Maleficent & Diaval

I'm Alive

by Raven Diablo

Epilogue

Thirteen years later at Castle Malora...

"And so it has been about a good twelve years now since you were born, Lyssa, and that is basically the whole story of how Mother and I met, fell in love, and eventually had you," Diaval said.

"So that means I am part raven, part human and part faerie?" Melissa said in a small meek voice.

"Yes."

"Wow! That's a lot."

"Yes, I suppose it is."

"How come I only look like mom and nothing like you, father?"

"While it is true that you have most of Mom's traits, you have my dark eyes."

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Melissa exclaimed.

Maleficent then walked into the room and joined into the conversation she knelt down in front of her daughter and said, "Lyssa, you see the color of my eyes?"

"Yes, Mother, your eyes are beautiful."

"Thank you, dear. My father had the same color eyes, but I looked like my mother too."

"Oh! So the same thing happened to me?"

"Yes, dear."

Melissa then turned to Diaval and asked, "Father, according to your story, did you and Mom have a hard time having me?"

"No, not really," Maleficent said with a smile before Diaval had a chance to answer. "I did have a tough time with your delivery, but surprisingly, you were made the very first time we tried right on our wedding night."

"Can you tell me how you and father made me, mother?"

Maleficent's eye flew open wide.

Diaval said in a shocked tone, "Uhhhh, perhaps when you are just a little older my dear."

"Yes, indeed," Maleficent said narrowing her eyes.

"Father, I have noticed that you call Aunt Mel, 'Medusa' through most of your story. Why after so long did she want to change her name?" Melissa asked.

Diaval answered, "Well, as you might recall from the story, Aunt Mel didn't remember her real name and took her mother's name, which was Medusa. But Aunt Melissa insisted on finding out her real name for the wedding so she could be married under her true name. So through your sister, Aurora, she managed to trigger Aunt Mel's memory and she remembered that Melissa was her real name. She likes to be called Mel for short because that was what her father called her."

"Oh! So I am named after Aunt Mel?"

"Yes, you are. Your mother and I chose the name because of the profound impact Aunt Mel had on our lives and to honer her. But, Mom and I fell in love with the name name anyway and thought it was perfect for you.

"But I have noticed that you both call me Lyssa, mostly."

"Well, as you have probably noticed, we have a tendency to shorten our full names when being informal. Another nice thing about the name Melissa is that it is a flexible name and it can be shortened either way. Since Aunt Mel shortened her name that way, we decided to shorten it the other way just so to differentiate between you both when we call either you or Aunt Mel." Diaval explained.

Melissa just smiled as she chuckled and said, "Yes, I have noticed there is a lot of name shortening. Yilan calls you 'Uncle D', Aunt Mel calls mom, 'Mal'. Mom calls you 'Mine Sweet' you call mom 'Dear', and we all call Uncle Joseph, 'Uncle Joe'.

"Yes, I know, Lyssa, it can get confusing as your mother and I have what are called, 'pet names' or 'lover's names'. They are names we chose for each other when we fell in love to just greater show our affection for each other.'

"No, it's isn't really that confusing, I follow along."

"That's because you are a smart little lady," Maleficent said.

"Mother, I wanted to ask you why Yilan looks so different from his parents?"

"Well, unlike yourself in that you ended up looking mostly like me, Yilan is rather an extreme mix of both his parents. He has legs like his father, he has snakes coming from his scalp like his mother. His skin is a mix of both scales and skin. He has his father's dark blond hair and also his eyes."

"So he has the best of both Aunt Mel and Uncle Joe blended together?"

"Yes, you can say that," Diaval said giggling.

"He is very strong too," Melissa said with a starry eyed look in her eyes. "I like his muscles."

"Uhhhhh yeah. Well both Aunt Mel and Uncle Joe have strong builds." Diaval said with a waver in his voice, noting his daughter is taking a strong interest in Melissa and Joe's son of late.

"By the way, aren't they supposed to be here by now, my dear?" Diaval asked.

"Yes, they are," Maleficent said in agreement. She then turned to her daughter and said, "Lyssa, dear, could you fly up and take a look down the road and see if they are at least on the way?"

"Yes, mother," Melissa said as she ran off to the balcony.

Maleficent and Diaval followed their daughter out to the balcony and watch as she climbed up on to the railing, spread her wings, and took off."

"She's become a rather strong flyer, mine sweet," Maleficent said.

"Yes, she has, just like you." Diaval agreed. "I have also noticed that her interest in Yilan is developing beyond a simple friendship. The other day I caught the two kissing...on the lips!"

Maleficent smiled as she said, "Diaval, I too was interested in a relationship early on. By the time I was twelve I wanted to know what a kiss on the lips felt like. Don't forget too, the two grew up together, they really only had each other early on, as the other human children didn't want to play with them because there are so different. Many of them were afraid of Melissa and Yilan because they both can do magic."

"I know," Diaval said with distress in his voice. "I still find it hard to believe that after most of the people in town have accepted you and I, their children don't accept our children."

"Well, that is human children for you. They are afraid of what they don't know or don't understand. They seem to be accepting them more now that they are getting older and realizing that differences shouldn't get in the way of friendship. Still Melissa doesn't trust anyone except Yilan." Maleficent said. "She trusts him simply because he is similar to her in that they are both fae."

Diaval chuckled a bit and said, "I would laugh if the two of them grew up and married each other."

Maleficent raised an eyebrow and said, "I would be fine with that. I know Yilan would be true to her and never hurt her. He is very protective of her too. You remember what he did those boys when they were picking on her."

"Yes, he nearly brought the whole school house down on top of them." Diaval said.

"Then Lyssa returned the favor when a large boy was picking on Yilan. She got so mad she picked him up off the ground with one hand and she threatened, 'If you ever come near him again, I'm coming for you!' The boy then promptly peed himself!" Maleficent explained.

"Hmmm, indeed. I know someone else who has a knack for doing that." Diaval said.

The two burst out laughing.

"Well, Mother like daughter," Maleficent said.

"Yes, I know she has the same trait you have when you get angry."

"Yes, we both get very strong," Maleficent said as she raised her arms up so her flowing sleeves slid up exposing her arms up to her shoulders. She then flexed her arms.

Diaval's eyes widened as he said, "You have such beautifully toned arms, my dear. I love your arms."

"Glad you like, mine sweet. You have a rather nice set of arms yourself," she said as she reached over and pushed up Diaval's sleeve raising her eyebrows as she checked out Diaval's arm. She then said seductively, "Hmmm, I like."

Suddenly she looked up and said, "I only asked her to look up the road, she should have been back by now."

"Maybe she didn't see them and flew all the way to Dragon Claw."

"Oh, please don't say that. I know she is 12 now, but I still don't like her making trips like that without either of us to watch over her."

"I know. Me either."

With that the two went out to the balcony and Maleficent climbed up on to the railing and was ready to change Diaval into a raven when she caught sight of their daughter.

"Oh! I see her, she's coming back" she said.

Diaval leaned over the rail and caught sight of her as well. She was flying very fast and erratically dipping up and down as she made her way for the balcony.

"Somethings wrong," Maleficent said as she knelt higher on the balcony rail and craned her neck.

Diaval said, "She's getting lower, I don't think she's going to make it."

"I know, that is why I am going to meet her, " Maleficent said as she spread her wings and jumped off the railing. She flew out to meet her daughter and ended up catching her in mid air.

"I got you, my darling," Maleficent said as she cradled her daughter in her arms.

Melissa tried to say something, but the poor girl was completely out of breath and couldn't even speak. Maleficent could feel her little rib cage expanding and contracting rapidly in her arms.

"You're safe in my arms now. Calm down and you can tell me what happened later," Maleficent said calmly as she came to a landing on the balcony. She carried Melissa inside and placed her on the bed. Her wings collapsed to her sides as she sat there on the bed panting.

