Tears of the Tides | Ben Florian Beast

Chapter 4

"Hey, Ursa!" Ben runs to catch up with her, finding Ursa alone and walking to her next class.

She turns and lifts her face in a little smile. "Hey, Ben."

He returns her smile brightly. "I've been wondering something."

"Yes?"

"Can your feet turn into tentacles, like your mother?" On a closer look, there's a glint in his eyes and a mischievous twist in his lips.

This is his attempt at joking with her, she realizes.

Ursa laughs. "I wouldn't even know that because of the magic barrier around the Isle," she said in a 'duh' voice.

"Oh, right." Ben's smile falls a little at the reminder.

Seeing this, Ursa tries to change the topic a little, "Is there any place to swim here at Auradon Prep? I would love to swim." She smirks a little. "I wonder if I get my mother's tentacles or my father's tail."

"Really? You might have a mermaid tail," Ben says, surprised.

"Really." She smiles.

"Does that mean that you can have the magic-dissipating tears and the siren-song mermaids have too?"

"I mean, my mom was a mermaid with a tail before she was cursed by the trident to have tentacles, so I would still have the enchanted tears and siren-song either way."

"Right. I forgot King Triton and Ursula are siblings."

Ben pauses, then a shy smile grows back on his face. "Say, would you want to go to a lake with me? So you can check which one you have?"

"I would actually love that," says Ursa.

Ben looks forward. "Let's go the weekend after the Tourney match?"

"Let's!" Ursa smiles at him.

While Ursa walks to her next class and Ben walks with her, they talk about anything and everything under the sun: their classes, Ursa's therapy, Ben's upcoming coronation, things they wish to do, places they wish to visit, how they were as kids, and much more. By the time they get to Ursa's Remedial Goodness class, their smiles are big, and they laugh together at a joke Ursa made.

Their laughs drew the attention of FG and the other Isle Kids, with FG smiling at them and Mal unknowingly frowning at their closeness.

Once Ursa realized where they were, she said, "This is my class. Are you going to study here in the library?"

"No, I have to attend a meeting for my coronation at Beast Castle."

"Then why did you walk with me here?"

"I just wanted to walk you here, since I have time before needing to leave."

"You didn't have to, especially if you have an important meeting to prepare."

"It's okay, I wanted to." An unreadable smile lights up Ben's face. "You should get used to people wanting to hang out with you, you know," he says, nudging her shoulder with his.

Ursa blushes. "Whatever you say, your highness. Now, shoo, go." She pushes him away, towards the door.

He looks back and waves at her before he goes.

✧༝┉˚❋ ❋˚┉༝✧

At such a young age, adults have been telling Ben and Audrey, who were playmates, that they would be good together, and that they would lead Auradon well together. It started with Audrey's grandmother and spread throughout all the adults that would see them play.