Reverence

Chapter 2

A gasp and an 'oof' answered her growled threat, as a tangle of dark tresses and purple fabric tumbled into the clearing. Eyes as blue as crystal and as clear as a summer sky gazed at the tip of the sword leveled at her throat. Her breath rose in tiny puffs in the chill air.

"I couldn't sleep." Aurora explained, drawing herself up and dusting herself off with impeccable grace. "I thought you could use some company."

Mulan slid her sword into its scabbard with a resounding 'snick'. She gritted her teeth and tried to slow the pounding of her own heart. Her peaceful meditation had been interrupted, and her embarrassment at being nearly caught unawares made her tone more clipped than usual. "You shouldn't be out here. It's dangerous."

"I can handle it." The young Princess raised her chin defiantly, trying to appear brave. The softness of her face and gentility of her figure made the display almost comical to Mulan's eye. The girl had spirit, but surely she was as fragile as a dove.

Aurora cocked her head, and took a step closer, studying Mulan closely. "Were…you crying?" she asked, delicate brows arching in consternation and confusion.

Mulan's hand flashed to her cheeks, and found them damp and slick with tears she had unknowingly shed. The flashbacks of her past were still fresh and raw like wounds in her heart. The tears had come like her memories, unexpectedly and unwanted. Warriors did not cry.

"No. The chill in the air makes my eyes water." Mulan covered, hastily wiping the wetness from her flushed face. "How did you find me?" she growled, dodging any further scrutiny.

The Princess shrugged, nonchalantly. "I tracked you."

Impressive. The little dove at least had a little practical knowledge. Mulan thought bitterly, though mildly awed. She could count on a single hand the number of people who had successfully managed to sneak up on her, and it wasn't numerous. Yet the young Princess seemed to have come incredibly close to succeeding. She sighed. "Then, come. Keep watch with me. The woods are lonely tonight, and we'll be safer and warmer if we stay together."

Aurora smiled, and sidled onto the rock next to the proud Warrior. At such a close proximity, Mulan could see the tiny diadem glinting in her hair, and the soft curls of chestnut that cascaded down her shoulders. A fine blush colored her soft fair cheeks, and the remnants of a crushed leaf and a broken twig were tangled in her soft locks. Results of her tripping fall of an entrance, mused Mulan.

Conflict clawed at Mulan's heart. In so many ways, Phillip had been right. Aurora was beautiful. She was graceful. She was fair. She was clever and kind. She was everything that the Warrior was not….and everything that Mulan sometimes, in her secretes of hearts, wished she herself could be. She was a woman any man could love. Mulan snorted derisively, half out of jealousy, half at herself.

"Why did you come out here? It's dangerous for you Princess. You should go back to Emma and Snow." Mulan snapped, her tone harsher than intended and crueler than deserved. She regretted the words as soon as they were off her tongue.

Aurora recoiled, as if physically hurt by the Warrior's words. But, to Mulan's surprise, she did not cry nor turn to leave. She did not back down. Rather, the clear crystal eyes became hard as ice on a frozen river and arching brows drew down into a fiery scowl.

"I am not a child." Aurora replied, low and strong. Her voice, which once seemed so innocent and naive suddenly held an air of controlled fury and authority.

"Do you know how many people I have met that think me helpless? That think me weak and fragile as glass?" She challenged, leaning close to emphasize the heat of her wounded pride. "All my life I have been told that I can do nothing…that I am a burden…that I am slowing people down." She spat. The venom in her voice made Mulan flinch back in surprise.

"Even you and Emma and Snow…you who are supposed to be my friends…you treat me as if I am the weak link of the chain. The frail Princess of the group. Precious little Aurora. You treat me as a girl, not as a woman. Do you know what that feels like?" Mingled fury and tears welled in eyes of lipid blue.

