30 years buried in a cave, trapped in dragon form with no means of escaping. For an immortal creature, three decades may seem like nothing more than a petty nuisance but for the woman trapped inside, aching to scratch her way to the surface, the years had gone by torturously slow. Death would have seemed like a preferable fate and little did she expect her wishes to be granted, at the hand of Emma Swan no less. But in the grand scheme of things, her death was nothing but a bump in the road, an obstacle easily overcome with a little help from Rumplestiltskin and so there she was: confined in the pathetic little town that was Storybrooke (really, considering how grand and dramatic Regina had been during her Evil Queen days, Maleficent had expected something with a little more kick to it). It should have been enough to make her hate Regina and confirming to her expectations, when she had seen her strut into Granny's diner with a hint of her old arrogance, the dragon's first impulse had been to choke the life out of the Queen, or better yet to reduce her to nothing but a smoking pile of charcoal. Only she hadn't. She wasn't a fool, she knew Regina's presumed evilness was nothing but an act to infiltrate the ranks of the Queens of Darkness, but she was willing to be lenient. If there was even a glimmer of hope of Regina going back to side with them, she was going to take it.

"It's not like you to be so quiet dear."

Regina had been staring into the burning fireplace for what seemed like hours, entirely still save for the occasional shift in position. Ursula and Cruella had left an eternity ago on some mission assigned by Gold.

"I spoke with Mary Margaret"

At Maleficent's raised eyebrow and questioning expression, she explained.

"Snow White, Mary Margaret is her cursed persona."

"What were you doing speaking to her?"

"A lot has changed, I had to out up with them to survive. She started trusting me, that pathetic brat." (A smile appeared on the dragon's lips upon hearing some of the old rivalry slip through) "but that's not what I wanted to say. She told me about what she did to you, about the child."

The blonde froze at those words. Regina had spoken carefully but the tension that had fallen over the room was palpable. The younger woman pivoted in her chair to cast an almost hesitant gaze over Maleficent.

"Is the child…is she or he …whatever…are they still alive?"

"She. Her name is Lily and yes…she's alive but I don't know where, the Charmings sent her to this land before the curse."

There was guilt in Regina's dark eyes and the way she tormented the hands in her lap was proof enough of her unwavering discomfort with the situation.

"I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"Everything. About casting the curse, not being there when you had the child, and about sending Emma to kill you."

Maleficent was never big on forgiveness, she was known to hold a grudges against people who had wronged her and Regina's actions towards her hadn't exactly been commendable. She could still remember when the dragon woman had told her they had conceived a child. She was far too gone down the path of darkness and revenge to care at the time and the sudden concretization of their relationship had terrorized her into abandoning Maleficent and dedicating herself to casting the curse. True love could do extraordinary things and the mere knowledge that she had fallen in love after believing she would never replace Daniel had left her troubled and insecure. She had fled. Now three decades later, she wished she hadn't.

"You being there wouldn't have made a difference. You were too far gone Regina, if anything you would have dragged the child and myself into your pursuit for destruction. As for Emma, those are technicalities, you will need more than the savior and her toothpick of a sword to get rid of me."

"That toothpick of a sword as you called it defeated you once before."

"Yes, the toothpick and that shepherd playing Prince your step-daughter married. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I got defeated because he had to save Snow White from the curse you put her under"

"and that you gave to me"

Maleficent smiled, reaching out to trace with lithe fingers the sharp lines of Regina's jaw and cheekbones. She felt the brunette tense under her touch as if she feared the familiar banter they had engaged in could lead to something much darker and potentially dangerous. This was Maleficent after all, the only person in this town and quite possibly in the entire Enchanted Forest that had a higher body count than the Evil Queen.

"No need to be afraid, had I wanted to kill you I would have done so the minute I saw you."

The fear was well hidden, reduced to nothing but a mere specter ghosting in Regina's irises that would have passed unobserved had Maleficent been less attentive. It reminded her of that same shred of apprehension she had been able to manipulate all those years back, before the Queen cast the curse.

