Author's note: So I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that this is the final chapter of this saga (which took longer to get down on paper than I intended but life and other fandoms got in the way). The good news is that it's not techincally the "end", as I want to write an epilogue involving these two cuties. However, I will say that this will be my final outing, at this time, with the pairing. I'm not saying I won't ever revisit them again, but I feel like I've done enough for the time being. I hope those of you who have patiently waited for this part to be published enjoy it, and I'll try to get that epilogue done as soon as possible! (Oh and the mention of Regina and Aiden is in reference to all my Golden Queen fic for Once Upon a Time. I might incorperate them into the epilogue if I feel so inclined)
Part Eleven: For Better and For Worse
Maleficent woke up the next morning with a sense of unease and a killer hangover, which did little to help the twist in her stomach when she attempted to sit up.
She groaned softly and tried again, this time managing to lay back against the pillows of the bed as she placed on hand over her face and endeavored to make sense of the fog that was currently invading her brain.
She could recall bits and pieces: the fact that she and Diaval had gone into town the night before, to a local pub, and joined in the celebration there, but she couldn't dredge up the exact details.
With a frustrated moan, she rubbed over her face with her hands and that was when she noticed something…odd.
She opened her eyes and pulled her left hand away from her face, noticing for the first time that there was a ring placed on her finger.
It was such a tiny, innocuous thing: comprised of faux pearls and a bit of elastic – cereal box jewelry at best – but it was enough to have her memories of the previous night come crashing back ten-fold.
There had been a ceremony, and for some reason she vaguely remembered rose-petals, but the clearest picture she had was of Diaval's charming smile right before a pastor announced them as man and wife.
Shit. Maleficent glanced down and noticed Diaval's sleeping form, and an identical ring on his left hand.
Shit. Shit. SHIT. The attorney scrambled out of bed, dragging the comforter with her in an effort to preserve whatever dignity she had left, and shouted in her lover's direction: "Wake up! Wake up NOW!"
Diaval shot up immediately, his hair a complete mess and his eyes wide as he glanced wildly around the room, until his gaze fell upon her and he relaxed, smiling lopsidedly. "Good morning."
"It is most certainly not a good morning!"
His eyebrows furrowed. "What's wrong love?"
"Will you look at your hand? Please?!" she gestured dramatically, which prompted him to look down.
He spotted the ring and inspected it for a moment. "Oh. Well that's interesting."
"Really?" her tone shifted to a higher pitch as she glowered in his direction. "That's the best you can come up with: that's interesting?!"
"…not as interesting as the fact that you have one too."
Maleficent swallowed and attempted to take a calming breath before voicing the question that currently filled her with dread. "Diaval…did we get married last night?"
He was silent for a long beat before replying: "It would appear so."
The room went eerily quiet as they stared at one another, neither wanting to be the first to speak again, but eventually the crestfallen expression on Maleficent's face prompted Diaval to note, quietly: "You're not happy."
"Do I look happy?" she groaned and sat on the edge of bed, head bowed.
Tentatively, he inched closer. "I'm sure we can find the priest and get it annulled. Especially since neither of us was in our right minds last night."
She glanced over at him, and her heart nearly dropped into her stomach when she saw that he looked as upset as she did, though she could tell it was for an entirely different reason.
"Diaval…I didn't mean that I was unhappy to be married to you," she reached out and placed her hand over his, stroking along his skin lightly. "But not like this. Surely you can understand that."
"I do," he nodded, bringing his fingers up to her cheek, letting them linger for a moment before allowing them to fall. "We'll get it straightened out, I promise."
Smiling, she wrapped her arms around his neck and touched her forehead to his, nuzzling his nose with hers before whispering. "I'll hold you to that promise."
He tugged her closer and kissed her sweetly to assure her that everything would be fine.
After a shower, breakfast, and some much-needed aspirin, Maleficent was in a slightly less dour mood. However that mood spiraled downwards once again after she and Diaval spent a good portion of the day trying to locate the priest who had married them the night before, to no luck.
