It has been months since they last touched or even saw each other, since either of them had a pleasant coupling with a significant other. So Mal doesn't pay too much attention to Regina's body looking a bit rounder than the last time they had actually met. They jump on each other the moment their hungry eyes meet, the moment Regina appears in Mal's candlelit bedchamber, suddenly making the shadows dance around the room and causing Mal's heart to painfully skip a beat. The purple smoke has no time to disappear around Regina when Mal transports herself right in front of her to be able to kiss and hold her as fast as possible.

They are in the bed in no time, with no clothing thanks to another spell Mal is so eager to conjure. She doesn't bother questioning Regina about her absence, she knows too well how her time and activities are controlled either by her husband or her mentor. She just can't help being worried whenever the young queen sends her letters with only a few words hastily scripted in them, words with no color or life, only to let Maleficent know that their rendez-vous will have to wait until she says otherwise.

But she is here now and she looks delicious, feels soft and sounds eager.

It's only…

It's the sweet taste that starts Maleficent's thoughts to wander. Though it's only a small drop, mixing with her saliva inside her eager mouth, evaporating too soon on her tongue, leaving behind only the heavy truth this unfamiliar taste might held.

But Mal's desire doesn't let her engage in such serious thoughts. Their separation has been unberable for her, making her desperate to enjoy her young friend's presence at last. And exploring Regina's seemingly fuller breasts, probing the already swollen nipples seems so much more pleasant, than questioning her about her possible condition -about secrets which most certainly would just ruin their heated lovemaking. And that would be only the beginning. The secrets are already lurking behind the shadows, right under Regina's velvet skin, threatening to darken Maleficent's mind and poison her loving heart.

But Mal wouldn't let that happen, so she pushes back the dragon's possesive thoughts, and continues with her ministrations instead. She switches to Regina's other breast, biting then licking its dark peek, while listening to strangled moans, heavenly sounds coming through lips swollen and red from their previously shared demanding kisses. Mal's hunger grows at Regina's responsiveness and she starts to suck on the tight, rounded flesh more eagerly, breathing through her nose to be able to use a more constant force.

She regrets her vehemence as soon as that unwelcome taste enters into her mouth the second time that night. It could have been easily overlooked, it is so feeble, yet so menacing as a too familiar warmth washes over her. Holding back the dragon gets more and more difficult as its fire grows with both worry and jelousy. Ashamed hunger burns deep in her heart for the new intruder's blood. Anger, that soon there will be one more person to keep Regina away from her.

The small clouds of smoke slipping out through her nostrils are the only hint of her inner turmoil. And while she continues to abuse that nipple as if it is the most evil thing in the world right now, the clouds disappear before they have a chance to tickle Regina's cleavage.

Regina hisses at some point, then unconsciously starts to grind her center to Mal's bare thigh, which has been resting so comfortably between her legs. It doesn't take long for her to be completely taken over by an uncontrollable shuddering. Her whole being; body, mind and soul dancing at the threshold of her shattering pleasure as Mal continues to make her feel in heaven.

She hasn't felt this safe, this loved in months. Yet, she just can't let go somehow, and she doesn't know how long her already wearied body can take this trembling.

Her head is filled with concerns, guilt making her thoughts wander because of the things she is withholding from her friend. Her only friend.

The fear of being a disappointment -of not being enough- creeps into her mind, leaving her weak and vulnerable.

"What's wrong little one?" Mal questions the whimpering queen, letting the dark, swollen peak slip out from between her lips.

„I can't…" Says Regina finally, between quivering breaths, her trembling still present and almost destructive. She is unable to voice anything else besides groans, while her back arches on its own accord, her chest pushed up and her chin raised high, graceful, she is a Queen in every way, a Queen always, slender and delicate, innocent and erotic, a Queen lost in her pleasure.

"My, My. Let's see if I can make it better," whispers Mal soothingly, against Regina's parted lips, their eyes meeting for the first time since she's watched her beautiful regal features clear out behind the thick purple smoke.

They share a passionate kiss, Mal's stronger body covering Regina's smaller one, holding her down softly while with one hand she is slowly parting the shaking thighs some more, earning another pleading whimper, a sound you can only hear from Regina when she has no remaining strength to keep her walls up, when she gives herself to Mal completely. A very unique, deep sound, weakening on the end, with slightly reverberating edges. Desperate moans on wich Maleficent eagerly feasts.

