Summary: College AU. Aurora is supposed to be studying for finals… but ends up studying Mulan instead.
AN: A response to a College AU prompt from a whole ago and also for Sleeping Warrior Week Day 1. Sorry it took so long. :c (I might end up tinkering more with this AU later in the future so stay tuned, and feel free to post/comment your thoughts.) It's been a while since I've written, and I'm still a bit rusty, so be nice…
—x—
The scribbling of ball-point pen on paper blended in to the subtle sounds of learning within the library's solemn halls of productivity. Somewhere an old professor coughed through his mustache, spattering his book with spittle, and far off to the left a caffeine-deprived woman yawned over her dissertation.
But Aurora, oblivious to the goings-on around her, heard none of those things. Her notebook sat untouched, splayed open across the cool oaken desk as she sat, chin on her palm and sighed. Her pale blue eyes wandered from the desolate pages of her organic chemistry notes, and flittered to the high glass study-room windows, envious of the cheerful springtime sun that waited just out of reach.
The young college freshman blew a huff of air through her nose, as trepidation crinkled her brow. She'd spent nearly the past 5 hours in the library's solemn halls, hoping to steep her mind in knowledge in preparation for final exams that loomed upon the week's horizon, yet she had managed to accomplish nearly nothing. Her books lay neatly stacked in a pile upon the table, and her notebook still stared blankly up at the high arched ceiling of the tower library. She tapped her pen cap absently against the sun-warmed wood that lay just at the edge of reach, and sighed.
The young student grumbled to herself, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her face. She moaned, peeping through her fingers to gaze up at the dust motes that danced in the golden beams of sun scattering above her head.
The soft shout of merriment echoed in to the hallowed halls, floating lazily from an open window across the stone floor. A flash of motion at the corner of her vision soon caught Aurora's eye, and she stood, rounding to peek out the window, eager for any distraction that might pull her away from her studies.
Outside, the sun shone down from a cheerfully blue sky and the women's lacrosse team began to disperse across the intermural field for their afternoon practice.
At the head of the group strode a familiar form. A cascade of ebony hair was tied up into a ponytail that fluttered in the breeze, whipping back and forth as the team captain jogged easily down the field's length while she playfully rolled the shaft of her lacrosse stick in her hands. Her name came easily to Aurora's lips.
"Mulan…"
Mulan whipped around, her keen dark eyes searching…and for a moment Aurora felt her breath catch in her throat and she wondered if the captain had heard the name whispered on the wind. The shouts of the other team members soon drew Mulan's attention. A lanky strawberry-blonde waved down field calling out for Mulan to 'go long' as she arched herself back, muscles coiling, and launched a tiny whitish ball far down field.
The ball was an ivory blur against a blue sky, whistling through the air with frightening speed.
In a matter of seconds Mulan's body shifted from easy grace to raw power. Her muscles were hard and flexed, and her brows arched with dark excitement as she sprinted across the lush green grass racing against the speed of the ball that arched overhead. Her jersey whipped against the wind and her rich, dark hair flashed in the spring sun. She was joy, she was strength, she was freedom incarnate.
She was….she was beautiful.
Mulan moved so fast, that for a brief second, Aurora questioned if the woman's feet even touched the ground.
Mulan dove, stick outstretched, striving to catch the ball before it touched the ground. Her body fell hard on the grass with an audible thud. Aurora felt herself wince sympathetically as she watched Mulan skid across the hard-packed earth.
Mulan tumbled, using her momentum to pull herself up into a standing position, with the ivory ball clenched high in her skyward raised fist. Her ponytail had fallen askew and dark inky strands of hair lay plastered to her cheek with a sheen of sweat. Garish slashes of green grass stains covered the once pristine red and white of her clothes. And, for the fleetest of moments, Mulan turned…
Dark eyes connected with icy blue.
To Aurora, everything fell still. Time stopped in a beautiful and agonizing expanse of quiet, and all things seemed to grind to a painfully, rapturous, halt. Aurora felt a rush of ruddy heat flood into her cheeks with reckless abandon.
A smile twitched at the edges of her lips as Aurora blushed brilliantly crimson.
She glanced back at her study table, her organic chem notes left haphazardly strewn and abandoned on the varnished oak surface.
"Well, I guess this is kind of like studying…" she smirked, turning back towards the window to watch the girls lope with ethereal grace across the open field.