"I'll try to update sooner than last time…" Well, that obviously didn't happen :( I'm really sorry, I'm shocked by how busy I've been, definitely more busy than the school year. My school year, as well as FanOfRandomThings is beginning, so maybe we'll get more written. Thanks again to Fan for some tips on the chapter.

Thank you to DancingKitKat, Diosa Luna, blackbloodywolf, EmberskyofShadowClan, Guest, and Durin'sFolk for the reviews!

"Pretty bird, you pretty bird…"

It was an echo from his past, as well as something muttered just the day before. Perhaps it was simply something humans said, but either way Diaval had always liked the sound of it, pretty bird.

The whole day following his visit to the queen, Diaval wandered this way and that. He even snuck through the wall of thorns to stare at the cottage of the baby, curious how that little person was related to the sweet queen he'd met.

It was late when he finally returned, pacing up to the throne. There sat Mistress, silent and foreboding, yet when he appeared she physically jumped.

"Hello," he said, little emotion in his voice, and she nodded back at him.

"You've been gone all day long," Maleficent's voice was even, but it had a quality of uneasiness that surprised Diaval.

"Yes," he agreed. "I've been to the cottage."

"That's past the wall."

"Yes, it is. No one saw me."

Maleficent opened and closed her mouth several times, as if trying to find the correct words. Finally, she turned to him and nodded once.

"Good," she said. "It's good no one saw you. Don't go past the wall again, unless you're a crow."

"I'm a raven, I'm not a crow," Diaval sniffed.

"It's the same thing," Maleficent turned away to hide a miniscule smile at Diaval's obvious contempt for the mistake, and Diaval huffed.

"It isn't the same thing, crows are tiny, they make a much more annoying noise, and they have beady eyes. I'd rather be a mealy worm than a crow!"

"Alright," Maleficent turned to him, a sparkle in his eye, and Diaval cleared his throat quickly.

"Not that I want to be a mealy worm, Mistress."

The sparkle in Maleficent's eyes remained, but she turned away to examine her staff.

"I was wondering," Diaval hesitated, and Maleficent turned to him expectantly. "Have you ever met the queen?"

Maleficent stiffened, and Diaval frowned. Perhaps the queen was who had caused Mistress's 'boy problems'?

"I never have, nor do I care to," Diaval was told, so that was all he said about that subject.

The next morning, Diaval found himself to once again be a raven, and he took wing toward the castle, deciding to visit the queen once more. When he arrived at the window, he saw that the queen was holding a thing in front of her face. Curious, he flew closer, and she looked up.

"Oh, the raven! You mustn't come here anymore, the king will… You mustn't come here anymore!"

Diaval tilted his head, landing next to her and giving a soft caw of confusion.

"It's dangerous in here now. They're on the lookout for a raven. You mustn't come again, for I would be unable to keep you safe."

Diaval shook his head, then stared at the thing the queen was holding.

"Oh, alright, I'll talk to you this last time, but then you must never come here again, do you understand me?"

Diaval stared at her, and then nodded hesitantly.

"Good. Oh, are you wondering what this is? It's a book. You read it."

Diaval tilted his head, and the queen showed him the insides of the thing she was holding. Lines across the inside, and he wondered what the strange lines meant.

"This one is a fairy tale that my father had made especially for me," the queen continued. "It's called Beauty and the Beast. It's about a man who… He changes into a beast because he isn't very nice, and then a girl comes along. She changes him back into a man because she loves him, and they live happily ever after."

That sounded quite nice, actually, happily ever after. Ever after what, though? After the story? Diaval wanted to live happily ever after!

"It's a nice story; my father was told it by a bard from a far away kingdom," the queen continued. "Have you ever been to another kingdom?"

Diaval shook his head, he didn't think so.

"I have not either, though I once got quite close to our neighboring kingdom of fairies."

That was anther kingdom?

"Oh dear, someone is coming. Don't come back again, hurry! Pretty bird."

Diaval was beginning to take flight, but the door burst open and two men carrying were there.

"We heard a raven was seen flying in here, and we were supposed to come-"

"There it is!" the second man interrupted the first, and he rushed toward Diaval who flapped wildly for the window.

"Catch it!" The first yelled, his arms flailing for the bird.

"No, stop it!" the queen commanded, however the men still reached and tried to catch Diaval.

"I've got it!" the second soldier clasped Diaval's foot, however the raven turned and snapped his beak down on the soldier's finger. Moments later he disappeared from the room, flying back toward the moors.

