Author's note: Surprisingly enough, Mushu has been the hardest character to write in this fic.

Chi Fu kept a rigid hold on Mulan's arm as he dragged her back to camp. It wasn't long before they were standing before the captain's tent.

"You've been nothing but trouble since the day you rode in here, Fa Ping," Chi Fu hissed, exaggerating her surname. "If your father knew the way you've conducted yourself -"

"That's enough," Captain Li interrupted. He cut an imposing figure, framed against the tent flap with his arms folded over his chest. Mulan gulped. If Captain Li was involved, she was done for.

The three of them went inside. Captain Li walked around the other side of a low-bellied table, upon which was a map depicting the Tung Shao Pass, complete with small figurines in varying colors.

"Release him," the captain said. His tone brooked no argument. Chi Fu sneered and complied. "Explain." Shang fixed his dark eyes on Chi Fu.

"I found this recruit down by the lake," Chi Fu said quickly, eager to tell the captain what a bad boy Mulan had been. "He was outside camp, past curfew. If he was seen by the enemy, he could have brought the entire Hun army down upon us!"

Captain Li arched an eyebrow. He looked almost bored. "He could have," Shang acknowledged, "but he didn't."

Chi Fu faltered. "But - but -"

"Also, though his actions may have been reckless and unwise, there is no formal regulation that recruits must stay within the camp perimeter, nor is there a curfew in effect. For those who choose to stay awake after dark, fatigue during the following day's training is hardship enough."

"But he must be punished, Captain!" Chi Fu protested.

"Furthermore, if I am to punish Fa Ping for being down at the lake after dark, I should ask you how you came upon him in the first place, if you were so diligently observing these guidelines yourself?" Captain Li said pointedly. He paused as if waiting for a response, but Chi Fu said nothing in his own defense. "If Ping were to encounter a Hun by the water's edge, I have complete confidence that he would be more than capable of subduing any threat to our camp. You, however," Shang's voice went dangerously soft, "I'm not so sure."

Chi Fu's face was blotchy and the ends of his mustache twitched as he shook with suppressed anger. He opened his mouth, undoubtedly to give Captain Li a piece of his mind, but everyone present knew the captain had already won.

"You're dismissed. Ping, a word please."

Chi Fu's gaze flickered between them. "The General will hear about this," he said stiffly before ducking out of the tent.

It was a long moment before the captain spoke. Mulan tried not to fidget.

"On that first day, I was certain I would have to send you home, Ping," Captain Li said. "I hoped I was wrong - after all, you are a war hero's son. I grew up hearing stories of the legendary Fa Zhou. He and my father trained together; did you know that?"

Mulan unstuck her tongue from the top of her mouth and shook her head. "My father doesn't talk much about the war."

"I almost didn't believe you could be related," the captain said, picking up a miniature tent figurine and turning it in his fingers. "But then you retrieved the arrow. I told you to go home, Ping, but you refused to give up. You're more like your father than I thought."

Mulan flushed with pride. "Thank you, sir."

"I'm pleased with your progress. And I know you took it upon yourself to teach the other soldiers how to swim. That is why you were at the lake tonight, correct?"

Mulan nodded. "Sir -"

Shang cut off her excuses. "I can't help the recruits individually as much as I would like, so I am grateful that you are helping each other. You're going to need to rely on each other. If you think what I'm putting you through is hard, it's nothing compared to what is waiting for us on the battlefield." He paused. "With that said, though his reasons are questionable, Chi Fu is right. I don't need my soldiers taking unnecessary risks and getting picked off in the middle of the night."

"Do you want us to stop our swimming lessons, sir?" Mulan asked, puzzled.

Captain Li shook his head. "No. Just be more careful, Ping. You're dismissed."

Mulan wasn't sure exactly what had just happened, but she knew that Chi Fu had come off far worse than she had tonight. She wasn't about to press her luck, not with the captain's favor of her still so tenuous, and even that wouldn't save her should he discover her true identity.

The cool night air felt refreshing on her skin as she left the tent, and as wrapped up as she was in her own thoughts, Mulan didn't realize Chi Fu was still nearby.

He came up on her suddenly and grabbed her wrist before she could pull away. "You may have gotten off easy this time because you're the captain's favorite, but mark my words, you'll get what's coming to you. I swear it." Chi Fu's breath stank of cabbage and vinegar.

Mulan narrowed her eyebrows. "You heard the captain. Release me."

With a curl of his lip, Chi Fu dropped her wrist and stalked away. Mulan let out the breath she had been holding. She would have to be extra careful now that Chi Fu had truly become her enemy.

Later, Mulan lay wide awake in her tent. She knew she needed to rest up for the tasks that awaited her the next day, but she couldn't shake the thoughts that tumbled through her head like acrobats performing during Chūnjié. Her conversation with the captain and Chi Fu replayed in her mind, and each time the memory of Chi Fu's fingers closing around her arm and the threats he whispered in her ear made her shiver with revulsion. If Mulan was being honest, she was frustrated with herself. She was a soldier, and yet that skinny, evil bamboo pole had reduced her to a cringing fool.

