Freedom for the Slave in the Mirror

"Who is that girl I see
Staring straight
Back at me?
Why is my reflection someone
I don't know?
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I've tried
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?"

"Reflection" - Lea Salonga/Christina Aguilera (Mulan Soundtrack)

Adira had dressed for her first performance since she had once more become a free woman. Looking into the full length mirror she frowned. Some days she didn’t know who the woman in the mirror was. Was she an imposture or a real woman; she could hardly tell any longer. It could have been the dress, her hair or something else entirely. “You were a slave; you will never be anything more then a slave.” Lord Tyree’s words rang in her ears as she stared at the reflection. The face in the mirror crumpled into a hurt frown. “Who was that woman?”

“Adira!” The voice startled her. “You will be late if you don’t…” her mother’s voice trailed off as she stopped in the doorway. Adira looked away hoping her thoughts could be hidden away, perhaps she was an imposture.

“What is it Adira?” Her mother questioned as she crossed the room to join her daughter.

“I…I... just wonder who I am sometimes.” Adira stuttered. Lady Deljah smiled reassuringly as she tucked Adira’s long pony tail behind her shoulder. For a long moment both women stared into the mirror.

Lady Deljah sighed. “I see my beautiful daughter, who is proud and talented with compassion and strength that most can only dream of.”

Adira looked down at her feet. “I still see a slave.” She finally murmured unable to look up at her mother.

Lady Deljah frowned. “It takes time for perceptions to change, my dear. Even the perceptions we have of ourselves do not change overnight.” Lady Deljah wrapped her arms around her daughter. “Adira, you are only a slave when you believe that is what you are.” She smiled as she gently raised Adira’s chin. Lady Deljah glanced in the mirror and Adira’s eyes followed. “From what I have heard there has never been a slave in that mirror. There has always been a strong woman there, a free woman who was never afraid to make her own way, to stand for her beliefs.”

Adira sighed laying her head on her mother’s shoulder. “I just wish others would see that too.” Silence pasted between them as Adira once more remembered how she had yearned for her mother’s comfort through her years of slavery.

“Who do you wish to impress?” Her mother’s voice snapped Adira from her thoughts. “.. Your family, your friends, the man you love? Who else matters enough to diminish your self worth with their blindness?”

Adira slowly smiled feeling foolish for her self doubt but her trepidation crept back. “What about court?”

Lady Deljah smirked. “Adira, the court is fickle. You have only to prove you are something more, more then a slave and they will believe it.”

Adira’s eyes ventured back to the mirror. “Make them believe.” She repeated in her mind. She squeezed her mother basking in a new found confidence.

“Then I shall be the most beautiful opera singer the Republic has ever known.” Adira declared as she straightened her skirt.

Lady Deljah laughed wagging her finger at her daughter. “Not if you are always late. Hurry along.” She encouraged.

Adira glanced at the time with a gasp. She kissed her mother on the cheek and rushed from the room in a flurry of skirts and ruffles.


Crossposted to theatrical_muse