Chapter Text
Red
The weekend at her home had been nice. Pink had opted to stay in school and study which meant that she'd gotten more alone time with her mom. It had been scary at first, Red wasn't actually sure if she'd ever stop feeling at least a little bit scared around her mom, which she didn't feel great about. Her mom was continuously proving her gut fear wrong, she was so kind, she was the mom Red had spent many nights dreaming about having. So why did she still feel that old fear? Her life was good now. Keyword, her.
Their talk in the garden had been sort of helpful. Although also not at all. She supposed she understood why someone might be keen on throwing a kidnapper in prison. And although she'd had kind intentions about Max, Red still didn’t like it. Something she'd wanted to tell her mom, but that old fear showed up again and prevented her from doing so. Annoying. But she would tell her, she would. Just later.
Her mom didn't seem to know why he'd kidnapped her either, or at least she didn't feel like telling Red. She'd just repeated what Red had already read in that newspaper. Maddox was a mad man who needed to be locked up. She was no closer in figuring out the reason why. What if there was no reason? The thought suddenly struck her but was just as quickly shut down. No, there was a reason, he wasn't mad in their original time, something about their actions had changed him. Nausea crawled its way up her throat.
“Are you alright dear?” her moms voice came from behind her, unintentionally making Red jump. “Oh, sorry I didn't mean to sneak up on you,” her mom chuckled quietly.
“It's fine, just ah a bit nervous,”
“Oh Red, I understand, but if anything happens or god forbid that criminal tries to hurt you again I'll personally beat him up!” she said with a joking kind of seriousness. It didn't really help but Red appreciated the effort.
“Thanks,” she smiled. The embrace her mom gave her still felt out of place, but she was no longer as surprised by it.
“Don't hesitate to call if anything happens or if you just want to talk alright,” Red nodded as her mom briefly hugged her tighter before letting go. “Oh and give these to your sister,” the queen handed her a box and mischievously whispered “It's cupcakes,”. Red couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up inside her. Her mom smiled at her brightly as she laughed along.
—
Red
She went straight to find Chloe when she got back to the school. Unfortunately, in her hurry to their shared room she didn't hear the footsteps rounding the corner at the same time as her and accidently collided with her younger sister.
Her sister let out a yelp as she tumbled to the ground with a slight ripping noise comming from her jacket. Red cringed inwardly but held her hand out to pull her sister up. “Are you alright?”
“Ouch yeah haha,” Pink brushed off her skirt and looked disappointed at the ripped seam in her jacket. “Well it's nothing you can't fix-” she chuckled awkwardly, “-How's mom?”
“She's good, these are from her,” she said as she handed Pink the box of cupcakes.
“Oh I love these!” Red was just about to continue walking before Pink stepped in her way. “Hey, do you want to have like a movie night? There's this new movie-”
“Uh maybe, sorry I gotta go,” Red interrupted her and tried moving past her.
“I know you don't have anything planned for the week! Also we haven't hung out in a while,” Pink pouted.
“Alright sure,” Red sighed internally as she finally managed to get past her sister with the answer.
“Hurray! Friday?” Pink half yelled as Red was almost across the halls already. “sounds good,” Red half-heartedly responded. Well it probably wouldn’t hurt to spend some time with her sister, mostly to keep up appearances, at least a little bit. Red wasn't sure what or even if they would do anything if they found out she didn't actually know her sister and the implications of the entire time travel deal. Red didn’t like thinking about it very much.
“Oh Red, how are you? Are you alright?,” Chloe said and stood up as Red finally entered their room. She seemed rather nervous as she eyed Red from head to toe, barely seeming to stop herself from stepping forward and inspecting her closer.
“Yeah I'm fine… why?”
“Are you sure? If anything happened you can always tell me,” Chloe asked again instead of answering.
“Yeah of course, thanks,” Red said and closed the door. “But why are you wondering?” she was growing concerned herself now.
“I was just worried, Maddox… he's afraid of the queen of hearts, uh your mom, he believes she's evil,” Chloe said finally. Red didn’t respond at first, she didn't know what to say, didn't know what to believe actually. “Hazel said so anyways and yeah it just made me worry if-,”
“If my mom isn’t actually good now?” Red finished her sentence. Her hands were shaking. Her mom had been kind so far, at least towards her. She hadn't met anyone who was afraid of her or had been hurt by hurt, at least not yet so far… Except for Max. He had definitely been hurt by her mom. What if Maddox had been as well? Red felt someone touch her hands and instinctively flinched before realizing who it was. Chloe had taken her hands in her own and was holding on firmly.
“I don't know how true it is… or what it means, but I'm glad you're alright.”
“Yeah,” Red let out a shaky breath collecting herself. Perhaps she had been going about this all wrong. Perhaps she just needed to be honest with Max. More honest than she had been during their conversation. As honest as she could be.
Though the problem of trying to get him to talk to her arose once again. She couldn't force him to. She could potentially sneak out to the isle alone to seek out Maddox. But she had no idea where he lived.
