The Descendants' Descendants (Multi-Ship)

*21*

Mal began by unpacking her physical baggage. She'd packed enough clothes to be at Fairy Godmother's cottage for two weeks. In truth, she didn't think she could accurately predict how long she would be working through her feelings. When Fay called her down for dinner, she realised just how much she felt like a ghost, as if she didn't really exist in this world. This was apparent to Fay the moment Mal stepped into the dining room.

"Please, help yourself," she told the young woman, gesturing to the lasagna on the table. "I've probably overestimated how much food needs to be cooked, but the good news is, that means we'll have leftovers and I probably won't need to cook tomorrow night."

"Thank you," Mal replied as kindly as she could. "I know it probably doesn't seem like it right now, but I really do appreciate what you're doing for me here."

Soon, they were finishing up dinner. "Would you like dessert, Mal?" Fay asked. "It's pumpkin pie. I seem to have an over abundance of them."

"Please," Mal nodded. "Do you miss Jane?"

"Of course," Fay smiled, serving them both a slice. "Carlos, too. It's the first time she's ever really been away from home for longer than a camp, and the first time he's been away since he arrived here. I'm trying to entice them to come home before their year is up. I think I'll miss them even more terribly if they're gone for the whole year."

"How did you know you were doing right by Jane?" Mal asked.

"I didn't," Fay responded simply, earning a look of confusion from her former student. "Mal, no parent ever really knows that they're doing right by their children. We just... do things with good intentions, and hope that the outcomes are as good as we intend for them to be. In response to your real question: you won't know if you've right by Macy until she's older. The same goes for any future children you have. All you can do is love her and steer her towards greatness. Although, from personal experience, don't push her. Don't put too much on her, especially when she's not ready. That's my only regret when it came to raising Jane."

"How do I know when I'm making the right choices?" the girl said timidly. "For me, for Ben, for our parents and friends... for our kingdom?"

"Because nine times out of ten," Fay started, "it won't be easy to make them. I doubt it was easy to make the decision to become good, or to come back here when you felt like you didn't belong. The hardest choices? They're the ones you make when you need to work out which road must be travelled at the fork."

•••

A week had passed, and Fay could tell that Mal was close to her breakthrough. She could tell Mal was holding herself back from it. They would get within inches of it, then Mal would pull back, likely out of fear.

"Mal, I really need you to dig deep here," Fay stated as they sat in the living room. "Stop thinking of who you are as an extension of someone else. Who are you when you have no one? Who are you when there is no one to rely on you?"

"I'm Maleficent and Hades' daughter," Mal replied.

Fay shook her head. "No," she said. "You're more than that, and we both know it. Who are you?"

Mal sighed, allowing herself to dig deeper. "I'm Mal Bertha," she started. "Gods, this crisis of identity is ridiculous. Of course I know who I am."

"I want to hear you say it," Fay told her. "You're never going to move past any of this if you don't say it out loud. You're no good to anyone in your life if you can't come to terms with who you are."