**A/n- thanks guys for waiting the writers block has some what subsided for the time being -thank god!- hope you guys enjoy the chapter (I know they keep getting shorter but it's because we are nearing the end and I want to drag it out as much as possible.) **
Maleficent crouches by the basket, fingers stroking the handle. The tears that fell from her eyes creating watery trails down her cheeks. "I've lost her once, I can't lose her again."
Diaval hops onto her shoulder and wraps his black, feathered wing around her neck in a comforting gesture. Philip loses his temper and marches off to the guards.
"Why was no one with Queen Aurora?!"
"She said she wanted to pick berries."
"That is no excuse!"
"We apologize greatly your majesty, we knew not to watch over her."
"Aurora has now two been captured." Philip says lowering his head trying to cool off.
"She what?!" One guard says standing up.
"They have taken your Queen. . . my wife . . ." He feels tears prick his eyes as he turns and walks away, fists clenched.
*start of flashback*
You and Diaval walk hand in hand towards the castle; cool breeze engulfing the pair of you. "You know what this breeze means don't you?" You smile excitedly.
"I'm sure I know this one." Diaval says in mock concentration.
"It means," Your smile widens "mist is on it's way."
"Ah, I knew I knew it." You nudge him playfully and laugh.
As the castle comes into view you feel your stomach growl. "Was that your stomach or mine?" Diaval asks holding onto his own.
"I'm not so sure anymore." You had both starved yourselves knowing that the last time you had eaten before a castle vist, you had to force all three courses down.
Diaval pushes open the castle doors and walks you inside. You are met with open arms and escorted to the grand dining room, where Maleficent, Philip and Aurora were already engrossed in conversation.
"(f/n)! Diaval! Come join us!" Philip said cracking open a bottle of wine. You walk over to the table and Diaval pulls your chair out.
"Ohhh, such a gentleman!" You gasp in mock surprise.
"I'm always a gentleman." He smiles taking a seat opposite you.
"That you are." Aurora laughs. Diaval offers a nod and a smile before joining in on the conversation. The food arrived not long after.
The butlers brought steaming hot steak and gravy pie with vegetables and mashed potatoes, served on a silver platter. You and Diaval waste no time digging in.
"So," Maleficent smiles at Diaval,half way through eating. You were so focused on your food you could barely hear her. You smiled blissfully unaware of the next topic of conversation and shoved a massive piece of pie into your mouth. "(f/n) and yourself have been together for a while now. . . Have you made any plans for children?"
"Children?!" You shout, choking on your food. You plummeted into a coughing fit trying to dislodge the trapped food. After a few gulps of wine you could breath again. "Children?" You repeat "A little early to be thinking about that don't you think?"
"We've known each other for over sixteen years." Diaval reminded you. "If anything I think it's time we discussed it."
"I- I. . . Aurora, Philip! Any plans for your wedding yet?!" You smile with wide eyes changing the subject before eating more of your food. You keep your head down avoiding the hurt gaze you know Diaval is giving you.
"Well, not really, no. We thought we might just have it in the moors. . . close to the cottage maybe?" Aurora smiles nervously, trying to ignore the pure awkwardness floating through the air.
"Well," Diaval says shaking his head and forcing a smile. "we are glad to hear that."
The rest of the night was completely awkward, you and Diaval didn't speak until you were far away from the castle. Half way home he spoke."You don't want children, do you?" He sounded heart broken. You stayed quiet for a while before looking up at him.
"It's not that I don't want them it's just. . ." You trail off and sigh when you see her tearing up. "Look, can we please just drop the subject?"
When you arrive home you go straight to bed and stare up at the ceiling. Later that night you feel Diaval climb in next to you. You tilt your head and offer him a sad smile. "I'm sorry " You whisper.
"You haven't got anything to be sorry for. "
"Still, I'm sorry."
