Mulan/Aurora

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.http://onceuponatime.wikia.com/wiki/Mulan
==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 2012-2013According to a search of AO3 using the date parameters Sept 1, 2012-Dec 31, 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 ===
=== 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 2014,2014 AO3 femslash stats by centrumlumina 56th in 2015,2015 femslash stats and 83rd in 20162016 AO3 femslash stats
===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===
* by bevsi
* by cassiniregio
* by ybee
* by ranseur
* by critter-of-habit
=== Graphics and Gif Sets ===
* gif set by plinys
* gif set by officiallallorona
* gif set by booasaur, using the Disney animated characters 
* 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
==References==
Category:Once Upon A Time Relationships
Category:Interracial Pairings
Category:Femslash Pairings