Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. You people review so fast. And I'm so happy too. Thank you all so much.
Okay, like I already said, this is a Taiora. So if it seems like Sora and Izzy are a little friendlier than they usually are, it's because in this story, I made Sora and Izzy best friends who grew up together. I mean, why not? But that's all they are... best friends. Second, I'm not going to give away who the other couples are in here. You'll find out... But if you've read my other fics or my profile, you'll have a slight idea of who's with who. But only a slight idea... Some of you already seem to know. Third... I know that this isn't exactly how Mulan goes, but I put my own twist into it to accommodate all the Digi-destined and my fave couples. ^_^ Lastly, the names of the adults or anyone else who isn't a Digi-destined... totally made up cause I don't know what names to give the parents. I'm not Japanese so I don't know any Japanese names. The names came straight from my vat of ideas. I'm a seventeen year old Chinese girl living in the U.S.; that should explain why I'm not using the Japanese names. I'm just using the names I got from watching the English versions of Digimon.
And now that I've talked everyone into boredom like I always do....
Disclaimer: You know the drill... I don't own Digimon. I don't own Mulan (oops forgot to mention that in the first part) Don't sue me...
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The rays of light from the full moon shone down on Sora's face. She let out a sigh. Tomorrow, her father would leave and go directly to the front to prepare for battle. She looked at her face in the pond. She ran a finger through her auburn hair and then stood up.
She could remember back to earlier that evening. She had curiously peeked in on her father. She saw him produce a sword from the cabinet in his room that he never opened. Lying inside, was also a set of armor that had been issued to the Takenouchi family by His Royal Majesty himself. She had stared in awe at the shining metal from the garments. Then her attention had been attracted by the large blade her father now held. It was beautiful...
She watched as her father carefully wiped the blade clean causing it to shine even more brilliantly. She smiled, feeling proud to be a part of the family who owned this equipment. Then it happened...
Her father had tried to practice what moves he knew with his sword, until he leaned back and pressured all of his weight onto the leg that had been injured a long time ago. At first, he seemed to only wince slightly at the pain, but after only a split second, the pain must have been too much for him to take. He fell to the ground and grabbed at his leg, dropping his sword... Sora could tell that he was in a great deal of hurt- probably more in pride than in his leg. Her heart sank and she knew that she had to go through with her decision. She needed to make sure that her father was safe...
Looking up at the moon, she sighed aloud and spoke to herself, "It's now... or never..." She took one last look at her reflection in the clear pond water which was made especially elegant from the moon's brightness, then she turned and headed back toward her house. She had a mission to take care of before morning...
~*~*~*~
His sharp cold eyes pierced through the night sky. It was passed midnight. This was the best time to surface onto the continent's shorelines. Nobody is ever alert during the night. Sleep would be the only thing on anyone's mind. Perfect...
He turned to face the two ships miles away from the shore. Far enough to make those peaceful dimwits of the Continent of Liyira think they were still safe. His eyes laughed evilly as he motioned for his men to come out of hiding. Immediately, a large clan protruded from their places under the semi shallow areas of the ocean. None seemed the least bit fazed by the icy coldness of the water. One by one, they popped up and stomped toward their great leader... The head of the infamous Kirik Clan... Myotis Kahn.
Without exchanging any words, the group of at least thirty or more began to head toward the kingdoms of the continent. No later than did they head off, did another group of the clan descend into the icy water from their ships, swim slowly toward shore and follow after their leader. After them, more did the same...
Myotis Kahn smiled devilishly at his men... They all knew exactly what to do now that they've reached the famous Continent of Liyira... The continent which laid in peace and happiness for the past twenty years... It was so prosperous... But that was all about to change... They all exchanged evil glances at each other... Success wasn't too far off for them...
~*~*~*~
"Sora!" Norico called out into the dark. She stumbled over herself, being unable to see in the dark, "Sora? Are you out here?" She scanned the garden as her eyes began to adjust to the night.
"Mrs. Takenouchi?" a familiar young male voice called to the older woman, "Is something wrong?" Izzy approached his neighbor's house in his slumber attire; an open book in one of his hands hanging at his side.
