The Pirate and the Pup ✅

Part 46: The End... Or Is It?

The ring comes in later on in the story so just ignore it for now. Anyway, happy reading!

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Everyone, including me and Harry, was standing around a giant balcony wearing all of their nicest clothes and waiting for Mal and Ben. They were all talking with excitement in their voices.

"Do you think she's ready?" I asked.

"I don't know," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders.

I looked up at him. "I think she is. Mal knows what's best for the kingdom and I think she'll do a great job."

Harry readjusted his red suit jacket for what felt like the fifteenth time. "I know she may look ready, but every time I look at her, I get this uneasy feeling from her. It's like she knows what she's doing but is afraid of messing up."

"Aren't we all?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," Harry smiled.

"There they are," I suddenly heard Evie say as Mal and Ben walked through a tunnel towards the crowd.

The couple waved at everyone which made them start to cheer before they all bowed. Once Mal and Ben were done waving at the crowd, the two made their way up the stairs and to the balcony.

"Lady Mal and I want to thank you for celebrating our engagement with us today," Ben said, smiling at the crowd before looking at Mal. "I couldn't be prouder or happier to call you my Queen." Mal smiled at Ben while he looked back at the crowd. "So... raise your glasses. To the future Queen of Auradon."

"To our Queen of Auradon," the crowd said in unison as we all raised our glasses.

Once we all took a drink, Carlos and Jay decided to try and get Mal to do a speech.

"Speech, Your Special-ness," Carlos said, raising his glass.

"Speech, Your Fancy One," Jay said, following Carlos' lead and raising his glass as well.

"Yes, Purple-Haired-Queen," Harry said, deciding to join in. "Speech."

The rest of the crowd, including Mal, laughed while I rolled my eyes and Harry raised his glass before bringing it back down and taking another drink.

"I can't," Mal said, trailing off and allowing murmuring to run through the crowd.

I looked at Harry concerned as he looked at me and simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't be Queen of Auradon," Mal announced.

"Mal," Ben said, his voice barely a whisper.

"I can't turn my back on the Isle," Mal whispered back to Ben before turning back to the crowd and raising her voice so everyone could hear her. "We made a decision to close the barrier forever." Gasps were heard from the crowd as I just stared at Mal; hoping she'd make the right decision. "And it was my idea. But it's wrong. I've learned that you can't live in fear because it doesn't actually protect you from anything. You never know where the bad is going to come from. And you never know where the heroes are going to come from either. Without Uma and her pirates, Auradon would be gone. And, without Hades, my and Chloe's father, Audrey would be gone." I felt eyes on me after Mal said that statement. I ignored them as Mal continued. "We are all capable of good and bad, no matter which side of the barrier we come from." At this point, Mal turned towards Ben. "And, that's why I can't be Queen of just Auradon. I have to be Queen of the Isle too. And, it's time that we take the barrier down forever."

"We can't do that," Beast said.

"It's up to us, dad," Ben said, turning to face his dad before turning towards Mal again and wrapping his arm around her while looking towards the crowd. "I choose to be a King who moves forward. It's time for forgiveness. It's time for new beginnings. The barrier will come down!"