Diaval said you loved me, is it true?

Maleficent allowed the conversation to repeat in her mind as she watched her goddaughter attempt to intertwine flowers together. They were halfway through their weeklong escape and it left quite a few questions unanswered.

There was no denying that she did love the little beast, hell, it was hard not to but she still wasn't sure she was the best person to be a parent in any form or fashion. After all, she had never really had a mother, just an aunt that hadn't liked her very much.

What did it take to be a mother figure?

Why was it so much easier for Diaval to interact with her?

It's because he isn't a broken, wash-up.

The voice in the back of her mind reminded her.

Diaval can interact and play with her in ways that I can not.

She thought with a sigh.

Why did anyone think that something like me could raise a child? At least Diaval is here to help me out.

"Diaval, why does godmother always insist on near camp? I know she's strong enough to walk with us, our walks are usually longer than this."

Aurora asked as she followed Diaval alongside the wild blackberry vines that they had discovered near the camp. She would never say it aloud but something about her.godmother's reluctance to really interact with their games sort of bothered her.

I don't have time for your nonsense, you stupid girl.

The words would repeat in her head and while Maleficent had never spoken to her in any manner like that, one part of Aurora wondered if the words still held true.

"Maleficent is the kind of person who is so dead set on her ways you'd need a cattle prod and a stroke of luck to get her to do anything she thinks she can't do," Diaval replied after several moments.

Aurora couldn't help but chuckle at Diaval's wording though the words got her to thinking.

There had to be a way to prove to Maleficent that she was strong but what?

"Diaval, what exactly happened to godmother? I mean she's told me about the surgery and how it was my father who hurt her but she won't say more than that."

She asked after a while, though she regretted it when she saw Diaval freeze in his spot for several minutes.

"All you need to know at your age that what Stefan did to her resulted in the accident that left just as many mental scars as it did physical and it changed her."

His words were curt but not angry—much to Aurora's relief—but implied that the subject made him uncomfortable and perhaps even somewhat bitter.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I just...Things my Aunties said about her, things I've noticed. Sometimes none of it adds up." She replied, earning a sigh and a Tupperware bowl half-filled with berries thrust into her hands.

"And what have you noticed compared with what did they say? That she would be a horrible influence?"

Aurora debated with telling him the truth, though as they headed back toward camp she found she couldn't lie to him.

"Sort of. They said all sorts of horrible things about her but she isn't cruel nor temperamental as they said." Aurora answered, "They thought I didn't hear them but they kept talking about how she would break me just like my father broke my mother."

There was another bout of silence before a response.

"Do you think she will?"

The question caught Aurora off-guard, though she quickly shook her head.

"I don't. I don't think she is half as bad as I was told. Sometimes I don't know how to interact with her but she's been nothing but kind to me."

Diaval smiled slightly at that.

"Just give her a little time. You may find that she isn't quite as reserved as you may believe."

"Godmother?"

Maleficent cracked open one eye to regard her ward.

"I thought you went with Diaval."

She said, hoping her voice didn't betray the fact that she had been very nearly asleep.

"He said he had to do something in town for a bit so I thought we could do something?"

Maleficent hummed as if in thought closing her eyes once more.

"Like what?"

She could hear a bit of a huff come from the teenager.

"I don't know."

Aurora flinched at her own tone, though Maleficent seemed unphased.

"Well, I do not either."

With that Maleficent pushed herself to her feet, brushing Aurora to the side with a light prod of her cane before adding:

"Come along then. I'm sure you'll figure out something."

Aurora blinked in surprise for a moment before catching up to her. It still surprised her how nonchalant Maleficent could be sometimes. Sure, she didn't want to make the woman mad but she also couldn't help but wonder just how nonchalant that her godmother could be.

Just give her a little time. You may find that she isn't quite as reserved as you may believe.

It was hard to imagine Maleficent as anything but Elegant and strong and even if her godmother did play around a bit every so often, she couldn't imagine her not being nearly regal.