"Koushiro?" Norico looked at her daughter's red-headed friend, "Have you seen Sora? Is she at your place?" She already knew that that was a ridiculous assumption, being the fact that it was in the middle of the night. Even so, she looked toward the Izumi's house half expecting Sora to appear from their doorway.
"Izzy?" an older male voice called to the boy, "What's going on?" Yeosho Izumi asked walking out, also in his slumber attire. He turned when a candle was lit from inside his house.
"I don't know, Father," Izzy replied, "Mrs. Takenouchi told me that she can't find Sora."
"Sora's missing?" a female voice was heard from the same direction. Walking out with a candle in hand, Tiana Izumi stood beside her husband.
"Yes," Norico said, "I don't know why, but I woke up just a little while ago. I guess I heard something... I went to see Sora, but found her room empty. I don't know where-"
"Sora!" Ruki stumbled out of the house, "She's gone..." Norico ran to his side to help him up. Despite the returning pain from the old injury, he struggled to stand with the aid of Norico and Yeosho.
"What do you mean?" Norico asked sensing the fear in his voice. She then noticed the necklace dangling from his hand and grabbed it. It was a necklace with a pendent in the shape of a heart. The necklace belonged to Sora. She had been wearing it ever since she was a baby. Norico looked back at her husband, but found herself following his gaze to the stable where their only horse, Starlight was supposed to be resting. Instead, the stable door was open and the stable... was empty.
"She didn't," Tiana gasped realizing what must have happened.
"She took the draft letter and my armor... and my sword," Ruki said, "Sora... She's... she's gone... to fight my battle..."
Izzy looked at each adult in shock. Oh no, what is she thinking... he thought. His mind suddenly wandered back to the conversation he had had with her that afternoon. He looked at the adults and hung his head only to utter out, "I'm sorry. This is all my fault."
"Koushiro, I don't understand," Norico said pacing back and forth. She squeezed Sora's necklace in her hand tightly.
"What do you mean this is your fault, Izzy?" his father asked.
"I mean," Izzy began to stutter, "I was- I was talking to Sora this afternoon when we were at the pond. She was sad because of the whole drafting and a little bit about the matchmaking- how she wasn't able to choose her own husband. And I made things worse by telling her that that was how things went in the kingdom. I told her that girls don't have much freedom to choose. And then she told me how lucky I was for having the freedom of choice-" His mother stopped him.
"How is all this tying in to how it's your fault, Izzy?" she asked nervously, only partly listening to her son.
"I'm getting there," Izzy said. He looked at the four adults all fearing for one young girl's life. He cleared his throat and continued his story, "Well, I asked her, if she had the freedom to choose, what would she do and the first thing she told me was that she would choose to take her father's place in battle."
Ruki closed his eyes understanding exactly why Sora would do such a thing, but at the same time he was angry at how he could have let this happen and the defiance of his only daughter.
"But I told her that that was impossible," Izzy continued, "That the law of the land forbade girls to serve as soldiers..." He trailed off a little unsure of whether or not he wanted to go on.
Tiana poured four cups of hot tea hoping that it would calm everyone, "Yes. The law of the land specifically forbids girls to join the army in battle. Sora can't get in even if she has the draft letter... unless..." She trailed off and looked at Izzy with a face of understanding and disbelief.
Izzy nodded knowing that his mother had finally caught on. He continued his story anyways, "I told her that unless there was another male in her family, she'd never be able to convince Mr. Takenouchi not to go into battle. And then I said to her, 'Too bad you're a girl.'"
"She's disguised herself as a boy," Norico slumped into a chair in shock, "She's determined to make it into the training camp in place of Ruki. No matter what the cost..." She dropped the necklace onto the table and laid her head down. She felt close to tears.
"What can we do now?" Yeosho looked at Ruki.
"We can only pray and hope that our ancestors will watch over Sora," he said unemotionally, "She's determined to do this."
"But if we don't find her, she's going to get herself killed," Norico cried.
"If we expose her," Ruki said, "She will die. And we may end up being charged with treason. All of us who know about this." He took a deep breath, "We can only wait and hope that she doesn't go too far and she doesn't get found out." He closed his eyes.
