Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Word Count: 942
Categories: F/F
Fandoms: Once Upon a Time
Relationship: Mulan/Aurora
Characters: Mulan, Aurora
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Developing Relationships
"You should have stayed back." Mulan frowned, Aurora's pout turned into a scowl. "You are like a child." Mulan rolled her eyes as she leaned on a tree.
"Why do you put up with me then?" Aurora asked petulantly.
"Because I promised Philip that I will." Mulan said simply. It was a simple sentence and yet…it weighed more than it supposed to. She looked at the young princess and sighed. "You should have listened." She turned her back at her and continued looking around, making sure that they were safe here for the moment.
"Oh. Is that… all?" Aurora asked, before she could cover her mouth.
Mulan's brows furrowed and turned around to look at Aurora again. She didn't ask Aurora to repeat what she said knowing that the princess won't do it. Aurora was still a princess and Mulan still treated her as one. Mulan's Princess… It's been months since she helped Philip lift the curse on his beloved. It's been months since she last thought of the young princess to be irritating. "Stay here." She told her firmly, hoping that she'll listen. The stubborn girl—but she no longer was a girl, was she? Mulan would often call her out on her childishness but she's matured in many ways. Yes, she no longer was a girl but rather a lady. Mulan turned her back on her and continued scouting the area, all the while smiling to herself as she thought of the princess fondly.
Aurora watched Mulan walk away from her. A woman who acts like a brute, she once thought. She didn't like Mulan when she woke up, she thought that she'll steal Philip from her but she had no intention to. She heard rustling and her eyes widened. "Mulan?!" Aurora called out, not able to hide the panic in her voice. "MULAN!" She ran towards the path that Mulan took.
She kept running until she stumbled on a tree branch, tripping and falling face down on the ground. She groaned as she tried to get up and in an instant, a hand was infront of her face. "I told you to stay there." Mulan sighed as she took Aurora's hand and pulled her up.
"I heard rustling!" Aurora told her as she dusted off the dirt that got on her dress.
Mulan rolled her eyes and pulled her back to their campsite. "I'm sure that it was nothing." She insisted. When they arrived, she made Aurora sit on a stump. She pushed the skirt of Aurora's dress up to her knees and examined the fresh wound on her knee. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Mulan asked, looking up at the Princess. "Don't you ever listen?" She felt frustrated at Aurora or was it more on herself? She couldn't even keep her promise to Philip, but it wasn't really breaking the promise she was worrying about. It was Aurora's well-being. "Is it really that hard to listen, to do as you're told?"
"Didn't you hear me say that I heard rustling?" Aurora asked, frowning at Mulan.
Mulan rolled her eyes and began tending to the wound. "I was not referring to that." Mulan said, sounding less frustrated. "Why did you come?" She asked.
Aurora scowled and turned to look at the ground. "That is none of your concern."
"I believe it is." Mulan said back, glaring at the princess. "Do as you're told."
"I'm not a child!" Aurora spat. She glared at Mulan and pushed her down on the ground. "I'M NOT A CHILD!"
Mulan rolled her eyes for the nth time that night. "You are certainly acting like one." Mulan said, as informing her. "Why did you come?"
"Because I don't like waiting!" Aurora told her. "I'd rather be in danger than wait for you to come back or not!" She stood up and paced.
"Do you even realize what you're saying?" Mulan asked her, Aurora's answer taking her aback. "I am an able warrior."
"I'm not questioning your abilities; I know what you can and can't do!" Aurora yelled. Mulan can be so frustrating! "Can't you see you worry me?"
One of Mulan's eyebrows arched. "I worry you." Mulan repeated. "I worry you? And what do you think happens to me when you decide to endanger yourself by going out on your own?" Mulan asked.
"I've already lost Philip, I can't lose you too!" Aurora blurted out. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back at Mulan, not able to look at the warrior. "I don't think I can take it."
Mulan's face softened and she barely stopped herself from reaching out to Aurora. "Aurora." Mulan called out to her. "We can't…"
"I can't see why not." Aurora refused to look at her.
"The laws of the land have not changed." Mulan told her. "A woman must be with a man."
"There's nothing in the laws that say we cannot be with someone because of their gender!" Aurora turned to look at her. "Nothing in the law prevents us from being with the one we love!"
Mulan shakes her head. "Aurora, you're a princess."
"Titles be damned!" Aurora spat.
"A princess must be with a prince or a noble man. Not a woman warrior." Mulan said firmly careful not to look at Aurora.
Aurora made her look at her. "Look me in the eye and say it again." Aurora sneered at her. "Tell me that you don't love me. Tell me that you don't care."
"You know I cannot." Mulan whispered. "Aurora, let's not make this harder than it has to be."
"How can you choose duty over love?" Aurora asked.
"Because not everyone's life can be a fairy tale." Mulan said simply as she removed herself from Aurora's grip and walked away.