Hey, so I've read a few Mulan fanfics before... Not many were lengthy or descriptive or as entertaining as I'm hoping to make this one! I liked how some were written but I'm going to try to go all Sunny on this one. Maybe the idea of an OC isn't the greatest for Mulan, but I'm gonna go for it! Wish me Luck and let me know your thoughts!

I sat in General Li's tent, picking at my trousers and awaiting orders to be appointed to from the general to his underlings as I oversaw the arrangements. Thanks to some finagling between my father and the General I was permitted to accompany the General and his son as "supervision" over the new branch of troops. With Shang and me in charge, it's only a matter of time before these wimps are whooped into shape. Of course, I'm to do some more personalized training to help the troops improve when they need it… the only thing I'm worried about is their reaction to my presence. You don't often see a woman in war, let alone a princess. Especially the Lotus princess "The most beautiful flower in all of China." My first ever suitor called me that once when I was 11 and the name still sticks. I'm not a flower. And nowhere near as delicate as a lotus blossom.

Just as I tuned back into the discussion, the general promoted Shang, and Chi Fu was trying to argue the new appointment.

"Enough Chi Fu, Shang is perfectly capable of being a captain of a brigade of troops. Your lack of faith in the general's decision is a Lack of respect and honor." I said dully, dismissing my father's councilor and standing to accompany the General out of the tent. The sight that greeted us was less than impressive. Cooked rise… perfectly delectable rice, was spread out on the floor of the camp. "All that beautiful food…." I sighed sadly to myself as Shang saluted his father and got the camps attention.

"SOLDIERS!" He shouted, stepping up to keep me out of sight.

"HE STARTED IT!" they chorused, pointing at the scrawny boy in full uniform, huddled in on himself on the ground.

Shang walked up to the cowering young… man… and scolded him. The boy responded in a feminine voice before changing it to a deeper tone, talking about manly urges and hitting people. Hadn't even come up with a fake male name… Yeah, I don't know who she's trying to fool, but for the sake of the argument I'll keep her secret. Normal domestic peasant women aren't exactly known for sneaking into the army. As long as she can keep up I see no reason to get her in trouble. I'll have to talk to her alone though; the mission she has taken up is a dangerous one, full of risks. But it'll be nice having another girl around.

"…Didn't know Fa, Zhou had a son!" Chi Fu exclaimed.

"The Fa family?" I mumbled to myself, eyes widening in shock as I connected the dots. My father used to send me around the country to visit the greatest military generals and their families when I was young. Of course he always sent me with my own private guard, but… the one family I always loved visiting was the Fa family, their daughter, Mulan, was a fun friend. She didn't insist on tea parties and dolls, she climbed trees with me…. NO WAY!

As Shang moved from in front of me to scold the men, I got a good look at "Ping," when she noticed me her eyes widened drastically, as did all the male soldiers of the camp. Shang turned, aiming to head back to his tent before noticing me standing at attention waiting for a proper introduction.

"To assist me in your training will be Lady Xia, princess of the middle kingdom. I expect you all to treat her with respect. Any complaints from the Princess will result in a punishment fitting the crime. Understood?" Shang ordered roughly, staring them each down.

"Yes sir!" They chorused, saluting at us.

"Xia, if you don't mind monitoring their progress for a few hours. I have a busy day to prepare for."

"Yes, Commander." I said obligingly, nodding my head to him as he passed and stepping towards "Ping" drawing her attention to myself.

"Princess!" She gasped, bowing to me stiffly in an attempt to hide her face.

"Ping, it's good to see you again. I assume your parents and sister are well?" I asked, smirking slightly at her discomfort.

"Yes, Lady Xia." She answered with a nervous smile.

"Perhaps we may catch up on the happenings of the past few years after training. I haven't corresponded with Mulan in ages." I said formally.

"Yes, Princess." She mumbled, a small smile gracing her features as I winked at her.

"General Li expects every grain of rice to be picked up, I expect you to help them to the best of your abilities." I nodded, dismissing her as I walked away to inspect the other soldiers work. "Soldiers! What're your names?" I asked kindly, crouching down to assist a group of three strange looking men. They looked like an interesting bunch.

"PRINCESS!" the tall skinny one squealed nervously, scrambling back as the other two bowed respectfully.

"Your majesty, I am Yao." The short one introduced, standing up as straight as he could as I continued picking up rice, ignoring their obvious panic.