"I'll go find her," Izzy said, "It's my fault she's in this mess. I'll find her and I'll find a way to bring her back. Or at least keep her from getting found out." He looked from his parents to Sora's. They all looked at him with hope in their eyes.
"It's not your fault, Izzy," Ruki said, "We all know Sora well enough to know that only she has the guts to pull a stunt like this. Only she could ever force herself to do something so irresponsible..."
Izzy shook his head, "I think she's being very brave. Not very many people would risk their lives for a loved one. Not the way she has decided to..." He caught his father's disapproving look and quickly added, "But she could have gone about this in a different way. I agree that she was probably not thinking."
"I don't care whether she's thinking or not," Norico chimed in, "I'm begging you to please help my daughter. Help us bring her back safely. Please, Koushiro."
Izzy nodded, "I promise. I won't let anything happen to her."
"I don't know if I should go on with this," Sora looked toward the training camp. It was still dark out and she wasn't supposed to be there until in a couple hours. She'd been pacing around for the past hour. She looked at Starlight and sighed to the black horse, "I feel so stupid. What if they find out I'm a girl?" She leaned against the tree and looked at the sky. Starlight seemed to sense her distress and nudged against the girl. Sora laughed, "Thanks Starlight. I guess with you around, I might have a bit more confidence."
She sat down, "Now I just have to wait for morning so I can show up." She sighed, "Why did they have to make the camp so close to Mount Mihiroshi Village though. Mama and Papa will probably spot me easily if they decide to... But they can't exactly get out here that quickly. We do live on the mountain. And you're our only horse, Starlight. They wouldn't be able to get here even if they really wanted to."
She suddenly thought about something, "What if Izzy sees me? Great! I'll have to find a way to hide from him, or-"
"Or what?" a familiar voice called out. Soft horse trotting was heard. Sora looked up to see her friend. She smiled sheepishly as Izzy's horse came to a stop. He dismounted and looked Sora up and down. She had managed to chop her hair off, short enough not to look like a girl, "That's a pretty good look for you. How'd you manage the hair, though?"
"Izzy," Sora groaned, "How'd you find me?"
"I followed the horse tracks that Starlight left on her way here," Izzy said. He laughed, "Actually-" he patted his own horse "-Rada can pick up Starlight's scent from miles away. Also considering the fact that we came after you only a while after you left."
"Are my parents-?" Sora began pulling herself up.
"Well," Izzy said, "Why don't we go back and find out?" He proceeded to mount his horse so that he could drag Sora back home before it was too late.
"I'm not going back," Sora stood her ground.
"Sora," Izzy said, "you can't go through with this. Do you know how dangerous this can be?"
"I'm willing to take the risk," Sora said coldly.
"You'll be executed for treason," Izzy said, "And since I know-"
"I'm not going to pull you down with me," Sora said, "I know my place-" she looked at herself "-well, sort of. But if anything happens, just pretend you don't know me. It's that easy. You don't even have to pretend to be close to me or anything at all."
"I can't do that," Izzy said. He looked up toward the east where the sun would soon be rising, "Come on. We're going home before it's too late."
"No," Sora said indignantly, "I'm going to do this. If I go home now, then I've completely failed what I came here to do. Papa will be taken to the front. There's no telling what would happen to him out there."
"But what about you?" Izzy asked, "What do you think is going to happen to you if anyone finds out?"
"I said that I'm willing to take that risk," Sora said coldly.
"What about your parents?" Izzy asked, "What's going to happen to them?"
"Nothing," Sora said, "I may not be very knowledgeable, but I do know that they can't hold this against my parents. It's me and me only. No one else."
"Sora-" Izzy again attempted.
"Izzy, will you listen to me?" Sora said angrily, "You don't know what I saw only hours ago. Before I even decided to go through with this, I was watching Papa in his room. He tried... he had tried to do it all over again. He had tried to be the soldier he used to be... But Izzy, his leg gave out on him! He's still hurting. There was no way he'd be able to make it out here. At least, I'm younger and I have a chance." She held back her tears remembering the pain she saw in her father's face that came from his hurt leg, "Izzy, I don't want anything to happen to Papa. He means too much to me. I know you understand what I mean. Please Izzy, don't make me go back. I need to do this for him. I need to save him from making a mistake. And..."
