Disclaimer: I do not own Mulan.

I am very surprised with just how well liked this story is and I would like to thank all of those who have responded to this fic. Apologies to everyone for how late this is going up, but I do have an excuse. I had this written before I posted the first chapter but upon reading the reviews I was unsure on whether to change the storyline to fit people's thoughts or to continue from where I had written.

Most people actually think that Mulan died . . . and I brought her back. Oops?

Due to the reviews that I received I decided to do two different stories with the same first chapter, but very different outcomes. The next to chapters are donated to how I was originally going to write this story and then I will create a new story where Mulan actually died (gasps) and the Soldiers have to fight the Huns themselves.

If you want to see the more realistic version (Mulan dies) then wait. I hope this will be worth your time.

Consequences

Chapter 2

The Woman Who Vanished

Mulan didn't expect to wake up.

The ground under her was hard and cold, pressing into her wounded side. Sharp bolts of pain shooting up her spine made her hiss and try to curl, but the movement only seemed to make it worse. Giving up, Mulan stopped moving, listening to her heart pound softly in her chest, the loudest sound she could hear. Everything else was a blur.

She drifted in and out of consciousness as the hours passed, never truly waking but at the same time not falling into sleep. It was the scrabbling of small feet and the distant sound of a familiar voice that finally forced her into wakefulness.

"Mulan!" her eyes were heavy but she made herself open them to look up at the blurry red face looking down at her. Her chapped, pale lips turned up slightly in a semblance of a smile, making them crack and bleed in the cold.

"Mushu?" Mulan asked, struggling to get her thoughts in order, "What . . . what is going . . . on?"

The cold made it difficult to talk but it had also helped to numb the pain. She couldn't feel anything from her wounded side, or her fingers and feet either, for that matter.

"Oh, this is not good!" Mushu muttered as he dug at the snow that had fallen around her face. Miraculously she had landed mostly on top of the snow and as such was not buried under the massive amounts of cold powder that the Hun army was. There was also the added benefit of the fact that her landing had been soft, as the snow had sank under her weight. It was probably the only reason she was still alive, "Cricky, drag me some wood! We need to get her warmed up, fast!"

Mulan couldn't make out everything that Mushu said but the panic in his voice made her wonder just how bad her condition was.

For such a small dragon it took a surprisingly little amount of time for him to dig her out of the snow and drag her over to the small amount of wood he had arranged and lit. After he had brought her as close as he could without burning her Mushu quickly set about ripping up any extra clothing from her bag to use for bandages on her wound. During that time her horse had managed to find them and lay down by her, helping to warm her up. How he had survived she had no idea but she was glade that he had. He was one of her closest friends.

Her thoughts turned back to Shang as her limbs started to tingle and she got her feeling back. She hoped that he had managed to survive. He was important . . . she was not. The life of one soldier was nothing compared to the last captain alive. Mulan had come to realize that in her days back at camp. Her life was not as important as other people and if necessary she would have to sacrifice herself to save them.

Only, it hadn't quite worked out that way, had it? She was still alive.

It took another hour for her to be able to sit up and her fingers still weren't feeling right. Mushu had managed to find a blanket in her pack, as well as her old clothing. As much as she disliked wearing dresses she knew that the extra cloth would help keep her warm in the freezing weather. She had even kept on the warmer parts of her armor, hidden under the flowing fabric of her dress to trap the heat in. The cold outer armor had to go, however.

Breathing a small puff of visible moisture into the air Mulan sighed, "What am I supposed to do now, Mushu? If I go home then I'll be forced to act like a woman again, and everyone else probably thinks Ping is dead."

And he is. She thought ruthlessly, I was never meant for the life of a warrior, or a woman.

Mushu opened his mouth, paused, and then closed it again, looking into the fire. Mulan felt her heart sink even further.

Before she could give in to her despair, however, a loud, ferocious roar echoed through the valley. Mulan flinched upward, her back straightening in surprise as she turned to look out into the field of snow that seemed to stretch on endlessly. Here and there the weapons of the fallen Huns poked out of the top like ink splatters on parchment. The roar had sounded more like that of an animal than a human, but Mulan knew instantly who it was.

