Peace was just something Storybrooke was not meant to have. Not for an extended period of time anyway. For Maleficent, she felt at peace. Laying in a hammock with the Evil Queen draped over her chest, she was completely at peace. It was the first time in a very long time that she was able to feel this way and any opportunity to relish this feeling was quickly taken.

"What are you thinking about?" The Queen asked lazily, trying to cuddle closer to Mal.

"How serene life is." Mal replied through her purring.

"It's perfect, isn't it? I've never felt quite so at peace before."

"Savor it." Mal chuckled, stroking her back. It was such a beautiful day. Sunny and warm, not too hot, not too cold. "Where is our dragonling?"

"With Aurora. They've become quite close in the last month."

"I'm pleased. She needs more friends other than her mothers."

"Even if it's the girl with the stolen name?" Queen asked.

"If my Lilith is happy, then so am I." Mal said firmly. Lily was a very enigmatic child, often acting before thinking things through and almost always without consultation. Mal expected this though. Lily had lived on her own for a long time and dragons were often solitary creatures. This was in her blood and apparently Aurora was on her mind. She didn't know about that relationship, nor truly understand it, but she hoped Lily knew what she was getting into.

/

"I had no idea." Aurora said, walking next to Lily as they strolled along the wood trails to the troll bridge. "I know why I wasn't told, but still, to think my father would be capable of such a thing." She paused and looked up at Lily. "I should apologize."

"It won't matter." Lily shrugged. "It wasn't your fault and Mom's let it go."

"Still...I'm sorry."

Lily nodded as they walked in peace, arriving at the troll bridge and sitting on the edge of it. Things were peaceful in Storybrooke for once. It probably wouldn't last that long. In fact, she kinda hoped it wouldn't. Peace was boring.

"Thank you for telling me the origin of my name." Aurora said after a while. "I won't tell anyone else, I promise." Lily simply nodded. "You don't do a lot of talking, do you?"

"Not usually. Unless I'm talking to one of my moms."

"Are things going well?"

"They're going...somewhere." Regina simply was not giving up when it came to Mal, whereas the dragon spent her time with the Evil Queen without a care in the world. As much as she cared about Regina, Lily believed that Mal truly loved the Evil Queen. Maleficent loved her darkness and was just not ready to change any aspect of herself. She was a dragon, through and through. The Great Beast, Mistress of All Evil, none of that had changed. Not even when she was with Regina. Lily didn't think Regina would try to change her mother, but she was a hero now and Mal was still a villain. If they truly tried, they probably work past it, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before it caused conflicts with the heroes.

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In darkness, Regina sat on the rock in the middle of the clearing with Emma. Mal was on her mind, as she always was nowadays. It infuriated her, enraged her, and saddened that Mal had chosen the Evil Queen over her. That obsessive, possessive, sociopathic bitch had stolen Mal from her!

"Why are we out here again?" Emma sighed.

"You were the one who insisted on coming." Regina hissed at her.

"Henry was worried. He wanted me to talk to you."

"Well, you've been pretty quiet since we arrived." Regina retorted. Hearing a whisper on the wind and that familiar feeling she always got when something was hurtling at her head, she picked up the flashlight on the ground and shined it behind her without looking, illuminating her daughter trying to fly in silently and surprise her.

"This is bullshit!" Lily roared as she continued on overhead. It brought a smile to Regina's lips.

"What is this, a training exercise?" Emma asked.

"Yes, now be quiet please." She listened again. It was the same game she used to play with Mal, when the dragon had come out of hiding again and wanted to see if she still had what it took to be a dragon. Lily needed to make it into the clearing and landed, all without making a sound. Regina turned her head and shined the flashlight to the left, showing Lily as she was trying to make a silent descent.

"Son of a bitch!" Lily growled. "This is too hard! How the hell did you hear that?"

"I've had a lot of practice. Come on, try one more time. You can get it." Regina smiled. Lily took off again with another growl and disappeared over the trees to try a different tactic.

"You two seem to be getting along well." Emma commented.

"She's my daughter, of course we are."

"I just mean with the whole Maleficent thing. You still love her?"

"Of course I do." Regina scoffed, crossing her legs. "I always will. It's just...I don't understand why she would choose her over me? I love her, just as much as that thing does. Even more."

"I don't know, but you know you have us, right?" Emma sat down next to her. "And maybe...Mal isn't right for you. Robin would probably break his neck for another chance to be with you-"

"As if he could compare to Maleficent." Regina scowled. The mere thought of that excuse for a soulmate almost turned her stomach. He wasn't Maleficent, so he wasn't enough. She just wanted her dragon. That's all.

"Look, I know he isn't what you want exactly, but...you were happy with him…"

"When I had resigned myself to the fact that the woman I loved was dead. Now she's back and she doesn't want me, just the demon that looks like me." She sighed, picking up the flashlight again and shining it beside them, just behind Emma, who jumped off the rock to find that Lily had landed directly next to her.

Lily shifted back into a human, showing that she was only wearing a sports bra and tights. "Fuck this. This is too hard. What the hell are you? Are you sure you're human because that entry was fucking flawless."

"I heard you land." Regina smiled. "But you're getting so good. One day, you might even be able to sneak up on your dragon mother."

Lily scoffed. "Yeah, when she's old and half dead. I was this close." She held up her fingers to demonstrate.

"You'll get there." Regina assured her. Lily glanced disdainfully at Emma as she picked herself up off the ground. The brunette joined them as they walked back to where they parked the cars. "How's Mal?"

"Great. She's been great." Lily answered. "Doing a lot of flying lately." She shrugged. "But maybe-"

"What kind of flying?"

Lily frowned. "Um, I-I don't know-"

"Complex maneuvers, aerial acrobatics?" Regina pressed.

Lily nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

Regina sighed. "She's coming into heat. Dragons demonstrate their flying and fighting abilities to entice mates. I'm guessing my annoying counterpart was bearing witness every time?"

"I think so…"

Regina scowled. "She probably doesn't even realize it."

"Why wouldn't she?" Emma asked.

"Mal never spent a lot of time around other dragons and she lost her mom at a young age, so most of what she knows, she had to learn the hard way. We didn't notice she was going into heat when Lily was conceived either."

"Well, even if the Evil Queen mates with Maleficent, wouldn't the child technically still be yours?" Emma inquired.

"Not if Queen has anything to say about it, but I wouldn't worry." Lily said. "They're still taking things slow."

"Why?" Regina demanded. "Why would they need to take things slow?" She could hardly believe that when Mal barely waited to be alive again before she was in bed with Regina. Dragons used touch to reaffirm bonds and sex was an excellent example of that. Mal's heart had brought the Evil Queen back to life, proving how much she loved her, but she wanted to wait for anything else? It didn't make sense...unless they were waiting for Mal to go into heat… She stopped walking and grit her teeth. If that thing even touched Mal she was going to lose her mind. Why couldn't they just go back to the way things were before? She should've never split herself in half...What if...What if she put herself back together again…

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