"Why can't I just poof myself somewhere else?"

Maleficent rolled her eyes at her younger pupil. She had only been teaching her for a few weeks and so far the queen had been trying to find any and all shortcuts when it came to her lessons. Not to mention, Regina was also infinitely stubborn and consistently tested the blonde's patience.

Yet, there was something about the brunette that kept Mal from giving up on her and telling her to leave. She just wasn't too sure what that something was.

"Because, Regina," she spoke with a sigh, "you need practice something in order to master it and the best way to practice these types of spells is to start with a smaller object first."

"Fine," Regina relented with a pout.

Mal rolled her eyes once again, but this time with a slight smile. As exasperating as working with Regina was, she was also quite adorable and amusing at times.

"What should I use?"

The dragon thought for a moment while looking around the room before noticing a small ring Regina wore on her right hand. With a wave of her own hand, the ring vanished in a tiny cloud of black smoke only to appear in Mal's palm. "How about this?"

"No!" Regina reached out to snatch the ring back from Maleficent's grasp. "Not this," she said while holding it to her chest.

The small ring was, undoubtedly her most prized possession. She only ever dared to wear it outside of the palace, since she feared the king would see and take it from her. Whenever she did get a chance to wear the ring it went on her right hand to avoid any questions from others about why she wore it.

"Please, anything but this?" Regina pleaded softly.

Maleficent had never seen such a reaction from the younger woman. She had seen Regina become nervous before, but never anything like what she had just seen.

Her curiosity instantly peaked about the story behind the ring. She had assumed it was merely a trinket that the brunette had picked up, yet obviously, it meant much more.

"Very well," Mal spoke, allowing the subject to be dropped for the moment. She noted, though, how the girl sighed in relief

She looked around once again while absentmindedly toying with the necklace she wore, a half-circle dull grey pendant hanging by a wide piece of black lace. When she caught herself playing with the jewelry she thought that would work just as well as anything else.

"Try this," she gestured to the necklace. "Use your magic to take it from my neck to your own."

Regina nodded while placing the ring back on her finger.

Mal watched her as she did, wondering if the queen had someone in her life. She knew her relationship with the king had nothing to do with love, yet that did not mean Regina was not seeing someone else.

She did not like the thought of that.

With her ring back in place, Regina held up her hands towards her mentor, willing her magic to obey her. The necklace shook as the queen concentrated, yet it did not move from the dragon's neck.

After a moment of trying, Regina found her eyes wandering downward a bit. Her cheeks tinted as she realized that she was staring at Maleficent's breasts.

Mal must have noticed it as well. She cleared her throat, startling Regina out of her self-induced trance. As her concentration shattered, the necklace shook loose from the blonde's neck and fell to the floor.

"It would probably be easier if you kept your mind on your task, Regina." The queen's blush deepened at Mal's words.

Maleficent laughed with a bit of a smug look on her face. If Regina did have someone in her life, at least they did not occupy all of her thoughts.

Regina shook her head to clear her thoughts before once again concentrating on the necklace that now laid on the floor.

Within the minutes that followed, Regina managed to poof the piece of jewelry to everywhere but her neck. It landed on top of the fireplace, on the side table next to Mal's chaise lounge, around the railing of the staircase, on top of the window sill, Then, finally, the brunette managed to make the necklace appear around her neck.

"Nicely done, Regina. Not bad at all for your first attempt," she smiled at the look of delight that came to the queen's face due to the praise. "Now, let's take a short break. I imagine you're rather hungry by now."

Regina nodded, "Yes, thank you," she raised her hands to take the necklace off so she could give it back to her mentor.

"No, not like that," Mal's words made the brunette freeze. "Use your magic, dear."

"I thought you said we would be taking a break?" Regina scrunched her eyebrows.

"We will after you put my necklace back where it belongs," she gestured to her neck with a mischievous smirk.

Regina huffed as she pouted, which only made Mal's smirk to widen, before doing what the blonde had asked.

She willed her magic to transport the necklace back to its owner. In the back of her mind, she hoped that if she managed to do it right on the first try that it would earn her more praise. It was something she had rarely gotten from anyone other than her father.

Unfortunately, the younger woman was so eager to please that her magic reacted negatively and the necklace shook and fell to the floor once again, but this time in multiple pieces.

