Mulan is mulling over some life-altering changes that have happened recently, and Shang joins her. They discuss the future that is waiting for them.
3rd person POV around Shang & Mulan unless stated otherwise.
*Not as long as the others. This is more of a filler chapter than a proper one... also... rather annoyingly, the POV's won't be very long per person. I'M SORRY*

Mulan.

Mulan took the teapot to her father and left the house immediately. She didn't want to know anything else about Lao's time in the army. She shrugged off her Yi and put on her outdoor shoes. She wandered over to her mother's old bridge and sighed wistfully. Her mom would know what to do... so, Mulan prayed.
"Dear ancestors... I hope you can hear me. Please grant my husband and father-in-law peace in the afterlife. They fought a battle long destined to fail. They died heroes, so I beg, allow them suffering no more," She finished the prayer with a lit candle and a small smile. A warm breeze fluttered through her hair. She sighed. "I miss you mother... I wish you could be here... you'd know what to do," She looked down and gazed into the small stream of water that harboured a few fishes. Mulan was taken back to a time before she was a wife and expectant mother. She grinned and hauled herself up on the bridge.

Freedom.

That was what she felt.

She walked along the wooden rail, her feet falling back into their old rhythm.
Left, right, balance. Left, right, balance. Left, right, balance.
Despite being as large as a nǎiniú, she walked with grace. It felt nice to be ten years old again. A time before her mother died, before her father was called off before she wedded Lao... and before she was pregnant.

Mulan stumbled slightly. The realisation of her situation was finally setting in. She was the one person left to continue Lao's family line, and she might not even be able to do that... his mother went crazy and sold the estate when they were called away, leaving Mulan with no other home than her dad's one. Lao was the only son who had a pregnant wife. He was one of seven children: four boys and three girls. Mulan only met his elder sister, Chūn Huá, and that was at their wedding. Sure, thanks to his sisters, Mulan had many nieces and nephews... but they couldn't carry on the family name.

Chūn Huá, Lao's eldest sibling, had four children, three boys and a girl.
Qiáng was next, but he never married before war took his life. Lao and his twin, Yán Yǎ, were born two years after Qiáng.
Yán Yǎ had five children, one boy and four girls.
Chéng came next, but he died before he reached marriage age.
Měi Lián, Lao's younger sister, had three children, all boys. She was expecting her next one as well, not due too long after Mulan.
Ten years after Měi Lián was born came Háo, but he didn't live past infanthood. That left Lao the only person to carry on the family name.

The pressure was on a little bit. But from the feel of it... Mulan's baby would carry on another man's name. She lowered herself into sitting on the bridge, feeling unsteady. She was the last possible person to carry on Lao's name... and he was dead...

SHANG.

Shang left his father's room in search of a private place to pray. "Try the wooden bridge, my boy. Mulan often prays there," Zhou had suggested. Shang immediately left for it, desperate to try and bargain for his father's life. He couldn't deal with losing his father as well... not after his mother. He walked towards the bridge that stood over a small stream of water, right in the centre of the garden. There was a certain cool air that drifted around. He glanced at the sky, slightly surprised at the pale blue complexion. It was apparently later than he'd thought. His eyes fell to a figure sitting on the wooden bridge. He frowned and slowly walked over, folding his arms.

"Not that I don't trust you, but should you be sat like that?" Shang asked in concern. He didn't really know Zhou's daughter, but he very clearly adored her. The woman in question swung her feet with a shrug. "Yeah... I'm fine. I've done this loads of times." She gave a wan smile. "Plus, if I fall, it's not far enough to cause lots of damage. No worse than a sprained ankle," Shang couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of that.

He leant against the wooden bridge on his folded arms. He gazed out at the sunset watching as it readied to dip below the horizon once more. "Are you ok?" He asked quietly. The question threw him: why should he care if she was ok? People lose their husbands to war all the time! But... the way she looked at him did odd things to his brain. Whether it be kindness when she offered tea, playfulness when she climbed the wall, or smugness when she sat atop her stead, or even trust when they walked through a dark alley between two buildings... she somehow had a way of enthralling him...

He didn't like it.

He shook his head and brought himself back to reality. Her body deflated slightly with a quiet sigh. "I've been better," She spoke. Shang nodded. Understandable... she had just lost her husband and father-in-law. "Are you?" She asked back. Shang frowned. Why did she care? As soon as his father was healed enough, he would go back home and make him recover there. But the way her dark brown eyes bored into his own, Shang found himself sighing. "I'm worried," He admitted. "Wei was speaking about the high possibility of surgery today," He continued. Mulan nodded. "Yeah, I heard... how do you feel about that?"

Shang thought.

"Honestly... not great," He scrubbed his face. "I just..." He sighed. A hand came down onto his shoulder, rubbing reassuringly. "It'll be ok. Next to the emperor's personal doctors, Wei is the very best," Mulan smiled. "He's helped everyone in this village at least once, and nursed my father back to health," She continued. "He even helped my mother through her pregnancy and birth of my siblings,"

Shang frowned. Siblings? Had Mulan sisters? Were they married off?

"I can see what you're thinking... no, they weren't married off." She gazed out to the sunset. "I was the only one who survived past the fevers of infanthood," She quietly said. Shang rubbed her hand that was on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," She smiled tight-lipped. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Shang watched as the sun finally rested below the horizon, replacing its warm air with an autumnal cool one. "How are you... over finding out about Lao?" He asked quietly.

NEITHER.

Mulan sighed heavily. "Confused," She finally settled on. "How so?" Shang asked. "I..." She sighed again. "I thought that by marrying... I'd eventually fall in love with my husband... but I never did with Lao," She confessed. Shang listened intently. "He never hurt me, and treated me like a princess..." She chuckled quietly. "He even let me continue riding my horse and battled me in Xingqiu... for god's sake, he even playfully did martial arts with me, as my father did..." She licked her lips, almost afraid that Shang would pass judgement... but he did not.

Instead, he was intrigued. A woman who knew how to play Xingqiu and practised martial arts? Perhaps it was a protection thing, rather than a hobby...

Mulan continued. "But I just... I could never bring myself to love him as a proper husband," She suddenly choked up. Tears brimmed in her eyes. She blinked harshly and they raced down her cheeks. Shang blinked in shock. He'd never seen her cry before... nor any women, besides his sister and aunt. "I feel bad that I never loved him," She cried softly. "Here I am, pregnant with the next child of his line, and yet, not loving him." She dried her eyes on her shawl in her lap... not that it did anything, for the tears multiplied. Mulan gasped softly at the warm mass she was suddenly pressed against. With an abrupt realisation, she realised he was hugging her.

With an abrupt realisation, he realised he was hugging her. What are you doing Shang!? He shouted on the inside. But this woman... she clearly needed comfort in a source that wasn't known for its emotions... Shang felt an equal distribution of awkwardness, pity and... protectiveness?

Perhaps it was a mutual comfort on both parts. Mulan, for her devastating losses, one after the other... and for Shang... perhaps it was his father wasting away before his very eyes.

Shang closed his eyes as he rested his cheek on her head.

Let's go with that, He thought to himself...

TRANSLATIONS:

Chūn Huá – spring grace
Qiáng - strength
Lao - rewarding & Yán Yǎ – beauty grace
Chéng - success
Měi Lián – beautiful lotus
Háo - prosperous