Maleficent was half asleep. Her back ached and she frankly couldn't be bothered to know what Aurora was even doing, after all, how much trouble could a child cause inside a tent during a rainstorm? Least of all when she also was being watched by someone as attentive as Diaval.

"Godmother? It looks like the rain is slacking. Do you think it would be okay to go out?" The girl finally broke the silence, earning a sigh.

"Take Diaval and a rain jacket with you."

Maleficent replied, suppressing a yawn.

"You don't mind, do you? I was just bored."

Diaval chuckled a little as he regarded the blonde, who seemed to be suddenly sheepish.

Oh don't tell me she's reverted back to this.

"Of course not. Now, what do you want to do? I think Mal could use a nap." He retorted, earning a giggle.

"Mal?" Aurora repeated, earning a playful bop on top of the head in return.

"Oh don't you start, little girl."

Diaval couldn't keep himself from laughing as Aurora batted his hand away.

"Stop that! You're going to mess up my hair!"

I think this is the only time I've ever heard her say something like that.

He thought, amused as he repeated the motion, chuckling as the girl charged at him, breaking into laughter as he caught her before she could slip or cause them both to fall. Keeping an arm around her, Diaval playfully poked her in the ribs.

"You may want to try to tackle someone your own size next time."

He laughed, recalling how afraid she was of just acting like a child around him at first. He would take the energetic mess of a girl over the shy, timid one any day.

This roughhousing lasted for a few more minutes, leaving both slightly out of breath.

"Come on, let's go explore a bit."

Diaval allowed Aurora to wander along, dragging him along though his mind was elsewhere.

He had seen the state she was in the previous night and while he still wasn't sure of what had happened, he had noticed that she seemed slightly less afraid, after all, she had—although a bit reluctantly—had hurled mud right at her godmother during their game earlier.

Perhaps Maleficent actually did have a heart to heart with her.

He thought, just as a crack of thunder caused the girl to grab hold of his arm, though she let go nearly as quickly, face flushing red.

"Sorry."

"For what?" He countered "You've done nothing to be sorry for but I think we should get back before we end up caught in a downpour."

It had started to rain before they ever reached camp, though thankfully for Aurora, the thunder seemed to just rumble along overhead instead of loud crashes.

This caused Diaval to wonder, just what exactly had caused such a reaction?

Diaval grew even more curious about the subject when he saw the gleam in Maleficent's eyes when they arrived to find her standing in the tent flap.

Well, her reserves about storms must be no secret to get that reaction from Maleficent.

"I was half expecting you two to return covered in grime. Come on let's get you imbeciles dried off before you catch your death of pneumonia."

Aurora awoke with a start, her heart racing as the images from her mind. She didn't want to wake up her godmother since she had kept her up late enough for two different nights but she wasn't sure if going to Diaval would be a good idea.

You're fourteen, too old to act like this. Besides, Maleficent wouldn't actually do that. It was just a dream.

She berated herself, just as a crack of thunder caused her to jolt slightly.

It's just thunder! Nothing to be afraid of.

She couldn't keep from borrowing deeper beneath her blankets, however when she heard movement in the other compartment of the tent.

No need to annoy them or have them worry about me.

screwing her eyes shut, she tried to drown out the images and noises although the more she lay there the louder the memories and fears seemed to get.

She wasn't even aware of the divider moving to the side or that a tall shadow stood over her for some time.

Diaval let out a groan as he was shaken awake, glancing up at whoever the culprit was.

" 'rora? What the world?"

He managed, only to sit up when he saw the young girl standing there with a dim flashlight in hand.

"Um...Can I stay in here with you?"

She asked, catching him by surprise.

Why was she coming to him?

"Yes, if you want but it may help if you tell me what's wrong?" He replied, still slightly confused by the whole ordeal.

"Those dreams again but I think I've bothered godmother enough." The girl replied and Diaval sighed.

So that is what this is about.

"Well I'm glad you trust me, sweetheart but I know for a fact that Mal wouldn't mind if you woke her." He said, being sure to keep his voice gentle as the girl sat down beside him.

"I know, I just don't want to keep waking her up over stupid stuff." Aurora stated, "She does so much already."

Diaval debated on his next course of action before he spoke again, an arm wrapping around Aurora's shoulders.

"You know it's not stupid and Maleficent doesn't mind a bit."

The girl just sat there, absorbed in her thoughts for some time before she spoke again.

"It feels stupid."

"Well it's not and no matter how stupid it feels, your godmother and I will always be here, alright?"

Maleficent wasn't all too surprised to find Aurora cuddled against Diaval's side the following morning, not with how close Aurora had become to him.

Well, there is an unexpected sight. She thought with a chuckle to herself as she moved toward them, pulling the disregarded blanket over them both before retreating back to the main area of the tent, suddenly glad of its large size.

I'll let them sleep for a while. They probably need it, after all, who knows what time they had gotten to sleep since Aurora had seemed to have been asleep when she had checked on her.