Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, its not mine.
A/N: I have this highly imaginative mind. It just gets writers block on one story and deals with it by starting another. Isn't that interesting. Somehow the boredom I experience in school results in these weird fan fictions. Now that I have explained myself have fun reading my new Mulan story. I will be continuing the other one but I have to rid myself of writers block first. Any-who enjoy the story.
Chapter 1: Emotional Help
"Li Shang!" a voice called from across the tavern. "Come and join us over her!"
Shang turned to see who had called his name. Tien Hwang, Shang's best friend, was waving him over to where he was sitting. Shang made his way over reluctantly.
It was not normal for Shang to be in a tavern but he was a bit depressed. It had been a week since he had had dinner with the Fa Family. It had not gone well. Now that he thought about it, Shang could honestly say that it probably couldn't have gone much worse.
Fa Li had asked her daughter and mother-in-law to fix dinner while she helped entertain their guest. This turned out to be a bad idea. Mulan continually dropped things as she thought about what Shang would think of her cooking and was having trouble concentrating on the preparations. Grandmother Fa was not helping matters. She kept asking Mulan what she thought of Shang and if they had kissed yet or what would happen between them now.
Finally dinner had been served. It was a little black but it wasn't military food so Shang didn't mind. Conversation turned from safe topics of everyday things to more dangerous ground quickly. Soon enough Grandma brought up the question of what Shang and Mulan's relationship was.
Mulan was not happy with the tactic he used to worm his way out of the awkward conversation. He brought up Mulan's battle wound. This started a heated argument between Fa Zhou and Mulan.
Eventually Shang managed to slip out and a week later here he was in one of the local taverns trying to push it from his memory.
"So how have you been Shang?" Tien asked snapping him out of his thoughts. Tien was well built and muscular. He had a kind heart and lively attitude. Shang and Tien had been neighbors for the longest time. "I heard about your father."
This brought Shang's mind to another thing he wanted to forget. The day he broke the news to his family. Shang had a younger brother, Wu, and his grandfather was still living was not doing well. He also had a younger cousin, Lin, living under the same roof. He had gone home and was immediately bombarded with questions.
Shang was forced to break the news to his 10-year-old younger brother and 8- year-old cousin that his father had died. It was one of the hardest things he had ever been forced to do. Even worse was that he was now the head of the household and in charge of everything including raising the two children in the house. His grandfather was now getting very ill and Shang expected that he would die soon leaving Shang completely clueless about his young charges.
"Shang?" Tien asked as he waved his hand in front of Shang's face. Shang jumped.
"What? Oh yeah. I'm doing ok considering everything that has happened."
"Yeah I've heard rumors. One of those rumors said you had a lady in your troops and that she saved the emperor? Is that particular rumor true?"
Shang nodded turning red. More from the memory of dinner than the thought that it took him so long to realize Ping was actually a girl.
"What was she like?" Tien noticed the red but chose not to mention it.
"Before or after I found out she was a girl?" Shang asked as he gulped down his glass.
"Both." Tien seemed genuinely interested.
When I thought she was Ping I didn't think much about her at first. She had no experience in battle, caused fights within the ranks, caused a lot of damage. Ping has got to be the most dedicated soldier I have ever trained. You know that test that we were challenged with at the beginning of training? Ping was the first one to get to the top. In fact she did so the morning after I had dismissed her from training. Soon she was the best of the bunch. We went to battle soon after the training was complete. I didn't find out that "Ping" was actually a woman until she got injured taking out the whole Hun army on her own. She caused and avalanche, saved my life, and got cut in the side with a sword while doing such heroic things. Chi-Fu found out and told me I had to fulfill the law but I couldn't do it. When he threw Mulan in the snow with her hair loose she looked too beautiful to die. She was ready to die for her father and I couldn't kill such a brave girl. So I left her there. She was supposed to go home. She saw some of the Huns alive so she rode still in her armor to the Imperial City. She warned us of the danger but I wouldn't listen. I was too sure of myself. Even after she proved she was right she helped us in the rescue. She took on Shaun Yu by herself because he was about to kill me. She beat him in a dress and then she did the bravest thing ever. She stood before the emperor knowing that he would most likely order her killed and her family dishonored. She didn't even try to defend her actions. She stood there and took it. She is braver than I am." Shang put his head in his hands disgraced that Mulan was braver than him.
"What it sounds like to me, friend, is you are in love with this girl." Tien patted his back.
"Tien I can't even keep from stuttering in front of her. She hasn't even passed the Matchmaker's test yet. How am I supposed to go up to her and ask her to marry me?"
"Well look what we learned. Captain you do have a heart. And I thought you were missing one. So here's what you do. First you help her pass the test and you charm her while you are doing so then you ask her to marry you when she passes the test. I know you know what to do to help. You managed to get my sister to pass it and that is saying something. If this girl can survive military training then you can help her pass this simple test."
"True enough, but what about Wu and Lin? I can't leave them alone and my grandfather is very ill. I can't leave them all to go after Mulan."
"Your family can stay with me. When you get there you can ask Fa Zhou if he would mind if your young charges stayed with you. If he says yes then they can come and join you and if he says no they can stay with me until your return. I am sure they will not mind."
"You're right. What will I say to her though? Every time I see her I can't stop stuttering. How do I keep from doing that?"
"You concentrate on your goal. Winning her heart and getting her to pass that test."
Shang finished his drink and stood. "Thanks for the help Tien, I appreciate it."
A/N: I have the second chapter written and I just need to type it. Give me a few days. I am in the process of writing Chapter 3 as well. So until then...
Oh by the way I opened a new Yahoo group with all my fics. The address is:
anyone is welcome to join. (Its really small at the moment.)
