It was a long while before Diaval noticed anything amiss.

Walking through the dense trees with Aurora took all of his attention – be his eyes in front of him, watching his feet, or his eyes on Aurora to ensure her safety, he paid little attention to anything else. No, many minutes passed with his bird's-eye-view centered on him and Aurora only.

What a predicament… that prince. Diaval scowled as they stepped over another fallen log. The prince didn't seem to like Diaval's presence at all and was incredibly protective over Aurora. Not even protective – possessive! Territorial! Wasn't Diaval the animal here?

He instinctively grabbed Aurora's hand to help her down the hillside. She smiled at him, a sunny and illuminating smile that only a girl like her could manage in a damp, cold fog. Her hand was quite warm, softer than silk, and a pleasant escape from the ice of night.

"Are we getting close?" Aurora asked, and it only barely wrenched his mind from the thought of her touch.

"Mm… I don't know," he answered honestly. He flitted his eyes to their surroundings – fog, fog, and more fog. Ah. "Hmm. I'll have to fly up and…"

The realization hit him harder than the cold air. He couldn't transform without Maleficent.

"Diaval?"

He swallowed thickly. "If… If mistress is not commanding it, I cannot change," he said grimly. He squeezed her hand as Aurora frowned. "Do not worry. I'm certain this can be a good test for you, after all. Or, for the both of us, really."

Aurora continued to frown, though she seemed a bit placated as his assurance. She glanced about as well – indeed, the forest lay thick and dark with grey fog. Navigation: clearly out of the picture. If not a test for the lay of the land, she could also treat it as a survival test. At that, she grinned and tugged him the rest of the way down the hill, careful to dodge holes and rocks in the darkness.

Diaval squawked in alarm, letting his arm be tugged. "Woah, woah! So you know the way out, then?"

His hopeful grin was greeted with her impish one. "We don't need the way out," she said so cryptically that he blanched at her openly for a while, mystified.

"I… think I disagree with that assessment, with all due respect, my lady," he said slowly.

"Don't worry – we'll gather some things and make a camp! I'm sure it will work out much better than wandering aimlessly in the dark."

She sounded quite sure of herself, he remarked to himself. Something nagged at the back of his mind and he found himself unconsciously streaming the words out of his mouth. "Something your princey taught you?"

Aurora suddenly paused. The halting movement caused him to dig his heels into the ground to halt his speed (after all, she had been dragging him). She turned back to him, meeting his eyes dead on – the look she gave him caught him so off-guard that he physically took a step back.

It was anger.

Perhaps his mind was exaggerating it. Aurora never got mad, only annoyed or impatient. But this… felt different. Her head was inclined, eyes slightly narrowed and lips pursed. All too quickly, it faded, and with it she squeezed his hand to lead him forward.

"No," she said quietly, and he thought that if he were a cat again, his ears would be flat against his head. The regret hit him instantly, his unconscious comment now a stone in his stomach. His voice simply couldn't come in reply, perhaps a bout of luck. No way to mess it up further if one says nothing further.

Despite the following silence, louder and thicker than the fog surrounding, he found that she never chose to remove her hand from his. And he decided that as long as she was still holding on, he would never let go.

The quiet inspired efficient work, Diaval gathering firewood and Aurora starting the kindling. They hadn't found much of a clearing, but a large tree and its roots made a very convincing pad of dirt that was relatively flat. The proximity to the tree would provide continuous resources of kindling from the dying leaves, plus being a cover from rain in the case it should occur.

The fire was built with little problem – in her time growing up at the cabin, Diaval knew Aurora had started the fire in the hearth many times. If she didn't do it, then the faeries would try to, and would usually set fire to something other than the hearth.

The fire blared and with little other to do, Diaval and Aurora sat in silence. The blistering orange flame lit like a beacon through the fog, though the billowing cloud of grey refused to disperse. Diaval sat until his chest was hot and his back still remained chilled – he sat until he saw Aurora's eyes begin to droop, and he sat as she sidled closer to him, and he sat as she rested her head upon his shoulder, and he sat as she clung to his shirt, pressing her cheek into him and sighing deeply and falling asleep upon him.

And he sat as her gentle snoring began to fill the stagnant air, and he sat as his heart fluttered wildly, and he sat wondering how long this moment would last until she was no longer someone he was allowed to hold.

How long this moment would last until the prince came back and stole her from them. From him.

Now who's possessive? his mutinous mind asked. In reply, his thoughts rang clear: No.

Aurora is not a possession.

And against his thoughts, his arms slowly circled her small frame, shifting so that she held the majority of the heat of the flame, but that they lay against the trunk of the tree. Aurora is not a possession, his mind said again as he selfishly, selfishly held her just once.

He held her the entire night.

A/N: Okay, okay. It's been a while. I know. I ended up figuring (after four years of university) that it was finally time to return, thanks to the lovely reviewer Moon (who is a guest and I can't PM to thank profusely) who reminded me that sometimes new joys are found and old joys are lost – coincidentally, this was a big joy of mine, and I don't think it deserves to be lost just yet.

Here's the deal: it'll be slow, as I'm still in college and trying my best to adult. But I also want the inspiration to be here now just as much as when it started for me four years ago – I was inspired by Moon to resume, and I want to continue to be inspired by all of you as I go on. I want to upload the rest of this story as a series of drabbles – perhaps short, perhaps long. The theme for this chapter is held. As we move forward, I want YOU to give me a new word to work with, and as inspiration comes, I may write a chapter around that theme. If there are far too many words received from you all, I'll try and cluster them together.

For now, I'm back, and all I ask is patience.

This chapter was 1005 words long.