Rose awoke at dawn, watching in awe as the golden sunlight beamed through the tree where she slept, her godmother's tree. Its fiery light lit up the Moors, and Aurora gasped as for the first time, she saw the sunrise from such great heights.

"It's beautiful, is it not?" asked a familiar voice.

"Godmother!" exclaimed Rose, twisting around to see Maleficent. Immediately, she sprang up, turning to face the faery she had for so long called 'godmother,' and leapt into her arms. Maleficent stumbled back a couple feet, but cradled Rose close to her. "I've missed you so much!"

"Little beastie, it's only been a night, you know," Maleficent murmured, but her eyes sparkled all the same. "Did Balthazar let you in?"

"I know, I know, but I still missed you! And yes, he did," repeated Rose, still embracing her godmother tightly. She eventually loosened her grip, but instead of releasing the faery, she just leaned in closely, deeply inhaling a whiff of the fresh scent of pine and strawberries. She reveled in their closeness, and shut her eyes.

After a moment, Maleficent leaned away, eyes dark. "I-I need to attend to the matters of the Moors. You should be in your kingdom, not associating with the menace that caused the near downfall of your human province.

Rose blinked, eyes bursting open, shock practically radiating from her. "I…I… You're not a menace, Godmother!" She rushed back to the faery, and wrapped her in an embrace even firmer than before. "You're my Godmother! You're the Protector of the Moors, and a faery that has been wronged by the humankind, but never a menace!"

Maleficent tried to pull away, growing more uncomfortable by the second, shoving Rose's arms away from her, but Rose resisted with a steely grip. "Beastie, I… Please, just go." She turned, preparing to walk away, but Rose simply enfolded her in a hug again. The older woman faltered, and sank into Rose. "I'm sorry," she whispered, and lowered her head to the Queen's shoulder, tears welling in her eyes.

"Godmother! What's wrong?" exclaimed Rose as she saw the tears spilling out from Maleficent's dull golden eyes. She nearly never displayed outward emotions. With no response, the girl began to grow even more worried, and laid the silently weeping faery on the ground. "You need to rest," Rose murmured, and laid down next to her.

Maleficent shivered, and clenched Rose tighter, before wrapping her dark wings around them. "Please… don't g-go…" she whispered as her voice trailed off, eyes already beginning to blink closed from lack of sleep.

"I won't leave you, Godmother. I promise," she said to the faery, and shut her eyes, drowning out the forest as a wave of sleep hit her, her last vision burned on her eyelids- a pale, weeping faery, who had watched over her for her entire lifetime, somehow even more supernatural and beautiful in her sorrow.

Diablo alit on a branch above them, still clothed in his raven form. He smiled down at the scene, chuckling to himself.