Aurora


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"I told you not to come after me."
 * This article focuses on the character Aurora. For the fairytale, see Sleeping Beauty (Fairytale).
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- Aurora to Prince Phillip

Princess Aurora, also known as Sleeping Beauty, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the first episode of the second season. She is portrayed by Sarah Bolger, and does not have a Storybrooke counterpart.

Aurora is based on the daughter of the titular character from the fairytale, "Sleeping Beauty".

Before the Curse
At some point, Aurora is afflicted with the Sleeping Curse by Maleficent. Maleficent had also gone after Aurora's mother in the past. When Regina comes to Maleficent to get back the dark curse, she reminisces over how Sleeping Beauty has bested Maleficent, referring to Princess Aurora's mother.

It is unknown how she is cursed (when Mulan asks her how she came to be in her cursed state Aurora tells her she is not the only one who knows about sacrifice; she also had told Phillip not to come after her), but she begins her slumber less than a year before the casting of the Dark Curse. The palace in which she slumbers is untouched by the curse as it is within the bounds of a protection spell cast by Cora along with the surrounding land. While she slumbers, Prince Phillip and Mulan journey to find her. They are frozen for 28 years while the Curse was in effect, but are able to resume their search after Emma Swan weakens the Curse in Storybrooke.

After the Curse
Aurora is awakened by Prince Phillip with True Love's kiss, accompanied by Mulan. Soon after he is marked by a Wraith, but keeps it a secret from Mulan and Aurora. He sneaks away from them to sacrifice himself for them and succeeds, having his soul sucked out right before Aurora and Mulan's eyes. Aurora is devastated, and comes to the conclusion that Mulan has feelings for Phillip. They bring Phillip back to Aurora's resting place, and Mulan explains the curse to Aurora. Then they hear a noise, and find Emma Swan and Mary Margaret Blanchard unconscious under a pile of rubble. Aurora and Mulan ride away from the palace, and force Emma and Mary Margaret to walk behind them with their hands tied together. They reach a safe haven where many survivors are gathered. Mary Margaret tries to make a run for it by kicking down Aurora, but Mulan uses a weapon to bring her down. Then, both of them are taken to a pit. Mary Margaret and Emma are later brought out of the pit because the survivor group's leader wants to speak to them. The leader turns out to be Sir Lancelot. Aurora remarks to Mulan that she doesn't trust Lancelot. She also holds the two newcomers to blame for Phillip's death. Mulan warns her against seeking vengeance, but when her back is turned, Aurora grasps a knife tightly in her hands.

Only Mulan is asked by Lancelot to accompany Mary Margaret and Emma on their journey to find their way home, but Aurora secretly tags along. When Mary Margaret is alone, she seizes the opportunity to hold the knife at her neck. Aurora makes it clear she's responsible for Phillip being gone, but Mary Margaret easily overcomes her, and pins Aurora to the ground. Mary Margaret says she knows what it's like to lose someone, too, but that she is not to blame. Mulan and Emma return to see what is going on. Emma is furious that Aurora tried to kill Mary Margaret, but Mulan says she will deal with Aurora on her own terms. Later, Mulan is seen telling Aurora to keep up and that it is her own fault for being cold as she should have stayed on the island. Emma takes pity on Aurora and gives her her jacket to keep her warm. At the castle, Aurora and Mulan keep guard at the gate. Later, Aurora agrees to help Mary Margaret and Emma with trying to find another way home as it will give her a chance to channel her anger. Aurora discovers Hook beneath a pile of bodies, and Hook attempts to deceive the four of them by stating he survived Cora's attack on the camp by hiding under some dead bodies. Emma is not buying his story and pulls a knife on Hook's throat, stating that she wants the truth and she can tell when a person is lying. She then ties Hook to a tree and whistles for the ogres, and begins to walk away. Aurora believes that he may be telling the truth, but then Hook reveals his true identity as a shocked Mary Margaret pulls his hook out of his satchel. He states that he was working with Cora, but will now join forces with Emma and her team. He leads them to a giant beanstalk stretching up into the sky, Aurora lagging behind, stating that there is a magical compass at the top, but first they must deal with the giant. At the beanstalk, Aurora volunteers to go up, as she says she has no one left to her in this world, but is overridden when Emma says she will go up instead. After Emma departs, Mulan suggests that the remaining three women split time taking watch. Mary Margaret volunteers to watch first, but Aurora refuses to sleep, saying she is having nightmares since her sleeping curse. Mary Margaret reassures her, saying the dreams will go away in time as she, too, also dealt with the after effects of the sleeping curse.

Later, Aurora wakes up screaming from a nightmare, and Mary Margaret comforts her as Mulan looks on. Aurora describes her dream, in which she is in a windowless doorless room with blood red curtains and flames. Another person, a man, is looking at her from across the room, and she is scared. Mary Margaret comforts her and coaxes her back to sleep. When Mulan moves to cut down the beanstalk, Aurora asks why. Though Mulan was acting on Emma's orders, Mary Margaret tackles her to the ground to stop her from cutting it.

