Emma and Snow turned immediately their backs to Aurora and Mulan to continue their journey. The path was lying far ahead and soon it would be dark. They had left their camping equipment and their tent back, so they were left with no protection for the night and a place to sleep. They would deal with that problem when the time would come. For the moment, they had to worry about finding Rumplestiltskin's cell. Snow was the one to know the way and Emma was trusting her. Her only worry was Mulan and her passionate devotion to Aurora. She knew she would do the same for Henry –her every reaction was understandable - and that is why she was prepared to do anything –even killing her - if she was getting into their way again as she did earlier this day.
Mulan pressed a hand to Aurora's back before carrying on with the journey following her companions. The princess smiled back rather surprised and Mulan nodded. She was far too relieved to see her alive and safe that she didn't pay attention to this small detail in Aurora' s facial expression. As she didn't notice the lack of the usual glow her eyes used to have when she was excited. Her voice sounded excited when she was asking Emma for the details of their journey, yes, but her facial expression was cold and emotionless as if it wasn't her, as if she was trapped somewhere inside herself and she was a silent observer of her own life. If Mulan was paying more attention, if she wasn't preoccupied with her own thoughts and feelings about Aurora, if she hadn't let her guard down and her judgement clouded because of all these feelings, then, maybe, she would have noticed the difference, she would have detected the ruse, she would have prevented what was coming upon them, upon her, upon Aurora. At that precise moment, while she was following Snow and Emma deeper into the forest and hearing Aurora's clumsy steps from behind, Mulan thought she was being a good protector and she was proud of herself. She was honoring both Philip's wishes and her parents' –they once had told her to always stay focused in her target and always honor the agreements. But, in reality she wasn't honoring any of them at all. She was just fooling herself because she was refusing to face reality. She was too proud to see that she had failed both of them and that she had broken their agreement. She didn't know that then, but she came to understand it when it was too late. She was deceiving both of them and the irony was that she was proud of herself. Proud.
"Mulan, are you feeling alright?" a voice asked from afar and Mulan had to take her eyes off the moving ground to see that it was Snow the one who addressed the question. The woman nodded but didn't say anything.
"I'm really sorry for what happened earlier." She carried on.
"I would do the same to protect my family and you have to understand that I'm equally ready to do anything for them. I want to go back and I will, no matter what, because I want to be reunited with my husband and my grandson and all my friends. I understand that you would do the very same for Aurora is your only family in this world, but let me tell you something. You are a very good and dedicated warrior. Philip was very lucky to have you as his companion and now Aurora as her guardian. I would be very upset and devastated to kill you but bear in mind that I will do it if I will have to, to go back to my family."
"Are you asking me to give up on Aurora for your own sake and plans?" Mulan asked angrily but she kept her voice low not to be overheard by the princess.
"No…" Snow answered immediately.
"Are you threatening me?" Mulan persisted with her eyes half closed reminding Snow of a wild carnivore animal.
"No…I'm just warning you about my own priorities as you warned me about yours earlier…" Snow answered with a hard expression on her face and quickened her pace to reach Emma. Mulan loosened her grip around her sword and turned her head around to face Aurora. The young princess wasn't really struggling anymore with her long dress and her steps ,although still clumsy, were stronger and more confident. Aurora smiled kindly at her companion and Mulan did the same.
The night was slowly falling over the forest and the group decided to camp underneath some big trees that were offering their branches as a protective shelter. Mulan went to look for wood to start a fire. Aurora was quite agitated and seemed irritated that they had stopped for the night.
"Where are we?" she asked with an impatient tone. Snow and Emma looked at each other puzzled.
"In the middle of the forest…"Emma answered half jokingly.
"I mean, are we close to Rumplestiltskin's cell?"
"Let me check my GPS first…" Emma continued with the same tone and Snow threw at her a murderous look. Emma's big smile faded away and looked back at Aurora apologetically.
"We are almost there, but I think it's better for all of us to have a break first. Tomorrow morning, by dawn, we will carry on." Snow answered.
Mulan came back with the right amount of wood to lit a fire and Emma run towards her direction immediately for help. As soon as Mulan left the wood in the ground, she threw a glance towards Aurora to make sure she was safe and still with them. The feeling of loss and failure experienced earlier that day hadn't left her heart yet.
