I was actually begged for a new chapter - and how can I refuse that. I also had this one 99% done anyways, but I hadn't been sure where to put it. So here it is :)

Enjoy!

Maleficent was glaring at him, which was never a good sign.

"No."

"Mistress-"

"No, I am not going." She repeated, crossing her arms over her chest and leveling Diaval with a cold glare. "I am perfectly satisfied with your reports. As long as the beast isn't prematurely dying, I have no need to see her."

"It's her birthday," he said, plaintively.

She laughed, a bitter mocking sound. "Is that supposed to mean something to me? Let her celebrate with those nitwits she calls her aunts."

He had to smile, both at her seemingly constant frustration with Aurora's guardians – not that it was without good reason – and also for the prompt she had unknowingly given him. "They've forgotten."

"Excuse me?"

"Her birthday," Diaval said, rubbing the back of his neck. "At least, far as I could tell – they've been carrying on as if it were any day."

Maleficent's frown deepened, to his amusement. "They may have something planned for later…"

"You mean you really think they're smart enough to keep something a secret?"

She was still scowling but Diaval saw her eyes twinkle with approval. She was a horrible influence, really; he was never incredibly fond of the pixies and their failings at raising the poor baby, but he used to be above mocking them. Still, his mistress smiling, even so slightly, was satisfying.

"Well, they're not so very stupid to forget, surely… after all it's her fourth birthday. They must know it by now. Surely…" but she sounded very unsure.

Diaval bored of her attempts at defense when they both knew the truth. "Oh, come on," he said. He grabbed her wrist and tugged, prepared to drag her to that cottage if he must.

And then he realized what he had done.

He froze, and very slowly turned back to Maleficent, flinching at her glare – all humor gone from her eyes, she looked downright murderous. She hated to be touched, he knew she hated to be touched, he knew she had every reason to hate being touched. She had every right to be angry, and to express that however she saw fit. She did nothing for a long moment, and he realized he was still holding her wrist.

Dropping it quickly, he bowed his head. "Forgive me, mistress" he muttered. "I didn't think."

Still no magic touched him, no shift came, and he risked a glance back at his mistress. She rubbed her wrist absently. Her expression was still cold, but distant, no longer burning into him. She almost looked thoughtful.

"Diaval."

"Y-yes?"

"When is your birthday, do you know?"

Definitely not what he had expected, but he answered dutifully. "I'm not entirely sure, mistress. It's not something that would have been celebrated and... The way time is marked is different for a raven than it is for man, or fae I suppose…"

"I see," she said.

Awkwardly, he added, "I know it's late in the autumn. After the leaves have fallen but before the first snow."

"I see," she said again. She still sounded thoughtful, a bit of her cold seeming to thaw off her.

Feeling a little bolder, Diaval ventured. "And yours?"

"Summer," she answered promptly. "We didn't mark the exact day, but the season."

"'We'?"

"My parents," she said, and then blinked, as if surprised at what she said. Shaking her head she added, "Fae are fond of celebration, so birthdays were normally celebrated along with a seasonal event, like the first snow or the blooming of a particular flower. I had been given wreathes of cornflowers, sunflowers..." She was quiet suddenly, as though something had occurred to her suddenly. "Diaval," she said. She was smiling again, actually smiling. Diaval stared.

"Yes?"

"I have something for you to do."

That evening a young Aurora was toddling around the front garden while her aunts argued about what to eat for dinner, when a raven came swooping down to land on the rotting fence. In his beak was a small bouquet of flowers, crocuses and bluebells. She giggled, taking it from the bird and bringing it into the house.

She received the same bouquet for her birthday every year. She never questioned it.

Aurora's birthday has been decided to be in mid-spring. I can't remember if the movie supports this or not but idc. I have decided. lol

This was fun and cute and I still love these two/three.