Chapter nine

I don't own any of the characters except May Lin,her family, and the villagers.

It had been a couple of days since May Lin first visited the garden, and was amazed by it's beauty.

She was now out of bed and went to the garden everyday, to sit and think. It was so peaceful in the garden, it reminded her a little of the dream she had with that light.

The light, sometimes she wanted to go back in the light and just stay there. Shaking her head clear May Lin started to think of a plan. If she was going to get revenge, she needed a plan. She would need to learn how to fight with Martial arts, and much more.

She could take care of the first thing so far. She would ask Shang to teach her how to fight. It would work she hoped. Shang and Mulan were good friends of her's and they both knew how to fight exceptionally well. Getting up to go look for Shang she thought, 'time for stage one'.

Shang was in the palace gym, training (with his shirt off, like usual) when he heard someone enter the room. Probably one of the guards, he thought to himself. "Hey." He turned around in surprise. "Lin, what are you doing in here?" 'Wow' May Lin thought 'He's REALLY cute'. Blinking, she thought 'focus'. "Well I wanted to ask you something." "Okay, what is it?" He asked, wondering. "Well I wanted to know if you would teach me how to fight, like you and Mulan." He nearly dropped the weight he was holding.

"Well, Lin um I don't think that that's such a good idea." "Why not? I'm a lot better and I would like to learn. Howa bout if we make a deal or somthing? Like kinda like me paying you." Shang was'nt sure. After thinking for a minute he finally spoke. "Okay, I'll teach you how to fight, but in return I want you to help me figure out a special way to surprise Mulan and ask her to marry me. Your so good at surprising people and all." May Lin smiled "Ok, it's a deal oh and I'm so happy for you." "Thanks, ok we start tommorow at dawn."

They shook hands.

While in bed that night, May Lin was grinning. Her plan was going to work and tommorow it was beggining.

At dawn, May Lin and Shang met in the palace field. May Lin was'nt surprised at how beautiful the field was. It had bright green grass and wild flowers of all colors growing in it.

Shang was setting up a area for them to practice in (shirtless once again lol). "Good morning Shang, were you up before dawn? Theres a lot here already." Looking up, May Lin saw a huge wooden pole.

I wonder what that's for, she thought, shrugging. Shang looked up at her and smiled "Yeah just a little while though. So are you ready?" Smiling May Lin said "Definatly." Turning serious, Shang took out a bow and arrow. He shot the arrow to the top of the wooden pole.

"First, you have to retrieve the arrow at the top of the pole. But, you have to figure out a way to get to the top using these two weights." May Lin looked at him quissically,and arching a eyebrow she said "What does this have to do with fighting?" "The weights represent dicipline and strength, you need both to fight, and to reach the arrow." He said, handing her the weights.

Struggling to hold the weights, May Lin tried to figure out a way to get to the top of the pole with the weights. For the life of her, she could not figure out how to use them , so she tied them to her wrists and attempted to climb up the pole. She fell. Getting a little annoyed, she quickly calmed herself remembering what Shang had said about disipline. Recalling a story Mulan had told

her about from the training camp. Smiling, she took the two weights and threw the ends around the pole. Causing them to tie together. She began climbing up the pole, using the weights as a aid. She finnaly got to the top, sweat glistening on her forehead. Her honey brown eyes, glowing with pride. Pulling the arrow out of the pole with ease, she threw it to the ground by Shang's feet.

Smiling, Shang said "Good job, Now we can move on." From dawn until noon, Shang taught May Lin almost everyting he knew. She payed attention, and caught on to everything very quickly. Finnaly at the end of the training, Shang said "Very good for your first day, tommorow you and I can have a match. Now, in a half hour meet me in the great hall to start on the surprise for Mulan." May Lin smiled

and nodded her head in agreement. "Great, thank you for today by the way. I'll see you in a half hour." With that she turned around and headed for her room to get cleaned up. Shang stayed to strighten up, then headed to his room to clean up as well.

A half hour later, May Lin and Shang met in the Great Hall. "So, do you have any certin place you want this to take place?" May Lin said very buisness like. " Shang looked at her and said "Actually, on the top of the roof of this room." "Not bad, that's a great idea. Mulan will love that." May Lin said. "So lets get started.". They walked up to the top of the roof, and May Lin gasped. It was beautiful, you could see the whole palace and the palace grounds. May Lin smiled, "This is perfect." She said turning to Shang. "Fire works are definatly going to be

a must. I can already invision it, and your gonna help and maybe Mushu and Cri-kee."

That night, May Lin was still planning the surprise with Shang. It kept the constant thought of revenge out of her head, for once she felt as if she could possibly be happy again......but just for a little while.