"I will keep guard for tonight." Mulan offered as soon as she lit the fire.
"You need to sleep, Mulan." Snow worried and offered to replace her after four hours of sleep. They agreed, so Snow and Emma retired underneath the trees with their back resting upon the hard surface of the tree trunks. Emma complaint about the uncomfortable surface and thought about her comfortable bed back in Storybrooke. Snow moved next to her daughter and took Emma's head into her hands.
"Rest your head in my lap…It should be more comfortable." Snow proposed softly and Emma did as she was told. She felt the warmth of her mother's fingers into her skin and then into her hair, while she was caressing her. Emma closed her eyes and let herself slip into the unknown and dark worlds of her dreams where, now that she was with her mother, had nothing to be afraid of.
Aurora didn't go to sleep. As Mulan was preparing her seat next to the fire, she noticed the princess sitting alone in a big stone, staring at some imaginary point in front of her. Her face looked sad in the warm light of the fire.
"You should go to sleep, Aurora." Mulan told her as she approached her from the side. Aurora didn't move her eyes from the imaginary point she was staring at. She didn't even bothered to answer to her companion. Mulan kneeled beside her and decided to make an effort to comfort this poor girl because she seemed to fight her own demons inside her.
"Are you thinking of Philip?" she asked after being hesitant for some minutes. Aurora turned her head slowly towards Mulan and looked at her. What Mulan saw inside them frightened her because she didn't see sadness but emptiness. And from her own experience, she knew that the feeling of emptiness was one thousand times worse than the feeling of sadness.
"I suppose…" Aurora answered with a distant voice.
"Is everything alright?" Mulan persisted. Aurora remained silent for a few minutes as if she was trying to find the correct words to use.
"I don't know…" she finally admitted and looked at her companion with worrying eyes. Mulan looked at her with her wide black eyes but didn't say a word. She didn't want to pressure Aurora and secondly she didn't really know what to say.
" Since my capture by Cora, something changed inside me." Aurora finally carried on.
"I was ready to die in there because I never thought any of you would come to save me. I mean, why would you? You may have given your promise to Philip but Snow and Emma did not owe me anything…To be honest, I was happy at the prospect of death. If I wasn't to be with Philip what was the point of me living at all?" she formed half a smile at the last sentence. Mulan felt suddenly being overwhelmed by panic. Her heart started racing and her fingers were trembling. She looked at Aurora's eyes searching for that glow but she couldn't see it. Only emptiness. Only that and it was devastating.
"Then, Hook came and set me free. The last person I was expecting to save me. Isn't it strange how sometimes life seems to have its own way to do things and help us out?"
"I was coming to save you, princess… " Mulan said in a hard tone as she remembered her fight with Snow. Aurora didn't comment on Mulan's statement.
Instead she carried on with her own thoughts.
"While I was kept imprisoned in Cora's cell, we had a discussion. She told me something I can't get out of my mind since then. She told me that I had forgotten Philip. I told her that Philip would always be in my heart and that I will always honor his name but since my escape, whenever I try to feel him in my heart, I can't. I know he is somewhere there because I know I will never forget him, but I can't feel him anymore. I just don't feel him…I touch my heart with my hands and the only thing I can feel is…"
But she didn't get to finish her sentence. The expression in her face changed and became suddenly hard. She got up in her feet and looked at Mulan with anger.
"Enough of that! I'm not a little girl anymore crying over dead bodies. A long day awaits us tomorrow." She said and she walked straight to where Snow and Emma were sleeping.
Mulan was taken aback by Aurora's reaction. She wasn't expecting such a sudden change of behavior and somehow she felt stupid that she thought she could reach the princess' soul. Actually she felt stupid for even trying to discuss with her, for even believing she could be her confidante.
Aurora found a place to rest next to Snow and Mulan returned to her seat next to the fire.
"The only thing I can feel is emptiness…" Mulan completed Aurora's sentence in her mind while she was listening carefully to the sounds of the night for anything that could seem suspicious or dangerous.
It must have been past midnight when Mulan heard these noises as if someone was crawling on the ground. Alerted, she stood up, her sword already outstretched towards the source of the sound. She had passed the last hour thinking about Aurora's behavior. Something had changed in her, only she couldn't tell what.
