Title: Fall
Pairing: Maleficent/Diaval
–

"She's expecting." Diaval was sitting on the edge of the nest, watching as Maleficent pulled her hair into a complicated style of knots, twists and braids. "Aurora."

"It was only a matter of time." Maleficent said over her shoulder. "It's normal after a human couple is married that they'll produce a child. More so of a King and Queen."

Diaval's eye twitched. "I'm sorry... you'll have to forgive me if the idea of Aurora having a child is rather shocking to me." He said somewhat sourly.

Maleficent stopped what she was doing and turned to face him. "You were the one who wanted her to go back to the palace and marry the boy." She reminded him. "No complaining now that she has and they're doing what humans do."

Diaval placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward. "One has to wonder if she'll invite you to the christening."

Maleficent glared at him.

Diaval was grinning cheekily as she turned him back into a raven. He took flight, the feeling of the wind on his feathers was wonderful, and soon he found himself caught up in the sensation of being himself again. For all the time he spent as a man, the return to this form was the most welcome thing in the world.

He took the opportunity to head towards the Palace.

He landed on the windowsill of Aurora's room, watching with amusement as the young woman sorted through piles of fabric, her eye twitching as a heavy-set woman instructed her on the pros and cons of each type, and how it might effect the future baby. Diaval shook his head and started to turn.

"Well, hello there, Pretty bird."

He turned at the sound of Aurora's voice, watching as she dumped all the fabric to the floor and went to him. Her fingers were soft as they slid through his feathers. Diaval leaned into her touch, nuzzling in against the palm of her hand. She was familiar to him, and even now – months gone since he'd last interacted with her, he loved her.

Aurora bent down and touched her lips to the tip of his beak. "You should come visit more often." She whispered.

"Your Highness!" The woman let out a small shriek. "That crow is filthy!

"He isn't!" Aurora straightened up and rounded on the woman, eyes flashing dangerously. "For one thing, he isn't a crow, he's a raven. And he's a noble bird, better than any man I know!"

The woman stared at her as though she had gone mad.

Diaval chuckled before he launched himself into the air. His amusement was still with him as he steered himself back towards the moors. The land below was colored in the orange and reds of fall, the sight of it was breath taking. Diaval wondered how many falls he had seen as a normal bird, never knowing the beauty of colors, or the way the find felt when it was caught somewhere between summer and winter.

The smell of baked goods left to cool on the windowsills, and of ripe fruit being plunked from the fields.

Diaval's eyes took in all the sights as he banked to the left, towards the distant mountains and rivers of a land that mortals feared. The moors had their own special sort of beauty. The trees were gold and silver now, the flowers like spun glass, glittering in the mid-afternoon sun. Diaval felt a sense of peace wash over him as the tree on the edge of the cliff came into sight. He could see her wings before he saw her.

Maleficent seemed to be sleeping when Diaval landed on the edge of the nest. Her eyes were closed, her breathing slow and even. It wasn't until she blinked open her eyes and Diaval realized that she was aware of his presence.

"Did you have a nice flight?" She asked, sitting up to stretch her wings out.

Diaval waited for her to change his form. It was a discerning feeling, his bones and muscles bending and cracking as his form changed. "It was nice." He sat, flopping down beside her in the nest. "I got to watch Aurora shout at some large human woman after she called me a dirty old crow."

Maleficent was silent for a moment. "You went to see her again?" she wondered.

Diaval turned his head, blinking up at her concerned face. "I had nothing better to do." He said.

"You could have stayed with me." Maleficent said quietly before turning her face away from him.

"I spent most of my time with you, Mistress." Diaval soothed, sitting up and reaching towards her. His fingers barely brushed the side of her arm before she jerked away from him, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Sorry."

Maleficent wrapped her arms around herself, sighing quietly. "It's... nothing to be sorry about." She murmured. "You are allowed to do as you wish. I will not stop you if you decide to go to her."

"You misunderstand everything." Diaval shook his head in annoyance. "I don't want to go to her. But I would like to visit her. Not all at once, and I'm not sure my being in a human form would do her any good... even if she is expecting a child with Phillip."

Maleficent gave a stiff nod of her head. "How noble of you to want to preserve her relationship with the boy." She looked away from him and stared off towards the distant castle for a moment.

"Mistress, with all due respect... what is wrong with you?" Diaval scooted closer to her. "Have I done something to upset you?"

"You've done nothing... Diaval." Maleficent whispered. "Nothing at all. I need to be alone." She got to her feet, black wings extending behind her. "Don't follow me." She ordered.

"You always run away." Diaval blurted out. "Any time we make even a hint of progress on this whole, having a conversation thing – you run away."

Maleficent turned to face him, her expression icy. "It is not your place as my servant to judge what I do or do not do!" she snapped.

Diaval leaned back, resting against a pile of fabric pressed against the side of the nest. "Of course, Mistress." He said with a roll of his eyes. "Whatever you say, Mistress. I'm nothing more than your slave it seems."

"That's not what I meant!" Maleficent's hands clenched into fists. "Why do you constantly have to make things worse than they really are?"

"Why do you constantly have to dodge the questions I ask you?" Diaval demanded. "Why can I not ask you something and get an actual answer, instead of you dismissing me as though I am nothing at all!" He hadn't realized how much it was bothering him, the feeling of being unreal to her – something she could use when it suited her, but put on a shelf whenever he became bothersome or needy.

"I don't mean to." Maleficent said quietly.

"You once told me I was your friend," Diaval reminded her. "And I once told you that..."

"Please..."

"If I am your friend, and only your friend, than you must treat me as such. Either give me a reason to stay here... or I will go."

Maleficent stared at him for a long moment, her eyes shimmering with tears. "Go." She whispered. "Go and leave me here. I won't force you to stay with me, Diaval."

