Sorry guys for making you wait this long. I truly enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as well ;)

There he was. The balm was ready, next to him and his Mistress was lying willingly on her stomach before him.

"Hmmm Mistress? Is it ok if I unlace your gown, or do you want to do it yourself?"

The tie was on her bare nape. She tried to move, but she was too exhausted, not to mention the stabbing pain increasing with every one of her movements.

"Just do it." She spat angrily. "But - "

"I won't undress you more than necessary, if that's what you were thinking," he reassured at once. "Honestly, what kind of crazy pervert do you think I am?" he added under his breath, sounding exaggeratedly outraged.

She smiled at his childish attempt to lighten the mood and leaned her head on her crossed arms to steady herself. That way, if the pain became too bad, she could at least bite her pillow and not scream in front of him.

His fingers untied the messy knot he had done yesterday, after what seemed like an hour of struggling with the cords, and he thought worriedly at the scold he would get if he couldn't manage to do it right this time.

Then, he loosened the gown and slid it open, just enough for him to access her back. He exhaled shakily at the sight of her scars. He hoped what happened the last time would not happen with her awake. It felt so gross and awful, she would mock him or get angry.

"It looks like the infection had lessened already. That's good," he told her, trying to compose himself.

He dipped his fingers into the balm and rubbed his hands with the weird substance.

"M-Mistress, I'm pretty sure that's going to hurt so please don't hex me," he said timidly.

He told her the truth earlier: he really was uncomfortable with the situation, thought Maleficent. It could have eased her mind, but she knew she was going to suffer immensely as soon as he'll touch her. She shut her eyes close and waited, gritting her teeth. But when his hand brushed her back, instead of the pain, she only felt wetness. He was rubbing the hollow in her lower back.

"I start low so you'll get used to my touch ok?" he asked while massaging her sore skin. "Then I'll slowly climb up to the infected part." He dipped his hand on the balm again and went back to her.

His hands moved in little circles, applying the balm and working out her tight knots at the same time. After a few minutes of inner struggling and denial, she eventually admitted it: It felt absolutely exquisite and she had to bite her lip not to moan. It even made her forget the pain from her scars. Her tensed body relaxed quickly after that, and his hands proceeded moving to a higher position on her back.

She suddenly let out a sharp sigh as he reached a painful area. He withdrew his hands at once.

"Mistress?"

She took a deep breath and replied, "Go ahead, Diaval."

He resumed his massaging a little lower, and softened his touch as he climbed to the painful part. She noticed he was stroking her skin with extreme care, always pressing less and less as he went higher. By doing so, he managed to limit the pain to an annoying stinging, but he soon reached the stumps.

That was something else entirely. At the only sight of them, he thought he was going to be sick, and he looked the other way. He rubbed a big amount of balm on his fingers and brushed around the stumps to apply the balm as gently as possible. It broke his heart when he saw his mistress biting at her pillow in pain. Her body was now even more tensed than at the beginning. Everything inside him was begging him to stop hurting her, and it made him nauseous to have to keep doing it. His brain tried to convince him that he wasn't torturing her, that it was for her own good, or else she would die. He was the only one who could help her and she needed him to do it. But it couldn't change how he felt inside.

As he stopped to dip his hands in the balm again, his knees gave in, and he had to half kneel on the side of the bed to steady himself. Now he was brushing the tip of the stumps. He could feel under his fingers the exact feathery place where the flesh and bones had been cut, and he started to sob uncontrollably. His hands were shaking, his eyes and nose were getting wet, and the sound of her muffled cries worsened again the mess that he was. Now tears were leaking freely on his cheeks, as he finished applying the balm.

He couldn't stop the sobs, they came as they did yesterday when he applied the balm and he hoped it wouldn't happen again, especially while she was awake. However, the tears came anyway as he had trouble bearing the site of where her wonderful wings once were. He couldn't stop his eyes and nose leaking, he couldn't stop himself shaking, but he tried to tie the laces of her gown anyway. His body was moving by itself, without thinking, as it would worsen again his pathetic condition.

Maleficent let out a deep breath when she was sure he was done, letting her body relax a bit. That has been tough, but to be honest, she was expecting far worse. After a minute of feeling him struggling with her gown, she turned her head to tease him, but froze at his sight.

"D-Diaval? What is it? Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

He wasn't alright. How could he be alright? He couldn't stand to have so many heart-breaking feelings rushing inside him. And he felt gross and pathetic again, he felt miserable. But most of all, he felt so sorry for her…

He answered clumsily, not able to suppress the sobs in his chest, nor the shaking of his body, "I-I'm sorry Mistress. I don't know w-what's happening to me. I just f-felt really sad an-and I can't stop myself doing t-that."

She looked at him in concern. Was he really crying so hard because of her? It seemed unbelievable, and yet, why else would he be crying? She rolled on her side to face him, ignoring the pain in her back and her loose gown. "You're crying, sweet bird," she explained softly.

Ashamed of himself, the raven turned man lowered his head but his sobs and tears only intensified. The fairy couldn't stand watching him like that, so she did the only think she knew would calm his cries.

"Come here."

She opened the blanket and let him cuddle up against her. Ignoring the pain, she took him in her arms, with his cheek on top of hers, and he responded clumsily to her embrace. He held her tight, his hands on her lower back, mumbling in her neck how much he was sorry. About her wings, about the pain he caused her, about yelling at her, and even about his hopeless behaviour right now.

She just realised how much the emotions from these past two days had overwhelmed him. A few months ago, he was a mere raven, living a simple life, but now he had to deal with all these new situations and emotions, and it was only normal for him to lose it.

"Shhhhhhh. It's ok, Diaval. Everything is all right," she whispered to his ear.

The fairy truly was touched by his reaction. It felt nice to have someone around that cared so much for her. She was now considering to trust him, even rely on him and confide in him. That simple realisation frightened her. She thought she would never trust someone again, that she'll turn evil, consumed by hatred and revenge, repelling everyone around her and eventually would end up alone. It seemed to be the best solution to avoid the horrendous feeling of betrayal in the future. But still he was, mourning her wings and sharing her pain. She felt sweet warmth growing in her chest. It was a shame she would have to free him soon.

The pain in her back began to sting her again, and she pulled away from him, cradling his face with her hands. The raven-man seemed to calm down as she looked at him with tender eyes and wiped away his tears. When she awkwardly realised their noses were almost touching, she gently pushed on his cheek to make him lie down next to her and nestled against him comfortably. She now was partially on top of him, with one arm resting on his chest and the other under his head.

She sighed lightly as silent tears kept running down his face. "Diaval. You're my wings already. You don't have to be my tears too, you know," she said cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood.

He offered her a soft smile and his wet eyes were almost laughing at her attempt to joke around. With a bit of magic, she cleaned his face, erasing all traces of his cries and pressed her forehead against his chin. She let out a deep breath. Sleeping was out of the question tonight – what happened with Stefan's last embrace was still too vivid in her mind – but this felt… kind of good.

Again thank you RavenDiablo for beta-reading me and for our endless Maleval talks xDD