Diaval took one look at his daughter and reached his arms out and grabbed a hold of her and gave her a good hug. He too could feel her breathing so hard. As he pulled away, she looked into his eyes and again she tried to open her mouth to say something but all she could do was pant.

"Calm down, Lyssa, my dear. Just take steady deep breaths," Diaval said, his hands suddenly shaking as he worried something was wrong with her. But she complied and took several deep breaths before trying to speak again.

"Father...Mother...You...have...to...go...to...Dragon Claw," Melissa gasped out.

"Did you fly all the way there and back in that short time?" Maleficent asked.

Still out of breath, Melissa just nodded, 'yes'.

"Hold on, I will get you some water," Diaval said as he ran into the bathroom, grabbed a glass and filled it with water. He then returned to his daughter.

"Here you go, Princess."

Melissa took the glass and gulped the whole thing down, her swallowing was very audible as her throat expanded considerably when she swallowed.

"Easy, Lyssa, easy! You don't want it going down the wrong way," Diaval said in a concerned voice.

When she finished her glass of water, she inhaled deeply once more and then said between breaths, "You both... have to come to Dragon Claw...right now."

"What is the matter?" Maleficent asked.

"I don't know. I met up with Auntie Mel and she told me to come back here and tell you to come to Dragon Claw immediately," Melissa said with her breath slowly returning to normal.

Suddenly she started to cry as she said, "Mom, my wings are hurting really bad."

Maleficent raised her hand and placed it between her daughter's wings. A yellow glow surrounded her hand. "Your muscles are sore, dear. This will help a bit."

Diaval said, "I'll get Aurora, she can watch over Lyssa."

"Father, I want to come. I want to know what is going on too," Melissa said.

"No, Lyssa. Stay with Queen Aurora. Until we know what is going on over there, I don't want to be bringing you into a possible dangerous situation with us. Also, you are in no shape to fly."

"Okay Father."

Diaval immediately got up and headed out the door to their room.

"You know that your sister is always thrilled to watch over you any chance she can get," Maleficent said.

A smile appeared on Melissa's face as she looked up to mother and said, "Yes, I love it when Aurora watches over me. I love my big sister and I have fun with her. I just wish she wasn't so busy all the time. When I was younger she used to play with me all the time."

"Well, she is 30 years old now and has a kingdom to run now with Uncle Philip. As you recall what Dad said in his story, once Aurora reached twenty one, I had to relinquish my rule over Malora and give entire control to Aurora. She's the Queen and she as a lot on her shoulders now."

"But you still give her advice and help her, right?"

"Yes, I am still the Royal Vizier and her Godmother, so it is my job to be there to give advice to Aurora if she wants it, even though she can pretty much handle things herself now." Maleficent said looking a bit down.

Suddenly both double doors flew open and slammed into the wall. It was Queen Aurora. Diaval trailed shortly behind.

"What's the matter, Mother, is little sis ok?" Aurora said, her grown up adult voice nearly matching the beauty and quality of Maleficent's own voice.

"Yes, she's fine, Beastie. Diaval and I just have to run out real quick and just need someone to watch over her."

Aurora put on a huge smile as she said, "Of course, anytime. Watching over Lyssa is certainly a nice break over doing my regular work."

"Aurora, your father and I have noticed that you have been taking on too much work lately. You have servants, use them."

"Well, you know me, I don't want to work them too hard. I want to change things for the better and have balanced work loads for everyone, even if it means I do some work myself."

"Yes, but you are taking on too much yourself."

"I know, Mother," she sighed. "But the kingdom isn't going to run itself."

"Well, you know you have Diaval and myself to help."

"Mother, I know you are expecting another child so I don't want to put any stress on you."

"Aurora, my dear, that is still 11 months off. I can still help out until the last few months."

Aurora smiled and said, "Alright."

"Let's get going then, shall we?" Maleficent said as she turned to Diaval.

He nodded as she waved her hand and he turned into a bird after which he landed on Melissa's shoulder and rubbed his head against her cheek. She turned and kissed him on the head and said to Queen Aurora, "I love it when Father turns into a pretty bird. I now know you used to call him that too."

"Yes, I have when I was growing up."

Diaval then flew up on to Aurora's shoulder and rubbed his head against her cheek before taking to wing. Maleficent gave a hug to both Melissa and Aurora.

"Daughters, we will be back soon. Your father and I love you both," Maleficent said as she ran off to the balcony and jumped up onto the railing and pushed herself off into the air and spread her wings. Diaval flew out and joined her side.

Back in the castle, Melissa had a confused look on her face as she said, "I thought you were really my big sister."

"Oh. Father told you the story, huh?"

"Yes."

"Then you know that my real father, Stefan, was an awful and terrible man."

"Yes. He's a mean, bad, awful man to rip off Mom's wings. Makes me so mad!" Melissa said as she clenched her fists in anger.

Aurora noticed that as Melissa clenched her fists, the veins in her forearms became more pronounced and thicker.

"Easy there, little lady. You also know that I never knew my real mother."

"Yes."

"Well, Maleficent, your real mother, watched over me as I grew up and she was my Faerie Godmother. Of course, I called her Godmother for short. Diaval, your real father, was always by her side and also took care of me too. So before I reached my nineteenth birthday, I realized who it was that there for me my whole life and I have decided to honor them by just calling them Mother and Father. I love and honor them as my parents and I love you as my sister."

Melissa just smiled and said, "I'll always love you, my big sis!"

Tears started to well up in Aurora's eyes as she wrapped her arms around Melissa

"Why are you crying, Aurora?" Melissa asked in a soft voice.

Aurora pulled back with her hands still on Melissa's shoulders and said, "I was really worried that you wouldn't see me as your big sister anymore after Father told you the story."

"Why would I do that? Father's story was about acceptance, friendship and love. Mother and Father brought you up and you accepted them as your parents. So I still accept you as my big sister."

"Oh! You are so incredibly smart for your age and have such a good heart, just like our mother," Aurora said as she once again wrapped her arms around Melissa but perhaps a bit too tightly.

"Ouch! Ouch! My wings! They are still a bit sore."

"Oh! I'm sorry," Aurora said as she withdrew. She then continued, "Father told me you flew all the way to Dragon Claw and back in a very short time. You are so brave to do that on your own."

"Thank you, Sis. I just hope that everything is alright with Aunt Mel and Uncle Joe."

"I do too."

"Can we play hide and seek now?" Melissa asked excitedly.

"I thought you would never ask, you're it!" Aurora shouted as she took off for the door way.

"You always hide first!" Melissa called out to her.

Aurora stopped, turned around and said, "That's because I'm the big sister AND I am Queen."

"Pulling rank, huh?" Melissa asked as crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, come now, you always find me right away because you can fly. I can't fly and it takes me forever to find you if you hide someplace high."

Melissa chuckled as she had a devious look on her face, raised an eyebrow on her face and said, "You got that right, Sis!"

Aurora was amazed that when Melissa said those words that she looked and acted so much like her godmother.

"What's the matter? Go! I am going to start counting."

"No, it's just that when you said 'you got that right', you're face looked just like Mother's."

Melissa just smirked as she said, "30, 29, 28, 27...You better hide!"

"Oh fiddlesticks!" Aurora said as she jumped up and ran through the open doors and down the hall.

Maleficent and Diaval flew to Dragon Claw as fast as they could. When they reached the main garden of the keep of the castle, they could see that Melissa was out front and she was slithering back and fourth as if she was pacing. Once she caught sight of them, she stopped and composed herself, adjusting her outfit as she smiled. Being a mother herself and an innkeeper, Melissa changed her manner of dressing over the years to something that less exposed her mid section. Today she was wearing a long sand green shawl wrap that criss crossed over her chest and back and was held in place by a thick belt on her waist. It gave her the appearance of having a cap sleeved top with a deep 'v' neck. Her arms were fully exposed. The ends of the shawl parted and fell to the sides of her hips. While simple and more tasteful looking, Melissa still looked very attractive in it.

