Mal and her friends had outsmarted Uma again, not that Harry was surprised. Since they were kids, Mal had always been one step ahead of the sea witch.
How could Harry think for one second that he might have another shot with Mal? She's practically royal now. She jumped in bed with the king, as soon as she could. He was stupid for thinking anything could've happened. But what Ben had said was still ringing in his ears. She left someone behind. He couldn't help but think about how different things would be if she had stayed or even figured out how to bring him with her.
"Soon, she'll be deep underwater and I'll be the Queen of Auradon. Just wait." He heard Uma's voice from around the corner. What was she planning?
-
The ride back to Auradon was nothing, if not awkward. Why was Ben acting like he felt sorry for Uma? He acted like he felt something for her. What happened on that ship?
Before Mal could get too caught up in her thoughts, Carlos held an intervention-of-sorts for their group. She only partially paid attention, but Carlos's words made her realize something that she hadn't before.
"If Ben doesn't love the real you, then he's not the one."
Hours after their conversation, those words still rang in her ears. She had never really thought about Ben not being the one for her, but now that the thought was in her head, she couldn't help but really think about it. She had always thought about how she wasn't the one for him, but maybe Ben wasn't the right puzzle piece.
Evie saw the look in her best friend's eyes and slowly walked over to sit on the edge of her bed. "Talk to me."
Mal took a deep breath, not entirely sure of how to put her feelings into words. "I think Carlos was right. Maybe Ben isn't the one for me."
Evie placed her hand over Mal's, a small smile on her face. "Then it's his loss. Don't ever be someone you're not, especially not for a boy, king or not."
"What if I want a pirate?"
Evie knew this was coming. She had seen Harry storm out of the loft, seen the look on his face when Mal showed up to save Ben, but most importantly, she saw her best friend's expression when uttering those six words.
"Then we'll figure out how to get him here." She tucked a bit of hair behind Mal's ear. "Worst case scenario, we'll all go back to the Isle. Take what's ours back from Uma, and live the way we used to, plus a certain pirate."
Mal looked into her best friend's eyes, her own filling with tears. What had she done in her life to deserve Evie?
"Come on." Evie said cheerfully. "Cotillion is tonight. I have the perfect dress for you. Knowing Uma, she has something planned tonight, so Harry might be making an appearance. Not sure how she plans on crashing the event, but we both know never to underestimate her."
-
How Uma figured out how to get them past the barrier, Harry didn't want to know, but something told him it had something to do with Ben. Since he left, Uma hadn't raged as long as she usually did after a defeat. She just simply told him and Gil to dress as nicely as possible. Before he knew it, he was on the lower deck of a ship, waiting for Uma's signal.
"Isn't it insane that Uma is gonna be the next queen?" Gil said, looking out of one of the large windows.
Harry whipped around. "What are you talking about?"
"You know, how she put a spell on King Ben to make him fall in love with her? He's gonna humiliate Mal in front of everyone when he introduces Uma."
