"It depends on what kind of favour you need," Aladdin replied curiously with a raised brow.
"I wonder if you can stay here until evening. There's something important that I would like to show you."
Aladdin was silent.
He didn't know how to respond to Mulan's request. He had an inkling of what she wanted to do, but he wasn't sure his assumptions were right. He wanted to be direct, but wasn't sure it would embarrass her.
"Please..." Mulan's expression broke, revealing traces of emotion. She held her hands tightly and glanced at Aladdin with a smile. "Just this once. I know this is selfish of me. After this, I promise that I will never disturb you with a request ever again."
Aladdin nodded after a brief contemplation. "I'm looking forward to what you want to show me later this evening."
"Thank you, Aladdin." Mulan sighed in relief, releasing her hands. Her lips curled into a smile.
Fa Zhou watched this scene from the front and was unsure about how to feel seeing his daughter speak casually with an Emperor.
'She has really done it this time,' he exhaled tiredly before his lips curved into a smile.
How could he not see it?
It was so obvious that even a blind man could read the atmosphere.
Fa Zhou knew his daughter well enough to know what was going through her mind, except sometimes, when she turned what he thought he knew upside down. She was still his daughter whom he and his wife had raised from the day she was born.
Fa Zhou pretended as though he hadn't seen anything. He led Aladdin and Mulan into the home and called over his wife to prepare a meal for them.
It was still morning. The meal they had just eaten was still fresh on the fire. However, because they were serving an Emperor, they had to quickly go to the market to buy different ingredients and prepare a separate meal for him.
"Let's wait for your mother, so we can listen to your journey at the same time," Fa Zhou said, upon hearing that Mulan wanted to recount her journey in the Imperial Army to him.
From the look in her eyes, he realised that she had gone through so many horrible things, but to him, none of that mattered. Because she was here with him now, and that meant that she had overcome everything.
Instead, he needed his wife with him to ensure they could comfort their daughter together if her emotions were to burst free.
"Okay, Father," Mulan nodded, reining in her emotions.
"I will go help Mother and see what she needs," Mulan said, wanting to stand up, but Fa Zhou quickly stopped her.
"No. You just returned. It will look bad if people find out our family has failed to care for our child who had just returned from war." He shook his head.
"I will go see if she needs anything. Don't worry about me. I am stronger than I look." Fa Zhou looked at Mulan with a smile as he stood with the aid of his walking stick as she tried to assist him.
Mulan nodded and slowly withdrew her hand.
Fa Zhou bowed towards Aladdin.
"I will have to bother you to keep the Emperor company while he waits," he added, winking at Mulan.
He quickly exited the room.
A faint blush gathered around Mulan's neck as she realised her father had already figured out her feelings for Aladdin. He wasted no time wanting to help her out.
Mulan smiled inwardly. To have such a father was truly a blessing.
"Aladdin…" She turned to Aladdin and wanted to speak, but Aladdin quickly interjected. "Let me guess. You want to know if I can heal him."
Mulan hesitated, but eventually nodded. "Yes."
"It shouldn't be a problem to heal him," Aladdin replied with a nod.
"Thank you." Mulan wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
Aladdin nodded.
"Ahem! I'm sorry for disturbing you. I wanted to get something, but I will be taking my leave." Fa Zhou returned to collect some items from the house but quickly turned around to leave after stepping into the scene.
He realised it was better not to disturb them.
Fa Zhou sensed a surge of disbelief and excitement rising in his chest. He suppressed his emotions and went on to inform his wife about what he had seen. Even if he was partially crippled, it couldn't stop the bounce in his steps.
Seeing her father flee with an excited expression, Mulan sighed inwardly.
"I will be back. Please stay still. If you need anything, let me know," she said, knowing Aladdin could teleport in and out of her home at any time.
"Mhm." Aladdin nodded, looking at his surroundings curiously.
With his abilities, he could also sense what was transpiring outside the house. Whenever he had spare time, he used the opportunity to ponder on the various spells he had been working on. And this was one of them.
"Thank you." Mulan breathed a sigh of relief.
She stood up and quickly exited the room.
***
Within the ancestral temple in the Fa family estate,
Mushu sat on a wooden makeshift throne with a fan in his left hand while staring at the celebrating ghosts of Mulan's ancestors with a wide grin.
After recounting everything that had happened, they were both amazed. And after learning that Mulan had returned home as an Imperial Council member and with an Emperor, they were equally dumbfounded and excited.
It was like a dream! Yet, even they couldn't dream such dreams when they were alive! But their Mulan had turned that fantasy into a reality.
"Oh, Mushu! You are amazing!!"
"I knew that we should have sent him to get Mulan first!! That carriage of a dragon wouldn't have accomplished something like this!"
"Mushu!! I always knew there was greatness in you! From now henceforth, you no longer need to clean the temple!! You are promoted to Grand Guardian of the Fa household!!"
