Sunlift the Silkwing: I'm glad you liked them! I did find The Little Mermaid especially fun to write. I will probably do it.

Guest: Glad you liked it! After rewatching Maleficent for the millionth time I was just in a 'make the villain the hero' mood.

So, um, hi? How you been?

I am so sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! I just got major writer's block and couldn't figure out what came next! And I got caught up with other stories and eventually just forgot about this. I promise the next chapter won't take another, he he, six months? *nervous laughter*

Anyways, I hope this chapter makes up for the long wait! Once again, I am so sorry.

Once Upon a Time, there was a happy family. They were royalty, and consisted of a mother, father, and daughter. The girl's name was Leah, and many people loved her. They said she would make a great queen someday, once her parents passed on the throne.

Up until she was seven, it seemed as though everything was planned out, although their lives would be perfect.

But then they found her.

A young girl showed up on their doorstep. She had green eyes and black hair and was soaking from the rain.

Queen Giselle and King James took her in, and soon realized she had quite a sad story. Her parents had just been killed by wolves, and she sat crying on the bed saying, "It's all my fault."

Eventually, they asked her name.

"Maleficent. My name is Maleficent."

And so they raised her, they took her in saying that she would only stay for a while but ended up seeing her as another daughter. Maleficent was younger than Leah by a year, and the two were inseparable. They became best friends as well as sisters.

But then everything changed.

Leah and Maleficent were twelve years old, and playing outside. Giselle and James sat behind them, watching with small smiles. Suddenly, Maleficent froze, turning to the forest that was behind the castle.

"Mal?" Leah called. She was standing by the edge of the forest, frowning at her sister's odd behavior.

"Look out!" Maleficent screamed, just as a wolf ran out of the woods and pounced on Leah.

Giselle and James yelled her name and Giselle called for guards to help them, but Maleficent was already running to her sister.

"Let her go!" she yelled, pushing her hands forward. And then the strangest thing happened. Golden light flew from her hands and she pushed and the wolf tumbled off Leah just as the guards got there.

Maleficent ran up to her sister, who was staring at her in shock.

"What was that?"

Maleficent shook her head, baffled.

"I have no idea."

The girls turned to Giselle and James, and Maleficent's heart broke as she saw the look in her parents' eyes.

Fear.

They were afraid of her.

Soon, she realized why. They ordered the girls to never tell anyone what had happened that day, and pretended it didn't exist. Everything Maleficent did something out of the ordinary they yelled at her. They started to ignore her, as if by pretending she didn't exist it would mean the magic disappeared and that day had never happened.

But this didn't stop Maleficent or Leah from talking about it with each other.

"How do you think it happened?" Leah asked. "Are you magic?"

"I- I think so," Maleficent answered, her voice shaking. "I had forgotten it but I think I remember now. When my biological parents died they were attacked by wolves, like I told you. I think they may have tried to fight back but were overpowered. I remember seeing it and doing nothing, the wolves didn't even notice me. But now I think...I think I thought it was my fault because I stood there. Because I didn't use magic.

"Do you think they were magic? It would explain how you can do this," Leah asked, making Maleficent nod.

"I think so, it makes sense."

They were silent for a moment, then Maleficent spoke.

"Leah, why do Mom and Dad want me to pretend my magic doesn't exist?"

Leah sighed.

"They're afraid. They've always been afraid of magic."

The years passed, and eventually Giselle and James started to pretend Maleficent didn't even exist. They had Leah's future queen duties pull her away from her sister until the two were more like strangers than before.

And then Leah started to court a prince named Stephan. She invited him over for a family dinner and Maleficent was excited to meet him, since he clearly mattered a lot to her sister.

But then her parents came to her the day of the dinner and said she had to stay up in her room the entire time, and wasn't allowed to make a sound.

"Why?!" Maleficent exclaimed, outraged. "I'm a part of this family too!" Her hands started to glow with golden magic.

"Hardly," Giselle scoffed, but felt a pang of regret the moment the word left her mouth.

Maleficent's power died down, but she felt angrier than ever before in her life, and gave them an icy smile.

"Well then, if you really feel that way . . ." she turned away and walked to her bed.

"Maleficent-"

"Giselle, James, please go. I want to be alone."

The moment they left Maleficent's eyes linger on the door, as though she could hurt them through sheer willpower. They were right, she wasn't a part of this family anymore. They had taken Leah from her, and now she was utterly and completely alone. They couldn't accept her for who she was, or even look at her without disgust appearing on their faces. And she was sick of it.

