Maleficent changed everything. Both of his parents were concerned about her presence Emma had extended her hours at the station and on patrol. His other mother backed off some of her official duties in order to keep the woman in sight. The last part had been easier to pull off when she had gone undercover. It still made him nervous not seeing her all the time. Even though he acted as though it hadn't. Not knowing if she was one step ahead or two steps behind the villains. He had not seen the torched cop car but he could imagine between the fire breathing dragon and his mothers love of pyromania what it had been like. Even his grandparents had been acting extremely out of character.

When the truth came out the last thing he had anticipated was how sorry he would be. Everyone was sorry though but what would that fix? Sorry would not give Maleficent her child back nor the child the chance to grow up with her mother. A hundred apologies could not fix the damage caused. Damned if he was not going to make an effort. Taking steady steps to where Maleficent, Ursula and Cruella sat he strode to them.

Three gazes fell to meet his.

"I made this for you." He said, voice slightly higher than usual as his hand extended to Maleficent. Curiously the other two stayed silent eyes lingering on the folded piece of paper.

"I don't want anything from a Charming." she spat, teeth on full display.

"Good thing my name is Henry Daniel Mills then."

Ursulla's lips formed an "o" as Cruella gave an amused nod of slight approval to the boy. He had guts, guts that were dangerously close to being spilt on the shiny floor. But he had them. Which was so much more than she could say about his grandparents. Fools the both of them.

Snatching the paper out of his hand Maleficent crumpled it and tossed it to the floor.

"You are named after two very dead men Mr. Mills. Be careful you don't join them."

"What the hell did you just say to him?!" Emma said pushing her way past a highly intoxicated Leroy whom she had been in the middle of arresting.

"Ma' let it go."

"No, I will..."

Henry hit her with a clone of Regina's death glare and her mouth could not even form more words at how frightening that was. She sent one to Maleficent who continued sneering. "Do not ever threaten my son."

When her back was to the Dragon bitch a response came," It was a promise. Wish your parents the worst for me dear."

The teenager picked up the paper and placed it firmly in the middle of the table while Red pushed his mother out the door. Thank God for her werewolf strength.

Maleficents hatred came through the piercing gaze but so did Henrys unspoken plea.

One eye roll and sigh later she waved her hand over the "gift" and it was made new. His mouth upturned at the corner pulling short of being a victorious grin. Time crept onward until she waved him away. At the risk of further agitating her, if that were even possible, he gave a nod of acknowledgment to the Queens of Darkness before making haste out the front door. Leaning against the sheriffs car Emma's reddened face and railing at Red for kicking her out.

"Thanks." he said to a hug and pitiful glance as they exchanged places.

"Anything for my favorite customer."

"Kid, what was that all about?"

"Nothing. She's just upset."

"She threatend to kill you I am going to need a little more than she's just upset."

"I am asking you to trust me."

She wanted to argue. More than anything she wanted to storm back into that diner and remind that evil witch exactly who she was dealing with. One look at Henry though brought her down from premeditated murderous rage to fantasies of a no magic, good old fashioned ass whooping. It had been a few years since she had made the Daily Mirrors front page. Shelving it for now she thrust her hands deep inside the worn pockets.

From inside Maleficent watched the mother and son duo amusedly observing how quickly the savior attempted to hide her rage. She did a piss poor job of it. Her pale cheeks were nearly crimson until the boy had talked her off of that edge. Of course she had seen the little Charming bitch eyeing her the moment Henry had stepped away. Then she had the gall to act as if the three of them had sought an audience with him. In attempt to what? Apologize for his cushy lifestyle and the fact that he had two parents who loved him enough to publicly threaten her. As if. When the two vacated the storefront she paid her bill, teleporting to her room in the cabin.

The paper had no magical elements to it. It looked and felt like nothing important.

I made this for you...oh what the could smite him if need be.

It did not beg for forgiveness. It did not apologize. No names were mentioned, there was not even a single note on the sheet. Tucked inside the tail of her dragon form was a babies bassinet with a chubby hand extended towards the loving gaze of a mama dragon. On the side of the dragons egg four letters were written in script, Lily.

He was named after two dead men alright.

Waiting to catch up to one Mr. Mills was made all the easier due to school taking an eight hour chunk of his day. She simply bided her time util the 3:15 bell rang. Children poured out as she pushed away any thoughts that something like this could have been in her future at one point. Cruella alternated yammering about how they could torture him, his pain threshold and the latest coat design she had drawn. Honestly, you've seen one dalmatian coat you have seen a hundred.

