The Mulan of Balhai Temple

[Taiylor Wallace]

Khan smiled as he always seemed to around her. That was one of the things he adored about her, that she never failed to bring a smile to his face. "Come, let's return to Hanzhou." He stood, taking her hands to help her up. They emerged to find the falls overflowing and a rainbow streaking high over the mountains. Khan approached the ledges he'd climbed up, and they were still wet and slippery, and any normal man wouldn't dare trying to climb down. But Khan, being not so normal nor worried, pulled Fang Li in close, having her wrap her arms about him once more, "Hold on tight." He very carefully lowered himself down the first ledge. At one point, both of his feet slipped while he was reaching for another handhold, and they were hanging just briefly on his one arm. But he quickly righted himself, and made it down both ledges.
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A long walk brought them back into Hanzhou, and Khan stopped outside Miss Mei's door, knocking lightly. The woman opened up after a moment, "I was about ready to send search parties for you two!" She glared at Khan, "Where were you?"
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"We waited out the storm in a cavern, it was too dangerous to come down from Bei Falls with the rain," Khan answered calmly, completely composed under the woman's hard stare.
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Miss Mei's expression softened up a bit, "Hm... alright, then. She didn't strain herself, did she? No climbing?"
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"I allowed no such thing."
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"Good." Miss Mei ushered them inside. "It's too late for you to make the trip back to the temple, Khan, you're staying the night. As for you, Fang Li," Mei looked to her, "tomorrow, I'll start showing you all the materials and herbs and such that I use. I'm sure you'll have seen some before, but knowledge is power. Now, I set up a proper room for you at the end of the hall. Khan, you may take any spare room you like. Get to bed soon, I have some things to attend to." She swept away.
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Khan watched the woman as she disappeared into the back stock room, and then he smiled down to Fang Li. "I'll see you tomorrow, then, Miss Chan. Thank you for a lovely day," he took her hand and kissed it gently, before disappearing into one of the spare rooms.

[kishiseta]

Fang Li was grateful for everything that Master Khan had done and started her day out with Miss Mei memorizing everything that the woman was telling and showing her. Some of them were already familiar to her. Others were quite new and she knew she had to familiarize them with those. There were many things that she already knew the uses for some of them and the others proved to be eye openers.

As she went through shelves and rows of many herbs and stocks, she wondered where Master Khan was. She had not seen him all morning so she thought he must have gone back to the temple, which was sad because she hadn't properly thanked him yet. But as much as she wanted to think of him, she had to set herself to task. She had to be a good healer if she was going to be of use to anyone. Especially to Master Khan.

Fang Li scribbled in her notebook making sure she never forgot any of the things Miss Mei was showing her. Though her shop was small, there were so many things crammed on the shelves, that she had to draw some of them to commit them to memory. She marveled at how much Miss Mei knew and the more she showed her, the more she got inspired by how much she had to grow.

[Taiylor Wallace]

By the time they finished with the raw ingredients and all their combinations and uses, it was nearly noon, and a commotion erupted out in the street. Miss Mei sighed annoyedly, "Another drunken fight, no doubt..." As of late, some of the less honorable men of the town had taken to drinking to avoid the stress and fear of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and the passing of Lord Cao Cao's troops made for great tension as the soldiers were all drinkers themselves.
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"Away, monster!" They heard a roar in the street. Miss Mei looked to the window, and there they saw four of Lord Cao Cao's men, surrounding Khan with weapons drawn. They'd recognized him as a Mongolian, and immediately counted him as a threat.
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"Oh, hell," Miss Mei whispered, then ran out into the street. "All of you! Stop this nonsense! He's a monk!" She grabbed the arm of one man, only to be struck across the face and tossed into the dust. A change came over Khan. The peaceful, gentle Mulan Monk fell dormant, and the Mongolian nomad, the Ulanur Warrior, awoke. Khan grabbed one man's blade, not caring that it cut his hand, and he took it from the man's grasp. With a strong parrying sweep, he knocked all the other weapons back away from him, and he attacked the man he'd disarmed, bashing him in the temple with the sword pommel and rendering him unconscious. The other men all struck at once, and Khan disarmed two before landing a strong kick in the chest of one and a strike across the other's head with the flat of the blade. The last was the man who'd struck Miss Mei, and Khan leapt on him like a ferocious beast, rolling to a halt with his knee on the man's chest, the blade tip at the man's throat.
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"Khan..." Mei looked at him, astonished that he reacted in such a way to her harm.
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"What's going on here?!" From the northern road came Lord Cao Cao himself, and his officers Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren. "You there! Stay your weapon!" He drew his own sword, ready to attack Khan to defend his own men.
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"I will not," Khan snarled, "not after striking a woman who only sought to spare me of their cruelty!"
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"I said stay your weapon," the Lord growled darkly. "Xiahou Dun, disarm him!"