In fact: the entire town was practically dormant, and it was well into the afternoon before the couple found someone who could explain why.
Apparently the local holiday was not all that different to ones held in the U.S, (meaning that institutions such as banks and schools would close); but seeing as it was a small town, it made more sense for almost everything to shut down for the day.
"It just figures…" Maleficent groaned loudly as she plopped, with little grace, onto a couch once they returned to the manor. "The whole town is empty the day we actually need help."
Diaval sank down next to her. "And we're catching a flight back to the states tonight, which means that we have to deal with this quietly once we get back home. Never an easy thing."
"Well, it will be easier dealing with it together," she admitted, curling up against his side and resting her head on his shoulder.
"Should we tell anyone? Or should we just find a discreet attorney who will annul it the instant we're able?" he glanced down at her.
"You and I both know that if a word is breathed to Aurora, it will be all over the evening news in ten seconds."
"True enough. All right: what's the plan then?"
"Why do I always make the plans?" she looked up at him, annoyance evident on her lovely features.
Diaval smirked and kissed the tip of her nose. "Because you're so good at them. And also because you're a control freak so even if I did make plans, you'd alter them."
"I don't know how you put up with me," she shook her head, amused.
"Oh it's probably because I love you so much."
Her heart fluttered, and she leaned in to kiss him languidly, her fingers carding through his hair.
They stayed like that for a few minutes before he pulled back and touched his forehead to hers. "The plan, Mal?"
She chuckled. "Right. Well, we fly home, and then we should visit Killian and Belle to let them know that basically: they're screwed when it comes to reaching an agreement on this castle due to the paperwork. I'm going to advise that they sell it and split the profits instead of turning this into more of a mess than it already is, but I doubt they'll listen to me so maybe you'll have better luck."
He snorted in disdain. "I sincerely doubt it, but I'll try."
"Good luck with that. Once we're through there, I'll call in a favor from a friend of mine. She owes me."
"Would that friend be Regina Gold?"
"…yes…how did you—
"Her husband was one of my college professors."
"I keep forgetting that Aiden taught for a while," Maleficent mused. "Anyway: Regina owes me a favor so I'm sure she'll help us out."
Diaval nodded and leaned back into the couch. "I guess all that's left to do then is pack."
"Yes, but first," she crawled onto his lap and framed his face between her hands. "I think another kiss is in order."
"For someone so desperate to get an annulment, you certainly appear to be in love with your husband," Diaval teased, brushing his lips against hers.
"Well my love for my husband isn't the issue. And once we've gotten this mess straightened out and the case is over…I'm hoping you'll still be available for the position."
"Oh I'm pretty certain I will be," he muttered, before tugging her into a fervent kiss, which effectively ended that particular discussion.
Two Days Later…
Diaval went still, hand poised to knock on Belle's door, his eyebrows furrowing upon hearing the strange sounds coming from within. "Uh. Mal…does that sound like murder to you?"
Maleficent, who had been hoping that the meeting would be brief, immediately pressed her ear against the door, her expression turning from one of mild concern to full-on-worry when a shrill scream pierced through the air. "Quick, knock the door down!"
"All right I admit that it was a bad idea to ask them to meet up in one place, but I didn't think they'd try to kill each other!" Diaval slammed his entire body against the door, though to no avail.
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Maleficent gestured for her husband to move to the side and managed to kick the door down (whether this was due to the boots she had chosen to wear or sheer force of will, she wasn't sure).
Neither was prepared for the scene that greeted them.
Blushing furiously and attempting to cover herself using a nearby blanket, Belle brushed tousled hair out of her eyes and cleared her throat. "Er. Hi guys. You're a little early aren't you?"
Killian didn't even attempt at being modest and propped himself up on one elbow, completely at ease in his nudity. "Also you owe my love for that door."
Diaval rubbed at the back of his neck, averting his eyes as he muttered: "We heard her scream."
"Well…yeah. Doesn't she?" Belle gestured at a rather livid-looking Maleficent.
