A/N – Hey everyone! – we are both SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry that this is late… nearly 3 months! We have our excuses of course =) this summer has been extremely busy for both of us, and haven't found time to write… sorry for the short chapter… but hopefully we'll have longer ones later on! And btw – the author Mulan wants to say Hi to y'all from DisneyWorld!!
Thanks to ALL who have reviewed! – General Sephiroth, Callie/Mikey, Lira, Sue, ToughSpirit, Becky, Paulina, Kimberly, Frost Fire, Katie Carr!
Disclaimer – We sadly do not own these characters… – it all belongs to Disney, and the Legend of Hua MuLan – except of course… our wonderful plot!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mulan quickly ran to her room to change into her training gear and to pull her hair up. After she was done, she walked to the mirror and smiled at her reflection; it felt weird being a guy again. She walked over to Mushu, who was staring at her like she was crazy.
"Ready to go?"
"Hold on!"
"What's wrong Mushu?" Mulan asked looking strangely at the tiny dragon.
"Don't you think Shang will notice it's you right away? You look like you did as Ping."
Mulan looked at her reflection again, "Your right! What would I do without you?"
"Well," Mushu began smugly, "You would go back to camp dressed as Ping, get caught, and kicked out the very 1st day."
Mulan just laughed; he was right, "So then, what do I do?"
"You, don't do anything. Cri-kee and I will take care of everything!"
Mulan wasn't sure what to say or think; she only hoped that they knew what they were doing. Mushu searched the house for materials and items he could use to give Mulan a new look.
"Come on Cri-kee! It's time for Mulan's make-over!"
They lead Mulan into a small room where Mushu had taking the liability set up everything.
"Nothing too drastic… I want to be able to become myself again." Mulan reminded them, after seeing the supplies Mushu had discovered.
"Don't worry about it, we have everything under control."
Mushu and his sidekick went straight to work. Mulan sat there impatiently until she heard finally heard Mushu ask Cri-kee for his opinion. The "lucky" cricket jumped around and chipped happily with his approval.
"Ok, Mulan, ready to see the new you?"
She sighed nervously and answered "Yes, I'm ready"
"Ok, close your eyes"
Mulan did as she was told, while, Mushu and Cri-kee led her to the mirror.
"Now open your eyes!" Mushu said excitedly.
"Wow!" Mulan exclaimed. The person in the mirror had a five-inch scar along the left side of his face, and a bruise over his right eye. She also noticed that her face looked much darker.
"Pretty good, huh?" Mushu asked, giving Cri-kee a high-five
"It's great Mushu, I can barely even recognize myself! This isn't going to come off anytime soon will it?"
"Nah, I hope not, but I'm bringing this stuff to touch it up just in case!"
Mulan smiled at the dragon, but then remembered another important detail she was missing. She ran into her room and began rummaging though a pile of papers.
'Now what is she up to?' The small guardian wondered.
"Found it!" she yelled excitedly as she held up a scroll.
"That's great… but what exactly is it?"
"My father's conscription notice." she answered simply, "I need it, so I can copy it for my new one" she told him.
"You mean your fake one!"
Mulan laughed and grabbed a blank scroll and ink. She sat down and began to copy her father's conscription notice, but then paused to look at Mushu.
"What's my name going to be?"
"Um…"
"So… do you have any friends other than Ping?"
"Yes, no, maybe so. And that is NONE of your business. What do you have there Cri-kee?" Mushu asked after hearing the small cricket start chirping excitedly. Cri-kee handed the papers to Mushu who looked them over and a big smile appeared on his face.
"I think we just solved your little problem Mulan"
Mulan smiled back, "What do you mean?"
"Cri-kee just found a list of the old solders from your fathers troops..."
Mulan's smile grew bigger as she interrupted her guardian, "So what your saying is that I should just use one of those names on the list?"
"Exactly"
"Well ok, I mean what harm could it possibly do?" Mulan said, then frowned as she was looking over the long list of names, "Which one should I use? There's so many of them!"
"Well, just close your eyes and pick one"
Mulan did as she was told and pointed to a name on the list. With her eyes still closed she asked, "What does it say?"
"Fai Chen"
"Good enough for me!"
Mulan finished making her conscription notice and showed the finished product to Mushu, who compared it with her father's.
"Very good!" He exclaimed, "Nearly identical"
"Think they'll buy it?"
"Of course. Now lets get ourselves on the road!"
Mulan ran outside to Khan's stable, after rolling up her conscription notice and placed it in her clothing.
"Now where do you think you are going?" Mushu asked as her followed her outside.
"Well I have to get Khan ready."
"Mulan, don't you think Shang will notice the cow too?"
She couldn't help but laugh, "For the last time Mushu, Khan is a horse not a cow!"
Mushu just looked at her and said, "Whatever you say."
"So if I can't take Khan, then how am I supposed to get to camp?"
"Am I supposed to help you with everything? Camp is not too far from here, so we can walk"