She looked out the window at the kingdom, her eyes glowing green. A cruel smile twisted her lips and she felt her body changing as she embraced the magic. Horns sprouted from her head and huge black wings twisted out of her back. Her skin paled and she held a hand up, watching the magic glow from it. This time the glow was no longer golden, it was green.

Smirking, she waved a hand and then...she was gone.

When Leah entered her room after dinner, she found an envelope on the bed. It was two simple sentences, in handwriting she recognized as her sister's, but it made tears stream down her face.

Maleficent is dead, the Mistress of Evil has come. Your sister is gone.

She immediately understood. Maleficent wasn't really dead, not physically, but she was gone, and had been for years - only Leah was too blind to see it. She sat on her bed and cried.

Years passed and she married Stephan, and they eventually had a baby girl. Leah knew what to name her immediately. She remembered a conversation she and Maleficent had had when she was ten.

"If you ever have a kid, what would you name them?" Maleficent asked Leah, who thought for a moment.

"Hmm...I like Aurora. You?"

"Briar Rose."

"It sounds beautiful."

Princess Aurora Briar Rose. She hoped Maleficent would hear it and remember, somehow.

Then the day of Aurora's christening came.

It was supposed to be a happy day, but like every happy day in her life there was the underlying sadness of Maleficent not being there. Everyone in the kingdom had come, but no amount of people could fill the hole of her sister's absence.

It started, with the three fairies gifting Aurora. But then she came.

She looked like Maleficent, but she wasn't. Leah knew that immediately. Her black hair was hidden behind a headpiece. Black robes fell to her feet. Her eyes glowed an eerie green. As she walked in, it was silent except her footfalls.

"This is a nice little gathering, isn't it?" she said. "Shame I wasn't invited, but then again I suppose family matters very little unless you're joined by blood." She faced two figures in the crowd. "Isn't that right Giselle, James?"

She turned and walked up to Leah, who had been picturing this moment for years. Maleficent was supposed to come back and she would be herself. She and Leah could mend their broken relationship. But as she looked into those green eyes, she knew this was only a shell of her sister.

"Leah," Maleficent said, and Leah saw a glimmer of emotion in her eyes. A deep pain.

"Mal . . ." she brought out the nickname, hoping that Maleficent would react in a way that would show her that her sister was still there, but nothing happened.

"You know," she said, walking up to the crib. "I think I should throw in my own gift for this little girl."

She turned to the crowd and started to wave her hand, and green magic seeped from it, making Leah gasp. Maleficent's magic was gold, not green.

Maleficent is dead, the Mistress of Evil has come.

"Listen well, you all! The princess will indeed grow in grace and beauty. But before the sunset on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel, and she will fall into a sleep like death! True Love can break this curse."

She finished the spell and Leah felt tears stream down her face.

"Mal . . . why?"

"Maleficent is dead," she responded, and turned, walking out.

Leah had to give her daughter to the three fairies to take care of. She told them that they had to tell her the truth a month before Aurora's sixteenth birthday. She only hoped her daughter would come back someday.

Fourteen years passed, and Aurora was happy. She got to grow up away from royal duties as a careless and free girl, and her aunties took good care of her.

But one day, she was on the walk in the forest and something unexpected happened.

A man stopped next to her. He was riding a horse and looked very regal, almost like royalty.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I'm lost and I was wondering if you knew where Queen Leah and King Stephan's castle was?" he asked, and Aurora smiled.

"It's right down that way, you should see it soon."

"Thank you," he said. "I'm Prince Phillip, by the way."

"Aurora," she introduced herself.

"Do you live near here?"

"Yes, with my aunties. We live in a cottage about ten minutes from here. What about you?"

"My parents' castle is a half hour horse ride from here. I come down to see King Stephan and Queen Leah often, but I usually take another path. I had no idea where I was until I saw you."

"Well, I'm glad to be of help," Aurora said.

"It was nice meeting you Aurora, maybe I'll see you again."

And he did. Every time he went back to Leah and Stephan's castle he would go the same way he went when he met Aurora. Sometimes he would see her again, and those sometimes turned to always as they grew closer and started talking more. He would leave early and stop by her cottage and they would talk until he went to Leah and Stephan's castle, or until he went home.

The three fairies liked him. They knew who he was, but also knew that he liked Aurora for herself, and had no idea she was a princess.

And then a week before her sixteenth birthday everything changed.

Aurora ran through the woods, tears streaming down her face. She had no idea where she was going, she just knew she had to run.

Suddenly, she slammed into something soft.

Blinking, she looked up and saw a very familiar horse.

