Author Notes:

The stuff below is the old review list thanks. I'll be putting a more recent one at the end of the story.

Old Author Notes:

Right, part 2 of the double chapter upload day. This is the longest chapter I think. Hope you like. I think by this point I should list everyone who has reviewed. So a BIG thank you to all of these people:

MiniEllie, blackdragonofdeath13, Jhs Rockerbaby, Amber 14, alibi girl, dizzydragon, Angel of the Twilight, Veasse, pink panther69, Dragon Spirit Fighter, Fay-chan, Sailor Serenity5, A Cute But Psycho Bunny, mischeif-maker, oneredneckgoddess, Lover not a fighter, WildTotodile, ThessalyD, Crystal Moon Magic, ShineMore

(People who have reviewed more than once in bold)

Apologies if I have made mistakes.

Disclaimer:

By the way, as you already know I DO NOT OWN Mulan, DISNEY DOES!

Chapter 7: The Imperial City.

The trip to the Imperial City had been a long and exhausting one, where nothing was said. I wanted to rest, but my mind was uneasy. I thought constantly about Mulan. About what she had said to me. She wanted to protect her father. I would have done the same if I were her. Everything made sense now that she was revealed as a woman. And I remember saying that Ping was my ideal woman, if he were a woman, or something along those lines. Now he was a woman. My perfect woman. But she was inaccessible now. Not only had she dishonoured her father and her family by disobeying them and joining the army, but she was like a criminal and no one would ever approve of me and her. My best option was to forget her. Forget all about her deep brown eyes, her silky black hair that I so desperately wanted to touch, forget about how delicate she appeared, how her smile warmed my soul, how her stare would give me not an uncomfortable feeling but a happy one, where everything she did was on my mind. She was etched into my brain, and thanks to her stint as Ping, my only image of her as a woman was that of her lying topless save for a few bandages. How I wished I had a decent picture of Mulan as a woman in my head. No, how I wish I had no image of her in my head. Despite everything, I cannot feel this way. She has gone home to suffer the dishonour of being found out. Her life was over, and so are all of my chances of happiness with her. But then there was still the chance that she had been foolish, or upset enough to just stay put. If she had stayed there then she was most probably sick and dying. Not forgetting her bandages, which were covering a rather nasty slash in her side. I shook my head, ridding my thoughts of the woman.

I had other things to think about. Like seeing the Emperor.

"Do not think that I won't tell the Emperor of that, Captain." Chi Fu said as he rode along side me. "He deserves to know what a disgrace you are for not following the law." He gave a sly look at me, "And you will never work in the army again. Most likely you will be punished"

It took all of my strength not to hit him. Without looking at him, I growled through gritted teeth,

"Knowing that the person who saved us all is out there probably dieing is punishment enough, don't you think?"

The ignorant man just tutted and turned his horse around to fall behind amongst the men. Probably to stir up trouble and route for mutiny. Too bad he didn't know that the men detested him.

The city came into view, and word had reached it that the Huns were defeated. The evening was decorated with paper lanterns of all colours and was busy with people waiting to see the "Heroes of China."

Then they are in the wrong place, I thought, they need to go to the mountains where they will find Mulan. It was her plan and she had carried it out. That had lead to the defeat of the Huns.

We paraded through the city, accompanied by cheers and dragon decorations weaving amongst our troops. The palace stood ahead of us, majestic and powerful. I tried to focus on the splendour that was around me, and enjoy it, but it reminded me of how this was all because of Mulan. She should be here. Amongst the voices of the crowd I thought I could hear her voice, but I left it to my imagination. She was far away from here now. How my heart cried, knowing I would never see her again. I felt empty inside. Nothing would ever change that, until I had her again. Her with her kind ways and great intelligence that I knew no other woman could possess. How I wanted to see her again, just one more time. To give me strength to see the Emperor. To tell me that I was doing great, no matter what others, like Chi Fu said. I wished I could see her.