Once Maleficent landed she turned Diaval back into a man, but perhaps a bit too soon and he dropped a bit out of the sky and he stumbled into Maleficent. She realized what she did and braced herself to catch him. He slammed right into her chest. Maleficent stumbled a bit but held onto Diaval tightly and steadied him from falling.

"Oh my word, my love! I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, I'm Ok." he said as he looked down at how Maleficent was holding him and said, "You caught me. Wow, you are strong."

"Well, I certainly wasn't going to let you fall and get hurt because of me."

Diaval approached Melissa and said, "What is wrong, Mel?"

"Oh, nothing is wrong."

"What?!" Diaval questioned. "Lyssa said you wanted us to come here as quickly as possible, the poor girl was completely out of breath. She was lying on the bed panting and couldn't speak."

"I'm so sorry, Diaval, I guess I was just so excited and must have stressed the urgency too much. I never meant for the poor girl to stress herself out flying back to you like that."

Maleficent said, "It's Ok, she is fine and with Aurora, but what is it that you wanted to tell us, my friend?"

"I have a big surprise for you, Mal."

Maleficent's eyes widened, but before she could respond, the organ suddenly started to play from within.

"That sounds too good to be Yilan, Who's playing the organ?" Maleficent asked.

Melissa shrugged and smirked as she said, "Why don't you have a look."

She opened the door and held it open for her friends. Maleficent walked in first and Diaval grabbed the door and offered for Melissa go in next.

"You always are a gentleman, huh?" Melissa said as she patted Diaval on the back.

"Of course," Diaval answered with a smile as he closed the door behind him, slowly, and he walked to Maleficent. The two walked into the Great Hall as Melissa slithered behind them. When they walked into view of the organ balcony, their eyes focused on the figure that was sitting at and playing the organ. Maleficent instantly went pale at what she saw when she looked up at the silhouette of the person playing the organ and it was her own. It was like she was looking into a mirror at her own back. It was a dark female figure with horns and wings identical to her own. At first Maleficent wasn't believing her own eyes and she narrowed them as she turned to look at Melissa.

"What trick sorcery is this, Melissa?"

"It isn't any trick, I would never do that to you, my friend. This is very real. They checked in early this afternoon."

"They?" Maleficent shouted.

"Yes, a husband and wife, horned faeries just like yourself," Melissa said as she continued to smile.

Maleficent and Diaval started to walk down the main aisle. The figure at the organ wasn't very adept at playing it, but she ended up getting a nice groove going.

Maleficent started to run for the balcony and raced up it's steps, taking them two steps at a time. The noise of her running up the steps caused the woman to stop playing the organ and look in her direction. Maleficent stopped cold in her tracks and her eyes were trained on the woman before her. Slowly the woman slid to the edge of the organ bench not taking her eyes off Maleficent. Maleficent, in turn took a few more steps forward to get a better look.

The woman had features similar to her own such as her wings, curved black horns, and pointed ears, but her face was very much different from hers and her hair was a different color and style. She had very short auburn hair that was mussed with some strands that appeared as bangs hanging diagonally down her forehead. She had very beautiful and large hazel eyes. Her eyebrows curved lower and had more of an even arch rather than her pointed arch and they were much thicker than hers. She had large nose, but it was nicely shaped. Her face was more rounded and smaller than her own, but her cheekbones were very pronounced, making her face appear more gaunt. As she stood up Maleficent noticed she was much shorter than she was. She was wearing a beautiful black and red off-shoulder dress with short flowing bell sleeves. The dress did have some wear on it and there were even a couple small holes here and there. Maleficent's eyes looked at the woman's neckline and then her own body. She noticed that she had a similar build to herself. She had very nice shoulders and pronounced collarbones. The two said nothing at first, but kept staring at each other.

"Surprise!" Melissa's voice rang out from the stairway below as she held her muscular arms out and splayed her fingers.

Both women looked at her for a moment and then looked at each other again. The woman then held her hands up as she slightly leaned forward. She then suddenly rushed towards Maleficent and threw her arms around her. For some reason Maleficent instinctively wrapped her arms around the woman and she closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

Maleficent spoke first and said, "I thought my daughter and I were the last ones."

The woman looked up to Maleficent's face and began to speak. She spoke in a sweet soft voice with a heavy Russian accent, "I thought we were the last ones. Oh my! To find another like us. I can't believe you are real."

The woman then shouted towards the door that lead to the room in back of the organ, "Alexei! Alexei! Come quick!"

"What is it, my wife? I am with Joe." Another voice came from beyond the doorway that led to the pipe organ bellows chamber. This voice was male and also had a thick Russian accent.

"Just come, NOW!" she said with much strength in her voice.

Maleficent smiled. Given how much smaller the woman was than she, she still had much spunk and authority in her voice.

Soon Sir Joseph and a large male figure approached the doorway. The figure barely fit through the doorway as he had a pair of enormous wings that dragged the ground behind him. As soon as he made eye contact with Maleficent he stopped cold in his tracks and put his hand on his chest. Sir Joseph stood to his left side.

The male figure appeared to be about Maleficent's height. His face was very rugged looking and he had very dark brown hair, the same color as Maleficent's. But his most notable feature were his dark blue eyes.

The woman stepped to one side, so her husband could get a better look, but she still kept one arm around Maleficent.

The man exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! My dear Vivian, we are not alone anymore!"

He then shouted down to Melissa of whom was about halfway up the staircase, "Madame Melissa, you were right, this is a pleasant surprise!"

"Indeed it is, I am very much surprised too," Maleficent said.

"Oh, you have such a lovely voice, what is your name, Madame?" Alex said.

"Mal...Maleficent is my name," she blurted out. Her voice was racked with emotion and she could feel the tears well up in her eyes. But she tried her hardest to do her best not to shed a tear.

The woman still held on to Maleficent and with her free hand pointed to herself and said, "I am Viviana and this is my husband Alexei. But you can call us Alex and Vivian for short."

Vivian then swallowed hard and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Pleased to meet you Vivian and Alex, I am Maleficent and this is my husband, Diaval," she said pointing to Diaval as he came to her side.

"Pleased to meet you both," Alex said as he now stood next to his wife. His eyes also seemed to well up too as he looked to Maleficent and like her, he fought really hard to hold them back. He said, "As my wife said, we thought we were the last ones."

"Alex, don't hold it back," Vivan said. She turned to Maleficent and continued, "He always wants to be the strong manly type. I just keep telling him it isn't a show of weakness for man to cry, I know he is very much a strong man. He is the strongest man I know, and he has an equally big heart. I tell him it is good for a man to be emotional too."

"Forgive me as I have a tendency to get emotional during moments like this," Alex said.

"I have my arm around you and still I cannot believe you are real," Vivian said as more tears rolled down her cheek and she ended up burying her face into Maleficent's chest.

A single tear rolled down Alex's cheek and Maleficent looked to him. She barely could hold back her own tears."

"Go ahead, let it out," Alex said. "I can see it in your eyes."

Maleficent just closed her eyes and put her arms around Vivian. As she closed her eyes a single tear escaped and ran down her cheek.

Maleficent wondered why she didn't get that feeling she would get when someone other than Diaval or Aurora would embrace her. It seemed like there was a natural trust she had for Vivian, as if she knew her for decades, yet she never seen her before in her life. Vivian started to cry harder as she buried her face further into Maleficent's chest.

"Vivian, please. We just met Madame Maleficent and I don't want us to make a bad impression with you getting her clothes all wet."

Suddenly with a sharp outburst Vivian said through her tears, "Oh, can it, Alex! Finding her is like finding a lost sister, she is one of us. If you want to hold back, fine! Just let me have my moment."

"Yes, Vivan, I'm sorry," Alex said.

Alex then looked to Maleficent.

