Disclaimer: Me don't owny, you don't suey.

(A/N: Hello again. New Chapter. So Cool. Thanks to all who read and reviewed. I like to come home and see I have reviews. And after a long day in my school, I tend to cheer up. Hey, its funny, i finally got my sister to write a story. But its not a mulan story, its an Outsiders, she is HorseChick. And she wrote "Who is she?" But to much chit chat. Its Story Time!)

Chapter 3: The Journey

Last time:

"Hey Khan. Good boy. Here you go." she said handing him a carrot, because he was standing still while she put the heavy bags on his back. Khan nickered after enjoying the carrot Mulan had just given to him.

Petting him on the nose, she said to him. "Hey you ready for another long trip Khan?" He nudged his nose into her hand as a yes.

Mulan was about to say something before there was a knock on the front gate.

"I'll get it Mama." she said seeing her mother come outside to get the door.

Opening the door to greet who ever it was when she saw that it was...

Squealing and jumping up and down, she hugged her friends Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, who was picking all of them up in a back breaking hug.

"Hey guys. What are you doing here?" she asked after Chien Po had put them all down.

"Well, we were sent to take you to the palace." Chien Po said in his humble way.

"Really? Oh, where are my manners? Come in, come in." she said stepping aside to let the trio in.

"Thank you." they said together.

"Hey, maybe you know why the the Emporer needs me." Mulan said showing the way to the stables, so they can take care of their horses.

"Accually we don't Mulan. He just told us that he need to see you for some very important matter, and sent us to come and get you." Yao said, watering his horse.

"Oh."

"Mulan, who was at the gate?" Fa Li asked coming outside.

"Mama, these are my friends from the army. Yao, Ling, and Chien Po." Mulan said, each of them bowing as Mulan introduced them.

Bowing to them Fa Li said, "Its nice to meet you. You must be here to escort Mulan to the palace."

"Yes ma'am." they said together.

"How nice. Grandma, will you come out here, please."

"Why is the General here?" she asked coming out, then seeing the trio standing there. "Who are you?" she asked with a disgusted face.

"Grandma! This is Yao, Ling, and big guy here is Chien Po." Mulan said, again each one bowing.

"Charmed." Granny said with the same disgusted face she had on.

"Grandma! Don't be rude!" both Mulan and Fa Li said together.

"Excuse me. I've seen ruder." She said crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air. "I have to go, its bingo time in the village square. So I'll see you later Li. Mulan good luck." Granny said turning and going out the front gate. (A/N; Bingo - Ha! Just go with me.)

"Oi! Please excuse her, she was expecting... someone else." Fa Li said.

"We know." Yao answered to her.

"And who are these fine young gentalman?" Fa Zhou asked from behind Mulan.

"Baba, this is Yao, Ling and Chien Po." she said, them bowing, yet again, as she said there names.

"Hello. Please come inside for tea. I'm sure Li has some ready." Fa Zhou said leading the way to the house.

"So, you were in the army? What was it like, was Mulan a troublemaker?" Fa Li asked after they had all sat down at the table.

"Mother!"

"Well accutally she was. You see on the first day at camp, she kind of" Yao said before he was interupted by Mulan.

"Acctually, on the first day, I knocked everyone over, spilling rice everywhere."

"Really? Mulan was always alittle clumsey." Fa Zhou said to them sipping his tea, knowing that he's supposed to have 3 cups of tea in the morning, and 3 at night.

Mulan who covered her face with her hands said from behind them, "Baba, please."

"Mulan, its true, you are alittle clumsey." Ling said to her.

"Actually, it probably wouldn't have happened if Yao wasn't going to punch the living day lights out of her." Chien Po said looking at Mulan, who came out from behind her hands, then at Yao who was turning red.

"Well, if she hadn't punched me in the head, followed by slapping me in the behind, followed by calling me a limp noodle, then none of it would have happened." Yao said, looking at the astonished faces Fa Zhou and Fa Li had.

"It's not my fault. It's Mushu's." she said relizing her slip.

"Who's Mushu?" they all said together.

"What, huh? Hey look at the time, we better get going if we want to get as mush travel in as we can."

"Oh yes. We better get going. Its along trip to the Middle Kingdom." Chien Po said getting up, the same with Ling,Yao, Mulan, and her parents.

"Right, I'll go get the horses." Ling said getting up and heading out the door. Chien Po and Yao followed him.

"Mulan, here, this is for you." Fa Li said handing her a jade bracelet with a gold trim around the edges..

Looking at what her mother had given to her, Mulan said, "Mama? But its yours."

"No, its yours. It had always been yours. We just never gave it to you." Fa Li said closing Mulan's hands around it.

"Then why are you giving it to me now"

"Your Father and I both thought it's time to give it to you. And we were afraid you were going to lose it when you were younger. Then we were going to give it to you after you were married, but. Anyway, take it yours." Fa Li said, taking her hands from Mulan's.

"Mulan? You coming" Ling asked, already on his horse, the same with Yao and Chien Po.

"Yeah, in a sec."

"Mulan you be careful." Fa Zhou said to her leading Khan to were Fa Li and Mulan were standing.

Giving them both a hug she said, "I will. Mama, Baba, I'm going to miss you."

"We'll miss you too." they said together. Just before she got back on Khan, Fa Li whispered something into Mulan's ear.

Nodding her head, Mulan gave her mother another hug, then went to get on Khan.

"Okay, so I'll send as many letters as I can." Mulan said getting on Khan.

"Okay, now you have to go." Fa Li said to her.

"Mulan, if you see Granny, tell her it's time to come home." Fa Zhou said, before Mulan went out the front gate.

"Okay Baba." Mulan yelled back to him.

"So Mulan, have you heard from pretty boy yet?" Yao asked when Mulan was caught up with them.

