Minutes later, he slowly withdrew his hand, and the yellow-gold flames gradually died out.
Emerging from the flames was a humanoid figure with a shockingly similar visage to his own.
It slowly opened its eyes. Its irises were shades of gold.
The figure landed on the ground, then slowly ascended into the air until it reached Aladdin's level.
Aladdin let out a tired breath. Creating functioning clones from magical energy always seemed to drain his mana. He had only managed to infuse it with three spells: Teleportation, Flight, and Invisibility. It had only two objectives: find the Huns and protect the citizens of China.
Every clone could communicate with him depending on their distance. So the moment Shan Yu was found, or anything happened to the clone, Aladdin would know instantly.
"You know what to do," Aladdin said, staring at the clone.
The clone nodded.
It soared into the forest.
"Where did you go, Shan Yu?" Aladdin combed his hair with his hand.
The possibility that Shan Yu might do something unexpected, as when he attacked the Imperial soldiers, weighed heavily on his mind. Because Shan Yu was not at the level of a Nasira, Aladdin hadn't even thought about making a clone to watch his every move.
Now he wondered if he had made a mistake.
"Forget it."
There was no use crying over spilt milk. All that mattered now was finding the Huns. Once that was done, he would think about what to do next.
Mirage soared downward and landed on his shoulder.
They teleported back to the camp, vanishing into thin air.
Mulan sat barefoot on the ground with her arms wrapped around her legs.
Mushu rested beside her, leaning against her side, fast asleep.
She was waiting for Aladdin's return.
It had been two hours since Aladdin left, and he had yet to return.
Meanwhile, the other soldiers had fallen fast asleep, with a few taking turns patrolling the surrounding area.
Suddenly, the wind shifted.
A faint breeze washed over her.
Mulan looked up and saw Aladdin standing beside her.
She shot up from where she sat and hugged him tightly.
"You're back."
Her voice was tinged with relief.
Mushu tumbled onto the ground, rousing him from his sleep. He rubbed the back of his head as he looked around.
Upon noticing Mulan hugging Aladdin tightly, he attempted to raise his hand to speak, but quickly retracted it.
"Not worth it... Poor girl should learn a lesson in heartbreak. It will help her in the long run while searching for suitors."
He shook his head and waved a hand in their direction before slipping under the tent.
He was going back to sleep.
Aladdin returned her hug with a gentle pat on the back.
"I thought you would be asleep by now," he said, gently pulling away.
"I couldn't sleep. Not when I knew you had gone looking for the Huns," Mulan shook her head. She reluctantly pulled away as well.
"I'm back. You should go to sleep now. We don't know when we will regroup with the escort team, or what the journey would be like," Aladdin replied.
Mulan quickly caught his hand before Aladdin could walk away.
"Can we talk… Please?" she asked softly.
Aladdin tried to pull back, but she tightened her grip with even greater force.
"What is it that you want to talk about?" he asked, furrowing his brows.
Has she figured out something about my true identity?
Aladdin remembered that he had mistakenly used his teleportation ability in front of her. While he could attribute it to one of his magical items, for an intelligent person like Mulan, even though she was ignorant of magic, there was still a limit to how much he could conceal the truth.
He realised that he would need to reveal more about his abilities if he didn't want their relationship to fall apart.
"Let's sit first." Mulan sat on the ground behind her tent and patted the ground beside her.
Aladdin sat beside her.
"Firstly, Abu told me the truth," Mulan said, wriggling her toes.
"The truth?" Aladdin asked, confused and suspicious.
"Yes. He told me that you are a magician," Mulan said. "But I wanted to hear the truth from you."
Aladdin inwardly sighed in relief.
"He's right. I am."
"I thought you would try to lie to me," Mulan exhaled loudly. She stretched her legs out and tilted her head toward Aladdin.
"But I think I'm the stupid one here. You looked rich from the clothes you wear. You have a talking monkey and a magic carpet. You can also fly and have numerous elixirs that can make an average soldier grow to Captain Li Shang's level in just a few days. I should have known that you weren't just an ordinary traveller with a few mystical items."
"I just thought that you would look like an elderly person or one of those cranky scam artists in my town."
"Are you mad that I didn't tell you the truth?" Aladdin asked.
"I'm not. I'm just a little disappointed that you didn't trust me enough to tell me this, and I had to find out myself," Mulan replied.
"I'm sorry."
"I'll accept that," Mulan responded.
A brief silence settled around them.
"I have been thinking. Rather than leaving when we rejoin the Imperial Army, can you stay until this is over? I want to show you around my town and some places around China before you leave," Mulan said, breaking the silence.
"I can't. I have so many things I need to do. I'll have to leave after we rejoin the Imperial Army. I can't stay another day after that," Aladdin shook his head in response.
"Like what?"
"I have a wife. We just got married, and I can't bear to be away from her for long."
Mulan gripped the grass. Her heart seemed to stop beating. Every trace of emotion drained from her face.
She drew her legs close and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees.
She opened her mouth to speak… then closed it again.
The night became strangely quiet.
"When will you be returning to China?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"I don't know. But I guess it will be sometime in the future, to check on how you are all doing."
Mulan stretched her hand toward Aladdin, but suddenly halted and pulled it back. She lowered her face between her knees.
Tears gathered in her eyes.
"I will miss you," she whispered audibly.
Aladdin didn't know how to respond, so he remained silent.
"I'm sorry… This is so embarrassing."
Mulan sniffed and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.
"I don't fully know you yet. But I know you love your wife so much, right?" She didn't know when the words slipped from her lips.
"Yes, I do. More than anything in the world, including myself."
