Disclaimer: I own my own people. I've had the same disclaimer for several chapters now…heh heh

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – Reflections in the Water

Dedicated to: My best friend who left our school. I love you and I hope that you continue to read this story!

A/N: Thank you to everyone who had reviewed. The chapters are coming slowly now and I'm really sorry but we're broken up now for Christmas so I should be able to update more often.

By the way, Quill of the Lark…thanks for your review but it is actually Baba. Two of my best friends are Chinese and in the Mandarin version of Chinese (which is what they use in Mulan) it's Baba, not Papa. I don't think Papa is even Chinese…thank you anyway!

By the way, in case people are wondering the Gang is made up of: Yao, Ling, Chien-Po, Fung, Tiao Zao and Shui Jing. Mulan and Shang are not part of the Gang. Thanks!

Mulan watched the flames lick her father's body slowly. She didn't cry but gripped her mother's hand tightly. It had been awful. As soon as Mulan had entered her mother's room, her priorities instantly changed from wanting her mother to comfort her to wanting to comfort her mother.

FLASHBACK (When Mulan's mother and grandmother found out about Zhou's death):

"No…he can't have been," Mulan's mother wept. She was sitting on the floor, hanging onto the bedcovers. Tears were flowing down her cheeks. Grandma Fa was sitting still in her chair. She was also crying, but not as much.

Grandma looked over at Mulan and smiled sadly. "I've seen a lot of death in my life, Mulan," Grandma Fa said, answering Mulan's un-spoken question. "In many ways, I've been prepared for it. It's not as big as shock as it would have been last year or so. No one lives forever,"

Mulan smiled at her grandmother's wise words. She looked at her mother who was still sobbing uncontrollably. She seemed to have forgotten how Zhou had lashed out at her and vowed that he never wanted to see her again.

"Well…he won't now, will he?" Mulan thought sadly. She patted her mother's hand and clenched her teeth, to stop her own tears from falling.

"Where is he?" Her mother asked, looking up from the damp bedcover.

"The Emperor sent some men to pick him up," Mulan answered. Her mother nodded, took a deep breath and wiped her tears away on a handkerchief. Mulan looked over at her grandma, to see her wipe her eyes on her sleeve. Mulan smiled.

"I want to be there when he arrives," Mulan's mother said, standing up.

"Mama…he won't be here tonight. It's quite a journey to our house," Mulan replied. Ignoring her, her mother swept out the room.

"You take after her, you know," Grandma Fa said. "When you're distressed or upset, you ignore everyone and only listen to yourself,"

Mulan sighed. "What's going to happen now?"

"I don't know," Her grandma replied. "There's going to be a funeral and then…who knows?"

"Will there be an investigation into his death?"

"I doubt it,"

"Grandma, he was stabbed! Mama was raped! They have to be connected in some way," Mulan protested. Her grandma narrowed her eyebrows.

"Mulan, are you accusing that Hun?"

"I'm not accusing anyone," Mulan snapped, but avoided her grandmother's penetrating gaze.

"Mulan, you don't even know if it's him," Her grandmother reasoned. "Don't blame him,"

"He raped Mama," Mulan snapped.

"I know he did. But you don't know if it was this Hun who killed your father. You don't even know if it was a Hun. It might have even been suicide," It was surprising how much Grandma Fa had learnt of Tao and the Huns, despite only having been in the Palace for a week or so. Fung and Tiao Zao had told her most of the information and Grandma Fa had figured out the rest of it.

"Suicide? Baba would never do that…would he?" Mulan thought. "Did he feel that betrayed by Mama?" "I don't know. I shouldn't blame Tao," Mulan said.

"But you still do," Grandma Fa stated.

"Hmm," Mulan said, avoiding the question.

"Stop avoiding the question!" Her grandmother snapped.

"I know I shouldn't…but he hurt Mama! Why shouldn't he hurt Baba? What about you?"