Hidden in one of the surviving batches of trees Mulan watched as Hun warriors seemingly popped from the snow, as if defying death with their desire for revenge and conquest. Her breath caught in her throat with horror.

Some of the Huns had survived.

They would be out to get revenge.

Shang and the other soldiers were probably on their way to the Imperial Palace, the same place the Huns were going.

She had to do something.

Forcing herself to stand and ignoring Mushu's shout for her to stop she stuffed out the fire and pulled herself weakly onto her horse, ignoring the painful pulling of her wound beneath the makeshift bandages. Kahn had not made it out of the avalanche as well as Mushu, but he could still walk. One of his back legs had been scraped and his once majestic fame was beaten down and exhausted, but if there was one quality her horse had, it was loyalty and he would not give up so long as Mulan still needed him. She knew that what she was about to do was stupid, but she also knew she needed to go.

She wasn't Ping. She wasn't Mulan. She was someone unique. She was a survivor, a warrior, a solder, and right now China needed her.

"Where do you think that you are going?!" Mushu shouted as he scrambled up behind her.

Mulan didn't look back at him as she prodded her black horse into a limping trot, "I have to help. They won't be prepared for what is coming."

Mushu sputtered angrily, "And how do you think that you are going to convince them? Your wearing a dress! They don't take women seriously!"

Mulan's eyes hardened, "Then I'll have to do it myself."

I may not look like a warrior, I may be wounded severely, but if there is one thing that I have learned through becoming a warrior is that China comes first, and right now it's in danger.

"You What!?" Mushu didn't sound happy, but after a moments pause he sighed, "Well, there's no turning back now. Let's go save China!" and, in a softer mumble, "And then figure out what do from there. I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with this. I'm so dead when I get home."

0~o~0

Shang didn't know what to do. One moment he had been mourning the loss of a great soldier and a friend as well as handing the sword of Shan-Yu to the Emperor and then the next everything seemed to have fallen apart.

The Emperor had been taken inside and hidden inside the palace. The doors had been specially designed to withstand an army of invaders, but the ones who had made them had not thought about an attack from within. Shang and his few remaining soldiers who were still alive had resorted to using one of the stone statues as a battering-ram.

It wasn't working though, Shang had known that it wouldn't but they had to at least try anyway. Ping had given his life so that his commander could continue on and he was not about to throw away that gift.

Maybe if they hit just a little harder . . .

A flash of something caught his eye and drew Shang's attention. His eyes momentarily locked with two familiar brown ones, a single, painfully familiar face among a thousand others watching.

His heart clenched and his breath caught as he, for a moment, thought he was seeing Ping again.

The gaze broke and Shang lost sight of the figure among the throng, but he knew that the person that he had seen wasn't Ping. It had been a woman that he had seen, not the soldier that he had become close to.

Grief, fresh and tearing, ripped at his heart.

If Ping were here he would no doubt have already come up with a different plan by now. Ping was like that. He was resourceful and inventive, he had to be. Being small and young he had started out with a disadvantage, but he hadn't let his weaknesses beat him and found ways to work around the problem, instead of having to face it head on.

Shang's shoulders ached as they came in for another swing, and he could see several of his men trembling in the effort to hold up the stone statue. With a final, sentencing boom the stone hit the doors and, unable to hold it up anyone, his men dropped the statue in defeat.

Rage boiled in him as he looked at the doors. Why did this happen now? Why did he have to bear this responsibility? Why did he have to fail, after everything that had happened?

Another flicker of movement caught his attention and Shang turned slightly to see the woman who looked like Ping running toward the palace wall. He hesitated, wondering what she was doing.

Then she took her sash and flung it over one of the pillars, catching the other side in her spare hand. Deftly and seemingly without much effort she began to scale the pillar to the second level, to an unexpected entrance.

Shang couldn't believe it, a woman had thought of something that they hadn't and was trying to get to the Emperor. She hadn't, however, come to them first, and no one really noticed her. It showed her lack of confidence in them and her headstrong attitude.

Her idea, though, was something he could work with.

"Men!" he barked, causing the soldiers to turn to him, "I think I might have another way in."

Let's hope that woman doesn't get herself killed before we get there.

