it's not the end yet.

(This is terroble, I'm sorry; starters are always the worst for me.)

Whatever it was that brought Belle to even have the desire to travel to China, she was certain it would be difficult for anything to draw her away. China was beautiful in the most simplistic, yet artful way. Cascading fields and small ponds layered the landscape, making Belle feel as though she were inside of one of her favorite books, that the scenery had come straight from the few illustrations that she had looked at in the many books that she had read throughout her life. Glancing around, the girl grinned broadly, rather excited to explore everything that she could of this country, of this beauty.

---

Weddings. Though Kristoff had never attended an actual wedding, he was busy planning his own wedding with Anna, both excited and, admittedly, a bit nervous. Everything had worked out for the two so far and he was grateful for it. Anna wasn't lost forever, she was by his side and they would soon be married; he figured the wedding would likely be large and extravagant, that everybody in the kingdom would come to see it - though, he supposed that might just be expected of the citizens of the kingdom, anyways. "Anna, what would you prefer to have the color scheme as?" he asked curiously, turning to his wife-to-be that had easily stolen every piece of his heart.

[Your post was fine! Starters are always kind of difficult anyway, haha.]

With the Huns no longer posing a threat to China, things had proven to be rather quiet and uneventful. It was strange to say the least. Shang thought so anyway. He supposed that it was better this way. Having no threats was a good thing, though it did make life somewhat boring. He knew that he really shouldn't be complaining, and maybe he was just bitter because things hadn't turned out as well as he had hoped they would with Mulan. He'd been completely enamored by the girl after seeing the amount of courage she showed, and she really had been like no woman he'd ever come across before but, after some time had passed, they'd both sort of realized that maybe marriage wasn't in the cards for them. At least, not with each other anyway. And maybe that decision had been a little one-sided, maybe Mulan had voiced her opinion and Shang had just agreed, and maybe that was why he was as bitter about inactivity as he was right now. Maybe.

---

Anna couldn't believe it. She was getting married. It wasn't a bad sort of shock though, it was definitely the good kind. She'd found that true love that she'd been hoping and searching for for so long now, and it was honestly an indescribable feeling. She loved Kristoff so much, and she was excited, and maybe a little bit nervous too. "Maybe blues and purples...green is nice too though...so is pink...this is a lot harder than it looks." She let out a soft sigh, pouting slightly, albeit a bit childishly. She had never really thought about how much handwork and time was put into planning for a wedding, though she supposed that she'd never actually had the opportunity to even attend a wedding, let alone one of this stature.

(I know, they're killer. D: )

When Belle stopped walking and actually started paying attention to more than just the scenery, she couldn't help but notice a few people sitting outside, playing a game. Two men, likely around her age, if not a bit older. But, she wasn't curious over the men - she was curious over the game. The realization made her feet start moving again, onward towards where the two men were seated. Before she got too close, though, the men almost glared at her. "Who are you?" one of the men asked, though Belle barely understood him - of course, that could have been more so because she was so startled by the suspicion and hatred in his voice, but she wasn't entirely sure. She wasn't even sure why she was being greeted with such a manner, but she had faced much worse when Adam had still been a beast. Clearing her throat, she attempted a smile, trying to seem pleasant and kind, before she explained, "Sorry, my name's Belle." As soon as the words left her lips, the two men stood and walked towards her. "What do you want here, hm?" the other man asked, eyes narrowed with disdain. She almost cringed with his tone but she shook her head slightly. "I'm just traveling," she answered after a moment.

---

A low chuckle escaped Kristoff's lips and he smiled down at her. "Well, we're not in a hurry to decide," he assured her quietly. They still had a while before the wedding, after all; hopefully, it wouldn't take much longer to decide on everything. Of course, they had only just begun planning everything in the first place, because he had asked for her hand in marriage not too long ago in itself. But, he wanted her to be happy and he didn't want to rush their decisions - especially since everything seemed a lot more difficult than either of them expected (or, at least, more than he expected; he wasn't too sure about Anna, because, for all he knew, she might be used to this. No, he doubted that, considering that she had been stuck in the castle for so long. So, maybe they really were both entirely new at this.) Shaking his thoughts away, he turned his attention back ahead. "How about we look at arrangements, then? See which colors we like best together?" That might make it easier, he decided - or, he hoped it would. He couldn't let all the weight of the decisions fall on Anna, after all; he didn't want to stress her, considering the wedding itself might cause her a bit of stress. He knew he was already so nervous about it; he figured she was probably in the same boat as he was.

[It's even worse when I roleplay with people who don't really come up with a thought out plot for their couple...then I just sit there and stare at the screen until I can BS the post ]

Shang realized that maybe it was his fault. Maybe he shouldn't have just agreed with Mulan. Maybe he should have voiced his opinion on the matter and fought for her. If he had, maybe things would have ended differently. Maybe they wouldn't have ended at all. He obviously couldn't know for sure, what had happened had happened, but that didn't mean that he hadn't thought of all of these different hypothetical scenarios and turn outs. It was hard not to, especially with how few distractions there were now. Part of him hoped that there would be one soon. And maybe there would be one sooner than he thought.

