A/N: So I recently became interested in Sleeping Warrior due to all the posts about it on my dashboard so I checked it out and am now invested in a show I don't even watch. Please excuse me if any characters seem ooc. The only characters I think I have a good understanding of is Snow, Emma, Mulan, and Aurora since those four are the most common in Sleeping Warrior fics.
Mulan watched sullenly as Phillip and Aurora embraced each other and swayed slowly to the music. Aurora's head was resting on Phillip's shoulder and her eyes were closed, a content smile playing on her lips. Mulan felt something in her constrict painfully and she turned away, leaning heavily on the countertop. "You look like you could use a drink," Emma observed, sidling up next to her.
"I do not drink. I am a warrior and can not risk being uncoordinated and not alert."
"Look around." Emma gestured at the laughing party-goers surrounding them, most of them drunk on eggnog and high on the cheery atmosphere. "We're not exactly in the most dangerous situation."
"There is always a chance of danger," Mulan said simply.
Emma sighed. "Well, if you change your mind-"
"I will not."
Emma ignored her. "If you change your mind, there's still a pot of eggnog on the stove."
The blonde woman walked away to join the rest of the guests, leaving Mulan to her thoughts. To be perfectly honest, Mulan was afraid of what dishonorable actions she might make under the influence of alcohol. She would probably rip Phillip's arm off of Aurora or try and kiss her perfectly pink plush lips or something equally mortifying. How terrible that would be…to have Aurora in her arms, to have her body pressed up against hers, to have her hot breath on her neck, to-
Mulan shook her head at herself, glancing around the room anxiously as if the people around her could read her mind. "Dishonorable thoughts lead to dishonorable actions. Dishonorable thoughts lead to dishonorable actions," she repeated to herself under her breath.
A familiar peal of laughter caught her attention and she raised her head to watch Aurora enter the kitchen backwards, one arm outstretched to Phillip who was in the other room, grinning dopily. "I'll only be a minute," Aurora called to him, smiling gently.
Mulan grimaced but quickly composed herself as Aurora turned around. "Oh, hello."
Mulan nodded to the other woman and rearranged some things on the countertop to make herself look busy. "Are you alright?" Aurora asked. "You've been standing here alone all night. Well, except for when Emma came to talk to you."
Something in her voice, maybe the way she said Emma's name, hinted at a bit of jealousy. Mulan frowned. It is not possible, she scolded herself. Do not hope for such a thing. Aurora does not return your feelings. She is happy with Phillip who is supposed to be your companion. Your brother-in-arms.
"I'm surprised you noticed me at all," Mulan stated before she could think better of it.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Aurora placed her hands on her hips, her previously cheerful demeanor gone.
"Nothing." Mulan said quickly. "My apologies. I have misspoken."
She bowed somewhat stiffly and strode out of the room and up the winding staircase. After finally finding a room that wasn't occupied by sex-driven couples, she sat down heavily onto a bed and rested her head in her hands. A timid knock sounded outside the door, making Mulan sigh heavily. Am I not allowed a moment of peace? she thought, her annoyance spiking as she tore the door open to reveal Aurora.
"Did you follow me?"
"Perhaps," she said, a little sheepishly. The corners of Mulan's lips curled upwards and she forced them down before they could divulge her feelings.
"Why?"
"I was worried about you." Aurora pushed past Mulan, into the room, and sat on the bed.
"You have no cause for worry."
"I beg to differ. You've been acting very strange to me lately."
Mulan felt her heartbeat pick up instantly and she felt something akin to fear make her throat tighten. "What do you mean?" she choked out.
"Oh, I don't know." Aurora's hands lifted half-way and fell to her lap again in a dramatic fashion. "Stoic and indifferent at times yet kind and affectionate at others."
Mulan felt herself relax. "I apologize. It seems the new environment has taken some adjusting to. If it has made me act out of the ordinary, I am sorry."
Aurora studied her. "Are you sure that's the only reason?"
"What other reason could there be?"
Aurora stood and approached her and Mulan backed away as she drew nearer and nearer until her back hit the door. "Aurora?" she said, her face contorted cutely in a confused expression.
"You know," she said casually, playing with a lock of Mulan's hair which was for once, out of its constricting pins. "Emma tells me there is a tradition unlike those from our world."
"Oh?" Mulan said weakly, her head spinning at their close proximity.
Aurora hummed in confirmation. "Yes, she tells me there is a plant called mistletoe that is strung up and any two people who meet underneath it must share a kiss."
"What relevance is this to us?"
She grinned slyly. "Look up," she whispered. There, directly above their heads, was a sprig of mistletoe taped to the ceiling.
Mulan swallowed thickly. "You do not have to participate in this foolish custom if you wish not to, Aurora."
Aurora shook her head, smiling fondly up at her. For such a good warrior, she could be really oblivious sometimes.
"But, Mulan, it's tradition." She batted her eyelashes for good measure.
Mulan cleared her throat nervously. "Well, in that case…" She did not care to finish her sentence, her words trailing off, as Aurora slowly leaned onto the tip of her toes and pressed her lips gently to hers. At the first touch of the lips, the normally composed warrior lost control and wound her arms around the other woman's waist, pulling her closer and kissing her hungrily.
Aurora gasped, her eyes fluttering closed as she fisted her hands into long black hair. Mulan could hear a voice in the back of her mind screaming at her that this was highly inappropriate but for the life of her, she couldn't remember why. All she could think about in that moment was Aurora Aurora Aurora.
Somehow, the two had transported back to the bed and as Mulan felt needy hands push her down, she suddenly regained her senses. "Aurora, wait. Stop."
The other woman halted her actions immediately, though the lust in her eyes suggested she wanted otherwise. "Did I do something wrong?" she panted, her breaths ragged against Mulan's neck.
"No, that was," Mulan struggled for the right word, "perfect. But-"
Her words abruptly turned into a harsh groan as Aurora, reassured that she had not hurt or offended her in some way, resumed light kisses down the column of her throat. "But?"
"Phillip."
"Yes, what about him?" Aurora said impatiently, seemingly not concerned she was currently cheating on her True Love.
"This is not right. You are being unfaithful to a man that has risked everything for you."
Aurora stopped and looked up, eyes suddenly serious. "Unfaithful? Mulan, I think you are mistaken. Phillip and I are not in a romantic relationship."
The warrior spluttered. "But I saw the two of you downstairs."
"And what exactly were we doing?"
"Embracing. Being affectionate. Sharing sickeningly in-love looks."
Aurora laughed. "Mulan, what you saw were the actions of two friends who missed each other and had not seen each other in a long while. After we rescued his soul, Phillip and I came upon the mutual decision to see other people."
"I'm afraid I do not understand."
Aurora sighed. "He realized that all those years of trying to find me had not been driven by love but by a need for some kind of purpose. And I…"
"Yes?"
"I realized my heart belonged to another."
A/N: So there it is. A bit longer than most of my fics but I feel strangely motivated today. This was my first attempt at anything resembling smut so any feedback is greatly appreciated.