"Aurora?" Phillip said, getting down from his horse. "What happened?"

"It's a lie! It's all a lie!" she sobbed. "I'm going to die!"

"Aurora, what are you talking about?"

And she explained about the curse, shocking Phillip.

"I knew about that curse, everyone did, but I never thought it was you . . . What are we going to do?"

Aurora took a deep breath.

"I'm going to find my parents."

"Your highnesses," a guard walked up to Leah and Stephan. "A peasant girl is here. She claims to be your daughter."

Aurora hesitantly walked in, and Leah and Stephan stared at her in shock.

"Aurora . . ."

Aurora stared at her hands. In one day her entire world had flipped around. And now her mother had just told her the real story behind why Maleficent had cursed her . . .

"That's awful. What happened to your parents?"

"I cut them out," Leah answered with a hollow laugh. "I figured out how they had hurt Mali and I was furious. She was my sister- is my sister."

"What do we do?"

"She said True Love can break the curse. Your father and I could try, but I'm not sure whether it would work or not because we hardly know you," she said sadly.

Aurora sighed. Maybe Phillip could try, but if it didn't work with him . . . there was nothing they could do.

Thorns spread across the castle, blocking every escape and trapping everyone in. The vines were black and blocked out all sunlight, and it felt like night even though it was the middle of the day.

"Maleficent," Leha breathed.

Suddenly, they heard laughter.

"So the family has been reunited moments before her death."

A figure appeared, and Leah recognized her. The Mistress of Evil.

"What do you want, Maleficent?" Stephan asked.

"I just wanted to say hello and to see how the little family feels," she smirked, and Leah felt tears prickle her eyes.

"Why Maleficent?" she asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"You know why, Leah. Your lovely parents hurt me more than you can imagine. I never had a family."

"That's not true!" Leah yelled.

"Oh really?" Maleficent sneered. "After we turned fifteen you hardly talked to me. Learning how to be Queen was more important. I didn't even get to meet your husband. I never had a family."

"Mali, I'm sorry!" Leah shouted, tears streaming down her face. "I know I can never make up for it, for the hurt they inflicted on you. But you were my sister, and you still are. Somewhere in there. Maleficent isn't dead, she's still alive. Just hidden. My sister is still there. Please Mal, I love you!"

As the words left her mouth everyone felt a power sweep over them, even Maleficent.

"I- I love you too."

As she spoke, Maleficent changed. Color returned to her skin. Her eyes lost the green glow and her frayed clothes turned into purple sorceress robes. The headpiece melted away and her black hair fell over her shoulders as her wings sprouted out from behind the robes.

Tears filled Leah's eyes and she raced forward, her arms flying around Maleficent, who hugged her back. The vines moved away from the windows and sunlight flooded in.

"So, you're my aunt?" Aurora asked, walking up to her.

Maleficent looked at Aurora and smiled sadly.

"I guess I am. I am so sorry for what I did. I just . . . I lost it. Magic is powerful and has to be used correctly, but when it's squashed down it eventually takes over. I couldn't control it."

"It's okay," Leah said. "I have you back."

They turned as the sun started to set.

"It's about to happen,"Aurora whispered.

"No it's not," Maleficent said.

"But you said only True Love could break the curse-"

"I said True Love could break the curse, but not that it was the only thing. Curses are mental, in a way. If you accept it and that it will happen to you, in will. But if you fight, if you fight enough it won't be able to touch you. And fighting is the greatest thing you can do."

Aurora nodded and as the sun set beneath the clouds, she said, "I will not be cursed."

And a moment later, as the sky became dark, she still stood there, surrounded by people she knew loved her.

Aurora and Phillip eventually got married and Aurora took the throne from her parents. She and Phillip had a daughter, Alyssa, but were in for quite a surprise.

As it turned out, Alyssa was magic. Maleficent sensed it the moment she was born, and said that someone on Philiip's side of the family was probably magic, like her.

"What do we do?" Phillip asked.

"We give her a happy childhood," Aurora answered. "Aunt Mal can teach her how to use her magic. She'll be fine."

And she was. Alyssa grew up happy and became a master at using her magic. Maleficent and Leah repaired their relationship and Maleficent finally met Stephan. She became the royal sorceress and Alyssa was her apprentice. Aurora and Phillip had a son, Michael, who ended up taking the throne. Alyssa refused, saying she'd much rather be the sorceress once Maleficent retired. Aurora got to know her parents and aunt, and found that she loved them.

And they all lived Happily Ever After.

Eh, I don't really like this one much but I was in a rush to get in out.

Anyways, please review!

-Creator of Magic