"It's OK, Alex. I'm am fine," Maleficent said as she leaned up against the banister and held on to Vivian.

Melissa came up the steps partially and said, "Sorry for the interruption, but if everyone is up for it, I will set up some tea in the dining room."

Alex turned around and in a more solid voice said, "That will be splendid, Madame."

Diaval nodded too as the ladies just continued their embrace.

"I'll help you my dear," Sir Joseph said as he went downstairs to join his wife.

Melissa smiled as she slithered off towards the doorway to the main hallway with Joe following. Everyone else started down the steps and they were trailed by the two women. Vivian was last to come down and as soon as she reached the bottom of the steps, she threw one arm around Maleficent's body. Maleficent smiled and also put her arm around Vivian. To her it was surreal as well. But Vivian was real, right there in her arm.

Just a few moments after Melissa left the room a small shadow came from behind the main staircase. The movement caught the eye of Diaval. He noticed that it was Yilan, the boy put a finger to his lips as he whispered, "Hi, Uncle D."

"Good day, Yilan," Diaval said. This caught the attention of everyone else as they looked down at the small boy that timidly approached them. The boy had golden tan skin and mussed blonde hair. His main outstanding feature was on his head were four large snakes that moved about his head. He had yellowish green eyes and slightly elongated pupils. He was built quite large for a boy his age having noticeably defined arms and shoulders. He wore a cap sleeve top with very baggy pants that stopped at this knees. He wore sandals on his feet.

"Shhhhh, mother doesn't know I am down here. She told me to go to my room but I wanted to see what was going on."

"You should listen to your mother and go back up to your room," Diaval said.

Yilan craned his long neck looking past the men and started to move towards Maleficent.

"Is that your sister your holding, Auntie Mal? She looks an awful lot like you."

"No, she isn't. It is just that we are happy to find each other as we are the same kind, which explains why we are holding each other and are a bit emotional right now. I have always dreamed of this moment."

Alex said, "Hello there little one, you must be Madame Melissa and Joseph's son."

"Yes, Sir, I am Yilan," Yilan said as he slowly moved forward and bowed. When he stood back up he exclaimed. "Wow! You are awesome, Sir. Your horns and wings are bigger than Auntie Mal's."

Maleficent looked up and said in a stern voice, "Yilan, please go back to your room, otherwise I will tell Mom that you are down here."

"Awww, come on, Auntie Mal."

Maleficent narrowed her eyes and gave Yilan a stern look and and he said, "Oh, Ok, but is the woman you're holding going to be Ok? She's crying an awful lot."

Just then Vivian looked up and made eye contact with Yilan. She let go of Maleficent and walked over to him and knelt down as she wiped her tears from her eyes. "I am fine, little one. I just am overwhelmed to find your Aunt Mal. My name is Vivian and this 'awesome' gentleman is my husband, Alex. We have been traveling far and heard stories about this kingdom and that there was one of our kind here. So we are just overwhelmed to find that he stories were true.

"There is another," Yilan said.

"Oh, yes! Madame Maleficent, you mentioned your daughter. Does she look like you?" Vivian asked.

"Yes, very much so. She is 12 years old, same age as Yilan here," Maleficent said as she put her hand out towards Yilan.

"May I meet her?" Vivian asked.

"Where is Lyssa?" Yilan asked before Maleficent could answer. He craned his neck looking around for Lyssa.

"She is not here," Maleficent said to both Yilan and Vivian. "She's at the castle with Queen Aurora."

"Awwwww, I wanted to see her today."

Diaval then said, "Don't worry Yilan, you will see her soon. But for now, I think you should do as you are told and go back up to your room. If your mother catches you down here, she will not be happy and we want to create a good impression in front of our guests, right?"

"Yes, Uncle D."

"Good, I will see you to your room then."

Everyone watched as Diaval and Yilan went up the main stairs. Just then Sir Joseph entered the room and picked up on the conversation.

"He is a rather interesting looking young lad," Alex said looking up the stairs.

"Ahh, I guess you must have met my son. Yes, he is quite a mix," Sir Joseph said. "He can be pretty feisty too."

Everyone laughed.

"So the stories are true that you have made peace with the humans here, Madam Malefic..." Alex said when he stopped midway and then nudged his wife and said, "I almost forgot! Bow dear, we are in the presence of royalty."

"Oh yes! Please forgive us, your excellency, we forgot," Vivian said and both she and Alex knelt down before her.

"Oh my, no! Ummm, Arise please," Maleficent said.

"We have heard you were a woman of importance here," Vivian said.

"That you rule the whole kingdom in fact," Alex added.

"Well, that might have been true a few years ago, but my Goddaughter, Queen Aurora, runs the kingdom now. I only was in power until she reached the age of twenty one. I have since stepped down and I am only her advisor. But she still has left me in charge of the Moors, as that was initially my area, but outside of the Moors, I no longer have power over the kingdom. So, the title of 'your excellency' no longer applies."

"I would say it does since you are still in charge of something," Alex said.

"Well, we are not in the Moors right now."

"Technically you annexed Dragon Claw to the Moors many years ago, your excellency," Sir Joseph pointed out.

Maleficent grumbled as she said, "You are not helping, Joe."

Melissa emerged from the hallway and said, "Tea and biscuits are served!"

She held the door open as everyone filed into the hallway. Diaval was coming down the steps and he just followed everyone out the door and into the the hallway as well and then everyone went into the dining room together.

"My word, what a magnificent dining room you have here, Madame Melissa!" Vivian exclaimed.

"Thank you."

"Those windows are so beautiful! And...Madame Maleficent, is that you in those windows?"

"Yes it is. The windows depict how Melissa and I became friends. I am very honored that she has literally included me in the design of her castle."

"Oh, that is so sweet. The power and love of true friendship. Madame mentioned the two of you are best fiends earlier before you arrived."

"Yes," Melissa and Maleficent said together.

"The workmanship is astounding. Did the humans around here do this for you?"

"No, the work was all done by fae folk," Melissa said. "But I did make the windows all on my own."

Sir Joseph let out a small cough.

"Alright, dear, you and Queen Aurora helped too," Melissa corrected herself.

"Forgive me for asking, but are you also one of us?" Vivian asked.

"A faerie?" Melissa counter asked.

Vivian nodded, 'yes'.

"Yes, I am part faerie," Melissa's snakes parted to show her pointed ears. "I don't have many magic powers like other faeries do, since I am also a mix. I can only manipulate stone and I am also a high healer."

Alex said, "We are also healers and are very strong with telekinesis and can move things at will. Vivian can also control weather patterns."

Maleficent looked to Melissa and said, "Only, my friend?" She then turned to Vivian and Alex and continued, "While those are her two main powers of magic, she is incredibly strong with them. I can do the same, but not nearly with the same kind of strength. I could have never do what she can do with stone. All the stonework and intricate artwork in the stone has been done her."

"You are being too modest, Mal, and put me on such a high platform." Melissa said. "You are really the most powerful faerie I know of."

Vivian than asked Maleficent, "What are your magic powers, Madame?"

"Well, I can do all what you both do. Like I said I have some stone manipulation and healing powers too, but not to the degree of Melissa's ability. I can do water, heat..."

Maleficent gave a lengthy run down of her abilities and all the while Vivian's mouth opened further and further, while Alex's eyes grew wider and wider. Before Maleficent could finish both Vivian and Alex bowed down before Maleficent again.

"What, why? I said you don't have to bow before me."

"You are special, your excellency. We have read that you are one that can unite kingdoms You are truly a queen among queens, a natural leader of our kind." Alex said.

"Arise. Now, I don't know what was written about me elsewhere, but I assure you I am not a queen. This kingdom has a queen already," Maleficent said. "Now, lets have tea before it gets cold."

As everyone sat down at the table, Melissa poured the tea. Vivian and Alex looked around and kept pointing out details within the dining room and marveled at the room's beauty. After having their tea and biscuits, Alex changed the subject.

