Standard Disclaimer: These lovely characters ain't mine, I just play with them gently. Please don't sue me. The mistakes are mine, though.

Chapter 35 – A Warrior's Heart

A moment after the door closes behind Granny, Red exchanges one of Regina's hands in favor of Mulan's.

"I'm glad to see you awake at last, my Queen," Mulan says, dutifully perching upon the edge of the bed when Red tugs her closer. Her eyes brim with unshed tears. "When I received word of what happened to you, I was beside myself with worry. I hardly slept at all and nearly drove my poor horse to the brink of death getting back here."

Regina has never seen Mulan closer to crying than she is at that moment. The emotion she is displaying reinforces just how much she loves Red, which is not an earth-shattering revelation. Red has that kind of effect on just about everyone she meets. But it does offer a glimpse into the softer side of Mulan, one that is hardly ever allowed to see the light of day.

"You're a good friend," Red says, smiling gently. "Thank you for caring so much. It means a lot to me. And thank you for keeping our people safe while Regina was away and I was...indisposed."

Mulan returns the smile with a more subdued one. "It was my pleasure. I will always do whatever I must to protect not only this kingdom, which I love as much if not more than the land of my birth, but for both of my Queens." She glances up at Regina, who inclines her head with respect and fondness. "I care deeply for you both," Mulan then adds, and Regina's heart flutters at the sentiment. She's always been aware of Mulan's fidelity to her duty, but to hear her so plainly proclaim the involvement her heart plays in it is reaffirming in the best way imaginable. "Not only are you my sovereigns but you are my friends. I would gladly lay down my life for either of you."

"The feeling is mutual," Regina says before Red can speak, catching Mulan off guard. The approving gleam in Red's eyes creates a warmth in her chest that cascades down the length of her body. "However," she continues more severely, "I'll not have you off getting yourself killed on our account. I'd hate to have to replace you, dear. You're the only one of my advisers who can keep up with me on the battlefield." Which is true. Mulan is as nearly as efficient at dispatching enemies with her blade as Regina is with her magic, and that is impressive indeed.

"And don't forget that Regina is a powerful sorceress," Red injects, "If you die on us, I'll have her resurrect you just so I can transform into the wolf and lick your face until you're begging for a second more merciful death."

Mulan chuckles lightly. "Duly noted. I shall endeavor to remain among the living, if only to avoid so gruesome a demise as that by wolf slobber."

"See that you do," Red chuckles along with her. "On another note, I wanted to tell you that while I was..." she trails off, tone more serious as she glances at Regina again. Her green eyes are uncertain before returning to Mulan, and she breathes in sharply before continuing. "While I was there, I met someone. Someone who has been under a sleeping curse like me."

Regina's eyes narrow in accusation. "So you do remember..."

"Yeah," says Red, abashed at being called out on her deception. "I just didn't want to get into with an audience. Much as I love Granny, Snow, and David, most of what was discussed...there... had nothing to do with them. In fact, we talked a lot about Mulan."

"You did?" Mulan's brows raise in surprise.

Red hums her confirmation. "And when you hear who it was I met, you'll understand. Her name is Princess Aurora, daughter of King Stefan."

Mulan goes rigid at the name as her eyes widen with astonishment. The response perks Regina's curiosity. She has not heard much about Princess Aurora since the girl was roused from Maleficent's sleeping curse and married her perfect prince. Regina had not been aware Mulan knew the Princess, though the reaction she has just witnessed has provided some context that helps draw together previously nonsensical pieces of the puzzle that is Misthaven's Commanding General. It was no secret she was running away from something when she first arrived here, and now Regina knows that something is a someone. One Princess Aurora of Drakkenhall. The question is why?

"Aurora was there?" Mulan asks as if the wind has been knocked right out of her.

Red nods in the affirmative. "We had a long chat about you, in fact. I told her you had risen to the highest office in the kingdom's military and become our most trusted advisor. I also told her you were our friend."

"Why did she want to know if you knew me?" Mulan asks hesitantly. Being already a diminutive woman physically, Regina aches to hear her sounding so small.

At the question, Red begins to practically vibrate with excitement. "She wanted to find you," she says. "She's been searching for you since you left."

Mulan's brows shoot up in surprise. "She has?"

"Yep," Red confirms. "In fact, when she found you were living in our realm, in the palace with us no less, she was so overjoyed that she couldn't contain it. She wanted me to give you a message. Would you like to hear it?"

