A Love of Our Own

(AN: A quick AU Sleeping Warrior one-shot based on an Anonymous prompt given to me on Tumblr. AU in which Aurora and Mulan have come through the portal in 'Queen of Hearts' and are currently living in the apartment with Snow and Emma. They have been in Storybrooke for a little over a month, and are currently in the early stages of a relationship.)

Summary: Aurora wants to kiss in public… But what will her stoic warrior think of all this PDA? (Set about 2 weeks after my previous fic 'My Safe Haven')

-x—

The chill autumn air swept down the sleepy streets of Storybrooke, causing a few citizens to shudder and draw their coats closer around them. Leaves skittered across the sidewalks and the tops of trees—now nearly bare—sighed in the breeze, their branches clattering forlornly.

Mulan cheerfully adjusted her scarf; a rare smile lit her features as she watched her girlfriend playfully weave across the sidewalk, aiming for the tiny piles of crunchy leaves that clogged the gutter ways beneath their feet. The princess always had a penchant for the simple joys of life.

Aurora laughed, her voice peeling out like a bell—light, airy, and jubilant—as another desiccated leaf crackled under her soft step. Mulan's heart thrilled at the sound of her loved one's happiness and she couldn't help but be swept up with it. Aurora's vibrancy and vivaciousness were like the rays of the sun, nurturing, and all encompassing. Even just seeing her princess's happiness made Mulan's heart feel light and warm within her chest. A chuckle bubbled forth and escaped the warrior's throat, and Mulan suddenly realized she felt happier in this moment than she had in a long time.

Aurora's azure eyes flicked up, capturing Mulan's gaze in an icy sea. Her cheeks glowed with a rosy hue, partly from the chill of Fall and partly from her playful excitement. Lips, lush and red, spread into a smile as she paced quickly to her companion's side, snuggling in to embrace the swordswoman. Her breath came in soft puffs, and she twined her arms about Mulan's neck.

"What are you laughing about, Oh-Serious-One?" the princess teased, arching a dark eyebrow. Mischief danced in her eyes of blue.

"You, princess. You always make me laugh." Mulan answered with a smile, she gently swept a stray lock of hair out of the princess's face. The pad of her thumb swept across Aurora's forehead, and lingered a moment longer than necessary. "You are my sunshine, you know that? When you are happy, my whole world seems brighter." Whispered the warrior, her deep eyes flashed with sincerity and genuine love.

How did I ever get so damn lucky? Mulan thought silently to herself.

Aurora smiled, averting her eyes shyly. A soft ruddy blush made her already-rosy cheeks burn with a crimson heat. "I'll bet I know something that could make you smile even more…." She muttered breathily, leaning close to trace her lips up the warrior's firm jaw line.

Mulan stiffened. Muscles tensed, and she gripped Aurora's shoulders, pushing the girl out of reach with sudden snapping reflexes. Her dark eyes darted madly, searching for signs of danger.

"What…what's wrong?" the princess stammered, confused by the sudden and violent reaction her affections had procured. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, princess…I just…what if someone were to…see us?" Mulan dropped her voice low; her brow scrunched in conflicted desires. It was obvious she had enjoyed the closeness—Aurora could see the hunger for continued touch flashing in her warrior's dark eyes. The twitching in her fingertips told that the swordswoman desired nothing more than to pull her princess close and return the intimacy with hot kisses, but something had made her hide away her passions behind a cold wall of honor and duty.

"We…we've kept things secret. I thought that was what you wanted…I don't want people to hurt you with what they say or think." Mulan mumbled, running a hand through her long ebony ponytail, distress written plainly on her face. "And, if I'm being completely honest…I…I've never been publicly affectionate with anyone before." Her voice wavered and nearly broke with the subtle thread of fear and panic woven through her words.

Aurora took the warrior's hand in her own, entwining her fingers with her lover's. She lifted Mulan's knuckles to her lips, tenderly kissing each one, before sighing and speaking quietly. "I don't care what anyone else may say or think. They'll say whatever they like, but it won't change the fact that I care about you and that's all that matters…and if us being open about affection scares you…I'll go slow."

"Ok." Mulan murmured, the tension in her shoulders uncoiling. She glanced about. Several townspeople bustled up and down the sidewalks to-and-fro. Ruby swept out the front stoop of Granny's Diner, the dwarves marched single file towards the mines, preparing for a long day of work. Storybrooke's people were out and about…

And eyes could be watching everywhere. Judging harshly from every angle.

Let them. Snarled a voice deep inside. Let them even try. You'll protect her- You always have—and she will protect you too…You've given her your soul, your heart, and she'd never break it.

Together you're untouchable.

Mulan slowly, painstakingly, drew her princess to her, initiating the embrace she'd so roughly broken only a few moments prior. She held her lover, focusing and breathing slow. Aurora leaned into the touch slightly, afraid to push the warrior's boundaries farther, lest she pull away again. She could hear Mulan's heart franticly pounding, thudding against her ribcage, audible even through the thick layers of sinew and dark leather that protected the warrior's body from the cold.

"Are you… is this ok?" Aurora whispered, eyes of ice peering up, trying to gauge Mulan's guarded expression. The swordswoman stiffly nodded, her jaw clenched and eyes darting.

"I—I'm fine."

"Can I…can I kiss you?"

Muscles were suddenly on edge, twitching with anxiety again. "I…Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"No… But I want to try. For you."

Aurora nodded, understanding. Slowly, she raised her face, lifting herself on tiptoe to crane up to the woman's lips. She moved with gentle grace and precision, keeping her promise of gentle guidance. She pressed her body close to the supple plains of Mulan's solidness. Her hands shifted, sliding up to the strong, capable shoulders that seemed to tremble under the princess's fair touch.

Aurora's mouth met Mulan's, open and ready. The swordswoman tasted of sweet adrenaline, electric and thrumming, mixed with eagerness and fear. The princess tasted tentative hunger in the warrior, and darkened desires buried deep.

Someone might see… whispered a piece of Mulan's consciousness.

Aurora deepened the kiss, and every part of the warrior's body responded. Every cell of her stirred to life, as if she had been so desperately starved for this and under her princess's lips she was being made again.

She was like parched ground receiving water. A heart being loved after it had long stopped hoping for the possibility for affection. A soul finally receiving acceptance and love after being hardened by war and death. A lotus blossom drinking in the sun after decades of wallowing in darkness.

And in that moment, all the world fell away.

Under Aurora's lips, with a kiss of true love, something inside her was made free. She closed her eyes and drank it all in, pulling the princess close and weaving her slim calloused fingers into dark chestnut tresses.

The midday crowds bustled about and the Earth turned beneath their feet. The clouds skittered across the sky and the leaves rustled in the breeze. Someone watched. Someone stared. Someone smiled.

But to Mulan everything else had ceased to be. They were in a love all their own. Alone in something that was purely, beautifully, achingly, theirs.