"I will never forgive myself for trusting that boy, Prince or not," King Stefan said as he put an arm around the waist of his wife. "You, however, were very brave and very wise, my darling Leah. I should have handled things differently."

"Yes, you should have. But it doesn't matter now. Now we must build a better future from the troubled past, instead of whining about what could have been done differently", she replied. Stefan could be pigheaded and narrow-minded at times, but deep within he had a good heart and she knew he'd listen to reason in the end.

Of course, showing him the sword wounds that had been inflicted upon her by her own son-in-law rather than by the Wicked Fairy, had certainly helped matters. Stefan had forbidden Prince Philip by a penalty of death to ever return to their Kingdom.

"I just can't believe our daughter is going to marry Maleficent," he muttered and shook his head. "It's like some kind of twisted fairytale."

"They will both be so happy," she reassured him, and he looked back at her and smiled.

"You know, Leah, I think so, too."

The music began to play and two silhouettes emerged from the darkness upstairs and came into view. While everybody invited for the wedding knew what they were about to witness, there was still a collective buzz of surprise and awe when the couple appeared on the stairs. One small, blonde Princess, holding the arm of a tall, horned fairy with green-tinged skin. It was a companionship no one had heard of before. But the calm happiness that radiated from the couple was impossible to question.

Rose wore an elegant bright purple dress with blue and pink jewels - to appease her fairy guardians - while Maleficent had chosen a dark green - almost black - dress with an emerald belt. This dress enhanced more feminine curves than anyone had ever believed the skinny fairy was in possession of. They only had eyes for each other, even Maleficent who would usually keep an observant eye on her surroundings had made tonight an exception, and everything on her mind was Rose.

The King and Queen approached them and reached out their hands. Rose took them. Maleficent hesitated; afraid that the old repulsion would still live in human hearts no matter how hard she tried to redeem herself. But she needn't have hesitated; King Stefan took her hand and put it over Rose's.

"I will be proud to have you in my family, Maleficent," he said. "You make my daughter so very happy."

"Thank you, Your Highness. She makes me very happy too."

"I will ask of you to consider accepting the crown, the day we step down," Stefan continued. Maleficent's smile faded.

"The… crown?"

"Rose will be Queen. Which means… well, I suppose that means you will be Queen as well."

Maleficent looked terrified for a second.

"I cannot become a Queen. The subjects would not accept me, for one thing, and I don't blame them. I have put too much pain onto too many people, it would not seem right that I receive a crown and make it legal."

"Then I suppose Rose could step down."

Maleficent's heart sank. That would be an even worse solution.

"I'd do it for you," Rose said close to her ear. "No throne is more important than your love, and I won't hesitate to make that decision. It won't be a difficult one to make."

Maleficent was afraid. She was afraid of the responsibilities that came with legitimate power. She had disguised this as hatred and contempt for so long, but lies would no longer work if she wanted to be happy.

"I'm afraid I'll make mistakes," she said, simply. King Stefan nodded.

"We all are. But we learn."

"I'm afraid I will hurt people rather than helping them. I have…" she chuckled. "A history of doing that."

"If that's what you're afraid of, you have already passed the test. The choices you have made lately have been those that a wise and good Queen would make."

"Please, Maleficent?" Rose said. "Be my Queen as well as my wife. We will do it together, every step on the way, if you only say you will."

Maleficent swallowed nervously, but then nodded and smiled.

"I will. Yes. I will."

Queen Leah walked up to her husband and whispered;

"How did you manage that?"

"I didn't. That was all Rose. You know, she reminds me a lot of someone."

"She does?"

"Mhm. A young girl who seemed very innocent, but any time pressure was put on her, she went her own way, and the results of her ideas by far superseded the royal advisors' most high-flying expectations."

"Ah. Someone I know, or was it before me?"

"Leah, it was you. And time only made you more confident."

"Now there's the good man I married," Leah smiled and took his hand in her own as they watched their daughter and her to-be-wife bow before their thrones. The King and Queen were ready to witness the vows given.

Rose turned to Maleficent and looked deep into her eyes.

"I, Briar Rose, born Aurora, give myself to you, Maleficent, in loyal matrimony."

"I, Maleficent, receive you, Briar Rose, and give myself to you in loyal matrimony."

"And I receive you, Maleficent. No power on Earth will come between our love."

"Nor will any power from the Heavens ever do us part."

King Stefan nodded at them, his stern face cracking up in a smile.

