Work Text:
Zhou's third-person POV
Zhou worried deeply for his daughter. She'd returned from war, victorious, and with the emperor's crest, usually, a thing only given to the utmost families and dignitaries. She'd dropped to her knees in front of him, displaying the sword of the man Fa Zhou himself had failed to defeat. He stared at her hunched form and wondered. Where had his firey daughter gone?
She was more disciplined at home. More... feminine, ironically. Zhou noticed she walked with more grace than she'd left with, and the lightest footsteps heard in the Fa Household. Mulan seldom smiled anymore, but her eyes still twinkled when she spoke. Grandma Fa, his mother, listened when Mulan regaled the family with her tales of the war and her commanding officer. Zhou had always been an early riser and would pray in the temple, or sit by the blossom tree and watch as it bloomed.
But since she returned, Mulan would always be out before he was, training with a bamboo stick. He smiled softly as he watched from the entrance of the house, unwilling to disturb her routine. She seemed to brighten up and laugh a little more when her old commanding officer, Li Shang, rode up to the house one afternoon. "Hello, young man. What can I do for you?" Zhou asked, smiling. He knew who the man was, as he was the spitting image of his late father. The young man stumbled over his words before thrusting out a helmet awkwardly. Zhou smiled as he looked at the helmet with a raised eyebrow, "That's my helmet." He said. The man cleared his throat, "I'm here to return it... to... either of its owners," He finished. "I'm Shang Li," Zhou hobbled over on his cane and grasped his hand. "I know who you are, Captain Li. I was good friends with your father, may the ancestors grant his soul peace,"
When Zhou re-opened his eyes after a quick prayer, he noticed Shang staring in the garden. With a barely concealed smirk, he gestured over his shoulder. "She's in the field, just behind the gardens. I believe you'll find her with a bamboo stick,"
For a while, Mulan seemed to brighten up, and show more of her old self again. Zhou approved Shang's request of dating Mulan and gazed upon them fondly as they slept in the corner of the room, empty cups to their sides. For a while, Zhou thought his little blossom was back... But then the lack of self-care started.
He knew that war had the nastiest effects on the best people. Mulan began to get thinner, losing the muscle she'd obtained during training, despite continuing to do so every morning, without fail, alongside Shang. Her face became narrower, and she stopped eating as much. He saw the effects of it in Shang as well, though not quite as severe. He dropped little muscle but certainly became more reclused. More often than not, they would be sparring in the fields or sleeping beneath the blossom tree.
Zhou tried to approach her and numerous occasions, but Mulan would just smile. "Honestly, Shang lost so much more than me in this war... I'm worried about him. When he gets better, I will as well. You seem to forget baba, that he found his father's body but had to continue the war... I don't think I could've done that,"
So, in an effort to help try and heal his daughter, he helped her partner instead. Shang slowly started to get better with time, but Mulan seemed to worsen. She grew thinner, more tired and more irritable. He knew she had nightmares from it, for Zhou still had the occasional nightmare, even now, 14 years on.
"Shang, my dear boy, I must ask you one question," Zhou said one evening. Mulan, finally, had fallen asleep. Shang carried her to the bed they were sharing and left her to sleep. "Whatever you would like to ask, I shall do my best to answer,"
"Was she injured?" The blunt question clearly threw the young captain. "Pardon?" Zhou repeated. Shang rubbed his neck nervously. "You need not worry yourself, I saw the dried blood on my armour. I am still acquainted with the stains. I just wish to know how badly, and how?" He finished. Shang looked towards the room where she slept and sighed. "If I tell you, I implore you to not say anything to her... she will be upset that I said anything," Zhou nodded. "I will not repeat any part of the conversation to anybody in this house."
"Well... we were walking through the Tung Shao Pass, the quickest way to the emperor. The Huns were waiting to ambush us. They... they took out 20 of my men almost instantly. The rest of us, maybe 30, hid behind some rocks and launched cannons. They... didn't work, and I thought we were all gonna die." He paused and inhaled shakily. Zhou poured some more tea. "There were easily 200,000 Huns, if not more. Ping, uh, Mulan, she uh..." A small smile broke the young captain's face. "She stole one of the cannons, the last cannon, and ran towards the Huns. She launched it at a snowy mountain," He chuckled softly. Zhou smiled. "She caused an avalanche," He nodded, proud of his daughter's quick thinking. Shang's smile slipped from his face. "Yes, and took out a good portion of the men... but Shan-Yu swiped at her with his sword. Neither of us realised she'd been caught until we were safe when she collapsed," Zhou grimaced. "And I'm guessing that's when she was discovered?" He asked.
Shang nodded. "Yeah... but I made the medic stitch her up before doing anything else... but yeah. She then came to the emperor's aide and beat Shan-Yu again, this time, quite literally, sending him into the firework shack and blowing him up." He finished with a chuckle. Zhou shook his head fondly and gazed out of the window.
His daughter truly was one of a kind.
Mulan was having a nightmare. She twisted and turned in her bed, sweat leaking down her back.
She was back in the Tung Shao Pass, bleeding out. Shan-Yu stood over her body, glaring. "I'll kill everyone in this army, then I'll take you for my own," He sneered. Mulan fought and screamed as he plunged his crooked sword into Shang's body. She screamed in rage, trying to stand up, but Shan-Yu kicked her down and grabbed her wrists. "You're much too pretty to die," He smiled sadistically.
"NO!” She screamed, launching up. She swung her fist when something moved in the corner and pined them against the wall. All she could see were Shan-Yu’s golden eyes. There was a choking sound, but she wanted him dead.
There was suddenly a sharp pain in her abdomen, then she was on the ground, pinned there. "Mulan! It's me!" Mulan shook her head, "No, you're dead. Go away!" She twisted and straddled Shan-Yu's hips. She drove her fist down to his face, but it was blocked. She tried her other fist, but it was blocked as well. "Open your eyes," The voice belonging to the man who Shan-Yu mercilessly killed whispered. She pried them open into slits and collapsed into tears on his chest.
Shang held her tightly on the ground, knowing how debilitating a nightmare can feel. After his first battle, Shang had a similar nightmare and was only brought out of it by his father holding him tightly. It verged on painful, but it brought him back to reality. "Shang... you... you died," She wept on his chest. "But I didn't, I'm here, aren't I? I'm in your room, on your floor," He shushed her and let her cry herself to sleep on his chest.
~
It was there, in the morning, Zhou found them. One would have assumed it was an inappropriate position, but Zhou saw the tear tracks on Mulan's face. He quietly called for Li and his mama to take in the sight. Li had gasped at the sight of her daughter's stained cheeks, while mama smirked knowingly. Zhou pulled the door to and ushered the women away. "Leave them... they will come out when they are ready," He said. Mama just smirked over her tea, while Li continued with breakfast.
Perhaps having Shang here was the only way to help Mulan heal.