Disclaimer: I own Fung, Lao Ren, Kai Bo and Tao. Thanks!

CHAPTER SEVEN – Pendant Colours

A/N: Not as many reviews as normal, but thank you anyway to choc-cookie, oneredneckgoddess, Lynn12 and Cassandra Lui for their reviews. Special thanks to my extremely faithful reviewers: pepe ok, sumayyah and Angel452. You guys are the best!!

Cri-Kee rubbed his head and prodded Mushu as they had, for the second time, fallen off someone's shoulder. When Yao had sprinted down the stairs towards the Emperor and the approaching Huns, they had toppled off him and fell to the floor. Mushu had hit his head and blacked out while Cri-Kee managed to land on top of Mushu, managing to not harm himself. Cri-Kee, being far away from everyone, didn't see what happened on the landing, but had managed to pull Mushu behind a banister in time for the whole procession of Huns and Imperials to walk past them, up into the Palace. Cri-Kee had been too preoccupied with dragging Mushu out the way to see Mulan, the Emperor and Tao go past, but he had managed to see Fung, Yao, Ling, Shang and the Huns go past. Puzzled at the absence of one person, Cri-Kee turned to see an unconscious Wong lying on the second landing.

"Mushu?" He bit hard on Mushu's tail, causing poor Mushu to leap two feet into the air.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Mushu scowled. He swivelled his tail around to inspect the bitten part. It drooped miserably on the ground. "My poor tail..." Mushu's eyes welled up in fake tears. Cri-Kee slapped him, hard.

"We have no time! As we were knocked out, well just you, everyone went past. We have no idea what's happening or if anything is. So, come on!" Cri-Kee bounced off up the stairs. Mushu came running after.

When they came to the Palace doors, two Huns were guarding them on each side. Mushu glanced worriedly at Cri-Kee, who pointed to another door further along. Mushu gave Cri-Kee a thumbs up and they sped along to the other door. They sneaked in and came to a small room full of brooms and buckets. Mushu glared at Cri-Kee.

"This is your idea of getting in, Lucky Bug? We're stuck in a closet full of brooms!" Mushu snapped. He moved to get out the door when a sudden blast of wind made the door swing shut.

"Uh oh..." Cri-Kee muttered. Mushu rammed himself against the door, but to no avail. The door stayed shut. Mushu kicked it angrily.

"Now what do we do?" He turned to the cowering Cri-Kee. "This is your fault Lucky Bug!"

"I have a name, you know!" Cri-Kee snapped.

"If we had just gone through the main doors, we wouldn't be stuck in here!" Mushu rambled on, ignoring Cri-Kee.

Angrily, Cri-Kee yelled back at him. "No, we would have been beaten into pulps by those Hun guards! Didn't you see them? They would have squashed you flat!"

"I'm a guardian, aren't I? I can't die! Besides, I much rather be squashed by a Hun guard then spend the rest of my life stuck in a broom closet with an Un-Lucky Bug!" Mushu shouted back.

"Okay, okay!" Cri-Kee snapped. "Listen, us arguing isn't going to help anyone. So, let's just think of a way out of here,"

"Yeah, okay," Mushu sighed and sank down onto a bucket.

Silence.

"Could we push open the door with a broom?" Cri-Kee suggested. Mushu shook his head.

"I think it's locked,"

"We could try," Cri-Kee bounced over to a broom and stared up at it's gigantic form. "It's a bit big, huh?" Cri-Kee turned to Mushu, who was sitting on his bucket, his eyebrows raised.

"Lucky Bug, this is not going to work," Mushu reasoned. Ignoring him, Cri-Kee scampered around the broom and pushed against it with his body. Slowly, it began to tilt hen fell with a crash onto the floor.

"Whoa!" Mushu jumped back as the broom collapsed in front of his bucket. "Good going Lucky Bug," Mushu leapt off his bucket and picked up one end of the broom. "Give me a hand! It was your idea," Reluctantly, Cri-Kee hopped over and picked up the other end of the broom.

