Love or Law

In Which There is Too Much Chi-fu

Okay, so some might find this to be a little on the cheesy, cliché side but I just couldn't resist. Besides, I'm from a certain state full of people who love cheese (They even wear it on their heads! lol) So I think I have a perfectly logical and viable excuse :p

*Bonus Points go to whoever gets my oh so clever little reference and names the state ;) *

Any hooow...Let's get to the good stuff, ya?

Mulan woke up warm and comfortable for the first time in a while. The temperature had dropped as they had marched closer to the mountains and her little dip in the river certainly hadn't helped. So to wake up truly warm was a luxury she did not want to let go of in any hurry. Keeping her eyes tightly closed, she snuggled deeper under her blanket and sighed happily. It was only after taking another deep breath that she noticed the scent surrounding her. It was warm and clean, yet musky in a way. It was unlike anything she had ever smelled before, comforting yet strangely disturbing. Mulan couldn't figure out what it was until the sleeping mat under her cheek...moved?

Mulan lay absolutely still, hardly daring to breathe, trying to figure out what was going on and where she was exactly. She slowly ran her hand over the material that was under her head. It felt like cloth but there was something warm and solid beneath the cloth. As she moved her hand something suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to whatever she was laying on. Mulan instinctively reared up against the force holding her down. The movement pulled the blanket away from her face and finally revealed the full situation to her.

Mulan found herself sitting on a man's rock-hard stomach, straddling his body with her thighs, and not just any man. Her Captain lay under her, hands contently folded behind his head, watching her with extreme amusement written all over his ridiculously handsome face. Wait...did she just admit to herself that he was handsome?

"You know, Ping." Shang stated amiably, "I've woken up to my fair share of strange occurrences but I've never woken up to a fellow soldier attacking me after they mistook me for their pillow."

"Sh-Shang! I mean, Captain! W-what happened? I don't understand..." As Mulan stuttered she quickly attempted to stand up but, having stiffened up during the night, ended up accidentally planting a knee where any man desperately avoided getting hit. Of course Shang automatically reacted by trying to double up on himself, which caused him to smack his forehead off of her's, resulting in a mass of flailing limbs as they both tumbled back to the sleeping mat groaning in pain.

"I'm sorry!" Mulan moaned in humiliation even as she clutched at her own head where she was sure there was going to be yet another bruise.

"It's alright." Shang bit out, trying to get a hold of himself and curb his angry reaction. The girl couldn't help that she was naturally clumsy, now could she? (A.N: Trust me, you can't. As the Queen of Clumsiness, I would know!) "Here. Let me." Moving quickly so Ping didn't have time to react, Shang rolled so that he was on top and she was sprawled out beneath him. There he paused, drinking in the sight of her in the morning light filtering through the tent canvas. Her hair had come loose from its top knot. Tendrils of midnight brushed her cheeks and swept across her neck. Her skin was darker than most women's because of all the time she spent training under the sun but Shang found he liked the warm color better than the milky white women seemed to prefer. Her hands still covered her forehead and eyes, hands that were small but strong and marked by a few white scars across her knuckles. Her tunic had also loosened slightly during the night, giving him an unrestricted view of her collarbone and the delicate hollow at the base of her throat. He gulped when he focused on her red, luscious, extremely kissable lips, which were at the moment turned down at the corners.

Before Shang could do something really stupid, he pushed off of her so he was standing then reached down a hand to help her up, gripping her arm and pulling her to her feet. There was an awkward silence in which they just stood in their tent looking anywhere but at each other. Then Ping muttered something about needing a drink and quickly stumbled past him and out the tent entrance.