanette calmed Helios, and I calmed Luna. Then, each of us took a horse and left the stable. We looked at the house one last time before Mulan and Khan led us out the gates and down a path; we were now warriors off to fight!
Third Person POV
As the girls left, the Great Stone Dragon's eyes glowed blue, and Grandmother Fa woke up with a start inside the house. She then went into Mulan's bedroom and cried, "Mulan and her friends are gone!"
In their bedroom, Fa Zhou and Fa Li also woke up. "What?" the father asked with a shocked gasp. He looked on his bedside and saw Mulan's headpiece instead of his conscription notice. "It can't be!" he gasped.
A few minutes later, Fa Zhou and the three boys ran into the armory room and saw that all the armor was gone!
"What happened to her, Baba?" Fa Qin asked his father with fear.
"What about the other girls?" asked Fa Jun.
Fa Zhou then ran out of the house as he cried out, "MULAN! GIRLS!" Just then, he tripped over and fell on the ground, dropping his daughter's headpiece. "No!" he breathed as he saw the gates closing back.
Fa Li and the boys rushed to his side, and the mother said, "You must go after them! They could be killed!"
All the boys gasped with fear as Fa Zhou sadly looked at his wife and lamented, "If I reveal them… they will be."
In these times, women were strictly forbidden from fighting in the war by the death penalty, so all Fa Zhou could do was sadly comfort his family.
Grandmother Fa soon arrived on the scene and realized that it was too late; the girls could either die by fighting in the war or be executed for being "barbaric" females. "Ancestors, hear our prayer," the grandmother prayed, "Watch over Mulan and her friends."