"I'm an old woman, Mulan. I'm not going to live forever. I might not survive the next five years. I'm not scared about dying,"

"I know," Mulan sighed again. "I don't want anything else to happen. I want-,"

"You're always wanting, child. Why don't you just use whatever evidence or material you have to find out the killer instead? You can't have everything in life so stop wanting and wishing,"

END FLASHBACK

Mulan thought about her grandmother's words as she watched the flames consume her father's body. Her mother was standing on her right and her grandmother was on the other side of the platform.

The Emperor had set up the platform in one of his many gardens. Mulan thought it was risky to havte it outdoors and be surrounded by trees but it was better than inside: most of the palace was made of wood.

Quite a few people had come to the cremation. (A/N: I don't know if they burned people when they died in Ancient China. Go with me :D) After they left Minhae's house, Yao, Ling, Chien-Po and Shui Jing had met the servants taking the body back to the Palace, so they went with them. They stood opposite Mulan, next to Grandma Fa.

Shang and Fung stood side-by-side on another side of the square platform. The Emperor stood next to Fung and the rest of the square was taken up by veterans and people who knew Zhou from earlier periods of his life. Chi Fu was also at the cremation, much to Mulan and the Gang's disgust and annoyance. As soon as they saw the short, scrawny man walking towards the platform, Mulan with Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, had marched up to the Emperor and made it clear that they didn't want the old man here. The Emperor had waved them away, saying that Chi Fu had a right to be here. Yao decided not speak to him for the rest of the ceremony.

The Emperor had given a short speech, as did another veteran who knew Zhou during his time in the Academy and the army. Chi Fu said a few words, to which no one in the Gang, besides Shang, listened to. Mulan watched as Shang drank in every honeyed word from the stupid advisor and her admiration in Shang lessened. She was sure that he was only listening to live up to his position as General.

"Always putting his stupid honour and job first," She had thought scornfully.

After the speeches, Mulan was invited to hold the burning torch next to her father's body. (A/N: Think of the burning bit in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King when Denethor sets the twigs around Faramir alight. Those bundles of long twigs are around Fa Zhou's body) She had been shaking when she walked forward to lay the torch next to the twigs. She could feel everybody's eyes on her and she couldn't stand it. She had wanted to run away, to run away from everything. She could hear her mother's hysterical sobs from behind her. Looking up, she could see Fung and Shang in front of her. Shang was emotionless but Fung gave her a sad, but encouraging smile. She held the torch to the twigs and stepped back as they caught alight, one after another, like falling dominoes.

"Mulan?" Fung had left his place next to Shang and was now standing next to her.

"Yeah?" She whispered.

"How is your mother?" They both looked over at her mother, who was sobbing onto Chien-Po.

"I don't really think I need to say," Mulan said. Fung looked worriedly at her, her statement only held a fragment of the cockiness and fun that she used to have.

"What about you?"

Mulan shrugged. "I don't know. Give me a bit of time and I'll be fine. It's a bit overwhelming now, at this cremation,"

"I know," Fung said. He looked at Shang out of the corner of the eye, to see him looking miserable. Fung rolled his eyes. "He takes matters to heart too much," He thought, referring to when Fung had told him Mulan didn't want to feel anything for anybody. Fung, as well as the rest of the Gang, had no idea that Mulan loved Shang, they only knew about Shang's feelings. Fung knew Mulan much better than the rest of the Gang, even Tiao Zao. Tiao Zao was just a little child and he didn't understand why Mulan had mood swings or when she wanted to be alone. Fung, who was three years older than her seventeen, understood her swings and, being friendly and funny, was easy for Mulan to open up to.

"What's going to happen now?" Mulan asked Fung. Her grandmother hadn't given her a very satisfactory response and she was determined to get some sort of action out of someone.

"I don't know," His reply was.

"We can't just sit here. There has to be a connection between Mama's rape and Baba's murder," Mulan said back.

"We don't know that,"

Mulan glared at his profile. "Even if there isn't a connection, Baba was murdered! That's life imprisonment for the person who killed him,"

"I know. The thing is, we can't do anything unless the Emperor lets us,"

"Screw him," Mulan muttered. Fung smiled and turned to her.

"Come on, you don't want to just wander off looking for this killer, do you? You have no idea what to look for! In fact, you have no idea where to start looking,"

"Yes, I do,"

"You do?"

