Bal: it starts with me & you

Two Queens

*no sooner had Ben left to go to see his father's grave than Mal had sent someone to go find Belle and ask her for a chat, she was quite surprised by just how quickly there was a knock at the nursery door where she'd said she'd be, she went to try and open the door but with Bella in arms couldn't manage it so instead she just told her to come in, the door opened and in stepped Belle, looking somehow perfectly pristine in her beautiful yellow satin dress with her hair perfectly done and her makeup perfectly applied and Mal instantly felt out of place somehow, knowing her hair was still in the bun she'd put in last night and she was still in her pyjamas, having expected to have time to get dressed, in the corner of her eye she could even catch sight of her dress hung up in the corner of the room, she knew she had bags under her eyes and looked as pale as a ghost, nothing in comparison to the woman stood before her*
Mal: oh god, I'm so sorry, I wasn't expecting you to be so quick and Bella was being difficult and she'd still being difficult and just ugh oh goblins!
Belle: hey, it's alright, I've been there
Mal: I intended this to be a chance for us to try and bond a bit but here I am in my pyjamas
Belle: Mal, it's fine, where's Ben anyway? I didn't raise my son to leave all this work to you
Mal: I told him to go, he wanted to go see his father's grave because he didn't get to do everything he wanted yesterday because of what happened
Belle: that reminds me, how are you?
Mal: I'll be fine, so will he eventually
Belle: I know
Mal: so will you
Belle: thank you
Mal: how did you do this, I'm already exhausted and it's not even been a month
Belle: well first of all I only had one and second I had a lot more help, but Ben told me you don't want that?
Mal: I know I could, I know I'm not in normal circumstances and neither is Ben, but all the rest of the world manages to raise their children by themselves, I just wouldn't know where the point between having help and losing control of what's happening with my own children
Belle: I have to admit, that did concern me, I do wonder if I let my hand in raising Ben slip and gave to much over to nannies, but I would like to say that if you don't want outside help, I'm always here to help you both
Mal: I would really like that, I was them to be close with their family...I...I just want them to have everything I didn't...maybe that's why I don't want to let anyone else be involved
Belle: I should've asked more questions of the well being of you children on the isle, I held my own son in my arms and never once wondered what it must be like for the children who were unfortunate enough to grow up on that side of the barrier, I should have
Mal: it wasn't so bad, we didn't know any better, I do admit to having sometimes wished for things I didn't have that the children here did, but less and less these days, I just hope that I learn from what my childhood was like so I never make such mistakes with these two
Belle: you won't, I'm sure, I just know you will be an absolutely amazing mother to them, they're very lucky, and so is my son
Mal: I want the past between us to truly be the past, I want us to get along, for your grandchildren, for Ben, and for ourselves, I've always looked up to you, well, not always, but every since Ben's coronation, that's when I truly got to see who you were, I thank you for him, I couldn't imagine life without him being who he is, I know you were the largest part of that
Belle: I'm so sorry Mal, I've been dreadful to you and you had done nothing to give me any reason to be
Mal: my mother had, and I can understand how it can be hard to separate feeling towards her and towards me
Belle: but yet now, after she's actually acted against me, I feel no hatred towards you where I disliked you before for no real reason?
Mal: she did it to you, so your hatred is directed, it was mistrust you felt before, a reasonable thing, you shouldn't have trusted me when I first came here, Ben was a fool to do it, not all will be as willing to change as we were, you were just trying to look out for your son, I'm sure I'll be less than pleasant to any girl to who tries to date my son and probably even worse to any boy who tries to date my daughter, let alone try to marry either of them at such a young age
Belle: I know now that you're much more worthy of my son than I could have ever hoped
Mal: I'm thankful you're grandmother to my twins
Belle: as am I, they're beautiful
Mal: I should get dressed, could you watch them for me? I'll be as quick as possible
Belle: take your time, I'll treasure every moment with them
Mal: thank you

---------------------------------------------

Firstly I apologise for the old fashioned soundingness, I've been binge watching the Tudors and I have a natural tendency to write that way so binging a show where they talk like that all the time has just ruined me lmao, but also this isn't the most exciting chapter but I just felt it was needed, PLUS IVE NOT UPDATED IN OVER A WEEK WHOOPSSSSS SO HERE YOU GO, sorry, I've just been VERY busy with sorting out important things in time for the Christmas holidays but I'm aiming to update again soon so I'll try my best to do so Xoxo