long time…and being here in Diyu with him had only drawn them closer and intensified her feelings for him.
But now she needed to reason those feelings away. Despite everything they’d been through, Shang would be the only person in the army who knew the truth about her. They hadn’t discussed what that would mean when they returned to the real world.
You’ll be friends, Mulan told herself. What else would change?
“You’re here,” Shang said, unaware of her thoughts. The broad smile remained on his lips.
Mulan couldn’t help grinning back. “You’re here, too.”
“I’m glad,” they both said at the same time. Then Mulan laughed to break the awkwardness, and as if they were both thinking the same thing, they each took a hasty step back.
“You look good,” Shang blurted. His face turned increasingly red, and it took Mulan a moment to realize why. He’d never seen her dressed like a girl before. “I…I like your hair down. It suits you.”
Mulan stifled a laugh, and instead smiled at him. “Thanks.”
“There you are,” ShiShi rumbled, interrupting the two. “We thought you’d never get out of that chamber. You certainly took your time.”
“You try saying that next time you go into the Chamber of Mirrors,” said Mulan good-naturedly. Best not to recount how she’d almost died inside; not now, anyway. “I encountered Meng Po right after I passed.”
“Meng Po!”
“She’s not so bad.” Mulan touched the magnolia blossom in her hair. “She gave me this flower when I returned her sword.…It appeared back at my side after I left the Chamber of Mirrors. Turns out, the Sword of the Blazing Sun belongs to her.”
“To Meng Po?” Shang repeated. “But how? She nearly got us killed—”
King Yama stomped his foot. Mulan had been so excited to reunite with her friends she hadn’t even acknowledged him.
Now she saw him standing behind her friends with one of his enormous tomes under his arm. For once, he wasn’t scowling, but he didn’t look pleased, either. Then again, Mulan supposed he never looked happy…except as a statue in Youdu’s temple.
“I’ll tell you about it later,” she whispered to Shang.
Surrounded by his demon guards, the ruler of the Underworld stood before the great vermilion gates of Diyu. Once he saw Mulan finally approach him, he clapped his large, wide hands. The sound made the cave walls tremble.
“Your Majesty,” Mulan said, bowing deeply, “I found Captain Li Shang, and I’ve brought him back to you before sunrise.”
“You cut it rather close,” King Yama said gruffly. “But fair is fair.”
“So we’re free to go?”
“Not yet.” Yama pulled at the ends of his beard. He looked ever so slightly anxious. “You say you saw Meng Po? Did she seem…upset?”
“Upset?”
“That you foiled her plans to keep you here!” King Yama rumbled. His round eyes flicked to Shang and ShiShi. “You all get to leave Diyu, but I still have to deal with her, you know. For all eternity.”
“She wasn’t angry,” Mulan assured him. “She gave us all her blessing.”
“Good,” King Yama said, calming down.
“I thought I sensed her mark on your new attire,” ShiShi grumbled to Mulan. He tore at his mane, and at the braids that had come apart. “She could’ve spent some of her magic on me. Look at me. I can’t go back to the real world looking like this. I’ll be the laughingstock of all the Li ancestors.”
She chuckled. “Stop being so vain. You look fine.”
King Yama whistled at ShiShi, beckoning the lion to his side.
ShiShi straightened, assuming the king of the Underworld was about to honor him in some way, but King Yama simply propped his great tome over ShiShi’s back.
The lion grunted. “I’m not a book stand.”
King Yama disregarded the guardian’s complaints and flipped through the book until he found Shang’s name. Grasping the ink brush tucked behind his ear, Yama dipped its bristles into the porcelain inkpot floating at his side, then scratched out Captain Li Shang from the book.
“There,” he said. He reached for a paper fan inside his pocket and waved it at the ink to dry. “All done.” He wagged his brush at Shang. “Next time, look before you throw yourself in front of the enemy’s sword.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now get out of here. I’ve a schedule to keep.”
“Not yet,” came a chorus of familiar voices.
Mulan’s ancestors!
Ren, Mei, and Liwei appeared, escorted by the blue demon guard who’d first accompanied Mulan into Diyu. Languai scowled when he saw Mulan, but that was probably just his normal facial expression. When their eyes met, he nodded his head in