Author's Note: Sorry, it's taking me so long. Balancing 3 stories is hard, plus school. GRR. Anyways, R&R! I'll update ASAP! Oh and don't forget to subscribe/read my other story, Reasons to Hate You (another Mulan fan fic)!
Special Thanks to My special reviewers!:
koolbroadwayreader-augh i'm gonna admit, i'm torn between shan and shang, but I'm always Shang/Mulan!
chelle93-I'm not sure if you're gonna enjoy this chapter, LOL.
Ivyshadow-thanks for reviewing and for reading my other story and reviewing lol.
trakrat-it was pathetic? I'm not sure what you mean. But thanks for reviewing!
Leila Wong-I'm touched! I've never gotten that before! Thank you so much! I'm glad you love my stories! Thank you for reviewing also! (btw, you may want to do story subscription. It'll tell you everytime I update and add a chapter)
PatTy-I'm updating as fast as I can. :) Glad you like it.
Rachel- thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! yes, this is why I love Shan also! Thank you for seeing that! And 10 Things I hate About You is one of my favorite movies!
Arielle- of course I'm thanking you! I thank all my awesome reviewers! They are what keep me writing! I'm glad you enjoy my stories! thank you!
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She wasn't going to go through this again. That just wasn't what she needed. Mulan had been down that road before. She didn't like where it led. But then again, she never got to see how far it went down because she knew she loved Shang. But how could Shan be her one true husband? Sure he made her laugh, she had so much fun with him, and Shan always knew how to cheer her up. "NO!" a voice shouted inside her head. "NO! NO! NO!" She was falling for Shan again and that just could not happen.
"Shang loves me and I love him. That's how it's supposed to be." She remembered the words she told Shan. "Mulan and Shang," she repeated in her head. "Mulan and Shang," she loved the ring of that. "Mulan and Shang," she smiled as she thought about their future together. It was certainly looking bright. But maybe Shan was her true husband for a reason? She scowled. No, that wasn't going to happen. But then again, if she really loved Shang, why did she have to keep reminding herself?
Su noticed her discomfort. The heroine next to her had red eyes and obviously was crying. "Are you okay Fa Mulan?" she asked gently.
Mulan turned to her. She looked completely out of it. Her hair was a mess, but from riding. Her eyes were red from crying and nose was stuffed. Mulan fake-smiled. "Yeah," she whisper-choked, "I'm fine."
Xiaohua scoffed. "Yeah right. It's so obviously you're in love with Shan. If you don't mind, since you love him, can I have Shang? Or if you want to marry Shang, can I have Shan?" Mulan glared at her. Xiaohua gulped nervously, "Okay, maybe not." She muttered.
"Don't ever joke about that," Mulan angrily told her. "And for your information, I love Shang."
"Really?" Xiaohua asked. "Is that why you're crying? Because you love Shang? Or are you crying because you left Shan?"
Mulan charged her horse towards Xiaohua, but Su intervened. "Stop it! Both of you." She glared at Xiaohua to stop. "Mulan, I'm not going to make this decision for you, but I have to force you to decide now, and truthfully decide. Do you love Shan or Shang? And why? I can't have you crying and messing up this mission."
Xiaohua and Su looked at her curiously, but Mulan looked away. "I don't want to answer why," Mulan replied. If she did, there would be a lot of explaining to do.
"Fine," Su replied, "I'll leave it up to Xiaohua to tell if you truly belong with that person."
"Shang," Mulan replied without even thinking. She loved Shang and some naïve boy was not going to get in the way. "I love Shang."
Su looked to Xiaohua, who just shrugged. Su took that as a yes. "Okay it's settled then. You love Shang. And I'm glad you chose him, because a boy who isn't in your life at this moment didn't stay in it for good reasons. Plus a good boy should or would never make you cry." Su smiled and patted Mulan on the back. She fake-smiled again.