"Damn it," Regina cursed under her breath. Instinctively, her eyes shot up at Maleficent, fear written all over her face.

The dragon's eyes had followed the necklace to her floor. A moment later she simply waved her hand and the broken jewelry was transferred to a nearby table. "We'll work on that later," she said simply as she looked up to see Regina's scared expression and raised a confused eyebrow to it.

The young woman was taken aback by the Mal's calm reaction. "You...you're not upset with me?"

"We all make mistakes Regina," Mal shrugged. "That is why I wanted you to practice on something else before you tried to transport yourself. It's much easier to mend a trinket than it is a body."

Regina stood there still shocked. In the past, she had been severely punished every time she broke something or did anything else her mother or Rumplestiltskin disapproved of. So of course, she assumed that her new mentor would do the same.

Maleficent was unlike any other tutor she ever had. Her patience was a small blessing to the younger woman. It sort of reminded her of Daniel. A small smile appeared on her face at that thought.

The blonde pulled her out of her thoughts, "Come along now. Let's really have that break now, dear."

Mal wasn't sure why she did it but her hand instantly reached towards Regina, her palm up. The brunette's smile widened at the offered hand and placed her own hand on Maleficent's. The dragon had a smile of her own as she led Regina up the stairs.

Not long after that, the two found themselves sitting on the balcony of Maleficent's bedchambers, it had the best view in all of the fortress, eating the meal that Mal had conjured for them. For several minutes the pair ate in silence until the blonde finally asked the question that had been burning in her mind.

"Why is that ring so important to you?" she asked bluntly.

The teacup that Regina had just picked up paused halfway to her mouth. Her eyes grew larger at the question.

Regina sat the cup down before bringing her left hand over to toy with the ring.

"Someone very special gave it to me. It's...it's all I have left of him," she felt her eyes begin to water but managed to blink back the tears before any spilled.

"Oh...I'm sorry," Mal was not sure what else to say. She was actually feeling a bit ashamed of the jealousy that ran through her earlier.

"It's not your fault Maleficent."

"May I ask what happened?"

Regina's eyebrow raised at the question. It seemed as though the dragon just kept surprising her that day. "You want to know?"

"I asked, did I not?" Mal shrugged.

"Well yes, but... no one has ever cared before."

Mal's heart tugged at Regina's saddened voice. She placed a gentle hand on top of the younger woman's. "I do," she spoke softly with a small, reassuring smile.

The dragon was not someone who showed her emotions easily, but for some reason, this woman was growing on her rather quickly. She was surprised that she did not feel afraid at the thought of Regina seeing her true feelings.

Regina stared into Mal's soft blue eyes and for the first time in years, she felt safe.

"His name was Daniel."

She told Maleficent the entire story, starting with how she had met the stable boy and ending with how she was forced to marry the king. By the time she finished, the young queen had tears flowing down her face.

"I can see why you would want revenge," the blonde spoke as she brought her free hand over to wipe the tears away. Her other hand stayed on top of Regina's, hoping the small touch would provide some comfort to her.

After she finished, Regina felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Four years. That's how long it has been since Daniel's murder and this was the first time she had been allowed to talk about it.

"Thank you for listening." Regina gave Mal a watery smile as the dragon wiped the last of her tears away.

Maleficent gave the girl a smile of her one, "You're welcome." She squeezed Regina's hand before letting go to lean back in her seat. "Now, I believe it's time we continue with your lessons."

Regina groaned playfully as she and the blonde stood up, heading towards the staircase.

The dragon could not help the laugh that escaped her at Regina's childish reaction. Her laughter grew as the brunette began giggling as well.

Regina was beautiful when she laughed. She looked amazing, adorable, and innocent when that breath-taking sound escaped her. Maleficent was mesmerized by the brunette...which is why she didn't notice the first step of the staircase.

The blonde let out a small yelp when she began to fall. She instinctively closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact. However, less than a second later she felt herself landing in a pair of soft arms.

It was not until the dragon was in her arms that Regina had even realized that she unconsciously used her magic to poof herself a few steps in front of her.

For a moment the two women stayed frozen in shock, both staring into the other's eyes. Then, suddenly, Mal regained herself and shook her head to clear her thoughts as she stood up on her own.

"Thank you," she spoke softly. "How did you do that so easily?"

