𝟐 | 𝐈'𝐌 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒 ♗ 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤 ♝

𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛. 𝑎𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎

♝♗

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍:

𝐴 𝑈 𝑅 𝐴 𝐷 𝑂 𝑁 ' 𝑆  
𝑃 𝑅 𝑂 𝑃 𝐴 𝐺 𝐴 𝑁 𝐷 𝐴

           They were celebrating, all of Auradon and the Isle of the Lost.

           They did it. They finally did it. Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos finally lowered the barrier to the Isle of the Lost for good. Mal was ecstatic, everyone was. She knew there were some old-timers and parents in Auradon who would no doubt go against it and complain and just fill the whole thing with negativity, but not yet. No, she had this small amount of time with her family to enjoy this. To enjoy seeing her childhood and her present family join forces and celebrate something good.

           Once almost everyone settled into the courtyard for food and more festivities, Mal went back to find Ben. He had been on the palace steps, watching everyone party and dance, though most of the kids were at the snack table. She climbed up and he smiled when he saw her, she leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around her, their gaze on the people before them. Mal liked this moment especially, she was used to people staring at her all her life. First, it was the Isle and she was the infamous frightening daughter of Maleficent, then she was a scary villain kid in Auradon, next thing you know she's dating the King of Auradon, but now she's on her way to becoming queen of this kingdom. But at that moment she was invisible, and Ben who probably had just as many eyes on him growing up, was also invisible. Their people were happy and that's what mattered, not getting credit or praise, but just seeing them smile was reward enough.

           They were all so happy. Mal was happy. But something was off with Ben.

           "I never thought I'd see something like this," She said absentmindedly. "I dreamt of it, but it always seemed like just that, a dream. I can't believe this is happening."

           "It is incredible. But it's just the first thing on the long list that was my parents' wrongdoing. We still have work to do. I still have work to do." His thoughts sounded so far away. She couldn't picture what he was thinking, and she hated that.

           "Enjoy it a little at least." She advised. "Before you go back into that dark place in the back of your mind, please. I know what that dark place feels like. I was there for a long time, so don't go there now, don't use it as a tool to do what you have to do. Be better than your parents, be better than Auradon, be better for Auradon. Look at what we did together." She gestured out to the people in the courtyard with her hands.

           "I didn't do anything, this was all you." He acknowledged. "You and Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Uma, you all brought our worlds together, and that's amazing. But I can't ignore the rest of my problems any longer, not anymore." He sighed heavily, and she could practically feel the tension in his body, the stress in his mind and the pressure he was under. "Now, it's my turn to fix things between us and them." He took one last look at everything, before retreating back into the palace.

           Mal looked back at him, and she now knew what he was thinking. That he had to this alone, but that didn't mean he should. As she recalled an incident that happened eleven months ago, she couldn't help but shudder when thinking about Ben going at it alone.

♝♗

ELEVEN MONTHS AGO