Izzy didn't speak, he felt the want to cave in, but he tried to fight it. There was no way that he would let his friend risk her life like this, though he understood completely her situation.
"... and... I need to save the Takenouchi pride," Sora finished.
Pride. Is that all people think about now? Izzy couldn't believe it himself. She was doing this all so that her family name would remain on the top list of the kingdom as one of the finest of Kingdom Tachikawa's warriors. Sora knew that her father would not be able to make it out on the battle field and preserve their family name. And this is what she wanted to do. He almost felt a pang of anger. She was willing to risk her life to help her father preserve their family's good name and to help save her father's life.
"And this is the risk you're willing to take?" Izzy asked taking a deep breath.
Sora nodded, "It is. You would do the same if you were in my place. I know you would."
Izzy looked away and licked his dry lips, knowing that she was right... again. He turned back to his friend, "Just don't expect me to have your back the whole time. You're going to have to be smart."
Sora smiled, "Thank you, Izzy. Thank you." She immediately hugged her younger friend as he returned the happy embrace.
"You're right," Izzy said, "I'd do the exact same thing if I were in you're place." His face then became serious, "There's only one problem, though."
"What?" Sora asked.
"You're going to need a name and an identity," Izzy said, "I don't think the name Sora is going to come across as a good guy's name."
Sora smiled and nodded, "I think I'll have it all figured out."
"Thank you for letting me stay here," Mimi smiled sweetly at the younger girl.
"No problem," Kari smiled, "My dad's the general in charge here. But, after he leaves, my brother's going to be the one to who calls the shots. But don't worry. I easily intimidate my big brother. And I'm sure they won't mind having an extra pair of hands around to help." She handed the delicate girl a small bowl of water. Mimi gulped it down instantly.
"Thank you," she smiled. Mimi had managed to sneak out of the palace with no problem. Actually, there was one problem... she had neglected to smuggle, for herself, any money and had been starving and thirsty. The fact that she had never left the palace before, contributed in why she wasn't known by anyone, thus resulting in her not getting any food, water or shelter. She didn't even know how far she could get to. She just knew that she wanted to get away from that palace. After a couple days of walking, her gentle body finally gave out.
Kari had been out looking for herbal medicines that morning when she came across the young princess's body laying in the middle of no where. Fortunately, she was only physically weak from lack of food and water and all she needed was a little bit of nourishment to recover. Kari had brought the limp body back to her room at the camp and let her rest a while.
Kari giggled at the girl, "Hey, and another thing. We're not going to be the only girls here. My friend will be joining us soon. She's going to be here to help clean up after the new recruit trainees in the mess hall."
There was a knock on the door as Kari finished her sentence. She smiled, "That must be her right now." She headed toward the door and opened it to reveal a young girl, about a year older than herself, wearing spectacles and had long purple hair covered partly by her favorite scarf.
"Kari!" Yolei Inuoue almost squealed, "It's been a long time!" The two girls hugged each other.
"Yolei," Kari said. She brought her friend over to Mimi, "I want you to meet, uh..." She realized that she never asked for a name.
"Mimi," Mimi replied without thinking.
"Mimi?" Kari asked, "You're name is Mimi?"
"But the princess of Kingdom Tachikawa is named Mimi," Yolei said softly.
"Uh, yeah," Mimi said catching her mistake. People probably didn't know what she looked like, but they definitely knew the name very well. Instantly, she dug through her brain to find ideas, "Yeah, um, I heard. You see, I'm from outside of the kingdom. Um, my parents and I live pretty far up in the mountains, until they died a while ago and then I came down here." That's it, she mentally added.
"Oh," Yolei and Kari both nodded, "Okay." Kari turned to Yolei and noticed the large bag Yolei was carrying with her. She sighed knowing what the bag contained. She shook her head.
"What?" Yolei placed her bag down on her bed and untied it revealing a couple books. She looked at the titles of the books and pulled out the one she was searching for.
"Nothing," Kari said, "No wonder Tai always laughs at you. Always buried in books."