He couldn't go there again, he realized, although he was going to miss the queen. She was nice; she called him pretty bird.

Back in the moors, he began to feel a slight ache in his leg. He wasn't sure was it was, but the longer he flew, the more it hurt. When he landed beside Mistress, he squawked and flew back in the air, his foot screaming at him when he landed.

"What is it?" Maleficent asked, her voice bored. Diaval flew around squawking, and then tried landing again. Again his leg hurt.

With a flick of her fingers, Maleficent turned Diaval into a man. He tried to land normally, but instead he let out a gasp and crumpled to the ground.

"What?" Maleficent asked.

"My… My foot feels bad," he murmured in confusion.

"Let me see," Maleficent glanced around before kneeling and looking at his foot. She frowned and then told him: "It isn't your foot, it's your ankle."

"Yeah, so?" he asked.

"So, it's hurt. It's twisted. I can heal it, but how did this happen?"

Maleficent concentrated, and then the hurt in Diaval's ankle disappeared.

"How did it happen?" Maleficent repeated.

"I… I caught it between two things when I was trying to fly," Diaval told her, before he frowned. Why had he told her that? He always told her what happened. It had never told a not truth before. Yet for some reason he didn't want to tell her that he'd been going to the castle. Besides, he would never got there again, so there was no reason to worry her.

"Alright," she nodded shallowly, he got the feeling that she knew he was telling a not truth.

"I want to go see Aurora," he declared suddenly. If he'd never see the queen again, he might as well see the little queen, right?

"Well," Maleficent said, "I don't see anything wrong with that. Go ahead, I'll turn you into a raven."

"You're not coming?" Diaval asked.

"I will come again someday, for now I think it is best that I stay here, behind the wall. Go on, you may see her whenever you so chose to. I have no opinion on that matter."

So, Diaval did go to see the tiny baby that day, and the next day, and the next. He continued to care for her, trying to make up for the three pixies lack of ability, although he found that they did sort of care about her, a little bit. At least they didn't throw her out and forget the whole thing.

It surprised him to see that she was changing over time. She was no longer quite so tiny and pudgy, now she was a bit taller and her hands could do things, such as grab his beak. That had been quite an experience. Trying not to bit the little princess (that was Mistress said she was, not little queen) was quite a challenge when she got her fingers so close to his beak. However, he'd managed.

By now, it was almost as if she expected him to come, for each day the tiny princess was caught staring at the tree by the window, waiting until the raven appeared.

"Do you want to come yet? It's been more than a year since you saw the little princess!"

"Perhaps I will come again."

"How about you come this time?"

"Diaval, if you want to go, then go."

"I'll be late!"

"Then go."

"Will you come next time?"

"Perhaps."

"You said that last time!"

"And I'll say it again if I so chose."

Diaval sighed, waiting for the usual transformation, and then he took to the sky. For a year he'd been trying to convince Mistress to go see the baby. For a year, she had refused. For the first time, he was late.

The baby had begun crying when he arrived, and the blue pixie was waving her arms about as if it would change the sound and make it lovely.

"Oh, I don't know what to do!" she cried, then she ran inside. Perhaps she was looking for the answer?

Diaval disregarded the implications of the pixie running inside, and he landed on the edge of her crib. Cawing softly, he began to rock her, and slowly her cries softened. A noise at the edge of the wood made Diaval turn his head, and he believed he saw a shadow standing there.

"Waven!" came a sudden noise, and Diaval looked down. In that moment, the shadow had disappeared.

"Waven!" the baby declared again, quite proud of herself. She giggled before saying the word a third time.

Diaval wondered how that word had ever wandered into her, as to now, inexistent vocabulary. Had Mistress ever been here? Diaval frowned, wondering why the little princess would know such a word.

"Did you hear that?" it was one of the pixies, so Diaval took to the sky, landing in a nearby tree.

"Waven!" the little girl said again.

"Her first word!" the blue pixie declared.

"And it's raven? Why that word? How would she know that word. I thought I would be her first word!" the blonde pixie pouted.

"Girls, one of us has obviously said this word, and she took a fancy to it. That's all there is to it. Now come on, I thought I was giving you a baking without magic lesson." That was the red pixie.

"Oh, I thought the cookies blew up…"

"Well we'll try again, come on!"

Diaval watched them go, wondering about how such a first word could have come about. Glancing in the shadows again, Diaval was sure that he saw a flash of horns, yet in a moment they were gone.

Review please! Also, thanks for all of your reviews on other chapters :-)