Part 1: Secrets of the Past

Hua-Lan rolled over drowsily. It was still dark, but she would have sworn she heard something. From her training, she knew if it woke her up, it was important. She tiptoed out of her room to investigate. As she got closer, she saw the silhouettes of her mothers, Xiaoxing and Meilin. She pressed against a wall to stay hidden. Xiaoxing and Meilin spoke in hushed tones, but tension was evident. An argument. Something was wrong - very wrong. Her mothers rarely, if ever, argued.

"Xiaoxing, we can't tell her now."

"We have to tell her sometime, Meilin. You can't hide your secrets forever."

Pause.

"Sooner or later, Hua-Lan will ask. Are you going to lie to her? Because at this point, keeping it hidden is the same as a lie."

"You're right… I'll tell her in the morning."

Hua-Lan took a deep breath. She finally emerged from her hiding spot. "Tell me what, Mama?"

Xiaoxing pinned Meilin with silence. Meilin knew it was now or never. "It's a long story, Hua-Lan…"

"Does it have to do with Auntie Mulan?" asked Hua-Lan. "Most of the long stories have her in them, right?"

"Yes, it has something to do with her. A lot to do with her, in fact..."

-FLASHBACK—

Eight-year-old Long Meilin grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows. She went outside and through her family's garden, where she had her archery targets set up. Well, technically, these were her cousin Guo's targets. But when Guo wasn't around, Meilin used it. They were straw dummies on stakes. Each was wrapped in thick cloth, or armored with an old leather breastplate and metal plate-helmet. Behind the dummies were a tall tree, and beyond that was the Fa family property.

Meilin knew that the Fa family was rather well-off, thanks to Fa Zhou's storied military career. Her family was also well-off, thanks to her father being in their town's guard. He was known far and wide for his skill in archery, and having no sons, secretly taught his daughter.

When she thought about it, Meilin hadn't much about the women in the Fa family. But that was expected. Especially with the way things were.

"What is it with boys and men, thinking they're better?" Meilin growled as she removed an arrow from the quiver and nocked it in her bow. She aimed at one of the unarmored dummies, pretending it was a boy who had picked a fight with her earlier that week. The arrow flew to the side of the dummy's neck, as if drawn by a magnet.

"That'd show him!" Another arrow, piercing a leather breastplate. Meilin was so focused on shooting that she didn't realize someone was watching from the treetop. Leaves rustled and fell, branches snapped, and a terrified scream broke the air. Then, the creaking of a branch closer to the ground… trying to support the weight of a six-year-old girl.

"What's your name?" asked Meilin.

"My name is Mulan." the other girl said.

"Mulan, you can let go of that branch."

Mulan finally clambered down from the lower branch, landing on her feet. Her legs shook from the exertion of climbing a tree and then falling. She saw Meilin's archery equipment and decidedly unladylike clothing, unable to hide her fascination.

Meilin's clothing consisted of a simple tunic with wrist guards banding the sleeves, loose pants tucked into riding boots, all in earthy hues. Her hair was in a rope braid down her back and tied with a thin gold ribbon. In contrast, Mulan wore a pink and silver jacket-and-pants, her hair in annoying twists. Annoying because it took too long to style, only to come undone by Mulan being her active self.

"Meilin, can you teach me how to shoot?"

Meilin smirked. "If you can keep quiet about it…"

—-

"So you and Auntie Mulan were friends?" asked Hua-Lan.

"More than friends." Meilin blushed, thinking back to Mulan's archery lessons...

—-FLASHBACK—-

Meilin and Mulan had been meeting for archery lessons for five years now. They had grown closer each time. Meilin was starting to wonder if it was more than mere friendship, but didn't want to make Mulan uncomfortable. What if Mulan didn't feel the same way? It didn't matter - right now, Meilin was correcting Mulan's technique. This required close proximity and made them both blush. "Your hair is so soft..." Meilin mumbled as she stood right behind Mulan. She was taller and could easily rest her chin on Mulan's head.

"Thank you?" Mulan was confused, usually people called her hair messy or unruly.

"It really is…" Meilin took a deep breath. Sweat mingled with magnolia oil as Mulan focused on the target. Meilin's strong arms guided Mulan's skinny arms in drawing the bow. They were so close that Meilin could feel Mulan's shoulders tensing from the effort.

"Focus." whispered Meilin.

Mulan finally released the arrow. It flew straight towards the round target, landing smack in the bullseye.

"Well done." Meilin stepped back.

"Meilin, can you do that again?" asked Mulan.

"Do what?" Meilin raised an eyebrow.

"When you were helping me draw the bow… you were so close…"

Meilin nodded. "Like this?" She pulled Mulan into a hug.

