Mulan/Aurora

Pairing
Pairing:	Mulan/Aurora
Alternative name(s):	Sleeping Warrior
Gender category:	Femslash
Fandom:	Once Upon a Time
Canonical?:	Canon (unrequited)
Prevalence:	Small
Archives:
Other:	Sleeping Warrior by konako (2013)
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Mulan/Aurora is the femslash pairing of Mulan and Princess Aurora from the Once Upon a Time fandom.

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.

Fandom

Initially there was much excitement over Mulan and Aurora joining the second season of Once Upon A Time. Their relationship starts 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, although still far behind super 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.

Although, for other fans Mulan's self denial and the tragic nature of their relationship was a draw not a deterrent.

Fan Reactions

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!

Common Tropes and Storylines in Fanworks

• 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, 56th in 2015, and 83rd in 2016

Challenges

• Sleeping Warrior Week

Fanworks

FanFiction

• a story, a tale by maleficently
• A Girl Worth Fighting For by hapakitsune
• Could Have Been A Year by thrace
• Stay stay stay by furloughday

Fanart

• sobs, ^{Archived version} by bevsi
• little valentines day drawing of the original Life Ruiners, ^{Archived version} by cassiniregio
• im still sooooooooooo, ^{Archived version} by ybee
• Untitled art (Aurora sleeping in Mulan's lap), ^{Archived version} by ranseur
• Aurora - Like this?, ^{Archived version} by critter-of-habit

Graphics and Gif Sets

• best of 2013: (5/13) ships - mulan x aurora (once upon a time), ^{Archived version} gif set by plinys
• you look sad, ^{Archived version} gif set by officiallallorona
• Sleeping Warrior AU: Aurora falls in love with Mulan and Ping, not realizing they are the same person, ^{Archived version} gif set by booasaur, using the Disney animated characters
• when you said your last goodbye I died a little bit inside, ^{Archived version} graphics by reginamea

Vids

• Mulan & Aurora // What's Wrong? (Sleeping Warrior) by pulmonaryvalve

Archives and Communities

• Mulan/Aurora tagged works on the AO3
• Mulan/Aurora tag at Once Upon a Time Fanfic
• Mulan x Aurora on Deviantart
• Tumblr tag: sleeping warrior

Resources

• Sleeping Warrior at the Shipping Wiki