"Grandma said that I should use whatever evidence I have to find out the killer. She means that I've been given evidence, however small, and I should just use it. So…"

"What evidence do you have?"

"Well, there's bound to be footprints in the yard at home. They might have left things in the house, they could have dropped something," Mulan said.

"Really?" Fung said, doubtfully. "You went into the yard, on Khan. The imperial servants went in there, also, to collect the body. The footprints are bound to be covered up by now. Besides, if you did have them, how would you use them? You're just getting false hopes-! Ow!" Fung stopped, gripping his leg. Mulan had just kicked him, hard. "What's your problem?"

Mulan glared at him.

"Mulan? Do you want to put the fire out?" The Emperor asked her. The whole platform fell silent. Chi Fu snorted in disgust, he obviously thought a woman couldn't handle it. Mulan had half a mind to take the water and chuck it all over him.

Mulan nodded and took the bucket of water. It was meant to be holy or some sort of cleansing liquid. (A/N: I'm pretty sure that they don't do this in China, but I thought it seemed a cool idea) For some reason, she held her breath as she poured the water over her father's smoking skeleton. (A/N: He wouldn't have been a skeleton after a few minutes of burning, but never mind. Let's say it took longer) She bent her head as the last drop of water dripped out of the bucket and hissed as it came in contact with her father's skeleton.

"Zai Jian, Baba," Mulan whispered. (A/N: Zai Jian means 'goodbye' in Chinese)

Mulan felt a hand tug on her own. She looked down to see Tiao Zao there, a few tears dripping out his cheeks. Ming Hua stood behind him, looking tired.

"How are you?" Ming Hua asked her. Mulan smiled sadly.

"I'm getting better. I'm a bit tired," She said. Tiao Zao smiled up at her. The smile took away some of the grief she had been feeling, enabling her to grin back at him. Tiao Zao giggled.

Ming Hua left her side to go talk to Fung. Ming Hua hadn't been very pleased when Tiao Zao arrived back at the Palace, having been a part of discovering a girl buried in snow, different love circumstances with Yao, Minhae, Shui Jing, Ling, Mulan and Shang and finding Mulan's father brutally murdered. Mulan sighed as she tried to listen to what Ming Hua was saying to Fung.

Fung, Shang, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po were three years older than Mulan, as they were all twenty. Ming Hua was five years older, making him twenty two. Tao was also twenty two, but he was born several months before Ming Hua, making him older. Tiao Zao had been born when Ming Hua was sixteen. It was unusual for the man to be under twenty when his first child is born, but women were expected to carry children after their fifteenth or sixteenth birthday. Ming Hua had married a young princess from another city, which had an alliance with Chang'an, to prevent war from breaking out. (A/N: In case you're wondering…I did not nick that bit from Mulan II, I had already planned the details of people out before I actually got the Mulan II DVD)

"What are you doing?" Tiao Zao asked Mulan.

"Listening to your dad,"

"Why?"

"I think he's annoyed at us,"

"Why?"

"Because we took you along on the trip,"

"So?"

"Well…to put it as your father did, you were 'exposed to a lot of dangers that a six-year-old child should not have to been,'"

Tiao Zao sniggered. "It's not that bad. My friend walked in on his parents…doing stuff,"

Mulan raised her eyebrows in astonishment. "What?"

Tiao Zao giggled. "Yeah…he told me what happened. Basically-,"

"Okay! Okay!" Mulan clamped a hand over the boy's mouth. "I don't really want to hear it. It creeps me out hearing people talk about that sort of stuff, especially six year olds!"

Tiao Zao bit her hand, making Mulan yelp and take her hand away from his mouth. "Sorry," He said, still grinning.

"Kids nowadays," Mulan sighed before walking off to where the Emperor was.

"How are you coping?" The old man asked her. She shrugged.

"Better…I guess,"

"What's on your mind?"

"Just…a lot of things," Mulan watched as two men covered the smoking skeleton with a cloth. "What's going to happen to him?"

The Emperor noticed that she didn't say 'his body' or any term to show that he was dead. "She probably still doesn't accept it. Or she doesn't want to…" "He will be buried,"

They stood in silence for a few more minutes.

