Love Song

Barlowgirl

"You told me my parents were dead." Aurora searched the fairies' expressions for any sign that it had been a mistake. But instead they told her the very thing she'd feared most.

"Perhaps you'd better sit down, dear."

The tension is thick in the air

Making it hard to see

I fear what is to come

And what will become of me

Aurora dashed out the door, eyes burning, throat aching. She could barely breathe, but she didn't care. She had no clear plan of action, only an instinctive knowledge and need for the one person she had left: her godmother.

Suddenly she stood before her, the same as ever. Her face is impassive, but her voice holds a compassion that makes Aurora want to run straight into her arms.

"Come here."

"I didn't know I was cursed." Aurora's voice breaks up in sobbing. She'd never exactly thought her three aunties were all-knowing…but at least she'd trusted them. She relied on them for everything she ever knew about herself, and in an instant, that trust died. The people she'd known the longest, trusted most, had deceived her for years. Aurora had never experienced such betrayal in her young life, and the bitterness of the first breaking of trust cast shadows over her joyful, innocent soul.

"They said a wicked fairy cursed me. Her name was…I can't remember." Aurora strained to recall what they said. "Maleficent."

Her godmother falls still. An imperceptible change passes over her cool green eyes—small but definite, a barrier going up.

"Do you know who that is?"

Still her fairy godmother says nothing. But her eyes hold much more. She obviously has no intentions of speaking.

A horrible suspicion begins to grow in Aurora's mind. It couldn't possibly be…this is her godmother, the woman who's taken care of her, watched over her all her life. But…so did the fairies. They just weren't quite so careful and attentive.

A tendril of ice curls through Aurora's soul. The stillness in Maleficent's form, the unspoken depths of knowledge in her hooded eyes…it gives away more than it hides. And gradually, Aurora breaks out of her daze just enough to speak.

"You're…," an iron hand closes around her heart. Her two great pillars, her aunties and her fairy godmother…both have lied to her all along.

"You're…," the name forms slowly but falls from her lips like a stone. "Maleficent."

The faery's green eyes flash into life for the first time.

"Yes." She begins to move closer, but Aurora scrambles backward, heart pounding.

"Don't touch me," she gasps. Her throat can barely let out breath enough to allow those words passage. Everything she ever believed in is crumbling into a thousand pieces around her, except…her parents. Her parents and the castle rear themselves up as an unexpected refuge. She turns and runs, but the ground shows her passage as the tears fall in Aurora's wake.

You've never failed me before

Why do I feel betrayed

"There's an urchin at the gate, claims she's the princess." Aurora shifts nervously on her feet, unsettled by the collection of hard-faced shifty-eyed men. She wasn't sure what kind of a reception she expected, but it certainly wasn't this.

The tallest man turns around. His eyes widen in astonishment, but he doesn't seem suspicious. His robes and the deferential way the other men turn to him set him apart as the leader…which would mean…

Aurora edged away from the knight's grasp. "Hello, Father." Her voice was soft, but rang out in the hall like a hopeful child's.

Slowly the king's eyes light in recognition, though they lack gladness.

"You look just like your mother," he said softly.

Aurora's happiness bubbled up, irrepressible. Finally, she had come home! Through impossible trials, she had found love, and people she could believe in at last.

"Father!" She dashed forward and threw her arms around his waist before anyone could stop her.

The king did not hug back.

As Aurora moved back, she saw a peculiar hardness in his eyes.

"They brought her a day too early!" he announced, then turned to the nearest man as if Aurora had ceased to exist. "Lock her up."

Aurora couldn't even protest as the men led her away. She had done nothing but hug her father. What about that deserved locking up? And what did they mean about bringing her a day too early? Her father didn't even seem glad to see her…more like his long-lost only daughter was a gift from someone he didn't want but had to find a place for.

I crave your voice

Help me not fall away

Aurora paced the room, growing increasingly bored and lonely, rare emotions for her. In the forest, life surrounded her. Now cold walls and richly embroidered drapes replaced it. She tried to focus her mind on her father's strange coldness and abrupt dismissal so she wouldn't have to see the look in Maleficent's eyes when Aurora realized the truth, or think of how the fairies had lied to her.

"You're Maleficent."

"Yes."

Aurora shook her head to clear it, then pushed her way along the tapestries. As she shoved one aside, she realized she could see a door.

Aurora gazed at it. She felt a strange, inexplicable compulsion to open the door. Being her curious self, she did so.

The maid Aurora nearly collided with gasped, "Princess!" in a rather scandalized manner. But Aurora didn't pay any attention. She walked down the adjoining hallway, but as she moved, she felt more and more detached, as if she were watching from the outside as another person performed the actions.

If I closed my heart to you now

The darkness would have its way

The ancient wood of the door groaned a baritone complaint as Aurora approached. By now, she felt like a disembodied spirit, with only a tiny part of her awareness making commentary, whispering forebodings of danger. But the rest of her ignored all protests. She was incapable of listening.

Bits of wood littered the cellar. As Aurora eyes adjusted to the dim light, she beheld a spindle sitting before her, long gleaming needle beckoning her inexorably forward.

The miniscule portion of her that still obeyed reason shouted at her, imploring, trying to stop her. This was exactly what her aunts had warned against. But Aurora couldn't stop, even as she moved forward, reaching out to touch the needle, pressing down upon it, raising a single drop of blood.

Then the floor spun towards Aurora as she collapsed.

Cause you are all I need

And all that I want is you with me

The golden designs wavered into focus over Aurora's head. She blinked, her vision clearing, but the design remained.

She turned her head and saw Maleficent standing over her, but the tears staining one ivory cheek like liquid silver, and the stupefaction and joy in her green eyes shut down any recriminations or anger.

Aurora recalled the spindle she had touched, and as she looked around, the words of the prophecy as old as her body floated into her mind. She saw only Maleficent in the chamber.

And in that moment, Aurora realized that love comes in more than one form, and the love of family is no less loving or true than the affection between two lovers.

"Hello, godmother," she whispered, and the smile which spread out to adorn her face made the older woman's heart shatter all over again, only this time, the pain produced balm, not poison.

Sing me a love song again

Say the words that heal my heart

Sing me a love song and then

Let your words remind me who I am