Love or Law

Home Is Where the Heart Is

"Shang?"

"For the hundredth time, Mulan! I'm not telling you!"

"Well, first of all, there's no way I've asked you a hundred times since we've only been riding for about ten minutes. We haven't even left the town yet! Second of all, that wasn't what I was going to ask."

"Oh."

Mulan stifled a giggle at his response. Okay, so maybe she'd been a little annoying to him since they'd left his mother's house, but she was curious!

"What I was going to ask was: Where are we going exactly? We're kind of headed the wrong direction."

"There's somewhere I want to take you, especially now that my mother's practically adopted you." He chuckled.

"Well, I am very likeable." Mulan pointed out primly, earning another chuckle from him. They rode all the way to the outskirts of the town. It was quieter there, with much less people bustling around them. Stone walls rose up on either side of the road they were on, blocking Mulan's view of what lay beyond them. Occasional wooden gates broke up the stretches of stone but they told Mulan nothing of where they were.

Eventually, Shang pulled up in front of a gate that had an ornate 'L' carved into it. Dismounting, he pulled a key out of his saddlebag and motioned for Mulan to dismount as well.

"We can leave them here." Shang said in a hushed voice as he looped their reins through a conveniently located metal ring mounted on the wall, "We won't be long."

Taking her hand in his, Shang unlocked the gate and led her through. Inside was a beautiful rock garden just starting to regain its colors after the long winter and at its center stood a temple. A temple with the Li family crest placed over its door.

"This is..." Mulan whispered trailing off in wonder.

"Yes. Welcome to my family's temple shrine." Shang finished for her. "Mother and I wanted you to see it."

"Your Father?" Mulan asked quietly.

Shang nodded, "His headstone. Unfortunately his body was...unrecoverable."

Mulan heard the slight quiver in his voice and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"I'm so sorry, Shang. I can't even imagine what you're going through..."

"Yes, you can Mulan." Shang murmured, "You did. Which is why you made the decisions you did. So you didn't have to see your father's fate become reality. Trust me. If I could have done the same, taken his place that day he left, I would have in a heartbeat."

Mulan stayed quiet in the face of such intense emotion. Shang turned to her and cupped her face in his free hand.

"But he would never have let me. He was such a stubborn man. Even if he could have known his fate beforehand, he would never have let me."

Mulan saw his jaw tighten; saw his eyes glaze over with tears. She pulled him to her, standing on her tip-toes so she could wrap her arms around him and tug his head down to her shoulder. He made no sound as his arms came up and he clung to her, giving in to his emotions. She felt his shoulders shake and the dampness of tears on her shoulder and held him all the closer as he finally allowed himself to mourn his father.

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Mulan wasn't sure how long they stood there, holding each other. Time lost all meaning for her as she marveled over this man. He was always so strong, so stubborn, so proud and yet there was this whole other side of him that she was being privileged to learn about.