Meet in The Space Between ✔️

10

Wish that you could build a time machine
So you could see
The things no one can see
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THE FAIRY Godmother left, taking the snow globe with her. Ben stayed behind to spend time with Mal.

"How's Dude?" Carlos asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

Ben laughed nervously, his arm around Mal. "I don't know. I barely know where he is, most of the time."

Emma sat awkwardly at the table, watching us.

"You guys don't have plans, huh?" She said.

"Nope." Mal answered, "It's summer and there's not really much to do."

"Hey." Jay lit up, "Why don't we give Em a tour of Auradon Prep?"

"You don't have to-"

"But we want to." Evie grinned, grabbing her out of her seat, "Let's get you something fabulous to wear first."

Everyone laughed as Emma was dragged away, but I kept quiet.

"Brae? You alright?" Jay asked, sitting down next to me.

"It's just weird." I said, "I feel like I'm supposed to be the one who's welcoming her but I don't know how. She seems more comfortable with the rest of you."

"Don't be too hard on yourself." Mal told me.

Ben nodded. "You're also fighting an emotional battle of your own." He pointed out, "No one's gonna expect you to be completely comfortable with all this."

Jay patted my shoulder. "He's right."

"And meanwhile." Carlos said, stepping towards me, "We can keep her busy away from home- and hopefully she'll relax."

I smiled. "Okay."

Evie bursted into the room, a wide smile on her face. "Look how cute she is!" She squealed before stepping back and revealing a stunned Emma.

"I had to tell Evie to take it down a notch when I saw all her designs." Emma said frankly, pinching the edge of her plain denim shorts, "No offense. The Isle look is a bit too much."

Mal laughed. "Considering the fact that your outfit doesn't have any wack zippers or spikes, it's actually way down a notch."

"The shirt is still cute though, so don't worry." Evie said.

"Okay, well." Jay said, standing up, "If we're all set- Let's go."

"Can I grab a sandwich real quick?" Ben asked.

"We've got peanut butter and jam in the kitchen." Carlos shrugged at the young King, "Knock yourself out."

"Peanut butter sucks." Emma and I declared in unison. I turned to her, only to see her staring back at me.

"You know how it sticks to the roof of your mouth?" Emma said.

"Yes!" I responded, "It's disgusting."

"So disgusting." Emma agreed.

We both broke into a grin, and Emma went to get her jacket again.

There you go. Just two lost sisters who just bonded over peanut butter. Yay us?

We headed out. Emma was pretty much fascinated by the large campus, which I wasn't surprised about since Brisa rarely let her out of the house. I studied her, trying to find a trace of myself in her. She had a determined mindset, that's for sure. And quick thinking. The second she realized who I was, she forced the pocket watch into my hands, knowing it would bring me back. And she was more willing to solve the problem compared to her mom. She also seemed very cautious of her surroundings-

"Brae?" Carlos snapped his fingers in front of my face, "Earth to Brae!"

"Ah." I blinked, "Sorry. Just thinking."

"Well, we're running out of places to go to." He told me.

I glanced up and realized everyone was looking at me. "Um." I said, "The museum?"

"Oh right." Jay chuckled, before leading the path, "Right this way, suckers."

Suddenly, Ben got a phone call.

"Sorry guys." He said apologetically, "I have something to take care of... again."

Mal went and kissed him. "It's alright. Take care, okay?"

He promised, gave her a quick squeeze of a hand and left.

"You good?" Carlos checked in with me sweetly when everyone was ahead of us.

I smiled at him. "Yes."

He nodded, hopefully getting the message that he shouldn't be too worried about me. The museum's guard welcomed us with a prompt nod when we walked in. There were a few other people inside, visiting the artifacts.

"So this is where all the historical stuff are kept..." Emma noted, touching the glass that contained Cinderella's glass slipper.

"Yeah. Some of them have been here way before my parents decided to unite the kingdoms." Ben informed her.

"I've definitely read about some of these in books." Emma beamed.

"Hey- um." I said, facing her, "Is it okay if I show you something?"

She looked at me curiously. "Sure."

"We'll be back in a jiffy." I told the others as I led her upstairs.

I haven't been to the third floor since the time Maleficent decided for Mal to disappear at four in the morning and steal the wand. It's been a while and I've haven't exactly gathered enough courage to visit that floor again. For some reason, I felt like Emma needed to see it to fully understand us VKs.

It was exactly how I remembered. Pretty traumatizing to see the five statues that stood in the exact same spot as it did five months ago, but I didn't feel as small as before.

Emma understood the second she laid eyes on them. "Your parents..." She drifted off as she approached.

I nodded with a bittersweet smile.

"Wow." She said, "Maleficent. Jafar. Cruella. Evil Queen-" She stopped dead at the last one.

"And my dad." I finished for her when I realized what was so distracting. "Shan Yu."

She shot me a slight look of pity, then decided to go take a closer look.

"This is kinda where the whole 'sent back to the Isle' thing happened." I told her, then pointed, "And that is his knife."

Fairy Godmother had told me she placed the knife under my dad's statue, but I didn't expect the purple velvet pillow it rested on, or the protective glass that sealed it away. It was strange to see it treated like some kind of treasure.

"It's actually quite beautiful." Emma commented lightly, before glancing at me.

I shrugged. "Not gonna disagree." She gave me a questionable look and I explained "I have very conflicted feelings about it."

Emma nodded, somehow looking like she understood. She wandered over to the other statues.

"The magic lamp?" She said.

"Yup." I replied, "There's no genie in there though. He was freed, and I heard he's living the simple life somewhere on the coast."

"That must be nice after all those years of being stuck inside a lamp."

"Yeah."

I followed her around the rest of the room, admiring the thoughtful expression on her face. She was really trying to understand.

"We should go back to the others." I suggested once she had explored every inch of the big space.

She agreed.

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I actually do like peanut butter I promise