Chapter Text
“Five more minutes,”
The laughter that met Mal’s sleepy brain was enticing, making it hard for her to want to keep her eyes closed.
“We have to be out of the house by eight-fifteen if we want to make it there on time,”
“What time is now?”
“Seven,”
“We have time,” Mal grumbled, tucking her face into the pillow. She knew exactly what was coming next. Sure enough, even with her face turned into her pillow, she could see the way light filtered through her eyes lids, accompanied by the sound of the curtains being opened. She listened for the sound of footsteps getting closer. She knew the temptation would be the next phase. Right as she expected it the mattress dipped next to her and soft lips pressed against the top of her head.
She turned, cracking an eye open. Evie was looking down at her, amused smile playing on her lips. It only made her beauty glow that much more in the morning light.
“Four more minutes?” Mal negotiated.
Evie leaned down, kissing her forehead, “Three,”
“Three and a half,” Mal countered, one hand curling into Evie’s hair.
Evie laughed, “You drive a hard bargain,” She said before leaning down to kiss Mal properly. She indulged in the kiss for a long moment before pulling back. Mal groaned as she pulled away. She caught Evie’s arm before she slipped out of reach, kissing Evie’s hand. She let go, grinning as she watched Evie step into the bathroom. Stretching, Mal sat up against the headboard, reaching for her phone.
The first notification she saw was a message from Dizzy.
‘How did last night go?’
Mal sighed.
‘It didn’t.’
Dizzy’s reply was instant.
' Why not?’
‘It wasn’t the right time.’
‘When is it going to be the right time?’
‘I’ll know it when it happens,’
‘You planned to propose when you guys moved into the castle, but that was two months ago.’
‘It needs to be perfect.’
‘This is you and Evie. You’re just scared she’ll say no, which she isn’t going to.’
‘It’s Evie. She deserves the best.’
‘That, I at least agree with. And the best thing for her isn’t waiting for you to make up your mind.’
Mal bit the inside of her cheek as she looked at Dizzy’s words. What Evie deserved. Happiness. Someone to make her feel loved. That’s all she wanted for Evie, since back on the Isle. Even then, before any of them even dared to dream, Evie was looking for her fairytale ending.
It had infuriated her back then, listening to Evie talk about how some faceless prince would come along sweep her off feet. Really Mal had been jealous that Evie could so openly want for something. Evie dared to hope at a time and in a place where no one else could. She had been fearless to dream.
Now, that’s all Mal wanted to give her, but she was terrified it wouldn’t live up to Evie’s fairy-tale. That she wouldn’t live up to Evie’s fairy-tale. Mal didn’t doubt Evie’s love for her and she certainly didn’t doubt that she loved Evie. She doubted that it would be enough.
Evie had worked every day in Auradon for her happy ending. She had the fashion empire. She had the castle. The only thing that was missing now was the shining princely knight. Mal was the dragon the knights fought in the stories.
‘She’s going to be busy helping the new kids adjust. I’ll ask her when things settle down again.’
‘Excuses, but fine. I’ll stop… for now.’
Mal exhaled when she read Dizzy’s text. A second one came in, but this time it was a question of when to expect her and Evie’s arrival at the manor. She replied about going to see the limo off to pick up the kids before heading to the manor for the welcome ceremony.
‘Who’s coming in this group?’
‘The Smee twins. Celia Facilier,’
‘Celia’s coming?!’
‘Yeah… you know her?’
‘We were in the same class when I was on the isle.’
‘Great. She’s going to need someone to show her around at Auradon Prep.’
‘What? No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Just no.’
‘You two have bad blood or something?’
‘No. Just can someone else do it?’
Mal narrowed her eyes at the screen.
'I'm sure we’ll find someone.’
“Hey, your three and a half minutes ended two minutes ago,”
Mal grinned, putting down her phone.
“Really? You were counting?”
“Are you going to get up? Or am I going to have to make the bed with you still in it?”
“Can I stay in bed if you do?”
“Funny,” Evie smirked and flicked her hands at her, “Out,”
Mal ran a hand down one side of her face, letting out a yawn. A pillow came flying at her. She laughed as it hit the side of her face, finally slipping from out under the covers.
“Don’t pretend like you’re not excited about today,” Evie said as she helped Mal pull the sheets straight.
“Of course I’m excited, my love. Just not excited as you. One of us has to be the pessimistic one,”
Evie exhaled through her lips, nose wrinkling slightly, “Why does either of us have to be pessimistic? Today’s a good day,”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t,” Mal caught the pillow Evie tossed to her side, fluffing it before placing at the head of the bed, “But every kid we bring over is one kid closer to the one who’ll abuse the freedom they have here and try to ruin it for the rest of us,”
“Why do you have to think like that?”
“Plan for the worse and expect it to go downhill from there,”
“That thing your mom used to say... Do you think that Maleficent’s advice is the best thing to be listening to?”
“It has some wisdom to it,”
Evie’s expression softened, “Maybe, but it’s also advice from your mom,”
Mal shrugged, “Some of it had to come from a place of caring, right? Even if she only cared about keeping another minion in line,”
Evie came towards Mal, cupping her face between her hands and brought their lips together.
“You were more than just a minion. You weren’t just a second in command either,” Evie whispered against Mal’s lips, hugging her arms around Mal.
