Whoops! It's taken me so long to update! Busy busy! Anyways, new chapter! Enjoy!

The gravel road was dusty and hot. It stretched to the horizon, bending and twisting like a ribbon of stone. The horse was panting in the heat; dragging it's hooves and hanging it's head. The next town was still about a twenty minute ride, and unfortunately, it was a town I had never hoped to return to. Steering clear of it the first time, I was now forced to enter it due to the almost unbearable heat. I wiped my moist brow.

I had hoped to have returned to Mulan by now, but the punishing sun had slowed me down. I absently fingered the parchment in my coat pocket, which was currently hanging over the neck of the horse. I had received the letter the day I was about to leave. The messenger had arrived just as I was leaving the stable. I had torn open the envelope with a fury, scanning the letter with my shaking hands.

Dear Shang,
Thank you for your letter, I do love to hear from you when I am sitting
at home, adjusting to life outside the army. I have no way of knowing if
you will actually receive this letter in time,but if not, then I will have to
tell you this face to face, and the very thought terrifies me. Shang, after
receiving your letter, I have to tell you. I think I`ve fallen in love with
you. I know this is an inappropriate thing to say in a letter, but I must
tell you. If just so you are prepared. I pray this does not change your
return plans. So, I suppose I might see you soon, then.
-Mulan

Clutching the envelope to my chest, I took a deep sigh and leaned against the gate of the horse`s stall. And now, almost two weeks from the day I had made my decision to ask her to marry me, I was travelling down a horrifically hot pathway, praying that she had not changed her mind. I loved her too, after all. When exactly I had made the decision to allow myself to think of her in this way I was unsure, but I knew now that I did. And it most certainly did change my return plans. I would return as fast as humanly possibly, and ask her to be my wife.

Before I knew it, the road had unfolded into the small village I had dreaded coming to. The houses became familiar as I trotted through the cobblestone pathway. The market, the school, the Matchmaker`s assessment building. Not every town had a Matchmaker, but since it was the only `large` town in quite a large radius, so it did have one. I nodded shyly to the women exiting the building, who smiled and waved at me. Embarrassing.

As I moved further into the centre of the village, the buildings grew more and more familiar. I was lead by some invisible force to the place that I had hoped to never return to. The small townhouse was faded and cracked, the shutters were missing several panels and the porch was rotted. The paint had long since peeled off of the door. I dismounted the horse and walked slowly up to the steps, avoiding the crumbling spaces. I pushed gently on the door, and the lock disinigrated. I step inside.

Although the scene looks familiar, there is nothing but a stark, blank room with yellowing wallpaper. I move from room to room, silently reminising on the time I spent here. As the last door appears at the end of the hall, I almost turn and refuse to enter. But somehow, I manage to make it on my two feet. I push open the door and enter.

Tears build in my eyes as I run my fingers along the perimeter of the wall, imagining what it used to be. Dresser, desk, chair. And finally I stop at the far end wall. The paint is discoloured from what used to exist. I touch the edge of the yellowing line, trying not to cry. There was nothing left. Nothing that exists that shows that she truely lived. I loved her. With all of my heart. And she had left me. Forever.

Don`t cry... I thought, but the tears spilled over, and I leaned against the rotting boards for support. I slid down the wall and buried my face into my knees. The pain was still fresh and sharp, slicing through my lungs and making my breath choke up into my throat. I couldn`t imagine how I would look to an observer, now. A man garbed in General`s uniform; eyes red and puffy; nose running.

My shaking hands rattle against the metal armour. Simply a shell. It held no protection for the small, shaking, sobbing man beneath. At least not from this pain. Be a man, Shang. This is ridiculous. She`s gone. She`s not coming back to you. And this simply made me sob harder. I could still remember the day she left.

"Shang!" I looked over. I couldn't see her. The crowd pushed against me, shoving me back. "Shang!" I turned. There she was! Running towards me, grabbing my hand. I gripped on to it. I would never let go. She pulled me along with her. We ran. The crowd screamed and pushed, becoming more and more urgent. She jerked me into the side of a building.

"Shang? Shang!" Tears were running down her face. I wrapped my arms around her. I told her I was fine. I was okay. I would protect her. She pulled away and smiled at me, tears streamed down her face. Another scream rang through the mass of people, and our hands intertwined once again. We ran. I risked a glance backwards. Greasy men prowled the streets, swords long and glistening, cutting down people as if they were stalks of rice. I shuddered and turned back. Fire burned in the streets. Markets had been destroyed. Doors had been kicked inwards.

We started to slow. I ran forth, tugging on her hand. She panted, sweat running down her brow. She tried to keep up to the rest, but I knew she was tiring. She hands rested on her bulging stomach. The robes she always wore usually covered her growing abdomen, but as she clutched it, it was clearly defined. She was always so embarrassed about showing.

I knew she was exhausted, so I tried to pull her along with me. But she didn't move. She couldn't. "Please!" I cried, my hands brushing the tears from her cheeks. "Please, we have to go! We have to!" She looked at me, eye to eye in her crouched position. The look in her eyes terrified me. I saw death. "Please!" I screamed again. She straightened, but her breathing was still laboured.

Suddenly a man appeared behind her. "Well, what do we have here?" he sneered, grabbing her arm.

"Don't touch her!" I shrieked, and lunged towards him. I was unarmed, and he brushed me aside like a fly. I fell to the streets, my knees scraping painfully on the stones, but I couldn't feel it. I couldn't feel anything. And I watched as he took his jagged dagger and ran it across her throat, then tossing her aside. Her body hit the ground and went limp; the man stalked away. I couldn't stand. I crawled on my hands and knees towards her. "No. Please. No." I murmered. And I watched as she drew her last ragged breath. Tears carved acid trails down my cheeks.

I lay my head on her bulging stomach. "Don't leave me." But she was already gone. And in a short amount of time, I knew her child would be, too. The thought made me want to cry harder. My baby sibling. I had secretly prayed it was a girl. I had always wanted a sister. "Mama," I sobbed again. Another dirt-stained man approached, and I was forced to leave my own mother and baby sibling behind. Do I stay and die? Do I leave my own mother? I chose to run. And as I escaped the wrath of war, I couldn't help wonder what the gods were doing to make a seven-year-old boy make that kind of decision.

I was pulled back to reality. My tears were starting to run dry. I rose from the floor and took one last look at the square of white against the yellowing wallpaper where the portrait of my mother used to hang. My father hadn't been there. He hadn't actually seen her in seven months prior to the day she was taken from me. I doubted he was aware she was having his child. I was invisible to him as a seven-year-old, and his unborn child was literallly unexistant. He should have been home. He should have been protecting her. And although I knew he was the General, I also observed his greater-than-average absence from our home.

I knew he was uncomfortable being at home. I often doubted that he even loved her. I knew it was a horrible thought, but if he truely cared for her, wouldn't he come home when he got time off? I sighed and shook my head. I exited my childhood house. My chest constricted painfully. I loved her, and becuase I wasn't strong enough, she was gone from my life forever. And as I mounted my horse, I made a vow to myself. I would never let Mulan go without a fight. I wouldn't be too weak or afraid. I would ask her to marry me, and protect her. Forever.

Awww! Sad chapter!!! :( I have no idea if it was suprising or not to you guys.... Please review!!!!!