Together, they charged towards the door and slammed the end of the broom into it. With the force of broom hitting the door, the broom rebounded, sending Mushu and Cri-Kee flying off it and straight into the other wall.

"Well, that was good!" Mushu snapped. The broom bristles had landed in Mushu's face making his voice sound muffled. He pushed the end of the broom away and stood up. "Some plan, Lucky Bug. So here we are, back to square one. How are we going to get out now?"

Cri-Kee came out from behind the broom and looked around. Then, he saw something in the top corner.

"Hey," He nudged Mushu in the ribs. "Is that an air-hole?"

"What?" Mushu looked into the direction that Cri-Kee was pointing. "You're a genius Lucky Bug!" Mushu ran over until he was directly beneath the hole. "One question, how are we going to get up there?"

"I don't know," Cri-Kee came over.

"Maybe we could climb up a broom," Mushu suggested. Cri-Kee's face lit up.

"That's a great idea!"

Mushu yanked the nearest broom over and then placed it so it led directly up to the hole.

"You want to go up first, Lucky Bug?" Mushu asked, turning to Cri-Kee.

"Sure," Cri-Kee began scrambling up the pole, only to slide down a few seconds after. He tried again, but slid down again. "I think something's wrong with this pole," He concluded, looking it up and down with dislike.

"This is just like the Mulan thing. Maybe we should do what she did," Mushu offered. He tore a few bristles out of a nearby broom and handed a long one to Cri-Kee. "You don't weight much, this shouldn't break,"

"Right," Cri-Kee took the bristle and began to climb up the pole, in a similar way to Mulan had in her first time at Wu Zhong. Mushu followed up after Cri-Kee.

The air hole was a long dark passage, presumably giving air to the broom cupboard from another room. Mushu scampered down the passage, a more cautious Cri-Kee following. The air hole ended up in a large room, which was furnished lavishly. White tiles covered the floors, green dragons circled the windows, polished furniture was scattered across the room and paintings of men, women and animals hung on the walls. However, both Mushu and Cri-Kee's gaze was drawn to the centre of this room, where a man dressed in grey was sitting on a chair, a small woman kneeling at his feet.

"Mulan!" Mushu cried, darting forward. Cri-Kee grabbed him to stop him leaping out of the air hole.

"What are you doing?" Cri-Kee hissed. "There are bound to notice something, if you dive out of here yelling at the top of your voice,"

"That's Mulan there!" Mushu snapped back.

"I know, I know," Cri-Kee replied patiently. "Be quiet, they're talking and I want to hear what they are saying,"

Mushu lay down on the stomach, his head sticking out the air hole to hear their conversation better. Cri-Kee lay down next to him, on his back. They both fell silent when they heard the man talk.

×××

"Why do you kneel before me?" Tao asked Mulan. She raised her face, her eyes slightly red, her lips pouting and her eyes hard.

"'Cause otherwise you would kill me?" Mulan said, standing up, despite not having had got permission.

"I wouldn't kill you," Tao smiled. Mulan kept her face straight.

"What do you want with me then?" She asked.

"To be honest-,"

"You're always honest," Mulan interrupted.

"I knew you weren't okay with that," Tao sighed. Mulan frowned.

"Hello? How could I be okay with it? I trusted you! ...Which is weird now that I think about it, as you are a Hun,"

"I thought I was your friend," Tao commented.

"Well, you're not anymore," Mulan snapped. Tao's heart sank when she said that. He swore he could actually feel the thud of it as it landed in his stomach.

"Yeah..." His voice trailed off. Mulan could feel her cheeks flushing and her own heart started to beat a little faster. "Okay...this is weird. Why am I feeling so strange? It's just embarrassment...right? I wish I hadn't said that now...You and your big mouth Mulan. Why don't you think before you say anything?" Mulan sighed inside.

