Disclaimer: OUaT is owned by people other than me. Too bad.
ON WITH THE STORY
Snapdragon
Standing in silence surrounded only by the jovial wind and the ever present scent of heather, three women paid their respects at the grave marker of King Fergus. His only daughter stood closest, gazing at the tall stone erected and embellished as if she was staring at a great mountain she had been told to climb.
Merida's fingers twitched, itching for her bow, for her sword, for the bear hug her father always gave her. Instead the princess drew away from the cold stone and shoved her hands through the riotous mass of curls bouncing with every tug of the wind, shoving them aside.
"Thank you," she said to her two friends. "If it weren't for the two of you," Merida had to swallow past the lump in her throat to continue. "I'd have let my whole kingdom down."
She was so grateful to have found her old teacher and mentor and to have made a new friend of a werewolf. Merida only hoped her words and friendship were enough to convey her thanks.
Mulan stepped forward and wryly smiled. "And if it weren't for you, I'd still be shaking down thugs in a tavern."
Ruby grinned as she piped up. "And I, would still be licking my chops in that witch's cottage."
Merida huffed a short laugh while Mulan pinched her lips together to keep from smiling too broadly at Ruby's comment. The three went quiet again, unsure of just how to continue without saying goodbye. Mulan took a deep breath to start the farewells when she felt a heavy weight press against her belly. Reaching down she pulled out the pouch of money hidden away under her belt.
A flush of shame washed through her cheeks. There was no doubt she wouldn't feel right keeping her protégé's money, especially after she had helped remind Mulan of what it means to be an honorable warrior.
"Here," Mulan thrust the small bag in Merida's direction. "It wouldn't be honorable for me to keep this."
With a nod Merida received the gold gracefully, holding it between both hands. Her blue eyes flitted from the leather bag to Mulan's dark eyes, calculating her chances of being given a real answer after that last time she had asked the other woman what had happened to her.
"Does this mean I can finally ask what happened before I found you?"
Mulan's face fell and her eyes lowered for a moment. It still hurt terribly, remembering how her hopefulness had turned to despair and anger at herself for daring to believe she had a chance with the one she loved. Looking back up into Merida's bright, open face with such wild hair framing it like a blaze, Mulan knew she owed her friend the truth.
Trying to keep the bitterness at bay, she haltingly opened up. "Well, if you must know, I was trying to get over a broken heart." Mulan saw Merida's face soften as realization became understanding. She was grateful that no pity was shown. "I waited too long," the words came almost unbidden, as if to impart one last lesson in wisdom to her former student. "To tell someone how I felt about them." Mulan struggled with the next part, visibly clenching her gloved hands and setting her shoulders as if warding against a blow. "And, when I finally worked up the courage it was too late."
Merida watched her friend finally voice her pain and felt inadequate when the only words of comfort she could offer were an apology. "I'm sorry, Mulan." She had to bite her tongue to keep from adding a nervous babble to the weak words but, when Mulan give her a little smile Merida thought that maybe this was enough for the stoic warrior.
Ruby stayed quiet and watched the interaction between the two old friends but when Mulan had finished she could not help but share her own hard-earned wisdom. "I may not be the best person to ask for dating advice," Ruby admitted, drawing her companions' attention to her. "I kinda ate the only boyfriend I ever had."
The incredulous looks she got for that admission were not new but Mulan interrupted with a completely unheard before response. "Yes, I think that disqualifies you."
Ruby grinned at the serious face delivering such serious words. It was so refreshing to not meet pity or fear immediately after delivering part of her tale. She would take Mulan's brand of snark any day. "But! Maybe I can help." Turning to face Mulan fully, Ruby offered the best option for her new friend. "Come with me. It might do you some good."
It actually tickled Ruby to see Mulan's eyebrows rise even further up her forehead. "Searching for werewolves?"
Tit for tat, Ruby replied quickly with a bit of sarcasm of her own. "Better than wallowing in self-pity."
The tall woman knew what she was talking about. She had certainly wallowed far longer over her own lot in life than was probably healthy. It took a good friend to share the burden and offer a course of action to release Ruby from the crushing weight of her guilt and anger. She was positive Mulan needed the same.
Mulan, once Ruby's words reached her, reared back in indignation. "I don't wallow!"
Merida snorted. She didn't believe the shorter woman for a second. Still she held up her hands in surrender when the warrior glared at her and commandingly said, "I don't." Merida may be more familiar with the art of war than she had ever been but she would not dare engage the woman who lived it over a minor disagreement.
But her estimation of Ruby's character rose quite a bit. Her old friend took herself too seriously so she needed a traveling companion with a light heart and Ruby fit the need with an added side of down-to-earth smarts.
"I have found that the best way to find your path is to help another find theirs."
Ruby waited as Mulan considered her words, observing a flash of recognition spark in Mulan's sad eyes. The two of them had just done what Ruby said. Merida is crowned queen and her people will follow her faithfully. Their friend had been lost when her father died, maybe even before then, and now she knew where her destiny lay.