Mulan nodded. She nestled into the hug and whispered, "Kiss me."

"Are you sure?" asked Meilin.

"Yes." Mulan resolved. "I want you to kiss me."

Meilin dropped a kiss on the top of Mulan's head, then pressed her lips to Mulan's cheek. "I love you… my strong-hearted magnolia…" Mulan got a little caught up in the moment. She leaned in and touched her lips to Meilin's. Meilin, despite being older, didn't know what to do. Her archery student had become her friend - and now her love. She promised herself one thing: she would never fall for a man. Mulan was everything she needed.

Hua-Lan didn't know what to make of this. "If you and Auntie Mulan were in love, how did she end up with Auntie Kara and Uncle Shang?"

"I had to leave Mulan behind." The words still pained Meilin. "I was fifteen and she was thirteen..."

-FLASHBACK-

Meilin had just done something that any other family would consider scandalous. She had entered an archery tournament and won. Mulan had hidden herself in a tree so she could watch without being spotted. When the tournament was over, Meilin joined Mulan in the tree. "You won!" Mulan hugged Meilin. "You beat all those men! What was the prize?"

"I don't know." Meilin admitted.

"I have a prize for you." Mulan smirked and leaned in, closing her eyes. The two had kissed many times before, but this time was different somehow.

"My parents are trying to get me married in a few years…" Mulan's face turned glum. "I'm planning to run away before I get sold to the highest bidder."

"I'll help you." said Meilin. "Run away with me, we can marry in secret."

Mulan was silent, before asking a question: "Is that possible?"

Meilin was usually the more collected one. But now she started rambling. "I don't know. It should be. Some noblemen take male company. Why can't two women? It can't be that hard!" She threw her arms around Mulan, soaking the shoulder of Mulan's tunic with tears. "I'll never forget you, Mulan. Stay with me, please..."

It wasn't long before the archery tournament results made their way to the Imperial City. The emperor summoned Meilin to become the first and only female member of his personal guard. Mulan had found a note of farewell on the head of an arrow - smudged with tears. Meilin and Mulan climbed the tree that Mulan had fallen out of all those years ago. The same tree that served as their first meeting was now the site of their parting.

"I'll never forget you, Meilin. I promise." Mulan cried and embraced Meilin. They were both crying and trying to comfort each other. But there was no consolation here. The odds of them ever seeing each other again were slim to none.

"I'll never forget you either, Mulan. I love you more than…"

"Long Meilin!" called a male voice. "The horses are ready!"

One last kiss, and a whispered goodbye. Meilin climbed down the tree and mounted her horse. Mulan watched Meilin ride away… until all she could see was a cloud of dust in the road.

"Was being an Imperial Guard exciting?" asked Hua-Lan.

"No." Meilin scoffed. "The men did all the fighting, and they tried to protect me rather than let me prove myself. Even though I was a better shot than all of them."

"Auntie Mulan fought in the war." said Hua-Lan. "Why didn't you?"

"Someone had to guard the city," explained Meilin, "but they put me in the inner courts. I spent more time around the princesses than I did around the archers." She huffed at the infuriating memory. "By that point, word had spread about Mulan's adventure. She inspired me and many other women... but in the wrong way…"

—-FLASHBACK—-

It was night when Meilin stormed away from the Fa household. Mulan had run off with a foreign woman and was nowhere to be found. Now, she was an unreachable star, a warrior goddess…

...and that was when Meilin got an idea.

Her cousin Guo had died in the war, and her father was missing in action. Guo's armor was sent back, in fairly decent condition. Meilin repaired it the best she could.

"For my warrior goddess..." she breathed. She undid her usual braid and drew her dagger. Raising the dagger, she grabbed a handful of her hair and hacked it off. Soft black clumps fell to the floor as Meilin continued to cut.

Finally, Meilin looked in a mirror. The cut was surprisingly even, at a slight angle. The longest parts in front grazed her shoulders, while the shorter parts in back were just above the base of her neck. She ran her fingers through what was left, getting rid of the loose pieces. Then she donned the officer's armor and left the Long home for the foothills.

Along the way, Meilin looked in a pond at her reflection. She was no longer the Imperial archer who never shot an enemy. She was free of that, and she would need a new name. A male name, further mirroring Mulan's transformation to a soldier…

Just then, she heard screaming. A girl who couldn't have been more than twelve was getting beaten, outside of a house. The man beating her looked about twenty-one. Meilin wasted no time in loading an arrow and shooting the man in the back. He stumbled and turned around. Meilin loaded three arrows at once and sent them straight through the man's chest. Meilin ran over to the scene and knelt by the shaken girl.