"So, as I was saying earlier, it is true that you have made peace with the humans here?" Alex asked.

"Yes, it is."

"I also can see that both you and Madame Melissa have human partners," Alex said.

"Ummm, I'm not human," Diaval said.

Both Vivian and Alex looked at Diaval and took note of his rounded ears.

"This is my human form, but I am really a raven, a bird." Diaval explained.

"A bird?!" Alex questioned in a perplexed voice.

"Yes, I was changed into this form by Maleficent over 30 years ago."

Vivian looked to Maleficent and asked, "You can morph living creatures?" Vivian asked.

"Yes. I know it is something that is frowned upon in the faerie realms as a dark power. I only did it the one time with Diaval when I was going through a bad time. I never did it again with any other living creature. And while that is a long story, the short version is that we fell in love with each other and married."

Diaval nodded in agreement.

"Well, when you have more time we would love to hear that story, your excellency, uhh, I mean Madame." Alex said.

"Of course, perhaps I should have Diaval tell you. He just finished telling our daughter the story," Maleficent said.

Diaval put on a long face as he said, "Well, I hope you both are going to stay in town a long time, it took a while to tell my daughter the whole story."

"Well, we certainly have the time," Vivian said. But then her face became very soft and melancholy when she continued. "We are from Russia, but now don't have a home anymore. There were with two families of our kind there and we lived with them. A kind old human gentleman that was wealthy let us stay on his property and he offered us protection. But then a civil war broke out and the gentleman was killed. Given that we are warriors, we stayed and fought for our home, but then the opposing side overran us and the other two families were killed while trying to leave."

Vivian then hung her head low and lost her composure and burst into tears as said, "It was horrible what they did to them."

Both Alex and Maleficent put their arms around Vivian. Alex pulled out his handkerchief and dried his wife's tears. She then bumped his arm with her own so that he would continue the story.

"Oh! Yes," Alex came too as he took over for Vivian.

"We were lucky and escaped, but we had no where to go. We just took what we needed and fled. Thinking we were now the last of our kind, it was by chance, in our travels, that we heard about Malora and you, your excellency...uh, I mean Madam. We heard that you made peace with the humans here. So, we decided to make the long trek here risking everything on just the stories we heard. We lost everything we own trying to get here. It was just so far. As we came closer to Malora we learned of this Inn that catered to fae folk and figured this place was our only hope. Thankfully the innkeeper here turned out to be very warm and hospitable to us and thank the heavens the stories were true.

Melissa bowed her head and whispered, "Thank you."

"Well, I can understand first hand from dealing with war and I have lost my parents in a similar way that you have lost your friends," Maleficent said in a solemn voice. She paused for a moment and then smiled as she said, "I would like to welcome you both to the Moors of Malora and you are free to stay here as long as you like. You are free to make a home for yourselves there."

"Oh, your excellency, thank you so much!" Vivan said as she reached over and wrapped both arms around Maleficent and gave her a kiss the cheek.

Melissa eyes glistened over. She then reached into her pouch and pulled a few gold coins out of her pouch and put them on the table.

"Given what you both been through, I can't take your money, keep it." Melissa said.

"Thank you Madame Melissa, but I don't want anyone to think of us as a charity case," Alex said. "Since we are going to stay here permanently, we can work."

"Alright," Melissa said. "I can use a couple extra hands around here. Summer is near and that is our busy time."

"I know the both of you are probably exhausted from your trip, but Castle Malora is less than 5 minutes from here by wing. Would you like to meet my daughter and the Queen?" Maleficent asked.

Vivian looked to her husband and said, "Let's go, I want to see her daughter."

"Alright Viv, if that is your heart's desire."

"Yes, it is."

"Well Joe, we may as well go too since there is no one here yet," Melissa said.

"Sure thing, my dear, I will get the carriage ready," Sir Joseph said as he got up from the table

"Oh, no, the carriage is too slow, I am going horseback today, my love."

"As you wish, Yilan will ride with me then."

"We will meet up again at the castle," Melissa said to everyone.

Everyone nodded. Maleficent, Diaval, Vivian and Alex got up and walked out to the main garden. As Maleficent stood in the garden and was ready to change Diaval, she felt a gentle tug on her hair. She turned around to find Vivian holding a lock of her hair.

"You have such long and beautiful hair, my dear. Nearly perfect, nice and shiny too," Vivian said.

"Thank you."

"My hair, not so good. I didn't take care of it well and kept cutting it and it just looks like a big messy mop on my head."

"That's not true, Viv," Alex said. "I like your hair the way it is. Besides it's a beautiful color."

"He's right, it is a very nice color, now that I am getting a good look at it outside," Maleficent said.

"I want to be more beautiful for my Alex, perhaps you can tell me how to get hair as nice as yours."

"Vivian, you are beautiful enough for me," Alex said.

"Tut Tut, there is always room to improve, but thank you, my dear Alex."

"Yes, I would be more than happy to help. Aurora and I are to going to have a lot of fun dressing you too. Malora is big in trading textiles and clothing and my Goddaughter is the chief designer of our dress line. I also help her with designing."

"Oh, my! You have another talent then. That is splendid! Alex and I need clothes as what you see are pretty much all we have. I so desire a new dress."

Maleficent smiled as she said, "I'll make you one. We can design it together."

"Oh, thank you. I will appreciate that very much!" Vivian exclaimed.

Maleficent then pushed her sleeves back and flicked her wrist. A yellow wisp changed Diaval back into his original self. He cawed as he started to fly around the three fae.

"Would you look at that!" Vivian said in an astonished tone to Alex.

"Amazing!" he replied.

Vivian held her forearm up and called, "Sir Diaval!"

Diaval swooped down and landed on Vivian's arm and bowed.

"It's really him! I never seen a raven act like that before. Madame your morphing magic is truly amazing. What else have you turned him into?"

"Well, since I have known him, I changed him into a horse, a wolf, a frog, a dog, and a dragon."

"A dragon? My word that is extraordinary! Oh, I want to see that. Can you change him into a dragon now?" Vivian asked.

"Ummm, not to be impolite, but my husband isn't a sideshow animal act, in good time you will see his forms." Maleficent said.

"I am sorry, my dear, it is just that we have never seen any of our kind with this ability. Like I said, you are special," Vivian said.

Diaval took to wing and he started to go off towards the castle.

"Ready?" Maleficent said to Alex and Vivian as she spread her wings.

Alex spread his and looked at Maleficent's and said, "Wow! Madame, your wings are just as big as mine. It's unusual for a woman to have such large wings."

Maleficent got a good look at Alex's spread wings and she raised an eyebrow. While her wings were indeed the same size, her plumage wasn't as thick and her feathers weren't as wide as his.

"Thank you. You wear your large wings well too, Alex." Maleficent said.

Vivian spread her wings and she said in a bold voice, "My wings, not so big. But they are still very strong as I can out fly Alex."

"I am sure they are," Maleficent said as she smiled at Vivian and then she jumped up and took to wing.

Vivian and Alex also took wing as they followed behind Maleficent to Castle Malora. As they were flying Maleficent fell back a bit and flew in between Alex and Vivian, while she let Diaval lead the way. A sense of euphoria came over her as she took every moment in that she was flying high and proud with those of her own kind.

Vivian then shouted to Maleficent, "I would love to show you some of my flight tricks if it wasn't for my wings aching so from our trip."

"That is Okay, Vivian, you and Alex rest up when we get to the castle" Maleficent said. "There will be many other times. Right now, it sounds like you both are exhausted."

"Yes, we are," Alex said.

"It isn't much further."

Both Vivian and Alex nodded in acknowledgement.

Queen Aurora fell asleep with Melissa in her arms after they had hard day of play. They were laying in her Godmother's bed. The Queen was then awakened to a ruckus in the hallway.