"I just don't understand why you don't want a hatching. You were great with Aurora and you are a loving woman. You would make an amazing mother. I jus-"
"I'm scared!" You shout, tears filling your eyes. "I can't be a mother, I can't be responsible for a life. I will mess the child up and it will grow up to hate me as a mother. Some people are not meant to be parents and I am one of them."
"Hey," Diaval whispers, placing his hand on your cheek and wiping away the tears that had begun to fall. "don't cry my love, please. . ."
"I'm sorry." You sob "You deserve more than this. What kind of mate am I if I can't bare the thought of giving you a child?"
"My love, these things take time, and we have loads of that."
"What if I feel the same in a few years? What then? I won't make you stay."
"And I won't let you make me leave. I am with you because I love you, not because I seek to mate. I will never force you into anything you do not want to do; and if that means not having children. . . then I will stand by your decision."
"Thank you." You whisper.
He leans over you and places a kiss on your lips. You wrap your hands around his neck to pull him closer to you. His cool, bare chest falls on top of your clothed one rather un-gracefully. He pulls away and laughs, making your own lips pull into a grin. In the dim moon light you can see the pure love in his eyes. He lets his eyes skim over your face before bringing up his hand to stoke the hair out of your face. You hear him exhale before he kisses you again. "I love you." He smiles once he pulls away, still hovering over you.
"As do I love you pretty bird."
*End of flashback*
You laugh at the memory and stare down at your belly. You sigh, a smile on your face despite the circumstances.
"Un-hand me! I order to know what is going on! I said Un-hand me!"
That voice. You knew that voice. Although it was a long time ago it was still carved into your brain. "Aurora?! Aurora?!"
"(F/n)?! Is that you?!"
"Yes!" You shout with all your remaining energy.
Shadow throws Aurora into the cage with you by her hair and quickly slams it shut. Leaving the two of you alone.
"(F/n)." She whispers, shuffling towards you."You're alive."
"Just. . . " You whimper. You both exchange smiles before you pull her into a hug. She returns it before pulling away to look at your belly.
"Diaval misses you both so much." She then begins to tear up. "He turned back into a bird not long after you went missing. I've never seen him so depressed. We've been looking for you everyday since you went."
"How long have I been gone for?"
Aurora pauses and looks up at you. "Just over eight months."
"Eight months. . . " You repeat in a whisper. "How is he?"
"He isn't doing so good."
"How do you mean?"
"He's. . . He's been ripping. . . ripping feathers out"
"He's what?!" Tears come to your eyes. Aurora
"He has stopped now, due to Maleficent having a serious talk to him."
You open your mouth to speak but only a strangled cry erupts. You suck in a deep breath and try to calm yourself down. "How did you get here?"
Diaval swooped through the air searching for Auroras tracks. ' Surely nobody could disappear without a trace... could they?' Diaval though himself good at tracking, he used to track down worms back when he was a young raven. His eyes looked at every detail of the forest but yet, he found nothing. No blood, no footprints and no sign of a struggle.
He returns back at the camp just as the sun is setting. Maleficent doesn't say anything, she just stares quietly at the tree line. Philip sat hunched over a map, planning out the best route to the mountains.
The weather was slowly getting colder. Diaval watched as his breath came out in small white clouds. He ruffles his feather and brings his wings tighter against his body, in a futile attempt to create warmth. He looked down at his chest and regretted ripping out every feather that was no longer there. It's dark now and the stars twinkle above the campsite.
"It's funny isn't it?" Maleficent mutters, gaining the attention of everyone around the camp.
"Funny, m'lady?" One guard asks.
"Mmhhmm"
"Prey tell, what is it you find amusing?"
"We have been searching and worrying about the where about of (f/n) is for over eight months now with no leads to who might be doing this." This caught Diaval's attention. "And now Aurora has gone missing. The fact that we are so worked up we have forgotten to open our eyes and actually look for clues."
"We have gathered all clues and leads available, non of them have proven anything."
"Really, you've not come across anything suspicious?"
