Reunited (1/1)
(AN: A tumblr prompt from octoball. Belle and Mulan meet up for breakfast, but Aurora seems to find the warrior's proximity and affinity for the librarian a bit…unnerving. ;) AU Storybrooke. Mulan and Aurora came through the portal in 2x09, and are temporarily living with Snow and Emma. They are in the early stages of a relationship. Phillip is assumed dead.)
The bell above the diner door tinkled quaintly as the quiet beauty stepped across the threshold, soaking in the warmth and hubbub of the town's established normal morning routine. She smiled reflexively as the sharp, rich scent of fresh coffee tickled her nose, mingling with the underlying hints of burning toast and sticky, sugary pancake syrup. Belle moved towards her familiar seat in the back leftside booth, clutching her favorite dusty aged paper-back close to her chest, cuddling it like a lover.
She slid into the seat with an easy grace, humming cheerily to herself. Her pleated plaid skirt ruffled along her thigh as she shifted, settling in to the joyous norm. She nodded catching Ruby's attention as the waitress whirled by, deftly balancing a full platter of bacon, eggs and 4 cups of coffee.
"Be right with you, Belle!" The red-streaked brunette called across the din of clinking glasses and friendly conversation. The librarian smiled, her face splitting into a jubilant grin.
"That's alright. I'll have the usual 'plate-of-pancakes', if you don't mind. It's no rush." She replied, indicating the dog-eared pages that she was just about to plunge into.
The rough-cut edges of Thoreau's philosophy beckoned with sultry whispers of knowledge and worlds yet undiscovered as Belle traced her finger lovingly down the spine, and eagerly flipped open to the creased pages nearly three quarters of the way through the girth of the book's content.
Her eyes devoured the words hungrily, skimming over each sentence with frightening speed. Her mind was like a child's; starving for the truths of the world, ever questioning, and ever craving more. The knowledge and musings seeped into her fertile mind like nutrient rich waters, feeding all the verdant thoughts that sprung to life.
The young beauty was wisdom and youth, vivaciousness and curiosity, all rolled in one.
Belle lived a thousand lifetimes within her books, her head whirling and blooming with vivid worlds and adventure, and she reveled in each moment.
"…I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary."
Thoreau's voice spoke, deep and knowing in her ears, and she paused to consider his words. She chewed her bottom lip, and paused.
"I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life,…"
'Oh, don't I know what that feels like.' She let out a tiny wistful breath through her nose.
The librarian traced the scrawling script with a tiny fingernail, lost deep in her musings. The scrape of a mug on the tabletop and the scooting shadow of a figure sliding into the booth's opposite bench were what drew her blue eyes up from the engrossing pages.
Her face cracked into a radiant beaming grin, dimpled cheeks flashing merrily.
The visitor was clad in a dark black leather jacket coupled with a dark burgundy-red tank-top. Her ebony hair was cropped at shoulder-length, and swept up into a classic ponytail held in place by ornate metallic clasps.
"Mulan!" Belle cheerily greeted the young officer. "It's good to see you again after all this time! How have you been?"
A crooked half-smile played at the corners of the warrior's mouth as her dark eyes drank in the librarian's familiar features. "Yes, it's been quite a long time….I am well, and I see you've still got your nose in your books." Mulan teased gently, taking a sip from her steaming cup.
Belle chuckled, flipping the dusty pages closed with a thud. "And I see you're still just as stoic and hard-headed as before." She quipped with a mischievous smile. "Glad to see your leg healed alright. How did you get to Storybrooke? Last I'd heard you were on a quest with Phillip searching for a princess…." The questions rolled in an insatiable torrent from the young beauty's lips, oblivious to the sudden tension coiling in the deputy's shoulders.
Mulan cleared her throat, dropping her gaze awkwardly as her fingers fiddled with the handle of the mug in front of her. "Yes...well, Phillip and I did end up finding our..er..the princess."
She was content to leave the rest unexplained, but Belle cocked her head to the side and daintily folded one hand atop the other, waiting expectantly for the warrior to continue. The swordswoman let out a sigh and rolled her eyes good-naturedly, amused at the woman's perceptive persistence.
"Her name is Aurora, and she was placed under a sleeping curse by Maleficent. Phillip awoke her with true love's kiss. A little later, Emma and Mary Margret fell into our world through some sort of portal, bringing a wraith with them. When they managed to find a way back to this land, Aurora and I came through as well." The warrior gave a half-hearted smile. The tight-lipped grin did not reach her dark, hooded eyes.
Belle cocked her head, mildly confused by the swordswoman's tone of disinterest. "But…where's Phillip? If Aurora is his love, didn't he come along too?"
Mulan's dark gaze snapped up, flickering with sadness, sorrow, and thick with a hidden sense of guilt. But as soon as Belle thought she saw emotion flash across the deputy's face, it was gone, and the stolid mask of indifference slid itself back into place.
"No, Phillip is dead. His soul was sucked out by the wraith. His body remains back where we left it…back on the dais, amongst the castle's crumbling walls." The murmured reply was muffled as the warrior took another long draught from her cup.
Belle fought not to arch an eyebrow at the coolness and flippant disinterest in the other woman's tone. The warrior's façade fooled no one, least of all the sharp eyes and keen perceptions of the young librarian. Instead, Belle stretched out a hand, gently grasping Mulan's elbow and drawing the dark gaze upwards to lock with her own.
