A/N: Thank you so much for reading, favouriting, alerting, and especially for your kind words in reviews! Haven't really decided how long this is going to be...it might turn into an epic adventure because my babies are BREAKING MY HEART. Note that this chapter is short and a little less carefully edited than most things I post, so if there's anything wonky, I swear I'll fix it shortly! As always, I would love feedback!

Chapter 4 — Anywhere But Here

Mulan is overtaken by two wildly disparate urges, as contradictory to one another as they are fueled by passion in and of themselves.

Half of her wants to give an enthusiastic yes, pack her bags, and be gone before sunset. Where they will go and what they will do is of little consequence. It will be as it was before they saved Philip, except that Philip will be alive and well and no longer in need of their assistance. They will be together, out on the road, and the world will be their oyster. They can go to Mulan's home, they can fashion a new home for themselves, they can find passage to the world from whence their strange comrades came, for all Mulan cares.

The other half of her wants to leave immediately and alone. She wants to tell Aurora to sort herself out, to remind herself what she loves about Philip, and to stop trying to leave his love behind just because they've changed. Love changes. The world changes. Things are always changing. And if two people so kind and so brave and so loving and so forgiving as Philip and Aurora cannot find it in their hearts to continue to love one another despite that change, then there is no hope for anyone else, anywhere. Isn't True Love supposed to last forever? Isn't it supposed to render all other loves obsolete by comparison?

As her mind wars with itself, Mulan stares at Aurora blankly, and she begins to wonder whether she had completely misunderstood the question. Her final answer is a breathy "What?" which does little justice to the depth and severity of her inner turmoil.

Aurora moves away from her abruptly. "Nothing. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Are you sure?"

Aurora glances back at Mulan over her shoulder, a kind of frenzy glittering in her eyes. "The first time we met, and even long before that...I wasn't looking for adventure," she said quietly. "I was so grateful to be alive and awake that I just wanted to...to go home and marry Phillip and settle down and, I don't know, try to avoid ever running into any sort of trouble ever again?" She shrugged awkwardly. "But I fear this life isn't for me. Maybe I've changed, but maybe it never was."

She returns to Mulan and grasps her by the arms. "Suppose we went looking for adventure? Together...you and I?"

Mulan's thoughts come in short bursts of nonsense, and they tumble from her lips in a similar manner. "But-But Phillip. And the kingdom. You have duties, responsibilities...your people need you. And Phillip. And what would you-"

"Mulan," Aurora gives Mulan's arms a little squeeze, which silences her immediately. "There's nothing for me to do here. I spend all of my time just thinking about all the things that feel wrong in my life. But why should I do that if there's something I can do about it? And Phillip..." she frowned for a second, "Phillip will be just fine without me. What do you say?"

Mulan's eyes flicker from Aurora's hands on her arms back up to those shining doe eyes. She is stricken for the first time in many months by how young Aurora is. And it's not that Mulan is precisely old, but she hasn't had the freedom or the security to follow her childlike whims in a very long time. She's never really thought of herself as someone who was allowed to search for adventure.

And what a mad idea. To simply leave, with only the vague idea that they are going Somewhere to do Something? It is ridiculous. Whatever Aurora thinks, she has a duty to her people, or at least, what remains of them. They adore their Princess of the Dawn. She boosts their morale simply by existing. And Mulan has a duty to leave Aurora alone with her true love and to go about her merry way to...

What? Go Somewhere and do Something?

But it would be profoundly selfish to take Aurora along with her. Mulan would be taking the Princess away from her adoring people and her adoring lover. Perhaps she has had more life experience than Aurora has, but what is the use of that if she cannot draw upon it to talk Aurora out of such a wild fancy?

"Aurora..." she begins slowly. "Don't you think you'll regret just...running away...from your life?"

Aurora lets go of Mulan's arms and plants her hands in fists on her hips. "Tell me you don't want me to come with you," she says stiffly. "It's as simple as that."

"No!" Mulan cries before she can stop herself. "No," she says again, more calmly. "It isn't that..."

"Then what's holding you back?" Aurora throws up her hands. "You can't honestly pretend to be worried about my responsibilities, Mulan."

Mulan doesn't know how Aurora can be so foolish. Who would get, if not perhaps everything she wanted, a substantial amount more than most people ever experienced-her life, her health, her freedom, her true love...and...and...and spit in the face of as happy an ending as they came? Who would somehow miraculously manage to thwart some of the most powerful forces of magic ever known to this land, escape without so much as a scratch and only unpleasant dreams as a reminder of the peril she'd faced, and instead of counting her lucky stars, go in search of what would very likely entail more danger? New dangers, even! The likes of which they can't even imagine!

But Mulan says none of this. A small and extremely guilty part of her focuses on Aurora's question instead of the many logical reasons she should ignore it. What's holding you back?

My life isn't about finding adventure, she wants to say. But what is it about? She can't fool herself into thinking she's only doing her duty by being here when she should have left long ago. She couldn't love Shang and she can't have the love she both longs for and doesn't. She left home to find out who she was, and so far she has made absolutely no progress in that regard. Why shouldn't she make one wild, mad decision? Why shouldn't she go on an adventure? Why can't she want something for herself, just this once?

Mulan realizes with a start that the only thing holding her back is herself.

Aurora is still staring at her intently, expression a strange combination of frustration and anticipation. Mulan meets her eyes and swallows every bit of common sense she has.

"Suppose I said yes," she says slowly, but she doesn't get any further.

"Oh, thank you!" Aurora has already launched herself at Mulan. She throws her arms around Mulan's neck and kisses her cheek, murmuring thank you, thank you, thank you over and over again into her shoulder.

Mulan wants to protest-to emphasize the suppose and the lingering uncertainty in her sentence-but she no longer has the heart.

So, instead of suppose and maybe and would, she asks, "Where will we go?"

Aurora pulls away just enough to meet Mulan's eyes. Her smile is brighter than Mulan has seen it in a long time, but her eyes are shining with unshed tears. "Anywhere!" she breathes. "Everywhere!"

And in spite of herself, Mulan dares to return Aurora's smile. In that moment, Mulan looks into Aurora's eyes and sees a world full of possibilities.