For a moment, Mulan hesitates, and there is story there that Regina will have to ask her about at a more appropriate time. Seeing as now is not far from ideal, she waits as Mulan nibbles at her lip indecisively before finally straightening up. Shoulders back, she braces to hear the message as if it has the power to destroy her or bring her back to life. "I do. Tell me, please."

Red lifts Mulan's hand and places a tender kiss there before delivering the message. "You are more cherished than you know, my friend. Aurora wants you to know that she loves you and that Philip feels the same. They miss you so badly and want you to come home if you so desire. But she also insisted that all they have ever wanted is for you to be happy, and if that is here with Regina and I, so be it."

"Oh," Mulan breathes out, a tear finally escaping the formerly impenetrable dam of her lids.

Red then says, reaching up to brush the tear away. Mulan looks up at her, expression half hopeful and half terrified. "She also may have mentioned a willingness to uproot her family to join you should that option be preferable."

It hurts Regina physically to see so confident a woman so utterly on the precipice of being broken. Nothing rattles Mulan. Nothing. No task has ever been too gargantuan for her. Orders that would have shaken the confidence of the most seasoned commanders she tackled head on as if relishing the challenge. But just now, she had looked as lost and unsettled as a raw recruit set out on the front lines before an army of bloodthirsty ogres.

For a split second she wishes this Aurora and Philip were close by so that she could throttle them for what they have done to her friend. Her wishes are cut short, however, upon recalling Aurora's apparent readiness to place Mulan's happiness before her own. To uproot her family, as Red suggested she was willing to do, would require a selflessness and bravery that are commendable.

And then Red says the words that make Mulan literally tremble. "Since I know how you feel about staying with us, I want to invite Aurora and Philip to come live here. I mean, if that's okay with you."

Regina gapes at her wife. "You want to do what?" she asks, her political acumen already calculating the odds that such a move would cause an incident between Misthaven and Stefan's kingdom.

The crown princess of Drakkenhall cannot just up and permanently relocate to a rival realm without causing a sizable fuss. To do so, she will be forced to relinquish her title and any claim on her father's throne, something Stefan will adamantly oppose. Aurora has always been the king's greatest treasure, his pride and joy, the diamond atop his gleaming sceptre. According to Maleficent, he'd rather his kingdom burn to the ground than to lose his precious daughter, which was precisely why the dragoness sought to enact her revenge on him through an otherwise innocent child.

As a monarch, Regina cannot help but fear such a move will be seen as an aggression on her part, regardless of Aurora's own will in the matter, prompting swift retaliation. The last thing she needs after this nasty business with her sister is for another, potentially more massive conflict to break out. Especially with Drakkenhall, which is primed for war after so many of their villages have been recently destroyed. Stefan is likely still unaware the culprit behind the carnage was Zelena, who had aligned with old George, the king without a kingdom, to destroy Misthaven. The attacks in Drakkenhall were nothing more than a diversion to draw Misthaven's most capable forces to the south, making the Citadel vulnerable. None of that information will have reached Drakkenhall yet. That being the case, it wouldn't be hard for a warhawk in Stefan's council to convince him that Misthaven was at fault. Emissaries could never reach him in time to correct the inaccuracy. Stefan is a reasonable man, but so is she, and even she would be on a war footing with the limited intelligence available to him.

Of course, Stefan is also a man with whom she would prefer to avoid hostilities, if not for his capacity for ruthlessness than for the military might at his disposal. Of all the realms with which Misthaven has regular dealings, Stefan's poses the most legitimate threat. His army is, according to last estimates, thirty-three percent larger than Misthaven's, and while lacking the sheer manpower of Abigail's, boasts a cavalry second to none. Stefan's navy is nothing to sneeze at either, as it has twice as many ships of the line, all of them larger and better equipped. The sole advantage Misthaven has over Drakkenhall is sorcery, which is ironic considering Drakkenhall is the land in which dragons originated. Magic significantly evens the odds, yes, but there would be no avoiding gross casualties on both sides should war break out.

Rational caution of a monarch aside, the sensitive heart within her is moved by the courage Aurora possesses. Little doubt the Princess is perfectly aware of how her actions will be interpreted by her father. Yet, if what Red said is true, she seems almost eager to abandon everything she's ever known for the sake of love. For love of Mulan, to be specific. And that matters to Regina, because if anyone deserves happiness, it's Mulan.

Two weeks ago, she would have vehemently objected to Red's wishes regarding Aurora and Philip. Two weeks ago, she and Red would have had a heated argument over them. Cold, hard logic would have dictated she refuse such an invitation, knowing how foolish it would be to harbor Aurora and Philip taking Stefan's probable reaction into account. In her clinically detached estimation, war is the most likely outcome. But two weeks ago, she was a different person.

