He still remembered that day, the day of a new beginning.

Diaval recalled having watched as the faeries of the Moors erupted in cheers, and they hailed their new monarch who not only fostered the unity between the Kingdoms, but had also brought joy and love back to the stone-cold heart of Maleficent, and restored the Moors back to the beauty it once was.

It was a dream-like day. The pixies blew their shimmery dust into the air, causing fruits on the trees to ripen and filled the area with their pleasant aroma. He plucked a peach off its branch, but the fruit immediately found its way into Maleficent's hand, and she took a big bite, savouring in the taste of victory of having stolen from a raven.

The river faeries splashed about in the stream nearby, as they blew little jets of water up into the air, creating tiny rainbows all around as the silvery spray reflected off sunlight. As the roar and the applause echoed on through the forest, and the nymphs began their chants of secrecy, Aurora smiled joyfully, and she waved to the creatures of the Moors whom she had befriended from years ago. She was with them now, and she was never leavi-

SMACK!

...Diaval had a question, however.

He watched as Aurora wiped a great glob of mud from her eyes, and shot a glare across the circle of gathering towards prince Phillip, whose palm was smothered with mud from the stream, but whose face still wore the same youthful smile of innocence, unmindful of a group of mud trolls who were snickering behind him.

-Diaval wondered...

SMACK! An even bigger glob of mud landed with deadly accuracy on prince Phillip's face. Not too far from him, Aurora doubled over and laughed herself out of breath, as her target stood stunned, mud dripping down his chin.

-Sometimes the raven wondered how this clod would ever be crowned King, but then again, better a fool for a King than a traitor for one...

It was a day filled with laughters. Diaval was muddied all over, thanks to the Queen of the Moors herself for falling into the stream and pulling him down with her when he offered a hand of help. That sly little minx!

...Once upon a time, the raven had his little Sunrise all to himself again...

Diaval smiled as he looked down at the girl beneath him, they had both tumbled down the stream into a quagmire in a dark alcove. The dangling vines shielded the two from the other spectators...

He gazed into her bright, blue eyes that shone like stars, and let the tip of his cold fingers lightly graze her cheek. Aurora laughed, as she reached up to wipe away mud from his face. You are handsome, Diaval, she had said. Diaval caught her hand and stilled it, for a silent storm was brewing inside him.

Then, within the blink of an eye, she slipped away.

...She may have been crowned Queen now, but she knew too well she would always be his little princess. Not even a fool should question that.

The raven had bet Maleficent three chestnuts that the fool would escort Aurora once the celebration was over. The Dark Queen shot him a disapproving glare, and unabashedly escorted her little Beastie herself to save Prince Charming from his trouble-oh don't you dare, thank you very much! Once Maleficent figured out his insinuation, however, Diaval had received a blow of three chestnuts to his poor, little raven skull.

Then, again, Diaval would rather ten chestnuts to the head than confess that had Maleficent not escorted the princess, then there was no doubt he would have done so himself and be called the fool. For as much as Diaval hated to admit it, he, too, felt uneasy, to say the least, with Aurora's friendship with the royal idiot...

It was friendship, nothing more.

There was nothing wrong with the fool, apart from him being one, which was not a problem to begin with anyway. It was that, at one point, he still had hope there would be no more than some childish attraction between the two, but Diaval would bite his own tongue had he said so. After all, was he not the one to suggest to Maleficent that the boy might by Aurora's one chance of true love?

So what was he doing now, wishing Aurora away from Phillip?

Maybe because he knew there could be another who loved her better, maybe?

Or maybe it was him, who was the fool.

Day turned to night, and Autumn leaves turned white. What he thought was a mere teenage crush blossomed into something more. Maleficent did not need him so much anymore, and everyday he began to see less and less of Aurora. His little princess had someone else occupying her attention now. He had seen them running together in the fields as they laughed merrily, he had secretly watched her attempt after attempt to make flower crowns, and the repeated disastrous results. He had pricked his fingers and bloodied his hands making one of said crowns from the most beautiful blossoming wild roses, and left it by her bedside. He watched true joy blossoming on her face as she found the 'gift from the faeries' that had been left overnight for her. Diaval witnessed their true first kiss. He was there the day they made a vow to forever be one another's, and the raven would never wish more for his Sunrise.

...The rising sun shed its single, golden teardrop on the thorns of a wild rose, and a raven bled.

Weeks turned into months, and months into years. The raven shrank away into the dark, seeking solace from the thick woodlands and comfort from the Valley of Silence. Oh how he had wished for his wings now! To fly away to a distant land where the sun would never rise and roses never bloomed, where hearts that wandered in the dark were never graced with rays of hope, and then crushed with thorns of blooming roses.

If only the sun had never risen in his heart...

It only seemed like yesterday that she came to him, her loyal Diaval, with one last request.

Oh Diaval, please teach me how to dance!

- What is this, out of the blue, Aurora? He eyed her from his place on a hammock.

Well, I am Queen now, she stammered, I need to learn how to dance.

He knew that that was not the reason. Diaval snorted.

- Why don't you ask YOUR prince to teach you?

Oh Diaval, please! How could I?

He shrugged and went back to his book, ignoring the look of disappointment on her fair face.

- I don't dance.

...Honestly, what did she expect a raven to know?

That night, the full moon shone ever so brilliantly above the Moors, and the water nymphs chorused their hymns of long lost love. Diaval tossed and turned in his hammock, for the drumming in his chest was keeping him from slumber, and the flames that were burning from within were scorching him whole on that freezing night.

Through the meadows and into the forest, the raven haired man crept. In silence, he approached the river bank where the wild roses grew. Moonlight filtered down through the canopies of the trees, and there, Aurora was sleeping soundly in an alcove - the alcove behind an opening where they first met.

Her sun-kissed hair glowed, framing her fair face, and her blood red lips were the colour of the wild roses that grew down the river. The Queen of the Moors had become even more beautiful over the years, but all Diaval saw that night, was the little girl sleeping soundly in her cradle, in an old cottage that stood on the edge of the wild...

His thumb brushed over her lips, and the pair of bright blue eyes fluttered opened.

Diaval?

Yes, Aurora.

Why have you come?

...

- Diaval?

Dance with me, Aurora...

Beneath the tortured moon, they waltzed. The dim glow of the moonlight shone down on her face, and Diaval had never seen anything more beautiful.

One...- two, three. That's right, my princess. He whispered as they danced to the mournful songs of the water nymphs. Lean back a bit more, I won't let you fall.

I know you won't. Aurora looked up at him with a smile, you would never.

His lips stretched into a small grin, and Diaval asked.

How would you know?

With the same smile on her lips, Aurora shook her head, and rested her cheek on his shoulder.

Because I know you. She whispered. I waltzed with you, once upon a dream...

That night, as he held her in his arms, Diaval made a vow to forever protect his Sunrise...

That night was a long lost memory of years ago now. At daybreak tomorrow, she would leave with the prince, her avowed one. They would start a new life together in a kingdom far, far away beneath a different sky, a land where sadness and wars and heartbreaks had never witnessed.

This time, his little princess would leave the Moors forever. This time it would be good-bye.

Diaval watched the horizon, as a pinkish tint was beginning to breach the solace of the night, it was the break of dawn. It was the beginning of a new, joyful day, and the undoing of the enchantment of the night. It was time Diaval woke up from the sweet memories that were naught but dreams...

...The pair of crystal blue eyes stared back into his solemn, dark ones, and Diaval forced a smile. He knew what had to be done.

Before the new day would take everything away, before the night was over, he wished upon a star-

"...Will you waltz with me one last time, Aurora?"

To be continued...