"Shang!" A familiar voice called, from behind me. The girl of my dreams rode up beside me, fully dressed and her hair hanging down.

"Mulan!" I said, my voice failing to hide the surprise and happiness I felt from seeing her.

She stayed serious, leading me to believe she was either ignoring the emotions in my voice, or she hadn't heard them.

"The Huns are alive! They're in the city!" She explained quite urgently. I avoided her gaze, slightly hurt that all she had to say was that. I turned to face ahead. She obviously didn't feel for me the way I felt about her. It was all a cover. She did it to save her life. I was such a fool.

"You don't belong here, Mulan. Go home." I said bitterly.

She remained unaffected by my words.

"I saw them in the mountains, you have to believe me!" She said, slightly more urgently.

I'd heard something like that before. When I had spared her life. Her game wouldn't work this time though. I can't believe what she says.

"Why should I?" My voice came out angrily.

She pulled her horse in front, halting mine.

"Why else would I come back? You said you'd trust Ping, why should Mulan be any different?"

She was right, I did trust Ping. But he had betrayed my trust and revealed himself as a woman. Mulan had tricked my emotions into thinking that I loved her and she loved me. It was all a joke to her. That was why I couldn't trust her. But, of course, if I told her that, she would know how emotionally weak I am, and try to hurt me more. My heart kept saying otherwise though. But it was wrong, I knew it.

I pulled around her and she stayed behind, saying to the troops,

"Keep your eyes open: I know they're here."

Yeah right. If they were here, we would have seen them. It's not like they are normal sized Chinese people. They are huge giants that look dirty and barbaric. We would easily spot them. There is no way. And besides, they were all killed in the avalanche.

The precession stopped. I dismounted my horse and headed up the steps towards the Emperor.

"My children, Heaven smiles down upon the Middle kingdom. China will sleep safely tonight thanks to our brave warriors." He said. No, thanks to Mulan… I thought.

It was my turn to speak.

"Your majesty, I present to you the sword of Shan Yu." I bowed, holding the sword up to him.

The Emperor looked at me.

"I know how much this means to you Captain Li. Your father would have been very proud."

It made my heart swell with these words. My father… All I ever wanted was to make him proud.

The Emperor was about to take the sword, but suddenly a bird flew down and grabbed it, flying up to the roof where a gargoyle came to life and grabbed it. Before everything had sunk in, Huns surrounded us from under their hiding place: The dragon costume that had followed us through the city.

They knocked us down and dragged the Emperor inside the palace locking the door. I got up and rushed to the door, pounding on it furiously. The evil laugh of Shan Yu echoed in my head. Mulan was right. And now Shan Yu had won. Unless we could do something…

The men and I struggled to lift the statue outside the door but we managed, and tried to use it as a battering ram, to no avail. Mulan stepped forward.

"Hey guys, I've got an idea" She rushed off, and the men looked at one another, before following.

Should I follow too? I thought. Her last idea worked alright. But really, it had failed hadn't it? The Huns were here… but I couldn't work alone and ram the statue into the door myself. I decided to follow, to see what her plan was.

When I arrived, I had never been so embarrassed for anyone in my whole life. Chien Po, Yao and Ling were dressed up as women! Mulan looked as beautiful as ever. I saw them wrap material around the poles of the palace- similar to how Mulan had shimmied the pole in the arrow test as Ping. I smiled. This was a good idea. I put my hand on her shoulder and she turned quickly, wide-eyed and worried as to who was there, but I smiled at her assuringly and she returned the favour. I took off my red cape and wrapped it around the pole next to Mulan's. We clambered up the poles and into the palace, all the while I was thinking how this plan might just pull it off and how I may just have been a bit too harsh on Mulan before.

Mulan went through the plan with us after we had reached the inside of the palace.

"Ling, Yao, Chien Po, you guys and myself are going to distract the guards by flirting with them, when their guard is down, we hit 'em with all we've got and then Shang, you run through and get the Emperor. Right?" We all nodded.

