The Fair Folk of the moors never kept track of time or days; such things were for mortal men scurrying about and fretting about how much time they have left.
They knew that when the sun was out it was daytime, and when it went away it was nighttime. They could tell what season it was not by what month it was but by what the weather on the moors was like; during the winter they all knew that the wind was always in a particularly bad mood.
But now, as Aurora lay trembling in the boughs of the oak while she slept, Maleficent felt the passing of each second as physically as raindrops relentlessly pelting her skin in a storm.
It had been four days since Aurora had been brought back to the moors, and even with all the care the faeries and Maleficent had been giving to her, there had been almost no change in her condition.
Maleficent refused to leave her side, refused to sleep, refused everything until she knew that Aurora was going to be alright. She tried her own magic against the sickness, trying to heal her as she healed the trees and animals but it did little more than it had done when she had tried to revoke her curse.
Everything she tried failed, but still she kept trying until every last reservoir of hers had been bled dry. Diaval tried to pry her away from the girl's side, begged her to eat or drink something but she refused, flicking him away with her hand. Eventually he stopped trying to reason with her and carried out her wishes.
All creatures of the moors came by to see their queen, but Maleficent sent them all away, curling her wings protectively around Aurora's fragile body as a shield from curious eyes. Even Knottgrass, Flittle, and Thistlewit stopped coming by when Maleficent realized that nothing they could do was helping.
Aurora would occasionally awaken from her sleep, much to Maleficent's relief who had started to worry her "true love's kiss" hadn't been enough to fully break the curse and it was now back to claim her again.
The faery would try to urge the girl to eat or drink something, usually one of the moorland briar roses engulfed with a nutrient enriched nectar that she used to send Diaval with when Aurora was an infant, but she would shake her head and curl closer to Maleficent's warmth before succumbing to her sleep once more.
The evening of the fourth night Maleficent was keeping her ever vigilant watch on the girl, shielding her from the wind with her wings when she heard a feeble squeaking from the mass of tangled golden hair and heavy dress robes beneath her.
Her wings slacked and retracted away enough that light was allowed to stream onto Aurora's slight frame and Maleficent could see the girl squirming slightly against her own body. Maleficent sighed with relief and sat slightly upright to allow Aurora a chance to do the same.
"Hello Godmother," Aurora whispered, and Maleficent prayed the girl did not feel her heart leap at the sound of her voice, a sound she was beginning to fear she would never hear again.
Maleficent moved to help the girl sit up against her, brushing her messy hair out of her eyes. "Hello there, Beastie."
Nearby, Diaval was hopping from branch to branch and squawking excitedly, but Maleficent was not about to let him intrude on her first few moments of Aurora's regained consciousness. "Diaval, go and fetch a few of the roses; she needs to regain her strength. Quickly!"
The raven clacked his beak, obviously annoyed at being sent away so soon, but resigned to allowing the two a few moments to themselves as he fell away from the tree and out into the moors.
"Sweet Aurora, you've had me worried sick these past few days," Maleficent chided fondly. "I was starting to worry that perhaps the curse had reclaimed you. That I was not strong enough to break it permanently."
Maleficent hadn't meant to become emotional at Aurora's awakening, but there was something about admitting it out loud that caused her voice to crack and falter.
Aurora smiled and shook her head. "True love's kiss is always strong enough, you silly faery, and yours is the truest love I've ever known."
The most powerful faery in the moors, the one who had broken her own curse, was moved to tears by the young girl's words. She had been afraid that she had failed at saving Aurora, that her act of true love had not been good enough or strong enough.
Seeing her there, even though she had grown so gaunt, blinking lazily up at her with those miraculously shifting eyes was enough to cast all those thoughts away.
Aurora was already leaning against her but the faery wrapped her arms around her and pulled the little blonde closer into a strong embrace, once again curling her wings around them both to hide them from the world.
"Godmother?" Aurora said after a few moments.
"Yes?"
"I can't breathe."
