Disclaimer: Maleficent and all it's glorious and beautiful characters belong to Disney.

The steady hum of activity in the Moors is punctured by an outburst of laughter and the now-constant slap slap slap of mud striking flesh. Aurora falls back into the marsh as a handful of mud smacks against her chest. She takes handfuls of her own and lobs them at all her strange little playmates, knocking a fair number of them off their stubby, little feet. Overhead, Diaval playfully taunts them with his cawing, occasionally evading a few mud shots from those below.

From a short distance, Maleficent watches on, occasionally surveying the surrounding landscape of the Moors before resting her gaze on the blonde Queen. The day is young; the sun has yet to ascend to its highest peak. The horned Faerie's train of thoughts, shallow and light at first, gradually venture further into her mind, and soon she is caught in a reverie. There is much to think of since the death of Stefan, and although a few months have come to pass since the opposite Kingdom grieved its loss, Maleficent cannot help but remember the horrible events that transpired on Aurora's sixteenth birthday. And then there is Aurora's uncertain future, and the constant threat the opposite Kingdom poses on the Moors, and then something else, something that has been boggling her mind for a while now—

"Godmother."

At the sound of her voice, Maleficent instantly breaks away from her thoughts and gazes at the teenage blonde, who is then covered in mud. She is still in a fit of giggles as she crawls out of the marsh, the globs of mud on her dress and shoes weighing her down. The rest of her playmates settle down, happy and exhausted as she is. Diaval flies to a nearby branch to rest and preen himself.

"Dear me, Beastie," says Maleficent as Aurora finally comes up to her, dripping in sloppy, black earth, "you've been enjoying yourself far too much."

"Not really," replies Aurora, breathless. "There's still so much to do."

"Oh?' Maleficent's lips quirk in amusement. "Sit down," she says, ushering the blonde to settle next to her.

"You looked so serious, Godmother," says Aurora, all the giggles gone now. "So I thought to keep you company for a while. "

"You mustn't worry over me," the Faerie replies. "I've just been pondering over a few things…" Unaware, her gaze becomes unfocused as the thoughts rush in.

"Such as?" the blonde prods.

Maleficent looks at Aurora; the young blonde's blue eyes are wide with wonder and curiosity. She cannot help herself; she reaches out to wipe the mud away from Aurora's face with the sleeve of her robe, saying, "You are much too young to understand."

Aurora pouts at her. "I am not. Stop treating me like a child." The Faerie only smiles and continues to carefully clean the dirt off the young blonde's face.

Aurora thinks for a moment, broodily. Then she beams when she comes up with an idea. "Godmother," she says, holding Maleficent's wrist to still her working hand.

"Yes, Beastie?"

"Let's play a game."

"A game, you say?" Maleficent withdraws her hand to meet Aurora's excited gaze. "And what game might that be?" Even Diaval, overhearing the entire conversation, stops preening and leans in for the answer.

"Hide-and-seek." Aurora cannot contain her excitement at the thought of the game. "We'll play hide-and-seek with the other faeries and pixies and goblins. It'll be fun."

Maleficent gives a small, amused laugh. "I think I'm overqualified for that sort of game. I really mustn't."

"You won't be allowed to use your magic or your wings," Aurora adds triumphantly. "To be fair." There is a loud caw at this, and Aurora looks to Diaval's direction, saying, "You, too, Diaval." The crow flaps its wings and caws repeatedly, as if in protest. "Well? What do you say, Godmother? Maybe this will take your mind off things, even for just a while."

Maleficent, all the while, finds Aurora to be much too adorable, and is unable to resist saying no. "Alright," she says, getting to her feet. She flicks her wrist at Diaval, shape-shifting him back into a man.

"No wings? Really?" says Diaval in disbelief as soon as he is able to speak.

"You heard me, Diaval," says Aurora, walking ahead of them both.

"Beastie," calls Maleficent, making Aurora turn around.

"Godmother?"

"You've soiled your dress. You really must change into something clean and dry before you catch a cold."

"I will." A mischievous smile spreads on Aurora's face. "After we play the game."

"I'll count to forty," declares Aurora, leaning back into the tree to see who had joined the game. At least twenty small Moorland faerie folk stand before her, Maleficent and Diaval looking slightly out-of-place among them. "Alright, so I've come up with a few rules which all of you should follow 'else you'll be disqualified. Number one..."

"I can't believe you'd actually consent to her wishes," says Diaval to Maleficent.

"When have I not?" returns the Faerie.

"You've never joined our games," the shape-shifter points out.

"Today is different."

"Really." Diaval studies Maleficent's stoic expression sceptically.

"I will not hesitate to break the rules right now if you won't stop," is the ominous warning of the Faerie.

"Hmp." Diaval looks back to Aurora as she speaks the final rule,

"And no magic." At this particular statement she glances at Maleficent and Diaval. "Alright then, you should all go and find your hiding spots—"

"But what about the prize?" a small goblin pipes in.

