Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except for what I make up.

Aurora liked Storybrooke very much.

It was a very cute little town, and one of the things she especially loved was that the local inn housed many of the people from the Enchanted Forest and the surrounding realms who had gotten caught in the second curse and brought to Storybrooke with no immediate place to live.

Aurora and her infant son were amongst these refugees, but she was thankful because she had been wanting to get to Stroybrooke for ages and now due to recent events back home, she was thankful to have a place to live at all.

An extra perk of living at the inn was that she'd met and befriended Ruby Lucas, who let her and the baby take the adjoining room next to her own.

Princess Aurora loved Storybrooke, to be truthful, but it just wasn't the same without Prince Phillip at her side.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, their castle had been attacked and destroyed by ogres in the middle of the night.

There had been absolutely no time to call for aid, so it had been every person for themselves. Aurora fled with her family, but in all of the pandemonium, Aurora and Phillip were separated. She didn't find him until hours later, after the ogres had left altogether.

Unfortunately, Phillip passed away from his injuries not long after being discovered. The last thing he told her was to take their son and find Mulan.

Aurora buried her love at sunrise and set out with what she could carry, and her baby boy for company.

It was well after dark when the magical cloud appeared, rolling through the land and since Aurora knew better than to outrun it, so she just stood and let it take them.

When the darkness lifted, she and baby Phillip were in Storybrooke.

Under the guidance of Ruby, mother and son began adjusting to life in the small seaside town. Ruby even helped Aurora make friends.

Even after all that, Mulan's heart ached for the loss of the man she'd thought she was going to marry, and for the lack of presence of the only other person she could ever picture spending the rest of her life with.

Aurora had cried into Ruby's shoulder about it more than once.

Little did Aurora know that Mulan had actually gotten swept up in the curse, too, but was tucked away in the woods and was living in August Booth's old home.

She wasn't alone, though.

Unbeknownst to many, Mulan had a young daughter called Mei. The warrior didn't talk about Mei because she'd had been forced to leave her behind in their village, after her husband, General Li Shang, exposed her for impersonating a soldier and fighting in the war that had been plaguing their area.

Her punishment? Banishment.

Walking away from her daughter hurt, but it was a sacrifice because Mulan understood that the road before her was dangerous, and no place for a child.

Not until after staying with Robin Hood and his Merry Men did the warrior get the courage to go back to Mei because she missed her. A life in Aurora's castle, or with her and Phillip and their little baby—in any capacity—would be better than the lives they were currently living.

Mulan made it back to her village and collected Mei, but she still got caught by Shang. Being of old-fashioned values and of the knowledge that he and his wife were already in an loveless marriage that had been hastily arranged because they were from two different social classes, Shang punished Mulan for breaking the banishment and embarrassing his good name. He also kept a strict eye on her and Mei after that.

Mulan had never felt so ashamed in her life.

Several months of this had passed before the magical cloud appeared and swallowed them up.

The cloud spat them out in the Storybrooke woods and normally, Mulan would've gone to explore her surroundings to see if they could get a bearing on them, but her punishment had caught up with her and it was exhausting her more than she'd like, so she and Mei didn't stray far from the grounds of their new home, living off the land.

Fed up with her mother one evening, Mei wandered away to do some exploring of her own.

It came to no surprise that the four-year-old got lost.

"Mama?" Mei was downright sobbing now as she walked in the gloom down a well-traveled hiking path. "Mama, where are you? I'm sorry; I'll be good!"

Mei was cold, hungry, dirty, and tired.

"Is there anybody out there?"

No sooner had words left her mouth than she saw pair of large yellow eyes shining at her, directly ahead. They weren't human. Mei soon saw that they belonged to a large grey wolf, although she had no way of knowing that it was Ruby, out on a patrol because it was Wolf's Time.

Instinct told Mei to run because she'd always heard that wolves were dangerous, but something was different about this one—it stopped in front of her and bowed to her, showing submission.

Mei reached a hand out to the animal, giggling when Ruby licked it. Comfortable after that, Mei rand her hands through Ruby's fur.

"You're so warm, pretty wolf. Just like a blanket."

Mei's words ended in a yawn and she stumbled, but Ruby caught her and steadied her.

"I'm sleepy," Mei confessed around another yawn and hugged Ruby's neck. "And I lost my mama."

Ruby sat and actually managed to pull Mei close in a kind of hug with the leg she wasn't standing on. When Mei pulled away after a moment, she looked at Ruby with wide eyes.

"You understand me?"

Ruby bobbed her head in confirmation.

"Do you know someone who has food?"

Ruby bobbed her head again and got down on all fours.

"You're gonna take me?"

Ruby let out a soft woof this time, so Mei climbed onto her back and when she felt secure enough, Ruby stood and set off into town.

Everybody in Storybrooke, even the new people, knew that Ruby was a werewolf, but even still, she entered the inn through the back way, where hers and Aurora's rooms were.

Now that baby Phillip was old enough to sit up on his own and be very aware of things happening around him, Aurora had started reading to him every day, especially before he went to bed for the night. His favorite story was The Little Engine That Could.

This was what Aurora was reading to him when she heard a soft scratching at the door.

"Oh, it looks like Ruby has come for a visit!" Aurora set the book aside—thankfully, because she was getting sick of it—and stood, setting Phillip on her hip. "Let's go let her in, hmm?"

Phillip actually shed a few tears, although Aurora knew he was faking it because he was upset that their nightly routine had been disrupted.

