Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story. Thanks for the reviews ElsaAnnaSnowQueen, Zyenna, Gabriel Palpatine, Sapphire Mae 13, Annitsu, GLB, Meel Jacques, doremishine itsuko, StarTraveler, The CatCharmer, 1bluesapphire, Maleficent-darkgoodwitch2416, CluelessAngel.

The stress in the Fa home was palpable, from the youngest member to the oldest.

Mei began spending more time on the barn roof. Liu spent hours with the horses. Kang was fussy, and fought with Ling over toys, food and everything else around them.

Grandma Fa and Fa Li spent much time in the temple praying. Fa Zhou sat for hours on the stone bench every day and joined the others in the temple as well.

Mulan and Shang target practiced to relieve stress. They also meditated, and began to teach the children how to, as well.

Mulan would close her eyes, and focus on her breathing, and picture cherry blossoms in her mind. She learned to be calmed by the sight of the beautiful flowers. Even the baby's kicking and moving would settle down.

It was a chilly, rainy day when Mulan went into labor again. Just as before, Fa Zhou retreated to the temple. Grandma Fa and Fa Li took care of the children. Shang stayed with Mulan, who was attended to by two midwives. The senior midwife was training an apprentice. Husbands were not traditionally allowed in the room during a delivery, but because Mulan might not survive the delivery he was allowed to stay.

The labor seemed to drag on, with Mulan's contractions coming through the night into the next day. Finally, she felt the urge to push. Cautiously, she let her body lead as she pushed with each pain.

Just like before, she felt severe pain followed by copious bleeding. Knowing she would fall unconscious soon, Mulan gave one final, powerful push, and their baby boy was delivered.

He was pink, and screaming his lungs out. He was given the name Li Chen. The midwives cut the cord and quickly cleaned and wrapped him up, and handed him to his father.

Mulan was falling unconscious. As the midwives messaged her belly, Shang quickly ran out of the bedroom to update the rest of the family. Then he returned to Mulan's side, unaware that Mei had ran off.

The midwives had delivered her placenta by the time he returned. But, the bleeding continued.

One midwife prepared herbal brews while the other massaged Mulan's abdomen. Then they sat her up and poured it down her throat. But unlike her first delivery, her bleeding didn't slow.

Fa Li finally noticed Mei was missing, and went outside to look for her. She found her standing on the edge of the barn roof, despite the rain and coming darkness.

"Mei, come down. Now!"

"No, I won't."

"You come down this instant."

"No, Nainai, I won't. I'm going to jump off the roof so Mama doesn't die. The gods can have me instead."

"No, child, you can't do that. The gods want you to live."

"Then why do they want Mama to die?"

"I don't know, Mei, I don't know. But, jumping off the roof won't help your mama."

"I already lost one mama, I don't want to lose another one."

Mei sat down on the edge of the roof and sobbed. As Fa Li held her arms out, she climbed down, and was carried inside. Fa Li was thankful she had come outside before her granddaughter could jump off the roof.

The news from the midwives was grim. The bleeding continued, and Mulan's pulse was weak and slow. Time was running out.

Fa Zhou and Grandma Fa came in, and said goodbye, then each child gave their unconscious mother a kiss. Shang laid down next to his beloved wife and wrapped his arms around her.

After Grandma Fa left the bedroom, she walked straight to the temple. Kneeling down, she prayed to the ancestors.

"Ancestors, my life has been long and good. Please let me take Mulan's place. Please take me instead."

All was silent, and a gentle breeze blew through the temple. Grandma Fa stood up and went back to the house. She quietly kissed everyone goodnight and laid down. She right away fell into a deep sleep and her heart stopped.

Just at that moment, Mulan's bleeding stopped, and her breathing, which had been shallow, returned to normal. Shang, noticing the change in her breathing, called the midwives in. Everyone had left the grieving husband alone with his dying wife.

After quickly verifying that the bleeding had stopped, Fa Li and Fa Zhou were told of the possible improvement in Mulan's condition.

Her cheeks began to pink up, and her eyes opened. Shang leaned over and kissed her.

Fa Li went to Grandma Fa's room to wake her up and tell her of Mulan's improvement. But the woman didn't respond. A touch of her face revealed cool skin. Her features, normally laughing or smiling, were still.

"Zhou…"

Fa Zhou entered his mother's room, and saw right away that she was gone.

He looked at his wife, and both knew she had convinced the ancestors to take her and spare Mulan.

It was with heavy hearts that they returned to Mulan's side. She was sitting up now, feeding her newborn son. After they shared their news, her tears fell on his blanket. Shang put an arm around her.

The children were sleeping, but Liu woke up and stumbled out of her bed. Upon seeing Mulan sitting up, she ran to her side.

"Mama!"

Shang pulled her up on his lap and she gazed at her tiny brother. Soon after, Mei came in, and joined her sister on Shang's lap.

The adults looked at each other, and a silent agreement was made to wait until morning to tell the children of Grandma Fa's death.

The midwives left after a few more hours, after being absolutely sure Mulan was stable. By then, the girls were back in bed. Fa Zhou and Fa Li had laid down for a brief rest. Mulan slept with Chen in a cradle next to her.

Only Shang was awake. He walked to the temple.

"Thank you, Grandma Fa. Thank you for letting me have more years with my wife." Then he went back and laid down next to Mulan.

The sun rose too soon for the exhausted members of the Fa home. Kang and Ling met their tiny brother, and learned that their mother was still very much alive. Then Fa Li told all four children that Grandma Fa had died during the night. Understandably, they were all distraught.

The family buried her outside near the temple. They were all grieving, but they were also thankful Mulan was alive.

Their family had grown over the last fifteen months. After Ling's birth, no one had guessed that in just fifteen months, four more children would join their family. Mei and Liu were 4.5 years old, Ling was 2, and Kang was 19 months, and now they also had Chen.

There wasn't a day that went by that Grandma Fa wasn't missed. The family knew she was still there, watching over them, and always would be.

Nainai- Grandmother

Thanks again to everyone who's read, reviewed, favorited and followed this story. Your support means the world. I'm stuck on which way to go at the moment, so feedback and reviews and ideas would be awesome.

I just created a community called Tough Topics, for fics about topics like rape, suicide, alcoholism, etc. community/Tough-topics/123784/