snarky_panda (snarky_panda) wrote in mulanficspace, @ 2007-07-21 00:59:00 |
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Current mood: | content |
Current music: | Kim Possible |
30 Kisses: Mulan and Shang, Part Nine
Written for the 30_kisses challenge.
Title: Troublemaker
Author: snarky_panda
Fandom: Mulan
Pairing: Li Shang/Fa Mulan
Theme: #5, ano sa (hey, you know)
Disclaimer: All characters, etc. from the Disney movie belong to Disney.
He still hadn’t stopped laughing since she’d finished the story of her session at the matchmaker’s and the red in Mulan’s face still hadn’t subsided.
“Mu…Mulan,” he sputtered through hoots of laughter. “I can’t…I can’t believe…you set the matchmaker…on fire…”
She shifted angrily on the stone bench, turning her back to him. Every time it seemed as if he’d finally gotten a hold of himself he would suddenly burst into another fit of laughter.
There was no way that she could begin to explain the hurt and humiliation she’d felt that day; that she felt now that it had been dredged up again. And he was more amused than she’d ever seen him and making her feel worse.
His hands were on her shoulders now, coaxing her to turn to him. “Oh, come on…”
Grandma poked her head out and called them inside for lunch at that moment. Mulan shook him off and stood up abruptly, marching off ahead of him.
It wasn’t until after they had finished with their meal and returned to the garden that she finally spoke to him. Shang looped an arm around her shoulder and led her back to the stone bench under the magnolia tree. He clasped her hand in his as they sat down and squeezed it, then brought it to his lips and kissed it gently. For the first time since she’d told him the story she looked up into his face.
“I’m glad to see that you gave someone else trouble besides me,” he quipped, his eyes full of mirth. “Your three friends stirred up a lot of mischief too, but Ping was the bane of my existence in those early days at Wu Zhong. I see Mulan wasn’t any different at that time.”
Her cheeks flamed as she thought of those first days of camp when she joined the army in her father’s place as Ping. In the first two days alone she’d caused a camp wide brawl and knocked everyone to the ground with her wooden staff as she flailed around during their first bo lesson. That wasn’t all her fault; Ling had slipped a bug down the back of her shirt. Still, there were other things, like when Shang caught her cheating in archery, slipping the moon fruit onto her arrow before knocking it on the bow. In some ways she supposed she really did behave disgracefully. She could only imagine the headaches she’d caused him. Yet he’d been patient and tolerant with her.
“Sorry. It wasn’t my fault you know,” she replied, pouting slightly. “Well, not always.”
As she added those words her lips curled into a smile. Releasing her hand, he reached up and tucked his hand under her chin, regarding her with tenderness in his dark eyes.
“Ah, that’s the smile I love.”
“I know it sounds funny…sometimes I can laugh at it…but it really was a humiliating experience for me. It’s painful to think about…”
“The cricket bathing in the tea is priceless…”
Mulan groaned. He chuckled lightly and lovingly caressed her cheek.
“Hey, you know it doesn’t matter, Mulan. I don’t care if you can’t recite the final admonition. I’m going to be married to the only wife that can recite Sun Tzu.”
He sounded almost proud.
“And this pleases you?”
“Of course. What do I care about the final admonition? I’m a military man.”
(Link here to continue)