---

Anna nodded. "You're right." She said quietly. She knew that Kristoff was right, they did have a great deal of time until the actual wedding took place. He'd only asked for her hand in marriage, after asking for Elsa's blessing first of course, recently and they were really only starting to plan for the wedding. It was kind of hard to believe that they'd only just really started planning, what with how stressful it already seemed, and she was just thankful that Kristoff was willing to help her as much as he already was. "Alright, that might make it a little easier..." She hoped that it would anyway, though it wasn't like they needed to have it all decided today or anything. And it was early enough to say that none of their decisions were set in stone just yet either.

(That's why I always ask where my partner wants me to start for their side xD)

Observation tended to help a lot for Belle. It was how she had known that Adam wasn't entirely bad. And it was how she could tell that these men didn't believe her at all. One man reached out and grabbed her upper arm roughly, causing her to frown deeply as she stared at him. "What are you doing?" she asked quickly, refusing to let herself fear these men. They were just suspicious, she reminded herself; she was a foreigner, after all, so they had a right to be susupicious. She doubted that they had the right to treat her in this cruel manner, though. "We're taking you to General Shang," the man answered before the other led the way out of the area, the one who spoke dragging her with him.

---

Seeing that she was less frantic now eased Kristoff's worries a bit and he nodded his agreement. Reaching down, he took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Exactly, so don't worry too much," he told her with a faint smile. "We can just put this decision on hold for now, until we see different flower arrangements. How about we try to decide the cake flavor and design for now?" He wasn't even sure what the proper manner of choosing things was, but it couldn't matter too much as long as they made the decisions eventually, right? "Or we can try to decide on something else, whatever you think might be even remotely easy for us. Maybe, once we have one thing decided, everything else could be a little easier to decide on.'

[I usually do too, but sometimes they don't even really know ]

Shang was trying to find a way to busy himself. He would do anything to get his mind off of Mulan right about now, though with all of this inactivity that was proving to be a rather difficult task. "Sir, we found this one crossing the border." Looking over, he saw two of his men approaching, one with a tight grip on the arm of a young woman. He didn't recognize her, and it was clear that she was a foreigner. "She claims to just be traveling." Shang took a few moments to look the woman over. She didn't really seem like she would ever pose much of a threat, but he couldn't be sure. "I'll take it from here, gentlemen."

---

A small smile tugged at the corners of Anna's lips when she felt him squeeze her hand. She squeezed his back lightly and nodded. "I'll try not to." She said quietly. It was easier said than done though, with Kristoff there, she figured that she had a better chance at being a lot less stressed than she would if she were doing this all by herself. She was really glad that she had him there with her to help, and it was even easier because she knew that he wanted to help. He wasn't just doing so to make her happy, though she knew that that was at least part of it. She still appreciated his help though. "Cake flavor and design might be easier than color and flower arrangements..."

(I know the feels. D: )

Maybe Belle should have felt even a little relieved when the man released his hold on her and left with the other. Or maybe she should have been frightened since she was now facing who she assumed was General Shang. But she had faced down Adam when he had been a beast and she knew that just because things seemed okay didn't mean that they were. So, almost defiantly, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the man left. "You do see that this is a misunderstanding, don't you?" she asked, tilting her head, trying to hide the hope in her voice that he didn't think she was dangerous. She was just a small town, French country girl, after all. What danger could she possibly pose against anybody?

---

Nodding, Kristoff led the way away from the section that they were at now. He figured that they would likely ask the castle cooks about the cakes, since he assumed that they would be who would make the wedding cake. "Do you have anything specific in mind?" he asked after a moment, looking down at her. According to others that he spoke to, most girls grew up with their idea of what their weddings would be like. Anna seemed just as indecisive as he was, though. Regardless, as long as she was happy, he didn't really care what the wedding looked like. "Sorry, I'm not of much help with the decisions we have to make. I never even really thought about weddings until I fell for you." It was a bit embarrassing admitting it, but he didn't want her to think that he wasn't trying.

In all honesty, Shang was more annoyed than anything else. The girl seemed harmless to him, though she was a foreigner, an outsider even. And one couldn't really be too sure... "It was just a precaution." He said simply. And that was what it was. That and, with little to no potential threats at the moment, he was sure that his men were looking for anything to keep them busy. A "trespasser" on the border was the perfect distraction. "You're traveling?" He believed her, though he was kind of surprised that she would be traveling on her own.

---

It was strange. Anna had always dreamed of finding true love, and living happily ever after so to speak, and she'd dreamt of planning her wedding, and she'd had everything that she wanted in mind, but now that she was actually getting married, she wasn't sure if anything of what she imagined was right. This led to her indecisiveness. She shook her head. "Don't apologize." She told him, a small smile gracing her lips. She could have easily teased him about clearly being embarrassed by his confession, but she actually thought it was really cute. "You're willing to help, and that's all that matters."