"Oh," Maleficent said shortly. "Right." She released her vice grip on the girl and smoothed over her hair. "Better?"
"Much."
Diaval returned shortly with three rose stems held carefully in his beak, placing one carefully in Aurora's lap so as not to shake out the nectar that Aurora so vitally needed. She drank in the nutrients cradled in the petals and smiled at the vaguely familiar taste of something she remembered from long ago.
The magical substance flooded through her body and made her feel immediately stronger. Her hair that had grown dull gained back its sheen, her cheeks flushed a rosy pink, as did her lips, and she felt strength return to her movements.
Maleficent took one of the remaining and insisted that Aurora take the last. Finally both seemed to be back to normal for the time being.
A wave of her hand, a dusting of gold magic, and Diaval was once again human, doing what he did best and smothering the two with affection in the form of snarky remarks and embraces that more resembled tackles. The trio indulged in the moment for a while, enjoying each other's company.
But it didn't take long for Maleficent to grow tired of Diaval's bulky and clumsy presence in her nest.
"Oh do make yourself useful, you big oaf. Go and alert the sentries and her aunties or something." Aurora giggled at the face Diaval made in response but did not disagree. She herself was rather uncomfortable as well.
Now that she thought about it, she was extremely uncomfortable. Her back felt extremely cramped up and every time she moved her heavy robes seemed to resist and restrict her, and she felt sticky and damp from the cold sweat she had had persistently since falling ill.
Once Diaval had left in a flurry of black feathers and annoyance, Aurora turned to Maleficent urgently.
"I wish to wash up and get out of these awful clothes." It was not a request from a carefree young girl but a command from a queen, and Maleficent smiled to see the girl so full of life again.
She carried the girl down the cliff side to the small secluded pool and gentle waterfall which she herself used when she wished to wash and preen.
"I'll be just over there if you need me." Maleficent gestured towards a line of trees a couple yards away so that she could give the girl her privacy, trying to ignore the fluttering feeling in her stomach at the thought of Aurora so close by.
Aurora smiled and nodded, proceeding to try and strip off her heavy garments but failing miserably. After a few moments of embarrassed silence she resigned to the fact that she needed Maleficent's help.
"Godmother…?" she asked tentatively. "I…I think I'm stuck."
The faery sighed deeply and felt her heart race for a moment before emerging from the trees. Her wings twitched nervously, but she couldn't help the light chuckle she made when she saw the mess of tangled fabric Aurora had managed to turn herself into.
Very carefully she helped remove the thick and restrictive dress, exercising extreme restraint in even letting her fingers touch the skin of her body, which, she noted yet again, had a faint pearly glow.
Little by little Aurora was released from the constraints of her attire, and she found she could breathe deeper and easier. Still, though, her back ached persistently and she grew anxious to be free of the corset wound tightly about her waist, so when Maleficent paused she couldn't help but become agitated.
"Please, Maleficent, I can't take it anymore!" she exclaimed.
But Maleficent hadn't heard a word. She was staring, perplexed, at what she thought she was seeing underneath the last thin shreds of fabric hanging on Aurora's tiny body. Her cheeks burned red as she began to unlace the corset slowly, afraid of what she might find.
It fell to the ground, followed shortly by the last undergarments, and Aurora groaned with relief, stretching the muscles in her back.
When she felt a nervous hand on her back and a sudden intake of breath from Maleficent, she froze.
"What is it Maleficent?" she asked, but Maleficent could not give a proper answer.
Maleficent's only response was complete silence for what seemed like an eternity, then "Oh dear…"
The faery stared, dumbfounded and fearful, at the girl's bare back.
Except it wasn't bare. It was far from bare.
Because now, from the space between her shoulder blades and spine, small wings covered with downy chick fluff folded carefully against her back.
Before Aurora could ask again, she heard a loud thump behind her and turned to find her graceful, powerful, and always carefully composed faery in a heap on the ground. Maleficent had fainted.