I apologize to everyone for the confusion. This is the true Chapter Sixteen. This was a super stressful day and I felt really bad about updating the wrong chapter so many times, but thank god I've got it figured out with the help of ZabuzasGirl. She really helped me out and this chapter, posted late (and correctly) as it is is 100% thanks to her. She's amazing, go check her out!

Anyways, consider this my apology for my immature author's note. I appreciate everyone's support, encouragement, and understanding in all this. Luckily, it seems I've gotten over a bit of a hump with where I was going with this story, so no promises, but I don't think it will be AS long of a wait for the next one. We've got a marriage to plan!

P.S. So my inspiration for this new chapter came from an amazing post on tumblr that got me thinking of Mulan again. Next thing I know, I'm rewatching for 97th time and BOOM! I have inspiration to write again. So, that being said, if you know of any cool or thought provoking Mulan memes, headcanons, posts, ANYTHING, send them over to me on my Tumblr (ofhealinglove). I will always appreciate them, and they keep my head in the game!

Anyways, thank you all for everything. You all are amazing.

Shan Yu watched the rapid-fire verbal match between Asanti and Shuurkei with a hint of amusement but mostly just boredom. The conversation had started with the union between the khan and khatun and how to incorporate his nine other brides into the same ceremony. Now, it had devolved into abrasive words and general disgust for the other; Shan Yu hadn't been giving it his full attention and wasn't quite sure how they had gotten to this point in their bickering, but didn't find it out of the ordinary at least. All he knew for certain was that minimal progress had been made at best.

Shuurkei was one of his best soldiers—point at something and there would be an arrow through its eye in half a second. He could be relied upon in all things military and combining that with a strategic mind and acerbic wit meant he was one of his favored companions outside of battle as well. Asanti was his sister-in-law, a trusted confidant and, had she not been snatched up by his brother, would have been his khatun. She had been the most sought-after Hun woman since the moment her first blood came. Losing her to his kin had been a bitter pill to swallow once upon a time, but now, all he had to do was think about his soldier in the mountain and knew that he had been meant to wait for her.

Nonetheless, it seemed that these two would not be the people to solve his quandary.

If he had it his way, there would be a singular ceremony in which he and Mulan were wed. The other young women would instead be concubines, requiring no particular rites and simply there for his amusement and pleasure. Knowing the minds of these women as he did, though, he didn't think they would settle for merely bearing sons for him; no, they wanted the glory and power that came from being true royalty, even if not so honored as what his khatun would be.

Idly, he wondered what Mulan would make of all this. In his mind's eye, he could see her dissecting the issues thread by thread until the whole tangled mess broke apart, then patching it back up until there was a viable solution that pleased all parties, except perhaps hers. But Shan Yu had no illusions about this—Mulan would never be happy here.

He wondered why that left a bitter taste on his tongue for a moment before deciding to ignore it. "Shuurkei, Asanti," Shan Yu said, affecting an irritated tone. "Have you figured anything out yet or are you here to distract me from actually working?"

Shuurkei bowed his head, chastened, but Asanti just huffed. "Your input would be well appreciated, too," she replied sarcastically, "given that you're the only one who will actually be in the ceremony."

Asanti was a one-of-a-kind spitfire, one of her most lauded traits when unmarried. Still, Shan Yu couldn't deny that her comeback left him wanting. All he could do was wonder what Mulan might have fired back at him if she were here—certainly something with a real bite to it—but couldn't seem to come up with any idea of what it might be.

That was another thing he valued about her: he could read her in some ways, predict her choices based on certain criteria available to him in order to force her onto the path he wanted, but he didn't think he'd ever be able to truly understand her mind. It was exciting, that enigmatic brain that seemed to have so many layers to it there would never be a time where she wouldn't be able to surprise him.

And, he decided, perhaps she could put that mind of hers to use here. "Go fetch my khatun," he said, hiding any thrill he might have gotten from the idea of using Mulan to plan her own unwilling wedding. He was looking forward to see what fire she would spit.

Shuurkei narrowed his eyes, briefly displaying his displeasure at his khan's decision. Mulan, the cause of the deaths of hundreds of their compatriots, had not been a popular choice among his inner circle. The rest of the Huns didn't know about it yet, but he already had a spin on it that would appease them.