Kid was easy enough to spot in his grey and red scarf even amongst the others.

"Hello Mr. Mills."

"Hello Maleficent." His stance was so akin to Emma's. Hands were shoved into the pockets of his jeans and the way he would rock on the backs of his shoes struck an all too annoying chord. The dark grey backpack was slung carelessly over over one shoulder until he moved to pull out a sketch pad. Flipping it until he found and carefully removed the intended print. Backpack returned to his shoulder as he held it out. "I made this for you."

Hardened eyes observed his every move as she snatched the paper. The sound caught Cruella's attention from her own drawings.

"This is not something you need to be involved in boy."

"I can't change the past or your feelings towards my grandparents. I can however, have a different relationship with you."

She scoffed at the idea. "You are a little young."

"What they did, that was heartless, cruel and selfish. You don't have to forgive them, I wouldn't."

"We should kill him you know?" Cruella threw out the window.

"Is there something you want me to make specifically?" Henry asked over the other Queen.

"I will get back to you." Maleficent entered the vehicle and did not look at the boy as it rocketed away from the school zone. Pulling up in her place was the Mercedes. Both mothers were inside as he slid into the backseat and began making notes.

Despite their chilly encounters he remained dedicated as ever working on his artwork whenever he got a chance. Maleficent would appear like clockwork once a week if they had somehow managed to not bump each other beforehand. Their meetings were no secret to his mothers but Emma no longer lurked around each corner when they happened. If the sheriff was around she would feel the "sudden" need to put distance between herself and the two of them. At least she had ceased looking back when the exchange had been made Henry would approach her and together they would head in the direction of home.

Each time it happened much the same way, he would search through his things, remove the notebook and utter the words," I made this for you." Maleficent would make a dig at part of his family tree, something that was off with his latest drawing and say nothing further as she turned on her heel to leave. What she could not do was look him in the eye and admit that this little act of kindness meant something to her. Could not even bring herself to utter the two words she suspected he understood her presence to mean.

Every week the same pain was dredged up from the bottom of her darkened soul. For every drawing there were pangs of sadness, grief that would never fade and the remaining anger that grief had left her with. Regardless she now had a wall of gifts taking her through various scenarios.

Her current favorite was entitled Queens of Darkness in which Henry had clearly put much time. Along with Lily and Maleficent as was the norm they had three very special guests with them; Cruella, The Evil Queen and Ursula. Their guests were sitting at a children's table in full villain glory complete with tiny teacups. Lily finally had more than the back of her head showing with a small profile and the words, "Mommy I think we are going to need more cups." written as she looked at Ursulla's tentacles.

"I still say we should..." Cruella suggested dragging her finger across her neck only to pause midway when a fireball appeared.

"Touch the boy and the only one who will meet that fate is you. Be a dear and see yourself out."

Approaching the next available space on her wall she added her latest gift. Lily, age two, read the note on the backside. Somehow her beautiful daughter had obtained her iconic headdress from the vanity. Long, dark hair spilled out from beneath it, her daughters mouth was open in the middle of laughter as the hat sat crookedly on her small head. The horns made it far too top heavy for it to ever be worn properly. Once more tiny hands peaked out of a mock version of the Disney robe, a bone Maleficent would have to pick with the young Mr. Mills. If he was going to portray her he would be doing so accurately at the very least. In Lily's free hand she held her mothers staff.

Stepping away she looked over the collection once more. Every week counting down the days to the latest snapshot. She was not overly fond of the way Henry had wormed his way into her life but this would buy him time in her book. Kissing her fingertips she delicately touched each drawing beginning with the dragon and her egg. The first day of school where Lily's sign said, "I want to be a dragon when I grow up.", almost always brought a smirk to the surface. When the lights turned down sleep took her to the place where peace and a tiny female dragon were not so far away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On the stove was a hot plate of freshly prepared food. Standing next to the stove were Ursula and Cruella. To her relief Rumplestiltskin was nowhere in sight. The scent of apples filled the room before Regina appeared with a card and flower vase in hand. Both items placed carefully next to Maleficent while Regina made herself at home.

Happy Mothers Day Maleficent

~ Henry

Included alongside the flowers was yet another for her collection. She could not look at it right now so rather she kept her focus on the flowers. There were a dozen purple tulips with a vase drapped in faux diamonds. It looked rather elegant if not overpriced as she took a slow breath in, carefully placing the surprise gift in her jacket pocket.

Maybe, Henry Daniel Mills was not so bad. She could always smite him if need be.