‘Great move Mulan!’ Mushu spoke happily while Mulan was storming out of the Imperial Square. ‘That guy needs to be taught a lesson. See how insensitive he is? You should just dump that guy. The Fa family deserves a better son-in-law.’

‘Mushu, I don’t need to listen to that now…’ said Mulan. As she ran far enough, she stopped by a peaceful river to catch her breath and recollect her thoughts. Her heart was filled with mixed emotions. A part of her was filled with a strong sense of justice, able to do anything just to stop the arranged marriage of the Emperor’s daughters. Another part of her was filled with obligation, regretting that she had shouted at both the Emperor and General Shang and refusing to carry out her duties.

‘Hey Mulan, just forget about Shang already,’ said Mushu. ‘The pretty boy obviously doesn’t care about you. Look, he didn’t even come running after you!’

Mulan simply shook her head, refusing to speak. She did not know what to do next. Mushu sighed and started wandering around as Mulan continued to stare blankly into the river, catching her reflection.

‘Sheesh… I wish I could help her, but she’s not listening to any bit I’m saying!’ Mushu muttered with annoyance once Mulan was out of sight. He buried his face into his tiny hands as he heaved another sigh. ‘Mulan and Shang better not get together, or I’ll lose my job!’

‘Mulan…’

‘Shang?’ Mulan raised her head with anticipation, hoping to see her lover. Instead, she was faced by a strange girl with a pleasant smile.

‘How did you know my name?’ said Mulan, confused. ‘Who are you?’

‘I’m Xiaolu,’ the girl smiled as she raised her paper fan in the air. With a strong burst of light, the fan turned silver. With a twist of her wrist, she opened the fan, revealing a very artistic design. The fan started to glimmer as it reflected the sun’s rays. ‘And that will be last time you’ll ever hear someone utter your name.’

‘Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!’

‘Mulan?’ Sora stopped in his tracks when he heard Mulan’s voice. After Mulan ran out of the Palace, the trio has been searching high and low for her. Sora’s heart leapt with fear as Mulan’s yell did not sound promising.

‘Come on,’ Riku called out, bringing Sora’s attention back. ‘We’ve got to find her. She might be in danger.’

Sora, Riku and Kairi ran towards the source of the sound. It was hard to find their way to Mulan as she had only yelled once. As they ran past the river, they saw a tiny red figure.

‘Isn’t that Mushu?’ said Kairi. Sora stopped and took a closer look. He need not walk closer, as the little red figure in sight has suddenly grew larger.

‘Sora, Riku, Kairi!’ cried Mushu. It seems that the dragon had managed to dash towards the trio at a surprisingly fast pace. ‘Mulan… She…’

‘We heard her, where is she?’ Sora questioned. ‘Why aren’t you with her?’

‘I… it’s my fault!’ Mushu said grimly. ‘I shouldn’t have said all those things to her and left her alone. I didn’t mean to do it, but I wanted to stay as her family guardian so I tried to-’

‘Mushu, just bring us to her,’ Riku said sternly, not wanting to waste any time and putting Mulan’s life in jeopardy.

‘O-okay!’ the dragon squirmed. He then led the party down the stream. He was running as fast as his short limbs could take him. Soon, they found themselves climbing higher up the cliff. Eventually, they arrived at the same valley they were walking through earlier, except that they are on higher grounds now.

‘Mulan!’ Sora yelled when he spotted Mulan on the ground. The ground around her was filled with metal stakes and needles. There were even some needles pricking through Mulan too. She was grabbing hold of her sword as she struggled to stand up. When she heard her name, she was suddenly fueled with energy. Using what was left of her energy, she raised her head to see who it was.

‘Sora, Riku, Kairi… Mushu…’ Mulan uttered weakly as her head fell back onto the ground.

‘Mulan!’ Sora cried as he ran forward to help her up. But suddenly, a portal of darkness appeared. As the darkness faded, a pleasant young lady appeared. She dusted the skirt of her traditional Chinese outfit before raising her head to address Sora.