Mulan closed her eyes and took another deep breath, ready to move forward in whichever direction life led her. "Thank you." She opened her eyes and nodded at Ruby, accepting her proposal.
Ruby smiled happily. She would have a friend there to watch her back and just maybe, with Mulan's help, she would find what she was searching for.
Merida was also happy Mulan had chosen to go with Ruby. Alone, the serious woman had a tendency to descend into her thoughts too often and Merida feared that broken heart would take longer to heal with no one there to divert Mulan's attention outward. "Alright then. Have a quick bite to eat with me before you leave, please. The lads will have time to provision you for your journey if you do," Merida cajoled.
"No, thanks."
"Yes! Thank you!"
Ruby and Mulan stared at each other, faces working in an effort to silently communicate their wishes to each other. But being new friends they had yet to develop that special avenue of talking.
"I am hungry and we have plenty of daylight left," Ruby informed Mulan.
"We can hunt on the way and make better use of the time getting to our destination," Mulan offered as a counterpoint.
Merida dared to add her own point. "The food's all ready and you can ask the clans if they've heard anything about werewolves in the area."
Two against one.
Mulan narrowed her eyes and blew a stray strand of hair out of her face. "I am glad you are not coming with us, Merida," she simply said before leading the way back down the hill to the campsite.
The two winners grinned at each other.
"Good luck."
"Thanks. You too."
"Thanks."
As one, the two tall women started walking after their friend.
"Y'know, she's gonna need to say a little more about her heart break," Ruby casually told Merida who nodded.
"I guess so. I'll make sure we have a fire to ourselves. Maybe even a tent and I'll ask a bit more about it." Shaking her head, throwing her curls in all directions, Merida added, "But I bet most of it will wait for you out there on the road."
Ruby nodded.
They left it there, each satisfied that the other was aware of their friend's need to release a little more of her emotional pain.
"That was delicious!" Ruby exclaimed as she swiped up the last of her lunch with a last bit of bread.
The trio of women had eaten heartily at their seats by a campfire. Merida, true to her word, directed her people to ready the traveling provisions then leave them to eat in peace. "Eh, it's good. Though, next time you come to DunBroch I'll throw a real feast in celebration."
Mulan felt relaxed for the first time in a long while. She had a new mission with a new friend by her side after having helped an old friend in crisis. The food settled well in her stomach and the warmth of the fire in the late summer chased away the cool highland breeze. Her friends provided the conversation, getting to know each other and including her at every opportunity.
"So, before we head out," Ruby rose from her seat and motioned with her head the direction of the latrine. "I am going to make a quick stop."
She was gone in a flash of embroidered red cloak, leaving Merida to reopen conversation about Mulan's heartbreak.
"So…" Merida winced. Repeating Ruby's opening was not the way to keep Mulan at ease but she honestly couldn't think of any other way to start that didn't involve blurting out everything.
Mulan shook her head and interrupted the queen before she could continue. "You and Ruby are horrible strategists. I saw your winking and nudging at each other and Ruby had gone to the latrine before we started eating." Putting down her bowl and spoon, Mulan sat straight up and gave Merida her full attention. "So…"she sarcastically emphasized, "whatever it is, spit it out."
Taking the warrior at her word Merida let her have it. "You're not over your broken heart, so, tell me about it."
Even though she knew this was going to be the topic her friend wanted to speak about, Mulan physically recoiled in reaction to hearing Merida say it.
It hurt to see her mentor shrink away from her words but Merida had faith that this conversation would serve a good purpose. So she sat still and listened.
"I - I fell in love with someone who could never love me back," she stared with her head down, speaking into her lap.
"Never? I don't believe that." Reaching out, Merida placed a hand on the hunched shoulder nearest to her. "You are amazing, Mulan."
Shaking her head but not removing the comforting hand on her shoulder, Mulan disagreed. "Not amazing enough. They are in love with someone else."
Merida burst in, "So what!? You are amazing and no man can…!"
"And she's pregnant!"
The air around them felt as thick as honey when Mulan's words were released. Wide blue eyes stared at a fiercely blushing face with teary brown eyes.
"She can't love me because she has her True Love, her happily ever after and neither is me." The burning behind her eyes grew hotter and Mulan squeezed her eyes shut as the pain was mirrored in her chest. "It's not fair." The words came out weakly and lost to the strong breeze. "I love her so much. We were together for two years, just the two of us on a quest, and she was so affectionate and so prissy and so eager to learn how to fight for those she loved. My princess."
The words were coated in such longing Merida swallowed against a swell of pity and stayed quiet.
"Now she is a queen and I have no place beside her." Mulan's eyes were open now and staring into the blaze at her feet.
Merida waited to see if there was more but her friend had depleted her words, simply staring ahead.
"Damn." Again, Merida cursed her lack of eloquence in situations like this but forged on ahead anyway. "No wonder you were wallowing in self-pity."
Limpid brown eyes snapped back to life above a scowl aimed at her. "I do not wallow!"
Smirking Merida just hummed. "So, you began a mercenary life because you're lady rejected you?"
