Sorry for this being so late.

As I have said to all my other readers on my other stories, work has been crazy busy... 40 hours and not enough sleep, so all have been lacking in the update department. But here it is, I made promise to finish this and I will - hope you all bare with me.

Thank you to all that reviewed and this is for you, to one that I forgot to respond to - Regina might meet someone in later chapters, might be one of two I have in my head, but if anyone has their own opinions or who they would like to see then by all means every comment helps.

I shall leave it here but I hope you all enjoy. :)

The cold castles great hall filled with blue smoke before it disappeared leaving two occupants in its midst. Maleficent looked back down to the basket that held Regina as the small baby took in her new surroundings. The blonde watched the baby's eye movements as the sharp pupils flickered from side to side letting her take in what ultimately was to be her new home.

The faerie still had mixed feelings on that. At having a person – a new presence into her home… her own sanctuary, she had chosen this place deliberately as so she could avoid that very thing. It wasn't her fault people were daft enough to come to her – idiots who boasted their luck in trying to slay the beast that terrorized their villages, or to try to get their revenge on her for harming their loved ones.

Either way she liked her solitude. A small gurgling had her looking down to the happy little baby. And this child would certainly ruin that. But she couldn't really send her back out… could she?

This little girl – this Regina… definitely was a Dragon. Now she could feel it further the more sure she was. But she still wasn't wholly positive as to what type. It would show itself the more she got older but if it was a hostile one then did she really want it living so close to her. Being the only dragon within the realm it allowed her to live a somewhat peaceful life… occasional intruder aside, she was left alone most of the time.

Also without the threat of any other dragon she didn't have to defend her territory, but now she had this. She had either one of two choices; send her away to live with the rest of the dragons in the far North… or keep her here.

Sending her to live with the rest, it would be a quick fix to two of her main concerns… she was more of a curser not a fighter and so really didn't fancy having to keep watching her back should this new baby grow up to be viperous. If there was one thing the blonde Faerie prided herself on, it was that she was more than just the everyday Dragon. The fact that she retained her mind when in creature form gave her that extra advantage over her fellow beast kin.

She also never fought. She found it to be uncouth and in poor taste… why fight when you can curse your enemies into insanity, so if she allowed the baby to live with her than in a few years' time she may end up having to do exactly what she hated. Naturally primal, Dragons would fight over the littlest of things and so did she see herself lowering to the level of which she relished dignity over?

Her other problem was why she was just left lying about. Why did the man leave her? Clearly it was because of her 'Gift' but she couldn't have been born like that… as far as the blonde knew she was the only one with such a talent… and had been for near well over forty years, if that was the case then what was the cause.

Was it revenge… jealousy, petty rivalry gotten out of hand? That she doubted she would ever know as the child clearly couldn't tell her, but was somebody looking for her? Had she been taken and left as an act of vindictiveness, was she actually wanted instead of being abandoned.

If so and it led whoever might be searching to here then not only would her peace be disrupted but it could also bring more problems than she cared to face. She eyed the smiling baby in her blanket and rolled her eyes. This really was nothing like she imagined handling when she woke that day.

"Having fun dear?"

Regina clapped her hands in reply earning another eye roll. She sat on her throne like chair allowing the tiny tot to squirm and roll about until she had covered every inch of the large room under her inquisitive gaze as the door creaked open and the blonde looked to see one of the servers enter the room.

Of course it wasn't all terror and fear she instilled into the hearts of people around. As well as being the beast of their nightmares she also, after a while found that she had been revered, a small group had braved the mighty mountain she had made her home and had come to her in awe of who she was and the symbol she presented. It had baffled her as the last few places she had been she had brought nothing but horror and unimaginable evil to the residents, and so now to open her door to find them practically worshiping her was something both new and a little unnerving.

At first she had tried scaring them. Showing them exactly why she held the title of 'mistress of all evil' and along with being hated, was also feared. But to her dismay they stood their ground seemingly even more in wonderment before falling to their knees before her, never in her life had she had something like that happen… having people adore her instead of trying to kill her, having them hang on her every word instead of blasting them for being lies… actually doing her bidding.

