Five

I was taken aback. "How did you know about Honghui?"

"You just told me," she smiled mischievously.

"Oh, I did NOT just fall for that!" I said in frustration. How could I fall for that? She always used to do that to me!

"I'm going to go see if anyone needs help outside," Linghao said, slowly backing out the door, then bolting outside.

"So... Who is he?" Xiu asked me. "I want to know ALL of it!"

"Fine," I gave in. "His name is Honghui. He's handsome and smart, and kind, and nice, and he's also-"

"Ohh, so you LOVE him," my sister cut in.

"I don't know. Do I love him? I don't know about that, but I sure miss him," I responded.

"Mulan!" she yelled, "THAT MEANS YOU LOVE HIM!"

"Maybe," I said, "But I don't want to make a fool of myself. He probably doesn't feel the same about me."

"Well, when you left, what did he do?" Xiu asked.

"He told me that I couldn't go. At least not without saying goodbye. Then..." I trailed off.

"Then what?" Xiu looked at me like a tiger hungry for answers.

"It... it doesn't matter," I looked away.

"MULAN! Please! Tell me! I'm your sister! You can tell me anything," she assured.

"Promise you won't tell mother nor father?" I asked.

"I promise."

"Okay... So he held out his hand and I took it, then I... I kind of kissed him on the cheek," I blurted out. "And then, I looked up at him and he was smiling, then I apologized of course."

"YOU WHAT?!?! YOU KISSED HIM?" Xiu stood up at the speed of lightning, her face in shock.

"Only on the cheek, he isn't courting me, if that's what you think. I don't even think he likes me the same way I like him," I sighed. If only.

"You said he smiled when you kissed him," my excited sister recalled. "Why did you apologize?"

"It was foolish and inappropriate of me! I promised him that it wouldn't happen again," I explained.

"But you wanted it to happen again, didn't you?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"W-What? N-No I don't!" I lied. I know that my lie failed miserably because my sister started giggling.

"Of course you did!" she said with slight frustration. "Just admit your feelings already."

"I promised him it wouldn't happen again," I said once more.

"And then what? Was he disappointed?" she asked.

I think back. "I thought I saw a hint of disappointment in his eyes, but I guess I just saw what I wanted to see," I sighed.

"But if your eyes weren't tricking you, then that means he wanted it to happen again!" Xiu shouted, maybe a little too loudly.

"He wanted what to happen again, Xiu?" mother suddenly walks into Linghao's house.

"He wanted... uhh... to show me the sunset again!" my sister exclaimed. She's quite quick on her feet. "Yeah, Linghao wanted to show me tomorrow evening, so I will be out tomorrow night."

"Alright, I'll remember for tomorrow," my mother says. "Anyways, I came to tell you that dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

"Thank you mother, we'll be home soon!" I call while she walks out the door.

*flashback ends*

And now, I'm on my horse, not a half a day away from the training camp. I'm so excited to see Honghui. I remember what my sister said

"Oh, so you LOVE him!"

Perhaps I do, but to keep up our friendship, I need to push those feelings away, at least for the first day back.

That was much longer. Thank you for reading my story!    -canadiansyrup777 🦋