After Emma jumps down from the beanstalk, Aurora wonders where Hook is, and Emma replies that he is being temporarily watched and that the group has a ten hour head start, so they should take advantage of it. It is later revealed that she and Henry Mills are experiencing the same nightmare. Aurora is seen sleeping when Emma and Mary Margaret pass by. Back in her nightmare, she screams and becomes engulfed by the flames when Henry reappears with the necklace given to him by Mr. Gold and puts out the flames. He tells her his name is Henry and she shouldn't be afraid. She awakes screaming Mary Margaret's fairytale name and explains to her and Emma that there was a little boy in her dream, and his name was Henry. Emma shows a picture of Henry to Aurora and asks her if this is the boy she saw. Aurora then confirms Henry's identity. Emma is confused as to how Aurora and Henry could be sharing the same dream, but Mary Margaret speaks up and states that she may know how this is happening. She tells the other three women that she experienced the same world of flame and smoke as Aurora and Henry had after being released from the Sleeping Curse. Aurora angrily confronts her as to why Mary Margaret did not inform her of this, and Mary Margaret tells her she did not want to worry Aurora anymore then she needed to. The group decides that Aurora should go back to sleep and contact Henry. As they are walking through the forest, Mulan notices the burns on Aurora's arms and confronts her about it. Aurora states that she rubbed against some poison ivy, which Mulan does not believe. Aurora then tells Mulan that it is her turn to help someone, and that she is doing this with or without Mulan's approval.

Aurora goes back to sleep a little while later, where she sees Henry again amidst the smoke and flames. The two attempt to communicate as the flames rage and Henry attempts to tell her of the jar of squid ink in Rumplestiltskin's cell at the ruins of the Palace. Before Aurora can respond or hear Henry, Mulan wakes Aurora, causing her to be sucked up into a purple void and back into consciousness, where the group is being attacked by zombies summoned by Cora. Aurora and Mulan run off together, but are attacked by a group of zombies. One pins Mulan to the ground while the others drag away a screaming Aurora.

Aurora is imprisoned in the cell beneath the former Haven. Cora comes in carrying a tray of stew. A stoic Aurora informs her that she will not be eating, as she is fearful that the food may be poisoned. Cora laughs and says that Aurora is more useful to her alive then dead, as she intends to trade Aurora for the magic compass. Aurora states that this is a bad idea, as she is a stranger to Mary Margaret and Emma and that the two of them want to get home, and will do anything to do so, including sacrificing her. Cora informs Aurora she may not know her companions as well as she thinks. Cora then tells Aurora that when the Wraith sucked the soul from Phillip, the soul was not in fact destroyed, but was sent to another world. Cora hints that if Aurora cooperates with her, she may be able to summon Phillip's soul back to the Enchanted Forest. Aurora does not believe her and rebukes her, standing up angrily and upsetting the tray of food. An angry Cora flings the "plucky" girl against the wall with her magic, knocking Aurora unconscious.

Aurora sleepily awakens sometime later and finds herself face to face with Hook standing over her. She is immediately on guard, but Hook informs her that he is helping her to escape to foil Cora's plans. Aurora does not believe him at first, but Hook states that it is true, and for Aurora to tell Emma that she should have trusted him all along. Aurora thanks him and runs from the dungeon. She later meets up with her companions in the woods just as Mary Margaret is about to slice Mulan's throat open. Aurora orders her to stop, and helps Mulan up. Aurora then tells them how she escaped, what Hook said, and asks what they will be doing next. Unbeknownst to the group, Aurora is shown to be under Cora's complete control as she is holding Aurora's heart in her hand, which was taken from Aurora by Hook while she was unconscious. In Rumplestiltskin's cell, Aurora is able to discover a note that has Emma's name written all over it. When it is discovered that there is no ink in the cell, Aurora against her own will picks up a rock and throws it, closing the cell. Cora and Hook then come up out of the dark and Cora reveals that she has Aurora's heart in her control, and to prove it squeezes the heart causing pain to Aurora. After they have left and Mary Margaret frees them from the cell, Aurora tells the others to tie her up, and Mulan does so reluctantly. Mulan later returns with Aurora's heart and places it back in her chest. Aurora then tells Mulan what Cora told her about Phillip's soul, and the two go off to recover it. Through unknown means, Aurora and Mulan retrieve Phillip's soul. By the beach's shoreline, the trio come across an unconscious man and attempt to awaken him.

Trivia

 * Aurora is the Latin word for "dawn".
 * During casting, Aurora was code-named "Anastasia"; a Greek name meaning "resurrection", or "she will rise again".
 * The casting call described her as "female, early to mid 20s. Born into a life of wealth and privilege, [Aurora] was raised every bit the polished princess. But beneath the shiny veneer of a spoiled young girl beats the heart of a woman willing to sacrifice everything for love."
 * There is a spinning wheel at the foot of her bier. This is an homage to the princess pricking her finger on the spindle and falling into a cursed slumber in the fairytale.
 * The floor of her bier is emblemed with a mosaic of the sun (a symbolic reference to the meaning of her name - dawn) supporting the idea the palace was designed specifically for her and Prince Phillip.
 * Aurora was the first person shown to have her heart magically reinserted.
 * Aurora's mother is the original "Sleeping Beauty".
 * In Charles Perrault's "The Sleeping Beauty," L'Aurore is the Sleeping Beauty's daughter's name.