"I...I'm not sure. I suppose I just didn't want to see you hurt," Regina ran her hand through her hair as a deep blush began to appear on her face.

Mal smiled at the adorable woman in front of her. "Well, it seems you have some potential after all," she winked at Regina causing the brunette to grin as her blush deepened.

The two spent the rest of the day practicing magic. By dusk, Regina had almost mastered her teleporting thanks to her earlier reflexes. She was very proud of herself, to say the least, it was the fastest she had ever conquered a magic lesson.

Maleficent was proud of herself as well. She was very glad that she had agreed to take on Regina as her student. The younger woman was truly gifted, she simply needed the right amount of motivation and praise to bring out her full potential. And the dragon found herself happy to provide that for her.

Unfortunately, it came time for Regina to leave. She had to get back to the palace before the king was due to arrive back the next day.

"Couldn't I wait until tomorrow morning and poof myself back?" Regina asked. She was reluctant to leave the fortress that she had quickly come to think of as more of a home than anywhere else.

"I wouldn't advise it, dear. You have accomplished so much today, but I still think you should continue to practice for a few days before trying to poof long distances. Just to be safe."

"I understand," Regina said as she and the blonde stopped in front of the door. "Thank you for your time today, Maleficent."

"You're very welcome. When do you think you'll be able to come back?" Mal asked while hoping she did not sound too eager.

"Hopefully, sometime next week. The king is due to meet with rulers from another kingdom then," the brunette looked down briefly and asked, "Would that be acceptable to you?"

"Yes, I believe it will," the dragon gave her a soft smile.

"Then I will see you then." Regina bowed her head before reaching for the door.

The blonde quickly grabbed the woman by her hand, "Wait a moment Regina."

Regina turned back and waited with a curious expression.

Maleficent held out her free hand and instantly the necklace from earlier appeared in it.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot about that," Regina reached out for it. "I'll fix it before I go."

"No, that's not it." Mal's said before the brunette could take the jewelry. She then made the necklace disappear in a small cloud of black smoke and reappear around Regina's neck, completely fixed, "I want you to have it."

"Why?" Regina asked wide eyed once again.

"To remind you of me," Mal tried to shrug nonchalantly, "of what your magic can do while you're away from the fortress." She felt a light blush appear on her face, she hoped the room was dark enough to hide it, "Also, I think the gem compliments you quite well Poppet."

"Poppet?" Regina's eyes lit up and a small smile came to her face at the new name.

This time it was the dragon's eyes that widened. Not realizing she had said the name out loud caused her blush to deepen.

She had actually been referring to the brunette as "Poppet" in her head since she almost fall earlier that day. The term simply came to her and she thought it fit the younger woman. The name was as cute as Regina herself was.

She cleared her throat in an attempt to cover up her embarrassment, "You are my student Regina, I can call you whatever I wish," she said in a forced stern voice.

Despite the tone, her mentor had used Regina's smile grew. She loved the sound of the name and the way the blonde said it, it made her feel special.

"Thank you Maleficent," she spoke softly.

A small moment of silence passed before the blonde spoke up again, "Mal."

"What?"

"The people who knew me in my youth, my friends, they called me Mal. You may as well if you wish," she said simply.

"Friends? Is...is that what we are?"

Mal tried and failed, to keep the grin off her face at Regina's innocent, almost childlike voice, "Would that be acceptable to you?" she smirked at her own wording.

Regina eagerly nodded, making the blonde chuckle.

"Then yes Regina, I believe we are."

"Friends," the queen thought. That was a word she had used very rarely in her life. The knowledge that this incredible woman in front of her thought of her as more than her student made her feel, well, as good as she felt the day she met Daniel.

As that thought ran through her mind, Regina, impulsively, threw her arms around the blonde, hugging her tightly. "Thank you, Mal," she whispered in her ear.

Maleficent instinctively, wrapped her own arms around the shorter woman, savoring the feel of the embrace, "You're welcome Poppet."

When the two separated several moments later, they finally said their goodbyes for the night. Mal watched as Regina mounted the stallion she had tied to a tree in the shade and near a watering trough that morning. She hoped that the evening's events would lead to the two of them becoming quite close in the near future.

Regina looked back at the blonde while grasping her new necklace with one hand and waved goodbye with the other. When she received a wave in return, she grabbed the reins and started off on a small gallop, a bright smile still on her face.