Hi...everyone...

So...as you can see, I suck at updating on time. As of right now, this story will be updated on a chapter-by-chapter basis and no update after this is promised any time soon.

However, this story is not and really should not be discontinued. I finally figured out where I'm going from here, and as you can see, the story at least has a temporary direction. I really should start writing down story summaries, even though they usually pan out very differently in real life than in my head.

It is possible that the other chapters will be updated to catch some spelling and grammar mistakes. I looked back and saw a bunch of errors and was just like "And I thought this was good?" Nothing major will be changed, and it's not going to be worth a re-read or anything, although please do so if you feel like it!

To be honest, what brought me back to this story was seeing how much everybody liked it. I got your PMs and reviews, and I couldn't bring myself to just give up on it. That's just to let everyone know that it really does make a difference if you review and/or PM. Favs and follows are great, but they're not what get the juices flowing. I appreciate all the attention this story has gotten and it truly has motivated me to keep going. As I said before, no promises on the next update, but hopefully it won't be too long from now.

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped and encouraged me during this story's down times!

They had stopped briefly at midday and Shan Yu had offered her food that she was loathe to accept. However, that kind of pettiness would get her nowhere. If there was anything she had learned from being a soldier, it was that one had to keep one's strength up. Shan Yu ate from the same bag that she did and she had watched him like a hawk in case he attempted to tamper with the food, but even in the midst of the anger and hatred she felt for him, she could tell that something had shifted since she had last tried to kill him. It might have been her imagination, but she didn't think he planned on killing her anymore.

…Certainly her imagination, then.

However, while she had been tense riding in front of him throughout the day's journey, Shan Yu had not been antagonistic towards her—or, at least, was less so than usual. They obviously weren't indulging in pleasantries or idle chitchat, but his aura seemed…calm. It could very well be the calm before the storm and Mulan was willing to bet anything that that was closer to what was actually going on, but there weren't any verbal jabs or snide remarks. Of course, as little more than a prisoner, she had not attempted to provoke him. She had accepted for the moment that escape was not going to happen again, not when Shan Yu wouldn't even let her have a bathroom break without accompanying her into the woods. She rather thought that defeated the purpose to going into the woods in the first place—after all, the only reason she was leaving was for privacy—but she also knew that the reason they were in this mess at all was because of what had happened the last time she had gone to the bathroom was left to her own devices.

Despite the silence that was not as tense as it could have been—she believed less than ten words had been exchanged by both parties throughout the day—Mulan was no less horrified by the sight of the Forbidden City on the horizon.

Her stomach plummeted from her vantage point atop Ruyun at the crest of the hill. A surreal feeling overcame her as Ruyun slowed to a brisk walk, as close as they were, and they began their way down one of the four roads that would lead to the city's entrance.

The feeling was not a product of shock that they had suddenly arrived; two hours into their day's journey, she had started seeing the rice paddies and farms that surrounded the Forbidden City for miles. They had luckily avoided seeing any civilians out in their fields. Mulan didn't think she could bear to witness the people who she had failed so terribly.

Cri-kee was safely resting in the crevice of her shoe and Mushu was well-hidden in the confines of her shirt. It was morbidly amusing that Shan Yu's brutality was what had really allowed Mushu to go unnoticed in her shirt—without the missing button and slight ripping, there would be a clear bulge where he was hiding. However, the way things were, it just looked like her shirt was somewhat rumpled.

Mulan didn't want to think about what would happen if Shan Yu decided to look more closely…or want to engage in a certain kind of activities.

Coming back to the present, she realize the surreal feeling was because she had a sense of déjà vu, like she had been here before. But to her knowledge, she had never once set foot in the city, no matter how much she had begged her father to take her when he had to travel there in her youth.

As the doors creaked open, her vision blacked out briefly only to be replaced by startling images in her mind's eye.

