Disclaimer: I do not own Mulan.

If you readers don't like this then I don't care. It was an idea that I had that I am surprised that I could find no one else who had used it yet. So here it is.

This will not be long, maybe two or three chapters. So don't bug me on it. Once it's finished it's finished and I'm going back to my other stories.

(Oh, and this was written a while ago so it is not up to my usual standards for those who have read my other stories, but I didn't want to go through and rewrite it. Enjoy!)

Consequences

Chapter 1

Ping's Decision

At home she had been the girl who could never do anything right. She could tell that her parents loved her, yes, but they were also disappointed that their daughter could not be more . . . woman-like. She spoke too loud, too much. She did not show respect unless it was earned. She was too thin and acted more like a boy then any of the other girls.

Then there was the Matchmaker. In one stroke her future as a woman was gone. She had dishonored her family and made it impossible to ever be seen as a 'perfect bride'.

She had hidden behind a mask her entire life. She had tried to be the woman that her father wanted her to be, but no matter how much she tried she could never truly fit the mask. The paint on her face disguised her inner turmoil and her natural beauty was something not found in most of the other girls.

When the call had come for her father to join the army she was devastated. Even though whenever her father looked at her she could only she her failures reflected back at her, he was one of the only ones that did not look at her with disgust, and she was not willing to lose him.

So she had cut her hair, taken his armor and the summons, and rode away to join the army. It was not an easy decision, but she did not regret it.

The training camp had been brutal and taxing. She had been failing at every turn, and the men were relentless in picking on 'poor little Ping'. But, for the first time in her life, she felt somewhat free. Her face was not hidden by layers of paint, she was not expected to be graceful, and she was judged by what she could do and how she acted, not by how meek she was.

She had been devastated when Shang, the captain of their small camp, told her to go home. That she did not fit in. No matter what, she could never go back to hiding behind false masks, not after she had a taste of freedom.

So she had done what the other soldiers, the other men, had failed to do. She retrieved the arrow from the top of the pole while wearing the weights.

At that point she had started to improve. She found confidence beyond what she had thought she had possessed, at it seemed that the other men now looked to her as the example, instead of the misfit. If Ping, the weakest and smallest of them all, could do it, then they could too.

It was exhilarating. She loved it. It was a release from everything that she had ever known. The captivity and dark glares from her home town were replaced with admiring glances as she surpassed them in training and became one of the best.

The call for their small camp sent a thrill of excitement through all of them, though Ping, or rather Mulan, also felt fear. If there was any time when she was most prone to discovery it would be on the trip. If she was wounded, there was a large chance that she would be discovered and killed.

She could only hope that it never came to that.

The march had been long and exhausting, and when they had come to the end and saw what was waiting for them, Mulan could feel nothing but horror. There was no camp for them to join, only of field of dead people, an army crushed and burned under the feet of their enemy. It made her sick.

Shang's father had been among those men, and Mulan realized that if her father had come, he would be too. She offered what little comfort that she dared, a soft "I'm sorry," and received and thankful nod and a soft touch to the shoulder before his face hardened and he turned back to the rest of the soldiers, having to put on a brave face for the rest of the warriors. He was their leader and he could not show weakness.

Her heart went out to him and she wished that she could do more, but she knew that she could not.

Their march had continued, this time shadowed with doubt and fear. They were but a small group, nothing compared to the army that they had seen lay frozen on the field, and many of them doubted that they would make it out alive. Duty was duty, though, and they were all that was left between the Huns and the Emperor. They had to at least try. They would probably die trying.

The cannon had not been Mulan's fault, though she felt responsible as Mushu was the one to set off the bright flare that had given away their position. The explosion had brought the Huns down on them. They seemed to be like a single wave of black in the pass. Giant men dressed in furs riding black horses had sent a shiver of dread down their spines.

They were but a few soldiers against what appeared to be a sea of enemy warriors. Next to the Huns, their small resistance was pitiful, and Ping knew that, without a miracle, they were all facing their death.

Then Mulan saw the reflection of the mountain in her sword, and suddenly knew what she had to do.

"Aim the last cannon and Shan-Yu," Shang yelled and Mulan could tell that it was a last effort to take out the leader of the Hans, but she had a better idea.

Without asking for permission Mulan shoved the man holding the cannon out of the way and scooped the weapon up into her arms. Her feet moved faster then the other men would have, her light weight an advantage over them as she did not sink as far into the deep snow. She could hear Shang calling after her, telling her to stop, but she knew that this time she could not obey his orders. This time she had to do what she knew was right, what she knew was her duty, to protect her country even at the cost of her own life.

Her fingers shook from nerves and the cold as she scrambled to scrape a spark from the fire starting rocks in her hands, but a hawk suddenly swooped down and snatched at them, forcing her to drop the rocks into the snow. Panic struck her as she searched frantically for the black rocks, but it was useless.

The sudden appearance of Mushu caused Mulan's eyes to widen and she grabbed him and pulled his tail, causing him to light the cannon's fuse on fire. Within seconds of it lighting, the cannon shot off and Mulan could hear the small lizard like dragon yelling the entire way as he had been caught on the cannon, as well of the panicked neigh of a horse.

