Disclaimer: I own my own people.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – Discovery

A/N: Wow look at all the reviews!!!

By the way, if any of the plot or characters in this story are in, any way, similar to yours, I'm not stealing them. I've thought of the characters and plot myself and I'm sorry but I can't help if they are similar to yours. Just checking... :D

"What is it?" Shang asked her again, pulling away from her and looking down at her white face. No more tears had fallen after the five or six that had fallen at the start.

"Shock," She replied, twisting out of Shang's grip and walking off, to nowhere in particular.

Shang looked over at the Gang, Tiao Zao and Shui Jing for support. They all started blankly back at him and shrugged.

"Go after her!" Tiao Zao snapped. "Unless you want this to the tenth time that you've screwed up telling her?"

Shang glared at the little boy before stamping off after Mulan, taking his anger out on the ground. He had no idea where she had gone, so he spent five minutes wandering around Wu Zhong and the surrounding area before he admitted to himself that he had lost her.

"Damn it," He muttered to himself. He decided to go check the lake, where she would normally go when she wanted to think. Sure enough, as he pushed through some vegetation, he could see Mulan sitting at the water's edge, dangling her feet in the cool water.

"Hey," He said gently, sitting down next to her. She looked over at him and gave him a weak smile. "What's up? How come you came back so early?"

"I don't really want to talk about it," She said, turning her attention back to the water.

"Yeah, you do. You just don't know what to say," Shang said, again repeating what Fung had said. "Oh god! Shang, you suck so much at talking, you have to take other people's phrases and use them over and over again," He sighed.

"I don't. Seriously,"

"Is it that bad?"

"Yes,"

"Well, if you ever need anyone to talk to, you know where you can find someone," Shang said. Mulan looked at him again and raised an eyebrow. "Sorry,"

"No...that's all right, I know what you mean," She bit her lip, her face still white.

"Mulan, what happened?" Shang persisted, a little more urgently now.

"I..."

FLASHBACK (When Mulan arrived home):

Mulan jumped off Khan and left him in the yard. Mushu scampered off Khan and followed Mulan up the yard, where she paused in the veranda.

"Quiet, isn't it?" Mushu said.

"I was going to say," She said, looking around. "But then, it's just my father at home. I think there's a limit to how much noise one man can make. Besides, he may be out in the garden. Or in the shrine," She said, pushing open the front door.

The hall was utter chaos. Pot plants, which usually stood in corners, were over-turned, soil covering the floor and leaves were scattered everywhere. Paintings were hanging off the walls, several bamboo screens that separated the hall from the rooms were ripped, furniture had been over-turned and shoes and various items of outdoor clothing that hung on the hall pegs lay on the ground, trampled.

"What the hell happened here?" Mushu said. Mulan didn't answer; the uneasy feeling that had started forming ever since she arrived in the yard was now growing.

Drawing her sword, she touched at the bamboo screen that cut the hall off from the lounge. The screen collapsed as her fingertips brushed against it, causing both Mulan and Mushu to jump backwards. Scared more than he would like to admit, Mushu scuttled up Mulan, to his normal resting place on her shoulder.

The lounge was fine. It looked as spotless as it usually did, the cushions that sat on the chairs were perfectly plumped, the rug lay in front of the chairs and the plants stood in their pots, untouched.

"Creeped out?" Mushu whispered.

"Just a bit," Mulan said, walking out the room, conscious that her back was turned to the room. She didn't want anyone jumping out at her.

"I can't hear anything," Mushu hissed.

"Yeah, I can't either. I don't think anyone's in the house," She said back.

"Do you think your father is in the garden?"

"I don't think he's here," Mulan said. "If he was, why is the hall like this?" She waved her sword around, to emphasize her point.

"Maybe he was angry at your mother," Mushu suggested.

"I don't think he would ransack the house," Mulan said.

"Babes, you didn't think that he would hit you. But he did. You don't think that he'll turn this place upside down, but he might have," Mushu said.

"Shut up," She sighed, walking out the hall and peering into the kitchen. Like the lounge, it was perfect.

"This is giving me the creeps," Mushu said, shivering.

"Yeah, same," She replied, leaving the kitchen and walking down the corridor which lead to the sleeping area of the house. After checking that her father wasn't in the garden, by looking out a nearby window, Mulan checked her parents' bedroom and found it empty as well.

