Maleficent's POV

It was time to head back.

My heart was too focused on Diaval to stay, my heart did not wish to be separated from him any longer than it had.

And just as it had been my first time in a long time to cry, it had been my first time in a long time to have finally listened to my heart.

I needed to tell him.

I yearned to tell Diaval.

I loved him.

I got up, standing as I took flight.

Returning to my nest was my plan but it had diverted from seeing a particular set of eyes.

Diaval had sat at the edge of a cliff waiting for me to return.

"Mistress." He spoke, so bewildered and cautious.

"Yes?"

"You seem...unwell. Did something happen?"

"Indeed."

All else was asleep, leaving only Diaval and I to speak between one another.

But I could not muster the courage to tell him.

"Is there something the matter?"

I only glared at him.

"You did just say-yes...sorry."

An awkward silence lingered between Diaval and I.

"Does it have anything to do with me Mistress?"

"Not particularly...but maybe a little."

Maybe a lot.

But I wasn't about to squander my pride just yet.

As much as I wished to confess my heart to him...my pride held all of it back by a near string.

A string that had strength I knew all too well. A string that would be almost impossible to break as much as it stood alone.

It would have to take the impossible for my pride to fall.

So instead of telling him how I felt I said what normally came.

"I'll be heading in now. Goodnight."

I left him alone.

Morning came as well as an oncoming war.

When all was said and done we had won.

Not only was Queen Ingrith defeated but she was also turned into a goat, becoming inconsequential to most.

Aurora was safe and as much as I wished for her to stay by my side for a little while longer...I had to let her go.

She was in love with Prince Philip and if he made her happy...well then...I had to give her up.

I had to let her marry him, as long as he stayed true to her and really did love her.

So they both wedded, and both who were once bride and groom became wife and husband in a few moments time.

I was glad, happy even.

After the wedding, all the chaos that once was was no longer existing between the dark Fey and the humans.

The war had official ended and even though it did end and most malice was gone from my heart...I was not going to be turning Queen Ingrith into her usual human form just yet.

She deserved at least a couple of weeks to reflect on herself as a goat.

She was the real evil and at one point...she even pushed my buttons enough to turn me into the 'evil' she'd promised her people with her stories and tall-tales.

At the moment where I had returned with such rage...that rage, to the humans, seemed to define who I 'truly' was in there eyes.

If only they knew the whole story...it would've been different.

And at the moment I didn't care...but Aurora had surprised me.

Knowing her for so long and suddenly having her turn on me was almost heartbreaking...but when she knew the actual truth she returned to me...the way she had said that I was her mother softened my heart for her.

She hadn't known the Queen was lying at the start so how could I ever blame her.

Yes, maybe she lacked trust in me but she gained it in that very moment.

And evidently, since she was the Queen of both the Moors, Ulstead and her own people, I no longer was needed. Not even in the Moors.

And I took acceptance with that reality.

Both Diaval and I decided to travel back to where the Dark Fey had resided.

Our lives had a new chapter and we'd make the best of it by living as peacefully as we could with my own kind.

Diaval seemed like he didn't mind but as much as I knew him I knew he was a little out of sorts with being the only non-Fey.

Right now I was sitting close to a small fire Diaval had made for me.

Once he dumped the pile of wood from his hands he sat across from me on the other side of the fire.

I knew, at any moment, he'd try and spark up a conversation between him and I.

"You know Mistress, through all that you've been through and despite the pain you've had to endure all this time...you've been very strong...you've lived through it all...and your the strongest I know. You've raised Aurora as your own even though she was against everything you believed and yet...still, you loved her as your own. I know, if Aurora were here she would say the same."

His tone was kind and honest.

Not once did he look my way. His eyes stayed glued to the dancing flames of the fire that laid in front of him.

"Your too kind Diaval." I, myself, became tranced by the flames for a little while while I spoke to him.

The fire warmed my cold hands as I sat a little closer from the sudden drop in temperature.

For Diaval, he seemed fine. Considering he did have a fur blanket why wouldn't he have been.

"What do you see in me, if I may ask?" Diaval referred that question to me.

There were other words I desired to say but I knew they would be out of character for me.

Such as how he was, for me, someone I wanted to spend the rest of my time with.

The rest of my life with.

The way he was acting as if he wanted to be more than what was between us sparked hope in my heart that had yet to confess to him. 

"What I see is a very noble and honorable Raven. And who, despite being a bird and turned into a man, has become someone special to me."

I didn't want to friend-zone him. And I lacked words to describe how I truly thought of him.

It was quite frustrating really.

"Do you wish to know what I think of you Mistress?"

I truly was curious to know what his thoughts were.

"Go on."

"Well...Mistress I certainly respect you and wish to protect you with all that I have. You've done so much for me, saving my life twice. Even if I'm not the toughest or strongest you'll ever know...I'll do my best to protect you."

My eyes widened at his words. What they meant or what he was applying...it was a little startling for me.

Did he only mean to be acquaintances...the reason he was by my side, was it only because he felt he needed to repay me?

...it was just surprising. It caught me off guard.

Although I was a bit off end about what he meant by that...still...I acted...and pretended like his words didn't just bother me.

"I haven't had better. But if your staying by me only from the debt you "think" you owe you should be free, not stuck here with me. You could be doing so much more with your life than wasting it here with me. You never had a debt to pay."

"..i'm not here out of a "debt" Mistress... I'm here because I want to be here."

He took a long pause before finishing his last words to me.

I was afraid to what they might have been.

And then he spoke. I couldn't look at him so instead, I turned my eyes toward the fire that was slowly growing dimmer.

"Mistress...this might be surprising and if not...maybe even an odd thing for me to say...but...even as a raven, who's been turned into a man, I find that I have fallen into having affections deeper than I had imagined. But I bare them as if a trophy. I am not ashamed of them."

"What exactly do you mean Diaval?" I asked if I had no clue, but in all seriousness...I knew exactly what he had meant.

"There is someone that I have been having affections for for awhile now, far more than just a friend. But I'm afraid they may be unaware and they may never know if I do not tell them."

When he said those words my wings drooped slightly but not enough for the raven to notice.

"Oh. Is that so."

My heart had sunk like a ship in the sea.