From the darkness of the trees a weird figure appeared, tottering and grunting. The light of the fire revealed a dozen of these creatures walking unsteadily towards Mulan. The later, with her eyes wide open from panic, realized that those creatures where the very same ones that had attacked them earlier on looking for the compass. The walking dead were for once again in their way and this time they were double the number.
"GUYS WAKE! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" she yelled as she was retreating towards the trees where her friends were lying.
Snow was the first to wake, snatching her bow in her hands ready to shoot. As a result of Snow's violent movements, Emma woke up in a mess, hurling insults at people and things that were most probably part of her dreams and not part of reality.
"What is going on?" she murmured still half asleep but instead of a civilised answer she got the warrior's screams of her mother.
"God, what is going on?" she repeated to herself frightened as she saw in front of her Mulan and Snow fighting fiercely against some disgusting-looking creatures.
"No, not them again…!" she exhaled in despair as she realised their nature. She rose quickly to her feet and snatched her sword. Mulan had trouble keeping the zombies away from her princess who was still sleeping and Snow was dealing with her own zombies further away. Emma hesitated for a second and then run towards Mulan. Her mother was experienced enough to take care of herself for a while.
"Go and wake Aurora! I will try to keep them away for a while!" she screamed at Mulan and the later left the battlefield as soon as Emma took her place. She nodded in acknowledgement towards Emma and run to Aurora. Emma was destined to be a great warrior one day, Mulan thought. She had all the qualities of a warrior. She was brave, honorable and noble. She had only to practice those a bit more.
Aurora had a peaceful expression on her face, her lips forming a smile and her arms crossed in her chest. For the first time she seemed better protected wrapped in her dreams than in the cruelty of reality. She seemed like a child again, innocent and inexperienced in this world's ruse, violence and evil. How beautiful she looked! Mulan could clearly understand how this girl could be the object of desire of all the boys of her kingdom. Her lips parted as she exhaled silently and a pair of white teeth made their appearance. Mulan couldn't take her eyes off from Aurora's delicate and soft as velvet lips. Oh, how she wanted to…to what? She brought angrily her self back to her senses.
"Mulan, are you planning on waking up your princess any time soon? 'Cause these things want to eat me alive!" Emma screamed while she continued fighting fiercely against the zombies and cutting their heads whenever possible.
Mulan turned back her head to face the sleeping beauty determined this time to interrupt the delicate world of her dreams. Aurora woke up rather panicked bursting out to screams.
"Mulan, they are coming for you!" Emma warned yelling as to be heard over the frenzy of the battle. Mulan managed to take her sword out of the sheath just on time when the first zombie was attacking her from behind. The blade penetrated his chest and in the next second his body was falling dead –if you could call dead an already dead person!- to the ground.
"Mulan, what's going on?" Aurora demanded to know with a lost expression in her eyes.
"We have been attacked again by the creatures of Hell!" Mulan answered heavy-hearted as she continued to fight every zombie was coming her way. How many more times they would risk their lives for this bloody compass?! Mulan thought but she already knew the answer. As many as there were needed to accomplish their quest.
Suddenly Mulan heard a scream from behind and when she turned to look for the source of it she saw one of the creatures having thrown Aurora to the ground while trying to kill her with a knife. Mulan run quickly to save her princess. With an unseen fury she killed the creature and held her hand to Aurora to get her up on her feet.
"Watch out!" Aurora screamed and pushed herself and Mulan back to the ground to avoid the axe of another zombie. Her face and Mulan's almost touched each other. They looked into each other's eyes and Mulan's heart stopped beating. What if they could freeze time and stay there forever…Not fighting for their lives, not worrying about the compass neither about Cora…Just the two of them…Aurora's blue and sweet eyes…Her warm gaze burning her skin…Her lips pressing against…
"Mulan!" Aurora screamed again cutting like a knife through her thoughts. Mulan didn't have enough time to act. A zombie kicked her in the head and she found herself falling into the dirty ground. Aurora screamed her name for a second time before the same zombie hit her this time in the head, next in the chest and finally in the stomach. Mulan's head was buzzing. She was in pain. She tried to reach out for her sword before realising that it should have slipped through her hand when she was kicked for the first time. She made an effort to stand when a pair of hands grabbed her from the shoulders and pushed her back down. A second pair of hands punched her in the face. Blood covered her eyes. She felt her body being dragged on the ground. Her back hit on a stone and a throbbing pain blurred her thoughts.