"Why is it just the hall that's been affected?" She asked Mushu.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Mushu snapped.

"Sorry," She replied, pushing open the door to her bedroom.

This time, the room was a tip. Her bed sheets were lying on the floor, her desk was over-turned and her writing instruments were scattered on the floor.

Her father was lying on the floor, dead. He had a knife sticking out of his chest, his eyes had been gouged out, leaving black empty holes and his clothes were burnt. Blood was stained on what remained of his clothing, his legs were cut, one arm was broken at the elbow and the shoulder was twisted out of place.

Mulan took one look at him then pelted out the room, choking. The sight of her father, motionless and bloody, had stopped the air in her throat and she was having trouble breathing. It didn't help that Mushu had fainted at the sight, his limp body lying on her shoulder with his legs dangling off. She tried to stop in the veranda, to get her breath back, but her legs didn't stay still. She ran towards Khan, mounted him and galloped out the yard, wanting to put as much distance as she could between her father's body and herself.

She didn't stop riding until she reached Wu Zhong, safe for the moment while her conscience tortured her. Mushu had come around during the ride, but couldn't speak, like her.

END FLASHBACK

Shang didn't say anything. "What am I meant to say to that?" "Oh...I'm so sorry Mulan. I had no idea that something so terrible had happened. Are you all right?" He asked her, tenderly.

"I shouldn't have left him. But, I had to. I felt sick at the sight of him and I had to get away from there. I was running so hard, I was almost trying to run out of myself," She said, not looking at him. She wasn't crying but her face had gone pale again.

"You had too. Besides, how could you have brought him back?" Shang asked her, gently. "Oh...she had Khan. Never mind,"

"I don't know. Back then, I couldn't stand even the thought of touching him, but he's my father! How could I be scared of holding him?" She said, still not looking at him.

"I..." Shang was stuck again. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No...I don't really think there is anything you can do," Mulan said, twisting her hands.

"Are you sure?" Shang bent down to look at her face. She looked up at him and sighed.

"Yes," She replied, biting her lip. Shang put one arm around her shoulder and Mulan nuzzled into his body, feeling reassured by the warmth.

"Do you know what I did when my father died?" He asked her head. She pulled out of the embrace and looked at him.

"No. What?"

"I was crushed by his death. I had never felt so bad in my entire life. I looked up to my father as if he were some sort of God. He was my childhood hero and all I ever wanted to do was make him proud of me," Shang said, obviously in pain from all the memories. Mulan reached over and took his hand. Slightly startled, Shang looked at the two hands and smiled at her.

"I'm so sorry about your father," She said.

"It was the hardest thing to get over. I kept thinking things like, 'I'll never see him again'. It really hurt but I had been trained to hold all the emotions in, so I had too," Shang said, rubbing his temples. "But then, I started to think of all the good times I had had with him. It made the pain easier to get over,"

"I can't do that. It's too early and the image of him is too fresh in my mind," Mulan bit her lip again. "It's going to take a while,"

"You are taking it well, though," Shang remarked.

"It's easier to hide your feelings than to show them," Mulan said, getting up. "I'm going to my tent, I'm so sleepy," She yawned and Shang frowned. "What?"

"Never mind. Go and sleep, do you want me to save you some food?" He asked, standing up also and towering over her small frame. She shook her head.

"I'm not really very hungry, I think the shock of it all has affected my hunger," She started walking away before she turned back. "Shang?"

"Yeah?"

"If anyone asks about my father, just tell them what happened. I don't think I can again, having already explained it once," Her bottom lip wobbled. "By the way, how's Shui Jing?"

"She's fine," Shang answered, knowing that Mulan didn't care about Shui Jing at the moment; she was too wrapped up in her father's death and the mystery behind it and the attacker. Both Shang and Mulan had guessed it was Huns and Mulan had already put it down to Tao. She knew that it wasn't right of her to accuse him of something she wasn't sure he had done, but she was so angry at him for her mother's rape that she was ready to blame him for everything.

--------

"Babes?" Mushu said, looking up as Mulan entered the tent. She flopped down on the bed and leaned against a tent pole.

"Hmm?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Sick," She said truthfully, not looking at Mushu or Cri-Kee, who had recovered from his short illness and had heard about Mulan's father from Mushu. "I can't turn a corner without expecting to see a Hun about to jump out at me or an eye-less corpse of my father coming towards me," She bit her nails.