For the first time since placing the cannon in the snow Mulan glanced up, and immediately wished that she had not. Shan-Yu, huge and terrifying on his rearing horse, towered above her crouched form. For a moment his eyes followed the stream of smoke left by the cannon until it hit the mountain and cause the snow to begin falling. His eyes filled with understanding, and an untamed rage, as he turned to her.

It happened to fast for Mulan to defend herself or get out of the way. A cry of rage escaped from his lips as he brought his sword down across her side. His horse galloped past, both of them trying to avoid the terrifying wave of white that was quickly swallowing up the army.

Ignoring the pain for the moment, Mulan followed the man's example and scrambled to her feet. Her legs carried her over the snow swiftly and when she saw her motionless, stunned caption, who it seemed had come after her, staring at the oncoming snow. She didn't think twice before grabbing his arm and breaking him from his daze by dragging him after her.

Though they were fast, the snow was faster. It had gained speed as it came down the hill and Mulan knew that they would never outrun it, no matter how fast they were going. Her horse galloped to her side and she easily swung on before turning to offer her hand to Shang.

He lunged for her hand, but the snow caught up to him first. Mulan and her horse were able to stay about the snow miraculously, but she knew that their luck would not last long. The cliff was fast approaching and she could see the snow beginning to fall from its edge like water in a waterfall. Her eyes searched for Shang, hoping beyond hope that she could save him.

Her eyes finally latched on to his unconscious form and she dragged him onto her horse's back while Mushu - when had he gotten here? - scrambled onto her shoulder. She urged her horse to fight against the current of the snow, even though she knew that it was a loosing battle.

She closed her eyes for a moment when the inevitable feeling of tipping over the edge came and her horse screamed in fright. She knew that her life was about to end and, for some reason, she had accepted it.

Then an arrow, seemingly out of the middle of nowhere, landed in the snow next to her. With large eyes she grabbed it, noticing the rope tied to it. Someone was trying to rescue her and Shang. There was one small problem though; one man would not be able to pull her, her horse, and Shang back up over the cliff face.

Mulan glanced between the arrow, the figures on the other end of the rope, and the unconscious body in her lap, and knew that the weight would be too much for one man to pull up. That and, even if they both made it back up, she still had her wound, which needed medical attention. When it was discovered that she was actually a women, she would be killed anyway. To her it was better to die a friend then to die a traitor. It took her less then a moment to make her decision.

Mulan wrapped the rope around Shang's form and shot the arrow back up to the person or people who had sent it. Within seconds Shang was dragged from her grasp as she continued her plunge below.

Her last thought before everything went black was, "Ancestors, if you are watching, let my sacrifice not be in vain."

0~o~0

Shang groaned and rubbed his head as he got up, looking around at his soldiers for the one he was searching for, the one who had saved his life, "Where is Ping?" he asked when he could not find him, but all he got in response were devastated faces, and his heart sank.

"Where is he?!" Shang demanded, this time an order.

The three soldiers that had been Ping's closest friends looked down and shifted their feet before Yao replied, a new level of devastation in his voice that Shang had never heard before, "You both went over the edge . . . Ping didn't come back up."

In a quiet voice Po added, "He sacrificed himself so that you could live, so that you could continue to lead us."

No.

No.

Not Ping. Not determined, unwavering, undaunted Ping who never once showed fear in the face of danger. It couldn't be possible.

He can't be dead.

Shang scrambled to the edge, several arms grasping his own, as if afraid that he would through himself off after Ping. He turned his gaze down, but it was impossible to see through the drifting snow to the bottom.

"Ping!" he yelled, desperately. Ping had not only been an inspiration to the troops, he had also been an inspiration to Shang. He had showed the captain that he could never give up. He had been something like a friend to Shang, someone who even if he could not understand, he could show his support to.

"Ping!" his voice cracked and he waited for a moment, hoping beyond hope that he would hear the distant, slightly high pitched voice of Ping, but he was answered only with silence and the echo of his own voice coming back to him.

Ping was gone.

0~o~0

The honored heroes marched up to the palace where the Emperor was waiting for them. Despite the cheers of the people all around them, they could feel nothing but sadness. They had lost one of their most valued members, the one who truly deserved the title Hero of China. Ping was the one who had wiped out the entire Hun army in one blow, and it was Ping who should have been here, with them.

But he was not here, and the remaining soldiers felt helpless at their inability to save him. Their march to the Emperor was not one of honor in their eyes, it was one of failure, for they had failed the one that truly deserved their respect. The procession paused before the Emperor and Shang bowed before their ruler, holding out the wavy sword.

"May I present the sword of Shan-Yu," he said, his voice projecting over the crowd.

The Emperor reached for it, but before he could lift it from Shang's hands a darkly colored hawk swooped down and plucked the blade from his hands. Shang gasped and stumbled back, watching as the Hawk flew up to the roof and dropped the sword into the waiting hands of Shan-Yu himself.

The Hun grinned darkly and then everything erupted into chaos.

0~o~0

Thank you for reading. I do like reviews, so if you give a few I would appreciate it.

Next chapter should be done soon.