"Why are they doing it?" Mulan turned to the Emperor. "Why's it just my family?"

The Emperor looked at her. His face was tired and his wrinkles and worry lines stood out but he smiled. "It's…I don't know,"

"Yes you do!" Mulan snapped. The Emperor raised his eyebrows. "I mean…what is it? If it concerns my family, I have a right to know. Look around you…the rest of my family are gathered here…it's just me, my mother and my grandmother. Let's face it; they aren't going to be around forever,"

"What about your half-sibling?"

"What half-sibling?" Mulan asked. "Oh yeah…well…"

"I can't tell you why there is rivalry between the Huns and the Fa family-,"

"There's rivalry?" Mulan interrupted. "I thought they were just after me!"

"Do not interrupt me child!" The Emperor said.

"Sorry," She muttered.

"Like I said…I cannot tell you why. But I can show you,"

"Show me? How?"

-----

The Emperor led Mulan through the corridors of the Palace. It was an immense maze and Mulan had no idea how people knew their way through it.

The Emperor lived alone in a large suite of rooms. Everyone said that he had concubines and other lady friends but the Emperor preferred not to divulge in that sort of pleasure, the only lady he was close to was his sister that was living in the Palace.

The Emperor pushed open a door and led Mulan into the throne room. They walked down the middle of the room, up the steps, around his chair and they stopped in front of a curtain that hung from the ceiling and touched the floor. The Emperor pulled it aside to reveal a door. He pushed the door open and ushered Mulan in.

The next room was a hallway. It had a large marble water-feature (A/N: Think of a marble bird-bath) in the middle of it, steps around the back of the room which led to an upper floor. Doors were dotted alongside the wall, each leading to a corridor which led to more rooms. The Emperor's bedchamber was upstairs, as were his old family rooms. His wife had shared his room but Ming Hua and Tao, when they were young, had shared a nursery, indoor garden and bedchamber. These were all on the upper floor.

The ground floor had a kitchen where one multi-talented servant worked, a dining room, a library, a number of toilet areas and the chamber for the servant. The servant was the only person, besides the Emperor's family and, now, Mulan, who had been in the Emperor's suite.

The Emperor walked up to the fountain and stood behind it. He ran his fingers over the smooth white marble and smiled to himself. He looked up to see Mulan standing awkwardly at the door.

"What's the matter, Fa Mulan?"

"It's uncomfortable…I mean…no one else has ever been in your suite. Am I the first?"

"Yes, besides my family and my servant," The Emperor replied.

"So why am I here?" Mulan left her position next to the door to stand opposite the Emperor.

The Emperor dipped his finger into the water. It created a ripple and they slowly expanded, reaching the circular marble walls of the shallow dish.

"May I have Tao's pendant?"

"How do you know about the pendant?" Mulan demanded, clutching the jade to her chest.

"I am his father, Mulan, I made it for him. I started the chain, of course I know about it," He held out a hand, into which Mulan dropped the pendant.

Holding the pendant by the chain, he lowered the jade into the water and they both watched as it broke the surface and disappeared. The Emperor let go of the chain and the pendant fell with a small splash, into the water.

"Why did you-,"

"Watch," The Emperor shushed her. Mulan looked at the water but nothing happened.

"Watch what?"

"Think. What do you want to know?" The Emperor did not look at Mulan; he continued to stare into the shallow depths of the water.

Mulan raised her eyebrows. "The man's dippy," She thought, but she concentrated on wondering why the Huns were killing her family.

Slowly, the water's surface began to break into ripples. Mulan, amazed, watched as different colours flowed from the bottom, where the jade was starting to glow bright green, almost luminous. Gradually, the colours merged into an image, swaying slightly on the water's surface.

The picture showed a small boy and an old man, both dressed in rich yellow robes. The small boy looked remarkably like Tiao Zao while the old man's face had a long moustache and beard hanging down from it with a fancy hat perched on his bald head. He was obviously an Emperor; no one else wore those robes. Yet, he did not look like the Emperor which Mulan was standing opposite.

