AN: Thank you so much for checking out all of my fics and sending me your loving critical guest reviews Mr. Somebody. Please know that I've been able to get a lot of good use of my remove review option because of you. Thank you XD
Chapter Four
Mulan looked at Shang once again from over the top of her tea cup. She had explained all about Mushu and how they had met and how he was a family guardian and what he did for the army and he had been stunned. To think that all of that had happened under his watch made him feel very conflicted. First of all, dragons weren't part of army units and he had been trained to think very logically about this, should he report it? No. There was a lot that happened that he hadn't been aware of it and it was the fact that it had all clicked together that meant that the emperor was safe and had shown Mulan his honor and respect. Nothing in the training manuals had mentioned dressing up as concubines and yet he had seen that happen.
Then he was amazed that something like this was real and a part of his younger self wanted to search out to see if there were other dragons who could be captured and trained. No. If they were family guardians then it would only mean dishonor to his own family but it was something he was definitely curious about.
"You should get going, people are starting to hear of the emperor's decree," Mulan heard her mother say as she felt her gentle hand upon her shoulder. "It will get busy here."
"I don't want to leave you and Fath-" Mulan argued as she thought about what type of crowds might come here. She hadn't meant to bring this national attention to herself. She had done what she had to save her father from his own death and when she realized that she had the opportunity to play a hand in defending her country, she had taken it. Nothing had been done for glory.
"We will be fine. Take Khan and be safe," she said and Mulan nodded. She looked to Shang who already had finished the tea and was bowing with a lot of respect towards her mother.
"The tea was delicious, thank you and thank you for allowing me to stay here. I promise that I will do only my best in taking care of your daughter," he said and Mulan smiled, trying to hide the blush that was covering her cheeks. He really was cute but more than that he was open and honest with her about her non-traditional beauty.
"Thank you. I'll try to return home as soon as I can," she smiled before looking to Shang. She knew that she wanted to be with him but she didn't quite understand what that meant. With the beauty consultations talking about how once you were a wife you were to serve your husband, she wasn't sure if she would be able to do that. She was bolder and more adventurous than a lot of women but fortunately, Shang knew her, she knew him, he didn't expect for her to change.
Mulan placed her clothes in a bag that she could put on Khan and gently let her head rest on the horse's as he neighed in delight. "Thank you," she said as Shang looked at her, he was next to his own horse.
"Thank you?" he asked repeating that and Mulan smiled.
"For taking a chance on a girl like me. I know that with your family's prestige and capital that you would have the opportunity to be with numerous-" Mulan stopped as she felt Shang's hand on her cheek and he kissed her passionately.
"None of those women will ever mean a thing to me. You are real whereas they have been taught what to say and who to be. I am far far happier with my choice. I only wish that I could be honorable of your affections," he said and Mulan tried to argue but he kissed her again. "I want to prove to you my honor."
Blushing again, Mulan squeezed Shang's hand before getting upon Khan. She knew that soon the news would spread and the Fa family would be the main topic of conversation. She knew that there would be people wanting to ask her of the story and those people would no doubt go to her mother, father, and her grandmother. Hopefully they were protected. Her father wasn't someone who was unable to defend himself but the injury would give an opponent an unfair advantage over him.
With her thoughts on her father, Mulan didn't notice the little red flash going into the bag on her back. She saw Shang start to ride away and followed him. She winked as he laughed at how she could ride next to him. "You didn't think I'd come out of all of that training and learn nothing, did you?" she winked and Shang smiled again.
Wow, this girl really was the whole package and more.
MuShMuShMuSh
It was dark by the time they had finally arrived at the home in which Shang had grown up and Mulan had already noticed the differences between how they had been raised. She felt that a lot of the finery that the Li family had would be something looked upon in awe of someone at her standing. She did enjoy her life. She enjoyed the freedom to be herself and she enjoyed looking into the river and being with her father. As they had walked their horses to the stables, Mulan had seen how much time other women had put into their looks and their clothes. This was something which she hadn't wanted to experience. She had only done it in the past because she was expected to do it.
"Are you okay?" Shang asked as he looked at Mulan and saw her seem to be a little tense. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder and she flinched, pulling back from him before laughing. He blinked confused and tried to smile as he gazed at her with concern.
"Your father was the -"
"The Captain General of the Imperial Army?" he asked her and Mulan nodded slowly. Yes, her father had done impressive feats but there was a lot of difference in terms of the distinction between them. Shang reached out and held her hands. "Look. I love you. I am in love with you," he repeated.