"What are you doing to do now?" Mulan asked, going back to her original question.

"I don't know," Tao answered.

"What? You're the Leader! I thought you would have a plan!" Mulan said, astonished at him.

"I did..." Tao's voice disappeared into nothingness again.

"Why not?" Mulan's voice softened. Tao looked at her, his eyes losing their hardness.

"I don't know," He repeated.

"You know what I think?" Mulan said. She walked over to his chair and sat down at his feet. He looked down at her, resisting the urge to smile.

"What?"

"I reckon that there's still a bit of Empire left in you. That's why you can't kill your father to take his throne. Either that or you still have some compassion buried inside you that's preventing you from hurting him because you still love him. He is your father Tao, and you know that. You just don't want to admit to yourself that you feel for him, because you feel you would be betraying the memory of Shan-Yu," Mulan said. Tao was stunned by this speech.

"How does she know exactly what I'm feeling? Does she already know me that well?" Tao thought to himself.

"Were you happy, Tao?" She asked him.

"About what?" Tao asked her, even thought he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Your childhood. Well, before you were captured," Mulan said.

Tao stayed silent for a while. "Yes...yes I was. Every day was another day in....paradise. That's the only word for it. I had a good home, my brother was my best friend and my parents loved me. I was spoilt, I had a good education and...I loved it,"

"And what?" Mulan asked him gently.

"I was heartbroken when I was captured. I did feel betrayed when my father did not come for me. I cried every night and sometimes during the day. Shan-Yu would whip me, punch me and kick me when I cried. I soon learnt now to show emotion in front of him. You'd be surprised the number of Huns who are actually captives. They don't remember it because they were kidnapped as babies," Tao paused and looked at Mulan. She looked sad and sorry for him.

"As my life went on, I tried so hard to adapt to the life of a Hun. I always knew that I wasn't and yet...I convinced myself that I was. I taught myself to forget about my past...then gradually I did. I went through about two years of my life when I had actually forgotten about my Empire life," Tao choked. Mulan could see his was holding back tears.

"Then you were captured and I had to take charge of you. You had spent all of your life as an Imperial and you taught me so much. You did awaken the sense of family inside me. It brought my Empire life back into the light and...I was suddenly awake of how much I missed everything," He turned to Mulan; a tortured look on his face. "I didn't want to hurt anybody back then...but I convinced myself it was the right thing to do,"

Silence.

"What do you want to do now, Tao?"

"To rule China," His feeble response was.

"No," Mulan said. "What do you want now?"

Tao didn't answer. He stared ahead, his eyes wide and staring. "I want to rid myself of everything that's happened. I don't want to be part of anything anymore. I want to be alone...I want to go,"

"Then go,"

"What?" Tao snapped, suddenly angry. "Leave? How can I leave?"

"You just said you wanted to go. Why can't you?"

"I have no where to go,"

"What? China's a big place, Tao. You could go to the mountains or the country," Mulan suggested.

Tao gave her a big smile. "You're one of a kind, you know Mulan,"

Mulan flushed. She felt the heat creep up her cheeks, so she bent her head to let her hair swing in front of her face. "Really?"

"Yeah. You're really pretty and your have a good heart. You have inner beauty as well as outer beauty," Tao slid off his seat, sat next to her and took her hand. Mulan flushed even more and her head was sinking towards her lap.

"Is your head heavy?" Tao smirked. Mulan jerked up and grinned.

"Never mind,"

Tao reached forward towards her. "Oh my god, what the hell is he going to do?" Mulan thought anxiously. Tao's hand dropped towards the jade pendant hanging on her chest. "Oh thank god!"

"Do you know what this is?" Tao asked her. Mulan looked down at it, the jade glittering in Tao's fingers. She shook her head. "It allows one person to feel the other,"

"What?"