Mulan slept fitfully that night. She dreamt that Chi Fu discovered her secret and cruelly revealed it to the entire company. She felt sick as one by one, Chien-Po, Yao, and Ling - the men she considered her friends - turned and walked away. The disappointment and betrayal on their faces was far worse than any physical pain she had endured. Mulan watched her captain raise his sword over her neck, and awoke with a start just before the blade swung down. Disoriented, Mulan thrashed around, throwing the threadbare blanket off as sweat cooled on her skin.

"Wha- who's there?" Mushu said as he jerked awake. The tent was still dark until Mushu huffed and ignited a candle. The tiny flame flickered over Mulan's pale face. "Mulan? What's the matter?"

She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Sorry, Mushu. You can go back to sleep. I - I just had a nightmare, that's all."

Mushu ducked his head out of the tent flap and groaned. "Not worth it, sister." The glow of sunrise was already upon the horizon. He dropped the flap and turned back to where Mulan was shakily pulling on her training uniform. "What sort of nightmare? Mine are always about going to school naked, or destroying the Great Stone Dragon - you know, no biggie."

"Huh?" Mulan hopped around on one foot, pulling on her boat-like shoes. "Oh - the usual. Someone finding out about me. You know."

"Come on, Mulan," Mushu said reassuringly. "There is no way I'm gonna let that happen! Trust me!"

Mulan made a noncommittal noise in her throat and pulled up her hair into a topknot. She sat cross-legged in the center of her tent and breathed slowly. Back home, she hadn't had the patience to meditate, but now, with the bustle of army life weighing her down, Mulan approached it with a new respect. She opened her eyes.

"Today's the day," she said. "The final post exercise. I'm nervous - but not for me, for Chien-Po. He's come so far in our lessons, but it's always different with the captain watching. I mean, no one can get their eyes to smolder like that naturally." Mulan smiled, lost in thought, no doubt about the captain's gorgeous smoldering eyes. "Sometimes when he looks at me it's like he can see right through me. You know?"

"Hormones," Mushu said darkly, jabbing one clawed finger at her. "You keep those under wraps until this war is over, you hear me? Do not pass Go, do not collect 200 wu zhu, do not imagine your commanding officer naked! Look what happened to Rome. One day - the height of modern civilization, then boom! All because those generals couldn't keep it in their pants."

Mulan gave him a dirty look. "Mushu!"

"All I'm saying is we don't need your little crush complicating things."

Mulan threw her pillow at him.

Chien-Po was conspicuously quiet that morning, even more so than usual. Mulan could hardly eat, her stomach sour with trepidation. Yao kept sneaking glances at her meat-filled dumpling - a special treat - until she finally sighed and pushed it across the table to him. His face lit up, but before he dug in, he hesitated. The unspoken question hung in the air - why?

Mulan heard what he didn't say. "Thank you," she said, with a nod to Yao and Ling. "You didn't need to beat up Qiu for me."

"Sure we did," Yao grunted, and tucked into the dumpling. "Besides, if you'd been there, you woulda done it yourself."

"You're one of us, Ping," Ling said. "It's what friends do."

Friends. That single word seemed to lessen the dread in her belly and carried her through the rest of the unbearable breakfast before they all headed down to the water.

"Single file, soldiers!" Captain Li barked. The soldiers approached the bank with some apprehension. To Mulan's shock, Chien-Po had boldly taken his place at the front of the line, his jaw set with steely determination. She leaned around the man in front of her to see more clearly as her student pulled himself up on the first post. Her heart fluttered.

"Begin!" called Captain Li, and Chien-Po leaped - landing on the next post with a grace that belied his size.

Emboldened by his newfound skill, Chien-Po sprang to the next post, grasping it with his hands, then perching on the next like a dancer on his toes. The soldiers waiting for their turn gasped in appreciation as Chien-Po cartwheeled through the obstacle course until he reached the other side, where he spread his arms wide and bowed deeply, a proud smile upon his face. Those on the opposite bank burst into wild applause.

Mulan, a few posts behind Chien-Po, jumped off the final post to stand beside him. She was grinning so wide her face hurt. "You did it!" she said, slapping him on the shoulder (by this point, she had gathered this was an acceptable way to express congratulations among the men).

"I could not have done it without you. Here," Chien-Po said. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small bundle and offered it to her. Puzzled, Mulan brought it to her nose and sniffed. It had a pungent, fresh scent. "It's a poultice, for sore muscles. I know training has been hard on all of us, but especially you."

"Oh, Chien-Po, you didn't have to-"

"And you did not have to teach me how to swim," Chien-Po interrupted, though his voice was soft. "Thank you, Ping."

Mulan felt a curious swelling in her chest. She tucked the poultice safely into her uniform and smiled as Chien-Po walked away. No matter what happened - if her nightmares did, indeed, come to pass - Mulan knew she wouldn't be alone. Her friends would stand with her.

Chūnjié - literally "Spring Festival", a term for the festivities surrounding the Chinese New Year

wu zhu - coin minted and used during the Sui Dynasty (581–618 AD), during which the film is set