Healing the Heart [Disney Maleficent]

Chapter 7

"What. Is. That?"

Y/N looked up from the baby who was currently sitting on her lap while she fed it with the help of a flower. Maleficent was standing at the door of her throne room, looking horrified.

"Hello, Maleficent," Y/N said. She shifted the baby a bit on her lap and leaned back against her throne. "This is Andrew." She turned her gaze from Maleficent to the baby in her arms and smiled at the child. He was adorable. A tiny little thing, healthy despite his early birth, with the first curls of sun-like golden hair resting on his head. 

Andrew cooed at Y/N and held up his hand as if asking for something to hold. Y/N held her finger out for him and Andrew grabbed it, squealing as he did. She smiled and gazed into his sea-blue eyes. She had sworn to the queen that she would protect her son. And that was exactly what she was going to do.

"Where did you find a baby," Maleficent asked, striding down the hall to get a better look at the baby. He hated to admit it, but he was a little jealous of the attention the baby was receiving from the enchantress. He stood by the side of the enchantress' throne, glaring down at the baby.

Andrew started to cry at the sight of Maleficent and squirmed in Y/N's lap. Maleficent instinctively backed away from the baby, frightened momentarily by the sudden cry. But his heart grew cold again and he turned away, not wanting anything to do with the baby. And currently, he didn't want to see the enchantress. 

"He is Aurora's brother," Y/N said, her voice floating down the hall to Maleficent. 

That made him pause.

"What?" He slowly turned back to her. 

"He is Aurora's brother," Y/N repeated, now rising to her feet. "I went to visit the Queen last night. She is gone. And I swore to protect her son for her." Y/N approached Maleficent, holding a now sleepy Andrew in her arms. By the time she had reached Maleficent, Andrew was asleep, curled up against her chest. 

Maleficent said nothing for a moment, his eyes fixed on the small child in Y/N's arms. The presence of the child had taken him by surprise, even more so when the thing had started crying as soon as he saw the fae. Aurora hadn't had such a reaction to him. 

"Where will he live," Maleficent asked after a moment. He looked away from the baby and met the enchantress' gaze. 

"Here. With me," she said.

"Will you tell the beastie that she has a brother?"

"When the time is right," Y/N answered. She shifted Andrew to one arm and held out her other, summoning her staff to her hand. "She is not ready to know that her father still lives, or that she is a princess. She will know soon enough."

* * *

Weeks passed and Aurora found herself travelling to the Moors more and more, eager for another look into the life of the fairies and the fair-folk who lived there. Even with the intimidating presence of Maleficent hovering over her shoulder, the Moors were too beautiful for her to stay away, and as the days passed, Aurora could feel the fairy slowly warming to her presence. Sometimes, she would catch him watching her carefully as she leaned over a river, or approached the edge of a cliff to greet one of the larger creatures, but he would always retreat when he noticed her gaze. Aurora thought of the fairy as a puzzle that she wanted to solve. 

But an even bigger puzzle was the puzzle of where Y/N had disappeared. It had been weeks since Aurora had last seen the woman, and soon the weeks turned into a month and then two. Even with the distraction of the Moors, Aurora wondered where Y/N was and why she hadn't come to visit lately. Once she had come nearly every day, stealing Aurora away from her aunties and taking her into the woods to teach her about the plants and the animals, telling her stories from far-off lands that Aurora could only dream about, and chasing her through the forest as they searched for berries and flowers.