She went to the doors, opened them both up and shouted, "What's going on out here? Melissa and I are trying to sleep"

Aurora was a bit groggy from being awakened abruptly and she was speaking a bit brashly.

Just then a handful of servants came over and bowed before her. One of them said, "Oh there you are your highness, we were looking for you and you weren't in your room. Please come quick, you have to come outside and see this."

"Alright, let me put on a robe first."

"Of course, your highness."

Queen Aurora just grabbed one of her Godmother's robes and threw it over her shoulders. The robe pooled on the ground at her feet. Even though she grew into a beautiful woman over the past years, she was still much shorter than her Godmother.

When Aurora exited the room, she followed the servants and they led her to the terrace.

"I must say, Madam Maleficent's robe looks great on you, your highness."

"Thank you, now what is this all about?" Aurora snapped as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"There are two more of them now."

"Two more of what?" Queen Aurora asked.

"Two more faeries just like your Godmother."

Aurora stopped in her tracks as her eyes widened and said, "What?"

"They are with Madame Maleficent and they look like they are going to land on the terrace."

Suddenly Aurora bunched up the robe and began running towards the terrace. When she arrived she thew open the doors and ran out. She was followed by a large group of servants. All watched as three large flying figures loomed above along with a raven. The raven swooped down first and landed on Aurora's shoulder.

"Hello Father," she said.

Aurora then focused on the three near identical figures as they started down towards the terrace. At first she couldn't believe what she was seeing but then she put an ear to ear smile on her face as the three landed in unison on the terrace. The one in the center was her Godmother.

Once they landed, Maleficent she walked over to Aurora's side and announced to Alex and Vivian, "I present to you, Queen Aurora of Malora, my Goddaughter."

Vivian and Alex moved closer and bowed before Queen Aurora.

"You may both arise," the Queen said.

Diaval cawed and Maleficent waved her hand as Diaval jumped up. He changed back into his human form and stood on the opposite side of Queen Aurora.

Aurora approached the two fae and got a good look at them.

"Oh, my, Godmother, this is very special indeed! You aren't alone anymore. You found others like you. Are there more?"

"Sadly no, but still, I am very happy they are here. They arrived at Dragon Claw late this afternoon."

"How do you do?" Queen Aurora addressed the winged couple.

Alex and Vivian nodded towards Queen Aurora. Alex then gave a nod to his wife, letting her speak.

"My name is Viviana and this is my husband, Alexei, but everyone can call us Alex and Vivian for short."

"Oh, I just love your accent. Are you from Slovenia or Transylvania?" Aurora asked.

"No, Russia, actually," Alex said.

"Oh My! Where are my manners. I am sorry, I am just so excited over this news," Queen Aurora said. She then cleared her throat and said in a loud voice, "Welcome to Malora! Please come inside the castle and be our guests tonight. You are cordially invited to dinner."

Alex approached the queen and in a subdued voice said, "Your highness, thank you for your kind invitation, but we are not fit to attend a formal dinner, what you see is pretty much all we have left."

Maleficent then pulled Aurora over and said, "They escaped from a civil war and lost their home. I am going to give them a permanent home in the Moors, but for now they are going to need clothing and some food. They traveled far and are very tired and I would like to put them up here for the night."

"Of course, mother. Just let me know what they need and I will take care it for you."

Aurora clapped her hands and three servants rushed over. She said a few words to them and then they ran off. She then approached the horned fae and said, "I am setting you up with a royal suite for the night and I have arranged for dinner to be brought to your room."

"Oh, thank you, your highness you are most kind! I see you share the same gift of kindness as both your Godmother and Madame Melissa have," Vivian exclaimed.

"You're most welcome. Does Vegetable Bisque soup, Pot Roast, Stuffed Peppers, Potatoes and Red Cabbage sound good to you?"

"Oh, it sounds heavenly, your highness," Alex said. "We haven't had a good meal in weeks."

"You two been through a lot, have you?" Queen Aurora asked.

"Yes. Too much, in fact," Vivian said.

"Well perhaps one day, I would like to hear your story, but for now I will let you folks get a good meal and rest."

Maleficent walked over and said, "Yes, I certainly would like to hear that story as well."

"Madame?" Vivian asked.

"Yes," Maleficent answered.

"Before we go to our room, can we meet your daughter?"

"Oh, yes! Of course. Follow me then."

"Mother, I am coming too. In fact, I think I am going to have dinner sent to your room as I have a funny feeling we will be there for a while and in case Lyssa wants to go to sleep, the bed is right there. I also think it will be a cozier, less formal setting for all."

"That is a splendid idea," Maleficent said and she looked to Vivian and Alex.

"Yes, that is fine," Alex said.

Queen Aurora called over another servant and said, "Change of plan, dinner will be sent to my mother's room. You will need to set up a table in there with 1,2,3,4..." Aurora said as she was taking a head count.

Maleficent said, "Don't forget to add Mel, Joe, and Yilan, they are on their way here too, and don't forget to count yourself, either!"

"I won't, Mother."

When Aurora was done counting she gave the instructions to her servant. She then turned to Alex and Vivian and said, "Ok, everything is set, I will show you to my mother's room and you will meet Lyssa there."

"Thank you."

As they started into the castle, Vivian was walking next to Queen Aurora.

"Your highness, if you don't mind my asking, I have noticed that you call Madame Maleficent 'Mother', whereas Madame Melissa over at the Inn said she was your Godmother."

"That is correct, she is my Godmother and not my real mother, but my real mother died before I got to know her and Godmother was the one that brought me up. She's the one that has been there for me and thus I just call her just mother now to honor her. Same is true for Diaval and since he is married to Mother, now I call him Father. So they are my family."

"Oh, thank you for that clarification, your majesty." Vivian said as she turned around and Maleficent was walking right behind her and had a smile on her face. She was obviously following the conversation.

"One more thing, your highness, are we going to meet your husband, the king?" Vivian asked.

"No, not tonight. He went back home to his parents for a visit, while I stayed behind to catch up on some work," Queen Aurora said.

Vivian and Alex looked around the ornate hallway of the royal floor and just gasped. Alex said, "Your castle is magnificent, your highness."

"Thank you. It took a while to fix this place up as it was in disrepair before I became Queen, but Mother helped greatly in fixing it up." Queen Aurora said as she raised her hand up in front of a large set of double doors. "Here we are, my parent's suite."

"Let me go in first," Maleficent said to Queen Aurora.

"Of course, Mother."

Maleficent came forward and the opened the door to the room and peeked in. Lyssa was fast asleep on the bed. She walked into the room and closed the door behind her and then she walked over to the bed.

"Lyssa. Lyssa. Wake up."

Lyssa turned over and faced her mother as she rubbed her eyes. She then exclaimed, "Mother! You are back! Are Aunt Mel, Uncle Joe and Yilan alright?

"Yes, darling. They are fine."

"Where is father?"

"He is right outside the door. He is with guests of whom want to meet you," Maleficent said.

"Really? Someone important wants to see me?

"Yes, Lyssa. I have something to say first though. They are like us, they are fae like you and me with horns and wings."

"Wow! So that means we are not the last ones anymore!"

"No, there are others like us out there."

"How many are outside?"

"Just two, a husband and wife."

"Only two?"

"Yes, they have come a long way and escaped a war. They don't have much and I am going to offer them a home in the Moors and they are going to stay here in Malora. They seem to be very kind and well mannered people."

Maleficent slowly lifted her daughter out of the bed and she started to straighten out her dress.

"Now, be on your best behavior and stand over by the balcony door."

"Yes, Mother."

Maleficent then walked over to the door and opened them both up and nodded to Queen Aurora. She walked back into the room and stood beside Lyssa and put her arm around her daughter. Queen Aurora put her hand up and everyone filed into the room. She then walked into the room herself and sat down on the bed.

Vivian and Alex walked slowly into the room at first and looked around.

"Cozy? This room is huge," Alex said. "I can't believe this is a bedroom."