A Chinese dragon made of brightly colored paper following behind a procession of honored war heroes-

-she is atop Khan, doing her best to warn her comrades, "The Huns! They're in the city!-"

-"You don't belong here, Mulan. Go home-"

-"You trusted Ping. Why is Mulan any different?-"

-left outside the gates to the palace, searching for someone who would believe her, no one would listen-

-"Your Majesty, I present to you the sword of Shan Yu-"

-ripping, tearing, shrill screams from the civilians-

-"No!-"

-the emperor kidnapped, a prisoner in his own home, "Guys, I've got an idea-"

-"Does this dress make me look fat?" the ugliest damn concubines she's ever seen, but also the closest and most trustworthy friends she could have ever hoped for-

-saving the emperor, Chien Po safely delivering him to the ground level and out of Shan Yu's grasp, cutting the rope to prevent him from following-

"You! You took away my victory!-"

-Shang about to die, throwing a shoe-

-"No," pulling her hair up into the high bun, "I did-"

-"The soldier from the mountain…-"

-ducking and dodging the swipes of the jagged blade, run run run-

-bought some time locking the door, "You don't got a plan? How can you not have a-!" a fireworks pagoda clearly visible from the window, "Mushu-"

-a fight on top of the rooftop, unarmed except for a fan-

-"Looks like you're running out of ideas-"

-sword caught in fan and twirled away, "Not quite-"

-fear, so true and real, so beautiful and sweet on his face, jumping-

-the most beautiful fireworks show she had ever seen in her entire life-

-"…stole your father's armor, ran away from home-"

-never going to be able to bow deeply enough, her life is over-

-"Destroyed my palace, and-!"

-hoping her family can ever think to forgive her after this, if she ever even sees them again-

-"You have saved us all."

A moment later, Mulan opened her eyes and realized she had just somehow seen what Alba had seen when she first knew of Mulan; Mulan had just seen what would have happened had she stayed just a little longer and seen the Huns leave for the Forbidden City. Suddenly, as though it had been a book she had memorized, she could see exactly where she had gone wrong.

She blinked back tears of regret, shame, and self-loathing. To let them fall would be weakness.

It was just like Alba said. She had been so close, so very close…not only to being honored as a war hero and saving China, but to saving her family from the hardship and pain because of her decisions. Her folly had brought China to its ruin—no, it had brought everything to its ruin.

In a way that Mulan had never understood until then, she now realized just how intertwined Shan Yu's fate was with her own. If not for her absence, he would be nothing more than ashes from fireworks.

Then the doors were open and they were on their way to the palace. Mulan made a mental note to ask Alba if what she had seen was, in fact, what she had seen was what was supposed to have happened.

However, Mulan couldn't spare any further thought to her strange vision because she was now getting a good look at what had happened to the Forbidden City, the capital of her home, because of her failure. It looked like a good part of the city had been razed, although now it was clearly under reconstruction—albeit with much different architecture. It appeared that the section where they had entered was predominantly a residential district, and smelled of charred wood, blood, and sweat.

It smelled a lot like the town burned in the Tung Shao Pass.

The streets were gloomy and quiet, and she couldn't help but notice how few people were walking outside. The sun was setting, but there was still plenty of light to see with. It was like a ghost town and Mulan didn't like it. It sent icy little splinters into her heart.

The Forbidden City would certainly not be like this if she had succeeded where she ended up failing.

Her contemplation was ended when they reached the steps of the palace, which was the most structurally stable out of everything she had seen so far and certainly didn't look like it had been through a siege or even attacked in the first place. Odd.

"My khan!" called two voices in unison. They looked like two brothers, equally large. The only difference was that the one on the right had a tuft of black hair on his otherwise bald head.

Shan Yu shifted behind her and while felt her skin crawl at the more intimate contact between their bodies, she knew she had to pay attention to this interaction. There was likely to be a wealth of information if she paid attention while showing disinterest at the same time.

"Hantu, Baatu," Shan Yu acknowledged. Mulan felt more than saw him incline his head in greeting.

"The others arrived yesterday," the one with the tuft said, Hantu. "Asanti took charge of them in your stead while you were gone and saw that they were bathed, fed, and assigned them rooms from the former concubines' quarters."

"I see you found your runaway," chuckled Baatu. "Did she give you much trouble?"

A third voice scoffed now, coming up from behind the other two. "A Chinese woman, giving our mighty khan trouble? Don't be a fool." This man was thin and had a bow slung over his back.

"This is not just any Chinese woman, Shuurkei," Shan Yu said, and his effect on the men was instantaneous. They straightened immediately, focusing their entire attention on their khan.

Mulan knew was he was going to say next and knew that he was going to make her the number one most hated woman by both the Chinese and the Huns. She bristled, since she had been hoping to be able to catch these men unawares and possibly facilitate her escape.

