Hey everyone!

I'm so sorry for the late update (again) and the fact that it's a little shorter than usual, but I was very close to losing my muse for this story. However, seeing the movie all over again re-inspired me and I'm hoping to start writing this story more zealously from now on until it's finished.

To everyone who follows me or reads my other stories as well: Yes, this is pretty much "Update Everything I Have Weekend." :)

Shan Yu killed the doctor and left the village with Mulan in tow promptly, making sure he memorized his path from there to the palace so that he could send men back to destroy the place.

As he rode forward at a steady pace, he felt the uncomfortable, unwanted feeling of disappointment fill him.

She wanted to stay asleep. She did not want to waken.

Fa Mulan had been defeated.

It escaped him why he didn't just kill her right then and leave her corpse behind to rot, but something held him back. Perhaps it was that she would waken one day and then he would kill her—he would not allow her to go without feeling defeat at his hand.

He would wait however long it took to end Fa Mulan's life, just as long as she actually felt the pain of death.

Pushing Ruyun to a speed that would be unhealthy for the steed if maintained for a long period of time, he resolved to make it back to the palace as quickly as possible. His men were waiting for him; they'd probably arrived with his other wives by now and were awaiting orders.

He would not keep them waiting for too long.

Sending Hayabusa to meet with Shuurkei to deliver the message that he would be returning within the next two days—he planned for sooner, but preferred to keep his men on guard at all time and this was the best test—was the best decision. He no longer needed his hawk to find his prey, but he would still put his pet to use. Laziness made one complacent, and complacency led to defeat.

China had become complacent with the building of their wall and they thought that no one could surpass them. He had proved them wrong.

They had almost won. Perhaps if Ping had not been discovered to be Mulan, he would have stayed defeated. Only someone like her could have possibly brought his downfall—now, not even she was an issue.

She had given up and all respect, all possible admiration for her strength in the worst of times had been lost. The simple taking of her virginity had been enough to break her. She acted as a man, but it was truly just an act. Her womanhood was her weakness; perhaps if she had been born a man, she would have been honored as a war hero.

But no, it was not meant to be. His entertainment was gone.

He slowed Ruyun to a walk and then a halt, scouting for a decent place off the beaten trail for camp. His time in the lavish palace had proved to him that he preferred sleeping on hard ground to the fluffy, unsupportive beds that the royalty there had enjoyed in the past. He was not Chinese, he was Hun; simply the difference in lifestyles was enough evidence as to why the Middle Kingdom had been so easily conquered.

They had their peons fight for them. In the Steppes, every man and even some women were trained to fight and hunt at an early age—none were spared the harsh ways of the north. That alone made the Huns superior to the Chinese.

When he dismounted, he carelessly dropped Mulan—no longer his wife-to-be, certainly—to the ground and went about starting a fire. When he went to his rations, he saw a flash of movement that had him pulling out the dagger in his boot by way of response, but it was gone in a second. Warily approaching the bag, he opened it to find that there was definitely less food in there than there had been in the morning when he'd left.

Strange. None had fallen out—his first order was to check the bottom for holes—but there was less anyways. The top was sealed tightly at all times, so it was impossible for some to have fallen out there…

Upon further inspection, he found that there were some pieces that had been undeniable chewed on by sharp teeth. The jerky was what was mainly missing, so clearly some kind of rat had made its way into the bag…perhaps when he'd left Ruyun alone in the doctor's home.

It didn't matter. Without a second mouth to feed, there was plenty to get him back to the Forbidden City.

After eating and settling near the fire, he leaned against the nearest tree and allowed himself to doze off.

Mushu wiped his brow of sweat. That had been close—too close! If he'd not been watching at just the right time and seen Big-and-Scary coming right at him, there would have been no way to escape! Luckily, he'd been able to do so—but it was simply a miracle he'd been able to move fast enough not to be noticed properly.

He again stood vigil over Mulan with Cri-kee, who was rightly depressed and quiet other than the songs he'd started singing with his buddies after finding out about Mulan's tragedy. Mushu had snuck out of the saddlebag to follow Shan Yu and his charge into the doctor's house and had heard what the doctor had said. Cri-kee had been gone most of the day, but Mushu trusted that the cricket—who no longer believed he was lucky and rightfully so—would come back, and he had.

The crickets did not start their song again that night, but Mushu noticed a change in Cri-kee. The little bug was somewhat more cheerful, but when Mushu was about to ask him what was going on, he noticed Mulan turning her head.