Having no intention in teasing Regina any further, Mal touches her where she needs her the most. „My dear, feeling how wet you are, this is going to be over in no time. Don't worry." she informs her helpless queen smugly. Grinning, she shifts, kneeling between Regina's legs, getting ready for the last act. She doesn't let go of her sensitive center, massaging the wetness into the soft folds and hard clit thoroughly, making Regina huff and trash and moan some more.

She gasps as two fingers enter her while Mal's thumb keeps circling around her aching bundle at the top of her nether lips. Her hips move in frustration before Mal's digits even have a chance to start their sweet dance, sliding so perfectly in and then out. In and out. Her inner muscles welcome the thick but gentle intruders, and she feels so full and hot that she starts whimpering again, teardrops sneaking out through her eyelids to reveal her desperation.

She is there, almost there.

"You are doing so well. It is going to feel so good my dear," murmurs the dragon to her lover as she kisses away some of those traitorous tears, her mouth hot, so hot even against the young queen's own burning cheeks. "You love this, don't you? You love how I always take care of you?" she asks, or rather states, as her fingers continue to draw pleasure.

In and out.

Mal places wet kisses on the top of Regina's full and sensitive mounds, her breath and tongue, like floating lava, bringing both pain and pleasure at the same time as they touch her skin. "Show me how much you enjoy it," she demands as her eyes are getting dark and her pupils start to narrow on the edges, her blue irises changing, shifting until they turn completely golden, until at last dragon's eyes are staring down at the quivering Queen.

Then finally, when the pace is right, the pressure enough, and the sweet pain from her breasts and core merge together and she can't tell anymore in which part of her body does the pleasure start to build, if it is brought by Mal's fingers or her lips or everything together that makes it too much and yet not enough, that is when it happens.

She is there, captured, wanting more and more, deeper and harder, and doesn't want this to ever end. And somehow it doesn't, instead the tightness and the tingling only builds and builds, and her muscles continue to be strained so perfectly. Everything feels so perfect as Mal's fingers are still moving, filling her completely and sharp teeth are sinking into her erect nipples. And it's not pain that she feels, but warmth, love and freedom.

By the time Mal hears Regina's loud, throaty moan, the trapped beast is dangerously burning her insides, threatening to break her skin into scales. Her fingers attempt to move some more, trying to get a bit deeper until they are seized by the deathly grip of Regina's walls. With her golden eyes, she watches in awe how the pleasure washes through her lover's body, how helplessly she convulses against the waves, how she is still moaning so freely.

That beautiful sight and those heart-warming sounds are what calm the dragon in the end. The heat previously ruling her senses shifts as it travels into her heart, and some also into her lower belly. She remembers how much she cares about the younger woman, how she should protect her more, now. As her mind clears, suddenly it's only their breathing she hears, Regina's still heavy and laboured, hers calmer and much cooler than before.

Her little Queen. Her beautiful lover.

She places her palm softly against the clammy skin under her navel, stroking the tiny bump there.

"Mal, I…" Regina begins, startled by the gentle touch, but even now not really knowing what to say.

"You haven't told me. Why? Why haven't you visited me sooner? Is everything okay?" Mal asks, the anger is long gone now, her questions are not demanding at all. She is only truly worried.

"You…., you don't hate me?" Regina whispers, still hesitant and surprised. She never expected her state to be this easily accepted.

"I couldn't hate you. Never. I am only a bit jealous," Maleficent confesses, looking ashamed of revealing her deepest feelings.

"Of the baby?"

"Of the baby, of your husband, that brat Snow White, of anyone who can touch you, who can be with you day and night," she complains, growing overwhelmed.

"Don't say that."

"Why? It's the truth! I want you to stay here with me."

"Stop, please," Regina sighs, her throat tightening, her eyes burning, and not because she doesn't believe her lover's words, but because she doesn't think that hope will ever be meant for her.

"No. I have seen enough. I won't let you go back to them."

"You can't protect me."

They both fell silent after that, the truth hanging ugly and painful between them. She knew her friend was trapped, but how long will she watch her return to her shining cage, living right next to that decaying trone yet still so far away from it. Only to be someone who is overlooked, who is only being used. How can she stands back as what once used to be a mere drop of darkness inside Regina is being fed through isolation and neglect to finally become something that would destroy all remnants of love and hope in her soul, until her little queen changes irreversibly.