"Your khatun-to-be," Shuurkei said in a voice that bordered on correctional. Shan Yu ignored him.

"Of course," Asanti said, sending a heated glare in Shuurkei's direction before sauntering out of the room as though she had usurped him and was the true empress of this palace. Asanti was the only person so far who hadn't questioned in his choice, at least not to his face.

"You can object all you want," Shan Yu told Shuurkei after Asanti had left. "She is the right choice. If she could defeat us, do we not want to keep her close?"

"Yes," Shuurkei admitted in a sarcastic hiss, "but I thought that, perhaps, that would mean under surveillance and lock and key, not as the second most powerful person in the Middle Kingdom."

"Jailing her would be a waste of a valuable resource."

"Even the sharpest sword in the world won't win your wars if its blade is aimed toward you," Shuurkei argued.

Shan Yu smirked but didn't say anything; he didn't think Shuurkei would appreciate his rebuttal of 'Then where's the fun in it?' His companion wouldn't understand such a comment, but he also had room to move up in the world.

When one sat at the top for long enough—and Shan Yu hadn't lost a battle since taking power of the Huns—worthy opponents became rare. His first and only defeat had been at the hands of a foolishly brave young woman who wasn't even supposed to be where she was in the first place. Shan Yu sometimes thought that if she hadn't been found out and sent home, but had instead been in the palace when he and his warriors infiltrated, things might not have turned out so well for him.

That was former China's problem. All they had was the here and now, and here and now, Huns ruled the North and the Middle Kingdom. If there had ever been an empire larger than his, neither he nor anyone else he had ever spoken to was aware of it.

After staring for a long moment, probably trying to read his mood, Shuurkei sighed. "I trust that you cannot swayed by a single Han woman, pretty though she may be," he said, defeated. "Your reasons are your own, but I won't be the one who falls if you can't keep a tight leash on her."

"No, you won't," Shan Yu reassured him, "and neither will I."

But that there was even a single hint of doubt was what made it all worthwhile.

Mulan had never been this deep into the palace, and if things were as they should be, she never should have been. But Asanti had told her clearly enough that Shan Yu desired her presence, so of course Mulan was going to have to see him.

She wouldn't admit it to herself, but there was a small bubble of excitement in her gut. She hadn't been told why her presence was requested, but she was already raring to best Shan Yu at whatever he had planned for her. She might have to bow to his whims publicly, but in private, she was prepared to dish back in equal to what she received.

She was guided to a paneled sliding door, which Asanti opened for her easily before indicating that she should go in. Mulan had been forced to walk beside the Hun woman the entire time, always in Asanti's periphery. She supposed that would only make sense given her daring rescue just two nights ago. She had visited her friends earlier that day and they weren't much better physically, but the reunion had brought up all their spirits significantly. Though Ling's humor was darker now, less goofy and innocent, he remained the funniest of them all. Yao was as grouchy as ever, and if he swore a little more often and spent less time flexing his atrophied muscles, well, who was to tell? Chien Po was a bit of a different story. Seeing him so thin, willowy and like he could blow over from so much as a gusty breeze, made her nauseas every time she looked at him. But he remained kind and gentle, as though the torture and starvation had had little impact on him. He just needed to eat, he kept saying good-naturedly, and he'd be right back to normal.

Shang, though…

Shang still hadn't woken up.

Mulan wasn't sure how to feel about it, so for once in her life, she decided to simply not dwell. Shang would wake up or he wouldn't; whatever happened, it was all up to him. His life was in his hands and if he wanted to live it, he would have to fight for it himself.

But, Mulan admitted bitterly to herself and only herself, she wasn't sure that Shang would have much of a life to live even if he did wake up. A small, sad part of her wouldn't blame him for giving up and dying with what little dignity he had left. For all she knew, he would wake up and be rehabilitated only to face a humiliating public execution serving to demoralize the former citizens of China. After all, they were all soldiers who had fought actively against the Huns and would have been honored as the very reason for China's victory in another reality. She was an extenuating circumstance solely because of Shan Yu, and Shan Yu had decided that Mulan could keep her friends in exchange for leverage to keep her in line. But Shang? Shang had been a captain and was the son of the late general. No, Mulan couldn't see Shan Yu tolerating him living even if Mulan got on her knees and begged.

She would if there was any chance of him listening, but deep down she knew that Shang either never woke up or woke up only to face a fate he had just escaped.

