Bridging the Gap

Chapter 5

The next day, the students of Auradon Prep arose to the hustle and bustle of people preparing for the coronation. While the actual coronation would be occurring in a replica of Notre Dame, the after party would be held at the school due to Ben's status as a student.

Throughout the school, people seemed to be ecstatic as the time wound closer to the coveted event.

"It's coronation day!" Akiho shouted, wrapping an arm around Ben's shoulders and jumping up and down; startling the future king as he didn't know where his friend and team mate had come from. "Dude, you pumped?"

"As long as you're not going to run around the school singing like your mom did on your aunt's coronation day," Ben told him, peeling himself from his friend's grasp as to not get hurt from his team mate's exuberance. "I've heard you sing. Please don't."

"Ben!"

"Nice one," Emir chuckled as he walked up to the pair of them and gave Ben a high five. "Tourney's not going to be the same without you, dude. We heard from Coach that you dropped from the team."

Ben sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. I'm sorry to leave you guys in the lurch but with my new duties, there won't be time for me to be able to attend practices. The last thing I want is for coach to put me in just because of who I am."

"We know," Akiho nodded, removing his arm and turning to look at Ben. "But you've been on the team for so long, it'll be odd. I wonder who Coach will pick to be the new captain."

"Hard to say," Emir said. "As long as it's not Chad, I'll be fine. Knowing him, being captain will result in a massive power trip."

Connor, one of the other members of the team, walked up to them. "So, what'll be your second decree when you're officially crowned king?" He asked, leaning against Emir and cutting off a response from Ben who wanted to defend his friend. Though Ben had to admit, Emir did have a point regarding Chad.

"Clearly he's going to keep the Isle program going," Akiho stated before Ben could say anything. "Honestly, mom's all for it. Ben, she said if you wanted to bring more than four kids, she would foster them if there wasn't a spot for them. Dad said the rock troll are working on setting up shelters for any additional kids as well."

"Yeah, mom and dad said the same thing," Emir nodded, while Conner shot Akiho an odd look at the mention of rock trolls. "Granted, it depended on the kid but I'm sure you'll pair up with Mal to make sure everyone gets the right fit."

Ben chuckled. "As a matter of fact, I will be working with Mal and Evie to make sure the children who deserve to be off the Isle get off the Isle. I'm not saying all the kids are angels, Jane Darling told me about her experiences with Captain Hook and while Mal hasn't told me anything about his kids, it's safe to assume they were involved in Jane's misadventures."

"You never answered the question Ben," Connor told him.

Ben ran a hand through his hair once more, despite the fact that he knew his mom would spend an hour fixing it within the next thirty minutes or so. "Honestly, I haven't given it much thought. Learning about the Isle, what Mal and the others have been through, it's taken up so much of my bandwidth I haven't even thought about other decrees."

"That's fair," Akiho said, nodding. "This was your first. You made it before you were even king. It wouldn't be fair to assume you'd just drop it."

"Besides I don't think Evie and Mal would let you forget about it," Conner chuckled. "I'm sure they've got lists of people they want to help get off the Isle. Or help stay off the Isle in Hadie and Dizzy's case."

Ben nodded. "Our first priority is figuring out what's going on with the food deliveries. I'm still shocked that they haven't been getting to the kids on the isle. Not to mention the clothing drives!"