"Aurora…" she mumbled but her voice could barely be heard. What was that, then? Her death? Her end?
"Let her DOWN!" a voice roared and the pair of hands holding her from the shoulders let her free. Painfully, Mulan opened her eyes only to see a furious Aurora hitting around the creatures with her own sword. Her own sword! The glorious blade was shining under the moonlight and the fire from the torches as it was cutting through the creatures' throats and Aurora was so focused into her task as if she was performing a dancing act directly inspired by the craziness and the absurdity of war. The whole scene seemed to Mulan surreal and she was sure it wasn't because of her injured head.
Cora was following the events through the heart and she wasn't happy at all. Her dead army had failed killing four women and her little puppet was doing the opposite from what she was supposed to do. She wasn't supposed to save Mulan. She wasn't supposed to express such fury against the dead army. She wasn't supposed to feel anything in the first place! But something was pushing her from the inside. A part of her heart was still in Aurora's body and somehow it kept her going. Blinded by anger she squeezed the heart with her fingers.
Aurora felt suddenly a great pain in her chest as if she was suffocating. She dropped the sword and placed instantly her hand in the place of her heart. She let a gasp of pain and fell to her knees. Her heart…She couldn't breath anymore. Someone was crushing her. She couldn't understand.
"Aurora!" Mulan yelled and got to her feet. Aurora had just saved her life. She couldn't be dying! She couldn't!
"Stay with me! Stay with me!" Mulan repeated trying to understand the source of her friend's suffering. She wasn't hit by a sword. She was fine!
"What is happening to you?" she asked almost crying. Aurora looked at her in the eyes but couldn't say a word. She was agonising. Her chest was ready to explode. With her free hand she grabbed Mulan's. The later couldn't stand the intensity of the moment. She felt her head going dizzy. This could not be happening. Aurora wasn't dying!
"Aurora, stay with me!" Mulan almost begged this time, tears in the eyes.
Cora came back to her senses. She loosened her grip around the heart and decided to let this failure go. It wouldn't be wise to be carried away by her emotions and kill Aurora. A new plan had come to her mind and in order to execute it she needed her puppet. Miserable girl, you're lucky this time, she whispered viciously to the heart.
The pain just vanished. Her whole body was still shaking but she was alive. She hadn't die. She was alive! Mulan looked at her bewildered.
"Aurora?" she asked in a low voice, afraid a higher tone would bring back the suffering.
"It's gone…The pain is gone…" Aurora replied still holding with her hand her chest. Mulan exhaled with relief and threw her big arms over Aurora's still shaking body to form an embrace.
"Don't do this to me, again, I plead." Mulan murmured closing tightly her arms around Aurora's shoulders. Aurora didn't embrace Mulan back. Her body was still as if made by wood. Her gaze fixed somewhere in front of her. She was alive but she wasn't feeling anything about it. Nothing at all.
When Emma and Snow decapitated the last creature for the night, they found Mulan embracing a frozen body, that of Aurora's.
"Is everything ok?" Emma asked concerned. Snow looked at her doubtfully. Mulan broke the embrace and turned towards Emma and Snow.
"Yes…" she replied with confidence although her eyes were suggesting otherwise. Emma didn't question her any further.
"We have to move on. We can't stay in the same place any longer in case there are more on the way." Snow explained and looked for Mulan's approval. Although they had their differences, she still valued Mulan's strategic opinion. The warrior nodded.
"I agree. This place isn't safe anymore. We have to move with more discretion from so on. We can't afford a third fight into less than a day." Mulan said and Snow agreed. As soon as they grabbed their staff, prepared some torches and extinguished the fire, they continued their journey through the forest, with Snow leading the way and Mulan being in the end protecting their back. For Mulan, the only reason she was left the last was to keep an eye on Aurora.
Not before midday, they arrived at the place where Rumplestiltskin's cell was said to be. Everything was quiet around but something seemed off. It was the silence that was unnatural. There were no birds twittering, no animals making noises as if an evil shadow had spread over the living ground. Snow was the only one to notice and a terrible feeling started growing inside her. Cora. She tightened her grip around her bow, although she knew she was powerless against her. Everyone was powerless against her.