He wanted to call out to her, but he didn't want to wake up Big-and-Scary. She could definitely get away if she woke up while the bastard was asleep.

So he waited patiently for her valiant escape.

The white was peace and love, kindness and purity—everything good came from this color she saw. She wanted to bask in it forever, live in the white, and she would have if it wasn't for the voices speaking, seemingly right in front of her.

'Mulan, Mulan…you poor girl.'

She struggled to look past the white to see who it was. It was strange…she knew they were talking about her. Her name was Mulan then?

'It is as you said, my friend…it would be exceedingly unpleasant.'

The voice was familiar, she realized.

'But she is strong,' continued a deeper, rumbling voice. 'She will survive and she will save China yet.'

She suddenly saw them. Alba's form was there, as well as Rauul's; they were colorless, all white except for the bluish light that surrounded them and defined their features.

'A-Alba?' She knew this woman. How she knew her name, she wasn't sure, but she felt something awakening in her, pulling her from her painless, peaceful sleep.

'Ah! So you can speak in the spiritual realm! I knew someone like you could,' Alba replied. She gave a knowing wink to Rauul, who had clearly doubted the possibility.

'What are you doing here?' Her voice was strange to her own ears.

'That is no matter,' Rauul replied. 'Our time has passed…but we were sent to help you.'

Alba immediately took on a no-nonsense look. 'You can't stay here forever, girl. You still have to save China. You asked me how you could repay me, and I'm not letting you off the hook.'

She ignored her. 'How are you in my mind?'

'Oh dear…' Alba's face saddened, a true look of pity on her face. 'Oh, my poor girl, we're not in your mind.' The older woman paused. 'I was hoping for you to go without this knowledge…clearly you are not as dull as I thought.'

Mulan felt as though she should protest Alba's insult, but it was so calm and quiet here she did not want to disrupt the peace.

Alba looked at her sadly and continued, as Mulan knew she would. 'This is the spiritual realm. Only those who are dead can be here.'

It was as though a sharp pain had struck her, even though the red was nowhere to be seen. She felt like a part of her was coming alive again. 'How are you here?'

'You husband-to-be killed us,' Rauul replied without pause. Alba shot him an angry look, obviously having wanted to skirt that particular topic.

Mulan felt anger fill her, but no orange appeared.

'Why?' she demanded.

'We helped you,' Alba replied at last. 'And we would not help him.' She turned to Rauul. 'And you, fool, did not have to die! You could have stayed!'

Rauul looked up at her with laughing eyes. 'I am your guardian. It would have been dishonorable not to protect you when death stared you in the face.'

Alba did not cry but it was as though the air surrounding them did. It tasted of tears. 'It is for the best, girl,' she finally told Mulan. 'Now we can guide you. We have been blessed by the gods and allowed to visit you in your dreams when you follow a specific ritual, which I will tell you of, and then we may guide you.' Alba snorted. 'I guess I'm considered your therapist now.'

Mulan gave her a confused look. 'My what?'

'Don't worry, girl, it's a term for the future. Very far into the future, I might add. But perhaps you will hear of it when you finally join me.'

'You mean die?' Mulan asked, and she tasted the tears in the air around her. She was crying, too.

'It won't be for a long while,' Alba replied. 'But! This is a conversation for later. After I leave, you will see a staircase. Go down the staircase as quickly as you possibly can. Those are other realms and times and if you stay in one place too long, you may get stuck there and I won't be able to help you. Go all the way to the bottom and there will be a cliff. Jump and you will return to your body.'

Mulan nodded.

'As for summoning me, you may only do it once every seven days, so choose wisely when you do it. I can't just come down whenever you feel like.' Alba smiled at her, for once very warmly. 'You must be in complete darkness, or as much as you possibly can be in. The more light there is, the weaker our connection will be. Then, you must meditate as deeply as you can, and once you are in the world just between sleep and awakening, you must call out my name in your mind.'

Mulan was surprised. 'That's all?'

Alba frowned at her, snapping, 'Well if you get it right on the first try, do tell me so I can applaud you!' She huffed. 'It is much more difficult to stay in a place where your body is asleep but your mind is awake than you might realize. Practice will help, and doing it at night is easiest, as your body already craves sleep.'

'I'll do it,' Mulan promised.

Suddenly, she felt as though she was being pulled away.