"Who is he?" Mulan whispered. It didn't seem like a time for loud noises.

The Emperor opposite Mulan did not answer, but the image in the water began to talk.

--

"Where have you been, Father?" The small boy asked the older man.

"I have been reading the Imperial Scrolls, written by our Ancestors,"

"What did you read?"

"I read about the formation of the Huns,"

"I don't like the Huns. I don't think they are important. I have much more essential things to do instead of worrying about them,"

The man smiled, leaned forward and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "My son, when you are Emperor, you are going to have to know about the Huns, in order to finally defeat them,"

"I don't know anything about them,"

"Centuries ago, there were no such people called the Huns. The Huns started off as two bandit families, the Fa family and the Chai family. They lived in the mountains and they were rivals. There were no greater enemies in China than them. They then decided to join together as they knew they would be much stronger together. No one knows how they got together; it seemed an impossible thing for two families who hated each other so much to suddenly join together," The old man explained.

"The Huns were two families?"

"Yes. They called themselves the Huns (A/N: I'm not sure if this theory actually fits in with Chinese history but go with me) and they were feared by all of China. In order to keep the Huns together, the families married each other. Brothers, sisters, cousins and friends married and produced children to keep it in the family (A/N: A bit like the modern-day Mafia, you know they are generally one big family?). However, the three daughters of a man, Fa Tao, objected to being married to three of the Chai sons. They refused to marry them, to the disgust of everyone else. They were sentenced to death the next morning. That night, Fa Tao went to the Imperial City, confessed everything and asked for the Emperor to help him and his daughters,"

"Did he?"

"Yes, of course he did. He granted him clemency and lodgings in this palace until Fa Tao managed to get back on his feet again,"

"He was a Hun!"

"He was generally upset for his actions. He could not help being born into the Huns,"

The little boy shrugged. The older man smiled sympathetically at him.

"My little Tao, to be a good emperor, you need to look at both sides of the argument. Fa Tao was sorry for what his family had caused and wanted help. The present Emperor was more than happy to offer it to him. If I was alive then, I would have done the same thing,"

"I know, Father,"

"When Fa Tao returned to the Huns, he found out that they had sent a spy after him. Someone had seen him leave the camp and the leader told a man to follow him. Genocide took place in the Hun camp and many people died. They were so angry with Fa Tao for betraying them; they took their anger out on everyone around them. They slaughtered each other like animals,"

"How come we still have Huns then?"

"Not all of them died, my little Tao. Several of the Chai family escaped and so did one Fa. Imperial troops arrived and took the one Fa to the palace while the Chai survivors escaped,"

"Does that mean the Chai family will want revenge on the Fa family because Fa Tao betrayed them?"

"Yes,"

--

After the final word, the picture started to break up. The light colours faded away and then, the dark colours did. The pendant stopped glowing bright green after the old man had stopped talking. The Emperor reached in and pulled it out, holding it by the chain. It was totally dry; there was not a drop of water on it. Mulan was too pre-occupied with other questions to worry about the pendant being fully dry.

"My family were once bandits?" She asked. "Bandits?!"

"Yes, I'm afraid you were. You and Shan-Yu are very, very distantly related. Why do you think he tried so hard to kill you, a month or so back? It wasn't just because you destroyed almost all of his army in the avalanche, he found out your name was Fa Mulan and he wanted revenge. The Huns will never stop attacking your family, Mulan. They want the world rid of Fa blood,"

"You knew this and you didn't tell me?" Mulan shrieked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You might not have believed me. It was best to show you how I learnt,"

Mulan paused. "What's your name?"

"I am called Tao,"

Mulan grinned. "Is it a family name?"

"In the reflection, I was the little boy. That was how I learnt about the Huns, my father told me. My ancestor obviously admired Fa Tao so he named his son after him. Since then, it's been almost tradition to name your eldest son Tao,"

Mulan's eyes lit up. "Can it show me whatever I want?"

