[Maleficent] I danced with you (once upon a prom)
Fandom: Maleficent
Characters/Pairing(s): Phillip/Aurora, Maleficent/Aurora
Warnings: AU, het, femslash, fluff, oneshot
Prompt by @mapi_littleowl : Maleficent/Aurora, modern!AU: Aurora (forced by her parents) goes to the prom with Phillip, but she ends up slow dancing with her teacher, Maleficent.
N/A:
I kept the original names, except for Maleficent: it seemed too much “fairy-like” in a modern!AU kind of context. So I chose Mal, which is pretty uncommon, but it can occur as first or last name.
There are few obvious quotes from the movie script in some of the dialogues, also references to Lana Del Rey's cover of “Once upon a dream”.
Thanks to:
I'd like to thank @lady_cocca for being such a helpful beta reader. Her advice and opinion were essential :*
Special thanks also to @mapi_littleowl, who gave me this inspiring prompt. I hope you'll like how it turned out ♥
I danced with you (once upon a prom)
It is all very awkward, Aurora thinks.
Maybe because it's the first prom night for both of them, or maybe because having a date with someone you've never met before is always a jump in the dark for a lot of reasons. Not that Aurora and Phillip really had a choice, though - blame it on their fathers - but they're willing to give it a chance.
He comes to pick her up on perfect timing and he gallantly offers his arm when she jumps out of the car. Aurora hesitates a little bit, but then she notices his smile - shy and insecure as much as hers must be - and decides not to care about it anymore.
They walk down the hall of Moors High School and everyone is looking at them like they were made for each other, the most perfect couple ever - how weird is that? They've hardly spoken at all! - and Aurora catches a glimpse of three friends from senior year, who are clearly keeping themselves from crying tears of joy and screaming 'hallelujah'.
She almost laughs at the idea, but she forces herself not to. Phillip seems already kind of nervous - she can feel his muscles stiffening a bit -, he doesn't know anybody in there and surely this social event must be putting him under a lot of pressure.
What is everyone expecting from them, anyway? Falling in love at first sight and getting married? As for her, Aurora has never been in love, doesn't really know how it's supposed to happen, although she's pretty confident it doesn't work like that.
Then they hit the dance floor - against all odds, the moment they feared the most turns up to be the actual funny part.
There's a first attempt to take it seriously, of course, but it quickly leads to an epic fail.
Neither of them knows how to rock a single move and they end up wiggling clumsily, accidentally bumping into the crowd around them.
Still, they have an amazing time and Aurora grows fonder of the way Phillip slowly breaks the ice making fun of himself, jumping up and down to the music, seeming not to bother about his date's equal lack of elegance.
Plus, he looks like a nice guy, caring and gentle, and there's something about his doe eyes that makes her feel like he's totally worthy of trust.
Eventually, she could fall in love with someone like him.
“Fancy something to drink, Aurora?” Phillip asks, few locks of his curly blonde hair sticking on his sweaty forehead. A little short of breath and soaked as well, Aurora nods and thanks him with a smile.
“I'll be right back. So, farewell, for now.”
He mimics a playful bow before walking away, causing the girl bursting into a hearty laughter.
Those sparks of delight haven't left her face yet, when Aurora meets the glance of piercing green eyes. Professor Mal, sitting in the darkest corner of the room, hands tight on her walking stick, is watching over the teenagers in ballroom, but her attention appears to be focused on her favourite female student.
Aurora felt it before, she always does since the first time they met - even when she isn't conscious of that presence at all.
Every time it happens, anyway, she can't quite shake the rush of a sweet, violent feeling of wonder and awe - which pushes her to get closer to her austere teacher, with a smile almost way too wide to be real.
“Good evening, miss Mal.”
“Good evening to you, Aurora.”
The woman slightly tilts her head.
“I understand you're enjoying the party.”
Not even trying to hide it, Aurora's cheeks turn bright red.
“Yeah, I do! Anyway, it's not what you're thinking... I mean, me and Phillip are not, you know-”
“I'm not thinking of anything. It's nice to see you happy,” is the discreet, sincere explanation.
“Oh.”
“Well, are you going to join the supervisory group, since some of my illustrious colleagues appear to have got tired of it?”, Miss Mal changes of subject with placid amusement.
She carelessly waves a hand in the direction of a bunch of adults, chatting, drinking soda and - hear ye - shaking their body to the groove. Even mister Diaval, miss Mal's attendant and personal chauffeur, is goofing around, along with a bewildered and amused Phillip.
Aurora has to cover a giggle behind her palm, but her expression turns suddenly serious shortly after: Miss Mall shouldn't be there, all alone. It's not right. She should join the celebrations, sharing the fun, being happy as much as the others.
So the girl breathes in and speaks up her mind.
“Would you like to dance too, miss?”
Miss Mal blinks a couple of times, like she isn't exactly certain of what she's just heard.
“What?”
“You should do it, you know.”
The teacher briefly cackles, graciously frowning at that proposal.
“My dear, you're a very bright student, but sometimes I swear you barely think at all! Did you forget about my damaged legs, perhaps?”
In spite of the harsh words, the tone is calm and forgiving.
Besides, Aurora doesn't take it personal for she reaches out to her teacher's hands, firmly clutched around the cane.
“I don't mean to be inappropriate, but if it doesn't hurt, maybe you can at least try.” She softly insists, obviously knowing about the woman's physical disability, but totally clueless of the circumstances which provoked it.
It does hurt, just not the way Aurora expects to.
Miss Mal was sixteen years old and a professional ballerina to-be, when she had a bad accident on stage, caused by her dancing partner and former lover - the man she trusted the most and left her crippled in every single meaning of the term.
“I cannot dance. I won't.” she murmurs, the words 'never again' quivering in the air without having to say it out loud.
But Aurora is young and stubborn and most of all is a recklessly passionate creature who's not ready to give up just yet.
“You can lean on me, miss Mal.” she whispers, trying to fill that sentence with every drop of respect, tenderness and affection she has built up inside, during those high school years together.
“Don't be afraid.”
“I'm not afraid.”
“Then trust me. I won't let you fall, I promise”.
Something is changing in the older woman's eyes - there are hesitation and concern, but also hope and longing.
And at last, without fighting it, she silently accepts Aurora's help to get up, wrapping arms around her shoulders and waist to stand upright.
It needs a bit of accommodation from both sides, it's not easy or comfortable at the beginning, mostly because of the gap between their heights. However, Aurora is strong enough to compensate for the missing steadiness: movements start to fit and balance kicks in naturally.
A gloomy, low melody starts to spread across the room, as a melancholic female voice sings about walking with someone 'once upon a dream'. It's a ballad and that's perfect - for they're slow dancing just the same.
Whilst Aurora's still the one who's leading and Miss Mal's pace is still tipsy, the spell is broken now: the woman is not afraid of falling anymore.
Step by step, happiness and gratitude light up her face beautifully, while she realizes that she is once more capable of dancing, after all.