Part 5: How to be A Hero

Rong, the youngest of the Li-Fa children at six years of age, was on her way to the town market with Mai. Mai was now nine years old and could make fair transactions with the merchants. "Rong, Mama gave me a little extra money today." whispered Mai. "She said that if we're good, we can get candied ginger."

"I love candied ginger!" cheered Rong. By now, they were almost at the town market. Crossing the threshold between the rural road into the busier one, the two girls looked both ways before entering.

But they forgot to look behind them.

"Hey! Look where you're going!" complained a whiny male voice. Mai immediately got in front of Rong. She stood with her feet apart, hands on her hips, and head up to make direct eye contact. It was what Kara called a power pose. A stance that immediately stated, "I am not afraid to take up space and you can't scare me."

It was Tung Dao, the first son of a local official. "Who do you think you are?" Dao came closer and put his arms out like a barricade.

"Two girls who are trying to get to the market!" Rong snapped, stepping to the side to show herself. She was skinnier than Mai, with her long hair tied up in double buns. She didn't look intimidating at all.

"Are you sure?" Dao prodded. Faster than a striking cobra, he snatched Rong's coin pouch. In this act, he made two very big mistakes. His first mistake was stealing. His second mistake was stealing from Rong.

Rong's arm shot out and grabbed Dao's wrist to get the coins back. Dao circled his arm and broke the grip. Soon, they were locked in grappling.

"Mai, get Mama!" shouted Rong. "I'll handle this!"

Mai looked back once, said a quick prayer, and sprinted back to the Li-Fa household.

Dao tried another tactic: raising his arm so Rong couldn't reach the pouch. But this gave Rong an opportunity to jab the pressure point under his armpit. He doubled over and Rong kicked him in the side. Dao fell and dropped the coin pouch.

"I'll take that back, thank you." Rong scooped up the coin pouch and counted the money to make sure she still had what she came with. All the coins were there.

Just then, Mai returned with Mulan.

"Li Rong, what happened here?" asked Mulan.

"This bully tried to steal my coin pouch. But I beat him up and got it back. I still have all the coins!" Rong shook the pouch, making it jingle.

Dao got up and decided to run. "I'm telling my father!" he called.

"Go ahead and tell him." said Mulan, folding her arms. "Your father may be a town official, but the Li-Fa family outranks him."

Dao made a very rude gesture at Mulan and ran.

"Rong," began Mulan, "your lessons have paid off."

"Good!" Rong beamed. "I want to be just like you, Mama!"

Mai paused. She may have been young, but she knew an impending problem when she saw it. Mulan, on the other hand, didn't think too much of it. Most of the little girls wanted to be like her anyway. But she didn't put enough weight on one word in Rong's exclamation - "just." Rong's intention was to follow the path of a woman warrior, someone who fought against enemies and rigid standards alike. How could Rong live up to Mulan's legacy? More importantly, was that the best path for Rong to take?

"Come on, we're almost at the market." said Mulan. This redirected Mai's thoughts. "And yes, you two can get some candied ginger." The earlier concerns blurred - but never really disappeared.

At the market, Mai helped buy what the family needed. It was the usual. Fresh fruit, some vegetables, and horse feed for Khan and Baojia.

Some merchants raised their eyebrows at a nine-year-old girl counting the money and bargaining for a fair price. But most of them were used to seeing the Li-Fa girls at the market. They treated Mai and Rong with kindness. Mulan, on the other hand, earned a few rude stares from passers-by - she was wearing a masculine outfit. And at this point she didn't care.

"Candied ginger!" called an older merchant. He had been doing good business lately - partially thanks to Mai and Rong.

"Let's get some for Mama, Niang, and Baba too." whispered Rong. Mai nodded, her bobbed hair flopping around her face and neck. Mulan pretended not to hear. She could easily act surprised.

"I'll be looking at something for your Niang," said Mulan, "remember to bargain fairly."

"Hello, Mr. Shi!" greeted Mai. Mr. Shi pretended not to see her.

"Where is Mai? I can hear her, but not see her…" Mai giggled and stood up on a box.

"I'm here, Mr. Shi! May we have five pouches of candied ginger, please?" asked Mai. Mr. Shi looked surprised.

"Five? Usually you ask for… oh, I see what you'd like to do." Mr. Shi dropped his volume. "That's very nice of you to get some for your parents." He looked around. "It'll be our secret. You've been very good, so you only have to pay for one pouch."

"But that's not fair to you, Mr. Shi," pointed Rong, "may I pay for two or three instead?"