Her last resort was to allow them in but be as mean as she could. If she was horrendous to them then surely they would soon learn and flee for their lives… she went with that and stepped back as they walked through her gates and up to the icy fortress ahead.

That was five years ago,

Once she realized there was to be no getting rid of them. She gave up and just allowed them to do what it was they did, if they wanted to spend their sad little lives doing what she told them then it were their choice. It was a win – win in the end, so everyone was happy.

The man came forwards bowing his head as he got nearer. He smiled as he stood in front of her as she looked down at him. None spoke for a moment as he waited patiently for to her give permission which she did with a nod of her head, he smiled once more and went to speak, his mouth opening only to close when a loud chuckle had him turning in the direction of the noise as his eyes went wide at the sight of the giggling baby.

He stared at the small child in silence as he took her in and the basket she was sitting in before turning back to his mistress who was doing her best to look contrite despite the small elephant in the room. He licked his lips, and very slowly – as to not anger her, spoke.

"… Pardon my question mistress, and please I don't mean any offence… but –"

"No the child isn't mine." He didn't even get to ask before she spoke as he closed it slowly before nodding. He turned back to the blissful baby, "So… whose is she?"

Maleficent shrugged.

"How come she is here?" The blonde looked at him. "She's a guest,"

He nodded not really knowing how to take that… what could he say? She watched in a little amusement at his puzzled expression. Of course she never had guests – much fewer visitors even… not that they made it past dinner that was and so to see a few weeks old baby being her guest of honor was baffling. But like the good server he was, he took it in stride no matter how confusing it was.

"Shall I make a room for your guest mistress… one next to yours perhaps?"

She shook her head at his offered task. There was no way she was losing sleep, she had no idea if Regina was a crier through the night or not… she might have been the realms best baby even, but she wasn't taking that chance.

"No, no…" She paused in her words. What was she going to do? She couldn't just leave the small baby by herself, weirdly independent behavior or not she was still a young infant, and so would need proper care. Something she wasn't able or willing to attempt.

"Could you get one of the older women to come to me please?" He nodded immediately before turning and making for the door, he was at the entrance when he turned back around.

"Oh - I'm sorry mistress, dinner will be served soon." He bowed his head at his mistake as she nodded in return and allowed him to leave. She settled back in her seat and contemplated, she could never let it be said that she wasn't a kind mistress after all – she could have punished him for forgetting to tell her, but what would that achieve? It was better to show them kindness and all those happy emotions they liked so much, get more out of them through compliance rather than fear.

She had to laugh at all the kings who thought fear was a good way to go. Certainly a motivator yes, but sooner or later all the lowly rats will eventually revolt and that was how uprisings start, something she had yet to see happen to her.

Males and their gender hierarchy – never thinking with their heads

The doors opened again and an older woman stepped in, she was an aged woman, with grey hair tied up into a bun her eyes, though deep and blue, held a wisdom and knowledge that the blonde faerie had to admit she hadn't seen in a mortal in a long time. She was also kind, one of her more favored servers and so raised her hand to stop her from bowing.

"You asked for me mistress?"

The other woman nodded once before tilting her head in the direction to the left of her, she followed her direction before coming to a stop on the tiny tot and just like the first server her eyes went slightly wide at seeing the new addition to the castle.

"She needs looking after" The other woman could only nod.

"And seeing as I'm neither the right person nor personally inclined to handle such things could you?"

Ingrid turned to Maleficent giving her mistress a slightly questioning look before turning back to the raven haired child. The witch looked on as she nodded eventually seemingly stuck in thought before turning back to her.

"How long for, if I may be so bold as to ask."

"As long as necessary" Ingrid nodded but Maleficent could tell she was holding her tongue and so exhaled loudly before talking.

"Speak your mind Ingrid, I won't bite"

The silence could be felt so much even Regina stopped her playing to give the blonde a silent look, something that freaked the blonde out some more as she frowned a little at the small baby before turning back to the other woman.

"Speak."

Ingrid bowed her head a little. "… Is the baby going to be living here permanently from now on mistress?"