She just can't watch that happen.

"We could run away. Raise the baby together. Be happy," she offers, sounding as if it was so simple, as if life was ever simple or easy for Regina. It could be. At least a bit easier, Mal thinks as she catches herself thinking about the baby as hers, realising that she has been unintentionally drawing circles on Regina's belly all this time, completely captured by the feel of the slight bump.

"They would find us. Do you really think a king would let his child get lost so easily? Do you think you can trick The Dark One?" She replies, her voice suddenly darker, her gaze averting, clearly refusing even the thought of ever finding a way out of her miserable life. Because she is too afraid to hope for more.

"I want to try. I can't see you in pain anymore. I want to make you as happy as you make me. But I can't do that with those people around you. You have to decide if you are willing to give up your revenge against Snow White. You have to choose. Choose hope. For me?" Mal argues, now holding Regina's beautiful face on both sides, forcing her to look at her again, brushing the tears from her cheeks with both thumbs to finally stare into those deep, brown eyes, now as wet and unsure as she has never seen them before. "You have made me want to live again, truly live, and I won't let you waste your own life away."

Her words hit Regina hard, and she shouldn't feel fear when hearing about hope and how someone wants to make her happy, but still that is the strongest feeling that fills her heart. And she doesn't really know how to react, or if she even should believe in what Mal says, because she has given up on a happy life, she has given up on ever being free without taking power for herself. Without anger and vengeance.

She turns to her side to snuggle into Mal, head resting on pale, slender shoulders, their naked bodies fitting together perfectly. She places a soft kiss to the top of the delicate chest, as her tears keep falling until she is overtaken by the heavy smoothness of a well needed sleep.

They meet again two weeks later, no jealousy, no shame standing between them this time. Both dragon and king forgotten, left behind in their right places.

Their lovemaking is sweet and tender. Slow, almost careful. It's something new for both of them. It is something they both wanted for such a long time, after so many years spent without love, that they almost forgot what the feeling they really craved for was.

A week passes, then two, the excitement grows in Mal's heart, as the day of their meeting comes again finally.

Only, the moon is up and Mal is still waiting. She has been waiting with her window wide open now all day long, as if it would help Regina finding her way inside. She chuckles to herself at how pathetic she became. But she doesn't really mind it, not when very soon she will be able to hold her love in her arms.

She might have mistaken the day she thinks suddenly, while she is impatiently waiting Regina's arrival.

There is a shift in the air, making the heavy curtains dance lazily against the thick, goldish ropes, then the sudden breeze catches her hair, messing with it a little.

Cold, familiar wind, that grips her heart and stings her eyes.

"I hear you are desperately waiting for someone," sounds the sing-song voice.

"No one called you, imp," she answers briskly, using her most dismissing tone while she feels as if he was keeping her heart in a tight grip.

"But I am here to deliver some news… A rather unfortunate events occurred a few days ago."

With his words the grip loosens on Maleficent's heart, only to leave the distressed organ to beat wildly.

"On a royal event our beloved Queen was run off by a horse, and it was already too late for the healers to help the little one inside her," He continues his tale, here and there pausing with those discordant tones and mad chuckles of his. "But at least the Queen is fine. More or less," he finishes in a high tone.

It all sounds so surreal, so mean. She can't believe it. She refuses to believe it. But at the same time the pain creeps its way deep inside her and spreads everywhere in her body. She can't fight it any more.

"Go away! Leave my castle!" She cries, frustrated.

"You're welcome!" Rumplestiltskin giggles, satisfied, and bows deeply before he disappears, leaving Mal alone with her tears.

First she wants to go to her, to see with her own eyes how she is doing. Then she calms a bit and remembers that she would only cause Regina more harm if she would show up in her chambers. It is more dangerous now that the Queen is weak and god knows how many maids, guards and healers are around her and around the castle, all with eager eyes to spot Maleficent.

No, she will have to wait.

And so she does, while the helplessness and worry eats at her insides. Her heart aches for her little one, and she feels weak for wanting to burn everyone to ashes in that god forsaken castle.

But the wait ends surprisingly soon.

Hardly a week passes, when the double door of her throne room swings open and Regina storms in with long, strong steps, the clicking of her heels echoing between the cold stone walls.