The two walked up to Melissa and Vivian crouched down to her level.

"Vivian and Alex, this is my daughter, Melissa. Diaval and I call her Lyssa for short," Maleficent announced. She looked to her daughter and said, "Melissa, this is Vivian and this is her husband, Alex. They are of the same species of faerie as I am. So you and I are not the only ones anymore."

"How do you do Ma'am? How do you do Sir?", Melissa said as she curtsied.

"Fine, little Lyssa," Vivan said. "And how are you, my little lady?"

"I am fine too. Gee, you are very pretty, like my mom."

Everyone in the room said, "Awwwwww!"

"Why thank you, darling. You are such a polite little lady, and you are as pretty as your mom too. You look just like her, but I see you have your father's eyes."

"Thank you, ma'am. You seem like a such nice lady too. I love the way you talk."

Again everyone in the room went, "Awwwww!"

Lyssa then looked up to Alex and said, "You look awesome, Sir."

Vivian, Alex, Diaval and Maleficent burst out laughing. But everyone else looked puzzled.

"What's so funny?" Melissa asked.

"No, it is just that little Yilan said the same thing to Alex at Dragon Claw," Vivian said.

"Oh. Is he coming tonight, mother?"

"Yes, they will be here soon, Lyssa," Maleficent answered.

Just then a band of servants arrived with a large table and chairs.

"Oh, dear, I think we should take a brief tour of the castle while they set things up in here," Queen Aurora said.

Vivian and Alex nodded, 'yes'.

Everyone then filed out of the room to allow the servants to work at setting everything up for dinner.

Queen Aurora gave Vivian and Alex a brief tour of the royal floors and was in the middle of showing them the royal ballroom. The pipes from the organ were uncovered from the last event and Vivian took notice.

"Another organ," Vivian said. "And an enormous and beautiful one too. May I ask who plays?"

"I do," Maleficent said.

"Really? Could you...if you don't mind?" Vivian asked. "I just love the sound of a pipe organ, it is just a sad shame I am not very good at playing it."

"You sounded pretty good to me," Maleficent said.

"I am OK, but I would like to play better," Vivian replied.

"Well, I guess I can play something really quick until Melissa, Joe and Yilan arrive.." Maleficent said and then she turned to Queen Aurora and asked, "If it is alright with you, Aurora?"

"Yes, of course, anytime, mother. You are so fine at playing anyway and are a joy to listen too."

Alex and Vivian lit up and smiled as they followed Maleficent to the console.

Queen Aurora instructed one of the servants to go to the back room and work the bellows.

Everyone waited while Maleficent readied the organ. Pretty soon, she was tapping out notes, chords and then going up and down on the bass pedals. She then started to break into the bass progression from a song. Vivian closed her eyes and started to rock her shoulders back and forth as the melody started.

Vivian said, "Oh, that's catchy. What's it called?"

"Lochaber Badger," Maleficent said. "It's Joe's favorite."

"I like that one too, mom!" Melissa shouted as she too started to sway to the rhythm.

It wasn't long before everyone in the room was rocking back and forth. After a while of, Vivian opened her eyes, walked out to the dance floor and suddenly took up a dance hold posture and said to Alex, "Come, come, Alex dear."

"But Viv, dear, we just arrived and..." Alex said before he was cut off by his wife.

"No 'but Viv' me, I want to dance to this now and it's a ballroom, so come."

Alex had a bashful look on his face as he walked over to his wife, got into his dance posture and then spun off with her on the dance floor. Despite their size difference, the horned couple danced in a very professional manner with nearly a perfect hold.

Aurora, eyes widened at how the couple danced and she said, "Holy Crow, mother, they sure dance well!"

"I see that. I think I am going to hound them for some dancing tips," Maleficent said.

"Looking at them makes me want to dance with you, my dear," Diaval said.

The two ladies laughed. But then Maleficent said, "Dance with your daughter."

Diaval smiled as he held his hand out to Queen Aurora and said, "Your highness."

"Oh my, father, it has been a while since we danced."

"Agreed, time to correct that problem," Diaval said.

Queen Aurora and Diaval took to the floor and got into their hold. In over the 12 years that had passed, Diaval became quite proficient at dancing. He loved to dance with his wife, but he also enjoyed dancing with Aurora. Her dancing abilities in recent years quickly surpassed his own as she often danced with her husband, Philip. Diaval had a proud look on his face as he danced with his Goddaughter..

"Father, you are completely glowing," Aurora said as they spun around the dance floor.

"Well, you have grown into such a beautiful woman and I do enjoy dancing with you very much."

"I know I have been so busy here, I should make more time so we can have more moments like this," Aurora said as she moved in closer.

"I would like that very much," Diaval said.

After a few more bars Maleficent brought the song to and end and everyone clapped. A very loud clapping came from the ballroom entrance and it was Joseph. He was followed by Mel and Yilan.

"Amazing! Your excellency. You know I like that song!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, Joe, you too?" Maleficent said as she rolled her eyes. "Still, after a many years of my telling you that you don't have to address me that way, you still call me that."

"Why not? Just because you shifted all power to the Queen doesn't mean you are any less important around here. Everyone knows that and still respects you as a leading authority," Sir Joseph explained. "You are still very important to this hamlet."

Alex came over and said, "Yes, Madame, I feel the same way. You have obviously done quite a bit for this kingdom and even as an outsider, I see you as someone of great importance."

"Alright, then, you can address me how you feel, but please, no bowing!" Maleficent said.

Mel came over and addressed everyone and bid everyone well. Yilan entered the room and bid a quick hello to everyone. But he wanted to see Melissa and kept looking around for her. Once he caught eye of her, he ran towards her. She lit up, smiled, and ran towards him. When they met, they stopped and looked into each others eyes for a moment and they locked together in a tight embrace.

"Oh, I missed you so much, my dear," Yilan said.

"And I missed you too, mine sweet," Melissa replied.

The two then closed their eyes and brought their lips together.

Diaval quickly ran over and separated the two, waved his finger and said, "Remember, I said no kissing. Now run along and play."

The two ran off holding each other's hands.

Vivian held her hand to her chest and said, "Oh my, that is so adorable."

Maleficent got down from the organ bench. She shook her head and said to Vivian, "This is something new lately. They must have picked up on what we do. Diaval and I are close and get affectionate with each other often. They must have overheard us when we have embraced and well, now they are doing it."

"Are they in love already at that young age?"

Diaval said, "It's like Mal said, this is all new to us, but perhaps maybe they are in love."

Just then a servant entered the room and bowed before Queen Aurora and then whispered in her ear.

"Oh! Everyone, the room is set up and dinner is ready!" Queen Aurora exclaimed.

As they headed back to the room, Diaval explained to Vivian and Alex about how Melissa and Yilan grew up together and immediately bonded as friends and the two always stood by each other.

"That is so precious. It was like that with Alex and myself, we we're always madly in love with each other," Vivian explained. "We were barely in our teens when we met and he just swept me off my feet and was always very kind to me. We married at sixteen and it was much against our parents."

"You always have been the light of my life, Viv." Alex said in a low voice as he took his wife's hand as they approach the staircase.

Vivian's face began to turn red as she rested her head on Alex's shoulder and he supported her with his arm as they walked up the steps. When they reached the top, they caught Melissa and Yilan running across the hall between rooms.

Queen Aurora shouted, "Kids! Come now, dinner is ready."

A simultaneous, "Awwwwww!" came from the mouths of both Yilan and Melissa.

When they entered the room, a very ornate table was set up in the middle and towards the side opposite the bed. Aurora took a seat at the head of the table and Maleficent took the opposite end which was closest to the bed. Diaval sat down to her left, Melissa and Joseph sat down to her right. Vivian and Alex sat down next to Diaval and to Queen Aurora's right and Yilan and Melissa sat down on Queen Aurora's left side.

Vivian looked down her place setting. It was all gold.