"This pendant was made for me. As I started the chain, whoever I give it to can feel what I'm feeling. It'll change colour with each different feeling. If it's a reddy-pink, it means happiness. If it's red, it means happiness or love. Likewise, grey means sadness or suffering. It'll only change for a few seconds, when the feelings from the other person are really strong. Or, if the feeling is long and drawn out, like suffering, it'll stay that colour until they aren't suffering anymore. Most of the time, it'll be pale or dark green," Tao explained. "I wonder if my father knew that I knew what it is. I don't think he believed me when I asked him what it was. He always could tell if I wasn't being truthful," Tao thought.

"Wow..." Mulan's eyes lit up. She took the pendant from Tao's fingers, her fingertips gently brushing against his.

"It'll also let you know if I'm near. Look at it now. What colour is it?"

"It's pale green. I'm not blind Tao," She smiled. Tao grinned.

"It's pale now because I'm near. Should I be far away, it'll be a dark green. Then...if I die, then it'll go black. If you die, it'll fall and shatter," Tao went on. Mulan grimaced at the 'die' part.

"Wait, it's jade. Jade doesn't shatter easily,"

"Mulan, this isn't normal jade. I thought you would have got that already," Tao smirked. Mulan glared at him playfully. "As you're on the receiving end of it, it'll smash when you die. But, if you give it to someone before you go, they will feel all your emotions and then it'll just go black when you die," he said.

"Whoa...It's funny isn't it? Something so small...can do so much," (A/N: I sort of stole that line from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, so no one sue me...please. I did kind of change it though) Mulan gazed down at the pendant. "Is it just me...or is it turning slightly red?" Mulan thought, staring down at it. Tao, instantly realizing it was turning red, stood up hurriedly and clicked his fingers. Somehow, this was heard from outside and two large Huns guards came in.

"Take her back to the dungeon!" Tao commanded. His voice had changed drastically, it was now hard and imposing compared to the tender, gentle tone he had been speaking in earlier.

The guards strode forward and hauled Mulan up, the pendant falling from her outstretched hands. Almost as in slow-motion, the pendant fell, now a bright, vibrant red instead of pale green.

Mulan's mouth fell open at the pendant and her head jerked up. Her eyes met Tao's and all his feelings came out, from just that one look. His cheeks shot up into the exact same shade of the pendant. He turned away from Mulan, his shoulders shivering. Mulan's mouth stayed open as she was dragged out the room.

×××

Mushu turned slowly to Cri-Kee, puzzled. They had been too far away to see the pendant change colour, but they had heard all of Mulan and Tao's conversation. "What was that all about? How does she know that Hun?"

Cri-Kee shrugged. "I don't know. Look, if we're quick, we can follow her to the dungeon. Then, we might be able to get some answers out of her,"

"Good thinking Lucky Bug. Come on, let's go," Mushu scooted over to the nearby curtain (A/N: Deliberately placed curtain...:D) and slid down it. Cri-Kee followed him.

"Ow, ow, ow! Curtain burn!" Mushu winced, showing Cri-Kee his sore, red hands. Cri-Kee nodded and held up his own hands, they were red as well.

"Okay, let's go quickly!" Cri-Kee said. Together, they hurried over to door and slithered on their stomachs under the door. When they straightened up, they could see the Hun guards escorting Mulan back to the dungeon.

"Okay, let's go Lucky Bug," Mushu pepped Cri-Kee. They bolted down the corridor, slipping and sliding on the tiled floor. They skidded around the corner in time to see Mulan being forced down some steps. They rushed after her.

Mulan was taken down another corridor, then down some more steps. These led to the 'dismal' part of the Palace, where the dungeons were as well as the torture area for traitors and criminals. The walls here were painted black and the floor was wooden. The dungeon had a wooden door as well as bars across it. The first Hun guard unlocked it with a key while the second opened the door and shoved Mulan in. She almost tripped with the force of the push.

