Mulan felt horrible for walking out on her family, especially she heard them all start to cry, and she wanted to go back and fix it immediately, but what she'd said about needing space was true.

When the cold night air hit her out in the back alley, Daisy and Rose began to kick furiously at the abrupt change in temperature and Mulan found herself shivering because she was barefoot and in just her pajamas.

"Regina," she called out in between her sobs and shivers. "I need help."

The witch appeared immediately in a cloud of purple smoke, and when it cleared, she took stock of Mulan's appearance, and the first thing she did was use magic to stop her tears ("Crying that hard will do no good for your precious babies," she'd said) before proceeding to conjure up some warm clothes and fur-lined shoes for her friend to to wear.

"Tell me what the problem is." Regina said kindly. "Please."

"I got into a really bad fight with Aurora."

"About what?"

"You."

Regina shifted her weight from one foot to the other, nervous. "What happened?"

Mulan explained what had went down between her and Aurora, including the mentions of Maleficent, and at the end, she finished off with, "Last time I stood up for my beliefs, I was banished and then raped and beaten to the point where I could barely even walk! This time, I made my love and our children cry, and now I'm a horrible person for it!"

Regina hugged Mulan in comfort and used magic to channel warmth into her body. As she did that, though, she felt both of Mulan's daughters move against her, and she had to ignore the feeling of longing for a baby of her own because she had to be mature at the moment. Mulan really needed her.

"You are nothing of the sort—you are good, kind, loving, wonderful, honorable and so brave that you will fight for your family, even if it physically hurts you. Everything about that is courageous, too, and Mulan, I wish that I'd had that kind of courage when I was your age because if I had, I wouldn't have gone bad."

Mulan finally wrapped her arms around Regina, accepting that she cared and just held on until she stopped crying and could be herself again.

"Let's get you out of the cold, hm?" Regina said when they pulled apart. "Where would you like to go?"

"To Snow's and David's place, please."

Regina understood: while she could tell Mulan greatly appreciated the comfort she was providing, it could only go so far because in reality, the warrior was a vulnerable teenage girl who needed two parents to give her affection.

In the blink of an eye, Regina teleported them away.

A moment later, they were in front of Snow's and David's apartment, although Mulan was regaining her footing. That was the first time she'd ever teleported and being one hundred percent human (and not one who had magic grafted into their soul the way Regina did), it made her feel a tad bit discombobulated.

"That's a feeling I thought I'd never have to experience."

She gave a soft grunt and rubbed circles on her bump when she felt her daughters kick up a storm.

"Daisy and Rose enjoyed that a little too much."

Again, Regina thought briefly about what it would be like to have a baby—hopefully hers and Robin's—growing inside her womb, hopefully one day soon.

"Here." She touched a hand to Mulan's bump, giving it a small blast of magic. "That should calm them down."

Mulan let out an exhale when she felt the babies immediately simmer down. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Regina gave Mulan the kind of warm smile that she only really saved for Henry. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Satisfied by that answer, the witch knocked on the door in front of them.

David answered and was quite taken aback to see who he was receiving, but he stepped back and let his guests enter, calling for Snow as they did so.

"What is it, D—"

The princess' words faltered as she descended the iron-wrought staircase from upstairs, but when she saw Mulan and the condition she was in as Regina helped her onto the couch.

"Mulan and Aurora had a fight," Regina explained as the rest of them sat. "Because Aurora holds a grudge against me for my history with Maleficent, and she's also upset that I've befriended Mulan."

David and Snow both only heard the first part because they both flashed back to their own shady, shameful past with the dragon sorceress. Luckily, they both recovered quickly.

"What exactly does Aurora know?" David asked.

"Aurora blames Regina, Maleficent, and even Cora for brining about the downfall of her kingdom and her family, but she really hates Maleficent for putting her to sleep in revenge against her parents, King Stefan and Queen Briar Rose."

Mulan looked around the loft, suddenly realizing how quiet it was.

"Where is everyone?"

"Neal is asleep in his crib over there," David pointed in the direction of his and Snow's room. "And Henry is asleep upstairs."

"Emma and Elsa are at the station." Snow added.

"Okay, good."

Mulan meant to say something else, but she scrunched her nose and looked down at her mountain of a belly, trying to will the twins to be calm for her.

"Please behave; mama doesn't need that right now… good girls… thank you…"

When the feeling passed, she looked at the other three to see that they were all watching her, eyebrows raised.

"The babies had some terrible hiccups earlier, and they lasted for over an hour." She explained quickly. "I assure all of you that I'm not in labor—I just really don't have the energy to deal with two silly babies right now."

"Mulan," Snow spoke in the gentle motherly tone she used with Emma when she had the blues. "Do you need a place to stay tonight?"

The warrior princess nodded. "I was going to ask, but it was enough of a project explaining myself so far."

Snow sat on her free side, pulling the girl in for a cuddle and pressing a kiss to her temple. "You can stay with us toni—hey, it's okay. Go ahead and cry."