"Books?" Mimi got up and walked over, "What kind of books?" She looked at the bunch of thick books in Yolei's bag, "Those are pretty big. It must take forever to read." Mimi almost felt ashamed as she wondered if all commoners read large books like this. That largest book she remembered even touching was a little child's fairy tale. Sure, the palace had the kingdom's biggest library, but that didn't mean she'd ever read any of those books. They were just so big and so... long.
"Only about two days, four hours and about ten minutes per book, calculating from my reading speed. Sometimes I get through a book in less than a day. But that's when I have absolutely nothing else to do," Yolei said absentmindedly pulling her books out and placing them at the table next to her bed, "It can take up to five days, an hour and fourteen minutes when I'm really busy. For someone with a little slower reading speed, it might take over ten to fifteen days."
Mimi gave Yolei a confused look and turned to Kari who shrugged her shoulders. Kari giggled, "We don't call her the brain for no reason. Too bad they don't let girls work for the royal family and council as anything more than just a cook or a servant or a nurse. Yolei'd make a great tactics officer."
"Nah," Yolei said, "I'd rather not spend my time with all those boring ministers who think they know what they're talking about. It'll definitely get frustrating. I work alone." She laughed.
Mimi and Kari giggled. Hmm..., Mimi thought to herself, Kari's right, too bad they don't let girl's into the royal council, Yolei's pretty smart... I could easily put in a good word for her... Wait, I should put in a good word for her... she could be the kingdom's very first female council member...
There was another knock on the door. Kari went over to open it and Tai stuck his head in, "You guys settled in yet?" He looked around the room noticing one more person than there should be.
"Yeah, Tai," Kari said, "We're coming."
"Good morning, Tai," Yolei smiled her cheesy smile at her friend's older brother. She turned back to unpacking her belongings which only included a couple changes of clothing, all those books, a map of the continent and a small telescope she used every night for stargazing.
"Who's that?" Tai asked looking at Mimi.
"I found her this morning," Kari said, "She had passed out only a couple feet from here so I brought her here. I figured you and Dad wouldn't mind."
Tai nodded, "We could use an extra pair of hands." He knew that it didn't make any difference whether or not he approved. Kari would keep this newcomer here if she wanted to. Without another word, he pulled his head back out and headed toward the training ground.
"Come on," Kari motioned for the two girls to follow her, "Some of the new trainees probably have already shown up. We just need to go outside and stand around." She looked at Mimi, "I'll introduce you to the camp doctor and his son later.
"Your brother's cute," Mimi said without another thought. Immediately, she clapped her hand over her mouth, "I mean..."
Yolei giggled, "Don't worry. I thought the same thing when I first saw him. Then he turned into one of those jerky older brothers." She looked Mimi up and down, "He wouldn't be your type anyways."
"Besides," Kari smirked, "I think some other girl already stole his heart."
"How do you know?" Yolei asked.
"Well," Kari said, "Last night, I went into his room and he was staring off at the moon. He had this far off look in his face-"
"You mean the one Davis gets whenever anyone mentions your name?" Yolei cut in.
Kari made a disgusted face, "I hope not. I doubt it though... Tai's looks nicer. But anyways, I could immediately tell that Tai was thinking of a girl." She giggled.
"Ooh!" Yolei said in a sing song tone, "Tai's in love."
Darn! Mimi thought to herself, First decent guy I've met since I left the palace and he's already taken. Oh well, doesn't matter anyways... I'm already... taken. She sighed sadly at the thought, but neither Kari nor Yolei seemed to notice.
"Hold it," Yolei said, "I just need to know one thing. Davis Motimiya isn't going to be at training camp, is he?"
"I'm afraid so," Kari looked disappointed, "All of the kingdoms young men have to serve in battle. And since Davis is a new recruit, he'll be here. At least he won't be able to do anything funny with Tai around." She sighed and hoped that he wouldn't make a scene when he saw her.
"Davis Motimiya?" Mimi asked.
"A very persistent little boy who insists that he and Kari are in love," Yolei said, "I've had to create many diversions so that Kari could escape from him."