She waited for her to reply as the blonde turned her attention to the child in the basket, who had gathered her blanket and tipping it out the side. As if knowing someone was watching her she stopped and turned to the only two in the room as her dark eyes fell on the faerie as their gazes connected and a small staring match ensued.

The server watched at the side as a seemingly silent conversation went on between the two as Maleficent pondered once more on her choices. Finally, after what seemed like forever Regina broke the gaze and went back to her blanket leaving the seated woman smirking a little before turning back to the other woman.

"Yes."

Ingrid lifted her head to stare at her mistress. "She will be our newest resident. So I will want one of the rooms cleared out for her,"

She nodded again and turned to leave. With her new orders she went off to do her duties as Maleficent called out again. "But not near me… as I've said before no one disturbs my sleep."

Before letting her go leaving them the only two in the room once more, she glanced at the kicking tot. "Not even for my little student."

She may not have thought it through altogether... may have problems in the future when Regina was older, might have to brush up on her fighting skills a little. But she didn't care she would deal with all that when the time came. There was something mystifying about the baby that she just had to figure out and if that meant she had to share her idyllic little sanctum with an uncontrolled baby then so be it. She would just have to make sure Regina knew exactly who she was, and just why she would always be first and foremost, the top Dragon.

Dinner came with Maleficent being presented her usual serving of roasted deer as she idly glanced every so often at the baby happily drinking her milk brought to her by the server. Something she thanked seeing as she would have just offered her a bit of her meal and left her to it, she really didn't have a clue and frankly wasn't looking forward to learning.

The night ended with the blonde Faerie taking her on a tour of the rest of the castle. Some may have thought it pointless, to be showing a child who would not remember any of it around the rooms and such, but she had a feeling that Regina was more perceptive then she looked and so did it anyway. The night came to an end when the server came to her and informed her that the baby's room was ready.

Of course it was bare when she entered. With never having a need to accommodate a child before there had never been any furniture about. All they did was clean it out and make sure it was livable – dust had been cleared away, the items removed, and dangers taken care of. The rest she would have to do herself and so with a wave of her hand and a small amount of focus, a crib appeared next by the wall next to the window.

She turns to see Ingrid holding the baby in her arms as she nods and lets her pass to go and place the baby in her new bed. She watches the other woman gently place her down before turning to leave but were stopped.

"Mistress"

Maleficent turned back to see Ingrid standing next to the crib,

"Yes?"

Posture slightly hunched a little – sign off meekness as she carried on. "I was just thinking, shouldn't the child have some toys"

The blonde lifts her head a little at the request and arches a perfectly shaped brow. "Toys" Ingrid nods

"Yes, mistress – it's good for them you see. For growth and entertainment, also to help them sleep at night" Like they were magic words the faerie looks more sharply at her,

"Sleep" She nods again. "Yes Mistress"

Looking past her and back to the fuzzy baby she inquires further, "So by sleep you mean… if she doesn't have toys she might not sleep?"

"Yes Mistress"

Well that was it, she wasn't going to have anything risking her sleep and so with another wave of her hands, a few toys appeared just like the crib as the other woman had to nearly juggle to catch them all. She waited until she had placed them next to the baby who had stopped her rolling and had latched on to the nearest one with aggression and started gumming on it.

"Is she happy now?" She saw her nod after checking her over "Seems to be, just playing with them."

"Will she sleep?" Once again after a little assessment Ingrid nods slowly "I think so she has something to hold onto now so should sleep through the night if she doesn't need something that is."

The blonde pulled a face at the 'needing something' part and gave the woman a look that meant she would be dealing with it before bidding her goodnight and leaving her to tuck the baby in as she made her way to her own room.

It didn't take her long to get dressed, even powerful villains had a nightly routine before she slid under her cover and extinguished the light. Today had been one of the strangest she had in a long time. So much so that she was still debating that this was all just some weird dream and that soon she would wake. If not then tomorrow would be one hell of an adjustment period.

Her mind briefly went back to Regina. Such a peculiar creature… no pun intended, before she found herself wondering about the parents – and just who they might have been in order to have a child as oddly… settled as she. She closed her eyes and allowed her precious sleep to claim her as one last thought drifted through her mind.

'At least life around here might not be so boring anymore.'