Fearless (A Mulan Retelling)

Chapter Thirty Five

Iris was the first to wake up the following morning. Being disoriented for the first few moments, she forgot where she was. Her eyes widened for a moment at actually being in a comfortable bed before she remembered that they had arrived in Alabast. Not wanting to leave the bed, she let out a small groan before she got up to clean up. Needless to say, she didn't take long. Not wanting either of the men to wake as she was getting ready, she was in and out of the restroom in a matter of minutes.

As soon as she exited, her head turned to the bed on the farthest right to see a sleeping Kayde. Even in his slumber, he looked as mysterious as always. His black mass of hair masked his closed eyes and he wore a small, secretive smile on his face as if he were in on some inside joke that Iris couldn't hear. With a small snort, she considered going over and waking him up. In fact, she had even taken two steps in that direction. She only stopped because she remembered that General Zayn was also in the room with them.

Quietly, she turned her head over to him. She couldn't see most of him, as he was covered in blankets. Yet, she did see his face, immediately noticing that he looked much different than usual. His black hair had fallen completely free from the style it had been in. Now it scattered across his face and shoulders in a disarray.

In addition, his face was different. He no longer wore the stoic expression she was used to seeing, but one of complete peace. The dent in his eyebrow was nonexistent, and his lips were parted slightly.

Iris stopped for more moments than she should have to observe him. Her eyes lingered on the strong planes of his face and the curvature of his mouth. As she stared, she made sure to account for every detail. During her speculation, she found that she admired his skin the most. Not because it was a nice bronze color or because of the smooth way it stretched across his features. No. She admired it because of the slash like scar on his left cheekbone and the barely visible smattering of freckles across his nose.

Why? Because it made him imperfect. It made him human.

She, within the depths of her mind, allowed herself to admit that General Zayn was a beautiful man, scar and all. In fact, she felt as if the scar enhanced his face. This was strange to her... as back home, when she was Iris, scars would not have appealed to her in the slightest. They wouldn't bother her, of course, because everyone had them. Yet, she wouldn't have appreciated them as she did now.

As she continued to gaze at him, she heard someone clear their throat. Her head snapped to Kayde, who now sat up, smirking at her.

"Enjoying the view?" he said, raising an eyebrow. It was a joke, but Iris saw some unreadable emotion below the surface of his expression.

"Quiet, Kayde," she snapped in a sort of whisper, "You've grown careless. And why did you sleep so late? You're usually up before me."

"Late night," he yawned, still leering at her, "As you probably know."

She was silent at this.

"You ignored the question," he said smoothly. This made her look back over at Zayn, who stirred a little but did not wake.

"Seemed the appropriate course of action," she stated softly, "There's nothing wrong with looking at someone, Kayde. He's interesting looking." Iris could tell the moment that the words left her lips that Kayde would tease her for saying them. A second later, she watched as he stifled a laugh. She shook her head at him and very plainly rolled her eyes.

"Interesting looking? What a way to word what you mean."

"I meant what I said," she said stubbornly.

"Careful," he whispered a warning, a bit more seriously than before. "You know that nothing can come of it. He's your general. Make sure that you know that."