"I miscarried," She whispered. She felt his body tense. "What?" He whispered back. "Please don't make me say it again," She begged.

*Set during the transport of the princesses in Mulan II. After the town scene.*

Mulan trudged back after her argument with Shang. Tears burned at her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Khan fell into step beside her, snoring softly. How dare he say that!? She seethed. He had no right to yell at her like that, she went to see if the princesses were ok for god's sake! And the letter Mei wrote had nothing to do with her! Well... not enough to warrant the tirade of abuse she just received. She never even had the chance to tell him she was expecting. She'd hoped to lead him to the village and tell him by the moonlight, that they were going to welcome a baby in a little under 6 months. But he'd been in such a foul mood that day, she forgot. She sniffled softly and wiped her eyes dry.

She wouldn't cry for him: he didn't deserve her tears. She sighed loudly and fingered the necklace her mom had given her: Yin. Her father had given Shang the Yan part of the necklace. She sighed again as she felt the pendant bump against her chest.

Khan suddenly froze on the spot, staring into the trees. Mulan frowned and approached her warhorse. "Khan?" She whispered. Khan snorted loudly into the trees. Mulan unsheathed her sword and held it at her side. "Whoever's there, come out!" She called. 4 burly men sauntered out, grinning and spinning their daggers. Mulan settled into a defensive stance and held her sword across her body. "What do you want?" She hissed. The bigger of the 4 men took a few steps forward. "Well, we simply want to acquaint ourselves with you," He grinned. Mulan glared. "And take you back to our village. You're much too pretty to be unaccompanied." Mulan scoffed, "I will never go with you," She hissed.

The men walked towards her, blocking her every escape. "You don't have a choice," The bigger one snarled. Mulan readied her sword and blew some hair out of her face. She twiddled it in her hands. "Come get me then," She snarled.

They moved in, swinging their daggers at her. She spun in a circle and sliced out at their hands. They jumped back, looks of shock on their faces. She grabbed her own dagger out of her sash and flicked it at the bandit to her left. He yelled loudly and dropped to the ground. She twisted it through his arm and slashed across his midsection. She yanked it out and flicked the blood off. "Lau, you didn't say she could use a sword man!" The smaller of the 3 said. "Well, if I knew, I'd have said!" The bigger one, Lau, snapped. She spun her sword and slipped the dagger back into her sash. "Not so big now, are you?" She taunted. The middle one charged at her, his dagger raised. He yelled, but Mulan ducked into a roll and sliced at his ankles. He dropped down, shouting and swearing. She kicked him harshly in his man area.

Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind. She struggled in his grasp and flailed her legs frantically. Lau stalked around to her front, grinning sadistically. "You're a good fighter. You must be Fa Mulan," She didn't answer. Lau swung at her face, but she flicked her head back into the person holding her. "Dumb bitch!" The guy yelled from behind. Mulan kicked back into his shin, hard. Still, he didn't let go. A sharp sting radiated through her face. He'd slapped her! Mulan kicked forwards, but he jumped out of the way. Sudden pain in her stomach knocked the wind out of her. She lay limp in the guy's arms.

He'd punched her... the baby!

With newfound strength (or anger, Mulan would never be able to tell the difference in that specific moment) she yelled. She kicked out at Lau and made contact with his shins, he jumped back, grasping the limb in pain. She threw her back into the face of the guy who was holding her. She was dropped with a sudden shout. She rolled into a crawl and picked up her sword from the ground. She rolled over and pined Lau to the ground, her sword at his neck. He whimpered. "Be assured," She began menacingly. "If I lose my baby because of you, I will hunt you down," She hissed. She dug the point of her sword in just to emphasize her point. Lau nodded frantically. She stood up and let him scramble off.

Mulan sighed shakily. If she ever sees bandits again...

She whistled for Khan and mounted his back. She led him back to the camp, thinking deeply. What would the others say? What would Shang say? Probably moan that she took so long to get back. Mulan sighed quietly and placed a hand on her stomach. "I really hope you're ok," She mumbled.

~

She finally made her way into the area where they were camping for the night and was shocked to see all the lights out, with only Ling on duty. She rode up next to him and jumped off. She winced a little in pain but smiled at her old friend. "I assume the others are asleep?" She asked. Ling nodded, "Yeah, probably for an hour or so. Where've you been anyway?" She exhaled and sat down on a bench. Ling sat next to her. "Bandits tried to nab me on the way back," Ling gaped. "Do I need to tell the General?"

Ah yes. Not only had Shang insulted her, and hurt her deeply, he had everyone else. Including the Princesses. So, chances are that they'd refused to call him anything else but General now. Not even General Pretty Boy, as Yao had begun teasing.