The fiery crucible of Red's curse has, in so brief a span, molded her into something new. A better version of herself has emerged from the flames, one that isn't merely tolerant of her wife's tendency to let her heart guide her head rather than the other way around. Now, having forsaken all else in pursuit of saving Red's life, she can better appreciate the unanticipated blessings one can receive from letting love take the reins over reason every now and then. Sometimes the brain makes mountains out of mole hills while the heart does the opposite. The trick is figuring out when to heed one over the other.

Red has the grace to blush a bit at her assumption, though she doesn't seem all that worried about Regina's reaction. "I didn't figure you would mind. I know the potential ramifications, but this is Mulan we're talking about. And the way Aurora told me they love her? Well..." she trails off and gives Regina a wink meant to sway her opinion. Damn the woman, it would have worked, too, had Regina not already decided to grant the invitation.

I really am going soft, she thinks, and isn't even bothered that it doesn't upset her. Being a callous, unflinching, intractable woman had won her a crown, but it was an impotent diadem that could neither fulfill her deepest desires. Nor could it make her feel less miserable and wretched than she was before obtaining it. Power had been all her mother wanted, and it was what she too had been conditioned to crave. Then one day upon a frigid mountain pass, a gorgeous, fearless, sassy brunette burst onto the scene, who in epic fashion proceeded to obliterate her every concept of what life was really all about.

In the years since, Red hasn't ceased to prove, day after day, that being loved is greater than being powerful, that it's more meaningful than anything else in all the world. Love is power. It is the driving force behind mercy and forgiveness, the only real exemplars of moral and ethical superiority and the sovereign arbiters of authority – for anyone can visit vengeance upon the guilty but only the truly powerful possess the inner fortitude to grant them clemency. Love can move mountains, cross vast impassable oceans, scale towers so high that they pierce the very threshold of the heavens, and refuse to surrender an inch in the face of hopeless odds. Love is the only inexhaustible resource, the only force known to humankind that redefines the boundary lines of what is and is not possible. With a boldness that defies explanation, it guides the omnipotent hand of fate, and reshapes the very fabric of existence. Where all else fails, love remains.

So if loving Red the way she deserves means that Regina is soft? So be it. She can honestly say that she will be proud to wear the label as a badge of honor.

"It's the exact same way I talk about you," Red then finishes her previous statement, and Regina gasps aloud as she suddenly realizes why Aurora and Philip are willing to risk so much to be wherever Mulan is.

Mulan, on the other hand, falters visibly as all color drains from her face. "You can't be serious! They can't...surely not...they can't both lo-"

"Love you that way?" Red finishes, her smile bright enough to penetrate the thickest darkness. "I promise you, they do. I could hear it in Aurora's voice, in her heartbeat and her breathing. She's in love with you, Mulan, and if I'm any kind of true judge of human emotion by physical indicators, her insistence Philip feels the same was genuine. They want to be with you, all three of you together as a family, in every sense of that word. Is that not something you want?"

Mulan hangs her head. "It is," she whispers, "more than I could ever express. But...the three of us together? What would the kingdom think? The nobles? Those under my command?"

"To hell with them all," Regina says boldly, having heard enough to intervene. Mulan is her friend, and if being with Aurora and Philip is what will make her happy, then that is what she shall have. Standing, she moves around the foot of the bed to Mulan's side and then tips the woman's chin up so that she is looking up into her eyes. A solitary tear tracks down that ordinarily stoic face as her lower lip quivers with emotion. It's obvious from her expression alone that her heart and head are waging an internal war for dominance.

"I listened for far too long to the prattling of nobles about how untoward my love for Red is," Regina then tells Mulan in a commanding tone, willing the torn woman to receive what advice she is giving. "I endured the contempt about my so called deviance without reprisal for longer than I should have. But there came a time when I'd had enough, when I had to remind those intolerant assholes that this is my kingdom, mine and Red's, and in our kingdom, people are allowed to love whomever they choose so long as their partners are of suitable age and are willing participants. As far as your soldiers are concerned, do not fear. They already know you are attracted to both sexes."

Mulan gasps at hearing she has been outed to her men. "H-How did they find out?" she asks, eyes big and vulnerable.

"It's been an open secret for nearly the entire duration of your command," Regina answers. "When you spend so much time around a group of people, they tend to pick up on such things as an errant gaze that lingers as long on a female ass as a male one. That, and I handpick most of my knights. There are few fools among them, and those are not suffered lightly."