The Emperor held up a hand. "The pendant can show you whatever you want, as long as it concerns people in the pendant chain. I started the chain, as I made it, so it can show you anything about me. That is how you saw how I learnt about the Huns. My son, Tao, is also in the chain, so you can see whatever you want to see about him also. You can also see about yourself. Should you give it to someone, they will be able to see themselves and you, as well,"

"I don't want anything to do with Tao," Mulan snapped, snatching up the pendant. She hung it around her neck and smiled at the familiarity of the green jade resting against her breastbone.

The Emperor bowed his head. He knew that Mulan still liked Tao, as a friend. "Why else would she still wear his pendant?" He thought as Mulan left the room, the curtain swinging behind her.

-----

The following day, Fung and Tiao Zao were wandering aimlessly around the Palace gardens.

"Everyone is so depressed lately," Tiao Zao started.

"Come on; give them a bit of leeway. A lot of stuff has happened," Fung reasoned.

"So? That shouldn't get us down! If we collapsed after each heart-break, we'd never have enough will power to carry on with our lives," Tiao Zao snapped, kicking a nearby tree.

"Those are wise words, Little Flea. Did you think of that, just then?" Fung asked, sitting down on the grass in a small clearing of trees. The great thing about the Palace Gardens was that no matter how many times you walked around it, there was always a part that you hadn't been in. It consisted of mini woods, forest, ponds, lakes and a waterfall and cave was in the far corner. (A/N: This might sound a bit far-fetched, but tough)

"Nah, Grandpa used them when Mama passed away. He was talking to Baba," Tiao Zao replied, sitting down opposite Fung and leaning against a tree.

Fung nodded, not surprised at the lively tone at which the boy talked about his mother in. He knew that Tiao Zao's mother had died when he was born and he did not miss her. As Tiao Zao had said earlier when asked, 'You can't miss something you never had,' The boy was smart; he would make a very good emperor when he was older…if he ever got to be as Mulan's half-sibling was going to be it after Tao…should Tao ever come back.

"You know what? We need something to lighten the mood," Fung said.

Tiao Zao grinned. "What about that trick I thought of earlier?"

Fung began to laugh. "That had better be done during dinner. That's the one time the whole Gang, Shang and Mulan come together and besides, that room has a high ceiling,"

"Okay, great. Come on," Tiao Zao stood up and began running back to the Palace. "Catch me if you can!" He yelled over his shoulder. Fung scrambled up and sprinted after the, surprisingly fast, boy.

-----

"Come on babe. It's not that bad," Mushu said, watching Mulan pace up and down her room. The whole Gang were in the room, except Fung and Tiao Zao. Shang, also, wasn't there. He was still distancing himself from Mulan, even though what Fung had told him was still clear in his mind.

"Not that bad?" Mulan yelled, hysterical. "How would you feel if you suddenly discovered that your family were once bandits, Huns and traitors?!"

"I don't know!" Mushu yelled back. "I wouldn't be freaking out about it, though!"

"How do you know that? It wasn't happened to you!" Mulan demanded of the little dragon, poking him in the chest. "Has it?"

Yao pushed Mulan onto the floor. She wasn't expecting it, so she collapsed easily. She sat up, indignant.

"What the hell was that?"

"To try and knock a bit of sense into you!" Yao snapped. "Okay, something bad has happened but don't go crazy!"

Mulan stood up, red-faced, and towered over the little man. "What are you talking about, you DWARF?!" She slapped him across the face. "HOW CAN I NOT GO CRAZY ABOUT IT?? A LOAD OF HUNS ARE AFTER MY BLOOD AND YOU'RE TELLING ME TO CONTROL MYSELF?!"

Yao, angry at being slapped, was about to leap forward when Chien-Po jumped in front of him. "Yes, we are, Mulan,"

"YOU'RE FRICKIN' CRAZY!! HOW THE HELL CAN I CONTROL MYSELF?!" Mulan yelled.

Shui Jing reached over and slapped Mulan across the face, just as Mulan had did to Yao. "Stop it! You're hysterical!"

"No shit…" Mulan muttered, sinking down onto a couch, her anger ebbing away.

"Come on, this doesn't affect you," Ling said.

"What?" She snapped. "How can it not affect me?"