This plan was quite good. And she wasn't trying to get any glory from it at all. I smiled at her, and she looked at me. The same look she gave me back at training, where her cheeks were flushed red. She might still like me, I thought.

"Go for it Shang, I know you can do it." She said encouragingly. I smiled. Of course I could do it, now that I had her support. The time had come.

"Everyone know what to do?" Mulan asked, and we nodded. She looked around the corner before turning back. "Ok, any questions?"

Yao looked down at himself and back at Mulan.

"Does this dress make me look fat?" He moaned, before Mulan swiftly hit him on the head.

"Lets go then." She ordered.

I couldn't help but laugh at them as they tottered along hiding behind their fans, giggling like girls. The guards noticed them, calling them concubines. I did get a little angry at them calling Mulan a concubine, but decided to concentrate on the plan. I was waiting for the signal. The guards were distracted, and the troops struck. Revealing their chests to be nothing but fruit (except Mulan of course) and fighting the guards. Mulan had caught one guard in a headlock with his own bow and shouted for me to go. I wasted no time. I was not going to let this plan fail. I sped through the huge doors and up the steps. I was just in time to slide in front of the Emperor who rushed to the side as I fought Shan Yu. I kicked him, forcing him into the wall before I got myself up and trying to strike him with my sword, but he grabbed my wrist and swung me out over the balcony. Luckily my quick thinking saved me by seeing the column, and swinging around it to kick him in the face, knocking him down, where I jumped on him and punched his face as hard as I could. He rolled me onto my back but I punched him again and eventually got him face down on the floor with his arm behind his back. The others came up the stairs and Mulan ordered Chien Po to get the Emperor. They slid down a rope used for hanging lanterns and other decorations. Mulan was about to escape, I could see out of the corner of my eye, but Shan Yu, furious that the Emperor was now safely out of his grasp, fought me off him. The last thing that I felt was him head butting me. I was so dizzy I saw stars and fell to the ground.

I woke from my daze to see a furious Shan Yu looming over me, Mulan by my side. I wanted to protect her, so I tried to make my way in front of her. I got my only weapon out, my dagger, but he kicked it away, punching me and grabbing the collar of my cape. He hoisted me up to his mountainous height.

"You took away my victory!" He growled.

To my surprise, Mulan had thrown something at Shan Yu. That brave young girl.

"No, I did!" She shouted, pulling up her hair to show him the face of Ping 'The Warrior from the Mountains'. He was furiously angry. She picked up the shoe that she had thrown and ran down the stairs, as he abandoned all attempts to kill me. I looked as he chased after her. What was she doing? She was going to get herself killed! All for the sake of saving me, again. Guilt built up inside of me. This would never have happened if I had believed her to begin with. I got up, seeing how Shan Yu had broken through the doors. I ran down but didn't know which direction to run in to save her, so I ran to find the exit. I could maybe see her from outside, knowing her she would lead him somewhere dangerous like the roof.

I preyed that nothing would happen to her. I could never forgive myself if she was killed. I was a man, I should be fighting Shan Yu, not her. Not that amazing young woman who deserved a life of comfort and happiness. Needed revenge for my father's death at Shan Yu's hands. I needed to make him proud and she was doing all this. She had saved my life again, but at risk to her own… I had to find her and save her.

I found the exit and was running down the steps when something hit me. The fireworks exploded colourfully in the air and cheering was heard from all around. I rubbed my sore head. I had been kicked by Mulan's body flying through the air. I stared at her. She stared back at me. She was alive! Amazingly she was alive and Shan Yu… well Shan Yu was gone. I got up and held out my hand to help her up. She took it and it felt so right. After she got up, we both moved our hands away embarrassed. I was so relieved that she was alright.

I wanted to say something, but just then, as always, Chi Fu interrupted.

"That was a deliberate attempt on my life! Where is she? Now she's done it, what a mess! Step aside, that creature's not worth protecting!"

That was it.

"She's a hero!" I argued, trying to control my anger.

