A/N: I don't own Maleficent or the characters within. So, this is a collection of Malora drabbles and short stories, all one-shots unless specifically stated. Having said that, this is a prompt from an anon; Aurora comes across Maleficent when she is asleep. Thanks!

Calling out softly, her fingers curling around the rough bark of the branch she was using as an anchor to slip along the edge of the cliff, Aurora had to stop and swallow a squeak as dirt crumbled under her foot, swaying until she regained her balance. "Godmother?" she tried again once she was on firm ground again, self-consciously smoothing down her dress at her waist and leaning her body nearer the tree's trunk, "Are you here?" From what she could see through the summer-heavy foliage newly come to the Moors, the great tree was occupied. "…Godmother?"

A rustling noise answered her, along with a low sigh, and Aurora paused. "Diaval?" she guessed.

But when no cawed greeting or smooth male voice met her ears, Aurora frowned. Tilting her head, looking up into the bows and foliage, she pulled her skirt up to above her knees, set her hands onto the tree trunk and jumped for the nearest branch. Succeeding in getting a handhold, and pulling herself up, reaching for the next one, as soon as she was comfortably situated off the ground, feet perched solidly, she tried again. "Godmother?"

Another sigh, another rustle, and just a little further up the tree, a large brown wing slid into view. "There you are," Aurora grinned, shaking her head, starting her climb again, shifting to give the wing a wide birth, "Why are you hiding? ...Oh!" Crouching, frozen, staring at the sleep-relaxed face of Maleficent, framed by her long dark hair and a thin arm thrown above her eyes, Aurora pressed her fingers against her lips to will herself to be quiet.

Mumbling, a faint smile turning the corners of her dark red lips up, Maleficent was beauty unrestrained. She was on her back, a wing draping down off the hammock and brushing against a lower branch with each soft blow of wind, the other bunched under her; her legs were almost crossed at the ankle, obviously having fallen with slumber, and Aurora couldn't look away.

She had never seen Maleficent like this before. She looked younger, unconcerned, free from the role of guardian and Aurora's regent, and as her heart started back up again, thumping violently against her rib cage and in her throat, blood rushing in her ears, Aurora knew she shouldn't be seeing this. Not now, and certainly not uninvited.

Still, weak, she took one last look to copy the image of the faerie in her mind before shuffling her way back down to the ground, wincing with each loud creak and sound she elicited during the descent. Making her way around the tree again, she headed back to where the waller bogs were always happy to entertain her.

Maleficent would wake up in due time, and Aurora felt like she needed to put distance between them. Calm down. Make everything... Innocent again. Erase the feeling like she'd intruded, even if unintentionally.

Figure out what was going on.

At the very least, Aurora thought to herself, wrapping her arms tightly around herself and quickening her steps, making herself perk up as she heard the sounds of her mud-slinging friends grow nearer, she could hope she would be able to get her heart and breathing under control by the time Maleficent appeared.

Maybe, even, she smiled, giggling as mud plopped down next to her, the waller bogs having noticed her approach, she'd be able to find a way to tease her friend one day about how she'd managed to sneak up on her.

She scooped up her own mud.

Maybe.

Some day.