Mulan - Shan Yu Returns

Chapter 12: Acceptance

The fire managed to die out after people helped pass out buckets and splash it on the burning places. The house was crumbled into pieces and crumbs like a biscuit. The black smoke emerged out of every opening it can find.

Shan Yu coughed violently as he tried to maintain his regular breathing pattern. 

"You got some guts," a man complimented as he approached him. "First, you saved a girl from drowning, and now you saved a boy from a burning house."

"You saved someone earlier in the day too?" Mulan asked.

"Yes, he saved a girl from drowning in the pond near the pear trees," the man replied.

"Shan Yu, you really have outdone yourself!" Mulan said, very impressed. 

"I had to do something," Shan Yu said and coughed.

"Hey! He's that man who saved my daughter!" Fei called from a distance.

"Oh, yeah! I remember him!" Another man called from a distance.

"Really? He did that?" Zhang asked.

"That is so heroic of him!" Jia exclaimed.

Everyone surrounded him and patted on his back, asked for handshakes, and caressed his head. Shan Yu stood there, very awkward, having his hand shook by at least five people, looking at Mulan as his eyes were saying 'I don't know what to do.'

Mulan winked at Shan Yu and mouthed, 'Enjoy it while you can.'

Shan Yu read her lips and smiled, still having his back being patted, his hand being shaken, and his head being caressed.

********

When they returned home, instead of finishing his dinner, Shan Yu decided to take a shower to wash all the dirt, dust, and debris out of his skin, and take a relaxing, steamy bath. "Aahhhh..." Shan Yu let out a deep sigh as he dunk his whole body, except his face, into the water. 

"Mind if I join you...?" Fa Zhou asked as he came in, shirtless, a towel covering the lower part of his body.

"Ah! Fa Zhou! My body is not covered!" Shan Yu said as he grabbed a towel and quickly placed it on his lower body. His cheeks turned red, bright red like a deliciously ripe tomato.

"There's no need to be embarrassed," Fa Zhou said as he chuckled. 

"I'm not... used to this..." Shan Yu said as his thighs held onto the towel tight and his fingers covering parts of his upper part of his face.

"No one else is going to come in," Fa Zhou said as he naturally stepped inside the water. Shan Yu was looking at different direction so that he does not face Fa Zhou face-to-face. He had absolutely no idea where to put his eyes. "So, Shan Yu, how is it? Adjusting life here? I assume it's easier due to how much you've lived here now."

"I... uh..." Shan Yu stuttered, still not facing him.

"Please face me when you talk," Fa Zhou said with a gentle tone and modest smile. Shan Yu was barely able to turn his head and look at Fa Zhou in his face, but not quite his eyes. "Please do not feel embarrassed. This is just a step of getting closer to others."

"Sitting in a bath and talk to each other while naked...?" Shan Yu asked, his face still red as a deliciously ripe tomato.

"It may sound silly, but trust me it works," Fa Zhou said. "Now, how is it adjusting life here now?"

"Um..." Shan Yu started. "I guess it's easier now... I believe. Less people are scared by my appearance, some people greet me as if they greet other neighbors, I help them, they treat me a meal. I mean, physically, it is still difficult, but emotionally, I am a bit more relaxed... if that makes sense."