"T'is a woman. She will never be worth anything…" He hissed, a smirk forming on his mouth. I blew it. How dare he say that about my Mulan. She was worth the world to me. I grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up, anger as my strength.

"Listen you pompous.." I began, but I was interrupted by the great Emperor.

"Your majesty, I can explain.." I attempted to say but he halted me, and Mulan stepped forward to see the Emperor, bowing down in respect.

"I have heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan. You stole your father's armour, ran away from home, impersonated a soldier, deceived your commanding officer, dishonoured the Chinese army, destroyed my palace!"

I could help but cringe. This did not sound good. I just hoped that her life would be spared. But what he said and did next shocked us all.

"And you have saved us all." He bowed down at the waist. Chi Fu looked and panicked, before flopping down to the floor, bowing as low as he could. We all followed suit. If the Emperor bowed, the person was very important. Though we were all shocked, I couldn't help but be happy. She had received the honour she deserved.

All of China bowed to her, and she stood there, confused and unsure. It soon sunk in though. She turned to the Emperor who had plans for her.

"Chi Fu, see to it that this woman is made a member of my council."

Chi Fu looked like he would have a heart attack.

"But, there are no council positions open, your majesty…" He said, making excuses.

My heart rose. If Mulan was a council member, she would stay in the Imperial City, where I would be. She would make decisions about the army and I would be able to interact with her all of the time. I could see her everyday. I smiled.

"Very well." The Emperor smiled at Mulan kindly, "You can have his job." He said light-heartedly. I felt like laughing at Chi Fu's reaction. He fainted. Mulan however, made my heart sink. She had graciously refused the job offer, saying how she had been away from home for long enough. My chances of seeing her again were very slim indeed. I had to tell her how I felt.

He was given the crest of the Emperor and the sword of Shan Yu. Amazingly, she hugged the Emperor as if they were family. We were all left astounded by her boldness. The Emperor didn't seem to mind though. He seemed to be quite fond of Mulan. But who couldn't be?

It came to the time we had to say our goodbyes. Mulan hugged her three best friends; Ling, Yao and Chien Po. But when it came to me, I wasn't sure what to say, or do. I wanted to give her a hug, and tell her how much I loved her, but she just stood there, expecting something from me. I was so unsure of what to do. I cringed when the words that came out of my mouth were:

"You fight good." and a pat on the back. We were both disappointed.

"Oh." She said, quietly, "Thank you." she said, disappointment evident from her voice. She walked past, perhaps not knowing that I cared for her the way I did. I had blown it. My chance to tell her my feelings, one that wouldn't be interrupted, and I had screwed it up. Now, I looked like a insensitive jerk who only cared about how my soldiers fight… and I was never going to see her again.

She mounted her horse and rode off through the crowds. I watched her until I could no longer see her. My heart felt as if it were breaking.

The Emperor came up behind me and cleared his throat.

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all." He said wisely. His words confused me as to what they had to do with me.

"Sir?" I answered, and he continued.

"You don't meet a girl like that every dynasty." He put his hat on and turned to go back to the palace.

I stood thinking it over. Maybe that was his way of saying that he knew how I felt about her and I was missing a rare opportunity of having the girl of my dreams? That was how I took it. I knew that I loved her, and I knew she was special. I had to go after her, and I had technically been given the go ahead by the Emperor himself.

So I had to go after her and chase down the woman I loved.

Author Notes:

These author notes were written before Christmas, when I got the Mulan II DVD. In fact, I think they were written before Mulan II was released here in the UK. Can't really remember lol. Plans changed. I ignored the sequel for the next few chapters, before seeing the sequel and kicking myself. It would have been perfect… ah well.

Old Author Notes:

Just about done with the movie now. Next chapter will be part movie, part my own. My version of what happens after the movie ends, (and I haven't seen the sequel yet but I do know what it is about... i think I might ignore that though) Anyway, as always thanks for your reviews and I'll update next week (keep checking my bio for details)