Mulan was overtired now, but when Snow held her, she had suddenly felt the safety and warmth she'd been seeking since walking into the alley, and when David knelt in front of her, offering her his hand to hold, she took it and didn't let go.

David and Snow were moved and confused at the time by Mulan's extra impetuous display of her vulnerability because she was as tough as people came, being a warrior and all, so they looked to Regina in explanation.

"Mulan has never had parents who truly loved her, but she came here because she knows that you two have a very beautiful capacity to show love. The past that she escaped is just as bad as mine, but I don't think she's ever had a chance to really cry about it like this until now."

David nodded in understanding, remembering how he'd kept the grief and psychological damage of his father's verbal abuse and eventual death bottled up for years and years until he'd met Anna.

"We'll care for her tonight." David told Regina. "Thank you for bringing her to us."

Although she'd said it a few times already they night, she said it again with complete sincerity: "You're welcome."

Having complete faith that her family would care for Mulan as though she was their own, Regina gave Mulan's shoulder a gentle squeeze of affection and showed herself out quietly.

Later, once Mulan had stopped crying and eaten a little, she laid down on Emma's bed, falling asleep the second her head hit the pillow.

Still perturbed by the earlier mention of Maleficent, David wanted to talk to Snow about it, but her mind was elsewhere.

"Snow?" David joined her on the couch at the far end of the loft, by the window. "Tell me what you're thinking."

Snow smiled at him. "I was watching Mulan sleep for a moment, and I saw how she's keeping her hands on her belly, even in sleep… did I do that when I was pregnant?"

David nodded, a little freaked out at the possibility of how this conversation could end. "Yeah, but mostly when you carried Emma because she came first. Why are you asking?"

"Because then I watched Neal sleep and I thought about how lovely it would be for him to have a sibling that's close in age to him. Emma's all grown up now and she loves her brother so much, but I do want Neal to have a playmate."

Quite unsure of what to even make of the conversation by this point, David chose to be straightforward. "Snow, are you pregnant again?"

Snow finally realized that her words had gotten her husband's knickers in a real twist and she laughed.

"No, David." She gave him a back rub and smiled more when he gave a laugh of relief. "I wish I was because I love babies, but come on—our son isn't even one yet. I just like to daydream and think of names for the next one."

"Oh…"

"What about Olivia?"

David raised an eyebrow. "You think Emma and Neal will get a sister the next time around?"

"Come on, David—humor me."

"I do like that name, actually." David said thoughtfully after a moment of consideration. "Princess Olivia…"

Snow's happy smile turned into a pleased grin, and she asked, "You were going to tell me something, weren't you?"

"Yeah." David sighed, regretful he had to take away their happy moment. "Mulan and Regina both mentioned that Aurora's past intertwines with Maleficent's."

"Oh, that." Snow gave out a sigh, similar to her husband's. "Right."

"By my count, including when time stood still, Regina and Aurora are close to the same age. How much do you think Aurora knows?"

"The possibility of Aurora knowing what we did to earn Maleficent's wrath frightens me because Aurora is a nice person, but she's also an old, walking enigma."

David liked Aurora, so it felt weird to hear even his wife hold her at arm's length, but then again, he hadn't spent all that time with her in the post-apocalyptic Enchanted Forest. His wife and daughter knew the young princess well, especially Snow, who had gotten physical with her on one occasion.

"Snow, is Aurora… dangerous?"

"Only when she's extremely irritated or paranoid. She is a good person when it really comes down to it." Snow paused to ruminate a little further. "Aurora's intelligence isn't to be underestimated, though."

This caught David's interest. "Oh? Has she played dumb on you before?"

"Yeah, and she's good at it—back when Emma and I fell through that portal, she played dum and also hostile on us for awhile. The scary part is that she's the only other person in Storybrooke besides us, Regina, and Rumplestilstkin who knows Maleficent well."

"And Maleficent is not one to trifle with, not with the power she has at her disposal."

"If memory serves, she resided in Stefan's and Briar Rose's castle, right?"

"Mhm. She isn't related to that family—shocker—but she was their advisor before she went bad and laid things to ruin."

Snow catalogued that piece of information for further use, and because as frightful as Maleficent was, she found her fascinating.

"What do you think the chances are of Aurora really blabbing about the sins Maleficent committed against her and her family?"

"Hopefully zero since only a few people know where Maleficent is now. Aurora isn't one of them."

"Yeah, okay."

Snow was getting distracted again, although this time, David knew the reason.

"Snow, look at me."

She did, but she said nothing.

"Emma still doesn't know what we did, and yes, it will break her if or when she finds out, but if the chances of Aurora blabbing are as low as they are, then we are still in the clear. Besides: we have different fish to fry right now."

"Ingrid, Elsa, and finding Anna."

"Bingo, and that's what we'll focus on for now, alright?"

"Okay. Sounds good to me."

Snow laid down with her head in David's lap and laced their fingers together.

"Then can we just talk about Olivia, and what she could be like?"

David lovingly kissed Snow's fingertips. "Of course."

They went on to wile away the next hour, imaging their yet-to-be-conceived baby daughter and all of the hopes and wonders they had about her.

And they were happy.