Maleficent: Final War #1

Dream Date

That night Maleficent was exhausted, she spent the morning with Aurora before she left. She listened to the Moorfolk's suggestions on how to use their alliance with the humans. Then in between every five suggestions she went to go check on Jordan. Diaval had gotten the day off and he still didn't know why.
        When Maleficent came home she practically stumbled into the house, she was breathing heavy and her wings drooped.
         "Mistress! You're home." Diaval sounded very excited. He was sitting at the kitchen table with one of Maleficent's dresses laid out on the table. "I was running out of things to do in here." Diaval said. Maleficent began to walk upstairs but then she stopped and looked at her dress, then back at Diaval, with squinted eyes. "Oh! That, see I was planning on adding something to it, um...imagine this-" Diaval started, Maleficent held her hand up and looked away from him and began slowly walking upstairs again.
            "Listen Diaval, I'm exhausted and I honestly do not have the strength to even try to figure this out. I'm going to bed and just don't do this again." Maleficent said as she made her way to her room. Diaval nodded and sat back at the kitchen table and looked at Maleficent's dress. It was a black cotton dress, with white fur lining the  shoulders and the bottom. The white fur had black spots, and the dress had long black sleeves. It was Diaval's favorite dress, he was trying to add another detail to it to make it more attractive. He had white roses lying on the table, along with thread and needles. He sighed to himself and got back to work.
              When he was finished the dress looked ten times better to him, he pictured Maleficent wearing it and he almost swooned. The dress was still the same, it just had white rose petals covering both sleeves and there were a few lining the bottom front and back. He snuck into Maleficent's room to put her dress back. He then looked at Maleficent peacefully sleeping, then he got an idea.
               The next morning Maleficent woke up to Diaval standing over her tickling her nose with a feather, he snatched off of her wing. This frightened her, her wings fanned out and her eyes grew wide.
               "DIAVAL! What on Earth-" Maleficent started but Diaval cut her off.
               "Morning Mistress, are you ready for the best day ever?" Diaval asked as he opened her curtains letting in too much light for Maleficent to handle. She squinted her eyes and used her magic to close them back.
                "What has gotten into you, you disease written bird?" Maleficent asked with a stern voice. She scowled and squinted her eyes at Diaval.
                 "Not a morning person, understandable, but you'll cheer up soon. I have planned the perfect day for us." Diaval said.
                "Diaval what are you talking about?" Maleficent asked.
               "Just play along." Diaval said. Maleficent groaned and got out of bed. She began walking toward her closet to find an outfit. Diaval handed her the dress he liked. "Already taken care of Mistress." Diaval smiled. She took it and looked at it. She squinted then raised an eyebrow, she looked at Diaval with confusion.
                 "Diaval, this isn't one of my dresses." Maleficent said as if it were undeniable.
                 "Actually it is, that was the dress you saw last night and I told you I wanted to add something to it." Diaval said as he smiled at his work, then looked at Maleficent to see her reaction.
                 "Well, quite the little artist aren't we," She said as she smiled wide eyed at Diaval. "I have to say Diaval this is brilliant, if this is what you do when I'm not home, I might start going out more." Maleficent said jokingly. She went to go change and Diaval waited for her in her room. When she came back she smiled at Diaval with her eyes wide. She spun around and stuck her arms out. Her wings fanned a little. "Well how is it?" Maleficent asked.
                    "Perfect as always Mistress." Diaval said as he smiled at the dress then at her. "Now to get on with this perfect day." Diaval said as he placed his hands on both her shoulders from behind and practically shoved Maleficent out of the room.
                     "Oh! Diaval!" Maleficent said sternly.
                     "Sorry Mistress, I'm just really positive that today will be one of the best." Diaval said, he sounded very enthusiastic. He took Maleficent outside and let go of her shoulders.
                    "You were right Diaval this day is one of the best. I woke up earlier than I wanted to, then I got rushed outside to see nothing, great planning." Maleficent teased.
                    "Ha ha, one question how much effort does it take to be so stubborn?" Diaval said jokingly, Maleficent smiled at him then squinted her eyes and snapped her teeth at him. He smiled at her. "The first part was the dress, and you loved it, the second part is a good old fashioned race." 
                      "A race?" Maleficent asked.