She wears black, her cape gracefully flowing after her. Her hair is in a strange updo, which Mal has never seen on her before. As she comes closer Mal can notice the strong eyeshadow applied around Regina's eyes, making a big contrast with her sickly pale skin.

"Hello, my dear Maleficent!" She greets her, black lips easily forming a smile. Too easily. A smile so foreign and also so dreadful.

Mal's primer relief very fast turns into worry, though now it's not worry about Regina's physical health, but more about her mental one.

„I am so sorry." Maleficent whispers, stepping to her friend, catching those tiny hands between her bigger ones, feeling the Queen's fingers cold and shaking, sensing her unusual bravado faltering for a second.

Then Mal places her palms against the white cheeks, even caresses Regina there, and tries, just tries very hard to comfort her. To be gentle, to be careful. To listen.

A single tear escapes from Regina's right eye, slides down along her nose, then passes the scar above her upper lip before the little drop falls into her revealing cleavage.

"What happened?" Mal dares to question.

"Snow White happened." Regina answers right away, with a slightly strangled voice. "That little brat opened my eyes. I remember now that I can't be happy until I have taken my revenge on the princess," she says this without a blink, a tale memorised during lonely nights filled with pain and tears.

„It's not you… It's not my Regina!" Mal shakes her head in disbelief. „We used to figure things out together."

The Queen lowers her head a bit first, and when she looks up again her dark eyes are shining, as if she is having a high fever, and her smile just grows and grows until it gets very hard for Mal to recognise her lover in this mad looking woman.

"Don't worry. Soon I'll be stronger than ever before. You will be so proud of me!" She continues, humming at the end, then licking her black upper lip as her shimmering eyes stare at Mal seductively.

She takes advantage of Mal's closeness and suddenly kisses her.

And this would have been what Mal wanted, what she was waiting for so desperately a week ago, alone and excited in her bedchamber, until the world turned upside down. But it shouldn't be like this. Definitely not like this, because there is too much teeth used between the soft, black lips and the nails feel too sharp in Regina's every touch.

This is exactly how their past looked like, demanding and rough. It is the opposite from what she craves now.

But Regina just deepens the kiss even more, her body gets wilder and she even pushes the stunned Mal against the wall.

"Stop!" The dragon snaps finally. "Stop this!"

She has to grab Regina's wrists to be able to separate the two of them.

"We need to talk this out. You need to talk this out!" She pleads, her voice a bit raspy but still so gentle, looking right into Regina's deep, brown eyes as she loosens her hold on the thin wrists. "This is why I am here. To help you!" She adds, tilting her head to the side.

„There is nothing to talk about." Regina says simply, turning into a defiant juvenile, freeing herself from Mal's grip only to wipe her wet lips with the back of her hand." Only that the list of my grievances against Snow White has grown of one more bad deed."

„Please, Regina!"

„No, if you are not going to help me, or if you try to get in my way, I…"

„I can't assist you in this. We both know that it will only darken your soul," Mal cuts in, not letting her finish, wishing that there is still a way to turn Regina back into a lighter path.

"What soul?" The Queen releases a deep, disturbing laugh. "You still think I have one?" She pauses, chest heaving, eyes wide, waiting for an answer.

"Of course you have." Mal whispers, her voice, her whole demeanor filled with hope.

"You are pathetic," Regina hisses through her teeth, she doesn't laugh this time, her face just gets this haunted look on it. "Mother was right, love is really weakness. And I won't let you weaken me!"

"No, Regina, please, listen to me!"

But she doesn't, not any more. She just turns her head around with that strange hairdo on the top, stretches her neck gracefully, her movements also somehow threatening as she dwells on them, taking her time. It is all slow motion for Maleficent. Then she swings her cape, conjures her magic, and it is obvious that she is about to leave.

"Goodbye my friend," she says, without any emotion.

The last little purple clouds are still floating in the air, on the exact place where Regina previously stood, when Mal sinks to the floor heavily. Forming a heap of messy lilac, a color she liked to wear recently all because Regina preferred the lighter colors on her. They made her blond hair shine, she used to say.

And she tries to think of the old times, which weren't exactly so long ago, but they still feel as if they happened realms away, in a purple haze.

She cries and cries, helpless and angry tears.

Then the cold wind carries an unwelcome sound, a mean giggle.

"Did you really think I would let her free?"