Mulan slept for almost two hours, after which—at Aurora's request—she had more pudding.

Not long after that, Doctor Whale came by for another check-up, and it was at the very end of this, just as he was about to leave the room, that Mulan spoke to him.

"Pardon me, Doctor Whale, but do you know the whereabouts of Ruby? We would very much like to see her before she turns and can't talk."

Whale seemed startled. "You know what she is?"

"I've known for quite awhile now. Is she near?"

"Yes. She's in the hospital here, actually, because she had a spill earlier and almost had a miscarriage."

Both of the mothers in the room were speechless and both put a hand on Mulan's bump, as if wanting to protect the babies. Noticing this, Whale hurried on.

"I promise you both: Ruby didn't lose the baby because the Blue Fairy found her and used her strongest magic to keep the baby in good health and good condition until the nurses could get to her."

"So the baby is good now?" Aurora found herself asking. "Safe and sound."

"Yes, and so is Ruby, but she's on strict bed rest until sundown. She's allowed visitors, too, but—"

Whale stopped talking suddenly and checked his pager as it made noise.

"What is it?" Mulan inquired.

"An emergency just came in that requires my immediate attention."

"Then by all means, go!" Aurora ushered him.

"Besides," Mulan tacked on, gesturing towards the door. "Something tells me that we will be okay."

Blue had appeared in the doorway, having shown up with the intention of checking on Mulan, but she was extremely flexible.

"Go ahead and go." She told Whale as she entered the room. "I will care for the girls."

Whale thanked her and practically dashed out of the room. Blue greeted Aurora, but she noticed that Mulan was looking dumbstruck.

"You're the Blue Fairy?" the warrior princess asked.

"I am," nodded Blue. "And I know who you are, Mulan, although I'm sure you have a name for me in your native tongue, don't you?"

"Lán jīnglíng," Mulan provided. "And when I was younger, my mother would tell me that seeing a fairy would mean good luck, but she never said anything about finding their leader…"

Quite amused, Blue decided to show Mulan some goodwill. "Because you have waited so long to see your first fairy, and I'm your first, I'll grant you one wish. Choose wisely."

Mulan thought for a moment: she already had all the love, joy, and peace with Aurora that she'd been longing for, and between the two of them, they had one son and three daughters.

What was left?

Oh!

"I wish that my babies and I could be healthy enough to go home with Aurora now."

Blue's wand materialized in her hand and she pointed it at Mulan's massive bump, whereupon a stream of dark blue magic streamed from the tip to Mulan's body, enveloping it for a second, filling her with happy feelings and warm thoughts as her body worked at rapid speed to repair itself and make her body stronger where it had been weaker. All of it had happened so fast, that Mulan felt felt better literally one second later.

Aurora kissed Mulan's cheek. "How do you feel?"

"Much better." Mulan say up and laughed when she felt her daughters kick and wiggle as she stretched. "Much, much better."

Aurora kissed Mulan's temple, just out of habit, and Mulan had to restrain herself as she remembered that this was neither the time nor the place to pin her love against the nearest wall, kiss her senseless, and go all the way with her, like she wanted to.

Instead, she looked up at Blue. "Thank you, so much!"

Blue smiled kindly at her. "You are quite welcome, child, and you should be fit to leave the hospital now, although I imagine you'll want to do so after you accomplish whatever it was that Doctor Whale was going to help you with."

"That is most certainly correct." Mulan confirmed. "We were going to go see Ruby before she turns into her true self."

"I was just with her a little while ago, so I can take you to her."

The girls were pleased by this, and because Mulan didn't have any real clothes or shoes, let alone any that fit her at the moment, Blue provided her with a new outfit and shoes that were suitable for the weather outside.

Mulan was thankful, although when Blue told her she had to sit in a wheelchair, she balked at the idea until Aurora whispered tantalizingly in her ear that she'd been planning to treat her to more than just kisses and cuddles later, but if she wasn't going to cooperate, she would revoke all of that and do… other kinds of things… to herself.

Mulan stopped pouting immediately and let Aurora push her in the wheelchair.

When they got to the Intensive Care Unit, Mulan saw that it was a single room, really, and that Ruby was in a glass cube sort of thing, separate, at the back. Blue led the way, and after checking on Ruby in a motherly way, she saw to it that Aurora and Mulan got situated, she left quietly.

Her work here was done.

Just like Mei had been the first time she saw Ruby in human form, her mother was fascinated by the werewolf, too.

"May I sit with you?" Mulan asked, almost shyly.

"Of course." Ruby scooted over to make room for her on the bed. "I'm so glad to finally meet y—oh!"

Mulan was now on the bed with Ruby and hugging her close in a hug that was full of love and thankfulness. "Thank you, Ruby, for finding Mei, and brining her to Aurora for me."

When Ruby pulled away, she held Mulan's hand a little bit longer. "You're welcome, and Mei is a very lovely child."

Mulan beamed, as any mother would when they heard kind words about their child. "How did you find her? And spare no detail—I know that you're a wolf."

