Disclaimer: I don't own Maleficent.

A/N: I LOVED this movie. The relationship bond between Maleficent and Aurora was beautifully done. I think my favourite scene was where Mal tells Aurora about her wings. I think my heart actually broke a little during it. :'(

Take Flight

The child looked so peaceful; so serene, it was as though she were merely sleeping. Whilst this was technically the case, Maleficent knew that it was a sleep from which she would never awaken and, what's more, she knew that it was all her doing. She would give anything to be able to take it back. In fact, she had tried to take it back, but her everlasting clause had rendered the curse irrevocable. Not even she herself had the power to stop it from taking effect.

What was done was done.

In an act of mercy, towards the innocent baby, she had thrown in the clause about 'true love's kiss' being able to break the enchantment, but, deep down, she had known that it didn't really mean anything; they were just words. There was no such thing as true love.

She had learned that with the most devastating of consequences.

No, there was no such thing as true love and with that; she knew that she had in fact condemned the King's baby daughter to an early death: a tiny infant who was merely collateral damage, in a deadly game of vengeance that she had waited years to seek.

The King.

Even just thinking about him made her blood boil.

In actual fact, she thought of him more than she would care to admit. Occasionally, it was out of a longing for the young man she had once known and for the happiness she had once felt, still able to recall how her heart, once pure and full of joy, had fluttered every time she saw him. More often than not though, her thoughts were full of hatred and a burning anger set deep within her soul. His betrayal was still as fresh as it had been on that fateful night.

The night he had stolen her life from her.

Even now, she missed her wings. Every time she looked up to the sky, she felt the agony wash over her as if it were happening all over again. She longed for the freedom she had felt when she soared through the skies; the wind in her hair, her wings flapping behind her as they carried her high above the clouds but, alas, it was not to be; it was never to be.

Her wings were now in the form of a crow, named Diaval. She would send him out to spy on the human kingdom and to gather information she could use towards her advantage. When he had told her of the christening for the new princess, it had just been too perfect.

Now it was his turn to have everything ripped away from him.

Now King Stefan would know what it was like to truly suffer.

Killing him would be easy; oh so easy. It was too easy. It would be too merciful and he didn't deserve mercy.

He deserved pain.

He deserved anguish.

He deserved...

...what was coming to him.

Oh, yes.

She didn't have to kill him to kill him. No, all she had to do was take away the most precious jewel in his crown.

Simple.

Or so it should have been.

In the beginning, she had watched the cottage from afar. Always careful to keep her distance as she revelled in the misery and destruction she had managed to cause the King and at the mayhem she continued to cause as she had some fun at the expense of the pixies. However it became apparent - rather quickly - that the pixies were nothing but incompetent fools, barely able to take care of themselves let alone raise an infant!

Surprisingly, she soon found herself beginning to interfere more and more. Not directly, of course, but instead through her wings. She would send Diaval out to keep watch over her and to ensure the welfare and safety of the child. Or 'Beastie', as she had taken to calling her; an affectionate pet name for a creature she should loathe.

But she didn't.

…she couldn't.

As the years passed by, she continued to watch over her, usually skulking in the shadows, hidden from sight in the dark abyss. She watched on as she grew from that little toddler who had demanded she be lifted 'up', to the young woman she was now starting to become.

Yet, she continued to refuse her own thoughts, which told her she was continuing to watch over the child because she actually cared for her. Somehow, the child had started to warm her previously frozen over heart.

From her hiding place, she watched as Aurora played with the water faeries; her joy so alike to what she herself had once felt when she was amongst nature in all its simplistic beauty. As soon as the faeries noticed she was there, they fled in fear.

It stung.

There had been a time when they had been friends.

"I know you're there."

Her Beastie suddenly called out into the darkness.

"Do not be afraid."

She didn't move, surprise and shock momentarily overtook her and she struggled for a few moments to find her voice.

" I am not afraid."

" Then come out."

"...Then you'll be afraid."

The blonde shook her head. So naive. So trusting. "No, I won't."

Every so slowly, she stepped out from the darkness of the shadows and into the pale moonlight. The girl simply stared at her. She had fully expected for her to run a mile but instead she remained rooted to the spot. For a moment, neither of them said a word, then the blonde spoke.

" I know who you are."

" Do you?"

The blonde grinned, her smile so beautiful and innocent.

"You're my faerie godmother."

That had been then.

Now... now she would love nothing more than to be able to wave a magic wand and make it all better.

Now, Aurora knew the truth.

Now, Aurora hated her.

Now, she hated herself.

She looked at the sleeping beauty on the bed, tears forming in the back of her eyes and a lump in her throat as she surveyed her handiwork.

What had she done?

She had all but killed the closest thing she had to a daughter; the most precious thing in her life.

When she had seen the boy and Aurora interact in the forest, she had thought they had found the answer; the key, but after the kiss, there had been nothing. She had waited, with baited breath, hoping against hope, but there was nothing; no sign of life within the princess. She felt her heart sink. That had been their last chance; their only chance, and now, it was too late.

She hadn't felt so helpless since the night she had lost her wings.

She approached the bed, each step she took driving agony further into her heart. She stood, somehow smaller and less of a force to be reckoned with, drinking in the image of the young woman who lay before her; memorising her every detail. Eventually, she found her voice.

"I will not ask you for forgiveness because what I have done is unforgivable. I was so lost in hatred and revenge...I never dreamed that I could love you so much. Sweet Aurora, you stole what was left of my heart. And now I've lost you forever. But I swear, no harm will come to you as long as I live...and not a day shall pass that I won't miss your smile..."

With her piece said and an apology made, she placed a gentle kiss upon Aurora's forehead, a single tear breaking free from its barrier as it rolled down her cheek, splashing onto the cool and clammy forehead.

It was the last gesture she would ever give.

Aurora's eyelashes fluttered several times, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light, before she opened her eyes.

"Hello Godmother."

Aurora smiled at her.

Maleficent knew that she couldn't live her life without seeing that smile every day.

Stefan, he was the man who had broken her heart.

His daughter was the one who had pieced it back together and made it soar.