"He can't hurt you now." Meilin whispered.

"I didn't want to marry him," sobbed the girl, "but my parents said I had no choice. Then he tried to…"

"Shhh. You do have a choice." Meilin wiped the girl's tears. "You've heard of Fa Mulan, haven't you?"

"Fa Mulan is like a goddess to me," blurted the girl, "she made her own path and led the way. She did everything women were forbidden to do." She reached into the pack she had been carrying and pulled out a jade-and-gold figurine - Mulan in full armor. "What's your name?"

"Long Fan." said Meilin. "Yours?"

"Wei Chun."

"Would you like a new name? A new life? We can be sisters."

Pause.

"Long Zhi." resolved Chun.

"Then come, Long Zhi," said Meilin, "and I'll show you a better way."

Chun - now Zhi - followed Meilin to the remote hill country. They found an abandoned fortress, and made it their home base. No man would ever guess their plan. A refuge for the present. A beacon for the future.

—-

"Auntie Kara said something about Orchid Dragons." pointed Hua-Lan, "but then Auntie Mulan told her not to talk about it."

Meilin sighed. "There are times when I wish the Orchid Dragons had never come to be. We owe it to Mulan that no major harm was done…"

—FLASHBACK—-

Over the months, Meilin had found other girls and young women down on their luck. Her version of vigilante justice appealed to them. Dismantle the power structures that kept women down, and silence any man who stood in the way. Meilin would take them to the once-abandoned fortress, and train them in the ways of warriors.

They called themselves the Orchid Dragons. Fa Mulan was their goddess, their protector. The duty of each Orchid Dragon was to continue the legend and bring down the unjust patriarchy.

Many abusive marriages ended; many forced betrothals were called off. The men involved either died or "disappeared." Even some soldiers went missing before training.

But it was never enough for Meilin. She was still jealous that Mulan was in love with a foreign woman. She planned to split them up - by kidnapping Captain Li Shang.

—-

"That backfired," explained Meilin, "because all three of them ended up together. Shortly after, the Orchid Dragons dismantled. But it worked out better."

"What about you, Niang?" asked Hua-Lan, addressing Xiaoxing.

Xiaoxing laughed. "My story is much less interesting than Meilin's."

Meilin added, "But it's still worth telling."

—-FLASHBACK—-

Liu Xiaoxing was running. She didn't know where to go. All she knew was that she had to go. She had refused to marry, so her family disowned her. Xiaoxing's reasons went deeper than hating the injustices. She preferred the company of women, and had no interest in men. But nobody would ever accept her if she said that out loud. Nobody would ever love her… she finally ran out of breath and slumped by the side of a building. She was ready to sleep - preferably forever - but somebody sat down beside her and woke her up.

"Who are you?" asked Xiaoxing. She was no longer exhausted. Now, her curiosity was piqued.

"Long Meilin." said Meilin.

"Oh, you're the famous archer!" Xiaoxing was excited now.

"More like infamous at this point. I was absolutely head over heels for Fa Mulan… biggest mistake in history…" Meilin bowed her head. All she had done was for naught.

"My name is Xiaoxing. I think everyone felt that way about her at some point." Xiaoxing put an arm around Meilin. "I know I did. I wanted to marry her. Or someone like her."

Meilin sighed. "Well, that's one thing we have in common."

"You knew her, didn't you." Xiaoxing practically read Meilin's mind. "From childhood."

"Yes…" Now, Meilin needed comforting.

"I think there's still someone for you. And maybe for me..." The two tried to stand. But they couldn't. Meilin tripped over something and pulled Xiaoxing down with her. They looked at their ankles. A red cord tangled around their feet, tying them together.

Xiaoxing laughed at the awkward position they had landed in. And Meilin, for the first time in a long time, also ended up laughing. She had found the one she was meant to be with.

The cry of an infant stopped their laughter. "What…?" Meilin and Xiaoxing stood up, more easily this time. A baby was wrapped in a ragged blanket, all alone on the walkway. Xiaoxing picked up the baby and unwrapped the lower part of the blanket - a girl. Someone had abandoned her.

"Hush," soothed Xiaoxing, "we've got you." Then she looked up at Meilin, still snuggling the baby girl.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, we marry and be her mothers?" Meilin filled in the blanks.

"The first part will have to be a secret. But the second part… that'll be fairly public knowledge. What do you think we should name her?"

Meilin thought back to her past. The answer was buried in the memories. "Hua-Lan. Her name is Hua-Lan."

—-

"Because there can only be one Fa Mulan, right?" asked Hua-Lan.

"Yes, Hua-Lan." said Xiaoxing. "She taught us that following in her footsteps is not the best path. It's better to follow our hearts."