I Know You

6

 "Godmother?"

Maleficent lifted her gaze from the Pool of Jewels – though her head had been elsewhere – to find Aurora standing behind her at the edge of the clearing.

The girl looked hesitant, as if contemplating whether she might have disturbed something.

"Hello Beastie."

"I've been looking all over for you," Aurora said, unmoving.

"It would seem you have found me."

"If you want to be alone, I can go," she said softly.

Maleficent shook her head, gesturing to the large boulder she was sitting on, for the girl to join her.

"What were you thinking about?" Aurora asked, sitting down beside her, her face full of innocence.

Too much innocence for Maleficent's thoughts.

"Many things, Beastie. Tell me, how has your first day back in the moors been?" the fairy asked.

"Wonderful," she beamed. "Truly. Like I've never been away."

But she had.

"Aurora, I need you to promise me that you'll be more careful," Maleficent said, her tone dropping somewhat. "I cannot protect you if you wander too far."

The girl glanced up at her sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to collect some wildflowers for my aunts. I didn't realise how far I'd walked. I didn't mean-"

"I know," her Godmother said, simply. "I understand. But if you are going to stay here in the moors, I must have your word that you will wander no further than meets the eye. And that you will tell me if you ever... desire to do so."

For a moment, Aurora stared at her, a twinkle in her eye.

"Godmother?"

"Yes?" Maleficent drawled, arching an eyebrow.

"Did you just... make a rule?" she asked, smiling.

The fairy narrowed her eyes. What was that little beast smiling at? The girl may have been sixteen, but if she thought Maleficent's rules childish, then perhaps she would think up a few more.

"Well, yes, I suppose I did. And I will not apologise for it. If you-"

She was stopped mid-sentence as Aurora giggled, wrapping both of her arms around her Godmother's left one and planting a soft kiss onto her sharp cheekbone before her head came to rest against Maleficent's shoulder.

"Whatever is the matter?" Maleficent asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," Aurora beamed. "I love the rule. I love it."

"Are you quite well?"

The girl laughed, readjusting the position of her head to look at her Godmother. The look of utter confusion on the fairy's face only made the situation more amusing.

"Forgive me, Godmother. It's just... being raised by pixies and all... I've never had rules before. Nor a mother who cared enough to give them to me."

"That is simply not true, you outrageous little beast. For you have always had me," Maleficent told her, keeping her eyes trained firmly in front of her.

"But still," Aurora said, more softly, thumbing the large ring on Maleficent's hand absent-mindedly. "I like being here with you, like this. Just the two of us. And Diaval, of course."

Maleficent inclined her head, smiling faintly.

"I promise never to break your rule," the girl continued. "And I have a rule for you, also."

"That is not how it works!" Maleficent told her, incensed.

"Alright. Then it is a wish."

"And what, pray tell me, leads you to believe that I can grant you a wish?" she asked.

"You're my Fairy Godmother. Remember?" Aurora smiled.

Maleficent hummed. "And what is this wish you speak of?"

"Only that you'll be here always, and that you'll never leave me," the girl said, and she watched Maleficent with big eyes, patiently awaiting an answer.

Leaning in, the fairy pressed soft lips against the child's forehead.

"If that is your wish, then you may consider it granted."

Ω Ω Ω Ω

Diaval sat by the water's edge and watched Aurora interact with the water sprites in her usual delighted manner.

Before heading out on her usual evening sky-patrol of the moors, Maleficent had put him into his human form, in order to keep the girl company whilst she was gone.

"It's getting dark," he told her eventually. "We should get back."

Leaving the sprites and coming to sit beside him, Aurora suddenly adopted a very serious face.

"Diaval? Might I ask you something?"

"Anything," he smiled.

"Godmother's wings..."

Not that.

The words hung in the air for a moment before Aurora continued.

"...He stole them, didn't he? My father."

"You should really talk to her about this," Diaval began, uncomfortable.

"She said that they were stolen from her. It can't be a coincidence that I came across them in the castle," Aurora continued, showing no signs of having heard him.

Diaval exhaled in response. Technically, he told himself, he hadn't said a word. The girl wasn't stupid, and she'd figured this much out for herself.

"Why would he do that?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Aurora, this isn't my place.... You need to talk to Maleficent," Diaval told her again.

"I tried. Before the coronation and several times after it, too," she said, clearly frustrated. "I know she's hiding something from me."

Diaval opened his mouth but nothing came out. It was more than his life was worth to blow the lid on this one, and no matter how much he cared for Aurora, all he could manage in that moment was a defeated shrug.

"Fine," the girl stood up, indignant.

"Where are you going?" he asked, nervously.

"If you won't tell me, then I'm going to find somebody that will!" Aurora told him – and before he could do anything about it, she was gone through the clearing and into the trees.

She knew Diaval would never keep up with her with legs instead of wings, and perhaps even knew that her Godmother was going to be angry with her for taking off. But right then, she needed to get the answers to the questions that had been plaguing her for weeks.

She needed to find her aunties.

Ω Ω Ω Ω