Mulan smiled and blushed a little as she heard that, "I just hope that they don't think that I am –"
"Do you remember that the emperor bowed to you. I mean, nobody compares to you right now. You don't have to prove anything to anyone and you most definitely don't have to prove something to me. I mean, it was joked about many times that my head was too involved in training that I was a little…let's say clueless about women. You're perfect for me," he tried to convince her and Mulan raised an eyebrow.
"Because I'm just one of the guys?" she asked and Shang sighed.
"You are someone who can keep me on point, who I can admit to might be nearly at my level in terms of physical skill and I admit to being slightly less to in terms of intelligence. I have always wanted to have someone who can understand me and I can talk to. I would rather spend any amount of time with you than hearing one of those poised women recite whatever words they tell her to say."
Mulan smiled as she heard that and kissed Shang's cheek before taking a step back. "You know, ever since I was a child, all girls have been told those are the words to finding a husband."
"I know," Shang sighed before looking at Mulan. He looked at the moon and then smiled at how the light reflected off her face. It made her features so much clearer and it made him think of her as a perfect doll, a rare gem, a flower of impressive quality. Maybe none of those things actually amounted to her value and beauty. "If we have a daughter then I would prefer for her to feel safe in her independence and individuality."
Mulan stared at him in shock and Shang paled as he realized what he had said, "If we have a daughter?"
"Yes, well, you see," the officer said fidgeting again and becoming more nervous. "I would very much like to - I think that if we were to have chil - I want to be the man who is -"
"I would like that," the young woman smiled as she went to stand next to him and look at the moon above. She turned to see Khan looking at them and he shook his head before going over to eat some straw. Mulan bowed her head. "I have always loved my father because of the way that he values character. My father allowed me to develop into who I am. I would only want to be married to a man who sees the very same thing."
"I will have to thank your father for that," Shang said and he dared himself to stand behind Mulan and wrap her up in his arms. He embraced her lovingly and she reached out to take his hand. She allowed her fingers to slip into his and he held her closer to him. She felt a tear down her cheek as she felt that somehow she was finally worthy, she had been seen. She had proven herself someone as ready and willing to be loved as any woman.
"Ah, Shang," a man said as he approached them and Mulan stiffened. Whoever this man was, he hadn't seen her yet. She wanted to make a good impression on him. She didn't know how much had been told about her from the emperor but Shang had assured her that this city would be the first place to have received the news so they had to know. Did she stand up to the image that they had of her? The image she had created for herself?
"Grandfather," Shang said and Mulan felt herself even more panicked. His grandfather was still alive? She knew that she didn't know that much about the world but she allowed Shang to move without her. She wanted to figure out the correct way in dealing with him. Wasn't he dead? She had expected for him to be dead?
"Grandfather," Shang said, "The battle is over, Shan Yu has -"
"I know all about that, boy," the man said. "We have arranged your marriage whilst you have been fighting." Shang's jaw dropped and he looked at the elderly man in shock. "You will be meeting her tomorrow at dawn. Get some rest and -"
"I already am with someone," Shang said and his grandfather coughed.
"That….servant girl," he said in a dismissive tone. "Get rid of her. Someone of so little value doesn't have the right to even dream of a life in this house." Shang opened his mouth to argue but his grandfather had already left. Shang looked to the woman he loves, the woman who looked like she had been fatally stabbed. He tried to rush after his grandfather but she held him back.
"No," she said before sobbing. "Shang, no."
The devastation on Shang's expression almost made the pain triple. Mulan didn't know though that Shang had already placed her high high above whatever others expected of him. He would deny his heritage if that was needed, he just had never thought she would have already been treated like less than dirt.
End of Chapter Four
Thank you for reading
Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Three
ElsaAnnaSnowQueen, Guest, JaneShadow, Kagome Avalon, KathyMesser, pavlovalover, Tayashia,
AN: Reason I haven't updated for so long
I really want to get back to updating what you guys want to see.
I have just recently had some bad luck with this one total psychopath from the Skip Beat set of fics. They were sending me hate at least two or three times an hour for about ten to twelve hours a day over a period of two weeks. It led me to realize that I didn't want to write for others and get that kind of reception and that writing for myself was easier.
Ove the past three weeks, whenever I update a chapter of anything I get a guest review that is about how bad my writing is, how I'm out of character, etc. With such consistency I have to believe it's the same person but this taught me that no matter what haters gonna hate. And guess what, I moderate my anonymous comments, I just click delete and that persons' words don't even make it onto the fic. Right now I'm laughing because of how much of their personal time they are wasting.