‘Stop calling her name,’ she said as she flicked her dark locks off her shoulder and smiled. ‘I’m supposed to be the last one who does that.’

‘You… you’re the one from the marketplace,’ Riku recalled. ‘She was the lady who said that there was nothing suspicious going on.’

‘Well, you’re the suspicious one!’ Kairi exclaimed.

Sora flung his hand backwards, summoning his Keyblade as he sensed danger. ‘Who are you?’ he spoke with a demanding voice. ‘Leave Mulan alone.’

‘Sora, right?’ the lady spoke without paying much attention to Sora’s demands. Sora responded with a flabbergasted look on his face. Before he could speak, the girl continued, pointing at Sora’s hand. ‘It’s the Keyblade. It’s not that hard to notice you. And behind you, that’s Riku, then Kairi. And the little one there…’

The girl simply smiled. Sora could not tell if she knew Mushu’s name or not. But he had a feeling that they had met before as Mushu had hid himself behind Riku’s leg.

‘You didn’t finish what I told you to do, did you?’ said the lady.

Mushu shook his head hysterically. ‘I shouldn’t have even started it!’

The lady shrugged. ‘Fine by me, it’s your choice and your problem if you don’t want to take my advice to break Mulan and Shang apart,’ she said. ‘Worst thing is that you’ll lose your place as the Fa family’s guardian. No job, no friend.’

Mulan’s eyes widen as she heard what the lady said. ‘Mushu… is that true?’ she asked softly. Mushu, who was still hidden behind Riku nodded briefly.

‘I don’t get it,’ said Sora with a question mark. ‘Why did you want to destroy Mulan and Shang’s relationship?’

‘If Mulan gets married to Shang, she’ll be a part of the Li family and have one of their guardians instead of me,’ Mushu explained bitterly. ‘And that would mean that I’ll have to leave my place of honour as a guardian because I’m out of the job. And you know I don’t wanna lose you, girl. All the times we’ve been together, I’d be lonely without you.’

‘That doesn’t matter now, Mushu,’ the lady said as she stretched her arms apart. ‘I’ll just have to do things my way now.’

Globs of darkness started appearing throughout the area. Heartless and Nobodies arrived through the corridors of darkness upon the young lady’s orders.

‘Heartless and Nobodies!’ Riku stated as he took out his Keyblade. ‘She’s with them!’

‘I knew something was fishy!’ Sora said angrily. ‘Mushu! Keep Mulan safe, we’ll beat these guys up.’

‘Right!’

Mushu was glad to be given a job. He ran to Mulan’s side and started to take out the needles stuck to her clothes and flesh gently. Meanwhile, Sora, Riku and Kairi battled the Heartless and Nobodies.

‘Is that all?’ Sora taunted as he defeated the last Heartless. The lady laughed tenderly in return.

‘Oh, if you think that was it, you are terribly wrong,’ the lady answered confidently. ‘I was just heating things up.’

Just as she was about to raise her hand which contained her paper fan, a yell from afar interrupted them.

‘Mulan!’

‘Shang!’ Mulan sat upright as she heard his voice. Bearing all the pain, she slowly stood up with the help of Mushu.

‘It seems that everyone just loves to call her name,’ said the lady as she pursed her lips. Right at that moment, a Dusk Nobody appeared from the darkness. It leaned towards the lady as if it was whispering something into her ear.

‘It’s General Shang!’ Kairi muttered, pointing over to the opposite direction. As Sora turned over to where Kairi was pointing, he could see General Shang crossing the bridge which was leading to the other side of the valley.

‘Shang!’ Mulan cried as she limped towards the bridge. ‘I’m sorry for yelling at you!’

‘Mulan, I need to apologize too!’ Shang responded, picking up his pace as he walked across the bridge.

‘Aww, how sweet!’ the lady smiled. Next to her, the Dusk Nobody returned back into the darkness. ‘But it’s just sad that I have to leave now. Should I make things sweeter before I go?’
---

Current Word Count: 9,169

Labels: NaNoMadness