"I'm going to Auradon."
Those four words nearly broke Harry. Of course, he knew she'd be back. She'd get that old fairy's wand, take down the barrier, and be back before he knew it.
He looked into her deep green eyes. "Don't go and turn into a princess over there." He teased, trying to lighten the mood. If he let himself think too much about it, he'd be overcome with anger.
Mal just rolled her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder. "Even if I do, aren't pirates supposed to steal the princess and sail away?"
Harry just kissed the top of her head. In that moment, he felt something he hadn't since the day his mother died. He couldn't put that feeling into words, though. It lied somewhere between sadness, anger, and disappointment.
Mal changed his life in the last year, more than he thought was possible. In the middle of the evil of the island, in the middle of his father's constant wrath, she was what kept him from becoming the angry man he was destined to be, she kept him from becoming his father.
As they sat on the edge of the abandoned pier, he looked out towards Auradon, thinking about the different ways he'd try to escape to see her. He'd deal with the goodies of Auradon Prep for just one hour with her. After all, Mal said so, herself, pirates were supposed to steal the princesses away.
