Aurora flailed and tumbled through the sky, reaching out with legs and arms and wings and really anything she could to try and upright herself as she dropped out of the sky.
While her body struggled outwardly, her mind was doing its own acrobatics. Thoughts and emotions were scrambling over each other to try and make sense both of what was happening and what had almost happened.
She was teasing me.
I was going to kiss her.
The green of the trees was rushing to meet her.
She pushed me out of a tree.
I am falling.
The wind grew apprehensive about her fall, blowing forcefully at the underside of her wings to try and catch her.
Above the roaring of the air around her, Aurora was vaguely aware of the sound of something else familiar, like wind catching in a sail.
She was going to kiss me back.
With that thought, everything else clicked into place. The green treetops were no longer rushing towards her but were being skimmed over as she beat her wings in an easy rhythm and the wind found its place in her feathers, relieved that its queen's flight had not ended in disaster.
Each strong surge of her wings pushed her that much higher, away from the tree-line and back into the sky. And the feeling of flying? Indescribable.
Just as she had leveled out, something smacked into her back, forcing a startled yelp out of her. It was wrapping around her waist, rendering her own wings useless, and was lifting her higher and higher into the sky.
Familiar laughter and the smell of comfort greeted her as Maleficent lifted them high above the clouds and over the moors. She was elated, and Aurora found herself laughing as well, rejoicing in her newfound freedom that her wings gave her.
As the grip around her waist loosened and her wings moved to take over, Aurora turned herself over in the air, finding herself face to face with her Maleficent as they rose above the clouds.
Maleficent smirked, eyes a warm amber gold. "That good of a teacher, am I?"
Aurora's heart fluttered, and she noted the bright golden color of Maleficent's eyes as they locked with her own. The sunlight around them suddenly seemed dull in comparison.
"It would do you well to learn some humility," Aurora replied with feigned queenly authority.
She pushed herself forward and closed the gap between the two, firmly planting her lips against the faery's own. For a moment she feared she misread the situation as Maleficent's own lips seemed unyielding. The next instant she found her reassurance as her lips parted to kiss her back.
Maleficent's heart either stopped beating entirely or pounded out of her chest erratically, and as she eased into the kiss for a moment she forgot altogether to move her wings, dropping quickly and pulling the two apart.
She gasped at the sudden absence of Aurora's lips on her own and caught herself falling on her wings. Aurora smirked down at her.
"Did my own teacher just forget how to fly?" she teased.
Maleficent shot back up to embrace her, holding them both aloft on her wings alone.
"Beastie, do shut up," Maleficent replied, and before Aurora could respond, silenced her with another kiss.
This one was gentler, less abrupt. Both unsure but both eager, both impatient. Maleficent yielded to her every silent request, and Aurora was insatiable.
At last they broke free. Maleficent cupped her face in her hand, running her thumb along Aurora's cheek. Aurora leaned in close to Maleficent once more, placing a gentle kiss at her temple.
"I told you, silly faery. No truer love," she whispered, and Maleficent positively glowed.
"Now catch me if you can!"
Aurora flared out her wings and broke out of Maleficent's embrace, then dove below the clouds, laughing. Flustered for a moment, Maleficent finally gave chase, and the two spent the rest of the day flying and chasing and stealing kisses.
Later that night, as Maleficent held the girl to her chest, she remembered that Aurora tasted of vaguely of blackberries and honey.