"I'm Ling, your Lotus-i-ness." The squealer introduced, bowing lowly, as I stuck my tongue out in distaste at the name.

"I am Chien Po, your majesty. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The Largest of the three introduced, crouching to assist me in picking up the remainder of the rice littering the ground.

"Hi Chien Po. You three seemed like you may require some assistance." I said, smiling up at the large man shyly.

"Thank you, your majesty, that is very kind." Chien Po smiled.

"Yeah, thanks… er, your princess-ness." Yao added, getting back to work while Ling gaped at us.

"You don't have to call me princess or any of that." I said, scrunching up my nose in distaste, "I'm a soldier here, just as you are. The only difference is I qualify as a commanding officer and you lot don't." I explained, before noticing that Ling still hadn't gone back to work in the ten minutes I had been helping. "SOLDIER! DID I SAY YOU COULD REST?" I asked in my big military voice.

"Ahh! No, sorry sir!" He yelped, before covering his mouth and gasping.

"What are you waiting for? An invitation? Let's go!" I commanded, laughing internally at the scared look he had as he flailed around.

"You're just messing with him, aren't you?" Yao asked in a light tone, watching his friend run around amusedly.

"Oh, most definitely. I'm going to be training with you all until this war ends or my father summons me home. I expect for you all to be comfortable around me. Or at least not look at me like a three headed chicken. I'm a girl, that's not too unusual, you know." I laughed, pulling my straw hat off my head to put the rice in, and allowing my hair to flow down my back. I heard several men surrounding us to gasp, drawing my attention up to survey the camp. They were staring at us… "What on earth are they looking at?" I asked, turning to face Yao and Chien Po, only they were also staring at me also, mouths wide open in shock.

"Lady Xia!" Chi Fu called out, approaching myself and the others, I stood up slowly, drawing myself to my full height. "What are you doing mingling with the commoners?! You are distracting the men!" He scolded, I simply stared at him blankly.

"Far more then you, Chi Fu." I responded coldly, looking the pompous jackass in the eye.

"Mind your tongue! You may be a princess, but you will never take the throne, and you would be wise to remember you are still a woman and must learn how to speak to your superiors." He replied smugly.

"When I meet a superior I will be sure to treat them with the required respect. Until then, I believe you should be tailing Shang right about now, correct? You are dismissed, sir." I scoffed, turning my back to him as I continued picking up rice. When I noticed Yao and Chien Po still staring above me I spoke again, "Are you still here, Chi Fu? Perhaps I should report your disobedience to my father?" I asked, an air of contempt flowing off of me in waves.

"Humph." He huffed walking away. I stood, and watched him leave, my eyebrows slightly scrunched together in anger as I turned back to the gaping men.

"Back to work." I ordered calmly, a challenging smirk gracing my features as I turned back to the men. "With all of these interruptions the camp will never be cleaned.

"You are very headstrong, Xia." Chien Po observe sagely as we went back t work.

"You looked ready to rip him a new one." Yao laughed, causing Ling to scoff.

"No offense princess, but, despite your abnormal height, I doubt you could take on any of us, Men." Ling scoffed, earning a raised eye brow from me.

"Well, we'll just have to see tomorrow when we start training, won't we?" I smirked, picking up my hat that was full of rice as I inspected the remainder of the camp. It appeared to be rice free and a majority of the soldiers were sitting around gossiping by now, after all, the sun was on the verge of setting.

"I bet I could take her with one arm behind my back." I heard Ling mumble to himself as one of Shang's messengers approached me to announce dinner.

"SOLDIERS, YOU HAVE DONE SOME TERRIFIC WORK IN THE LAST FEW HOURS! YOU ARE DISMISSED! WASH UP AND REPORT TO THE MESS HALL IN TEN MINUTES FOR SUPPER!" I shouted to the group, collecting my hat full of rice and several other bins, to dump in the river; even managing to balance one on my head. Men in this camp… they don't expect anything from me but a pretty face and a lot of talk. I can see that now. Even Chien Po and Yao looked uncertain when I said I would be training with them. Perhaps our training will help me convince them of my capabilities, until then, I think I'll feed this rice to the fish and help the chef prepare breakfast for tomorrow. I'm thinking bacon and eggs. They'll need their protein if they want to keep up… And I really need to speak to "Ping."

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