She shook her head. "Nah, they won't be bothering us again... but it won't be a bad idea to be alert, just in case there are more," She rubbed her cheek subconsciously. "I assume that's where you got that nice mark from?" Ling asked nonchalantly. Mulan chuckled lightly, "You should see the other guys," She joked. Ling laughed softly. "How many were there though?" He asked, serious again. It bothered her a little, seeing the jokester of the group so serious. "4, but only one got away." She answered. Ling nodded. "I'll tell him on guard swap over," He turned to face her. "Which reminds me, if you aren't speaking to him, I'd go in your tent. He's due to take over soon," Mulan smiled gratefully at her friend and stood up. A sharp pain darted across her middle. She winced. "You good?" Ling asked, hovering a hand near her shoulder. Mulan bit back the tears. "Yeah... they got a few good licks in... but I'll be good in the morning,"

~

Mulan woke up the next morning in a groggy state of mind. Her eyes felt crusty and her throat burned. She groaned loudly and swung an arm over her eyes. The sun lit her tent up and the wind gently shook it. "Mulan?" A soft voice called from just outside her tent. She sat up and cleared her throat, "Yeah?"

"Oh good, you're awake. Breakfast is just about to be served," Mulan smiled at the caring nature that Chein-Po provided. "Ok, I'll be there in a minute,"

She rubbed her eyes and sighed into her hands. She should really apologise to Shang. She said some... not nice things. Maybe if she apologised, he would too? She shook some of her hair out of her face and stood up. Her legs were very cold for some reason and... damp? Mulan glanced down, expecting to see water stains. Maybe she'd dropped some on herself in the night? But no.

Blood. Everywhere. Down her thighs, in her trousers, all over her bed. She gasped. She slowly moved off the bed tears streaming down her face. Tears leaked from her eyes. She sobbed, putting hands on her belly. No. No, no, no, no, no! She cried. The punch... he hit her right in her stomach.

She stood, frozen, on the spot. Tears fell from her eyes, but she couldn't move. "Mulan?" Chein-Po called again. She gasped wetly. "Uh... I'm coming," She called. Mulan inhaled deeply and squeezed her eyes shut. She forced herself to assume her solider head: clean everything up and put some clean clothes on. Being pregnant, Mulan didn't bring any cycle stuff with her, so she had to improvise and use some of her clean underwear balled up as a protection to stop the blood leaking into her trousers. She could grab some supplies from Qui-Gong. It was the only way it'd work. She took off her soiled sleepwear and bundled it up into her satchel.

Mulan cried softly at the blood that had begun to form at her feet. Ancestors, please grant my unborn baby's soul peace. I beg you... She prayed in her head.

Mulan took a deep breath and pushed through the tent. Ling was sat with Yao, talking quietly amongst themselves. The 3 princesses were sat on their own bench, away from the soldiers. Chein-Po was cooking and serving up some breakfast. Mulan looked around, trying to find Shang. "Hey, Ping!" Ling called, smirking slightly.

Mulan made a face but wondered over. Her stomach kept sending waves of pain through her entire body. "String-bean," She greeted. Yao laughed. Ling made a face. "Do you know where Shang is? I need to talk to him," Yao made a sour face and gestured over his shoulder. "Mooding in his tent," She nodded her thanks and slowly made her way over. She reached his tent flap, just as he opened it. "Oh," She said. Shang blinked. "I was just about to come talk to you," She quietly said. He hummed. "Come in, I need to ask you something,"

She steeled her nerves again and walked through. She stayed standing even when he sat down. "Ling told me you got cornered last night," He began. Mulan bit her lip hard. "Yep." Shang sighed. "Are you ok?"

The question threw her. She was expecting: Why didn't you tell me straight away? or Did you get them all? Are there any others? Did they follow you?

She couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears began to rush down her face. "Hey, why're you crying? What did they do?" She dropped to the ground, unable to stop her legs from quaking. She felt Shang's warm body grab her and hold her tightly. She sobbed into his shirt. "Shhh," He whispered as he rocked them back and forth.

"I miscarried," She whispered. She felt his body tense. "What?" He whispered back. "Please don't make me say it again," She begged. Tears raced down her cheeks at a newfound rate. Shang pulled away and held her by her shoulders. "You... you were pregnant?" He asked quietly. Mulan looked away and sniffed as more tears raced down her face. "I was... about 3 months," She cried sofly. He didn't say anything. "Please... please say something," She begged. "I- did I cause it?" He asked quietly. Mulan shook her head, "No... during... the bandits- they uh... they hit me... in the stomach," Telling the tale again made her nauseaus: 1 man had reduced her to a broken down mess.

She thought Shang would yell, push her away and accuse her of being careless.

But instead, he pulled her in for a tighter hug.

Together, they cried over the life they lost.