Mulan/Aurora

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Pairing
Pairing: Mulan/Aurora
Alternative name(s): Sleeping Warrior, Warrior Rose
Gender category: Femslash
Fandom: Once Upon a Time
Canonical?: Canon (unrequited)
Prevalence: Small
Archives:
Other:
"illustration of Mulan with sward drawn standing protectively in front of Aurora"
Sleeping Warrior by konako (2013)
Related articles on Fanlore.

Mulan/Aurora, also known as Sleeping Warrior, is the femslash pairing of Mulan and Princess Aurora from the Once Upon a Time fandom.

This was a smaller, but still popular ship in the OUAT fandom. Many fans were drawn to their rivals-to-friends relationship. Those fans were sorely disappointed with how their story ended, with Mulan leaving to join the Merry Men upon failing to admit her feelngs. However, for other fans their melancholy ending was a plus, not a negative.

Canon

Mulan joins Prince Phillip on his journey to awaken his true love, Aurora, from a Sleeping Curse. However, once they awaken Aurora, a Wraith enters into the Enchanted Forest and attacks them. Phillip is unwittingly marked by the Wraith's medallion and later Mulan and Aurora witness his demise as the Wraith sucks out his soul.

The two continue to travel together and are later joined by Emma and Mary Margaret on a quest to stop Cora and return them home. This leads to Aurora being kidnapped and Cora ripping Aurora's heart from her chest while she’s sleeping. After a confrontation with Cora and Captain Hook, Mulan gets back Aurora’s heart and puts it back in her chest. They go on to find a way of saving Phillip and once Aurora and Phillip reunite, Mulan leaves them to aid others with their quests.

Later, Robin Hood offers Mulan a chance to join the Merry Men. She declines, stating that she has to talk to someone first before it's too late. Returning to the palace, Mulan prepares to confess her feelings for Aurora, but before she can, Aurora shares news of her pregnancy. Momentarily shocked at the news, Mulan recovers from her stupor to congratulate her, before announcing her plans to join the Merry Men. She turns away, walking off in sadness, as an equally disheartened Aurora watches her go. By nightfall, Mulan meets up with Robin at his camp, where she accepts a place with the Merry Men.[1]

Fandom

Initially, there was much excitement over Mulan and Aurora joining the second season of Once Upon A Time. Their relationship started out as somewhat adversarial, but their relationship changed over the course of the season, and they grew close. As the two were shown to develop a better relationship the interest in the pairing also grew exponentially, leading to the creation of their ship name, Sleeping Warrior.

Mulan/Aurora was in the top ten OUAT pairings from 2012-2013[2], although still far behind popular pairings like SwanQueen or Rumbelle. Their popularity dwindled as the series went on and the two were never reunited, but there are still many fans of the pair who continue to create fanworks, and new fans that are discovering the ship for the first time.

Many fans felt sad or angry at the abrupt end to Mulan and Aurora's relationship, some believing it was merely used to placate vocal fans who were pushing for other queer relationships, such as the popular Emma Swan/Regina Mills pairing. While Mulan's departure from the show was more related to schedule conflicts, the way in which it was handled left much to be desired for some fans. Regardless, the pairing continued to be prevalent within OUAT femslash, with fanworks often bringing the pair to Storybroke together or continuing their travels across the kingdoms. For other fans Mulan's self denial and the tragic nature of their relationship was a draw, not a deterrent.

Fan Reactions

I absolutely love and support the pairing; I had actually been hoping it would show up in the near future. I think the whole Sleeping Warrior process was very natural and tender: Mulan went from the original attraction towards Philip and jealousy towards Aurora to the exact opposite. When she had to look after Aurora (while Philip was in a post-Wraith coma) her feelings softened and she began to see the Princess’ true nature. Aurora is kind and sweet, and she charmed her way into Mulan’s heart. It was lovely to see the warrior girl slowly melt and love someone she had originally considered a rival. Yet now… The way her heart was broken in this scene has no justification; to see her walk away in tears was something that should never have happened. OUAT specializes on making people suffer for no apparent reason, and on destroying a couple or situation right when everything is just about perfect, but even for them what they did to Mulan was too disrespectful and cruel.[3]

honestly? honestly i never got over them writing the most tragic and gutwrenching arc for sleeping warrior where aurora reveals her pregnancy just as mulan is about to confess her feelings, leading to her going on the run with the the merry men because she can’t watch the woman she loves love someone else, only for them to give her yet another sapphic storyline where she trains merida to fight and the two of them then go on to join ruby in a throuple and not a single one of them were endgame. what the fuck![4]

This ship is great because they are both complete opposites - Aurora, at first, is a typical Princess whereas Mulan is a Warrior, trained in combat. They come from completely different worlds which they don't understand, however they learn to accept each other, traits and all. They also develop to be a good team, balancing Mulan's physical strength with Aurora's mental strength - which in turn, allows them to grow as people, due to learning from one another...
Finally, this ship is wonderfully sad, as both parties would sacrifice their own happiness for each other. In Season 3, Mulan comes close to telling Aurora that she's in love with someone (hopefully her), but when she finds out about the baby, she decides not to ruin Aurora's happy ending, no matter how unhappy it would make her. This is a heartbreaking part of the ship, but that also makes it more realistic - love isn't easy and there's nothing but love between these two characters.[5]

Common Tropes and Storylines in Fanworks

  • Fix-it: often with them not separating and Mulan revealing her feelings to Aurora, or them them meeting again
  • Reunion: like fix-it, usually fixing their canon separation, and them finding each other again
  • Modern AU: set within a modern setting, these can include stories where they are pulled into the modern world where Storybrooke exists, or completely fan-made scenarios
  • High School AU: Mulan and Aurora as modern high school students
  • Hurt/Comfort: usually with hurt Aurora and Mulan providing the comfort, but the reverse can also be found
  • Adventure: Mulan and Aurora going on an adventure or quest together

Statistics

Mulan/Aurora has been within Archive of Our Own's Top 100 Femslash Pairings three times, ranking 39th in 2014,[6] 56th in 2015,[7] and 83rd in 2016[8].

Challenges

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

Fanart

Fanmixes

Gif Sets

Graphics

Meta

Vids

Archives and Communities

Resources

References

  1. ^ http://onceuponatime.wikia.com/wiki/Mulan
  2. ^ According to a search of AO3 using the date parameters Sept 1, 2012-Dec 31, 2013
  3. ^ "My Sleeping Warrior, October 20, 2013 blog post by vainillasparkle". Archived from the original on 2025-05-21.
  4. ^ "July 4, 2024 Tumblr post by the-witch-of-woods-beyon". Archived from the original on 2024-12-06.
  5. ^ "Challenge 18: I Ship, You Manifesto". Archived from the original on 2025-05-21.
  6. ^ 2014 AO3 femslash stats by centrumlumina
  7. ^ 2015 femslash stats
  8. ^ 2016 AO3 femslash stats
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