A/N: I have this highly imaginative mind. It just gets writers block on one story and deals with it by starting another. Isn't that interesting. Somehow the boredom I experience in school results in these weird fan fictions. Now that I have explained myself have fun reading my new Mulan story. I will be continuing the other one but I have to rid myself of writers block first. Any-who enjoy the story.
Chapter 1: Emotional Help
"Li Shang!" a voice called from across the tavern. "Come and join us over her!"
Shang turned to see who had called his name. Tien Hwang, Shang's best friend, was waving him over to where he was sitting. Shang made his way over reluctantly.
It was not normal for Shang to be in a tavern but he was a bit depressed. It had been a week since he had had dinner with the Fa Family. It had not gone well. Now that he thought about it, Shang could honestly say that it probably couldn't have gone much worse.
Fa Li had asked her daughter and mother-in-law to fix dinner while she helped entertain their guest. This turned out to be a bad idea. Mulan continually dropped things as she thought about what Shang would think of her cooking and was having trouble concentrating on the preparations. Grandmother Fa was not helping matters. She kept asking Mulan what she thought of Shang and if they had kissed yet or what would happen between them now.
Finally dinner had been served. It was a little black but it wasn't military food so Shang didn't mind. Conversation turned from safe topics of everyday things to more dangerous ground quickly. Soon enough Grandma brought up the question of what Shang and Mulan's relationship was.
Mulan was not happy with the tactic he used to worm his way out of the awkward conversation. He brought up Mulan's battle wound. This started a heated argument between Fa Zhou and Mulan.
Eventually Shang managed to slip out and a week later here he was in one of the local taverns trying to push it from his memory.
"So how have you been Shang?" Tien asked snapping him out of his thoughts. Tien was well built and muscular. He had a kind heart and lively attitude. Shang and Tien had been neighbors for the longest time. "I heard about your father."
This brought Shang's mind to another thing he wanted to forget. The day he broke the news to his family. Shang had a younger brother, Wu, and his grandfather was still living was not doing well. He also had a younger cousin, Lin, living under the same roof. He had gone home and was immediately bombarded with questions.
Shang was forced to break the news to his 10-year-old younger brother and 8- year-old cousin that his father had died. It was one of the hardest things he had ever been forced to do. Even worse was that he was now the head of the household and in charge of everything including raising the two children in the house. His grandfather was now getting very ill and Shang expected that he would die soon leaving Shang completely clueless about his young charges.
"Shang?" Tien asked as he waved his hand in front of Shang's face. Shang jumped.
"What? Oh yeah. I'm doing ok considering everything that has happened."
"Yeah I've heard rumors. One of those rumors said you had a lady in your troops and that she saved the emperor? Is that particular rumor true?"
Shang nodded turning red. More from the memory of dinner than the thought that it took him so long to realize Ping was actually a girl.
"What was she like?" Tien noticed the red but chose not to mention it.
"Before or after I found out she was a girl?" Shang asked as he gulped down his glass.
"Both." Tien seemed genuinely interested.
When I thought she was Ping I didn't think much about her at first. She had no experience in battle, caused fights within the ranks, caused a lot of damage. Ping has got to be the most dedicated soldier I have ever trained. You know that test that we were challenged with at the beginning of training? Ping was the first one to get to the top. In fact she did so the morning after I had dismissed her from training. Soon she was the best of the bunch. We went to battle soon after the training was complete. I didn't find out that "Ping" was actually a woman until she got injured taking out the whole Hun army on her own. She caused and avalanche, saved my life, and got cut in the side with a sword while doing such heroic things. Chi-Fu found out and told me I had to fulfill the law but I couldn't do it. When he threw Mulan in the snow with her hair loose she looked too beautiful to die. She was ready to die for her father and I couldn't kill such a brave girl. So I left her there. She was supposed to go home. She saw some of the Huns alive so she rode still in her armor to the Imperial City. She warned us of the danger but I wouldn't listen. I was too sure of myself. Even after she proved she was right she helped us in the rescue. She took on Shaun Yu by herself because he was about to kill me. She beat him in a dress and then she did the bravest thing ever. She stood before the emperor knowing that he would most likely order her killed and her family dishonored. She didn't even try to defend her actions. She stood there and took it. She is braver than I am." Shang put his head in his hands disgraced that Mulan was braver than him.
"What it sounds like to me, friend, is you are in love with this girl." Tien patted his back.
"Tien I can't even keep from stuttering in front of her. She hasn't even passed the Matchmaker's test yet. How am I supposed to go up to her and ask her to marry me?"
"Well look what we learned. Captain you do have a heart. And I thought you were missing one. So here's what you do. First you help her pass the test and you charm her while you are doing so then you ask her to marry you when she passes the test. I know you know what to do to help. You managed to get my sister to pass it and that is saying something. If this girl can survive military training then you can help her pass this simple test."
"True enough, but what about Wu and Lin? I can't leave them alone and my grandfather is very ill. I can't leave them all to go after Mulan."
"Your family can stay with me. When you get there you can ask Fa Zhou if he would mind if your young charges stayed with you. If he says yes then they can come and join you and if he says no they can stay with me until your return. I am sure they will not mind."
"You're right. What will I say to her though? Every time I see her I can't stop stuttering. How do I keep from doing that?"
"You concentrate on your goal. Winning her heart and getting her to pass that test."
Shang finished his drink and stood. "Thanks for the help Tien, I appreciate it."
A/N: I have the second chapter written and I just need to type it. Give me a few days. I am in the process of writing Chapter 3 as well. So until then...
Oh by the way I opened a new Yahoo group with all my fics. The address is:
anyone is welcome to join. (Its really small at the moment.)