"Hush, baby boy. You know that story front to back, as it is."

Phillip's temper fizzled at his mother's tone and he leaned into her touch as she wiped his tears and kissed his cheek. Settled, Phillip didn't fuss any more as his mother let Ruby in.

Aurora wasn't surprised to see Ruby as a wolf, but she hadn't been expecting to see her carrying a child on her back, let alone one that was dirty, worn out, and sleepy. When Mei disembarked and stood on the floor, her legs gave out from exhaustion, so Ruby curled up behind her, acting as he'd support again.

Curious, Aurora got on her knees and spoke gently to her; there had to be an extra good reason that she'd been sought out instead of Regina, Emma, Snow, or Belle.

"I'm Aurora. What's your name?"

The little one yawned and looked up at her. "I'm called Mei, and I'm four."

When the two made eye contact, Aurora felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her because Mei was a spitting image of Mulan.

"Are you lost, Mei?"

Nod. "I got angry with mama, and then I lost her!"

"But Ruby found you." Aurora pointed out quickly. "She's very nice, isn't she?"

"Yeah, and she's real pretty, too."

"You should see what she's like in human form—she's just as pretty as she is now."

At the words 'human form,' Mei's eyes widened. "Ruby is a werewolf?"

"Uh-huh."

"Wow! That's really neat!"

Thankful for Mei's fascination with Ruby, Aurora used that as a segue. "Since she's a werewolf, that means she's really good at smelling things."

Mei turned beet red as she became aware of her appearance. "I'm stinky and smelly…"

"Don't worry, baby girl—I'll give you a bath in a minute. Just stay with me."

"Okay."

"Since Ruby is really good at smelling things, that means that if you have something of your mama's, she will be able to find her for you. Do you have anything of that sort?"

Mei thought about it for a minute and then undid a blue silk scarf around her neck. "This was mama's, but she gave it to me for good luck!"

"Why don't you give it to Ruby?"

Mei made her way over to the wolf and laid the scarf at her feet. "Please, Ruby: can you use this to find mama? She's in the woods, and I miss her!"

Ruby took the scarf in her paws and took a huge whiff, easily picking up on Mulan's trail, but to give her friend some reassurance, Ruby wagged her tail and touched her nose to her shoulder. Mei kissed Ruby's fur and then turned back to Aurora.

"Do you know my mama?"

Aurora nodded, ignoring the clench in her heart she felt as she thought of Mulan. "I know her very well. Your mama is very, very special to me."

"Mama makes your heart smile?"

"Oh, yes."

Mei grinned and then motioned towards Phillip. "Who's that?"

"That's Phillip. He's my baby boy."

Mei smiled fondly—she loved babies. She wanted to ask more questions about Phillip, but her stomach rumbled loudly and clutched her stomach.

"I'm so hungry..."

"It's okay. Hang on."

Aurora stood and quickly crossed the room, fetching the half of the pastrami sandwich that she'd saved from earlier in the day. When she gave it to Mei, she devoured it, ravenous. Aurora had been planning to use this as a stalling tactic so she could get to her phone on the table by the window, but Mei had parked herself squarely in her lap.

"Rora," Mei said when she finished her food. "When could I have a bath?"

"Very soon." Aurora stood Mei up so she could get to her own feet. "I just have to put Phillip in his bed, alright?"

Mei just nodded—she was fading fast—and watched as Aurora picked Phillip up from where he'd fallen asleep against Ruby and lay him down. Afterward, Mei barely made it through her bath before admitting to herself that it was time for bed.

"Rora," Mei used the pet name on her friend as they cuddled on Aurora's bed. "You said that Phillip is your baby boy?"

"Yes."

"Where's his papa? What's his name?"

"His name was also Phillip, but he was called away to be an angel."

"Oh." Mei moved closer to Aurora and traced shapes on Aurora's stomach, thinking. "And your Phillip: he grew in there?"

"Indeed he did." Aurora stroked Mei's face, watching her. "Why are you asking these things?"

"I don't have a papa 'cause I think we lost him, but my mama has a baby in her tummy."

Aurora's own stomach did a flip-flop at this and she was aghast, wanting more than ever to get Emma on the line.

"She does?"

Mei nodded. "I hope it's a girl so that way, Phillip could be her friend and protect her since nobody protected us."

Aurora realized that Mei must have seen something she shouldn't have and hugged her closer, not wanting to leave her now.

"Where's Ruby?" Mei asked suddenly. "I want my puppy…"

Ruby hadn't left the room yet, having curled up by Phillip's crib, but when she heard her name, she picked up the scarf Mei had given her and sat, watching the bed and wagging her tail, hopeful for an invitation.

Aurora beckoned to her and Ruby immediately climbed up, claiming a spot at Mei's feet.

"Ruby's here now, baby. Can you feel her?"

"Uh-huh."

The amount of body heat that Ruby was generating was lulling Mei straight to sleep.

Aurora turned out the lamp on her bedside table and pulled Mei closer, deciding to turn in for the night. "Ruby and I are both here with you."

"What about mama?"

"Ruby and I will work on finding her in the morning. Our friends will help, too."

"Thanks, Rora."

"You're welcome."

"Good night…"

That was the last Aurora heard out of Mei until morning. Ruby was asleep soon, too.

It took Aurora awhile to fall asleep, although that was because she had one thought, and one thought only: her beloved Mulan was in the woods, alone and pregnant.

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