I Know You

9

Maleficent looked down at the girl lay beside her on the grass.

Aurora seemed miles away, her eyes focused on the clouds above them, as if picking out shapes.

"What is on your mind?" the fairy asked.

Several hours had passed since relations had thawed before breakfast, but the little beast had been quiet ever since, which meant she was now going to have to address it and probably talk about things she'd rather forget.

"Nothing," came Aurora's soft reply.

"If there is something you wish to discuss... or to ask me... then you may," Maleficent told her, sensing the girl was holding back on her account.

Glancing up at her Godmother, Aurora sat up slowly.

"I just..."

Maleficent hummed, encouragingly.

"I can't stop thinking about what he... I'm ashamed to call him my father," she said, sincerely.

"Then don't."

"Then I won't. But it doesn't change the fact that I have his blood running through my veins," Aurora pointed out. "Do you ever look at me and think of him?"

Maleficent watched her for a moment before she responded. "I don't. Perhaps there was a time when I thought I might. But you are nothing like him."

"May I touch them?" she asked. "Your wings, I mean?"

The fairy hesitated for a second before nodding.

She was not altogether comfortable in her agreement, but, she reminded herself, this was Aurora. And if not her, then who?

Aurora got up, standing behind her Godmother and running a gentle hand over the soft feathers.

Instinctively, Maleficent opened her wings slightly behind her, but she allowed the girl to continue her exploration.

After some time, she felt the girl's hand at her head, running a finger across her left horn. Surprised, she flinched a little, but caught herself as Aurora's hand went to her hair, stroking it carefully.

Maleficent remained perfectly still in her stoicism, until she felt a drop of liquid hit her shoulder blade.

Rain?

A soft sniffle told her otherwise, and the fairy sighed.

"Come here, Beastie."

Reaching behind her, she found Aurora's arm and brought the girl in front of her, pulling her back down until she was virtually in her lap.

"You cannot continue to dwell on the past," Maleficent told her. "What's done is done. In fact, it was also undone, the night you returned my wings to me. And for that, I will be forever grateful."

Aurora simply sat there, unable to find any words in response, and feeling far younger than her years sitting in her Godmother's lap with tears spilling down her cheeks.

"You are not to blame for what he did. Do you hear me?" the fairy asked.

Aurora nodded, allowing Maleficent to take her head in her hands and dry away her tears.

Suitably dryer, she nestled her head into the crook of her Godmother's neck.

For a moment it was silent, and Maleficent rubbed circles on the girl's back – somebody had to calm the child down after all.

"Are you really disappointed in me?" Aurora murmured, eventually.

Where had that come from?

Maleficent frowned. "Who said I was?"

"You did. This morning."

"No, I said I was disappointed in your actions," she clarified. "You could never disappoint me."

"How do you know?" the girl asked.

"Because I am your mother, am I not?" the fairy told her, the words sounding alien on her lips. "And therefore, I know."

Aurora allowed herself a smile.

"We should get back," Maleficent said softly, after a moment's silence.

She shook her head. "Not yet. Let's stay here, just a little while longer."

And so Maleficent allowed the child to remain in her embrace for some time longer, telling herself that this was what Aurora needed, and certainly of no consequence to her either way.

Eventually, however, their peace was disturbed as a squawking Diaval landed in the grass in of them.

"Oh, stop, you infuriating pigeon," Maleficent sighed, putting him into human form with a lazy flick of her fingers.

"Mistress, there's a human at the border," he told her. "A man. He wishes to speak with Aurora."

Aurora frowned, sitting upright and turning to look at Diaval.

"The boy from Ulstead?" Maleficent asked.

Diaval shook his head. "No, not him. He's older. Looks like he's come from one of the villages."

"I don't know anybody from the villages," Aurora said.

"Most likely a peasant, looking for something unobtainable," her Godmother said. "Get rid of him, Diaval. We have no time for this today."

Diaval shifted on the spot, casting a nervous glance Aurora's way.

"What is it?" Maleficent asked, impatiently.

"He says... he is the brother of the late King, Mistress," he explained.

"Of my f-... Of King Stefan?" Aurora asked, surprised. "So he's..."

Diaval nodded. "By all accounts, your Uncle."

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