                      "Yes we are both going to fly to that big tree over there and the winner gets one big favor from the loser." Diaval said, he pointed to a large oak tree that was not that far from the cliff. Maleficent nodded.
                      "Well I will have to think about that big favor from you then, Diaval." Maleficent said jokingly. Diaval laughed at her. Maleficent began stretching and hovered above the ground a little. 
                       "Uh...Mistress?" Diaval called.
                       "Hmmmm?" She answered as she looked down at him. He pointed to himself. "Oh yes, I almost forgot." Maleficent said jokingly. She flicked her wrist and Diaval was a raven. "Ready when you are Diaval." Maleficent said as she looked ambitiously at the oak tree. Diaval cawed and they both took off. Maleficent's wings were flapping hard and fast and she was taking the cold wind as if it were nothing. Diaval however was flying quite slowly, for he had wanted Maleficent to win. Maleficent noticed how far behind Diaval was and flew up into the clouds. Diaval eventually got to the oak tree and she wasn't there. He cawed a few times and Maleficent landed in front of him. She flicked her wrist and he was a man again.
           "What kind of stunt was that." Diaval asked, as he panted a little.
           "Really Diaval if you were just going to throw the race-" Maleficent started with a soft face and squinted eyes, but Diaval interrupted. 
           "I thought you wanted to win?" Diaval asked. "That was the point for you to want to win then win." Diaval said. Maleficent rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.
           "Well of course I wanted to win Diaval but it would have been more fun if you put in some effort, anyway now I owe you a big favor." Maleficent said.
            "Well I don't have anything this wasn't a part of my plan." Diaval said as he leaned back against the tree.
            "Well what do you want?" Maleficent asked. Diaval smirked at her and then laughed a little. Maleficent was getting nervous. "Come on, out with it Diaval." She said, she began to sound a little stern.
             "For you to have the best day ever." Diaval said. Maleficent laughed and her eyes grew wide. "What?" Diaval asked.
              "Really Diaval?! That is such a waste of a favor, I would have done anything you asked and you say have the best day ever? Isn't there anything else, a servant for a day, nothing but compliments for a day, a kiss." Maleficent said. She caught the last one and she stopped laughing, she avoided eye contact with Diaval.
               "Was that your favor Mistress?" Diaval asked with an eyebrow raised. She squinted at Diaval.
               "No, but I figured after that whole spin the bottle situation and the stunt you tried to pull in the closet, that would be on your mind." Maleficent teased. Diaval felt a little embarrassed.
                "Was it on yours?" Diaval asked. Maleficent let out a laugh.
                "Oh Diaval please! What else do you have planned for the "best day ever"?" Maleficent asked, trying to avoid the subject, but she thought to herself. "YES IT HAS BEEN ON MY MIND YOU DISEASE WRITTEN BIRD! Wow Maleficent great job. You completely missed that opportunity, that was clearly right there." Diaval sat up from the tree and answered Maleficent's question as if that small conversation never happened.
                  "Well the next stop is my favorite place in the Moors, it won't be a long walk from here." Diaval said as he began to lead her to the small spot under the cliff. He had set it up for the day he had planned. There were two leaf boats he made that sat in the river. There was a small picnic set up, with grapes, apples, peaches, and sparkling water he got from the sleepover at the castle. Maleficent looked at it all and she grew suspicious. She glared at Diaval and she had a very stern look on her face. He smiled at his work then looked up at her and his face fell into a frown.
              "What's wrong Mistress?" Diaval asked. She squinted at him
              "What did you do?" She asked sternly.
             "What do you mean." Diaval asked.
             "Why are you doing all of this?" Maleficent asked, getting angry.
             "Well I figured that with Aurora out of town, and Spark spending time with her mother, and you and I had nothing planned for today. You were so tired yesterday and I was bored so I just set all of this up as a well deserved vacation." Diaval said as he looked over at his picnic. Maleficent's face softened, for his explanation had made sense.
               "Well how very kind of you." Maleficent said. She put her index finger under his chin and turned it towards her face, and squinted her eyes at him with a small smile on her face. Diaval had figured that she was going to kiss him, so he took a few breaths. "Alright I believe you." She said a little loudly and confidently. She dropped her hand and strutted off. Diaval looked a little offended and disturbed. He went to go sit next to her. They sat and talked about how they originally planned on spending their lives, while they ate.
