Male Maleficent x reader

Chapter Ten

(Long chapter, sorry)

As time goes on, Maleficent and Y/N play a major role in Aurora's upbringing. They play tricks on the fairies for their daily amusement, and they ensure the safety and well-being of the child.

They often stay on the outside, behind the trees and in the shadows. Watching as she grows up, it was hard for a fondness not to grow in Y/N's heart. She had always wanted children, and for a time, thought it would be shared by a special someone.

Now they were here, watching Stefana's daughter grow up. It was hard not to see the irony in it all.

There were even times when, despite being well hidden, Aurora would spot them, and seek them out. It was only a handful of times, but each time led to more and more of Y/N's hopes and dreams blossoming, and then withering as she went back to the Moors.

Occasionally, there were changes in Maleficent that only Diaval and Y/N saw. Sometimes his magic would be golden, like when they were children. They were small acts of magic, and it never lasted long. Almost as if he knew that those were the things he needed to shove deep down.

Maleficent was not blind. He could see how it was eating away at Y/N. She used to be a bright girl, who went flying with him every day. They would touch the clouds together, and now they were shackled to the ground.

He couldn't help but blame himself sometimes. He was the one she had made those promises to. She stood by his side. If not for his pain, he would be able to touch his best friend, and seek comfort in her. He pretends not to notice the flinch every time he seeks her contact.

While they still knew each other at their core, it would seem they inevitably grew apart. There was one goal for Maleficent in these 16 years, and there was no room to acknowledge the feelings that had been creeping up on him for Y/N.

He had tried this in the past. Opened his heart to someone. And in doing so, he lost himself. He lost his wings. His best friend in a way. It was hard. He felt that there would never again be a part of him who would be ready to try again. Even if he did trust Y/N with everything.

No, he would keep silent. It was best this way. Y/N deserved better than the broken fairie that he was. There was no fixing him, and on the path of revenge he was going down, he didn't know if he deserved to be fixed.

So he slowly withdrew. No more touches of comfort from Y/N. No more inside jokes shared between the two of them. Most of the time, he would Diaval alone to watch over Aurora, only bringing Y/N a couple handful of times. It was easier this way. That's what he would always try to believe as the years went on...

__________

As Maleficent had said, Aurora did grow in grace and beauty.

Aurora approaches Diaval, smiling at the animal she has come to know so well.

"Pretty bird." She pets him, being glad for the company and the guardians over her shoulder.

Far away from the lofty palace that she remembered not.

Rolling down a hill, finding the fun and beauty in nature, Aurora lands in a pile of leaves. Her laughing, contagious and beautiful, follows her through the years.

And as the seasons changed and the flowers grew, so did she.

The leaves change color, and cover the spot where the young girl was. Popping from underneath, Aurora laughs, now older and more mature.

Her adventures are never small, and are always happening. Petting a deer in the snow, she feeds it as Maleficent and Y/N watch from a distance. Hidden by the branches of a tree, they stare at her kindness, and her curiosity.