"Is that all?"

"What?" She snapped, suddenly angry. Seeing Mushu's sympathetic look, her anger melted away just as suddenly as it had come. "How do you mean?"

"Honey, when you were left alone in the Tung Shao Pass, you couldn't help crying because you had been left behind and that you felt you had disappointed yourself and dishonoured your family,"

"Hmm..." Mulan said, twisting her hair in her fingers, a habit she always did when she was avoiding questions or trying to look inconspicuous.

"Now..." Mushu continued. "...your father's been killed, in a really gruesome way if you don't mind me saying, and you're not showing any emotion. That's why I think you're not all right,"

"I'm not all right. How could I be?" Mulan hit her pillow. Her tone changed to a softer one and she gently smoothed the pillow out. "Shang told me that when I'm upset I try to bottle things up and try not to tell anyone that I'm upset," She looked over at Mushu. "I think it's because when I was younger...I was different from everyone else," She lapsed into silence.

"What else?"

"I was always alone. I didn't have many friends, if any, because they all thought I was strange. I would speak out whenever I wanted to, I'd play with boys because I wasn't interested in dolls and I wasn't...normal. So I had to play alone, always. They thought I was strange so parents didn't want their children mixing with me. I hid myself away from them and soon, I hid my emotions and feelings," Mulan said, sadly.

Mushu was slightly stunned. He hadn't realized what a sad childhood Mulan had had, despite having been a guardian and gong-ringer for most of his life. "Babes, I'm sorry. I had no idea..."

"That's all right. I soon got used to being myself and keeping everything to myself. I think it's dragged on to now, that's why I keep things hidden. The only way I can deal with things is by talking to myself and pretending it never happened. Talking to others doesn't help me, it just helps them understand what I'm worried about," She said, sighing. She turned a tortured face to Mushu. "It's hard to cry about it because I don't want to believe it and because I've hidden them away, crying would just show it,"

"You cried when you were captured by Tao," Mushu contradicted.

"I was drained then. I was crying because...I didn't believe it was happening. No one was there and I had no one to talk to," She said. "Then Tao talked to me. He made everything so much easier to bear,"

"He was a Hun,"

"I know he was, but he helped me so much. That's why he means so much to me," She said, then she frowned. "What am I talking about?" She snapped. "He raped my mother and killed my father! He doesn't mean anything to me, I hate him! I hate him!" She yelled, punching the pillow again.

"No you don't," Mushu said, watching Mulan beat the crap out of the pillow. "You just said that he means so much to you. You can't hate him,"

"Yes I can! Look at what he's done to me!" A distraught Mulan cried, turning her attention from the pillow to Mushu and a cowering Cri-Kee. "Look at what he's done to my family! What if he goes along and picks them off, one by one? First it was Mama and then it was Baba! What about Grandma? What if he doesn't stop there? What if he hurts everyone that I care for?" Mulan yelled, getting hysterical.

"Sweetie, calm down!" Mushu said, hopping onto her shoulder. "Try to rest before you get all worked up," He patted her head, jumped off her shoulder and pulled the cover back from her bed. She shook her head.

"I can't sleep. There's too much in my mind, I wouldn't be able to relax," She said, rubbing her temples.

Mushu looked sadly at her. "I'll leave you alone now," He and Cri-Kee scampered over to the tent flap, where Mushu turned back. "By the way, we think Ling and Shui Jing are falling in love with each other. When you're feeling better, come and give us a hand at squeezing it out of them. Shui Jing would talk to you, you are a girl after all," Mushu grinned and Mulan did too.

"Okay, I'll come," She got up and left the tent, Mushu and Cri-Kee back on her shoulder.

--------

When Mulan entered the eating tent, everyone looked up at her and fell silent. She rolled her eyes.

"It's nothing," She said, looking around at them. "I mean, it's not nothing, but I'd rather not talk about it," She smiled and sat down next to Fung.

"Are you sure?" Yao asked her, surprisingly gentle.

"I'll be fine. Well, its a big shock, but I'd rather not talk about it," She took a piece of chicken out of Fung's bowl and popped it into her mouth.

"Hey!" Fung cried in astonishment.

Mulan grinned at him, her cheeks bulging. She swallowed and looked at Tiao Zao, who had been crying. His eyes were red and she could see dried tears on his cheeks. "Are you all right, Little Flea?"