"This is Fa Mulan, the soldier from the mountains, otherwise known as Ping," Shan Yu told them, sounding absurdly proud. At the surprised, scornful, and simultaneously interested looks on the men's faces, Mulan didn't think it could get any worse. "And she will be my khatun."

Mulan frowned at the stunned expressions on the men's faces. The word Shan Yu had said was not a word familiar to her, even though she knew the language to be Mongolian. All she knew was that whatever he had said, it must have been bad.

The men looked baffled for a moment longer, before Shuurkei nodded in acknowledgement and composed himself. Hantu and Baatu followed suit a scant moment later, serious expressions on each of their faces.

Shuurkei, having recovered first, asked, "What do you wish done with the prisoners? Their use is clearly at an end."

Mulan couldn't help it. The prisoners, while they could be anybody, apparently knew her and she surely knew them. It didn't take much deductive skill to know from the conversation that Shan Yu had been looking for the solider nearly responsible for his defeat and certainly the reason for his army's smothering in the Tung Shao Pass, and so any survivors of the army who might know her would be tortured and interrogated until she was found.

The fact that Shan Yu hadn't known she was a woman, hadn't known exactly where to look, and might not have even recognized her if she had put on makeup that day meant that these men, whoever they were, had been loyal to her and not about to give her up.

Mulan froze. There were only three men she knew who felt that way about her—not even Shang would have gone so far to protect her after her betrayal. For all she knew, he despised her, and it wouldn't be unmerited.

Shan Yu was quiet for a moment, although she knew that he had felt the stiffening of her posture when she realized who the prisoners were.

"They suffered greatly for you," he said to her conversationally. "Yao, Ling, Chien Po…they are very loyal men. Your good fortune only lasted as long as it did because of their…rather impressive ability to withstand pain."

Before she could even register what she was doing, Mulan had twisted in her seat and brought her bound hands up in an arc towards Shan Yu's chin. In the close quarters and possibly because the assault was unexpected from a bound, captive woman, he was not quick enough to dodge and the force of the blow smacked his head to the side. Following through with her twist, she fell off the horse in a roll before springing back to her feet.

She paid little mind to the men readying their weapons off to the side because Shan Yu, that bastard of a man, was laughing. There was a slight red mark from where her hit had landed, but he was otherwise unscathed.

"Shut up, you bastard," she hissed, hair mussed and cheeks flushed. She looked like a wildcat, feral and dangerous, even unarmed as she was. "They're greater men than you could ever hope to be!"

Shan Yu composed himself, but from the look on his face, his mirth had not yet ended. Shuurkei, Hantu, and Baatu could only watch the interaction like the outsiders they were; they would not act without their khan's orders, not when the woman in question was such an important figure.

"A great man would not allow himself to be captured in the first place," Shan Yu said. "He would prefer to die than to become a prisoner, but that is assuming Chinese man can be consider such at all. They are so very feminine."

Mulan knew he was baiting her and she knew it would be better not to react, but when their audience started laughing, the hatred in her veins flared like lit kindle and she lunged at him, aiming for his sword.

A deft kick in the ribs sent her hurtling to the ground and the pitch of laughter behind her heightened. Down but not out, Mulan made to lunge again, but a signal from her enemy had Hantu grabbing and restraining her while she flailed against him wildly.

Shan Yu was completely calm now, and he wasn't addressing her anymore. "Have them executed," he ordered. Eyeing Mulan speculatively, he went on. "Publicly. Tomorrow at noon."

If the men questioned why it wasn't to be done immediately, they didn't ask because Mulan let out a bellow of rage, kicked Hantu smartly in the groin, and when he loosened his grip, she jerked her head back and nearly broke his nose. The man swore loudly and made a grab at her, Baatu and Shuurkei coming in to assist. Mulan swiftly incapacitated Shuurkei by kicking him in the gut hard enough to knock him down, which caused him to fall backwards into Baatu. While the two of them righted themselves, Mulan relieved Hantu of his sword before he recovered enough to stop her and stood facing all four of her enemies, wild-eyed and challenging.

"If you touch a single hair on their heads, you'll wish you'd killed me at the village," Mulan growled at Shan Yu, her eyes flickering from foe to foe.

