Summary: On his way to return the helmet, Shang thinks about the woman he's going after.

Disclaimer: Nope! Not mine! Blah, blah, blah. I'm sure you all know the drill.

Archive: I prefer to know where, but I'm not going to object. Even if it is a MSTing victim.

Rating: G

I'm sleepy and recently watched Mulan. Never a good combo. This popped into my head. Pretty much one-shot insanity, but I may end up writing the dinner if reader's express an interest. Though I'm sure it's been handled quite a few times by fanfiction writers.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Many years ago, I was a typical adolescent male. I had my fantasy woman, the one with unparalleled beauty, honesty and grace, the one who loved me without reservation, the one who moved with the elegance and dignity fit for an empress. While I did come to my senses by the time I graduated, I still had some expectations. Perfectly reasonable expectations.

And now I'm tracking down a skinny little brat who lied to me, imitated a man, proved once and for all my complete inability for commanding armies and made me fall in love with her. I still haven't figured out which charge is the worst. But I have a feeling it wasn't one of the first three.

~*~*~*~

I like blue eyes, hers are green
Not like the woman of my dreams
And her hair's not quite as long as I had planned
Five foot three isn't tall
She's not the girl I pictured at all
In those paint by number fantasies I've had

~*~*~*~

That spirit, that determination, that sheer stubbornness she possesses is beyond comprehension. She's a handful, completely unlike anything I would've expected in a woman.

Which is why it hit me in the gut when I heard the news. Ping was a woman? I dismissed the thought. He'd been with me for weeks, and while he was a bit strange, he was not a lady.

But I knew from the moment I walked in and saw those eyes, I knew the truth. The whole truth. Not only had I ignored something I should have seen, I was already in love.

I was angry with her, but furious with myself. How had I gotten myself into this mess?

~*~*~*~

So it took me by complete surprise
When my heart got lost in those deep green eyes
She's not at all what I was looking for
She's more

~*~*~*~

I risked my career and most likely my life when I didn't kill her. The way she bowed her head to accept what was to come tore at my heart. If our roles had been reversed, wouldn't I have done the same?

And every memory with Ping- no, Mulan- sped through my thoughts. The triumphant grin from the top of the pole. The night she expressed her faith in my guidance. Evenings around the campfires. The sympathy in her eyes at the village. None of it was fake, and I knew in that moment who she was. A girl who did what she thought was right to protect the ones she loved. Men did it every day, and she was to die for it.

Throwing down the sword was the easiest and most difficult decision I ever made. I cursed my weakness for wide eyes, and took pride in my actions. That's why I ignored her warning in the capital. My brain was screaming to listen to her –what possible good could come from her lies- but my heart told me something different. It told me that listening would be weak. Some days, I listen to the wrong advice.

Actually, I tend to do that a lot. Dismissing my feelings for her was a simple matter of logic, cool and efficient. She would want nothing to do with me, not after the way I treated her. And hundreds of more fitting men would fall in love with her, that was for certain. Men who saw her beauty where I saw a gangly man. Men who recognized her courage, which I mistook for foolishness. Men who realized the honour of Fa Mulan was in the way she lived her life.

Yet I'm sitting on my horse, riding towards her village, her father's helmet resting on my saddle.

~*~*~*~

No, it wasn't at first sight
But the moment I looked twice
I saw the woman I was born to love
Her laughter fills my soul
And when I hold her I don't wanna let go
When it comes to her I can't get enough

~*~*~*~

An elderly woman is talking to a younger one at the garden wall.

"Whoo, she brought home a sword. If you ask me, she should have brought home a man!"

"Excuse me," I interrupt. So she hasn't had suitors yet, though I doubt she arrived that long ago. "Does Fa Mulan live here?"

The two women stare, dumbstruck, before pointing into the garden.

"Thank you," I say, and barely contain my laughter at the older woman's next words.

"Whoo! Sign me up for the next war!"

~*~*~*~

She's in the garden, late blossoms falling in arbitrary patterns. The man I assume is her father has his arms around her, and it's obvious he's glad to see her alive. I know the feeling.

He sees me before she does, and stands to greet me properly. The words I have planned are at the tip of my tongue when she steps past him.

Instead of the polite and somewhat flowery speech I had in mind, I manage to successfully stammer some nonsense about the helmet.

For some reason she just grins, and invites me to dinner.

"Dinner would be great." So would grandmother's suggestion, though I don't say anything.

Many years ago, I was a typical adolescent male. I had my fantasy woman, the one with unparalleled beauty, honesty and grace, the one who loved me without reservation, the one who moved with the elegance and dignity fit for an empress. While I did come to my senses by the time I graduated, I still had some expectations. Perfectly reasonable expectations. Too bad for them my heart fell for someone completely different.

~*~*~*~

So it took me by complete surprise
When my heart got lost in those deep green eyes
She's not at all what I was looking for
She's more

More than I dreamed of
More than any man deserves
I couldn't ask for more
Than a love like hers

So it took me by complete surprise
When my heart got lost in those deep green eyes
She's not at all what I was looking for
She's more