"Your khatun," Asanti announced, breaking Mulan from her reverie. She abruptly focused on her surroundings, fighting any color to her cheeks that would reveal her embarrassment at her distraction. She was in the lion's den right now and thoughts of her friends and past crush were had no place in her mind.

"Come in," Shan Yu beckoned lazily, as though he was the emperor of the palace.

…Oh. He was, she reminded herself. Mulan grit her teeth and strode inside the office, shoulders back, spine straight, and chin jutted defiantly outwards.

A quick glance at the room told her of previous opulence, but much of the gaudiness had been stripped away. There was a lit fire place off to her left, flames crackling merrily within its depths and a still-hot fire poker in its stand; a table was surrounded by three large cushions and a low-backed sectional; there was a desk to the right, complete with a chair. That was where Shan Yu was, seeming larger for all that the chair's arms had been torn off to accommodate his size. Like a hulking shadow, he stood up and went to sit on the sectional.

"Sit," he ordered. "Asanti, you can wait outside."

Asanti nodded and slid the door shut behind her.

"Can I help you?" Mulan asked coolly, preferring to stay where she was than willingly approach the lion.

"You can," Shan Yu confirmed. He motioned to the part of the sectional he wasn't taking up. "Come."

He wanted her to sit directly next to him? She gave him a look that told him exactly where he could shove that idea and sat formally down on the cushion to his right. He chuckled, sounding pleased, and Mulan felt a small flare of anger that she was already losing. She took a deep breath and exhaled silently.

She decided to keep it calm for now. She could wait for her chance to strike once she actually knew the game. "What did you need, then?" she asked, cool mask in place.

"I have a conundrum," Shan Yu admitted, the weariness in his voice clearly false. "I have nine brides who all desire to be royalty and a khatun who doesn't. These nine brides want an extravagant ceremony, whereas I only care for wedding my khatun. My khatun wishes to not be wed at all. What should I do?"

He wanted her to plan his wedding? "There are professionals who do this kind of thing," Mulan said coldly. "My advice is to hire one of them. Or you could threaten their loved ones in exchange their compliance. Either-or."

"Perhaps I could," Shan Yu replied. Then he looked at her directly, golden eyes boring into hers. "But I'm asking you."

The challenge was as clear as day, but Mulan wasn't going to play his game. "Alright. My suggestion is that you give the nine brides the ceremony they want, accept that your 'khatun' loathes you, and let her go. You get dozens of sons and this khatun gets to live her life in peace. Everyone wins." Mulan knew that she was actually required to stay by his side, which was the only reason she said it. Outside the palace, she became useless to her people.

"Except for me."

Mulan narrowed her eyes at him. "I think you've had enough victories for one lifetime."

Shan Yu smiled wolfishly. "And you haven't had enough, is that it?"

Mulan was briefly taken aback by the brazen flaunting of her losses, from going home dishonored from the war, to China's fall, to being unable to beat Shan Yu on her own. It stung like the tip of that hot poker to her left for a half a second before she shot back, "Isn't that why you keep me around? To even out the odds?"

At that, Shan Yu roared with laughter, falling back against the sectional. For a brief moment, Mulan eyed the poker and noted that he wasn't armed and heat was harder to defend against than metal.

Then she remembered, once again, that she had to keep him alive for the sake of her country and it felt like she had been doused in ice water. She just had to take this.

But she wouldn't take it lying down. Straightening her back, she waited for him to stop laughing before deciding that she would play his game. Victory here was going to be keeping this professional.

Mulan had never given much thought to marriage. Sure, she had been prepared all her life to become a subservient Han wife, but it had never appealed to her. Failing her audience with the matchmaker had been one of the best things to ever happen to her—at least before she had been discovered in the army. Everything else would already be chosen for her by the groom's family, but here Shan Yu was, asking her what she and her fellow wives wanted for their ceremony.

Finally, Shan Yu calmed and turned his eyes back to hers, mirth twinkling in the gold. Mulan ignored it.

"What do you know about Han matrimonial tradition?" she asked. She would act professional.

"Nothing," he replied, serious now. "I have never seen a need to know."

Mulan thought on this for a moment. She knew the traditions, all the other girls them, but that was for commoners. She had no idea what traditions there were for the emperor or other royalty. Her province was too far from the capitol to have witnessed anything, and what she heard often sounded embellished to the point of untruth.

