Thanks for the reviews! Sorry that last one was so short! This one should be lots longer!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Disney characters.

Last Time:

There were two men there, both on white horses. One, the messenger, looked at her with disdain because she was a woman. The other looked at her also. His eyes were cold and uncaring. He didn't even show that he recognized her.

"Shang?"

"Shang?" Mulan asked again, confused. "What's wrong?"

""Address him as General Li!" The messenger snapped. Although she saved China, to him, she was just a woman and a disrespectful one at that.

"General Li?" Mulan asked, glaring at the Messenger. Shang still had not answered. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing at all." Shang answered dully. His eyes showed no emotion. Mulan was hurt, but she just shook it off.

"Shall we be off?" The messenger asked, directing his question to Shang.

"Yes, we better." Shang answered. Mulan climbed onto Khan and the three started on their journey. There was no talking as the rode, usually at as easy trot. When it came time for lunch, they did not stop for very long; only long enough to eat a small amount and let the horses drink some water. The afternoon was also spent in silence. They came upon a village that slightly larger than Mulan's.

"Where will we be sleeping?" Mulan asked. The messenger glared at her.

"We have rooms as an inn." He answered. They reached the inn and their horses were taken from them and put up in the stable that was owned by the inn.

When Mulan got to her room, she lit the lamp. When the room was fully lit, she could see that it was extremely tiny. There was a mat on the floor to sleep on, which was normal, and a small table that held the lamp. There was no bathroom connected to the room- she would have to use the one for all the women. She didn't expect much, but this was really bad!

'I wonder was Shang would think' Mulan thought as she went to wash before bed. When she entered the hallway, Shang was coming towards her from his room. She waited for him to reach her the she walked with him. He only acknowledged her presence with a nod. She was confused-he was much friendlier before- what happened?

"What's wrong, Shang?" Mulan asked again. "You've changed."

"It doesn't concern you." Was his only reply. Mulan looked away to hide the hurt she knew was in her eyes. When she got to the door of her bathroom. Shang just kept walking.

"Good night, Shang." Mulan said softly. She couldn't tell if he heard of not, but either way, he didn't respond. Mulan sighed and entered the bathroom. Thankfully there was no one in it. She washed quickly in case someone else came in; she wanted the privacy she was used to at home.

Mulan made her way back to her room. She needed her sleep if she was going to ride all day again tomorrow. She had left the lamp burning so she could see when she got back to her room. She changed into her pajamas and, after putting out the lamp, laid down on the mat to go to sleep. Sleep didn't come easily, though. It was always hard to sleep in a strange place. It was the same thing as the military camp but at least then she had had Mushu and Cri-Kee. She fell asleep after a long while, thinking about her previous adventure.

Shang, too, was having trouble falling asleep. But it wasn't because he was sleeping in a strange place- he was used to that- it was because Mulan had unknowingly reminded him of his father's death. He was reminded of how she had shown that small amount of comfort when he had needed it most. He sighed, rolled over, and finally fell asleep.

Mulan woke up to the sun creeping across her face. She opened her eyes and sat up. She stretched as she got out of bed. After changing into clothes, she gathered her few belongings and left her room. Yet again, Shang was walking towards her. She waited for him again and walked by his side.

"Good morning." Mulan smiled at him.

"Morning," He answered shortly. He was also carrying his bag. Then walked out of the inn to the stables. The messenger was already there waiting for them. He had made sure the horses were ready. Mulan greeted Khan and ignored the messenger. It was his fault that she had gotten the terrible room.

"We shall reach the palace some time this evening." The messenger told them as they mounted their horses.

"Good." Answered Shang. Their journey was taken in the same silence as the day before, until around lunch, that is. During this time they were traveling through a small region that was controlled by rebels. The white horses and the emperor's crest on the clothes worn by the messenger were very obvious. The messenger seemed oblivious to this fact; he decided to stop for lunch.

Mulan and Shang could sense something was wrong. The whole area seemed unfriendly. Mulan pushed it to the back of her mind, but Shang didn't make that mistake. Instead, he made sure to stay fully alert. A little bit of the old Shang peeked through when their little camp was ambushed.