Diaval took a step back out of instinct, fully prepared for the tirade that was about to take place.
"I cannot fucking believe you two!" the attorney finally exclaimed, her eyes flashing golden as she stalked forward towards the couple. "We just spent days in Ireland trying to figure out exactly what to do with this castle you're both so obsessed with, and then we come back and organize this meeting and come and find you like this?! What the HELL is it with you guys anyway: does the fighting count as foreplay?!"
Killian shrugged. "Maybe. We've always been pretty vocal towards one another, in and out of the bedroom."
"Look, Mal...You've been a wonderful lawyer, and so has Diaval from what Killian told me. When we met up here we realized that all that arguing—that heat, that passion –its part of why we fell in love in the first place." Belle explained.
"You said to me once, friend, that love is more often worth the fight. Did you not mean that?" Killian directed towards Diaval.
Still keeping his eyes carefully aimed at the ceiling, Diaval stated: "Yes, but you might have called us to save us the embarrassment of this situation."
"So, what, that's it then? All's well and you two go riding off into the sunset, while I have to get my marriage to the man I love annulled because it was a drunken mistake at that stupid festival, and I'd rather start out our lives together with a proper ceremony and a white dress?!" Maleficent's ire over the situation had managed to loosen her tongue quite a bit.
Immediately, Belle shoved Killian back and wrapped the blanket around her like a make-shift dress, rising to her feet and rushing towards Maleficent to wrap her in a hug. "You got married? Oh my god, congratulations!"
"Wait…the festival? It wasn't the one celebrating the Fae prince and his human princess was it?" Killian finally had the decency to put on a pair of pants.
"It was, actually," Diaval informed, grateful that not quite so much skin was on display from the other couple.
The rock star burst into laughter. "Oh! Guys, those marriages aren't legal! They're just for show."
"Wait…what?" Maleficent's tone was flat.
"Yeah, you two aren't really married. But you should be, you make a perfect couple," Killian smiled.
After processing the information fully, Maleficent decided that the best "thank you" she could offer was a punch to Killian's jaw.
He stumbled back a few steps, though Belle caught him, throwing an apologetic look towards Diaval. "He still needs to learn to talk without his foot in his mouth."
"Mm…Mal, why don't we get going? It seems the last thing anyone wants here is a divorce lawyer." Diaval gripped his girlfriend around the arm and gently led her out the door.
The journey home was silent, and Maleficent was still rife with tension once they arrived at her apartment.
Partly in effort to calm her, and partly to comprise his own thoughts, Diaval immediately headed to the kitchen and prepared them both cups of tea.
When he came out, his love was sitting on the couch, her feet curled up under her legs as she hugged a pillow to her chest, her striking features lost in contemplation.
Silently, he approached and offered her the tea.
She looked up at him, her eyes boring into his. "I'm sorry you had to see me lose my temper like that."
Diaval smiled softly and sat next to her. "I didn't think you were that scary, love."
"Still, I behaved entirely unprofessionally. I blame the stress of the past week."
He chuckled and sipped at his tea. "I'm sure that had something to do with it, yes. However," he turned towards her. "There is one good thing that came out of it, at least."
"And what's that?" she arched an eyebrow.
"I now understand just how much it means to you that we get married properly…which means, that buying this was probably a better idea than I initially thought it was," Diaval slowly kneeled before her and pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket.
Immediately, Maleficent's eyes widened when he opened it to reveal a sparkling diamond ring. "When…when did you?"
"A few weeks before we went to Ireland. I was going to wait till your birthday but now I realize I don't want to waste another moment…" he took her hand within his, his eyes locking with hers right before he whispered: "Maleficent Maurum…will you marry me?"
"You mean; will I marry you again?" She couldn't help but tease, but the tears that sprung to her eyes were evidence of how moved she was.
"Well…will you?"
She grinned. "Yes. Yes of course!" and then she leapt forward, knocking him to the ground while claiming his mouth in a kiss that properly conveyed her elation.
Given the way that he kissed her back, Diaval was just as overjoyed.