"My word, this is all gold," She said and then looked to Aurora. "Your Highness, you didn't have to go through this trouble for us."

Queen Aurora said, "It's no trouble at all. This is a very special day in the kingdom and you are my very special guests in the castle, so I don't mind giving you the very best I have."

"Thank you," Vivian and Alex said at the same time.

As they uncovered the serving platters to reveal the steaming hot dinner before them, Vivian burst into tears.

Everyone turned to Vivian and asked if she was OK. Queen Aurora even got up and put her arms around Vivian. She then looked up to Aurora and said, "Oh, you are such a kind ruler, your highness. You are a good Queen."

As Aurora held Vivian's head to her chest she turned to Alex and said, "You must have been through an awful lot."

"Yes, your highness," Alex said as he held his wife's hand. "We have lost much and to experience this much kindness after so long...well, it is very comforting. We are very grateful though."

"Well, I believe my mother already offered you a place to stay. So, I am offering to help build you a new home and a new life here. Malora is your new home now."

"Oh, you are so kind," Vivian said as she held on to Aurora tightly.

Alex smiled as as he replied, "Thank you, your highness, and yes, your Godmother offered us a home in the Moors and Madame Melissa even offered us work," He paused for a moment and looked around. "Many thanks to all of you. You have been most kind to my wife and I."

After a few moments, Vivian released her embrace and Aurora sat back down. Alex wiped his wife's tears away. Shortly after, the servants entered the room and began setting everyone's plates. Everyone's eyes were wide at the bounty of food before them. None more so than Vivian and Alex who actually ended up having two helpings. Maleficent was surprised that they even ate the pot roast as usually faeries don't eat meat. But since this was probably the first decent meal they had a long time, they probably would eat anything.

The children were finished with their food before the adults and Queen Aurora excused them from the table. They went off and played.

"They are both very well mannered children," Vivian said.

"Thank you," Maleficent and Melissa said at the same time.

"You can have some more if you like, there is still plenty left," Aurora said to Vivian and Alex.

Vivian held her stomach and said, "Oh, no thank you. I feel like I am ready to burst. But it was a wonderful dinner. I haven't had such a beautiful meal in such a long time."

"Are you sure, Viv? Remember you are eating for two," Alex said.

Suddenly everyone's eyes widened as they all looked to Vivian.

She then spoke up and said, "Well, I really wanted to wait before I mentioned anything, but since we are going to stay here in Malora, I can say that Alex and I are expecting a child."

The table erupted into a wave of congratulations.

Maleficent said, "I have more good news Vivian and Alex."

They both looked up to Maleficent.

"Diaval and I are also expecting a second child too."

"Really? How far along are you?" Vivan said as she suddenly perked up.

"I am only about a month in."

"Oh my! I am about two months in. We are going to have our babies at nearly the same time!" Vivian exclaimed.

Everyone congratulated the two women.

After dinner the servants cleared the table and put out tea and dessert. Everyone went around the table, in turn, and told everyone else a little about themselves, what they do and their interests. The children soon became tired and Maleficent got them into bed and they fell asleep immediately.

Robin ended up showing up later in the evening as Balthazar told him he saw others like Maleficent flying in the sky. He was astounded by the presence of Vivian and Alex. He right away went into the past and recalled of others like them including Maleficent's parents, Lysander and Hermia. But after he contained his excitement, he took a place at the table and joined into the conversation as the servants brought in more tea.

Maleficent and Diaval were the last to tell their story and Maleficent spoke for both of them. She mustered up enough courage to finally say something. As she looked to everyone and she said, "I just ask that everyone allow me to finish before I end up loosing my nerve at what I am about to say."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

While she didn't go over every minute detail, she briefly mentioned how she came to know each and everyone sitting at the table and how each person affected her life. She became more solemn and spoke more slowly towards the end. She could feel her feelings well up within her when she got to Robin and mentioned almost loosing him but it was through her friend Melissa, that he was saved. Since then her and Melissa, have been steadfast friends. She continued to tell her story of her wedding day and the day when her Melissa was born, which was one of the best day's of her life.

She then paused for a long while.

Aurora said, "Mother, are you alright?"

"Yes, Aurora," Maleficent answered and then she continued.

"Robin, you were there as a friend and a father figure to me as I was growing up. Aurora, I accepted the role of Godmother and ended up loving you as my own daughter. Also between you and Sir Joseph, you helped me realize there was love in humans and not all were bad and we brought peace between the humans and fae here. Melissa, my dearest friend, I don't know where to begin with you, but you saved both Robin and myself. You have been an extraordinary force in my life and showed me the strength of love between friends. Diaval, my love and dear husband, you were always right and I was wrong about love. You have shown me that true love is a much greater force than any one person can have. It is a stronger force than any of my magic. I have found a different love for each and every one at this table. Through all of you, I now I have a family of which I am grateful for. Vivian and Alex, meeting you both, I realize I am no longer alone. My life is very rich and complete now."

"I think we are going to all be good friends," Vivian said.

Maleficent continued to look to Vivian and Alex and suddenly she could feel the feelings well up within her as she stopped and found it difficult to maintain composure.

"I can tell you are a very strong woman, Maleficent, but don't hold it back," Alex reassured. "Please, let it out."

Everyone else at the table agreed.

With that a single tear rolled down Maleficent's cheek.

Diaval put an arm around his wife and with his free hand, held her hand.

Maleficent took her hand and placed it on top of Diaval's and she said, "You have been always good to me and always made me feel like a queen. You are a good man and a good gentleman. I know you will never hurt me and I could never hurt you."

"Thank you, my dear wife," he said and then turned to everyone and continued. "Thank you, everyone for enriching my life and making it what it is now. I will never forget any of this for as long as I shall live."

Maleficent stood up and put her arms out. Diaval got up and moved into his wife's embrace and he placed his arms around her. Maleficent whispered to Diaval's face, "I will always love you, mine sweet."

"I will always love you, my dear," Diaval replied.

Slowly everyone got up and circled the couple and placed a hand on Maleficent and Diaval.

"Group Hug!" Robin shouted out.

With everyone surrounding them, Maleficent and Diaval looked up with wide eyes as they could feel the force of all the arms embracing them. Maleficent braced for another uncomfortable moment, but instead she got a warm feeling that came over her. She just ended up smiling and even laughed.

"Are you Alright, my love?" Diaval asked.

"Yes, absolutely. I feel great. All of us embracing like this, it feels great."

Maleficent then threw one arm around Aurora and the other around Melissa and she gave them both a kiss.

They both had a surprised look on their faces, but welcomed the gesture and hugged Maleficent even tighter. It just made her smile more.

Diaval asked, "You don't feel constrained anymore, my love?"

"No, I don't. I don't know why, I no longer have that feeling. I feel warmth and love now."

Everyone once again closed in around Maleficent and Diaval. Maleficent just laughed as she yelled with delight, "It's great to have such wonderful people to share my life with."

Everyone else raised their fist in the air and cheered, "Here! Here!" They then went around and embraced and kissed one another.

Back in the bed, Yilan and Melissa woke up from the noise. After rubbing their eyes, they looked to everyone cheering, hugging and kissing.

"Seems there is a lot of love in here," Melissa said.

"Indeed, something big must have happened, Lyssa," Yilan said. "They are all kissing and hugging each other."

Melissa smiled as she raised an eyebrow and said, "They aren't looking."

Yilan asked, "You thinking what I am thinking?"

"Uh huh. Kiss me, mine sweet!" Melissa said.

"You don't have to tell me twice, my dear!" Yilan said as he threw his arms around Melissa and the two kissed. The snakes danced around Yilan's head and eventually embraced Melissa's head.

As they embraced Robin took a look over to the bed and noticed that they were kissing. He slowly flew over to the bed and pulled the curtains on the bed as he looked over his shoulder and said, "Sorry, you will have to wait to hear their story."

THE END.

...yeah for real now.