0~o~0

Mulan knew that because she was a woman no one would listen to her, or at least they wouldn't take her seriously, but that didn't stop her from trying.

"Please, you must listen, the Huns are here!"

The people ignored her in favor of clapping as Shang and the soldiers walked forward toward the base of the palace. She growled softly, angry that no one would pay attention to her, but knew that it wouldn't do any good.

Silence fell over the crowd as Shang knelt and held out the sword of Shan-Yu, but Mulan only felt the pit in her stomach sink farther. She didn't know where the Huns were hiding but she knew that they were there. The only question was when they were going to strike, and how.

A loud, piercing screech echoed through the air as a dark hawk swooped down and plucked the sword from Shang's hands. Mulan's breath caught in her throat as the shadowy figure on top of the roof caught the sword at it was dropped over his head.

Shan-Yu.

Before anyone could react the festival dragon was torn apart and several Huns poured out from its depths. They pushed Shang to the side, grabbed the Emperor and dragged him into the palace, shutting the doors firmly behind them.

The soldiers tried to break down the doors but she knew that they wouldn't be able to. Desperately her eyes sought out Shang's and for a moment his locked on hers and widened slightly. A thousand emotions seemed to be conveyed through one glance and Mulan looked away, knowing she couldn't be distracted.

There wasn't an entrance on the first floor . . . but if she could get up to the second level there was very little to keep her out.

Determination running through her Mulan quickly pulled the long sash off of her and ran toward the tall pillars. It was just like when she had to retrieve the arrow from the top of the pole, except this time without the weights it went a lot faster.

She took a moment to crouch at the top and observe what was beyond before she slipped into the palace. By this point some people in the crowd had spotted her and there were exclamations of surprise throughout the people.

Mulan didn't stop to acknowledge them. Every second that she wasted was a second closer to failure. Her feet were light and near silent as she traveled the empty halls, trying to find the place that the Emperor had been taken. The sound of talking caused her to stop before she turned the corner, thought, as she found herself faced with a group of Huns guarding a balcony.

Narrowing her eyes Mulan glanced around before coming to a decision and pulling out a small, near useless dagger from her shoe. Taking careful aim she let the dagger fly at the rope that connected the large candle holder to the ceiling. The Huns were, ironically, standing right underneath it.

Mulan may not have practiced much with her knife when in the camp, but it had been one of her favorite pastimes back when she was little. Her father had not approved, but her grandmother had been cheering her on the entire time.

The heavy metal fell with a clatter as the knife cut through the rope and the Huns were taken by surprise as they were forced to the ground, stunned. Mulan winced at the sound but quickly dashed past the dazed warriors to the entrance, scooping up her knife from where it had fallen, and burst out onto the balcony.

She was just in time to dash forward and block the downward swing of Shan-Yu as his sword descended toward the Emperor. The large sword pushed her dagger downward and Mulan had to grit her teeth against the pain as her side flared up. Shan-Yu had a surprised look on his face as he found her blocking his path.

He stepped back for a moment, pulling his sword back and holding it at his side as he looked at her in confusion. Mulan growled and held her small dagger in front of her, pathetic as it looked.

Shan-Yu frowned as he examined her features before his eyes lit up in recognition as he noticed the bloodstain in the side of her dress where her wound had reopened. He knew she was the one from the mountains.

"You." Shan-Yu's eyes blazed with fury and he brought his sword up and swung at her, making her duck to the side. He had completely forgotten about the Emperor, his mind focused on Mulan, "You took away my victory! You destroyed everything!" he shouted as he swung again, only for the sword to bite deeply into wood when she ducked and moved out of the way.

Mulan's mind worked furiously as she tried to come up with a way to get the Emperor to safety. An unexpected kick had her falling on her back as Shan-Yu yanked his sword from the wood. Her dagger flew from her hands and far from her reach and her side flared angrily, the bloodstain spreading faster then it should.

Shan-Yu grinned down at her as he prepared to bring the final blow down on her, only to be tackled to the side by a man in a red cloak.