They stood before the gate that was leading underground to the cell.
"Shall we?" Aurora spoke first to break the silence but Snow stopped her.
"Why in such a hurry princess?" she asked with her eyes half closed and her head slightly on the side. Aurora laughed embarrassed.
"I mean, we found what we were looking for, didn't we? So, what's the point of waiting here, outside the gate, and not going actually in, take what we need and leave for good this creepy place?"
"Because there is nothing to find in the cell anymore. Cora has been already here, stealing the only thing we could use to trap her and now, I'm wondering little princess…How did she know about this place? Because the Dark one surely didn't tell her."
Yes, Snow was very smart! Cora thought with a smile while holding the heart in front of her. The plan was going accordingly.
"What are you implying?" she said to the heart.
"What are you implying?" Aurora said angrily as if she was stripped down from her honor.
"I'm implying little princess that your words aren't yours anymore and that your ears are Cora's for quite a time now." Snow said and quickly, she grabbed Aurora from the neck pressing the knife to the bare, white, soft skin. Mulan took out her sword and shot a warning look at Snow.
"Did you think you would escape from Cora without a price? First your non-sense speech about Hook being the hero of the day, second the zombies attacking us in the middle of the night, and now Cora finding what we were looking for before us. Coincidence? I don't think so!" Snow lifted the knife and she was ready to stab it at Aurora's throat when Mulan grabbed her fiercely from the shoulders and threw her over the wooden gate. The knife dropped from Snow's hand. Emma run towards them to help her mother but Mulan pushed her to the ground.
"We will not kill Aurora!" she said facing Snow.
"As long as I'm here she won't die, do you understand me?" Snow didn't reply.
"Do you understand me?"
"Emma!" Snow screamed instead as Cora appeared out of the blue just behind Emma's body and with a glorious smile in her face she grabbed Emma and disappeared into a cloud of dark shadows.
"Emma!" Snow screamed again and pushed Mulan aside. Emma was gone.
"Damn you, Cora!" she yelled at the air hoping she will be heard.
"And damn you!" she turned towards Aurora and threw her body over hers. She pinned Aurora to the ground, hitting her head against the dirt.
"You can't kill me…" Aurora said calmly, something that infuriated Snow even more.
"Tell me, where is she! TELL ME WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER!" Snow was yelling while still hitting Aurora's head frantically to the ground.
"Stop it!" Mulan ordered with a harsh voice and she tried to take Snow away from Aurora. Snow was crying, her voice sounding like a broken record, repeating the same question over and over.
"You are slowly killing Aurora. As many times as you will hit her head to the ground, nothing will happen to Cora. You are only hurting an innocent and that's what Cora wants. You still have the compass so we can tread Emma with that and we will find another way of getting back. But none of us must die, do you understand me? We must stay together, united and we may win…we will win.
"Aurora is being manipulated by Cora. I don't know how you can stop that..." Snow murmured after some minutes of silence. For the first time, she looked at Aurora with pain. Her fate was condemned. Such a beauty, victim of a selfish fate. A puppet pulling the strings of a bigger plan, a much darker one, a lethal one. She wasn't the weak link of their group. Quite the opposite. She was one of the strongest links. She was only unfortunate.
"I know where Emma is. You have to follow me." Aurora said and Mulan and Snow looked at her interested. They exchanged a look of confidence and they followed the princess.
After some hours of walking that seemed endless to both women, they arrived at a clearing near the sea. Snow was quite surprised because she didn't know this small side of the forest ever existed. There, in front of them, Cora was standing patiently and behind her, Hook was holding Emma imprisoned. The land between the sea and the forest was stretching for a few kilometers where it was coming abruptly to an end by a mass of big stones.
"You're such good girls! So obedient…" Cora commented with her usual fake kind smile on her face.
"Do not try to impress me with your sweet voice, Cora!" Snow said in a high tone.
"Oh, I'm not trying to impress anyone…" Cora replied with indifference. "I'm only stating the obvious. You really can't help yourself, can you? Your daughter is in danger and you're running blinded after her. You're ready to sacrifice everything to save her…what a pity…such a wasted potential..."