Gritting her teeth, but accepting that the question had to be asked, she countered, "What are Huns' traditions?"

Without hesitation, Shan Yu went on to explain something about courtship, horses and livestock, a battle between the bride's chosen fighter and the groom to test worthiness, and finally, a small ceremony where they pledged their vows to each other under a priestess's watchful eyes. After that, apparently the rest of the day was an excuse to drink, dance, and merry-make.

In the midst of Shan Yu's explanation, Mulan found herself becoming genuinely interested in what he was talking about and actually caught herself thinking that it sounded much more enjoyable than the ceremony she would have had to look forward to had she not disgraced herself and her family. She didn't even realize she'd had the thought until the following one came: Shan Yu was not all brawn and no brains, but in fact charismatic and the picture he painted with his words had her truly enraptured by what he spoke of.

She suddenly realized he had stopped talking and was simply looking at her—just as she was looking back at him.

There was a hitch of panic in her chest as they maintained eye contact, but she didn't turn away. For a moment, she felt overwhelmed and wasn't sure what to do, but luckily logic came back.

She still didn't break eye contact though. "We'll have to find a compromise. Neither of our traditions will work." Finally, she was able to look away under the guise of standing up to pace while she thought. "I like the vows. You'll probably just have the same standard vows for all of us, while I suppose we can write our own however we see fit. Dowries are out of the question and you don't need them anyways. You could give a gift to each bride, ideally unique to them. Jewelry, probably, would work. Then the ceremony could be big and ostentatious like they want. Red is the color of joy, prosperity, and love, so lots of red decorations flowers. I assume this is going to be done in front of the public, so there will have to be some sort of stage. If you want to bring in a priestess, that's up to you. And a day of merrymaking would definitely help public opinion. Mix your people with mine, add a lot of alcohol and good food, and you could probably make this work as a start at unification."

She hadn't really meant to add the last part, but if she was going to keep Shan Yu on the throne and use him to benefit her people, she had to make sure he made the best decisions possible.

"Also, ban all weaponry and have sober enforcers to make sure fights don't start," she added. "Vet the people you allow to actually attend the ceremony. You don't want this to turn into a point of contention with unity being the goal."

Mulan realized she had been speaking far more than her piece and Shan Yu hadn't said a word to her, whether to interrupt, ask questions, or give feedback. Finally, though she didn't want to, she stopped pacing and turned back to face him.

He was reclining, head tilted to the ceiling thoughtfully, a hand idly stroking his chin. It was a surprisingly thoughtful pose, not one she would have ever imagined on him. After a long minute of waiting, she eventually reclaimed her seat. She had done her part in this, so it was up to him to execute it however he wished, with or without her advice.

They sat in silence for what felt like forever for Mulan, but at long last, Shan Yu lowered his eyes to hers. "I'll have Asanti meet with you tomorrow. You two can solidify the plans. You have my approval to do as you like… within reason." He smiled, and it wasn't a dark or menacing as she was anticipating. "I expect this to be the highlight of the year. Perhaps I'll make it a holiday."

Mulan swallowed hard, not quite sure what to do with Shan Yu's… approval? It was something she was going to have to think about later.

Much, much later.

"Am I dismissed?" she asked at last, throat strangely dry.

"For now," he replied, motioning for her to leave. "I'll be checking in on your progress."

"Of course you will," she said, adding sarcasm to her voice just so that things would return to normal. This was anything but normal. This whole evening, from start to finish, had been wrong. Everything had been so, so wrong.

Shan Yu just chuckled and waved her out.

Mulan didn't have much of a mind for Asanti as she was guided back to her rooms. Whatever had happened in that office—and she truly, honestly, could not find words to describe it—could never happen again. She had almost been… comfortable. Just for a few moments, but seeing another side of Shan Yu, that side of Shan Yu…

No. She was going to have to force things back to their normal dynamic as quickly as possible.

She didn't want to think about what might happen if she didn't.

Thoughts, anyone? New relationship development. After writing this chapter, I think my muse is pushing this towards mild romance. Definitely no lovey-dovey, fairy-tale-ending type of stuff, but out of nowhere came Chemistry TM and I'm not sure what to do with it.

We'll see.

Again, I appreciate you all so much and thank you for reading my story!