Time moved differently in different realms. Knowing that and living it were two very different things. When she'd asked to see her son and husband, Aurora had expected to find them just as they'd been. She'd certainly hoped that Philip would have found their baby boy and been caring for him, and she'd hoped to find them together.
She hadn't expected to find that Stefan had grown up and Philip had grown older, both without her. He'd moved on, and as much as it hurt, she was happy that he'd had a full life. And it eased some of the guilt that had been niggling at her over her connection to Mulan. She still couldn't quite say what it meant, but she felt lighter after her talk with Philip. Her heart was hurting, but perhaps not as much as it might once have been.
She awoke to a pair of arms around here. They were too slender and hairless to be Philip's. It took just a moment of movement to realize that she was asleep next to Mulan. She briefly wondered if the whole thing had been a dream. This was not the place that she'd woken up when she'd met Saint Nick. So where was this place? Or was this the dream?
She rolled over just enough to look at the warrior woman.
"Where are we?" she asked sleepily, half expecting that Mulan would have answers for her already.