×××

Shang and Fung looked up as Mulan stumbled in. Ling and Yao were still asleep, but Shang and Fung had been discussing what Tao could have wanted with Mulan. Shang was immensely relieved to see that wasn't hurt or injured.

"Mulan? Are you okay? What did he want?" Fung asked her. She didn't say anything, but let the Hun push her into the cell. She collapsed onto the floor as the guard slammed the door of her cell, then flung the dungeon door shut.

Mulan sat up and leaned her head against the bars. The coolness of it began to calm her down and let her think properly. She ignored Fung and Shang's questions as she was too occupied with her own thoughts.

"It went red, didn't it? Does that mean Tao loves me?" Mulan blushed to herself, though secretly pleased. "I always thought he regarded me as a friend. I had no idea he loved me..." She glanced down at the pendant which was still glowing red. "It's reddy-pink for happiness, isn't it? This is a clear shade of red," She picked it up and traced the dragon with her finger. "Tao loves me? Since when? Maybe that's why he isn't hurting me...or anybody..."

"Mulan!" Fung almost shouted. She looked over at him, letting the pendant fall.

"Yeah?"

"What happened? What did he want to say?" Fung pressed her. Shang was watching her, looking worried and curious.

"What am I meant to say? I can't tell them that Tao loves me; they'll both have a fit. Besides...I love Shang...Tao shouldn't have anything to do with it...Do I love Tao? I know I feel stuff for him, but I don't know if it's love. I guess the fact that he's the Hun leader, the Emperor's son and my ex-guard is kind of getting in my way now..." Mulan cursed inside. "He just wanted to tell me about his past. You know, about his kidnapping and his childhood..." Her voice trailed off, making both Shang and Fung believe that he had said more to her than that.

"That all?" Shang went on. Mulan nodded. "Mulan..." Mulan looked over at him. He scooted over from the back of his cell towards the bars. "You'd tell me-," Fung coughed loudly. "-I mean us, if anything was wrong...right? Sometimes it's better to talk about things,"

"Especially when it's with your favorite guardian!" A voice from the front of the dungeon called. Startled, Mulan, Shang and Fung looked over to see Mushu standing there, with Cri-Kee by his side.

"Guys!" Mulan cried. Mushu and Cri-Kee bounded over to her cell and threw themselves into her outstretched arms. She gave them a big hug each then they had a group hug. Fung grinned at Shang, who held back his laughter.

"Where've you been?" Mulan asked, when Mushu and Cri-Kee sat down in front of her.

"We fell out when you were hit by the arrow. Oh yeah, about that arrow, how's your arm?" Mushu asked.

"It's fine now. It doesn't hurt," Mulan said, rolling up her sleeve to show Mushu the blood-stained bandage. It was a lie; it still stung because of the lousy bandage. It wasn't stopping the blood and the clotting wasn't strong enough to stop the blood flowing as it was a deep cut.

"Honey, are you all right now? What did that Tao guy say about some pendant?" Mushu pressed on. Mulan clamped her hand over his mouth, but both Fung and Shang heard it.

"Pendant? What?" The both burst out. Mulan sighed and glared at Mushu, who shrugged apologetically back.

"It's a long story,"

"We got time," Shang said. Just then, a loud thud echoed from upstairs and a piercing shriek filled the air. Suddenly, a sharp bolt of pain shot through the pendant and into Mulan. She cried out in shock and pain.

"Mulan? What is it?" Shang cried. Fung looked worriedly over, the thudding and yelling still going on above their heads.

Ignoring them, Mulan clutched at the pendant and looked at it. It was a dark grey. Mulan's breath caught in her throat. Another thud made the pendant fall from her hand then the dungeon door burst open, a large figure blocking the doorway.

A/N: Another chapter up. I think my writing standard is going down with each chapter...:'( Anyway! I hope the whole thing about the pendant wasn't too magical as this was in Ancient China. Please leave a review, and please answer the question about marriages I put in the end of Chapter Six. Thank you!!