Challenge 18: I Ship, You Manifesto
One of my favourite ships in Once Upon a Time is between two minor characters - Aurora and Mulan from Season 2, also known as Sleeping Warrior.
At first, these two aren't friends - they both are companions with Prince Phillip - one fights by his side and one is his true love. They first meet when Phillip finds Aurora and wakes her up, after the curse hits the Enchanted Forest. We then see their relationship develop into reluctant traveling companions until they become firm friends. This relationship development is a pivotal part of why this ship works, because it shows that love doesn't happen easily - it takes time to develop, especially when under difficult circumstances.
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.
You can see that Mulan is protective of Aurora, initially due to Prince Phillip, however during Season 2 you see that Mulan is protective of Aurora for her own reasons - due to the fact that she cares for Aurora. You see both Mulan and Aurora go outside of their comfort zones and also learn to let someone else in. On multiple instances, Mulan physically protects Aurora, putting Aurora behind her when defending against attackers, acting as a shield.
One of the best parts of this ship is the fact that both Mulan and Aurora learn how to trust one another. For instance, Aurora shows Mulan her scars from the dream and Mulan responds by watching over her when she sleeps. You then see trust on another level, Aurora trusts Mulan to protect her while she is vulnerable and Mulan is happy to do that - she wants to do that. This level of trust is beautiful, but at the same time, Aurora is equally protective of Mulan - such as when Snow White had an arrow to Mulan's throat, indicating both trust and protectiveness.
One of the most poignant parts of this relationship is the fact that Mulan would do anything for Aurora, and vice versa. This is shown by Mulan refusing to give up Aurora's life for the compass, that she would sacrifice anything to save Aurora. Aurora trust Mulan to get back her heart, as she refuses to let Cora use her as a pawn, and trusts Mulan to put the heart back into her chest - despite neither of them knowing what they are doing. This moment is truly beautiful, especially when you see the way both Mulan and Aurora look at each other in that moment - there's no fear on Aurora's part, only trust. Mulan literally has Aurora's life in her hands.
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.