The scowl fell away a bit, settling as a grimace on Mulan's face. "She didn't know…how I felt about her."
"What!?" Merida frowned thunderously. "Yah mean ta tell meh the girl doesna even ken yah love 'er?!" Merida thwacked the shoulder beneath her hand a couple of times.
"Hey! Stop it!" Mulan backed away defensively.
"No! Yah coward of a woman! Yah'll ha' no sympathy here!" Merida continued her assault, escalating the action by wrestling her friend to the ground.
The two women tumbled and scuffled trading upper hands until Merida pinned Mulan against the sitting log they had ate on earlier. Breathing hard, Mulan tried to struggle against her opponent's hold but Merida held her tight and firmly immobile. Finally Mulan stopped fighting to break free and just lay there sucking air.
"I am a coward," she confessed, "I was going to tell her how I felt that day, then she burst out with the news of her child and the world fell down upon me. I couldn't burden her with my desires after hearing that." Curling in as much as she could with hands grasping at Merida's sleeves, Mulan felt a tear burn down her cheek. "I failed. So I ran."
A pair of arms snaked out from behind the heartbroken woman and pulled her back into an embrace, dragging Merida forward to complete the hug.
"You did not fail," Ruby said forcibly. "It was a strategic retreat." Mulan sputtered, a bit of laughter behind her tears at the younger woman's words. "Just because she has her prince and a child doesn't mean you can't ask her to love you too."
A hand rose and covered Ruby's mouth, not letting her go any further with her speech. "Mulan's right. You are disqualified from ever given dating or life advice," Merida stated with a disbelieving smile.
A wet sensation all along the palm of her hand pressed against Ruby's mouth gave the red head shivers as she quickly snatched her hand back and rubbed the saliva trail on her dress. "Ew! That's disgusting!"
"Mwahaha! Serves you right!"
Mulan basked in the comforting camaraderie of her companions. It felt so good to talk to these two women who can offer both sage advice and a much needed levity to her situation.
"I guess I gave up too soon," Mulan disrupted the verbal battle happening around her head.
"Damn right!"
"Yeah, you did."
Huffing at them both for agreeing too quickly, Mulan pulled herself out of the huddle and stood with her hands on her hips. "But for now, Ruby needs some help and it will give me time to establish communication with Aurora again." Having a plan firmly in mind gave Mulan back some of the hope she had lost. She knew Aurora had a family but this was about asking her beloved queen to accept her affections, not necessarily to reciprocate them.
"Aurora?" Ruby asked, eyes wide and throat bobbing from a gulp.
Mulan immediately frowned. "Yes. Why? Do you know her?"
Ruby bit her lip and grimaced. "Yeah, I do. She's…" There was no way around the truth and Ruby knew it but she has always hated delivering bad news. "She's one of the new citizens of Storybrooke," she blurted out then stopped, watching the panic and fear cross Mulan's face.
"Is she okay? What happened? What about the child? Philip?" Every question shot out of the warrior like an arrow and she ended up gripping Ruby's cloak tightly, scared of the answers but needing to know.
Ruby placed her hands over the fists clutching her cloak and squeezed reassuringly. "All three are doing just fine now that the curse on them has been lifted."
Mulan gasped. "Curse!?"
"Yeah," Ruby continued with a grin. "This witch from Oz named Zelena, who is Regina's sister by the way, wanted to get into Storybrooke with an army so she made as many flying monkeys as she could and Aurora and Philip got caught up in it."
Merida slapped her forehead in exasperation. 'This werewolf, I swear!'
Mulan just got extremely pale and her knees shook. "I! I should never have left!" she shrilly blurted out, thrusting away from Ruby and falling heavily onto the log putting her head into her hands. "I left them vulnerable! I can't believe…" the rest of her words were muffled completely.
Ruby chewed on her bottom lip, eyes flitting back and forth between the distraught warrior and the newly crowned queen. She did not expect the good news to be taken so…badly.
Merida rolled her eyes at the confused werewolf, wondering just how her friends are going to survive the journey when one is oblivious and the other overly emotional. Well, enough was enough so Merida smacked Mulan across the shoulder to get her attention. "Cheer up! At least you know all three of them are safe. Now you can take the time to find a way to communicate with them while on your way to help Ruby."
The idea of another quest on top of her current one was exhausting to think about and exhilarating at the same time, bringing color back to Mulan's cheeks and calming her panicked conscious.
"That's right!" Ruby chimed in to help. "We've kept Storybrooke safe from lots of villains so far - mmph!"
Merida ignored the puffs of hot air tickling her palm and the way Ruby tried to move her head away from her grip. She just looked right at Mulan and repeated, "They are just fine."
Mulan didn't look convinced but swallowed any protests she might have had and nodded once.
Hand still placed across Ruby's lips, the queen smiled crookedly. "Right. Let's get Khan and your supplies ready. I'll gather up the menfolk and have them start spoutin' their tales of wolves and the like. Then we'll send you off in the right direction."
The End