"Mulan! Look out!" Shang shoved her to the ground as a clang was heard as an arrow ricocheted off his armor. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She answered. "Thank you." Shang drew his sword and waited for someone to come. A few seconds later, footsteps were heard and five men surrounded them. These men were large; two were wearing armor and carrying swords. The other three carried bows and arrows and stood a little farther back. Mulan was feeling quite useless; she hadn't thought to bring any weapons. This time, she didn't even have a fan!

The men with the swords started advancing while the ones with the bows and arrows remained behind. Shang was ready to fight, however, the messenger was frozen in fear. Mulan rolled her eyes and grabbed his sword and scabbard. He didn't even notice. She drew the sword and tossed the scabbard back at him. It hit him in the chest and he didn't move. She turned to face one of the enemies.

Somehow, she managed to pick the largest of the five. Just her luck. At least she would only have one; Shang was forced to fight the other two. He was doing considerably well. The size of the two men made them quite a bit slower than Shang, so he was able to dodge out of the way quickly enough. He killed the first one and focused his attention on the second one.

Mulan was also doing quite well. Except that her lack of training since she came home was making her reflexes slow. She was still able to dodge the man's swipes but she couldn't seem to get a hit in. Finally, she slashed out at his arm and got a hit. The man faltered and Mulan slashed out again, this time at his face. Only the tip of her sword caught his cheek. He brought his hand up to his face in shock.

"You'll pay for that one!" He roared and slashed out even quicker at her. She jumped over a swipe at her legs and ducked his next slash at her neck. He moved to stab her in the stomach and she dodged and blocked. All she could do was defend! She wasn't even able to think of trying to attack. She was backing up a step every time he took a step forward. She was soon backed up into a tree with nowhere to go except up, so that's where she went!

Mulan quickly slid the sword through the material at her waist and jumped for the lowest branch. The move surprised her opponent and he didn't think to move. He recovered and swung at the branch Mulan was standing on, cutting it off just as she jumped for the next higher one. He repeated this several times until he could no longer reach the branch she was standing on.

Mulan thought she was safe. She was very wrong! An archer aimed and shot, missing her legs by inches. His second shot did not miss. Mulan cried out in pain but refused to fall from the tree. She reached down and wrenched the arrow from her right calf muscle. As she was doing this, the archer shot again, hitting her in the right shoulder. She screamed in pain again and this time she fell. She landed on the ground with a thud and didn't move. The man she was originally fighting laughed hoarsely and moved in to finish her off.

"Mulan!" Shang muttered and began advancing on her opponent from behind. He had killed his second man just as she was hit the second time. The great man raised his sword above his head and began bringing in down on Mulan. At this same moment, Shang plunged his sword into the man's back. The man roared in pain and fell to the ground, dead. The archers, finding themselves utterly defenseless, turned tail and ran.

"Mulan? Are you okay?" He shook her good shoulder gently. She didn't respond. Shang saw that the arrow was still in her shoulder and took the time to yank it out.

"Shang?" Mulan opened her eyes slowly. "Are they gone?"

"Yes, they're gone." Shang answered. "Where else are you hurt?" He asked, looking her over. He registered the wound on her leg but didn't see anything else. "Can you feel this?" He pinched her good leg.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Good. I was making sure you weren't paralyzed from your fall." Shang answered. He put his hand in her left hand. "Squeeze my hand." She did so. "Good. Can you feel this?" He tapped the fingers on her right hand."

"Yeah." Mulan answered.

"What about this?" He tapped her right ankle. Mulan nodded. "Okay, I'm going to bandage your leg and shoulder as best I can. When we reach the palace, the emperor will get you a medic."

"Okay." Mulan answered. Shang tore her pant leg off at the knee and used the material to stop the bleeding. He did the same with her shirtsleeve, only he tore it off at the seam at the shoulder. When he was done, his eyes suddenly reverted back to the cold ones that had looked out at her before.

"Shang?" Mulan asked hesitantly.

"What were you thinking?!" Shang demanded. "You could have been killed!" He shook his head at her. "You should have just let me handle it!"

"But Shang-"

"No buts, Mulan! How am I going to explain this to the emperor?!" He went on. Mulan suddenly became angry.

"Is that all you care about? Saving your own hide?" She stood up to go over to Khan but found that she couldn't walk. When she would step with her right foot, she would fall back to the ground. The last time she tried, she found herself feeling lightheaded and passed out.

Is that long enough for you all? I hope so. In fact, it was more than twice the length of the second chapter! I'm really pleased with the fight scene. What did you think?