"So far," Kari let out a relieved sigh, "I'm just glad that neither of us are at the legal age of marriage yet. There is no doubt in my mind that I'd probably have to-" She bit her lower lip not even wanting to think about it. She'd known Davis for only a while, but she didn't like his persistence and his assumption that she like him back. Most of all, she didn't feel any love toward him. Not the kind that one would feel toward a soul mate. It wasn't that she didn't like him. He was a good friend to both her and her brother. She just didn't love him the way he loved her. Actually, it was more infatuation than it was love.
"Is he very obnoxious?" Mimi asked.
Kari and Yolei looked at each other and then at the same time nodded.
"Fall in!" Tai called out toward the group of newly drafted soldiers. Immediately, the new recruits fell in line and stood as tall and straight as they could. Tai looked each person over and nodded in approval at the turn out.
"Tai," General Kamiya called out as he hurried out of the camp building. Behind him was the camp doctor, Dr. Miko Kido and his son Joe Kido. Beside him was one of the kingdom's royal council members only known as Jujo. They walked past the three girls whom some of the new soldiers had been trying to show off to. He stood before Tai, smiled, but immediately became serious, "Stand at attention." Tai straightened up and stood stark still.
"Taichi Kamiya," General Kamiya began.
"Yes, Sir!" Tai answered.
"By order of His Majesty and the General in command of the front," General said, "Your are now hereby promoted to Captain and commander of the newly recruited members of the royal army at Mount Mihiroshi Village. Take your order." He held out the script in front of Tai. Immediately, Tai dropped to one knee and received his promotion order above his head and then stood up and bowed to his father.
"Tai," General Kamiya said, "You are now in command of this section. You are to train them and prepare them the best you can. When we call for you, you will be sure to have these boys ready to battle and meet us at the front."
"On my honor," Tai said bowing to his father again.
"Now," General Kamiya said, "I will be heading out with the current top cavalry and Dr. Kido to the front. You will have the aid of Joe Kido, Councilman Jujo, and..." he caught that expectant look from his precious young daughter and almost smiled, but remained serious "-your sister while your are here. Good luck, Tai."
Tai nodded and stood still as he watched his father turn around, mount his horse and then command the top cavalry to ride out. His older friend, Joe turned and entered his room to double check the medical supplies. Councilman Jujo just turned up his nose, muttered a "I'll be watching you" to Tai and then turned to enter the camp building to go to his room.
Tai shrugged off the councilman's words and turned to see the eager faces of the newly recruited boys. He gave Kari a nod, who on cue, stepped up toward the line of boys. Yolei followed behind with a book in her hand to check off each boy's name as Kari called them off and then Mimi stood behind Yolei with a tray to collect the draft letters. Tai stood by and watched to make sure there were no problems.
To her dismay, the first person Kari came to was the young Davis Motimiya. Kari stood before him and unenthusiastically asked for his draft letter. He gave her a cheesy smirk, "Hi Kari."
"Draft letter, please," Kari said already feeling irritated. Davis pulled out his letter and handed it to Kari. She opened it up, read the name at the top and said, "Davis Motimiya." Yolei checked over the book in her hand and made a small mark next to Davis's name. Kari handed the draft letter to Mimi and went on.
"I'll see you around, Kari," Davis grinned.
"Motimiya, you will decease hitting on my sister," Tai warned with an angry, but amused glare. Davis immediately shrunk back. The three girl couldn't help but to grin a little bit at the effect Tai had on the younger fourteen year old version of him.
"Ken Ichijouji," Kari read the next letter. Like before, Yolei checked off the name and Mimi collected the letter and the three girls continued on.
Soon, they came to two blonde boys who just stood there. Kari looked at them curiously, "Where are your draft letters?" The two boys looked at each other mouthing the words, "draft letters?"
"What's the problem?" Tai asked coming over. Immediately, he seemed to show recognition, but caught the taller blonde's warning look to stay quiet. He kept a straight face and spoke to the two, "Come with me." He turned and headed toward his room in the camp building. What now? he thought.
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End part two. I hope this is going on okay. I'm trying to make this one as good as possible. My other fic isn't hitting it off too well, but I will finish it.... when more ideas come to me. Right now, for that story, I'm drawing a blank. But this one is actually coming along pretty well.
Again, I want to thank you all for all those nice reviews... I love you all so much... I'm just glad you're enjoying this.
Please review. Thanx. :)