[kishiseta]

Fang Li gasped as more soldiers surrounded Master Khan. He didn't deserve this just because he looked different! She growled in frustration and flung herself onto Master Khan embracing him. She buried her head into his neck whispering, "Please, Master Khan. Stop fighting. Miss Mei is fine now. Please..." She closed her eyes praying that Master Khan would listed to her.

Around them, the people stilled. Even Xiahou Dun stopped in his tracks unsure of what to do, looking to his commander for further orders.

Fang Li refused to be intimidated by the stares fearing for Master Khan's safety. She would plead for him, even beg on her hands and knees if need be. He wasn't in the wrong. He was harmless until they struck Miss Mei. They had to see that!

[Taiylor Wallace]

Khan stopped short, his grip slowly loosening on his blade. Xiahou Dun took a step toward him, raising his own blade. "Stay your weapon," he spoke evenly, staring intently through his one eye, the other lost long ago to an arrow and covered by a patch. Khan wrapped a protective arm around Fang Li, turning so that he was between the warrior and his dear friend.
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"Make your Lord pull back his men... Then I'll go in peace..." Khan warned him. As tense as he was, Fang Li could feel his heart beat at a steady, strong pace.
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"Return to the camp!" Lord Cao Cao ordered his soldiers, all of which hurried to get away from the raging monk. "You, Mongolian, you are a monk, then?"
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"I am," Khan nodded slowly.
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"Then my men will trouble you no more, as long as you wear the robes of a Mulan." Lord Cao Cao pulled back his horse's reins. "You should thank the gods for that girl stopping everything." It was almost a threat, but the Lord of Wei withdrew with all his officers.
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Khan let the blade fall from his hand and clatter on the ground, and he wrapped his second arm around Fang Li, hugging her close.

[kishiseta]

The crowd dispersed, leaving them be and seeing that there was going to be no more event in the street, went back to their usual routines. Fang Li was relieved but her hold on Master Khan grew even stronger. Compared to his heartbeat, her own was erratic, the remnants of her fear still not having died down. The incident taught her that losing Master Khan was like losing her brother or her father. Like losing Lei Ba or Shuang. He had become a dear friend of hers that she considered them in the same light as Lei Ba and Shuang--like family.

She took a deep breath and looked up at him with a smile. "Thank you for controlling yourself, Master Khan. You scared me half to death! The Lord of Wei is just, but he will not stand down in chaos." She looked over to where Miss Mei was and let go of Master Khan. "I must return to my studies, but I am quite sure Miss Mei would like to express her gratitude for defending her. Come." She took his hand and went over to Miss Mei.

[Taiylor Wallace]

Khan said nothing, til they came to Miss Mei, who was still dusting herself off. "Miss Mei," Khan looked down at her, "are you-"
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"Fine, fine," she brushed his question away. "You, on the other hand. I should smack you, you idiot. You could've been killed, you should've talked them down like a reasonable person!"
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"But he struck you... I won't stand for that. Ever."
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"Stubborn ox," Miss Mei reached up, pulling him down to kiss his forehead. "But thank you... even my husband wouldn't defend my honor like that... Now, Fang Li, come back in here, drag that crazy monk with you- we need to keep an eye on him- he can help with the heavy lifting. I need to move some boxes and baskets and such." Miss Mei swept back into her shop. Khan chuckled lightly, keeping Fang Li's hand and kissing it.

[kishiseta]

Fang Li had definitely not imagined it. For the second time, Master Khan had kissed her hand as if she were some noble or person descended from the gods themselves. At first, she thought he was only acting out of concern and checking up on her, but now, she realized it seemed to be more than that. She cleared her throat trying to hide her surprise. "Why do you do that?" she asked. There must be some likely explanation to his action. Perhaps a Mongolian tradition she was not aware of. If she knew, she might not be so embarrassed about something that felt so intimate.

She tried to be as composed as she could following Miss Mei as she asked, but she could not get the feeling out of her mind. She took up her notebook and led him to where the boxes needed lifting.

[Taiylor Wallace]

"Because you're a lovely woman," Khan told her honestly, "and I care deeply about you." He was the first man to ever call her a woman instead of a girl. As they re-entered the shop, Miss Mei stepped over.
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"Khan, I need you to move some shelves in the back for me. Fang Li, I need you to pick up these for me," she handed Fang Li a list of things to find in the market. "It could take you a while, but if you find Gongsun An at a market stall near the chicken pens. He's a cook, he knows his way around."

[kishiseta]

Fang Li held back a gasp. He saw her as a woman and not as a girl despite her young face! She couldn't help but have a wide smile as she took the list from Miss Mei. A woman! That was a huge step up! She bowed to Miss Mei and went out hoping that Master Khan had not noticed the blush on her face. Reading the list, she headed for the market and looked for the place where the chicken pens were.

Finally, she saw them and looked at the stalls at either side of it. She decided to ask for Gongsun An. If she got this one wrong, then it could only mean that it was the other stall. It wasn't difficult. Finally she found the person Miss Mei was talking about and asked for help about Miss Mei's list. She made it a point to know all that she could on the market so she could do things herself next time.