"You won't be able to keep this charade going much longer Regina, Gold suspects you and it won't be long before he blows your cover."

The brunette paused before answering. She could argue that her act was sincere and perhaps given the situation it would have been the smartest thing to do, but the way Maleficent was looking at her told her that her story of plunging back into evilness had been shredded to pieces since day one. Lying was pointless.

"Why are you telling me this? Why didn't you kill me before if you suspected me already?"

The blonde chuckled.

"Because even though you've been a heartless, self-righteous bitch, I've missed you."

There was tenderness to the banter and it took the mayor off guard.

"You've missed me?"

"As surprising as it may seem little one, life is rather bland without you providing entertainment. It was rather amusing to see you terrorize the kingdom until you decided to destroy it."

She may not have condoned the Queen's descent into darkness but saying it hadn't removed boredom from her obnoxiously long life would have been a lie. Between slaughtered villages, petty blood feuds and their moments together behind closed doors, Regina had been the distraction Maleficent had needed when the monotony of eternity had begun weighing down on her.

"Again, sorry about that."

"There are upsides to it fear not, for one, I am finally in the same land as Lily."

If anything good had come out of the Dark Curse, it was this. Lily was no longer unreachable and for the first time in years Maleficent saw the very concrete opportunity of redeeming herself in her daughter's eyes. She wondered if the girl blamed her for leaving her or if she was fully aware of what Prince Charming and Snow White had done. Either way, there was lost time to make up for once mother and daughter were reunited.

"How do you intend to find her?"

"By using Miss Swan of course. Rumor has it she is talented at finding people."

"But Gold-"

"Gold will dispose of us as soon as we are no longer of use to him. I'm not foolish, nothing good ever came out of trusting that imp and I won't repeat my mistakes. Once he shows his true colors, I will ensure he pays for his treachery."

"A Dragon can't stay on a leash for long"

"Indeed not"

The smirk that illuminated Regina's visage washed away the tension. It was bizarrely comforting given the situation, to have Maleficent back by her side. She wasn't sure she could trust the blonde just yet but some of their old complicity was seeping through the cracks along with the faint hint of feelings that she thought would remain in the past. When Maleficent had stayed the night after Cruella and Ursula were long gone, tiered from the petty vandalism they had used to test Regina and tipsy from the beverages consumed after, the ex-Evil Queen hadn't thought much of it. Maleficent never did like being the underdog and she had interpreted the heated kisses as nothing more than an alcohol-fuelled manner for her to assert her superiority. Now she realized it might have been more than just that.

"She's got your hair color you know?"

"Lily?"

Maleficent nodded. Beneath her fingertips, she felt Regina's jaw tense and she smoothed over it with her thumbs in an attempt to make her relax.

"I still don't understand how it could have happened"

"There is much about magic that is yet to be comprehended. It works in mysterious way, particularly when the magic is powerful and uncontrolled."

Powerful and uncontrolled. Nothing better than those two words could describe Regina in her Evil Queen days. The difference between the woman Maleficent remembered and the one that now sat before her was immense. Time had made Regina wiser, more controlled and less impulsive though her hot headedness had all but disappeared, but most of all, it had pushed the Evil Queen in the dark depths of her soul. The darkness was being managed and the Regina that emerged was one Maleficent particularly appreciated though she would sooner die than to admit it.

"We'll find your daughter Mal. I promise."

"Our daughter"

"Yes, our daughter"

The worlds rolled off Regina's tongue in a foreign manner. The idea would require some taking used to and fears would have to be pushed aside but the thought of meeting the child she had been cowardly enough to abandon all those years ago, wasn't entirely unpleasant.

The sound of Cruella's car stopping in the driveway pulled the two sorceresses apart but as the door opened and their two partners in crime stepped into the cabin, knowing glances established an alliance that went far beyond the one Gold had created.

The Dragon and its Queen were reunited and if history was any indication, they were a force to be reckoned with.