"No." she answered back.

Looking down at the bracelet her Mother had given to her, she heard a loud "BINGO!"

"Mulan? Isn't that your Grandmother?" Chien Po asked, pointing in the direction of the village square.

Shaking her head she steered Khan towards her. "Granny."

"Mulan, are you leaving?" Granny Fa asked.

"Yes, but Baba said its time for you to go home." Mulan said to her, getting off Khan to give her a hug goodbye.

"But I just got a bingo, and I won the pot." Granny said giving her granddaughter a hug.

"Granny! You gambled? How much did you win?" (A/N; Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. It's from Mulan II.)

"Never mind that. You have to leave, now go." she said, making Mulan get back on Khan.

"And you go home." Mulan said watching to make sure Granny was heading in the direction of their house.

"Don't worry. I'm going now. Now you better get going to." Granny said to her, then whispering to herself, "Yeah, after I get my part of the pot."

"Bye Granny. I'm going to miss you." Mulan said before leaving the town square.

Waving goodbye she said, "Now, where is the man with my part of the pot?"

I still need to find an answer for that dream. Want can really mean? "Mulan? Are you okay" asked Ling, who was riding next to her.

"Huh? Oh yes. I'm fine. I just want to know why the Emporer needs me. That's all." She answered.

"Alright. It's getting dark, we should stop and make camp here for the night." Yao said watch the sun as it went down.

"Yeah. I'll go find some wood for a fire." Chien Po said making sure his horse was tied tight to the tree.

Ling doing the same said, "I'll get the tents put up."

"Right, Um... I'm going to go for a walk. Riding for that long can cramp up your legs. So I'll see you in alittle bit." Mulan said to them after she had tied Khan to a tree.

"Okay. See you in a bit Mulan." Yao said helping Ling with the tents, for it had fallen on top of him when he thought he had gotten it put up.

"Okay. See you later."

Walking through the woods to find a quiet place to think, she began to think about Shang. Where is he? Why wasn't he the one who came to escort me to the palace. Wait! Maybe thats the reason why the Emporer needs to see me, maybe there is another threat for war. No, it could be something eles. Some small thing, maybe like. She thought before she heard a crack.

Getting up and whirling around to see the trespasser she said going into a fighting position, "Who's there!" when know one answered she said, "Come out you coward! There's no reason to hide! I'll just kick your butt!"

"Mulan, who are you talking to" Ling asked from behind her.

"Whoa!" Breathing heavely Mulan said, placing her hand on her chest, "Ling! You scared me. Don't do that."

"Sorry. Um, we have the tents set up, and dinners ready."

With a raised brow, she said to him, "Really, they didn't fall on you again. Wait a minute, who cooked?"

"Um, Chien Po."

"Right, okay then, let's go back to the campsite."

After arriving back at the campsite Mulan, Yao, Ling, and Chien Po all sat down to eat. They talked, shared stories, talked about training at the camp, and all the mistakes they all made, and then Shang getting mad at them for it.

"Hey speaking of Shang, where is he? I haven't seen him since he dropped off my helmet." Mulan asked, putting her bowl down.

There was dead silence. Before Yao spoke.

"We..." he said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yes" Mulan pressured.

"Mulan we haven't heard from him since he left the palace to follow you." Chien Po said with a sad look on his face.

Dead silence fell over them again, then Mulan spoke.

"Oh." she said trying to hold back the lump in her throat. "Um, I'm going to go to bed now. So I'll see you in the morning." she said getting up to go lay down, but she had no intention of going to sleep.

"Okay, see you in the morning. Remember, we leave bright and early." Ling said to her before she disappeared behind the tent flap.

Where is he? Wait. Why do I keep wanting to know where he is? Thats the question I should ask. She thought laying down on her mat. Because I think you might actually care about him. A voice in the back of her head said to her. Do I? Do I care about him? Once again the little voice said to her, Of course you do! Heck, I think you might love him. Rolling over, her eyes became droopy. Closing them all the way, she fell into a deep sleep. Soon she saw the same stairway, with the door at the top, reaching a hand out...

Well that went great. What do you think? Another cliffe. srry. Hey what do you think about a story taken place after Mulan II? Cuz its starting to form in my head. Anyway, there you go chapter 3. Sigining out, Mess531y.

colorguardbaby23: I like them parts too! All but the bridge scene. I don't know why. I just don't. Its to... sad. For me anyway. Thanks for reviewing.

teh NAZUMI: No Chi Fu! Yeah! Well wait till the next chapter. Won't you be surprised. And arn't well all alittle crazy...-er? By the way, who did win the superbowl? Cuz i didn't watch it cuz well, i'm a Vikings fan all the way, even though we tend tolose all the time.

alibi girl: To bad its not him. But i'm glad its not. I hate him! He's to smug and snooty.

Angel 452: Your questions, well most of them are answered. But wait til chapter 4, it gets very dramatic. i think?

pepe,ok: I hate thoughs cliffies! Thanks for the review.

Canadarulz: I haven't heard from you in along time. Hehe. I love Granny Fa. She's one of my favorites. But my all time favorites is..., hm, who is my all time favorite. -thinks to herself-

Spellcaster Hikaru: Your very welcome. I love the second one. I don't get how they saved China either. But hey, its only a movie. Your imagination has to do the rest.

hawaiiangurl361: Hello again. Srry for so many cliff hangers. Thanks for holding on.

Mickey Mouse 100: HELLO! Thanks for reviewing the story.

Poison Blossom: LOL! Nice review. I can relate. Thanks for reviewing both of my stories.

Anna: Two reviews for chapter 2. Thanks! Her dream will be explained in chapter 4. What do you mean before friday? Are you moving or something? Well, thanks for reviewing. Maybe see you in the future?