"Prize?" repeats Aurora. "Oh, um." She thinks for a few moments and brightens, saying, "Whoever wins gets a kiss from me."

The Moorland creatures respond with a cheer.

"A kiss from Aurora?" says Diaval, rubbing his chin.

Maleficent gives him a sideways glance and sees a smile creep into Diaval's face. She arches a slanted eyebrow but says nothing, and gazes back to make eye contact with Aurora, who beams at her. At this, she returns the blonde's smile with a small smile of her own and turns away with the rest of the creatures who had all began to run off to hide.

Aurora faces the tree, shuts her eyes, and places her hands over them before she begins to count, all the while grinning widely, "One, two, three…"

"No wings," Diaval grumbles to himself as he tries to climb a gigantic oak tree. "Ha! I don't need wings to show how good of a hider I can be." He clings to the edge of the tree hollow, climbs in, loses his grip, and falls straight into the hole.

This little accident is followed by a howl of pain, which resonates throughout the forest of the Moors, reaching all the creatures within, Aurora (who had just found two pixies under a troop of mushrooms) and Maleficent included.

"Imbecile," Maleficent mutters, stopping for a moment to listen to Diaval's cry fade in the cool morning air. She strides gracefully into the gloom of the forest, listening to the nearby cries of the goblins being caught and the elated giggles of the blonde who found them.

"I," Diaval groans as he lifts himself from the tree hollow, gripping the edge as he pulls himself out of the hole, "might have been mistaken." He pauses to catch his breath, puffing and panting.

"I see you," a voice calls from below and Diaval looks down to see a gleeful Aurora peering up at him.

"You got me," he finally admits aloud, albeit reluctantly, holding one hand up as if in surrender.

Aurora giggles and proceeds to walk further into the forest. Diaval watches her, sighs, accidentally loses his grip, and falls back into the tree hollow.

Another howl of pain follows.

"One more to go," Aurora says to herself. The rest of the Moorland creatures were awfully easy to find, what with their innocence and naivety. Others simply couldn't stand hiding from her and ended up running to cling to her dress, laughing and dancing in delight.

She does not expect the horned Faerie to be easy to find, but she wonders how long she must keep searching for her. She ventures deeper into the forest, occasionally coming across a creature or two. Still, there is no sign of Maleficent. It had been an hour or so, and yet there is not a single trace of her.

Aurora is exhausted, and her feet are beginning to ache. She rests against a tree, thinking, where can she possibly be hiding? She thinks still more. No, if I were her, where would I hide?

And then it dawns upon her. For all the Moor's vastness, Maleficent would only choose one place to go to, a place almost as fleeting and insubstantial as a…

"I've found you," Aurora avows. She stops for a moment to listen for an answer; there is no response. She steps away from the tree she is leaning on and surveys her surroundings, her gaze sweeping over everything. Her gaze lingers on the tree she had been leaning on a few moments before. "I know you're there."

A familiar chuckle reaches her ears and her heart warms as a dark figure steps out from behind the tree to stand before her.

"My oh my, Beastie," Maleficent praises, impressed, "you are quite good at this game."

"Not as good as you," Aurora returns, her face glowing with elation. "No one could have been better at being my shadow, Godmother." With that, she runs over to hug the Faerie around the waist. Maleficent places an arm around the blonde to pull her closer.

"And now for your prize," says Aurora, breaking free from the embrace.

Maleficent chuckles in amusement. "But of course."

"Lean a little forward, please," Aurora instructs and Maleficent does so at once, a smile dancing across her bright, red lips. Aurora places a delicate hand on the Faerie's nape and pulls her a little closer.

"Careful," warns the Faerie with a hint of playfulness. "I wouldn't like the idea of ramming you with my horns."

Aurora only giggles, and closes her eyes as she leans in. Maleficent's eyes flutter shut as she does so.

She expects a kiss on the forehead, but is surprised when she feels warm lips press against her own. Her heart skips a beat at the contact, and her eyes snap open just as Aurora leans back to smile affectionately up at her.

"Beastie…" She is at a loss for words.

Aurora giggles. "I thought you deserved something better."

"Silly little thing," Maleficent says, tapping her nose. "You think that was better?"

"Well, it's what lovers do, isn't it?"

Aurora's words are unexpected and disarming, and Maleficent barely manages to conceal her astonishment. But then again, she believes Aurora to be too young and innocent to understand such matters. Her heart is pounding, but she sees to it that she gives nothing away. "We should head back and have you washed," she says, quickly dismissing the matter. Perhaps they will discuss this at a better time. "Come." She opens her arms wide to receive the delighted blonde.

"Godmother," Aurora says as soon as they are airborne.

"Hmm?"

"You were being my shadow since the beginning of the game, weren't you?"

"Beastie," Maleficent says as her wings carried them over the Moors, "I have always been your shadow."

Your reviews are highly appreciated.