"You'll pay for two pouches, then." said Mr. Shi. "Mai, you certainly know how to bargain." He counted five pouches and Mai counted enough money to pay for two.

At that moment, Mulan returned with some small boxes. "Don't tell Niang. It's our anniversary and I'd like to do something special with her." Mulan sighed happily, causing Mai to make gagging noises. As usual. Despite being in a relationship with Hua-Lan now, Mai still thought her parents were too mushy.

Back at the Li-Fa household, Mai and Rong brought their candied ginger to Mulan, Shang, and Kara.

"Well, that was nice of you!" Kara smiled. She shared some with Heliu and Ruhuo. The candies weren't very sugary. But there was just enough to make the seven-year-old twins hyper.

"Oh, terrific…" Shang shook his head and stood up. "Heliu, Ruhuo, calm down." By now they were giggling and running around the common area. Ruhuo bumped into Heliu's back. Their combined weight knocked Shang over. Only then did the twins realize that they might have made a mistake. Shang looked up at Kara. "Kara, baobei, this is why we don't give them sweets very often."

"OK, you two," said Kara, "get off your Baba." She lifted Ruhuo and then Heliu, before sitting them down. "It's almost your bedtime."

"Niang," whined Ruhuo, "the sun is still out!"

"Actually," pointed Shang, "it's going down now." He looked at Kara and Mulan. "Besides, your mothers are having their tenth anniversary. You wouldn't want to…"

"Sha-ang…" Kara groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Kids around…"

Shang blushed. He was grateful that Kara caught his near-slip.

"Anyway," Mulan turned to Kara and linked their hands, "I got something special for us." She fluttered her eyelashes and smiled at Kara with half-lowered eyes. Mulan's eyes caught the setting sun outside and the firelight inside, making her deep brown eyes shine like the night sky. Ten years later, Kara still couldn't resist the starry-eyes.

Mai took Rong's hand. The two girls walked away. "Come on, Rong. Let's give Niang and Mama some privacy." Her back might have been turned, but the disgust in her voice couldn't be hidden.

Mai pushed her pillow over her head, wishing that her bed wasn't so close to the wall that divided the rest of the house from the bathing area. She could hear Mulan and Kara giggling and splashing each other. That turned to gasps and sighs. "Could they be any louder?" she grumbled. That was when Rong took the pillow off Mai's head.

"Rong!" she groaned, drawing out the middle vowel. "I'm trying to block the noises!"

"What noises?" Rong was closer to the window, and couldn't hear anything.

"Mama and Niang are being too loud! Again!" complained Mai in a half-whisper.

"Mai?" asked Rong, hoping to change the subject. "I'm sorry for taking your pillow. See, I was making a fort and I just needed one more pillow..."

"Think it'll be quieter in there?" Mai gestured to the fort. It was more of a messy pile of pillows and blankets than a proper fort, but it would have to do.

"I think so." said Rong. She lifted part of the blanket and crawled in, then let Mai in. Mai figured this would be a perfect chance to find out about her little sister trying to live up to Mulan's legacy.

"Rong, you said you wanted to be just like Mama." began Mai. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?!" Rong was as stubborn as Mulan, if not more so.

"Do you want to fight in a war?" began Mai.

Rong paused. "Not really…"

"Do you want to marry two people?"

"I don't want to get married!" Rong gagged, seemingly picking up on Mai's habit. Then it hit her. "If I can't be just like Mama, I'll never be a hero!" Tears started welling up in Rong's eyes.

"Rong..." Mai hugged her little sister. "Mama gave you a special gift by doing what she did. When she broke all the rules, she proved that you don't have to be like everyone else. You don't even have to be like her."

"Then… can I still be a hero?" asked Rong. She wiped her tears with the corner of a blanket, causing the pillow fort to sway.

Mai finally smiled. "Anyone can be a hero. And you don't have to be just like Mama to do it."

Rong stood up to get out of the fort. It instantly collapsed. Heaps of pillows and tangled blankets flopped all over the floor.

"Oops...?"

"That's one way you're like Mama." joked Mai. "She was really clumsy when she was younger."

"Was she noisy then, too?"

"I don't think so. She hadn't met Niang and Baba yet."

At that point, Rong heard the noises Mai had heard. She huffed as she picked up a pillow and handed it to Mai. Then she knocked on the wall. "Niang! Mama! We're trying to sleep!" There was a pause. Mai put the pillow back over her head, bracing herself for more happy noises - well, at least Kara and Mulan were trying to keep it down now.

Rong also went back to bed. And at last, she slept easily. She could be a hero - just by being herself.

THE END