Author's note: I sincerely hope it doesn't take me a month to update this fic again. It's been rather crazy lately and my inspiration was not cooperating at all. Anyway: enjoy the continued adventures of Diaval and Maleficent and stay tuned for more in the future!

Part Eight ~ The Emerald Isle

Diaval winced as the child in the row behind his repeatedly kicked at his seat. "I'm starting to understand your issues with flying," he muttered to his girlfriend, who looked just as frustrated as he did.

The first three hours of the flight to Ireland had been anything but comfortable since, to save money, they had (perhaps foolishly) decided to fly economy class.

They still had another three hours to go.

It was bad enough that the rows were crowded and there was little to offer in the way of leg room, but as additional torture: they had been seated right in front of a family that had two toddlers.

"Remind me again why you want one of those?" Maleficent gestured behind them at the two rambunctious children, who couldn't keep still no matter what their parents tried.

"I certainly don't want those," he grumbled, but turned to look at her. "But a breed of child someday might be interesting."

The lawyer let out a short bark of a laugh. "Did you really just paraphrase Jurassic Park at me?"

"Anything to lighten the mood," he admitted, struggling to find some form of comfort in chairs clearly designed to make the passengers want to get off the plane as quickly as possible.

Touched by the effort, Maleficent reached out and squeezed his hand tenderly.

His heart skipped a beat at the gesture, particularly because she rarely showed such open affection in public. Gently, he raised her hand to his lips and bestowed a kiss on her knuckles.

She smiled warmly, and was about to change the subject when turbulence suddenly rocked the plane.

Immediately, Maleficent's already pale countenance went white as a sheet and her grip on Diaval's hand became vice-like.

He swallowed a yelp of pain and endured it until the plane evened out and his lover relaxed slightly.

She gave him an apologetic glance. "I should get you some ice the next time the stewardess comes around."

"We should get enough so we can dump the excess over the heads of the brats behind us," he smirked despite his discomfort.

"You plot our revenge. I'm gonna try to take a nap," she settled back in her chair, dimmed the lights above her head, and then shut her eyes.

"Good luck," she heard Diaval whisper, and then she felt his lips press sweetly to her cheek, which caused her to smile before, miraculously, she began to drift off.

She was woken a while later by the soft, pleasant pressure of Diaval's lips against hers and the gentle carding of his fingers through her hair.

Slowly, Maleficent blinked her eyes open to find her boyfriend smiling lovingly in her direction. "Hey there, Sleeping Beauty."

Carefully, the attorney sat up, stretching as best she could in the limited space they had. "How long have I been out?"

"Roughly two and a half hours. I figured you'd want to be awake when it was time to land."

She nodded gratefully and glanced behind them to notice that, for once, it was blissfully quiet as the children who had been obnoxious for the entire trip had finally quieted down. "Did a miracle happen?" she whispered.

Diaval just grinned. "A miracle that involved motion sickness pills to put them to sleep and keep unfortunate accidents from occurring. I might have made a suggestion to their parents."

"A smart suggestion," relaxing, she resituated the chair and made sure that her seat belt was properly fastened.

He reached out and laced his fingers with hers, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze right as the plane began to descend.

Maleficent gulped, but did her best not to break her beloved's hand in the process of the plane landing safely.

To be perfectly fair: it was called the Emerald Isle for a good reason. Maleficent had never seen quite so much green before.

There was an idyllic, fairy-tale quality to the countryside: as it if had somehow frozen in time as the world went on around it.

She settled back in the passenger seat of the rental car Diaval had acquired and turned to watch him as he drove with the expertise expected of one who had been born and raised in the place.

His handsome features were set in concentration and Maleficent could tell that he was trying to think of anything but old memories.

She knew it was a touchy issue, but she couldn't help being curious, so she decided to broach the subject as gently as possible. "How long has it been?"

He blinked but didn't take his eyes off the road. "Since what?"

"Since you've been home?"

"About fifteen years," he replied, his voice quiet.

"Hasn't your family missed you?"

"The only family I have left is my sister and she's content in California."

"So your parents…"

"Died in a car accident when I was fifteen. I was left to care for Rhiannon till she came of age, and then we both decided to move to America to go to university and start over."

Maleficent had suspected that his history was not all rainbows and sunshine, but the clipped tone with which he spoke alerted her to just how deeply it had affected him.

Without another word, she leaned in and pressed a brief kiss to his cheek. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't' have asked."

Despite the melancholy in his eyes, he managed a smile. "Then you wouldn't be who you are, love."

She decided to steer the conversation to less sensitive territory. "Well…let's just focus on the task at hand, okay? The sooner we get through this, the quicker we can get home and start planning a proper vacation: one that involves an island and tropical temperatures and drinks with little umbrellas in them."

His entire demeanor brightened. "And you in a bikini?" his tone was now hopeful.

Maleficent smirked. "If you're good."

The rest of the drive was pleasant as they discussed their future plans and fell into their familiar banter.

They both gaped in awe, however, once they pulled up into the driveway of the castle that Belle and Killian seemed determined to kill each other for.

"Holy shit…" Diaval muttered. "Did Belle tell you it was like something out of a Disney film?"

"Screw our clients…I want it," Maleficent muttered, which caused her fellow attorney to chuckle as he parked and walked around to help her out of the car.

They walked up to the front door, which was gigantic, and then knocked rather loudly, as they weren't certain how long it would take a member of the staff to reach them.

Only a few minutes later, the door swung open and they were face-to-face with an older, pleasant looking woman. "May I help you?"

They spoke in unison, which resulted in a bunch of garbled messages that somehow the woman found a way to decipher.

"Ah. You must be the lawyers, then?"

Diaval smiled and nodded, while Maleficent replied. "Yes. We are. I'm Maleficent Maurum and this is my associate: Diaval Corbeau."

The woman smiled back and then pushed the door fully open to escort them inside. "Welcome to Ireland. I'm Mrs. O'Callaghan. My husband and I are the head of the household here at the manor. If you'll follow me, I'll show you to your rooms."

The couple exchanged a brief glance with each other before following Mrs. O'Callaghan inside.

After settling in, Diaval and Maleficent spent the bulk of the afternoon starting their interviews with the staff.

The sun outside was beginning to set when they finally crossed paths again.

"So far, they all agree with me," he remarked as he started down the staircase that she was climbing.

"Me too."

They both stopped in their tracks and looked at each other before letting out simultaneous groans of frustration.

"Why can nothing be easy with this case?" he grumbled.

"Because someone in the universe hates us…" she growled.

He gave her a sympathetic look before turning around, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and guiding her down the stairs with him. "Well, it's too late to try to interview everyone again, so why don't we ask Mr. O'Callaghan where the closest pub is and get some dinner?"

Despite her irritation, she smiled and leaned against his shoulder. "As long as they've got Guinness, I'm game."

"A woman after my own heart," Diaval laughed softly, and then pressed his lips to her temple before, together: they set off to find the estate's main caretaker.