               "Well, I definitely wasn't planning on any of this." Diaval said. Maleficent laughed.
               "Oh so you weren't planning on spending your life with me." She teased.
                "Not at all." He teased back, she laughed even harder. "I mostly thought my life would be short and filled with this constant feeling that I was being hunted. Having this unshakeable feeling that at any moment I could be shot down, and end up on a dinner plate." Diaval said as he gazed up at the sky. Maleficent scoffed.
                 "Relatable." She said then she took a bite of an apple and stared off into the Moors with her eyes squinted, Diaval realized what he just described. "Oh Mistress, my apologies. I-" he started Maleficent stopped him.
                "Don't be, you didn't do it." She said as she looked at him, "I wasn't planning on having you around Diaval, I wasn't planning on having Stefan around either, but I did want to find true love. I used to believe that love existed and I believe now, but every event in my life that lead up to this moment has torn me apart and rebuilt me over and over again and has been constantly changing my views on life. Honestly at this point I don't even care who I become at this point. I've been the hero and the villain back and forth all my life. Now I don't know what I am." She said as she looked down, then back into the Moors.
                "You're a strong woman," Diaval said as he took his hand and gently grabbed Maleficent's face and turned it to his. "You were a kind trusting woman who was hurt and had every right to be angry, you've made some bad decisions and who hasn't. Nobody's perfect everyone has their bad moments or their awakenings, but you are just letting your bad moments flood your judgement of everyone else. For example just because you stuck your finger on a rose doesn't mean all flowers will hurt you. Some heal you, some are pretty, some are just defending themselves. We are all flowers in one big garden." Diaval said as he continued to look Maleficent in the eyes. Her eyes began to water. She felt a tear about to fall and she quickly caught it. She quickly stood up.
              "Uh….Diaval, this best day ever of yours. What's next?" She asked as she changed the subject. Diaval stood up to and dusted himself off.
              "Well Mistress we have been here for a while the sun is beginning to set, which leads us back home." Diaval said. He and Maleficent decided to walk back, but they walked back in silence. 
              Maleficent thought to herself.
              "Do you know how touching that was, he definitely pulled a heart string and you didn't kiss him. What is wrong with you, this day, this moment, it won't last forever, use this to your advantage." She thought.
               Diaval was also thinking to himself.
              "You planned this whole day to spend time with your Mistress and she's here and there are no interferences. AND YET YOU STILL HAVEN'T TOLD HER HOW YOU FELT! Listen she gave you some of her time today, tomorrow she may not be so generous, use this to your advantage." He thought. when they got back to the house Diaval covered Maleficent's eyes, and she said nothing. "You're ok with this?" He asked.
                "Diaval if I can trust you with my life I can trust you to lead me somewhere with my eyes covered." She said jokingly and a little hint of stern in her voice. He lead her into the kitchen and sat her down at the table.
                  "Diaval if you cooked for me, I want you to know that I'm full from the picnic." She warned.
                 "Oh, no I got you another gift." Diaval said, Diaval began rushing off.
                 "Oh Diaval another one, you don't have to-" she started but Diaval cut her off.
                "Just play along." Diaval said. After a few moments he came back and laid a covered item on the table in front of Maleficent. Her eyes grew wide and she glanced up at Diaval who seemed really excited. She began to chuckle. He moved the cover off of the item to reveal a small sculpture made of stone. It was her, it was Maleficent holding her staff, with a slight smile and Diaval perched on her shoulder. She smiled.
             "Diaval!" She said excitedly, she tried to regain her composure but she couldn't. She shed a few tears.
             "At Aurora's sleepover you said that you were happy to be my muse, and you really liked the picture I drew, so here's another one." Diaval said.
            "You are such an artist." Maleficent said as she looked so passionately at her sculpture.
           "Not really just dedicated...to you." He said. Maleficent looked at the sculpture with wide eyes then up at Diaval. She gently laid her staff down and walked over to Diaval who was standing by the sink. She grabbed his face and he grabbed her waist. She looked at his hands and smiled. Then she kissed him, she began to close the space between them. Diaval was playing along because he refused to believe that this was really happening. Maleficent wasn't even thinking, just feeling, she was feeling great and she loved it. She kissed harder and more passionately. Then Diaval regained his sense. "Mistress." He said as he pulled back from the kiss, his heart was racing, he was nervous.