"You know what is really a pity, Cora? Not knowing what family is for. Not being able to love anybody else apart from yourself. That is pity. To be alone. To use magic to get what you want. To feel this constant emptiness in your heart. As many hearts as you may ripe out, as many hearts as you may keep in your vault you will never fill in the emptiness of your own life. That's a pity."
Cora's facial expression suddenly turned into a mask of evil and hate. Her eyes darkened and Mulan could sense her wrath coming upon them. She took out her sword but she could have never been prepared for what followed up. Cora lifted her arm on the air and with an abrupt movement she sent Snow flying over the trees. With a second movement of her arm, she ordered the branches to wrap her up. In the same time, Emma punched Hook in the stomach with her elbow to set herself free but Hook was quick enough to grab her by the shoulders and throw her down. Mulan started running towards Cora – a foolish decision that cost her being blocked by an invisible wall that rose up in front of her. She tried to push through the wall but it was pure magic. From the other side of the invisible wall, Emma was fighting with Hook and Cora took in her hands a frozen heart and murmured something to it. Mulan's heart missed a beat as she realized to who the heart belonged.
Mulan didn't manage to finish her thoughts because Aurora attacked her from behind. She kicked her in the back and Mulan felt on her face. Maybe the princess wasn't physically strong but she knew how to handle effectively her heels. Mulan turned quickly her body to face Aurora, when she saw a stone being thrown at her in the last second. She rolled on the sand to avoid it and rose to her feet with the first opportunity.
Don't make me fight Aurora! Mulan begged but she knew already the answer. Aurora grabbed another stone from the ground, sharper this time and she held it tightly. She, then, jumped towards Mulan, who was trying to avoid her by back-stepping.
"Aurora, it's me! Please stop!" Mulan was imploring her.
"Aurora, wake up! Aurora!"
But Aurora wouldn't stop until Mulan was dead. She wasn't herself anymore. These cold eyes were never hers. There was only one solution. Mulan tricked Aurora into letting her approaching her, before jumping into her, pining her on the ground. Aurora was fighting to free herself but Mulan was stronger.
"Look at me. Look at me!" Mulan ordered and Aurora finally looked back at her.
"This isn't you, Aurora! This isn't you. You would never kill me because I'm your protector. I'm here to save you from any trouble and I will keep my promise, forever." She added in the end.
"You loved Philip. You loved him more than anything and your heart is still mourning for him every single day. Can you feel it? Can you feel how you used to love him? Can you feel the pain when you saw him dying in front of your freshly awaken eyes?" Mulan didn't even know why she was using Philip's memories but she thought these feelings were the only powerful enough to bring her back.
"Let me go!" Aurora ordered in anger.
"You are hurting my arms!" she complained and Mulan felt as if she was punched in the stomach.
"Aurora, it's me, Mulan. Stop fighting. I will never hurt you. I love you God dammit! I love you! Stop torturing me like this because, in reality, you would never do it. I know you may not love me the way I do but you respect me enough to try to kill me. I beg you, don't make me hit you, don't make me hurt you, please." Mulan was crying. For the first time as a warrior. For the first time since she had to leave her home. For the first time since her father's death. A single tear fell off her eye to Aurora's cheek. With the gloved thumb of her left hand she wiped it away. Aurora, as by magic, stopped fighting. She gave a puzzled look at Mulan as if she was trying to understand her words or as if she was trying to remember something. A small fire lit up in her eyes. Mulan sensed the change in Aurora's breath. She was calm now, breathing deeply. Mulan couldn't understand really what had happened. She didn't want to believe it was the truthfulness of her feelings that brought Aurora back.
"Mulan?" aurora finally murmured bewildered.
"Yes, it's me! Yes…it's me…" Mulan said in relief and set Aurora free.
"Mulan…I'm so sorry…I don't know what is happening to me…" Aurora mumbled frightened.
"But I do..!" Mulan replied with anger in her voice and she knew immediately what she had to do.
"Stay where you are and do not move!" Mulan ordered and she took her sword out of her sheath. Aurora gasped with fear but she calmed down when she saw Mulan marching towards the opposite direction she was, towards Cora.
Mulan stopped in front of the invisible wall and with all her strength she started hitting it with her sword. She hadn't been more furious in her life before neither more determined. She would take back Aurora's heart to where it belonged because Aurora was part of her own beating heart. Without her, she was lost like a dead body walking among the living ones. She needed Aurora back and she would succeed. Her love for the princess was her weapon; the most powerful weapon of them all.