Tiao Zao shrugged.

Mulan looked at him sadly, guessing it was about her father. She and Tiao Zao were similar: he admired and looked up to his father and Mulan had been just the same. Both Mulan and Tiao Zao's role models were their fathers and they loved them immensely.

She looked around again at everyone. Fung looked tired and upset too. Yao looked the same as Fung, as did Chien-Po. Shang looked miserable but not so much upset. Mulan knew better; Shang was just like her as both of them tried to hide their feelings and one of them would always know when the other was upset or feeling sad. Both Mulan and Fung knew that no one in the Gang was better at coping with physical or emotional problems than Shang, however overcome by emotion he seemed.

Tiao Zao was clearly the most upset of everyone. His eyes were puffy and red, his cheeks had tear stains and his bottom lip was still trembling.

"Where's Ling and Shui Jing?" She asked. The Gang grinned.

"They went of for a walk," Yao said, starting to snigger. Mulan's face lit up.

"How are they doing?" She asked.

"Better," Shang grinned. He was taking an interest in Ling and Shui Jing just as much as the others since his own situation with Mulan was dead at the moment. "They spend all their time with each other now,"

"Is she still ill?"

"She is but she is recovering. Her cuts are still there and she has this massive scar down her cheek. It doesn't look too good," Fung said. "Otherwise, she's getting better,"

"She kept everyone up last night, screaming her head off," Yao said scornfully. Chien-Po elbowed him.

"Have some heart!" He snapped. "The poor girl's had a very traumatic time, what with being buried alive and the whole Hun invasion thing. She had a really bad nightmare and screamed. It woke everyone up,"

Mulan looked up sharply. "What?"

"Oh, last night Shui Jing told us about some Huns going into her village," Yao said. Mulan rose her eyebrows.

"You suck at explaining," She said.

"She said..." Chien-Po said.

FLASHBACK (Last night):

"When do you think Mulan will get home?" Tiao Zao asked Chien-Po.

Tiao Zao had joined the Gang a few hours ago and was to join the Consortium as soon as Mulan got back from her home. He had come up with a brilliant trick that could only be played in a building with high ceilings, so he and Fung were keeping it quiet until they returned to the palace.

The Gang and Shang were lounging around on the grass, next to the tree. Well, not all of them were lounging. Fung and Shang were sparring near them, both of them shirtless. Both of them were roughly equal in strength and their fight had been going on for several minutes. Yao and Tiao Zao were betting on who would win. Yao said Shang would, as he knew Shang was stronger, while Tiao Zao said Fung would. Tiao Zao's bet was more out of loyalty as he preferred Fung to Shang as Fung was a lot funnier and easy to laugh with, but he knew that Shang was slightly stronger.

Chien-Po was drinking tea. He was growing weaker every day but he was managing now to show it so much. The tea he was drinking was a special brew that had been given to him from the doctor in the Palace. It didn't help his illness but just relieved the pain to improve the quality of time he had left. He had guessed it was to be about another month before his time was up and he was trying his hardest to live his life to the fullest now.

Tiao Zao was lying on his back, staring at the clouds. He was trying to figure out the shapes in them and had already seen a dragon, that looked remarkably like Mushu, a flag and a sun. He was now looking at a cloud that looked like Mulan, which made him ask Chien-Po about her.

Chien-Po looked at the little boy over the rim of his teacup. "I don't know when. I don't think she'll come back today, she'll be tired and probably want to talk to her father for a while," He said, sipping his tea again.

"Hi everyone!" Ling said, coming over. As usual, Shui Jing was walking next to him, a smile on her face. She was feeling better, but she still looked bad. Her leg was still weak and Mulan's dress didn't cover all her cuts on her arms, as the sleeves stopped just below her elbows. (A/N: Mulan's back in her training clothes but she keeps her hair down)

"Hey!" They said back. Shui Jing sat down, wincing at the pain in her leg. Ling sat down next to her.

"Are you all right?" He asked her, worriedly. She gave him a smile.

"I'm fine, Ling. Stop worrying!" She playfully hit him.

Chien-Po looked at Yao and raised his eyebrows. Tiao Zao giggled. Both Ling and Shui Jing flushed.

"Shui Jing? Are you okay now?" Yao asked her.

