Chapter Two: Reconciliation

Mushu, meanwhile, had realised that there was a Captain with them, and had decided to sneak onto Mulan's shoulder.

He was regretting it a little now. He should've learnt that when she got angry, she gesticulated. Of course, he'd not anticipated her anger. He'd, perhaps foolishly, thought that Shang and Mulan would've been kissing and such by then. To him at least it seemed obvious that those two crazy kids had something going on.

"So, what's the problem now? He doesn't want the same colour curtains as you?" Mushu put his claws on his hips, standing on her shoulder.

She frowned. "What do you mean? He doesn't look at the details... He gets so distracted by things like culture that he doesn't think of his own health! He's gonna get sick, sleeping outside at night. It's dangerous, too, his guard will be down-What!"

"Have you noticed that you're only fighting with him cause you care about him?" Mushu smirked. At her perplexed look, he went on. "Before, you were always disagreeing about duty and stuff, and you were always right, and that was normal disagreeing. Cause it mattered-"

"So does Shang's health!"

"That's exactly what I mean. You care about him. This is more than just checkin' out his chest, and don't tell me you weren't! I was there." Mushu smirked, knowing he was right (he also wondered if bringing home a man as well as a hero would gain him an even better pedestal than before)

Mulan didn't answer for a while as she walked through the trees, on her way to the river she knew ran down the side of this path. Finally she looked at Mushu. "Just because I care about him doesn't mean he cares about me."

Mushu got the distinct feeling they hadn't been in the same party. Or talking about the same guy. Or even spent the last few days together. He stretched. "I think he does. Guys know."

"...you're a dragon."

"I'm also a man. I'da thought in the time you spent as a dude, you'd be good at this kinda thing."

She made a disgruntled noise that went misunderstood by all males, although some women who were travelling completely understood and sent their sympathies to this young woman.

Shang watched as Mulan cooked the fish over the flames. Their conversation was limited.

"It smells good." He said finally. Lamely.

Once again he proved that his idea of a compliment was not the same as her's. She raised an eyebrow. Sticking a skewer into one of the fish, she handed it to him. "Enjoy."

"Why are there three?" He asked thoughtfully, thoroughly enjoying the fish-with a most uncharacteristic smile across his lips.

Once again Mulan found herself shocked with the simplicity it took to keep this man happy. Before when she'd tried to please this man it had taken all of her to even gain a brief curve of his lips, but now it seemed to be easy to make him grin.

"There are three in case either of us want seconds." She explained simply, eating her own fish.

"You cook well." Shang decided.

"...it's fish, put on a stick, put in a fire. It's not really cooking." She smiled wryly.

Shang was noticing a pattern. Every time he tried to compliment this girl, he made a mistake. He decided not to continue with this, and to just treat her like anyone else. Not that this was easy, especially when she had that cute smile. Except at that moment she was looking perplexed.

"What are you looking at, do I have something on my face?" She asked, frowning.

"No, it's just...you." He had something of a goofy smile on his face. "You're not like anyone I've ever met before...and your smile is really...nice."

Her smile broadened a little, and a light pink blush rested on her cheeks. "I, uh...would you like the last fish?"

"Why don't we split it?" Shang realised with triumph that he had actually succeeded in complimenting her. And what was more, he loved the subtlety of her blush. She'd also angled her face a little.

She nodded, removing it from the fire. She handed it to him, watching him eat half of it before returning it to her. It was highly unexpected-she'd never anticipated anything like this when she'd first seen him.

She wasn't sure when it had happened. When they had stopped being commander and soldier, when they had become just two people who shared a bond, who could share food like this. When she thought about it, they were more than just two people who shared this bond, they were actually a man and a woman who had some sort of strange, abstract bond.

He looked at the sky above. It was cold, dark, and the stars were out. Mulan was shivering a little-with a pang of guilt he was thrown the image of her in the snow, with the blanket pulled around her, looking at the sword he'd thrown down. He could see himself in that sword, reflected merging with her face.

Suddenly she was next to him, and he'd placed his cape around the both of them. It really was a cold night. "Urm...would...I..."

She pulled his arm around her and closed her eyes. "You don't mind if I-"

"No...not at all...no problem...nope..." He looked down at her, and suddenly realised how tired she was. She'd been fighting for so long...

It was a strange feeling, complete responsibility for her. Before she'd always been a warrior. He hadn't needed to protect her, not really. And he knew, at that moment, he didn't need to either, but he wanted to. He wasn't used to her as a woman, even if she was exactly the same person. She was more free this way, able to express herself-although he got the feeling that had nothing to do with the fact that she was a woman, it was more to do with the fact that she was Mulan.

He nudged her a little. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Urm...you look tired...maybe you should go to bed..."

She looked around, and seemed to realise what she was doing with him. "Oh. Yes. Thanks, Shang. If it gets too cold...I don't want you to get sick." She tipped her head a little and smiled crookedly.

Much as he wouldn't, couldn't act on it, he found that he appreciated this. He smiled back. "I'll be alright, Mulan. Trust me."

She stood up and walked to the tent, placed not too far away. She gave a brief wave before disappearing from sight.

Shang sighed and pulled his cloak over him, curling up near to the fire, which promptly went out.

He looked longingly over at the tent, and pulled the cloak tighter.

Li Shang had a moral dilemma.

He was cold. Very cold. And he was beginning to feel ill.

The tent was just there.

Just there. Looking all warm and cosy.

But she was in there, and if he was seen, it would be awful. That and it was incredibly taboo.

And, perhaps even worse, she'd be right. And much as he didn't think she'd go on about it, she would be right, and that was not necessarily a good thing.

And then a very odd thing happened.

Fa Mulan, with her hair a mess, shivering, and pulling her robe around her tightly, left the tent. She went over to him, and touched his shoulder.

He looked up at her, and thought she looked a little like an angel of mercy.

"You can have the tent." She said softly.

He sat up. "What? No! I couldn't take the tent, that wouldn't be right."

She sat down next to him. "Shang, it's the most practical option. I've had it for half of the night, you can have it for the other half."

"But-"

"I'll be alright out here." She shivered involuntarily. "Trust me."

"No, this isn't right, you can't be out here, it's dangerous-"

She gently brushed her lips against his forehead, making him stop talking. "You have a temperature." She told him matter-of-factly. "It'll only get worse if you stay out here, and if you're sick then you'll be no use to me as company, and this journey will be pointless."

Shang sighed deeply. "If we hang my cloak up in the middle of the tent as a division, then we could both share it."

Mulan beamed. "Very well." She got up, and pulled him to his feet, leading him to the tent.

Oh, but she was wily.

(Still don't own! Please continue not suing, hehe)

I'm glad to know that people are enjoying this-gives me warm and fuzzies all around! I'm afraid I can't promise regular updates, but this story will be continued and finished, worry not. There are still tweaks to be done, but I've got my plan and it's pretty much done…although things may happen that mean I have to modify and such…Not sure yet!

Thanks to all reviewers, you made me really happy! Woo!