She succeeded in breaking the wall and she continued marching fearlessly towards Cora. The later one did the last thing she could do to keep the warrior away from her. She squeezed Aurora's heart in her fingers. A painful scream left Aurora's lungs and Mulan froze in her place. A second scream was heard from where Aurora was lying and Mulan felt her own heart being ripped out. She held her sword with both hands and she started running towards Cora. The more she was approaching Cora the tighter the witch was squeezing the heart and more violent Aurora's screams were. But Mulan wouldn't stop. Wouldn't make a step behind. Her eyes fixed on Cora, her fingers tight around the handle of her sword, every muscle of her feet pushing forward with all the strength that had remained. Cora waved her hand in the air but Mulan blocked the magic spell with her sword. Nothing was stopping her. Cora created a second invisible wall which Mulan broke down in two hits. Cora waved her hand a second time in the air trying to send Mulan flying in the air but Mulan resisted by transferring all her weight to her feet and by constantly thinking about Aurora. The princess' face was imprinted with indelible ink in her brain. Cora tried a last trick before Mulan was too close to do anything. It was equally unsuccessful, like the previous three but Mulan accidentally slipped on the sand and lost her balance. She fell on the ground and by the time she got up, Cora had managed to create another invisible wall between them, this time made up by darker magic, never used before. The first time Mulan hit the wall with her sword she felt a powerful pain moving up her arms. The second time the pain was stronger until the warrior understood that the power she was using to hit the wall was hurting her back and the spell was such that the pain would be stronger with every hit. Nevertheless, she carried on. Hitting and feeling pain. Hitting and feeling pain. Aurora's heart had almost disappeared inside Cora's fingers and that's when Mulan felt an incredible force passing through her body directly to her arms and roaring she managed to break the wall with a last hit. Her hands had become one with the sword. Aurora's heart was ready to turn into ashes when Mulan penetrated Cora's body with her blade. Cora let a gasp of pain and she fell to her knees, the heart slipping from her hands. The heart restored its previous glow and Aurora's screams stopped.
"Dying is what you deserve…" was the only thing Mulan said to Cora before picking up the heart from the ground and turning her back to the dying body.
Cora was dead. The witch was dead. The biggest threat for all of them was dead. If she wanted to live she better had never stolen Aurora's heart.
Mulan found Aurora in the same place where she left her. The young woman was exhausted and in the same time astonished. Mulan approached her slowly and kneeled next to her, like a proper knight would do.
"Is she dead?" Aurora asked searching for the positive answer inside Mulan's eyes. Mulan nodded.
"Yes and I brought back something that belongs to you." She said without being able to hide the proud from her voice. Aurora looked at her with excitement, her eyes glowing from happiness and respect towards the warrior.
"You are one of strongest women I have ever known and you don't need swords or physical strength to fight because you have the most powerful weapon of them all and that is your heart. Your heart is what defines you and makes you strong. Here. " And she stretched the hand that was holding the heart towards Aurora. The later smiled kindly and without taking her eyes off Mulan's she closed Mulan's fingers over her heart.
"I trust you to keep it safe." She said in a low voice and Mulan felt a thousand butterflies flying all over the bottom of her stomach.
"Do you trust me with your own hurt?" Mulan asked in a hesitant way.
"I would trust you with anything and my heart is the most precious of them all." Aurora said and she blushed. She laughed in a way to hide her blushing and Mulan raised her free hand to caress Aurora's cheek.
"I will protect it with my life." She said proudly and they embraced. Aurora burst into silent tears and Mulan could feel the warmth of her breath brushing along her neck. Hesitant at first, then more confident, she was caressing softly Aurora's back.
"You have nothing to fear anymore. I'm here…" she whispered softly to Aurora's ear.
"I love you…" Aurora finally said and she broke the embrace to face Mulan. She was honest. Her feelings were pure. Maybe Mulan wasn't her true love, but certainly she was her savior. Aurora believed in second chances and if she wanted to make it through this life she should love again. Without thinking it twice she knew Mulan was the one. Mulan would always be the one from so on.
"I love you…" she repeated and Mulan smiled. A smile Aurora had never seen before. A smile of pure happiness.