Guilt roiled in her stomach as Mulan recalled her own words to the young Princess when they'd first met. 'You'll only slow me down' the phrase echoed cruelly in her memory. She recalled resentment at her father when he had expected her to behave as other girls in her village. He had treated her as a girl, but not a woman. As a child, but not as an individual. As if she had no worth or value beyond wearing pretty dresses and attracting the attentions of a man.

"I-I am sorry…I meant no disrespect, Princess." Mulan replied, suddenly surprised to find herself unable to meet the Princess's gaze and astonished at how similar she and Aurora could be. Different people from different worlds, yet sharing the same struggles.

Suddenly the woods did not feel so alone.

"I was simply…frustrated…at myself. My temper got the best of me. My apologies." The Warrior murmured, ashamed.

Aurora nodded, her expression softening. "I understand. Sometimes I do the same. My father used to say I was far too headstrong." She leaned back on an elbow, lazily staring up at the constellations up above.

Mulan chuckled softly. "I'll bet you were quite a handful."

Aurora arched an eyebrow at Mulan's tone of gentle teasing affection.

"Oh, you better believe it. I was quite the wild-child." Aurora's voice held a warm, genuine smile. Something deep inside Mulan liked that.

"You know," Aurora whispered, fiddling with the hem of her shawl "I wish I were more like you, sometimes."

Mulan stiffened. Words eluded her. More like me?! She thought, dumbfounded. "But…I would give anything to be more like you." She blurted.

Aurora sat up, surprise painted openly across her features. "But ….why?!"

"Because" the Warrior sighed "you are everything a man wants in a woman. I…am not. I cannot cook or sew or sing pretty songs…I can only fight."

Silence reigned over the pair. Only the sound of cricket songs echoed in the clearing for a long while, as they both studied each other in mutual surprise, and awe filled understanding.

Then Aurora did a most astonishing thing. She laughed. High and happily, shattering the silence as her cheeks flushed, her sides shook, and her eyes crinkled with the hearty honesty of her mirth.

"What's so funny?" asked Mulan, bewildered and slightly put off.

"Those are the very things that I like about you!" Aurora gasped. "They are what make you so special to me. You are willing to fight for what you believe in, and you don't care what anyone else thinks. I find that very….beautiful." The Princess flushed scarlet at her own honesty and choice of words.

Mulan was suddenly very aware of a heat growing in her neck and cheeks. "You…think I am beautiful? Even though I dress as a man? And wield a sword?"

"Yes." Whispered Aurora, tugging nervously at the hem of her dress.

"Well…I find you…beautiful…too." Mulan desperately tried to avoid eye contact as the words burbled forth. She instead decided to busy herself by picking the bits of leaf and twig out of Aurora's hair as she spoke. "You are spirited inside and self sacrificing. You place the needs of your friends and your people above your own. That is something not even many Warriors possess. I think you are very strong, and you have a good heart, Princess. "The last leaf-bit fluttered to the ground as Mulan finished, though her war-worn hands remained gently caressing the Princess's hair.

"I-I think you are braver than anyone I have ever known." Mulan murmured, dark eyes honestly searching the depths of pale blue.

What happened next left Mulan in a spinning whirl of muddled details and confused giddiness. Aurora, in an impulse that took the seasoned Warrior by surprise, cupped the suntanned skin of Mulan's cheek and gently crushed herself to her. Soft lips were hungry, and insistent, but hesitant.

Mulan tasted fervency, ache, longing, and saltiness of tears unshed in the depths of the kiss. She tasted Aurora's strength, and her weakness. She tasted her love and her fear. But most of all, she tasted how very human Aurora was.

Her Warrior heart thudded in her chest as she deepened the kiss, responding gently with both vulnerability and a calm physical strength that had always been at the core of her nature. She tried to show her Princess how much this kiss had healed. How many hurts, how many hates, how many scoffs and scars were made whole under their lips. She tried to make the Princess understand, through her kiss, that for the first time, Mulan felt beautiful. Every bit of her felt loved.

Oh. So this is what it feels like. Her blood thrummed with energy, pleasure, and freedom.

Far off an owl hooted balefully, and its mate called back.