Some of the fans of Once Upon a Time were probably disappointed when the Mulan and Aurora ship sank due to unrequited feelings, but at least now a new one has sailed. While the matchup was a little surprising, the events that led to the successful pairing were as normal yet magical as the usual heterosexual couplings.
Spoiler Alert, by the way.
The Beatles were right when they sang that we all "get by with a little help from our friends" and, in the April 17 episode titled "Ruby Slippers," Ruby's friend gave her the necessary push to go after the person she loves. This friend turned out to be Mulan, who, instead of sulking over her own unrequited love, is determined to move forward – and what better way to do that than by helping Ruby.
"Don't make the same mistake that I did. Don't wait until it's too late to tell someone how you feel," Mulan tells Ruby when the latter finally admits how she feels for Dorothy.
It is just perfect – or we are just a little sinister – that the Wicked Witch decided to keep Dorothy in the Underworld and place her under a sleeping curse because she was afraid that our protagonists were after her. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy, since they decided to go after the witch when she took Dorothy away.
The duo encounter Snow and she convinces Ruby to tell Dorothy how she feels about her when they return to Oz – so it is safe to say that Ruby is really head over heels for Dorothy that she can't hide her true feelings. Snow manages to return to Oz with Dorothy, who is still under the sleeping curse.
Of course, as most of the classic fairy tale goes, Ruby was able to reunite with Dorothy, who was still under the sleeping curse, and she gives her the classic True Love's Kiss – and she wakes up! Honestly, that would probably be the best part of the episode, but when Dorothy wakes up and figures out what happened and they kiss again.
It is more than just the true love's kiss working for Ruby and Dorothy that makes "Ruby Slippers" a great episode, but the idea that the "kiss of true love" or at its most basic, love, works the same way in whatever form.
"[I]t's not a big deal. It should just be a love story that is as exciting, emotional and heartfelt as any other love story," showrunner Adam Horowitz said about the storyline.
Horowitz is only half-right, though. The storyline should really be like any other love story because of the universality of the theme, but it is a big deal for many because there's finally a show that, instead of killing off gay characters, actually allowed them to live and be together.