"Your marriage have the King's blessing. Turn, and accept your people's love,"

Rose squeezed Maleficent's hand as they turned towards the crowd. They were all cheering, though some seemed a little dazed at what they just witnessed.

"I love you."

"And I love you." Maleficent shook her head a little. "To think I never believed it was worth feeling this way again. I was so wrong. I feel like I have been asleep for most part of my life, but now I'm finally awake. Thank you for waking me, Rosie."

"Thank you for making my dreams come true," Rose replied and pressed a kiss on Maleficent's lips. "I've never been happier in my entire life."

"That makes two of us."

"I still can't see how this is going to work," Merryweather muttered.

"For once, I agree with you Merryweather," Flora said.

"Girls," Fauna said to her sisters. "May I say something?"

"Of course."

Fauna took a deep breath. She had never opposed her sisters before, had always hidden behind others and never spoken her mind. But it was time. If Rose could marry Maleficent, if Maleficent could learn to love again, by God, then Fauna could speak her mind.

"Shut up with your whining and be happy for them instead."

"Awk!" Diablo agreed, nodded his head and glared sternly at the two colourful fairies. They looked ashamed.

"You are right, Fauna," Flora admitted. "Perhaps we have been a bit too harsh."

"And mistaken," Merryweather added. "I believed Philip was a kind boy, I truly did."

"Well, not everything is as it seems, is it?" Maleficent's voice spoke from behind them, and they all turned around in horror. She rolled her eyes. "For heaven's sake, will you stop reacting like that as soon as I speak? This is my wedding, I would hardly want to make a big scene here now would I?"

"Wouldn't you?" Rose teased as she put her arm around Maleficent's waist. "I think you're just aching to do something that shocks everyone in here."

Maleficent raised her eyebrows.

"My sweet Rose, I just did something that shocks everyone in here. I just married the Princess, didn't I?"

Rose gave her an affectionate push.

"Watch it, my dear wife, your smugness is showing."

"If I were in the habit of apologising, I would. But as I am not, I won't."

Rose stuck her tongue out, and Maleficent chuckled darkly as she ran her fingers through Rose's long blonde hair. The other fairies exchanged partly amused, partly uncomfortable glances. Diablo merely shook his head. He knew just where this teasing usually lead, and he hoped they would remember that they were in public. He felt the need to remind them.

"Awk!"

"We know," Maleficent purred without taking her eyes off of Rose. The younger woman giggled.

"Don't worry Diablo, it's not a scandal; we're married."

Diablo sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I highly recommend it," Maleficent said pointedly. "Where is your lady friend?"

"Awk!"

"Well, if you don't wish to stay for the banquet, why don't you invite her to our castle tonight? We won't be home until tomorrow."

Diablo cocked his head to the side and looked curiously at them.

"Go on, Diablo," Rose said, "But I'm warning you; don't leave berries and nutshells on the dining room table."

"Awk, awk…" he cawed, gave them both a quick, affectionate nudge with his beak before flying off.

"Rose?" Maleficent said.

"Mhm?"

"Perhaps we need some fresh air before sitting down for the banquet?"

"The kind of fresh air you'd find in a secluded bedroom somewhere away from the crowd?" Rose replied, her eyes glittering.

"Oh you certainly know how to read my mind, dear," Maleficent replied as she leaned down and gave Rose a deep, intense kiss. They then took each other's hands and snuck away, seen by only two people in the entire hall.

"Are they leaving?" King Stefan asked. Queen Leah bit her lip to keep herself from grinning.

"I seem to recall a certain other newly married Royal couple who snuck away for a little while between the wedding ceremony and the banquet. Don't worry. They'll come back in a while. And they might even be able to focus on the food then…"

She recalled the yearning, burning gazes exchanged between the Dark Fairy and the fair Princess, and shrugged as she added;

"Or perhaps not."

THE END (or rather the beginning.)

A/N

And so they lived happily ever after, because that's what they do in fairytales when they have finally found their one true love. ;) And yes, I honestly believe that true love does conquer all. I took some liberty with the wedding ceremony because I found it utterly weird to put a priest in there in any way; I've read some on different Medival wedding ceremonies where the couple merely give vows to each other without dragging religion and priests into it, so I aimed for a version of that. It's all a made up ritual here though. :)

I want to thank everyone who tagged along for this journey with me, I hope you found the read worth the while. I apologise for the delay, but it is rather difficult to write fairytale fics when you're hooked on a crime show, so I needed to re-wire my brain a little in order to get back to it. ;)

Again, thank you everyone for your support and encouragement, it's been a privilege to write for such enthusiastic readers. You're awesome! :D