"I'm sorry to hear it." Genuine sadness and sympathy permeated the gentle beauty's words as she rubbed soft circles across the leather-clad arm of the warrior. "Phillip was a good man."
"Yes. Yes he was." Mulan rumbled, her cocoa-brown eyes dropping down to study and trace the tiny crumbs that littered the table's pitted surface.
"I...I wish with all my heart that I could have saved him. He didn't deserve to die like a commoner. He was a warrior and a prince. He deserved a proper burial."
The door jangled again and an arctic blast of chilly air and exuberance rushed into the quiet, routine, early-morning atmosphere of the diner.
The princess tore through like a whirlwind, her face flushed and ruddy from excitement coupled with the wintry air. She spotted her girlfriend's turned-back in a matter of moments, and raced to the side of the warrior, dancing eagerly on the balls of her feet and speaking in a rush.
"Mulan! The roses in the garden are still blooming! Even in the frost! You have to come see, they're beautiful and red and…" The babbling of her tongue soon screeched to a halt, as Aurora noted the presence of the other woman.
She paused to study the stranger's lovely face: Soft cheeks piqued with a subtlety of pink, and framed by a cascade of chestnut ringlets. Her pallor and dark hair was offset by eyes of striking clarity. The odd woman had a gaze as sharp as the edge of a cutlass and, Aurora wagered, twice as cutting. Lips of red were curved into a gentle, sympathetic, and upturned smile. The brunette was leaned halfway across the table, her stance close and familiar, obviously disregarding the norm for personal space, the pair were practically breathing the same air…
'Was something wrong? Were the pair speaking in secret? Was this some serious police related business?' The thoughts of the princess whirled and scattered like moths before moonlight. Congealing and dancing away, intangible.
Aurora's azure eyes dropped to the hand of the stranger, stroking rhythmic caresses along the warrior's forearm. Suddenly the incessant chatter in her brain grew silent as she stared.
Her smile fell, and the princess rocked back from her toes, heels hitting the ground along with the remnants of her buoyant mood.
"Oh…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt…" Aurora stammered, all memory of her exciting find long forgotten.
"Oh, it's no problem." Belle waved the concern off with a flick of her wrist and a soft, welcoming, grin. "Mulan and I were just talking…you must be Aurora." The cheerful brunette extended a welcoming hand; the princess tentatively shook it.
"Er…yes. Aurora, this is Belle. She's a friend of mine from long ago." Mulan stuttered hastily through the introduction.
"An…old friend" Aurora weighted the leaden words on her tongue "….from before you met me?" The princess struggled to keep her fast-fading smile in place, as her eyes flicked back and forth between the warrior and the librarian. Something sorrowful and sick clenched in the pit of her stomach.
'Mulan? An old 'friend'? They wouldn't have… No. Of course not…but then again…this Belle was quite beautiful.' Aurora's mind began its circuitous racing again, worrying itself in circles.
"Yes, from before I met you. Belle introduced me to Phillip. She also bandaged my leg when I was badly hurt in the woodlands. I owe her many thanks. Without her help, my village would have been devoured by the Yaoguai." Mulan turned a thankful gaze to the stranger, gracing her with one of the warrior's rare, crooked smiles.
'The smile she uses for me.' Aurora's thoughts whispered bitterly. Her eyes narrowed slightly; cheek twitching as she struggled to keep her face unaffected.
"Oh gracious, it was nothing." The brunette blushed and bashfully twiddled a dusty book in her palms. "I'd have been dead long before, if you hadn't saved me with that arrow." The stranger batted her eyes, and her eyelashes fluttered with grace and dark promise. Blue-green eyes peered up through raven-black lashes as Belle glanced into Mulan's appreciative face.
Aurora's mouth pressed itself into a thin line of displeasure. Her nostrils flared as she felt the muscles in her jaw flex. She felt the tips of her ears grow warm, though the marrow of her bones felt icy cold.
Was Mulan flirting?
"Still, it was quite a feat. Thank you…for everything." Mulan pressed on, oblivious to the simpering jealousy rising in the princess's quickly heating blood.
"Any time. Hopefully it won't be another 5 years until we see each other again." The beauty chuckled, lightly laying a hand on the warrior's strong shoulders.
"Certainly not. I have to hurry off to the station, but perhaps we can do this again sometime…all three of us. Are you free for lunch next Tuesday?" Mulan grinned, rising and scootching from her seat. Aurora let out a barely audible indignant huff, crossing her arms and shooting the warrior a pointed glare.
"Sure! Sounds perfect." Belle nodded, placing her book down on the tale before standing, and pulling the deputy into a tight bear-hug.
"It was so good to see you, my friend." She whispered into the warrior's ear, unintentionally making the little dark hairs on the nape of the swordswoman's neck twitch with her warm breath.
Mulan subconsciously shuddered, and Aurora had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep her jaw from falling open with the weight of furious protestations that roiled, buzzing incessantly, in her bright-red ears.
The pair of 'friends' broke their embrace and Mulan adjusted the gun on her hip-holster before waving a final goodbye, turning, and moving towards the door. The princess paced a few scant inches behind, matching the warrior stride-for-stride.
"We need to talk." Aurora hissed, voice like venom dripping through clenched teeth.
"About you and her."
"Shit." Mulan muttered, swiping a hand over her face and pinching the bridge of her nose.
'Ancestors, protect me.' The swordswoman silently prayed, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.
This was going to be a long night.