A/N: All rights belong to Disney. If I owned Maleficent, there would be *more* lesbians.
Prologue
Maleficent knew, even before Aurora's first summer, that she was not immune to her own curse. For she found herself amongst the enraptured rabble that earned Aurora the reputation "beloved by all who meet her."
"Caw."
"Hush!" The dark faerie admonished her companion, "Don't make a sound."
Diaval flapped his wings in irritation. "Ca-caaaw."
"Shh!" Maleficent eyes were daggers, poised to strike the raven, should he make another sound. They were both on edge, listening to the heart-breaking cries of the infant just mere feet away from their hiding place in the forest. The asinine trio, Knotgrass, Thistlewit, and the third, whose name Maleficent did not bother committing to memory, were clamoring in the Tudor cottage, clearly neglecting the child in their care.
"Any moment now," Maleficent whispered.
The three disguised faeries shuffled out their abode, bickering back and forth, leaving the wailing child alone. Again.
"Imbeciles," Maleficent muttered with a roll of her eyes. When she was certain no prying eyes could find her, she rose from her hiding place and sauntered to the cottage window. "Hello, Beastie," she cooed softly. The infant's cries continued despite the new company. Maleficent reached through the window and picked up the sobbing little girl.
"It's all right now," Maleficent said as she cradled Aurora against her, "You're all right." She reached into her ropes and pulled out a piece of honeycomb she had covered in parchment. She unwrapped the sweet treat and offered it to Aurora. The child licked the honeycomb and instantly broke out into an elated smile.
She's smiling and so soft and so happy - How could those winged dolts miss this? Miss out on her?
Maleficent caressed the soft blonde curls forming on Aurora's head and traced shapes with her finger on the infant's cheek. Wisps of amber magic diffused into delicate skin.
"Come find me when those idiots draw back this way," Maleficent instructed her familiar. The raven nodded and fluttered to the top of the cottage. Maleficent smiled down at her charge and slipped away into the woods.
In the deepest shadows of the Moors, a horned figure could be heard singing lullabies in native Faerie tongue to an adoring human baby girl.
"Diaval," Maleficent called, "what do the human children do for fun?"
The raven cocked his head and chirped.
"Into a man."
Diaval stumbled as he scrambled to get his legs under him. "That's better," he said. "Now what did you ask me?"
Maleficent rolled her eyes. "In the human kingdom," she enunciated sternly, "how do the children spend their time?"
Diaval scratched his head, "They do a lot, I suppose, much like fae children."
"Thank you," she drawled sarcastically, "that was sooo helpful."
"Touchy," her familiar returned, "Why are you so preoccupied with the activities of human children?"
Maleficent glared at him. Silence.
And then understanding sparked inside him. "Oh ."
"Bird brain."
"That's crass you know!" Diaval feigned hurt.
"Don't complain," Maleficent dead panned. She paused, softening. "Those damn pixies either leave her in the cottage or let her roam unsupervised, ready to walk off a cliff."
"Again," Diaval added.
"Yes, don't remind me," the farie snapped, anger coiling inside her at the memory. "She's nearly five now," Maleficent went on, forcing herself not to fret over the fact that humans expire at a fraction of the age fae folk do, "She's getting old enough to start talking about me. I can't take risk coming to her in the daylight anymore. Her aunts can't know I found her."
"Right," Diaval agreed. "Stay in the shadow."
"I can't bear for her to be alone all day," the faerie admitted quietly.
"Hmm," her familiar mused, "I could take her with me to look for wriggly-"
"That child is not digging for worms."
"What then do you want me to do?" He asked, exasperated, "Because we both know it's got to me. You can't spend time with her, so I have to. I don't mind, just tell me what to do."
The young child frolicked through the meadow, giggling at the butterflies that stirred from the grass.
She stopped short when she suddenly reached a majestic black stallion in the middle of the fields. The horse swished his tail from side to side nervously. All Aurora did was blankly stare.
Moments later, though, she clasped her hands together and jumped up and down excitedly. "Pony!"
The dark horse relaxed and folded his legs so he was against the ground. The happy little girl scrambled atop his back, burying her fists in his thick mane.
Across the way, hidden in the shade of a looming willow, Maleficent nodded to her familiar. He took his cue, slowly rising up with his blonde rider steady on his back.
"If she falls," Maleficent had warned him, "you'll spend the night as a dog, complete with fleas."
When Aurora was sixteen, Maleficent knew she did not care to stay in the shadow.
Watching those three pixies fawn over the prince, dragging him to Aurora's sleeping form, watching him kiss her –
She found the shadow too much to bear.
With a swift wisp of auric light, the pixies and prince found themselves unconscious, floating overhead.
Maleficent approached the bed where the sleeping princess lay. The faerie delicately traced the young woman's cheek with her finger, then curled the digit under Aurora's chin.
"I won't ask you to forgive me, for what I did to you is unforgivable," Maleficent gasped, "Much like what I am about to do now." With a breath, she leaned down and pressed their lips together, lingering far longer than she knew she deserved.
"Hello Godmother."
"Hello Beastie."
When they stood over the dead king's body, Aurora's face devoid of emotion, Maleficent was truly frightened indeed.
Terrified she would be reduced, once again, to a shadow's distance away-
"Did he hurt you, Godmother?"
"No dearest," because it was the truth. She was invigorated.
It crushed her that she never felt more alive than when she watched the king plummet to his death. It made her fret even more that something may be broken inside her after all.
A/N: This Maleficent is considerably kinder to Aurora in her youth that in the film. I so wished the filmmakers had expanded on their interaction when Aurora was still young.