Hantu rose at last with a furious grunt and lunged at the woman who had stolen his sword, but she wielded it easily despite her bound hands. He soon had to retreat to avoid being mortally wounded—her ability to aim for vital organs was uncanny, especially with her handicap.

However, Baatu had a sword as well and he quickly engaged her in combat, forcing her onto the defensive. While she had the element of surprise with her at first, the men were seasoned warriors and even if they did not have her intellect and ability to plan, they had survived many more battles than her and were all-around much more skilled than she. Even without that, there was a point where body mass and muscle simply stacked the odds in their favor and before long, Baatu had driven Mulan into Hantu's readied arms and the sword was taken back. Shuurkei had taken the time to ready his bow and arrow should Shan Yu realize how dangerous she was and tell him to kill her—or at least, wound her enough that she wouldn't be a problem anymore.

"That's enough," Shan Yu said sharply when Baatu made to beat Mulan down with his fist. She was already restrained, after all, and it would merely be punishment at that point. "Shuurkei, go to Asanti and have her waiting for her at the palace." The man in question immediately left to have it done, only nodding in acknowledgement before he left.

After Shan Yu dismounted, he handed Ruyun's reins to Baatu and ordered him to bring the horse to the stables, and then told Hantu to relay the news of his arrival to the rest of the palace. Once done giving orders, Shan Yu grabbed Mulan by the bicep and began to drag her towards the palace as the men dispersed with their duties.

Mulan eventually stopped fighting him and simply walked briskly to keep up with his much longer legs. She hadn't been planning on making friends with the Huns, anyway, but in hindsight she shouldn't have fought with them like that. She had revealed some of her fighting style and they would be prepared in the future, and since she certainly hadn't given up her quest to 'save China' as Alba had put it, she needed every advantage she could get.

Soon enough, the palace at the center of the Forbidden City came into view. It was large, but similar to other parts of the city, was also damaged. Compared to the havoc that had been wreaked elsewhere, it was in rather good condition, but it had clearly undergone a battle.

They walked up the many steps and around halfway up, an entourage of Huns came to greet them. Among them was a tall, burly woman, who spoke quickly in Mongolian to Shan Yu, although her eyes lingered on Mulan. Mulan assessed her, ignoring the conversations going on around her, as she had some comprehension of their language but not nearly enough to understand what they were saying.

The woman was probably only a little under half a foot shorter than Shan Yu, which still put her with half a head over Mulan. She wore a simple black robe, belted at the waist, and had sturdy leather boots on instead of any kind of casual footwear. She was built well, muscled in every place a warrior should be. Her face was round and somewhat pointed, but not necessarily homely, and her long black hair was in a high topknot.

Mulan eventually turned her attention back to the conversation, just in time to hear Shan Yu say the word 'khatun' once more as he spoke to the enormous woman. Looked at side-by-side, they could have been related. It seemed to Mulan that most Huns were of a much larger standing than any Chinese man she had ever met. In hindsight, she realized that without her well-placed cannon, there was no way they could have beat them in close combat, even if they had had an equally sizeable army.

Then the woman turned to Mulan. "My name is Asanti," she said, her voice thickly accented despite her apparent fluency. "I will take you to be prepared for the…wedding." At this, she glanced at Shan Yu skeptically before shrugging. If she noticed Mulan's expression of utter revulsion, she didn't comment.

Before Mulan could be passed off, however, Shan Yu leaned down and whispered into her ear, "The dungeons are heavily guarded. If you can make it past my men without killing them…I may grant you leniency."

Mulan took only a split second to comprehend his meaning. He was…giving her a chance to save her comrades? But if he was granting her leniency, then he obviously didn't expect her to actually succeed in freeing them.

She was still looking at her husband-to-be suspiciously, her eyes never leaving his as she was dragged away. The smug, taunting smirk on his face was evidence that a challenge had been issued. It could be—no, certainly was—a trap. But if she did nothing, Yao, Ling, Chien Po…they would die tomorrow.

Then again, regardless of Shan Yu's taunt, it wasn't like she would leave them to their fate. There had never been any other choice in her mind.

Mulan immediately began plotting.

Please review! It really does make a difference! :) (Also, apparently being 4am also makes a huge difference. Who woulda thunk it?)

Cheers,

Of Healing Love