Diaval stared at her. "What happened to... You need me?" He managed, his throat burning. "You said you needed me..."

Maleficent looked away from him. "I don't need you anymore." She hissed. "I have my own wings now."

Diaval's eyes snapped shut. "So that's it?" He whispered. "This is how it all ends?"

"I think so."

"Maleficent..."

She leapt from the nest, her wings out stretched, a few quick beats carried her high into the sky, leaving the wingless raven to stare after her, his eyes filling with angry tears.

–

"She left you?" Thistletwit sounded confused as she busied herself with pouring tea into a wooden mug. "That seems odd."

Diaval smiled sadly and reached across to help balance out the teapot, chuckling at the look the pixie gave him. "How so?" He wondered. "It doesn't seem unlike her to grow tired of me..."

"She loved you." Thistletwit said rather severely. "I am a pixie, and pixies know about love!"

Diaval didn't have the heart to correct the pixie. Instead, he lifted the mug of tea and brought it to his mouth, the flavor of herbs biting his tongue and making him sigh. "Perhaps." He said at last, licking at his lips. "But I don't believe Maleficent even knows how to love anymore... Aurora stole her heart. I've known that for months. She loves her most of all... I could never compete with that."

"Don't compete." Thistletwit snapped, folding her arms against her chest. "You shouldn't. Maleficent loves Aurora in a different way than the way she loves you. You are her bird, her wings-"

"She has wings now, she no longer needs me... she said as much."

"Are you going to sit there and tell me that Maleficent doesn't love you?" Thistletwit let out a sigh of frustration before sinking down to stand on the table. "Listen to me, Diaval. I've known Maleficent since the day she was born. I watched her grow and become the woman she is today. She wasn't always cold... she did know how to love without care, and when she looks at you – I see the memory of that in her eyes. She loves you."

"Thistletwit, there are many different types of love." Diaval protested quietly. "I don't know how Maleficent loves me, or even if she does. What I do know is that what I feel in my heart is vastly different than what she feels. I love her... flaws, rough edges... all of her." He bowed his head, eyes burning again. "I love her." He repeated. "And she will never love me."

–

"What do you think?"

Diaval glanced up, smiling at the bundle of fabric Aurora was holding up. "It's tasteful. Much better than that dreadful shade of purple she tried to sell you on earlier." He shrugged. Reaching out, he ran his fingers along the fabric, the texture soft against the tips of his fingers.

He had been here a week now, staying in one of the plush guest rooms that Aurora and Phillip had gifted him after they learned of the falling out. At first, Diaval couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Maleficent had indeed discarded him. He had gone back to the moors to plead his case to her – only to find that she was just gone.

Then had come the panic. The idea of remaining human forever, never being able to return to his natural form – trapped in this shape for the rest of his life. It was, as far as Diaval was concerned, a fate worse than death. To be denied what was his at his creation...

"Diaval?"

Aurora's soft voice brought him back to the present. He forced a smile onto his lips as he pulled his hand back from the fabric. "It's a good choice." He said, "Do you have a gender you hope for?"

Aurora frowned and looked down at the bundle of fabric in her lap. "One part of me hopes for a daughter, because I think it would be wonderful to have a little version of myself running around the palace. But I know Phillip wants a son to carry on his bloodline." She explained. "And perhaps it would be best to have a boy. A girl is something to be protected and handed away to a man later on."

"You would have your hands full with a girl," Diaval chuckled. "I remember you as a child. You almost ran off a cliff, you poor thing." His grin was wide, and even Aurora laughed at his familiar teasing.

She folded her arms against her chest and shook her head. "With aunties like mine, is it any surprise that I would?" she shot back.

Diaval cackled and shook his head. "It's a wonder you even survived to be an adult. Half the time I thought Maleficent was only doing it so she could watch her curse take full effect. Other times... I knew it was because she loved you dearly." He smiled faintly, shaking his head again.

"Maleficent did love me, and I'll always feel thankful to her for all that she has done in my life." Aurora agreed. "But lately I feel nothing but angry with her."

"Oh?" Diaval's dark eyebrow rose.

"Diaval, I'm not blind. You love Maleficent, it's as plain as the nose on your face." Aurora reached across and tapped the tip of her finger against his nose. "You love her."

Diaval shrugged before he forced a smile onto his lips. "I do love her." He admitted. "I love her more than I have words for. But sometimes you have to accept the fact that someone might not love you in the same way."

"I understand that one." Aurora closed her eyes and sighed.

Diaval felt guilty.

"But just because she doesn't love you, doesn't mean she gets to treat you like your feelings shouldn't matter." Aurora continued. "Even now, you're here with me. You're helping me plan parts of my life though you know how I feel about you."

Diaval shrugged again, "How could I not?" He wondered. "You are dear to me. I couldn't imagine not being a part of your life."

Aurora's smile lit up her whole face. "And I love you for it." She told him. "But I think that is what is frustrating me about Maleficent. She has reached the point of no return. She knows how you feel about her, and she is choosing to act in ways that seems crass and cruel."

Again, Diaval shrugged. "I'm not sure what to say, Aurora. I want to say that she has the right to act in anyway that please-"

"No." Aurora shook her head. "She does not. Because her actions effect you, Diaval. She has left you trapped in this form, taken away your wings and thrown you to the wolves in terms of surviving. You are not a man, Diaval, you are a raven. And she threw you away without giving you your form back."

Diaval wrapped his arms around himself, nails biting into his skin. "Aurora, can we please not talk about this?" He said in a small voice. "I'm fully aware of how wrong this body is for me. I miss my beautiful self, I miss my wings, I miss the feeling of flying through the clouds and of the world viewed from above. I miss everything... but it is gone now. Maleficent is gone!"