            "What!?" She answered with a smile on her face she had no regrets and she wasn't sorry for what she did.
            "You kissed me." Diaval said.
            "No I was kissing you and I would like to keep doing so." She said as she leaned in again, Diaval stopped her.
            "I don't think you heard me. You kissed me." Diaval said. Maleficent leaned back and smiled and widened her eyes. Then she laughed a little.
            "Oh I'm sorry Diaval did you  want to kiss me?" She asked, trying to sound generous. Diaval looked shocked at the question, he hesitated to make sure she meant it. Then she leaned back into the table looking at him with an eyebrow raised. He thought about it at first.
             "Yeah." He finally said, then he leaned into her and kissed her. She stopped him.
            "Better?" Maleficent asked.
            "Better." Diaval said. Then they kept kissing.
            Soon they stopped and Maleficent looked at Diaval smiling and she was looking at his lips then she started laughing. She wiped some of her lipstick from off of his mouth. Then she finally snapped back to reality. Her face turned serious and she looked at Diaval then off to the side.
            "Diaval?" She asked. 
             "Yes Mistress?" He asked with a low soft voice as he smiled down at her.
             "Did we just kiss." She asked. Then  Diaval snapped back.
              "I believe we did." Diaval answered. "Are you angry?" He asked. She thought about it then looked back at Diaval.  
             "No," she said with her eyebrows raised. "Are you?" She asked. He slowly shook his head.
             "Should we do it again?" He asked. Maleficent looked off and thought for a second, she raised both of her eyebrows, then she grabbed Diaval's face again and kissed him.
              Soon they were sitting on the couch looking into a burning fire, silently.
               "So how long have you felt this way?" Maleficent asked.
                "About twenty four years." Diaval said. Maleficent looked at him with her eyes wide.
                "Really?!" She asked with a bit of surprise in her voice.
                "You?" he asked.
                "You won't believe me." She said.
                "Really!? say it." He said. She rolled her eyes and smiled.
                "Seventeen years." She answered.
                "You! Really!?" Diaval asked as he started to laugh.
                "What?!" Maleficent asked. Diaval kept laughing. "What?!" She asked.
                 "I mean it's just weird because you seem like someone who would take every opportunity you could to make your move." Diaval said.
                  "I didn't know I liked you, until we were at Aurora's sleepover and I heard her and Spark talking. Ever since then I was trying." Maleficent said.
                  "Well I tried harder." Diaval teased.
                 "Oh really!?" She asked as she began to laugh. He nodded.
                 "I planned this whole day." Diaval said.
                  "But I kissed you." Maleficent responded. Diaval laughed.
                   "You wouldn't have kissed me if I hadn't planned this day." Diaval said.
                    "It sounds like you don't appreciate my very generous gift I gave you a few moments ago." Maleficent argued.
                    "Well it sounds like we're arguing like we're courting or something of the sort." Diaval said jokingly. Maleficent squinted her eyes and kissed the air. Then Diaval kissed her, she laughed.
                    "I'm getting kind of tired Diaval, maybe you could carry me to my room." Maleficent said. Diaval laughed, then picked her up and began walking upstairs. He walked Maleficent into her bedroom and sat her on her bed. Maleficent imagined Diaval carrying her over the threshold, then she thought to herself. "Wow it's been a minute since I thought like this...I love it." Diaval sat on the end of her bed and Maleficent smiled at him, she didn't want him to go yet. "Diaval, since you take such an interest in me and my appearance, how about you pick out a dress for me tomorrow?" She asked.
                 "Of course, Mistress." Diaval said, he got up and began walking to the closet. Maleficent looked at Diaval while he went through her closet as if he knew exactly what he was looking for. Rather Maleficent knew it or not, raven or man Diaval paid quite a lot of attention to her. Twenty six years of friendship and he knew the smallest details, even how she organized her closet, (she didn't) and that was her order. He came back after what felt like a second with a black airy dress with white on the bottom.
                 "That old thing really?" She asked.
                 "If you don't like it Mistress...I mean I just picked it because I liked it." Diaval said.
                 "Really?" She said with her eyes wide and a wide smile on her face. She stood up and took the dress and went to go change. She came back and stood in front of Diaval. He kissed her again, and she laughed while they kissed. Then she stopped him and glanced over at the bed and smiled even harder.