Mulan felt her breath freeze in her lungs. Shang, her captain, had just tackled the Hun leader to save her, and he didn't even know who she really was. The other soldiers that she had fought along came spilling in after him. Po grabbed the Emperor and jumped, catching onto a lantern that he used to get down. The others followed except Shang.

Shan-Yu knocked Shang to the side and the captain hit his head on the wall, knocking him out instantly. Then the Hun turned his eyes back to Mulan. She felt a shiver of fear go up her spin but knew, for the second time in her life, she might have to die. Scrambling to her feet she quickly ran back into the palace. Behind her she could hear Shan-Yu trying to keep up with her pace. Her mind worked frantically to find a solution but no matter how much she tried to make her brain work it refused.

Somehow, she wouldn't be able to recall later, they ended up on the roof, facing off. Having lost her dagger the only thing that she had on her was a fan. One of her hands was spared putting pressure on her side, which was quickly bleeding out. Even if she did survive this, she knew that there was little chance of living through the amount of blood she had lost. He bared his teeth at her in a semblance of a smile when he saw it.

"No where to run, little viper," he said, his eyes glinting, "Injured, and you're out of tricks."

He thrust his sword forward and, thinking quickly, Mulan let the blade slice through the material on her fan before closing it on the cold metal and twisting it. The blade was pulled free from his hands and she deftly caught it, pointing it back at him.

"Not quite," she hissed, "Mushu!"

I really hope whatever you came up with works.

She had left Mushu in charge of making up a plan and she really hoped that it would work, seeing as she didn't exactly know what it was at this point in time.

"Ready Baby!" the small dragon shouted with a grin as he tore of the covering for the largest, most dangerous firework that he could find.

Shan-Yu's eyes widened and he turned with rage to run but Mulan refused to let him go. She stabbed his own sword into his clothing, pinning him to the top of the roof. The sword held fast and the Hun leader was unable to move.

Knowing that if she didn't get off the roof as fast as she could Mulan ran, scooping up the cricket and Mushu as she did so before jumping from the roof and catching a lantern. Behind her the rocket caught Shan-Yu and blew him into the rocket tower where the entire thing exploded into an array of colors as the fireworks ignited.

The blast made her loose her grip and she fell onto someone below her. Her side pulled painfully but she ignored, withholding a gasp of pain, it in favor of finding out who she had landed on. He eyes locked with Shang's and her eyes widened slightly before she pulled herself up.

She couldn't let him know who she was.

Before he could stop her she disappeared into the crowds and vanished.

0~o~0

When Shang had seen the woman facing off against Shan-Yu he couldn't help but admire her courage . . . or maybe it was stupidity. He had only caught a brief glance at her but she reminded him of Ping, never giving up.

Shan-Yu had knocked him out and when he had woken he had been just in time to see the firework tower go up in flames. He had seen the woman trying to get down on one of the lanterns and had run to catch her, knowing that a fall from that height could possibly kill her.

Of course she just had to land on him.

She pushed herself to her feet and again their eyes locked. Distantly he wondered if she was a relative of Ping. Her eyes widened and, before he could tell her to stop, she had turned and vanished among the throng, who didn't seem to notice her.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to find her among the many thousands gathered, so he made his way back to his men.

0~o~0

"What is the meaning of this!" The Emperor yelled as he came down the steps, his eyes trailing over the soldiers and a frown making its way across his face as if he hadn't found what he was looking for, "And where is the woman who saved my life?"

The other soldiers glanced around and then at their feet. Shang stepped forward, taking responsibility, "She's gone, Your Highness. She . . . left before we could stop her."

The Emperor frowned, "Do you at least know who she was?" he asked.

Shang shook his head, "We've never seen her before."

His heart fluttered in grief as he remembered how similar she had looked to Ping.

The Emperor looked out over everyone and sighed, "She is a hero of China now," he said softly, "I expect you to find her, Captain. She deserves to be acknowledged for what she has done for us."

Shang bowed and turned to leave. Putting his helmet on he found one of his hands coated in a sticky substance. When he looked, his heart jumped as he recognized the unmistakable red of blood, lots of it, but it wasn't his.

It was hers.

She had been wounded.

0~o~0

Ah, cliffhangers. You have to love them. Next chapter should be the last of this set, see you soon and review!