However, speaking about this, didn't light up the situation for Mulan. She still kept thinking about it. Leave it Xiaohua to see the truth and people's feelings. Xiaohua would explain that she was just stating things on how she saw it. So did she see that Mulan was falling for Shan? That just was not going to happen. But if she really loved Shang, why did she have to keep reminding herself?
Mulan looked up to the sky. It was getting dark, the sun was no longer up or on the horizon, and she would not have the girls travel in the dark. "Let's stop here for the night," she told them. "It's safer to travel by day. This seems like a safe enough place to stay." Mulan said, looking around at their surroundings.
Okay, maybe it wasn't the safest place, but it would do for now. The tall trees would block the light coming from their fire. Plus, this place was almost in the middle of the forest. No one would even know they were here unless they were following them, but Mulan would know if they were being followed.
This time, Xiaohua set up her own tent. She wasn't going to share with Shang or another boy, and this time she set up the tent all by herself. Su also set up a tent. Xiaohua had a spare tent for some reason. While the two girls were setting up their tents, Mulan went and gathered wood from nearby trees. She stayed within the vicinity so she could keep an eye on the girls. Within minutes, Mulan returned with enough wood and quickly started a fire.
From within her bag, Mulan gave the girls dried fruit. She couldn't fish since there was no lake nearby and she didn't want to leave the girls out of her sight. They were her mission and she had to protect them. Xiaohua luckily had some food that she stole from Lord Chin's palace before they left. Though they didn't eat well, it was hunger satisfying.
"So," Su started, breaking the silence, "What are you going to do once you find Shang and talk to the Huns?"
"Well if that succeeds," Mulan started.
"It will succeed Fa Mulan," Xiaohua corrected her.
Mulan smiled. "When we are done with that, I will take you to the Emperor Su. And I'll let you do whatever you wish. You can go and marry in a nearby village or you can go back. It doesn't matter to me."
Su smiled. "Thank you Fa Mulan."
Mulan nodded. "Now, I think it's time we go to bed." She turned to Su, "Do you think you can keep watch for half the night? The rest of the night, I'll keep watch. I'm a bit tired."
Su nodded. "Do not worry. I'll keep watch the whole night. You can trust me."
Mulan smiled and went to her tent. Xiaohua also yawned and went to her tent. Though she knew she needed peace, Mulan was unsure if she would be able to sleep.
"Let me go!" Su screamed at the top of her lungs.
Mulan awoke to the girls screaming. She immediately got up and picked up her sword. From the folds of her tent, she looked out and tried to see the captors of her friends, but the dark night and the horrified girls blocked her view. Mulan knew that the only way to defeat these men was to have an unsuspecting counter attack.
As she stealthily snuck out of her tent, she kept her eyes on the screaming girls and their captors. But as she continued walking, she found that she bumped into another captor. The man laughed viciously and Mulan had to keep from screaming aloud. He knocked her arm, causing the sword to fly out. But in one swift movement, Mulan had him falling to the floor.
She immediately grabbed her sword and ran towards the girls, seeing that a surprise attack would be to no avail. "Let them go!" Mulan warned the men and pointed a sword at them.
The men looked at each other and heartily laughed.
Mulan growled. "I said let them go! You have no power over me! I can easily defeat you two with or without my sword."
One fat man spoke up, "You are in no position to be bargaining Fa Mulan."
"Oh yeah? Try me." Mulan challenged them. She took a step forward, but the men didn't move a step.
The other man answered her, "I wouldn't move a step if you wanted to see your beloved General again."
Mulan gasped and clenched her fist. Her stance had become angrier and more fiercely. "Where is he?" She yelled at them. "I'm going to kill you!"
The two men laughed again as the fires in front of them rose higher and higher. "You wouldn't want to do that."
"You're making me so angry! Give me one reason why not to!" Mulan screamed at them.
The men laughed again. They moved forward a little bit. Mulan flinched a little, causing these men to laugh even harder. From behind them, Mulan could faintly see several men coming into view, their faces being lit by the fire. "You asked for one?" the fat man asked. "How about twenty?"