The Flower That Blooms In Adversity | Male! Mulan x Reader

Chapter 12

Your POV

You feel a bandage wrapped around your waist, but it doesn't occur to you how it got there. All you feel like is shutting your eyes and napping. Just as you're about to do so, Shang comes into the tent.

You smile at seeing him, sitting up. The blanket around you falls off, appearing the bandage wrapped around your chest and waist. Shang's eyes widen and you look down. You grab the blankets and hide your body, saying, "Shang, I can explain."

Chi-Fu invites himself into the tent. "So, it is true!" he shouts.

"Shang!" you plead as he walks out of the tent. Chi-Fu grabs your forearm and pulls you out of the tent.

"I knew there was something strange about you!" Chi-Fu shouts, revealing your true identity in front of everyone as he takes your ribbon out. "A woman!" He throws you to the ground.

Minsheng's eyes widen and without a second thought, he runs beside you to your aid. "Treacherous snake!" Chi-Fu snarls. "Were you behind this as well, Minsheng?" Minsheng says nothing, but his eyes say that he knew all along.

"My name is [Y/N]," you growl. "I did it to save my father and Minsheng's."

"High treason!" Chi-Fu declares.

"I didn't mean for it to go this far," you beg.

"Ultimate dishonour!" Chi-Fu spits in your face.

"Shut up, you pig!" Minsheng shouts at Chi-Fu. He receives a scoff in return.

"It was the only way, please believe me!" you plead. Shang grabs your sword from Khan. Khan jumps up as a man restrains him.

"NO!" Minsheng screams, running to Shang. A man grabs his wrist and pulls him back. "No! Don't do this! [Y/N]!" You put your head down, accepting your fate. You should've known this would happen.

How is Minsheng going to explain that you were found out and killed? You should've stayed home and let your father fight. Shang drops the sword down in front of you. Your eyes light up and you look up at Shang.

"A life for a life," he mutters. "My debt is repaid."

"What?" Chi-Fu mumbles under his breath.

"Let's go," Shang spits. He turns the other way. Chi-Fu stammers beside Shang, protesting against the choice he made. "I said 'Let's go,'" Shang growls, narrowing his eyes at Chi-Fu.

Minsheng stays next to you, making sure that the blanket is wrapped around you tightly enough to keep you warm in the freezing cold. You can't believe that they're going to leave you there.

Yet, you understand why.

"Are you okay?" Minsheng asks. "I mean, of course you're not okay, but I mean-"

"Yes, I'm fine," you answer, a bit more bitter than you expected. "I just... nevermind."

Night comes quicker than you thought and Cri-Kee attempts to make a fire with a few tiny sticks. You had gotten dressed earlier so you aren't as cold, but Khan grabs a blanket and wraps it around both you and Minsheng.

If this was any other day, your face would be red and your heart would be beating fast because you're so close to Minsheng. Due to the current circumstances, the last thing on your mind is romance.

Khan sits himself behind you and Minsheng so you both have something to lean on. You see Mushu muttering to himself about impressing Minsheng's ancestors, but your mind has wandered off elsewhere.

"Hi," he monotones to you and your best friend.

"I should've never left," you say under your breath. Minsheng gets closer to you and you can feel that he's thinking of giving you a whole speech about how brave and tough you are.

You don't feel so brave. You feel weak for letting Shang down. For letting Chien-Po, Yao and Ling down. "Hey c'mon, you went to go save two dudes' lives. Who knew you'd end up shaming him and disgracing two groups of ancestors and losing all your friends," Mushu says, trying to cheer you up.

"You know, you just gotta learn... to let things go," Mushu adds. He stifles back tears, making sobbing noises into his hands.

"Maybe I didn't go for our fathers," you say to Minsheng. "Maybe why I really went was to show that I could do things right. So, when I looked at my reflection, I'd see someone worthwhile."

You pick up your helmet and stare into your reflection. The only thing you see is someone who's not you. "But I was wrong," your voice wavers, tears flowing down your cheeks. "I see nothing."

You throw the helmet into the snow and hug your knees. Minsheng moves even closer to you, wrapping both his arms around you for a hug. "Hey, hey," Minsheng says, cupping your cheeks in his hands. "You are worthwhile. You are something, [Y/N]. You managed to take down the Huns and turn Shan-Yu away. That means something. You managed to save Shang.

That means something. You've made it this far. That means something. [Y/N], you are the bravest woman I have ever met. Although you may think that you're not, some day you'll realise that not many people can do what you've done today, what you've done these past few weeks.

Believe in yourself if no one else will, [Y/N]."

You sniff and hug Minsheng tightly, whispering, "Thank you," into his ear as tears roll down your cheeks. Mushu smiles weakly at you and Minsheng and he takes the helmet you threw.

"You might not see anything because this just needs a little spit, that's all," Mushu says. He spits on it and rubs it. "Let me shine this up for you. I can see you, you're so pretty."

You smile slightly but look away. Mushu frowns. He thinks that maybe you were expecting a speech like Minsheng's. "The truth is... we're both fakes," Mushu sighs. "Minsheng's ancestors never sent me. Hell, they don't like me. You risked your life for the people you love. I risked your life to help myself. I mean, at least you had good intentions."

As he hoped, your smile returns, even if it's small. Cri-Kee looks at his reflection in the helmet and starts crying. "What! What do you mean you're not lucky?" Mushu exclaims, grabbing Cri-Kee. "You... lied to me?"

He points at Khan. "And what are you? A sheep?" Khan grumbles and Mushu groans, throwing Cri-Kee behind his shoulder.

"I'll have to face my father sooner or later," you sigh. "You too, Minsheng. We're both not supposed to be here. I'm sure they'd give you an exception because you're younger and fit for war."

"I suppose they would," he shrugs. "But they know I knew you were a female all this time, so I'm not very hopeful."

"Yeah..." you breathe out. "Let's go home."

"This isn't gonna be pretty," Mushu agrees. "But don't worry, alright? We'll work things out. We started all this together, so that's how we're gonna finish it."

Mushu hugs you around the neck, because that's all his tiny arms can reach. "I promise," he adds. Minsheng joins in the hug and it stays like that for a few moments.

You pull away from the hug and pack everything up. As you're packing up, you see things moving in the corner of your eye. You run toward the edge of the cliff and look down, to see Shan-Yu and a few of his men.

"We need to warn Shang now," you say, turning around and grabbing your sword from out of the snow. This battle isn't over yet.