Zelena sat on her cot with her eyes closed and her knees pulled up to her chin. She couldn't keep the thoughts at bay. Thoughts of abandonment, reject, neglect, hatred and inferiority. Thoughts of being wicked. She usually didn't mind being alone, but there were times when she just couldn't deal with her own twisted mind, seeking to pull her down into the black abyss that she was teetering precariously above. She wanted to be normal. She's always wanted to be. To just live and have friends and someone who cared about her. That's she'd wanted: to feel loved. Now she was hated more than ever and confined to this wretched existence of cells and doors and walls.
"Z?" Lily's voice brought her out of her dark thoughts as the young dragon sat next to her, presenting her with a bag of food from Granny's. "You okay?"
"Ugh, yeah." Zelena quickly straightened up and accepted the hot greasy food. "Thanks."
"No problem." Lily leaned against the wall, letting out a small groan of pain.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, my mom just kicked my ass this morning. Scary dragon bitch lessons. Today was fighting with a staff."
"I see they're going well." Zelena smirked, biting into her burger.
"Yep." Lily grinned proudly. "She's amazing, and pretty damn fast for a hundred year old dragon." Zelena said nothing as Lily told her about flying with Maleficent and being taught magic. The woman was so happy to finally have a family. The redhead wasn't sure when she started visiting or when they became friends, but she was glad of the company. "So anyways, Zelena, I want you to come with me today. I have a surprise for you."
"I don't like surprises." Zelena replied. "And I'm not allowed to leave."
"Do you really care about following rules?"
"Not at all."
"Then finish up and we can go. I hope you like it." Lily smiled. Zelena raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but finished eating quickly and allowed herself to be lead out of the ward. People looked at them with suspicion and she could feel the hatred in their eyes, but Lily hardly seemed to notice. They walked outside to a cherry red motorcycle. "Look at what Mom bought me for my late birthday."
"She bought you that?"
"Yep. Hop on." Lily climbed onto the bike and Zelena slowly climbed on behind her, hooking her arms around her waist.
"Don't kill me."
"Don't die." Lily smirked over her shoulder as she roared off, accelerating almost instantly.
Despite the fear of crashing and dying, Zelena enjoyed the wind rushing through her hair. It was almost like flying. She felt free, yet protected at the same time with Lily guiding the motorcycle. It rode smoothly with an almost silent engine and she briefly wondered just how the hell a dragon who'd been dead a couple months before could afford such a thing. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the feeling. She didn't even notice when they stopped. "We're here."
Zelena opened her eyes, surprised that they were at the end of her driveway, the long path leading up to the farmhouse. It was also lined with bright red flames. "Why are we here? What is this?"
"Your surprise." Lily cut off the motorcycle and waited for her to get off before doing the same. "Come on, she's waiting."
"Who's waiting?"
"Just stop asking questions and walk." Lily pushed her forward up the lane. "I was talking to Mom about your situation."
"What situation?"
"With Regina. You don't deserve to be locked up, and you only are because Regina is pissed about you going back in time and trying to ruin her happy ending, blah blah blah. They didn't lock up any other villain like that. Anyways, you're like the only friend I have in this town-"
"What about Emma?"
"That friendship crashed and burned years ago." Lily scoffed. "Anyways, your mom didn't care about you and your sister's a bitch to you...for pretty good reason actually, but I thought...maybe you'd like to be apart of a new family." They arrived at the farmhouse where Maleficent was standing on the front porch, looking regal and mysterious in a long black dress. She was helmetless, letting silky golden hair to hang free down her shoulders. She was holding Zelena's emerald necklace in her hands.
"What's going on?" Zelena asked as Mal descended the steps.
"Lilith came to me and told me about what you did. Congratulations, breaking a law of magic couldn't have been easy."
"Well for someone of my power and awesomeness, it was pretty easy." Zelena replied.
Mal smirked. "Even so. I have an offer for you. For a long time, it has always been 3 Queens of Darkness. Now there is only…" She gestured to herself. "One."
Zelena's smile faded as she realized that Mal was probably alone too. Sure she had Lily, but before that, her life was nothing but heartbreak and loneliness. Essentially the last of her kind living in a fortress far from civilization. It must've been hell for the woman.
"However, I see two women before me with the makings of being excellent queens."
"Wait, what?" Lily asked. "Me too? You didn't-"
"I know dear. Being a Queen of Darkness is more than a partnership between villains. It means even more to me now should the both of you accept this offer. All you will ever have to do is call, and the Dragon Queen will be at your side."
"You want me to be a Queen of Darkness?" Zelena asked. "Why?"
"Why not?" Mal replied. "If not, you will spend perhaps the rest of your days in a cell. Believe me, I spent 30 years underneath the library and no person should suffer such a fate. The heroes are quick to judge and slow to forgive. None of them know or even care why it is villains do what we do. They don't understand what it means to taste the darkness, to give in and give up. It is easy to always make the right choice when you have never been in position where you have no choices or only the wrong to choose. All people are flawed, there cannot be light without darkness or the other way around. Finding people and a place where they accept this darkness is… a blessing. A place where you can simply...be. I want this faction to be the home and the family the both of you have always sought. Now, Zelena, we've never really dealt with one another in the past, but I do know what happened to you and I do know that you are more than a Wicked Witch. I know that your heart is not truly wicked, you just want to be loved, as all people do. Will you accept this chance for something better?"
"I will!" Lily said, earning a smile and a chuckle from her mother.
"I will as well." Zelena added. "What you've said is true. I am...alone, but I don't want to be."
"You won't be any more." Maleficent smiled as she removed the cuff from her wrist and crushed the emerald necklace in her hands. Green magic flowed into the air before slamming back into Zelena. "Now there is nothing stopping you from reaching your full potential. I welcome the both of you...as full Queens of Darkness." The dragon held up her hand, conjuring Zelena's treasured broomstick and offered it to the witch.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Zelena asked as she accepted it.
"Whatever we damn well please." Mal grinned as she shifted forms, shooting into the sky. Lily joined in the air and Zelena smiled as she took off after them.
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A/N: This will probably be a little 2 or 3 shot. It's an idea that just wouldn't go away until I wrote a little something on it. Cruella and Ursula will not be forgotten as the original Queens, but I love Zelena, Lily and Maleficent and thought this would be a nice fit for them. Not only would Zelena get a motherly figure she never had, but Mal would and Lily would get a friend not be as alone.