"I'm okay, physically. I'm just....having problems getting used to all the changes in my life," She said, looking down at the ground. Ling's puzzled face showed that she hadn't talked to him about this topic either.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Chien-Po asked her.

"I...a few days ago, I think, my youngest sister, Ju Hua, was spending the night at her friend's house, Yong Yuan's house," She paused. "In the morning, Mama told me to go and pick her up from Yong Yuan's house. Yong Yuan's family live quite far away from my village,"

"What village is that?" Chien-Po asked.

"Cun Zhuang Village. It's near the Tung Shao Pass and the Burned Village," She said. "I was walking towards the house, when I smelt smoke. I ran forward and..."

"What happened?" Yao pressed her.

"What's up?" Fung said, coming over.

"I won the fight!" Shang crowed, sitting down and wiping his face on a towel. His and Fung's chests were still bare and dripping in sweat.

"Yes! Give me the money!" Yao triumphantly said to Tiao Zao, who stuck his tongue out at him.

"Shush," Chien-Po said, giving both of them a 'this-is-not-the-time' look.

"Huh?" Fung said.

"Shui Jing's telling us about before she was buried in the snow," Chien-Po said.

"Oh right," Fung replied. "I was actually thinking of the money thing Yao said, but whatever..."

"Sorry," Shang said to Shui Jing, who gave him a small smile back.

"I went forward and I saw Yong Yuan's house on fire. I ran into the house and the heat was so intense that it was hard to breathe. I couldn't find anyone inside, so I ran out the back door," She went on.

"She went into a burning building? What is she, crazy?" Tiao Zao thought.

The Gang and Shang were silent. None of them could stop the traumatic images from scrolling across their minds. Shui Jing's eyes were brimming over at the memory.

"I opened the back door to get out...and...I ran out, over two bodies. They were my sister and Yong Yuan. They were both burnt to the bone..." Shui Jing whispered. Tears fell down her cheeks. Ling put his arm around her. Had this been a different situation, the Gang and Shang would have sniggered or wolf-whistled but they weren't in the mood for jokes.

"Oh my god..." Chien-Po whispered to himself.

Holding a few tears back, Shui Jing went on. "I ran back to the village. When I got near there, I saw fighting. I saw big people fighting. Houses were on fire there...I think," She squeezed her eyes together and several tears seeped through. "I had to run away, but I was rooted to the spot for a moment. Then I ran. I couldn't see through all my tears so I fell over. I must have blacked out because I don't remember anything until someone picked me up. Then after that, the first thing I saw was Ling bending over me, re-arranging my blankets," Shui Jing said.

No one said anything for a while. No one knew what to say, they knew that whatever they did say wouldn't ease the pain she was going through.

"I'm so sorry," Shang said. "I've lost my father and that pain was the worst I've ever felt,"

"You've never lost your whole family at once, have you?" Shui Jing said bitterly, through the floods of tears that were flowing down her cheeks.

Shang shook his head and bent his head. Tiao Zao choked back his own tears. Since joining the Gang, he had been dealing with a lot of issues that his father had never given him details on, such as rape, the love you feel for a girl, massacres and death in general. He was glad he had learnt this at an early age as he was to be the Emperor of China.

"Oh...wait a minute. I won't be the Emperor, will I? It'll go to Uncle Tao, as he's the eldest son of Grandpa. So, that means Mulan's step-sibling will be the Emperor or Empress instead of Baba and me!" Tiao Zao scowled, distracted from Shui Jing's story. "Damn it!"

The others gave words of comfort to Shui Jing. She took them all in, but they didn't mean much to her. The only person she could relate to was Shang, as the others hadn't lost any of their family.

END FLASHBACK

"Oh my god...Poor Shui Jing. I had no idea that something like that had happened," Mulan shivered slightly. "Was Tao behind this as well?" She thought. "Why didn't we pass the village?"

"It must have been on the other side of the Pass," Fung said.

Mulan nodded. How many more Hun attacks was she going have to bear until they stopped? She began to worry for her grandmother.

"I want to go to the Imperial City," She said. "I want to check up on my grandmother,"

Shang looked up. "What about your father?"

"I'll get the Emperor to send someone there. I can't see him again, I can't," She said.

"Okay, if that's what you want," Shang said. Mulan nodded.

A/N: Another chapter finished! I'm sorry for the delay on this one, but I had run out of ideas. It wasn't very long either but I'm going to make the next one extra long...so please review anyway!