'I can only come to you for an hour at a time at most,' Alba warned. Mulan felt herself fighting being pulled away—no! The beautiful white light was fading!

'Go!' Rauul commanded. 'You are ready to awaken!'

'Wait! Come back!' Mulan called.

'It is not your time, girl,' Alba scolded. 'GO!'

'Please, wait-'

But the white was receding and the stairs appeared. Without thinking, Mulan began to rush down the stairs.

She saw time pass by, things she'd never seen before; there were strange metal beasts that excreted smoke, lights that were not flames, and weapons that made noises like explosions. There were people with dark skin, still other with wide eyes, animals that she could have never believed existed. She wanted to stop and look at them, but she followed Alba's instructions and did not stop running until she came to the end of the staircase.

She paused. She was jumping off into nothingness, but-

She was being pulled at and she realized that some other realm was pulling her into it. With a shaky inhalation she jumped, and fell to the ground.

She sighed with relief, and then-

Opened her eyes.

The first thing Mulan knew was pain. She expected to see red but instead saw tree branches above her and a beautiful night sky.

The pain was everywhere, but it concentrated in the right side of her face and in between her thighs. Suddenly, she remembered everything.

Shan Yu—he had raped her, and she had blacked out. Apparently, the magnitude of the deed had sent her into the spiritual world somehow.

She wanted to succumb to rage and pain and start crying, but then she remembered the red and the blue and how it had turned to purple. The red was her pain, her anger, and her hatred, while the blue was peace and love and acceptance, and together, they created purple: the strength to carry on. She needed both blue and red to defeat Shan Yu, which meant she had to carry all of them together.

She took a deep breath of the forest air and smelled smoke. Without moving, she took in her surroundings. She was in an awkward angle on the ground and there was a campfire burning near her. Moving her head just slightly in all directions, she saw Shan Yu who appeared to be sleeping, the horse she knew better than to try and steal, and…

Mushu!

She could tell he was about to speak but she shakily lifted one hand to her lips, placing a single finger over them to ask for silence.

Shan Yu was sleeping. It seemed fitting that she would come from the spiritual world, having finished her healing, just in time to kill her worst enemy.

Slowly, she felt her pocket for the dagger. No, it was not there.

She glanced around for a weapon, eventually turning to Mushu. She mouthed, 'I need a blade.' He nodded and immediately scurried off to the horse, who was deeply sleeping.

After a few long moments, the dragon reappeared at her side with a small knife. It was short, but sharp; piercing just anywhere might not harm Shan Yu, but if she was able to slit his throat, it just might work.

Unfortunately, that meant getting very close to him.

However, she figured that the worst had already happened, so there was clearly nothing more she could lose except her life—but now that she knew of the whiteness promised to her in death, she no longer feared it.

She hated to think that Shan Yu would see the white when he died, but somehow she trusted that he would only see red—the blood of all the innocents he had killed. He would feel the pain he had inflicted upon so many others, for that was the only fate befitting him.

Even though she accepted his afterlife would be nothing short of agony—she'd felt the red for herself—she still felt that slitting his throat was a very tame way for him to meet his death. She would have liked for nothing more than to make him feel the pain while he was alive, to make him suffer like so many others had suffered.

Including herself, but she knew that the red was a part of her strength; she needed it to succeed, no matter how little she liked it.

With all the stealth she could muster, she silently sat up and then stood, carefully searching the ground for anything that could give away her movements. Plotting a path around the many twigs and pine cones, she delicately placed one foot in front of another, gripping the hilt of her weapon tightly. She approached him cautiously, pinning her eyes to Shan Yu's form, motionless except for his breathing. At the slightest twitch she would lunge, for she only had this one chance.

She remembered what he'd said to her only days ago, even though it felt like an eternity.

"I'll kill you," she hissed, and the villagers gasped at her audacity. They were fools, all of them.

He'd had the audacity to find her declaration amusing. "I'm sure you'll try."

But she wouldn't try—she would succeed.

She realized she had paused very close to him at her recollections, but it was a good thing because suddenly, his hand twitched. In a split second, she was upon him, striking at his throat like a viper. She didn't need to slit it—she could easily just stab right through the flesh.

A mere centimeter before her blade ran him through, his hand shot up and caught her wrist in a vicelike grip. She was startled but gave no indication of it, only trying to drive the blade further. Just a little more…

And then his yellow wolf-eyes snapped open and he was grinning toothily.

"I told you; it is impossible to kill a Hun while he sleeps."