Maleficent landed before the human, startling her. "Well, she doesn't look threatening," Maleficent mused silently as the human's blue eyes widened. The leaf faeries she had been talking to backed away, their tiny hands covering their open mouths. Normally, Maleficent would have asked if anything were wrong, but she had more pressing issues.

"Godmother?" the young woman exclaimed. "Oh my goodness, you're… looking young."

"'Godmother?'" repeated Maleficent, bewildered. Then she shook her head. "Never mind that - who are you?"

The young woman's eyes became wider, if that was possible. She stared at Maleficent for a moment, then called, "Diaval?"

Diaval approached the scene, followed by a Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistlewit, who all had guilty looks on their faces. "Hello, Aurora," Diaval said in a grim sort of way.

"What happened?" the human, Aurora, asked, forgetting the presence of the leaf faeries as they tentatively approached Maleficent. The young faerie gave them a reassuring smile, and they all glanced at one another before hurrying away, talking quickly in their native tongue. Maleficent watched them leave, disappointed and confused by their reaction before realizing they were used to an adult Maleficent, not a child.

"Well, Maleficent tried a spell last night to turn back time, but nothing happened, until I woke up this morning and found her… how old are you?"

"Eleven," Maleficent answered.

"You're tall for an eleven-year-old," mused Thistlewit, eyeing Maleficent. Maleficent frowned, unsure how to respond. So she didn't.

"She's eleven!" cried Diaval, pointing at Maleficent. "Eleven! She doesn't even know who we are!"

"You don't remember me?" asked Aurora softly. Maleficent shook her head. "Oh. Well, I'm Aurora, although you like to call me 'Beastie.'"

"Beastie?" repeated Maleficent, a grin spreading across her features. From what she could tell, Aurora was the last creature on earth to be considered a "beastie." Behind Maleficent, Knotgrass gave a small indignant snort, apparently thinking the same thing.

"Yes," said Aurora, also smiling. "You've called me that since I was a child. I was brought up by Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistlewit, in a cottage a little - "

"You were raised by the pixies?" Maleficent blurted out incredulously, arching her eyebrows.

"Excuse me!" complained Knotgrass, her face coloring. "Don't sound so surprised!"

Deciding it wasn't worth it to point out every reason she had to be surprised, Maleficent apologized, then asked Aurora, "Why were you raised by them?"

The pixies and Diaval stiffened, and Aurora threw Diaval a suddenly worried look. "Um, my parents… are dead."

"I'm sorry. Mine are, too," said Maleficent. A second later, it hit her - Stefan was also an orphan! Was it a coincidence that the two humans to visit the Moors were both orphans? "Do you have any siblings?" she asked, her heart giving a jump of excitement.

Aurora shook her head. "No."

Maleficent's enthusiasm faded. She had been sure she had been onto something….. Well, of course Aurora and Stefan weren't related. They looked nothing alike, and besides, Stefan lived in a barn, not a cottage. "Oh. Is this your first time in the Moors?"

This question led to several others, such as where Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistlewit had found the time the past few years to bring up a child. Maleficent was about to ask this when she remembered - oh, yes, she was actually a full-grown faerie who had suddenly become a child. Silly her, she kept forgetting.

Again, Aurora shook her head, and was about to answer when Knotgrass did the job for her. "Is this her first time in the Moors? For goodness' sake, she's the queen!"

"Queen?" asked Maleficent, her heart skipping a beat. She was talking to a queen! But… "Since when has the Moors had a queen?"

Beside her, Diaval gave a slight snort. The pixies also sent one another mildly-amused looks.

"I was crowned just recently," said Aurora.

"Wow," replied Maleficent. She had the feeling that Aurora was a very good queen. "What's it like?"

Aurora beamed. "It's really amazing. Everyone here is so nice, and I'm so lucky to know them. I couldn't dream of a more perfect place."

"Aurora also is queen of the human kingdom," added Diaval, and Maleficent looked back at him - she had almost forgotten he was there. In fact, her attention had been so focused on Aurora that she failed to notice the creatures clustering around, whispering in wonder and fear. "Her rule has brought peace between the Moors and the humans."

"Really? That's - that's great!" gasped Maleficent, hardly daring to believe what she was hearing. Peace between the Moors and the humans? Though she had never seen a war, Maleficent's parents had died during the last one when she was a baby, and all Maleficent's life she had heard older creatures speaking of the humans with unease.

"Isn't it?" said Thistlewit, smiling at Maleficent as she gave a little twirl. "I never really liked wars, anyway. And the thorn wall was so - eek!" Knotgrass and Flittle had both nudged her hard in the ribs. "Hey!" Thistlewit pushed them back, and quickly the pixies were engaged in an all-out battle. So much for Thistlewit's dislike of wars.

At that moment, a young wallerbog approached shyly, a flower in its hand. Its presence surprised Maleficent, for the wallerbogs rarely came up to the cliff where the Rowan tree was - they weren't fond of heights, nor lack of mud to throw. Its head down, the wallerbog handed the flower to Aurora. "Thank you very much," Aurora said kindly. "I love it."

Glowing with joy, the wallerbog's gaze met with the queen's own happy one. Maleficent smiled - she could already see Aurora was beloved. The young faerie looked around, really taking in the Moors for the first time since she had awoken to find Diaval perched above her. The land itself didn't appear to have changed much. The ground was still bedecked with beautiful flora, with blossoming vines creeping up the trunks of the trees, which remained as tall and grand as ever, and the clear waters still sparkled in the morning light. But Maleficent finally noticed the creatures seemed wary of her. For a moment, this confused and hurt her. She was so close to them, why had their manners changed all of a sudden? But then it dawned on her that everyone must be completely baffled by her unexplained situation.

Maleficent lowered her head, feeling self-conscious. Everything had changed, and she had no idea what had happened. She didn't even know what age she really was! But her spirits were lifted when the same wallerbog came up to her and offered her a sprig of heather. Maleficent gratefully accepted the flower, beaming at the wallerbog. "Thank you, it's beautiful," she said, and the wallerbog blushed. Maleficent felt a flutter of hope in her heart - maybe things weren't so different after all.

...

Hey, Malefifreaks! Thanks for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. :)

Please review! Constructive criticism is welcomed.

Kitty