Mulan didn't know what other answer she had expected. But his response broke the dam within her heart.
Tears streamed down her cheeks like raindrops.
"I'm sorry. Let's end the conversation here. I think I need to rest for tomorrow." Mulan stood and ran away.
Aladdin watched her until she vanished from his sight; his emotions were in upheaval.
He hadn't expected the conversation to go in this direction, nor had he expected himself to respond that way.
The former him would have accepted her advances with a smile built on pretence. He would have pledged his words to the melodies of her heart.
Yet he could not.
Because Jasmine kept appearing in his mind whenever he tried.
He could not break the heart in his hands just to cradle another. That would make him no different from a slaughterhouse.
Would he continue the slaughter once he met another princess?
No!
But resisting the temptation was far harder than he had imagined.
Aladdin fell back onto the grass with one hand behind his head.
"And I thought I had game…."
He muttered softly.
"…Maybe I'm just a single-player."
He sighed tiredly.
Aladdin closed his eyes to rest. However, moments later, he sat upright and looked in the direction Mulan had run.
She had run far away from the camp.
Perhaps she wanted some privacy, but it was too dangerous for anyone to wander alone this deep into the night.
Aladdin whistled into the air.
Mirage landed on his outstretched knee.
"Go after her. Inform me if anything happens," he ordered.
Mirage screeched softly, then soared into the air in the direction Mulan had fled.
Since he couldn't rest at the moment, he might as well do some work.
He sorted through the information his clone had sent him.
***
Meanwhile, at a certain distance,
The moon illuminated the night sky, leaving an imprint of its image across the surface of a spring.
Mulan stopped running and fell to her knees before the spring.
Her image was superimposed upon the gently flowing water.
She stared at her tear-filled reflection before scattering it with her hands.
She dipped her hands into the spring and washed her face. Afterwards, she dried it with her sleeves.
Looking at her reflection again, she sighed.
"You are so stupid."
She slammed her forehead into the water.
SPLASH!!
She slammed her forehead into the water again.
"But I thought he was the one..."
"I have never felt this way..."
"How was I supposed to know?"
Tears rolled down her cheeks once more and disappeared into the spring.
"Stupid!! Stupid!! Stupid!!"
A large falcon circled high above her.
Mulan soon spotted the falcon and recognised it. She realised that Aladdin had sent Mirage to watch over her.
Somehow, that only made the turmoil in her heart grow stronger.
A melody slowly formed in her heart. She couldn't help but release it.
Her lips parted.
[Who is that girl
Staring back at me?
The one I barely recognise...
The girl they never got to see.]
She moved her hand across the spring's surface.
[I spent my whole life trying
To be the one they wanted me to be.
Hoping...
Someone will look right through?]
She stood and walked deeper into the forest, following the path of the spring.
[Will I ever find my reflection?
Someone who knows the heart inside me.
Not the girl they expect me to be,
But the girl I've kept inside.]
[You were the first who looked at me
And didn't ask me to pretend.
I found someone who understood me...
Why couldn't my reflection be you?]
She ran.
Her reflection blurred across the flowing stream.
Unconsciously, she wept.
[All my life I've been afraid...
That the truth of me
Would leave me alone.]
[So, I became what they needed,
And lost the girl I used to be.
But then you came along...]
As she sang the final note, she fell to her knees beside the spring.
[You saw me.
You really saw me.]
Her reflection became clear upon the water's surface.
[So why...
Couldn't my reflection...
Be you?]
Mulan dipped her hand into the water and scattered the reflection for the umpteenth time.
Her shoulders slumped forward.
The night grew even quieter. However, the creatures of the night slowly announced their presence with the chirping of crickets and birds.
"Maybe I should take a bath to cool down before going back to sleep."
Mulan looked around to see if anyone was watching.
Sensing no presence, she sighed in relief.
Unbeknownst to Mulan, a figure dressed in a black robe stood behind a tree.
It was Aladdin.
He had arrived some time ago, when Mulan had begun smashing her face against the water.
He realised he had to be present in case she did anything stupid.
He waited patiently, watching her every move. Initially, he wanted to step in. But he held himself back.
He could not advance. He could only watch.
As she slowly removed her clothes, Aladdin held his breath and turned away.
His heart pounded furiously.
Although he was tempted, he couldn't feast his eyes on someone whose heart he had already rejected.
Deciding to rely on Mirage instead, Aladdin teleported away.
The place where he had previously stood was now empty.
Meanwhile, Mirage landed on a rock beside Mulan.
"You will protect me, won't you?"
Mulan paused and gently patted his head with a tired smile.
Mirage nodded and let out a soft screech.
"I'll be depending on you then."
She continued removing the rest of her clothes and hid them beneath a rock beside the flowing spring. She was already a good distance from the camp, and with Mirage watching over her, she would be alerted before anyone got close.
Realising his task of stalling Mulan until his master had left was complete, Mirage soared into the air and hovered a short distance above the spring.
Even so, he continued observing her surroundings.
Mulan dipped her toes into the spring.
Feeling its warm, soothing touch, she stepped in, slowly submerging herself beneath the water. She swam behind a huge rock, having learned her lesson from her encounter with the soldiers.
/////
Author's note: Creating this song took me some time because I wanted it to truly reflect Mulan's character growth. Haha, Get it!
Thank you all for waiting. I hope you enjoyed it.
**
I'm dealing with a lot of stress and depression because of everything going on in my life and work. Writing Emperor of the Seven Deserts was my way of combating it... if you have noticed by now... Now I'm thinking if I should take a break. Unfortunately, I still need to work. So, I'll just rest a little.