"Well, I was out for a nighttime stroll, and I smelled her before I saw her because what they say about animals being able to smell fear? One hundred percent true. I went looking for Mei, and when I found her, she was frightened and worn out, but when she saw me, all of that went away. I got her to ride on my back, and we made it all the way back to Aurora's room at the inn."

"Why do you suppose her feelings went away when she saw you?"

"Mei realized that I wasn't going to hurt her, so she decided to trust me."

"You have a very trustworthy face." Mulan said sincerely.

"You do." Aurora agreed from her spot on the rocking chair by the window.

Ruby blushed spectacularly at the compliment, so Mulan took advantage of that and added something else.

"Thank you again for finding Mei, but another thank you is in order keeping tabs on Aurora, too."

"Anything for Aurora's love."

Mulan was the one to blush this time, and Ruby chuckled.

"I know who you love, and you know what I am; we can call it square."

"I can agree with that."

"Good, because I really want to be friends with you." Ruby chirped. "I heard a lot about you, back in our land."

Mulan raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Oh, yes: you'd be surprised how far tales of your heroics travelled back home. If not for those tales, amongst other things, I wouldn't have decided to be br—oh, no. Sweetheart, did I say something wrong? I'm sorry!"

Mulan had gotten teary-eyed out of nowhere.

Aurora intervened, sitting with the two and gave Mulan a back rub as she did some clarifying for a confused Ruby. "It's nothing you said, Rubes; she's a little sensitive right now for obvious reasons, but she's also not used to to people—especially those who are older than her—saying nice things like that to her. Things were hard for her during her years in her palace."

Ruby nodded, more understanding now, and realizing that Mulan was probably not the kind to respond to pity from someone she'd just met, she held her hand.

"Hey," she cooed to her. "It's okay, Mulan. I will never hurt you, but if anyone ever does, I promise you that all you'll have to do is give the word, and the wolf will come running."

"Really?"

"Really," Ruby promised her. "And you know what I'm looking forward to?"

"What's that?"

"Our children being friends, too. My baby has a long way to go, but—huh… that's different…"

Mulan and Aurora were taken aback Ruby's random change in tracks, but before they could say anything, there was a sudden burst of light, and when it cleared, in Ruby's place was a coal-black wolf pup.

Aurora opened her mouth and promptly shut it again, confused, but Mulan quickly scooped Ruby up in her arms and wrapped her in a blanket when she saw her shivering.

"It's okay, Ruby." Mulan told her in a calming tone, running her fingers through her fur. "I've got you now, I've got you."

Apparently, reassuring words were all Ruby needed to hear because she relaxed and even curled up on top of Mulan's bump, entertained by the feeling of the babies wiggling, turning, kicking, and stretching underneath her.

Mulan leaned back on her hands and watched Ruby, just breathing. After a moment, Ruby let out a yawn, but since she was a puppy, it came out high-pitched and cute. She even curled up tighter and fell asleep, snoring lightly.

"Did that just happen?" Aurora finally asked. "What about her baby?"

Tentatively—because she didn't want to wake Ruby up—Mulan examined the wolf's middle with two fingertips, but she wasn't feeling anything.

"She's full-on wolf right now," Mulan resumed leaning back on her hands again. "But it isn't sundown for another hour yet."

"Odd…"

Mulan looked back at Ruby again, enthralled by the sight. When she was a child, her parents' dog—a Shar Pei by the name of Mushu—was her constant companion and slept in her bed every night. Having Ruby with her like this was bringing back memories. Actual fond ones.

"Rora, can we keep her?"

"Sorry, but no."

Mulan actually pouted. "Why?"

"Because Granny or Doctor Whale would be the best to care for her, seeing as they have the most experience with wolves, and besides," Aurora leaned over and peppered a few kisses on Mulan's neck and jaw, quite turned on by the fact that even though the blinds were drawn and the door was shut, anyone could walk in on them at any moment. "I was thinking that after I show you around and we get some dinner, we can go back to my room at the inn, which is completely empty, and… you get the rest…"

"Yes, yes, I do." Mulan sighed lustily as Aurora got in another kiss on the other princess' neck, even using her tongue. "Go find someone to collect Ruby."

Aurora gave her one last kiss, on the nose this time. "I'll be back soon, love."

When Aurora left, Mulan looked down at the puppy atop her belly. "You're a sleepy baby, aren't you?"

Ruby yawned, burrowing into the blanket she was wrapped in. Feeling the babies and the rising and falling of Mulan's very swollen middle was very pleasing, so she even snuggled closer to her friend.

"You promised me," Mulan said softly, stroking Ruby more. "That you'd come to my rescue if ever I need it, but I promise you that if you ever get sad or lost in the middle of the night, our door is always open."

Ruby yawned again and nuzzled up against Mulan's hand in her sleep.

"We'll be good friends, you and me. I'm glad our paths have crossed at last." Mulan resumed petting Ruby; the softness of her fur was mesmerizing. "The best is yet to come."