"No m'lady."
"Right." Maleficent nods, pouting her lips. "It's just funny that I've been watching the tree line all day."
"Forgive me, but where are you going with this?" Philip asks, raising his head to look at her.
"No one has left of returned from this camp since Auroras capture. . . So where's Edgar?"
Heads whiz around searching for the old man. True to Maleficent's word, he is nowhere to be seen.
"Edgar?!" You squeak. "You must be mistaken Aurora, Edgar would not do something like this." You smile sadly. "Maybe you hit your head a little two hard."
"Oh, she didn't hit her head." That voice. Edgar's voice to be exact. "She knows who brought her here."
"It was you? How? Why?! What did we ever do to you?!"
"Oh my dear Moore queen, you all killed my king, that can not go unpunished."
"Y-you were like a father to me!"
"Was I?" He laughs. "That may have been your interpretation of my acting but am most certainty no father of yours."
Aurora grabs the bars on the cage and pulls at them.
"Now, now princess. We don't want you to hurt yourself, there will be plenty of time for that later."
"That is Queen to you!" Aurora spat in anger. "And as your queen, I command you to free us!"
Edgar just laughs and turns away. "Make yourself at home Aurora, you're going to be here a while."
"What does he want from us?" Aurora sobs when Edgar is gone.
"You better sit down for this."
So, there you sat and explained what they wanted you to do. "You are only here to be used against me."
"What will they do to me? To you? To the baby?"
"I don't know? I know I can't bring him back but I refuse to even try until the baby is here, there is no way I will risk my child. Aurora, you know I don't want to bring him back but if there is any way for you and this baby to get out alive, God knows I'll do it."
"What about you? You said me and the baby but you didn't mention yourself. Why?"
"I brought Diaval back and it killed me, the only reason I survived was because Diaval was there. But Aurora he's not here now."
"You mean, you bring him back, you die, is that it?" Aurora is shaking from head to toe. "I won't let you do that."
"I'm afraid you have no choice."
"There must be another way, a way to get us all out."
You think for a while before looking down at your hands.
"Aurora, do You know how you got here?"
"I already told you, Edg-"
"I mean do you know the way here, from the palace?"
"I know we are inside a cave on one of the mountains but that's all I know."
"But you have a rough idea?"
"Well yes, but it doesn't really make a different does it? We are stuck here."
You allow the last few particles of magic remaining in your body to flow to your finger tips. "I have a small amount of magic left, the iron has effected me greatly. If I can transport you back to the prison, you can tell the others."
"You could transport us all."
"No, I can't; this is the last of my magic. I've only enough to transport one. Tell the others who captured you and where they are keeping me."
"Only one problem. They aren't at the castle."
"Well, do You know where they are?"
"A camp in the Moores."
"If you can imagine it, you can teleport to it. Close your eyes and picture it. And Aurora, tell Diaval I love him."
Aurora closes her eyes and imagines to camp but slowly lets her mind wander to the cottage you and Diaval had once shared. When she opens her eyes she finds herself there.
She looks at the once beautiful cottage, now a heap of sticks and vines due to the iron affecting your powers.
She shakes her head and begins the long trek to the camp. She wanders the Moores for hours searching for the camp in the pitch black. It wasn't long until she collapsed against a tree, cursing the creator of the dress she was wearing. "Diaval!" She screams "Diaval?! Diaval?!!!" She screams for a solid ten minutes until she heard the slight flapping of wings. "Diaval?"
"Awk!"
"Diaval, it is you!"
Diaval heard your shouts from the camp, he was used to listening out for his name being shouted ever since Maleficent became his mistress. So, as soon as he heard his name, he flew.
'Aurora!' He yelped "Awkk!"
"She's alive Diaval, I know where they are keeping her."
You lay on the floor trying to catch your breath, using the last of your magic had really taken its toll on you. "It's going to be okay." You remind yourself between breaths. "Aurora will bring help."