Relief made its way into the other conflicting emotions of confusion and concern within Belle. She tried to avoid being too relieved, though, just in case. Just because this man seemed to believe her didn't mean that he did; he could just be misleading her, for all she knew. After a moment, she nodded. "Yes," she answered him before she let out a quiet sigh. "I travelled all the way from France." Part of her wondered if it had been worth the trip, especially if everybody in China was going to be suspicious of her - that would just make it impossible to enjoy her travels. "Do you... Do you believe me?" She looked up at him, admittedly a little hopeful. If even just one person believed that she wasn't somebody plotting against them, then she might be able to relax, even a bit.

---

Despite her words, Kristoff was still worried that he wasn't of much help at all. Of course he was trying to help and very willing to, as she said, but he didn't want to pile all of the decisions on her; that would just stress her out, he was certain. "We could just make the decisions slowly, so that we can think about them more," he suggested quietly, looking down at her with curiosity. He wasn't sure if she would agree to the suggestion or even if it was a good one. On one hand, if they took things slowly, they would put less stress on themselves. But, then, if they took too much time deciding everything, they would have to make decisions at the last minute and that would be stressful, more stressful than he could be prepared to. "A few decisions at a time, maybe, so we don't pile all of the decisions at once?"

Shang really didn't see why she would lie about traveling. He knew that looks could be deceiving, but she didn't appear as though she'd ever pose any type of a threat. Because of this, he was going to give her the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, she wouldn't end up proving otherwise. That, however, did not mean that he wasn't going to ask her a few questions though. "You haven't given me any reason not to believe you, just don't make me regret that decision. I apologize for the misunderstanding." He finally told her. "Are you traveling alone?"

---

Anna could tell that he was still worried. He hadn't said anything about it, but she could just tell. He wasn't very good at hiding things from her, so she knew that it was still bothering him. "You're extremely helpful, okay? And I'm not just saying that." She squeezed his hand lightly, a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She nodded in response to his words. It was a good idea. Hopefully things would prove to be a lot less stressful because of it. "I like that idea a lot actually. I think it'll definitely make things a little bit easier for the time being."

At least he had apologized, Belle mused to herself before she nodded. "Oh, you won't regret believing me," she assured him with a slightly hesitant smile. It lifted a weight off her shoulders, thankfully, and she was glad. "But, yes, I am traveling alone. My father travels on his own every now and then to go to other towns in order to show off his inventions, so asking him to join me wouldn't have been very responsible of me." Plus, she was certain that she could handle herself, if it was absolutely necessary. And she still had the mirror that Adam had given her, in case she ever got homesick, but she knew better than to mention that to anybody.

---

Kristoff smiled gratefully to her words and nodded. "Okay," he murmured quietly, squeezing her hand gently back. Hearing her words easily made him relax and he couldn't help but to place a rather loving kiss to her forehead. He didn't mind giving her affection whenever he could; in fact, he preferred it. He loved her with everything within himself, after all. Nodding when he heard her agreement, he stopped outside the kitchen, where he hoped the cooks would be so that they might get help with information about the cakes. "Alright. So, we'll try to decide on cake first. Then, maybe decorations or a theme?"

"I'll be the judge of that." Shang said simply, though he really hadn't been given any reason to believe that he'd regret letting her go. He highly doubted that she posed any sort of a threat to China. He would like to think that he was a good judge of character, and that she was anything but threatening. He nodded in response to her later words, honestly kind of surprised that she was, in fact, traveling alone. That wasn't a very common occurrence. "That's very brave of you. Most women would be fearful of doing what you are."

---

Anna smiled when he kissed her forehead. She'd always dreamed of finding true love, and now she had. How she could have ever mistaken anything of the sort with Hans was beyond her. She was so glad that she had someone like Kristoff in her life now. And, before she knew it, they'd be married. She couldn't wait to see what the future held for both of them. "I think that that's plausible." She said as they reached the kitchens. It only made sense to decide on a cake first before deciding on decorations and everything else.

If this man knew what Belle had gone through back home, when Adam was the Beast and held her father prisoner and she still had to deal with Gaston, maybe he would understand just why she had become a bit braver than she normally would have been. She couldn't tell him any of that, though, so she lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. "Well, it could be worse," she said bluntly, arching an eyebrow as she looked up at him. "I mean, there's always something worse out there, isn't there?"

---

Kristoff nodded as he opened the door, allowing Anna to go inside first, though they were greeted with several cooks busy with their next meal already. He hadn't expected it to be this busy already, but he figured that they might be able to find at least one cook who wasn't busy - hopefully, anyways. "Ah, do you see anybody who might be free to talk to us?" he asked, looking down at her for a moment. But, then, he was taller, so he figured he should probably take it upon himself to find somebody.