Chapter 8: Reflection

I couldn't tell her the truth, Mulan thought, as she headed for her locker. I couldn't tell her that my father wants me to honor the family tradition of meeting the Matchmaker to see if I'm suitable to be married, even though I'm only sixteen.

With these thoughts burdening her mind, Mulan wasn't in the best of moods when she was picked up by her mother, and didn't say anything as they drove away from the school and down a few streets where the shops were scattered across a multitude of upscale apartment houses. At first, Mulan was confused since they had never come to this part of town much, but she figured that her mother knew what she was doing, so she didn't say anything. They eventually stopped at a dry-cleaning place, and there, her mother explained what was going on.

"We're stopping here to pick up the outfit you're going to be wearing for your session with the Matchmaker. Do you have much homework to do?" Mulan's mother asked.

"No," Mulan replied, though she knew that wasn't the case.

Her mother didn't say anything else, and got out of the car. A few minutes later, she emerged out the dry-cleaners carrying an expensive-looking peach-pink dress with a pale-green waist-belt. Mulan looked at it with slight disgust, since pink wasn't her favorite color, but she didn't show this in front of her mother as they drove back to their house.

"Your father's doing a lot better today," Mulan's mother said suddenly. "His arthritis didn't seem to affect him when we went on a walk around the neighborhood, and-

"But he's still not great, is he?" Mulan interrupted.

"Yes, but these things do take some time to heal, and who knows? Since he's getting older, this may become a permanent thing."

"Even when I get married?"

"I know arranged marriages are a thing of the past, but our family has practiced this for generations! Do you want to dishonor your ancestors?"

"No."

Then with that final statement, neither of them said anything the rest of the way, even when they got to their house, which was in the Chinatown district of the city. Mulan let herself out, and ran into the house. Her father and grandmother were there, but Mulan ran past him, and slammed the door to her room. As she threw down her backpack and took off her school clothes, her father knocked a few times, calling her name.

"Mulan, are you all right?" he asked.

"Let her be, Zhou. She's just stressed about the meeting with the Matchmaker tomorrow morning," Mulan's mother replied, followed by the shuffling of their feet as they moved away.

Internally, Mulan was grateful for her mother's interference. She didn't want to talk to her father right now, and decided to spend the rest of the night cruising through her many homework assignments. The only time she came out was during dinner, but no one spoke, which Mulan felt both awkward and glad about. However, despite her mother's wish at wanting her to go to bed at a reasonable hour, Mulan stayed up until well past midnight, and fell asleep at her desk as she was writing some etiquette notes down on her wrist so she would remember how to behave at the meeting.

However, things did not go as planned. She didn't set her alarm clock so her father woke her up, followed by a sharp hiss as he clutched his sides. It was eight-thirty in the morning, which was twenty minutes before she needed to be at the beauty parlor to do her hair and makeup, which was located down the street. In a hurry, she brushed her teeth, ate a quick breakfast of rice, and got into the pink dress and black shoes her mother had laid out. Then just as she was about to leave her room, Mulan's grandmother appeared in the doorway. She was of small stature, with wrinkled skin, white hair, but was very helpful at times, or at least tried to be. Before Mulan could question what she was doing, a jade necklace and a small cage containing a chirping cricket were thrust into her hands.

"Grandma, what are these for?" Mulan asked. She understood the necklace, but the cricket puzzled her.

"The jade necklace is for protection, and the cricket is for luck," her grandmother answered casually.

Not bothering to question her grandmother's logic, Mulan put the necklace on and hid the cricket inside her belt as she ran out the door to meet her mother at the car. After Mulan's hair was done up in a bun and her face smeared with make-up at the beauty parlor, she found herself standing outside the Matchmaker's office. It wasn't long before a large woman with dark purple eye shadow and brunette hair emerged, and Mulan reluctantly went in.

"So how did it go?" Mulan's mother asked after the meeting was over.

Mulan didn't answer.

"Was it that bad?"

"She said I looked like a bride, but I'm a disgrace, and will never bring my family honor," Mulan said, fighting to keep the tears from pouring out. "And it's all my fault!"

"Mulan, don't say that!" her mother said, wrapping an arm around her daughter's shoulder. "You did nothing wrong. That woman had no right to say those things to you."

"But she did!" Mulan cried. "I didn't behave properly, the cricket my grandmother gave me got out of control, and after that, the whole thing went downhill!"

As Mulan sulked into the backseat of the car, her mother hesitated before heading into the driver's seat. Neither of them said anything, and then when they were back at the house, Mulan decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. Normally, her mother would've protested, but she didn't, and went inside instead to break the news to her father. Like most Chinatowns, the streets were packed with tourists and a few performing artists. Mulan ignored these things as she loosened the pins from her hair, took off the necklace, and released the cricket. She couldn't stay mad at a creature that couldn't comprehend the consequences of its actions, and watched as it hopped away into a nearby alley. Then Mulan went to a public bathroom located near the square, and washed the make-up off. For a few moments, she stared at her reflection in the mirror as she dried her face with a paper towel, and then left. When she got home, her father and mother were looking over some kind of letter with both worry and seriousness.

"What is it?" Mulan asked.

"The Emperor Dojo is recruiting former teachers since they are short on staff," her father explained gravely. "And they want me to be there tomorrow morning."

"Then you shouldn't have to go," Mulan replied as she placed the pins, the necklace, and the cricket cage on the kitchen table. "There must be other teachers who would be willing to take the position."

"Mulan, it's much more complicated than that," Mulan's mother said looking away. "But it would take too long to explain."

"What is there to explain? I know about the dojo's ties to the street gang Pandemonium."

Both her mother and father looked at her with wide eyes.

"I overheard Hades, one of their well-known members, talk about it to his girlfriend Meg on my way from school. Seems there's this new gang called the Huns that are planning to take over the territory, so they're trying to get as many new recruits as possible to get rid of them. The dojo's a cover-up for this, isn't it?"

A silence fell over the table, and then her father nodded. "I do not want to be a part of this affair, but I have been with this group since it began, and I will honorably sacrifice myself for the safety of my family."

"This is a street gang we're talking about!" Mulan yelled. "These guys are thugs! People who like to cause trouble! They're not worth dying for, father!"

"I know what I'm doing! And it's about time that you know what you're going to do for the rest of your life."

Then with that, Mulan stormed into her room and locked the door. She cried for what seemed like hours, until the lights in the hallway turned off. When the tears dried, she removed her ugly dress, ripped it to shreds, and threw it in the waist-basket. She kept the belt, and quietly went into the dark hallway. The letter was still on the table, which Mulan took and put the green belt in its place. Next, she went into the bathroom and grabbed some gauze strips. After that, she went back in her room, wrapped the gauze around her chest, and put on a plaid blue shirt with some baggy jeans. As a final touch, Mulan put her medium black hair up into a spiked ponytail, and then she ran outside and got into the car that was given on her sixteenth birthday. It was a black Mustang, and was one of the newer models.

Not feeling the least bit tired, Mulan turned on the engine and drove away from Chinatown in the late hours of the night. She vaguely knew where the Emperor Dojo was, since her father had taken her there a few times for Karate lessons. So she took the freeway for a little ways, and then turned into a lane that took her through a thick forest. It was then that someone ran out into the road, causing Mulan to hit the break hard, making the car shake violently. As the smell of burning tires filled her nostrils, Mulan saw that the person who ran out was a girl about her age, with short black hair and pale skin. When the girl didn't move, Mulan sighed and got out of the car.

"What the hell were you doing?" Mulan said, trying to make her voice deep enough to sound like a boy.

End of Chapter 8