Dear Little One

.:Twelve:.

The man swore he felt his soul left him the moment she said "you didn't come to follow me, right?" Again, that was not technically a lie since he and Diaval came to talk to her, not to follow her and stalk her. Thinking back, Mal did stalk her! Carina began to laugh, "I'm just joking, I apologize!"

Her laugh was too contagious, he began to chuckle deeply as he watched. His mind confessed, "She still looks beautiful, even after all these years--Maleficent, you better stop thinking like that." He began to scold himself in his mind as he kept displaying a smile in front of Carina.

"Of course," he nervously laughed, Diaval began to caw continuously, earning a glare from his master, probably indicating for the bird to remain silent like how he told him.

"I'm serious though, what brings you here in this forest?" She interrogates as the huntress began to tug on Dragon's leather reigns and guided him closer to Carina. Mal's mind began to dissolve into nothingness, blank; maybe that forgetting spell was working after all or maybe not.

He feels his ears heat, assuming they might be red now, contrasting from his actual green tinted skin. Carina waited for his answer, growing suspicious every second passed by.

"U-um . . . just to take a scroll, I guess, I wanted to, uh . . . clear my head," he muttered, hopefully not making himself sound like a complete fool to Carina. He added, attempting to make his sentence more believable, "A lot has been happening in the past few days. How about you, dear?"

He coughed the last word, which he only realized when he said it halfway; he looks away, cursing himself before turning his head back to the huntress who only seemed to giggle lightly. He swore he almost couldn't feel his knees!

Carina, on the other hand, fortunately for her, heard what Mal tried to cover up with his cough and she only seemed to giggle at how adorable he was when he attempted to cover his accidental intention.

She feels her own face redden slightly before covering half her face with her palms, in attempt to cover her flustered face. She spots Mal raising a raven black eyebrow upwards before chuckling lightly.

"W-well, to l-let off some steam, my days have been a little bit hectic as well, you know," she told him, her face still warm, not wanting to remove her hands as in result, her voice was a little muffled under her palm. "Please know what I just said, if I repeat it with my hand removed, he'll definitely see how red my face is!" She prayed internally before turning to her steed, her hand sliding down a little where she revealed the bridge of her nose.

"Our fate seems to be similar, Miss De Nova," he smiled, gesturing his fingers towards his bird to land on his shoulder instead of the branch that was high up. The flaps of the dark raven were heard as he finally landed on his shoulder blade. Carina breathed deeply with her back to the man and felt relieved to know her face has calmed down a bit as she turned towards him with a bright smile.

"Good heavens, that smile again . . . stop smiling! You're going to blow up my cover, girl!" He said to himself in his mind while displaying a smile to make sure the huntress had no clue he was thinking about her. And that trick seemed to have worked.

"Mal, I apologize for assuming such things, but, you seem to be rather familiar, have we met before?" She cocks an eyebrow upwards, both their hearts pounding faster behind their rib cages.

Carina was slightly afraid Mal would label her as one of those people who like to jump to conclusions and she's been that type of person ever since he came in her presence. But she looked back at her words before asking him and she was sure Mal wouldn't mind.

Mal's mind was rather on the blank side. He had forgotten how to speak somehow and manage to croak out a few vowels, sounding like a complete idiot, Diaval sees his master troubled by the look of his face and began to caw, to knock Mal's head with reality a little.

From a blank mind, the sorcerer finally came to his senses and cleared his throat, feeling his cheekbones run with blood. He responded to Carina, "Er, perhaps not? Perhaps, would you like to describe your mind when you assumed I seem rather familiar to you?"

Carina's face was colored with a deep crimson, her head dropping down low to the ground with some loose pieces of her dirty blond hair hanging in front of her face. Feeling courageous at the moment, the sorcerer took another brave step forwards and slipped his slender finger under Carina's pale snow chin and began to lift it up until his glowing golden eyes met with the huntress's hazel brown ones.

Nostalgia hit them hard.

Carina felt a pang at the back of her head and the familiar feeling across her chest. It brought her back to the scene where Carina stared into the dragon's golden eyes, similar to this ravishing man before her who was staring at her.

Mal felt the same pang sizzle down his spine as he feels the nostalgia hug him in his hands and feet. The same scene where Mal stared into her warm, hazelnut brown orbs Carina owned when he was in his dragon form, that was years ago and he feels as if it had just happened a few days ago, no, he feels as if the same scene just put on rewind but this time, Mal was in his usual human-like form.

"Maybe today might not be a good time, Mal," Carina's chin slipped away from his light grasp as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as her face flushed of another deep crimson. Mal frowned. Carina looks up at him with a soft smile. "Perhaps, we can meet again here tomorrow?"