Author's Note: More tension between Shan and Shang guys...it almost reaches it's climax here. :D I was thinking of making this the 10th chapter, but I decided to make it the 9th. Enjoy! R&R! I want some feedback!

Special Thanks:

Trakrat- Yup she's slowly falling for him...but nothing Shang can't stop right? I'm sorry, you'll have to read the rest of the chapter to see how Mulan/Shang turn out or maybe if it turns out to be Mulan/Shan :/

Koolbroadwayreader- LOL I thought it was the true love thing. Well that's good:) And haha Mulan has keen ears. She's beast. And even though Mulan is falling for Shan, I don't really like him much either. But you never know how this story will turn out:)

It soon reached nightfall and like Shang wanted, they were going to travel at night. It was too dark to even see anything; luckily they carried lanterns but that gave them away. Shan, on the other hand, suggested that as soon as the moon was high enough in the sky, to rely on its light and stay hidden within the forest. They would wear their dark robes to hide and disguise themselves in the shadows of the forest.

The whole journey was quiet and Mulan was anything but calm. In fact she was angry. Angry at Shang for overreacting and angry at herself for a certain thought that seemed to come up a lot now. She secretly hoped Shang wouldn't read these thoughts. It was as if, the closer she got to Shang, the less privacy she had. Mushu had assured her that her thoughts would stay hidden if she wanted to, but Mulan couldn't help but feel paranoid, because what she was thinking was something Shang could not know.

Earlier in the day Shan and she were alone in the woods. Mind you, they didn't do anything a married couple would do, or anything Mulan and Shang would do actually, which disappointed Mulan in the sense that things she would do with Shan are things she wouldn't do with Shang. Shan was so fun and carefree and wild and well Shang, he seemed to tie her down, especially now. Sure Shang was a little jealous, which Mulan thought was cute, and after all she couldn't blame him, since she was the same way with Xiaohua. But if Shang was jealous, why wasn't he trying to spend more time with her? He knew that she loved him way more than she could ever love Shan. When Mulan was jealous, she, on the other hand, was not even sure if Shang loved her than Xiaohua. So of course, she stepped back only when she thought that it was true that Shang loved Xiaohua, after the kiss those two shared. But Shan hadn't kissed Mulan. They hadn't done anything, except swim in the waterfall together, but she knew Shang wouldn't join them, so it wasn't even a big deal. So why couldn't Shang talk to her? Why was he avoiding her? Even if he was mad, he couldn't stay mad for that long. He had refused to talk to her the whole day.

And Shan. Shan. Shan. Shan. He drove Mulan crazy! He was carefree and wild and fun to be around, more fun than Shang himself. Shan knew how to have fun, how to take risks, how to live on the wild side. Shan was open to her and frank. He wasn't afraid to say how he felt, unlike Shang, whom she had to often pry open to see how he felt even though Mulan already knew how he felt most of time. And with Shang and her getting married soon, Mulan wondered if she could live with a man who kept something as important as his feelings away from her.

Shang was so reserved and calm, which is something Mulan didn't really understand. He was a General and if anything, you'd think he'd want to kick back and relax occasionally. He lived in danger, with surprise attacks and everything else. So why wouldn't he want to have fun?

Mulan's only conclusion for why Shan was so wild was because he didn't live in the face of danger almost every day. He only guarded the palace, and how many dangers even made their way to the palace without being stopped by the border patrol and army. Shang probably found his fun in each battle.

But Shang was someone Mulan could count on. He would always be there for her no matter what she did. Because before they discovered that they loved each other, they were friends, best friends. Shan, though, was someone Mulan as a little unsure about. Sure he was a good friend, someone to have fun with, but Shan couldn't take things seriously. In fact, when Mulan wanted him to be serious, he wasn't! And this annoyed Mulan more than anything.

For once, just following your heart was more complicated to Mulan, because it now mixed with her mind. She knew the right thing to do, and her heart told her that it was right. But at the same time, her heart yearned for another thing, and her mind told her that it was the wrong thing. She knew it was wrong, but she still wanted it. Mulan was torn.

Mulan sighed. She needed something to get over this and she wanted to sleep on it, but of course she couldn't because General Li over here wanted to travel at night.

Shan was the only one that noticed that Mulan sighed. He smiled, "Why don't we speed up this journey a little bit? We'll be able to reach our destination faster, sleep longer, and we'll be able to travel farther distances since it is nightfall." He spoke loud enough for Shang to hear, and then whispered to Mulan, "And we can have a little fun, so you can take your mind off whatever is bothering you."

Mulan smiled. Shan was trying to cheer her up. "I agree," she was trying to hide her smile to avoid suspicion from Shang; "We'll be able to reach our destination quicker. And we have to travel a week. The faster we get done, the slower we can take things. On the way to Qui Gong, there are several large cities," she then muttered quietly, "since Shang decided to take the damn long way."

"Fine," Shang replied softly.

Shan cheered loudly and then kicked his horse to speed off. He relaxed a little and actually let go off his horse bridle. Shan kicked off his hood to feel the wind his hair.

Mulan giggled and ran off to follow him. She also knocked off her hood and removed the tie in her hair. It felt good to feel the wind in her hair. It felt good to ride at such as a fast speed. She hadn't ridden this fast in such a long time, for purely pleasure. Even Khan seemed to enjoy it as he neighed as they rode along the flat landscape.

Once they reached the more hilly part of the landscape, Shan continued to ride at quick speeds. And Mulan had to keep up with Shan. But she wasn't used to riding at these speeds on hills. She watched as Shan would fearlessly jump off the hills with his horse, and then slide down the hill. He gestured for Mulan to try it. And when she did, she was having the time of her life.

As the sun broke across the sky, they finally slowed down. And as Mulan was having the time of her life, she failed to see Shang who was riding right beside her. Also, after riding with all her energy, she was quickly tiring out, especially after a long day swimming in the river, riding the whole night at top speed, and staying up all day and night. She could barely see who was next to her. And after the exhaustion, she slowly fell off her horse.

"Mulan!" Both men yelled, and Shang caught her.

As Mulan snuggled in Shang's arms, she yawned and got comfortable. She felt around and realized she was in someone's arms, though she wasn't sure who it was. She then raised her arms up and her hands found Shang's face. She caressed it and Shang softly chuckled. Mulan sighed. She smiled and whispered, "Thanks Shan."

And at that moment, Shang growled and glared at Shan, who could easily see the General's battle face, with the sunshine crawling slowly over the area.