Disney University, 1997

"Hey! That's cheating," cried Mulan as she felt her bottom hit the ground. Subira smirked and twirled her staff.

"You said I couldn't strike you down with my hands. You never said anything about sticks." Subira quipped as Mulan stood rubbing her sore backside.

"It's called hand-to-hand combat for a reason!" Her porcelain skin burned bright red in frustration.

"You're telling me this now?" Subira asked smirking. She knew she was getting under Mulan's skin but it was just too much fun to watch the levelheaded warrior lose her temper. Subira giggled as she threw her stick away onto the soft grass. "Best out of 3?" Mulan smiled in reply with a predatory gleam in her eye. Both ladies had resumed fighting stance when a wave of red hair many feet away distracted Subira. "Oh look there's Ariel. Hey Ariel!" she yelled with her arm stretched high in the air, waving to her 'friend.' At the far end of the field Ariel merely turned her back on the Queen without a second thought. Her entourage of blondes followed suit. Mulan smirked and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not sure why you keep doing that. You know she's never going to answer you." Subira reluctantly put her hand down.

"Doesn't hurt to try. Ow!" she said as a ball knocked her in the head. She picked it up quickly and threw it back over her shoulder in the direction it had come.

"Why doesn't she talk to you anyways?" Mulan asked. Subira sighed as Ariel and her entourage pointed at the sparring partners and threw their heads back in laughter.

"Long story." Once again the two warriors resumed fighting stance when a shout from a familiar voice grabbed both their attentions.

"Girls! Girls!" Both warriors turned to see their dark haired friend running towards them. Both Mulan and Subira found it hard to suppress their giggles at the sight of prim and proper Belle running toward them with her skirt hiked up and her normally coifed hair falling out of place.

"Belle?" Mulan asked as the frantic princess arrived at their sides and began to heave.

"Mulan!" she sputtered. Subira quickly grabbed her water canteen from her holster and offered it to Belle, who refused.

"Calm down, Belle!" Subira ordered. "What's happened?" Belle took a few more steadying breaths before she was able to utter the news that had her so visibly flustered.

"You will never believe it!" She teased with a wry grin. Both warriors groaned.

"I would if you'd speak," said Mulan. "What is it?" she asked. Belle took a large breath before an even larger smile broke out on her face.

"You're on the list!" she confessed.

"Oh my gosh!" Subira gasped.

"The list?" Mulan asked. "You mean..."

"You're going to be an official Disney Princess!" Subira exclaimed, her pride and excitement oozing from every word. She quickly embraced her fellow warrior in a reciprocated hug.

"Well you can compete for it anyway." Belle explained as the two embraced. "But I also wanted to warn you about the competition.

"Competition? Please. Who is gonna beat 'Lanny? She's a national war hero! Who else is even on the list?"" Subira asked.

"Who else? The Trinity."

"...I spoke too soon. Again?"

"Of course."

"Sorry girls, but what's the Trinity?"

"Oh, sorry, Lanny," Belle apologized, appropriating Subira's nickname for their Asian friend. "That's what most of the school calls Cinderella, Ariel and Aurora. They've been Disney's favorites ever since the beginning," she explained.

"The only person who has a better relationship with Disney is Snow," Subira added. "And she's never on the list! Literally never!"

"Of course, the only reason she is not on the list is because she is a judge," Belle explained as they reached the edge of the grassy knoll. "The point is, the trinity already have favor with Disney but that's okay because it will make you stand out even more," Belle added with her huge smile returning to her face. Mulan giggled as Subira intertwined their arms and led them to the cafeteria excitedly rambling about Mulan becoming a Disney Princess. And while Mulan could not bring herself to believe that such a thing would actually happen, she did find her friends exuberance amusing. Perhaps seeing them so happy was incentive enough to partake in the glorified beauty pageant. Only for fun of course.

Mulan, released 1998