"It doesn't affect you more than it did before," Chien-Po reasoned. "You knew that, before the Emperor told you, that the Huns were trying to kill your name,"

"I didn't know that we were once bandits or Huns," She argued.

"It doesn't affect you now, does it?" Yao said. "You aren't one now,"

"I know," Mulan sighed.

"How did the Emperor know all this?" Shui Jing asked.

Mulan paused. She hadn't told them that it was the pendant in the water that had 'told' her, she had just said that the Emperor had told her. She didn't really want to yell the pendant around, it might cause unwanted trouble. "He told me, because his father had told him when he was about Tiao Zao's age,"

"Talking of Tiao Zao, where is he? What about Fung?" Ling said, looking around as if expecting to see them walk through the door.

"They were in the dining room," Shui Jing said. "Well, Fung was. I didn't see Tiao Zao,"

"Hmm," Mulan said, running her fingers through her hair.

Mushu looked at her. "I would be angry at you, Mulan, for poking me, but I'm used to it. Pretty Boy hit me off the horse earlier,"

"Why?" Shui Jing asked.

"Nothing," Mushu answered. "Anyway, me and the Lucky Bug had to run like hell to catch up with him. I tell you, that cow of yours can really run when he wants to,"

"Horse," Mulan automatically corrected him.

"Whatever," Mushu said, waving it away with his hand.

"We better go down to dinner," Ling said, standing up.

"Oh yeah," Mulan stood up and followed the rest of them out of the room.

-----

"Can you attach this rope to that hook?" Fung asked Tiao Zao, chucking the length of rope to him. "Yeah…that hook there!"

"Do you reckon this'll hold?" Tiao Zao asked, twisting it around the hook.

"I should this so," Fung said, climbing up the opposite ladder. "Do you have the bucket?" He asked.

"Yeah," Tiao Zao said, motioning to the top platform of his ladder. "Do we pour it in now?" He asked.

"Yeah," Fung replied.

Both of them, gently, poured the contents of the bucket into the blanket. They scrambled back down their ladders, put them in a neighbouring broom cupboard. They had just finished shoving them away when they heard footsteps in the corridor.

"Come on, quick!" Tiao Zao moaned as he watched Fung frantically shut the door. Fung ran to the side of the door and grinned as it opened to reveal the rest of the Gang and Mulan.

"What are you doing?" Mulan asked, instantly suscipious at both Fung and Tiao Zao standing at the side of the door. Looking up, she saw a yellow blanket, sagging in the middle, suspended above their heads. Frowning at this new decoration, she looked at Fung, who gave her an 'innocent' smile.

Not suspicious of anything, the rest of the Gang walked forward. A great shower of flour fell down on top of them, making them look like walking snowmen (A/N: They didn't have snowmen then, but just imagine what they look like)

Shui Jing shrieked as the flour fell on her, as did Yao and Ling. Chien-Po's mouth fell open and flour fell into his mouth. He began to cough.

Mulan, who had avoided the flour as she was behind the group, burst into laughter. The sight of them made her sides hurt and she began to cry slightly.

Fung and Tiao Zao were the same. As they had pulled the ropes, the blanket had pulled back, letting the flour fall on them. Tiao Zao was finding it hard to breathe and Fung was leaning on the wall behind him.

Stumbling to the bench that they sat on for dinner, Yao sat down on it. The second he did, it collapsed underneath him, causing laughter to come from Mulan, Fung, Tiao Zao, Ling, Shui Jing and Chien-Po.

Fung looked over at Tiao Zao, who held open his hand. In his hand lay four (two for each end) circular posts, that held the bench together.

A/N: Another chapter up! The tricks don't seem as funny written down, but in my head they are a lot funnier. In case you haven't read my bio: I got alot of people telling me that Mulan 2 isn't out yet in the States, which it isn't, but my mom (who is British) went back over there last week (it might have been a fortnight, I don't know) and she's bought it and gave it to me a few days ago when she came back.

Thank you and please review, good or bad!

And I'd also like to wish all my readers and reviewers A 'MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR' because I probably won't update before Christmas. Anyway...Merry Christmas!! - Ellie xxx