Mulan looks frightened enough at this information for Regina to gently cup her cheek. "Do not fear, dear," she then says, thumb brushing away the tear from Mulan's cheek. "You have nothing to worry about. They accept you as you are. How could they not? You lead them into battle by example rather than by distant impersonal orders. You sacrifice for them and fight for their rights and for their fair treatment, and they love you for it, just as Red and I do." After withdrawing her hand, she catches Mulan's eye. "Now, I'm going to ask you a simple question. As your Queen, I insist that you answer me candidly. Will you do that for me?"

"Yes, of course I will, my Queen," Mulan replies, a hope shining through her cloudy expression that makes Regina want to shed a tear or two herself.

"Very good," Regina nods, and then poses her question: "Mulan of the Northern Wei, daughter of Fa Zhou, Commanding General of the Armies of Misthaven, and my steadfast friend, do you wish for Princess Aurora and Prince Philip to be granted citizenship in our realm and a place in our court as befitting nobles of their rank?"

Mulan does not answer, still warring with whatever demons that keep her from taking what she wants and being happy at last. For a brief second, Regina wonders at what it might be. Mulan is infamously protective of her past, and what little Regina knows she's had to pry out of the secretive and carefully spoken woman. Little of Mulan's childhood is known to her aside from the fact that she'd been born in a kingdom far away and traveled thousands of miles in her twenty-eight years to reach the continent known abroad as The Enchanted Forest. Red was privy to more information than Regina, whose knowledge of her most trusted advisor's past was that she carried around a lot of heartbreak from it that she refused to share with anyone. That Red had not known the names of the two people Mulan was running away from when she came to Misthaven goes to show how deeply they had wounded her.

She wants to hate this Philip and Aurora for making someone so inherently strong so doubt herself and cause her to be so ashamed of her own desires that she has long denied herself what she most desires. But however much she wants to blame those two for wounding her friend, she cannot. An opportunity has been presented to rectify some of the hurts that plague Mulan, and Regina cannot deny her that, no matter how badly the situation could end.

Three years have passed since Mulan came to live with them, and in that time she has taken no lovers, nor has she even expressed a passing interest. The woman's refusal to entertain the idea of opening up her heart has often been a source of concern for Regina, not only as Mulan's friend but as her Queen. Human beings are not meant to be alone, a lesson she'd learned herself at great pains, and though Mulan liked to exude an aura of invincibility that made people assume she was impervious to baser human emotions, Regina knew differently. No one is immune to fleshly desires, and no one is immune to the power of the heart to overcome reason, which made Mulan's resistance to both all the more impressive. But should she give in now, should she let Philip and Aurora in only for them to shatter her once again, Regina is afraid that she will forever cut herself off from her humanity.

Still, it is Mulan's life and thus Mulan's decision to make.

"Mulan, listen to me," Regina sighs, giving in to her compassionate side yet again – something that seems to be happening far too often lately. "It is not wrong for you to love them, nor is it wrong for you to be happy. For once in your life, take what you want and damn the consequences! You have our permission, if that's what's holding you back, though I'll remind you that you don't need it." Regina sees Red nod fervently out of the corner of her eye. "So again I ask: do you want Aurora and Philip to live here with us?"

Mulan's lips stretch thin as she stresses over the answer. "I..." she hesitates.

Red reaches for her hand. "I know it's scary," she says as if knowing what is holding Mulan back. "I was scared too when I came to that first dinner here with Regina."

"You were?" Mulan asks, evidently not having heard this story.

"Gods, yes," Red smiles. "The entire run here I kept trying to talk myself out of it. My heart was driving me toward Regina, you see, but my head...my head was warning me that I was playing with fire and about to get my fur torched off. By the time I arrived at the Palace and was led to the Queen's private dining area, my stomach was in knots and I was shaking hard enough that my knees knocked together. I wanted to make a good impression so badly that I could barely string more than three words together the first half hour for fear of making an embarrassment of myself."

"Your flustered attempts at communication were rather cute," Regina injects, remembering how she'd felt watching Red blush for the entire first half of their meal, almost giddy yet just as wary. "She was quite intimidated, and needlessly I might add. I was every bit as anxious as she was."

"You're a pretty intimidating woman, just in case you've forgotten – which I doubt you have," Red retorts, still smiling. She then directs that sunshine at Mulan, who relaxes some at Red's unique brand of positivity. "But you know what? An hour later, we were chatting like old friends. Sometimes," she pauses to brush a strand of Mulan's hair behind her ears, "Sometimes we let our brains do all the deciding, and that is all fine and dandy in warfare and economics and politics. But in matters of love..." she trails off, glances at Regina adoringly and then back to Mulan, "well, as they say, the heart knows best. I was in love with Regina a long time before my brain ever caught up, and there hasn't been a single moment since that I regret letting my heart make the decision whether or not I should trust her. I encourage you to do the same."