“I know you want to talk to him and figure all of this out, but… maybe we should just focus on figuring out our place in this time and school.” Chloe suddenly said, looking at her with something in her eyes. Concern mixed with fondness. She'd said it before though in other words, maybe they should just leave Max alone for now.
Red squeezed Chloe's hands. “I- I just want to help, I don't know, everything about this time is so great but I-” she looked down for a second before once again meeting her eyes’s. “I still feel so… afraid.”
“It's always there, everytime my mom gets quiet or frowns, I get so scared. And I don't know why because she's so perfect here!” Red could feel her heart beating faster as she let her emotions spill out of her. “I guess, I thought that maybe if I get Maddox back, if I fix that, then everything will finally be alright, I'll be alright,” she sighed. “But I don't know, maybe I'll never be alright,” she didn't feel the tears streaming down her face until Chloe reached up to wipe them away, gently touching her cheeks.
“I don't think you'll never be alright again, but even if you aren't, I'll be here,” Chloe said. Red felt something in her chest bloom at the words and the actions. She'd felt it for a while, hadn't exactly known what it was. It had felt like the seeds to a mighty tree taking root inside her, a thought, an idea, a person becoming intertwined with her own rootsystem, her own person. It was blooming. Red looked into Chloe's eyes. She could see herself in them.
—
Felix
The school was amazing. Everything about it had been just as Celia had described, if with less of a sarcastic authoritarian critical tone, though she definitely had some points. He was relieved they didn't have to do that remedial goodness class.
He had been prepared for the school to lose its shine after attending it for a while and while he could now notice some dust in the corners of his image it was still beautiful.
He'd paid no mind to how the other students behaved around him. He didn't care, all he wanted to do was learn and he was so incredibly happy to do it with his friends. Though it bothered him that the Wonderland princess couldn't seem to leave Max alone. It wasn't hard to see how much it bothered him. Max didn't like to tell people when he wasn't doing alright and even though he tried hiding it, Felix and Hazel had known him for such a long time that they could tell.
They'd all made a silent pact to take care of each other when they were feeling bad. That's sorta just what happened on the isle. They had each other's backs because they needed to. Felix's dad loved him and his siblings, but it was still hard growing up in a place like that. Felix was lucky, Hazel's dad didn't care at all and Max's dad even though he loved him well he had his problems.
Max had not taken well to the fact that he wouldn't be able to visit his dad like he'd promised. He hadn't said so, but the way he'd been quiet, ‘subtly’ pulling at his hair and pressed a hand to his chest throughout the day spoke enough to his state of mind. Felix had promised he'd check up on him and he'd also made his dad do so throughout the weeks. He was glad his dad and Max's sort of got along.
He contemplated how he'd tell Maddox Max wasn't able to see him and what he'd do in the inevitable bad reaction as he and Celia crossed over the bride home. It had a lot more traffic traffic than before, which would seem ovbious but he was still amazed at the fact that cars would now regularly cross it.
“Did you hear they're planning a bus route to the isle from the school?” He said as he walked along the edge.
“Really? That's not happening anytime soon.” Celia, ever the realist, responded.
“It would be so much nicer to just take the bus instead of walking though, right?”
“Sure if we haven't graduated by then,”
“Oh but they could have normal busses as well!”
“If they can manage to find anyone willing to drive them here sure,”
“I could drive them!”
Celia laughed loudly at that. Lightly punched him in the arm, “Oh really?”
“Yeah I'd be the best bus driver!” Felix smiled and held his chin up high.
“Ah yes Felix Facilier the best bus driver in all of Auradon,” they looked at each other before bursting out in laughter.
The laughter died down just as they arrived at the island where they could see there dad waiting for them. They hugged as they reunited and talked about their first month at the school as they walked back to the house.
Their dad was no longer principal of the only school on the isle. The government of Auradon had shut it down when the isle officially became part of the nation. Thankfully their dad had also been working as a doctor, practically the islands only doctor so he hadn't been out of work.
“Dad, I'm just going to check in on Max's dad alright?” He said as they walked past the inventors home on their way to their own. “He got detention,”
“Alright, we'll be waiting right here,” his dad looked at him with a slight concern. Felix nodded and headed into the house.
—
Max
He rushed up quietly to Felix as he saw him finally arrive back at the school. He didn't need to say anything before Felix turned to him with a tight and awkward smile, “He's alright,” he said.
“Really? Is he eating? Sleeping? How did he take it? Are you alright?” Max couldn't quite believe his friend, he needed details. He also needed to be sure his dad hadn't hurt him, on accident or otherwise.
“Yeah I'm fine, he… uh did definitely freak out a bit,” Felix looked away as he seemed to contemplate his wording. “He was very worried, but we gave him some tea and I showed him some pictures and yeah it took a while but he calmed down,” Max let out a silent breath, though he still felt like rocks were pressing against his chest.
“It was a bit messy in there but he seemed to be eating at least and probably sleeping?” Felix raised his voice in a question at the end. Right, he couldn't know everything like that. Still Max appreciated the effort.