"I am the ancestor to an Emperor!! I am the ancestor to an Emperor!!"
"No! I am!!"
"You? Which ancestral generation did you come from? Get in line!!"
"I'm from your mother's side, you Baboon!!"
The Fa family ancestors flew around Mushu, praising and thanking him while celebrating and arguing among themselves.
Mushu merely observed with a smug expression. He celebrated inwardly.
'I did it!!! I… DID IT!!'
How long had he wanted to be praised like this instead of being looked down on like a temple cleaner? How long had he wanted to share in the glory of that stone dragon that soared through the open heavens, acting as the family guardian?
Every one of his wishes was answered to the point that he still felt like everything was a dream; Like a fairy tale that he could wake up from at any moment.
Mushu stealthily pinched his skin.
Sensing the stinging pain, his grin widened, and he continued fanning himself under the ancestors' praise.
"I told you all that I could do amazing things if given the chance!! But you didn't believe me!! You see, in life, you need to grab the bull by the horns and take advantage of every situation you see to succeed, no matter how small it is, but you guys wouldn't know any of that. You are dead." Mushu blew on his nails as he spoke.
The ancestors suddenly froze. They gazed at each other for a moment before sighing in defeat.
"You are right! We should have given you a chance!"
"We are at fault! We are dead, so we couldn't see Mount Tai!"
"As the saying goes, 'Thirty years east, thirty years west, we shouldn't have bullied you when you were still a seedling!!"
"Please accept my bow, great Mushu! As the First Ancestor has said, from now henceforth, you are the Grand Guardian of the Fa household. If you are dissatisfied with it, please tell us what you desire so we can fulfil it!"
Mushu put on a pondering expression.
"Well, even if you are begging, it's not as though I ever desired to become the next family guardian…"
"Come on! Just take it! I'm sure everyone will be happy knowing you… the great Mushu are there serving as their protector… Forget that stone dragon… he's nothing but dirt," the First Ancestor hooked his arms around Mushu's shoulders and said with a strained smile.
"Well…" Mushu said. "Since you are pleading that much, then I, the great and amazing Mushu, will consider it. But first, I need to make sure that I can take vacation leave whenever I desire, including, but not excluding, potential injury breaks and…"
"JUST ACCEPT IT!!" The First Ancestor and the other ghosts in the temple hall shouted in unison.
"Okay!! Okay!! I will take it!!" Mushu rubbed his nose as he continued. "But this is still too little. I will need additional benefits later on. It's not every day you get to be related, after all. Who knows, the next generation might even be an Emperor themselves."
The First Ancestor and all the others sighed in relief. Regardless of how they felt, they couldn't deny that Mushu had done a miraculous deed for the Fa family, and even promoting him to the level of family guardian wasn't enough to repay him.
Even the stone dragon, which they had found out Mushu had destroyed to take its place to bring Mulan back home, wasn't worth a tenth of the payment. But that was all they had at the moment, so they could only bow their heads and kiss his ass.
"We can talk about that later. Just tell us what kind of Emperor Mulan brought back home," the First Ancestor asked, before Mushu could ramble off again.
"He's amazing… magical. You should see his flying magic carpet… We are best of buds… And he has a talking monkey… Did I mention that he is a magician? He also gave me this as a show of goodwill after recognising that I was Mulan's guardian…" Mushu spoke, ranting about his adventures with Aladdin, Mulan, and the others while ignoring the ancestors' astonished expressions.
"I didn't want to take it before informing you guys. But he was so persistent and polite, I couldn't refuse. The gift is not that much… It only enables me to fly…"
Are you sure that Mulan brought back a madman or a faker? What do you mean by him being a magician? What do you mean by you can fly? They wanted to ask.
Noticing their suspicious and questioning gazes, Mushu smirked and slowly lifted into the air, still in his seated position, much to their increasing astonishment.
Mushu wasn't afraid and spilt every little detail that had transpired because they were already dead, so no matter what he told or showed them, they would take it to their graves.
He stopped once he towered over the highest ghost floating in the air and looked at all of them with a haughty smile.
The first ancestor and every other ghost in the temple hall swallowed whatever they had down their throats.
"As I was saying…" Mushu continued his story, his voice echoing in the hall, with an audience visible to only a few.
To anyone else, it was a desolate, empty hall.
***
Meanwhile, within the same estate in another room, Mulan also recounted everything that had transpired, from the moment she joined the army to her battle against the Huns and her appointment as an Imperial Councilmember.
She hid nothing from them since everything would soon be revealed to the public by the Emperor, except for a few details which were only known to Aladdin and herself.
Fa Zhou and Fa Li covered their mouths, their expressions filled with a mixture of shock and disbelief. They had doubted their ears at first, but after Mulan had ascertained the truth for them, what could she gain from lying to them?