"But what if..." Mulan bites her lip plaintively. "What if it goes wrong? I don't want to be an interloper or a third wheel. That's not who I am. And what if I ruin their marriage? They have a child to consider. I would never forgive myself if I was the cause for the dissolution of his or her family."

"In my experience," Regina cuts in, "you cannot let what ifs dictate your life. Take it from someone who knows: they will lead you down paths you will later wish you'd left untrod. Half of my life was spent dwelling in the shadows of them, and from what I've gathered, I surmise that you have lived yours in a similar manner."

Mulan does not admit to such aloud, but the way she avoids eye contact for a split second is tacit confirmation. She is so closing to taking the leap. All she needs is one final push, something that Regina is more than happy to give.

"When Red came into my life," she then says, "she brought a light with her that banished those shadows. But it wasn't up to her to shine it on me. I had to step out into it first. Now you are faced with the same decision. You can either remain shrouded in darkness and live safe with the knowledge your heart will never be broken again yet forever remain haunted by what could have been, or you can venture out into the sun once more and let love in.

"I cannot in good conscience mislead you with false assurances that there is no danger involved. Taking a chance on love is an enormous gamble with potentially dire consequences. What I can do is assure you that should you find it, and should it be true and deep and lasting, it will heal all of those old hurts you've wrapped around yourself like so much armor. As your friend, therefore, I encourage you to choose love. I believe...no, I know that it is worth the risk. Ultimately, however, the decision is yours to make. I will abide by your wishes, whatever they may be."

It takes nearly a minute of still and fairly tense silence for Mulan to wrangle a decision out of herself. Regina knows what it is before she speaks, simply by the sigh of relief that proceeds her speaking.

"Send for them," she says, and with those words, her countenance shifts, a gentle, content smile stretching across her lips. "If they truly want to be with me then I want to be with them, too. I've been a ghost in a shell for long enough. It's time for me to start living again."

As Red whoops with delight and hugs Mulan until the woman is protesting the tightness of her grip, Regina contents herself to sit and watch with a full heart. She is glad to have played a part, no matter how small, in making something positive happen for her friend. When she meets Mulan's gaze over Red's shoulder, they exchange affectionate smiles.

Upon breaking apart, Mulan and Red grin at each other like school girls ready to discuss the latest gossip over lunch. Regina starts to excuse herself, wanting to give them some privacy. "I'll have a raven sent at once while you two talk." She takes a step toward the door only to be stalled by a hand clamping around her wrist.

"Don't go," Red says, no longer smiling. Her visage is marred with anxiety that has guilt welling up inside Regina. She should have anticipated Red would be even more clingy than usual after what she just went through.

Normally when they are in the same room, Red is never more than five quick strides of her long legs away, and if possible, stays within arms reach. Regina has always had a theory that her canine side is to blame for her need for constant nearness when they are in any proximity to each other, and while at first, it got a little suffocating, she has by now grown used to Red's comforting presence. In many ways, Red literally is a Royal Lapdog, only the dog part encompasses an enormous wolf and the lap part has a completely different connotation than intended.

Mulan picks up quickly on Red's nervous demeanor, and rises from where she is seated awkwardly on the beside. After adjusting her leathers, she gives a respectful bow to Red and then leans down to kiss Red's forehead. Another show of affection that Regina hopes will become much less rare in the near future.

"I'm glad you're better," Mulan says, "but the hour grows late, and I have other duties I have neglected since the battle was won and you returned from Oz. Many of my men were wounded in the battle, and I should go ask after them before I complete my nightly rituals. I will have a message sent to Aurora and Philip on the way there."

"Don't run off on my account," Red says, voice small and looking a bit abashed at her show of neediness where Regina is concerned. "I just..." she sighs in self-derision. "The Big Bad Wolf is kind of a scaredy-cat right now who needs her badass wife to stay close."

"I understand, my Queen," Mulan replies, with a bow of her head. "But as I said, I really must look after my men."

"Go with my blessing, Mulan," Regina says, dismissing her subordinate in a way that is accommodating Mulan's desire to give them some time alone. Once again, she is thankful to have the intuitive woman in her life in all of her capacities. "When you see your soldiers," she adds, "give them my thanks. Tell them their Queen will not forget their bravery this day."

"Neither of them will," Red chimes in, a bit more boldly.

"I will do just that, Your Majesties," Mulan says, bows once more, and then excuses herself.