“Thanks,” he let out quitly.
“Ah you'd do the same,” Felix's smile relaxed. “So how has detention been?”
They continued talking as they entered the school and headed for their dorm. Max was grateful the weekend was finally over, though it still made him anxious that he couldn't personally check in on his dad for the entire month. But at least Felix had been able to tell him the reason which probably, hopefully meant it would be alright.
As they rounded a corner they almost stumbled right into the Pink Wonderland princess who seemed far to occupied picking at her jacket to be paying any attention.
“Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! Wow I'm really out of my head today,” she rambled out quickly as Max narrowly dodged walking right into her.
“It's alright,”
“This is the second time I've walked into someone, I really need to pay more attention,” she chuckled awkwardly as both Max and Felix gave her an awkard smile in return.
“Yeah probably, what… uh what are you doing anyways?” Max wasn't sure where the question came from, Felix seemed just as surprised that they hadn't continued walking if his wide stare was any clue anyways.
“Oh I ripped my jacket! And it's my favourite as well,” she held up the ripped seam for them to see.
“Oh that's not hard to fix, you just need some stronger stitches,” what was he doing?
Her eyes lit up at his answer, “Really? Can you show me?”
“Sure-,” what was he doing? “-but uh you know anyone from the isle could so yeah”
Pink didn't seem to consider the last thing he said, she just squealed, actually squealed, and then hugged him. Max was so taken aback by the hug and the entire interaction he didn't say anything as she walked away telling him to meet up later. He just stood there silently in shock.
“Uh what was that?” Felix said as he turned from looking at Pink skipping away happily.
“I have no idea,”
“Are you friends?”
“No..?”
Felix just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Let's just go back alright?”
“Alright,” Felix responded and let out a half sort of chuckle in disbelief.
—
Max
Things sort of went back to normal after the weekend. He was no longer pissed at Hazel and they quickly picked back up where they'd left off. Though he was now also having regular polite conversation with Pink as well. He didn't seek her out exactly, in fact it seemed like the she was seeking him out for some unknown reason. It made him nervous, especially because of the entire thing with her older sister. But she also seemed to have calmed down a bit, she wasn't as determined to talk to him anymore. Although he could still tell she was watching him whenever they were in the same proximity.
Hazel had been teasing him for his ‘friendship’ (?) with Pink. He could tell she was also weirded out by it as well as on her guard for any sort of trickery going on. He was grateful she had his back. Though he also noticed Robbie continously eyeing him whenever Pink talked to him. He wasn't entirely sure what that was about but maybe it was the same reason Hazel also kept an eye on them. Suspicion and distrust. Nothing unusual.
He continued going to class and detention with Hazel along some other kids, mostly VKs. Business went on as usual. Their test they'd taken at the start had, unsurprisingly, showed they lacked a lot of the standard knowledge in many areas. Although what they struggled with and lacked differed slightly between them. Max was all caught up on the math even though he didn't know most of the correct terminology. He'd never been taught most natural sciences, so subjects like biology and chemistry were especially hard. Thankfully Hazel had with her upbringing partially by the seas been able to help him there as he helped her with the math. Felix also turned out to be able to use a lot of his medical knowledge in the chemistry classes. They were all good at home economics and all pretty bad at English, Hazel especially struggled with reading and writing.
The fact that they could cover and help each other with most subjects was a great relief for them all. Though they still had to go to a specialised class three days of the week to receive extra help. It had been embarrassing at first, but he quickly found himself liking those classes the most since the VKs from all the years attended as well as some AKs. They were the most relaxed classes and he could choose what he wanted to work on himself.
It had all been going pretty well. The weekends were hard but he managed to distract himself by doing homework or just following Hazel on her misadventures. Soon enough the last week of their detention had come. He would finally be able to go home and check on his dad in person. Relief filled his entire body, he felt the jagged rocks pressing against his heart begin to loosen up and fall away. Tension was still there, he worried about how his dad was doing, wondered how he'd react to him coming home.
But he was mostly relieved. He picked out the mechanical bird from his pocket. It was cool to touch and he enjoyed the feeling of having something from his home that his dad had made for him. It gave him comfort as he sat outside the school on one of the more hidden benches. It was probably his favourite spot. Secluded and outside with a perfect view of the forest that was now sporting a beautiful range in autumn colours.
"Hey there you are!" Hazel shouted as she approached along with Felix. Max sighed outwardly acting annoyed, though it was really out of fondness.
"Can't ever leave me alone huh?"
"Nah, what if you get into trouble without us?" Hazel responded.
"Oh please leave me out of it if you do! Felix said.
Hazel acted shocked and punched her elbow into his ribs playfully. "Traitor,"
"If I do I'll solely blame it on you," Max smiled as Hazel laughed.
"Wha?!" Felix dramatically put a hand to his chest.
They continued on their banter while the sun set. Max felt a calm settle over his nerves. He was with his friends, practically as free as he'd ever get and he was going to go home and see his dad soon. Nothing could stop him from doing that now. He smiled as his friends laughed, stroking the tiny bird.