A smile flickered on Mal’s lips as she exhaled, “Thanks, E,”
“Mh-mm,” Evie nodded, their foreheads touching, making Mal’s head bob along with Evie’s.
“Come on,” Mal tapped Evie’s side lightly, “You’re the one worried about being late,”
“Oh, don’t worry, I factored this into our morning routine when I woke you up,” Evie said, earning a laugh from Mal.
They got ready for their day, Mal slipping downstairs first to get breakfast started. It was a simple meal, toast and eggs, but Evie still took over when she came in, cutting some of the fruits they had in a blow sitting in the bowl in the middle of the kitchen island.
Mal stole a slice of strawberry off the cutting board. Evie gasped at her, hip checking her away, “Don’t do that while I’m still cutting,”
“You’re not going to nick me princess,”
“Not if you don’t stick your fingers near the blade,”
Chuckling, Mal popped the strawberry into her mouth, winking at her. The low rumble of an engine started to draw closer, and Mal leaned back to see out the window, “That’s Jay,”
“Door isn’t unlocked yet,”
“I got it,” Mal turned off the stove and ran past towards the front door, stealing another strawberry from the board.
“Mal!”
Laughing she opened the door to see Jay pulling up the gravel drive in his car.
“Hey there superstar,”
“I’m not late for breakfast, am I?”
“Would it matter? You’d steal from our fridge anyway,”
“Does it count as stealing when you buy extra food for me?”
Mal snorted, hitting Jay lightly as he came inside. As they stepped into the kitchen together Evie portioning the fruit into four plates. He knocked his shoulder into Evie’s much in the same way Mal had done with him. He stepped through the kitchen with practised ease. He dished out the eggs while Mal got coffee.
“I know I complain about it, but I’m going to miss you stealing food from us,” Mal said.
Jay rolled his eyes, a comical sight with his cheeks puffed out from food, “I’m moving, not dying,”
“Might as well be the same, we’re never going to see you again,”
“Don’t say that. I’ll be back here all the time, you know,”
“Sure, that’s what you say now, but after a few wins and post-games parties who knows how you’ll feel about your small-time friends,”
Jay snorted, “Did you just called yourself and Evie, aka a literal dragon and one of the most popular fashion designers 'small-time'?”
“What Mal is trying to say is even though we’re going to miss you we know you’re doing what you love and what you’re meant to be doing and we’re going to support you no matter where you are,”
“Unless you’re playing Lonnie’s team. Then we’ll be supporting her,”
“We’ll be supporting you both,”
Laughing, Jay said, “Yeah, and I love you guys too,”
They heard the door open and a slightly harried looking Carlos came in grabbing his plate and stuffing several forkfuls of eggs into his mouth.
“Morning,” He gruffed out through his food.
“Someone’s hungry?” Evie looked mildly concerned.
“Late night. Deadlines got pushed. Realized an hour ago the last time I ate a proper meal was dinner the day before,”
“Carlos!”
“Dude you got to take better care of yourself,”
“I did eat yesterday,” Carlos defended, “It was just… packs of dried fruit and peanut butter from the jar more than food food,”
“You know we’ll kill you if you don’t take care of yourself,” Mal said, the threat devoid of any actual malice.
“Carlos overworking yourself is only going to hurt you in the long run,”
“I know. I promise I’ll sleep today. I just had a set of code I wanted to get through without a long break to disturb my flow,”
“You promise you’re going to rest?” Jay asked.
“Yes,” He groaned tossing his head back, “Evie, do you have any shirts I can borrow, I don’t think this is going to cut it for the welcoming ceremony,” He pulled at the front of the wrinkled jersey.
“I’ve got something,” She nodded, getting up from the counter and walking to her studio. She reappeared in the doorway holding two dress shirts, one black with green designs and the other a pale blue with yellow accents on the collar and selves, “Pick one,”
He pointed at the blue one. She tossed it to him. He took off his jersey, pulling the shirt on. Mal got up, taking hers and Evie’s now empty plates and placing them in the sink.
“When do we need to leave?” Jay asked.
“Soon, if we don’t want to be late,” Evie said, brushing behind him and Carlos, “But, get a proper breakfast,” She glared directly at Carlos as she said this. She walked around the counter, going next to Mal. Their elbows brushed as she took the plate from Mal to dry. Behind them the boys made gagging noises.
“Oh, shut up,” Mal threw over her shoulder at them.
“Keep that up and we’ll stop feeding you,” Evie said.
“Please, ladies if you’re going to bluff threats at least make them believable,” Jay said.
“How about this then? If you don’t finish eating in the next five minutes, I’ll roast your hair off,” Mal’s eyes glowed as she turned to look at him.
“Hey, leave the locks out of this. They did nothing to you,”
“Still got it,” She said, mostly to herself as she turned around to get the last plate in the sink. Evie shook her head, amused.
“Honestly,” She huffed, laughing to herself.
“What?” Mal challenged.
Evie smiled at her, leaning over to press a kiss to Mal’s temple. Jay elbowed his way between them to place his dishes in the sink.
“Someone’s forgotten manners,” Mal kicked him in the shin, but it didn’t have much of an effect.
“Nah, I just like annoying you,” He snickered, “Do you want my kisses too?” He made exaggerated kissing noising, trying to kiss Mal’s cheek. She elbowed him in the stomach to keep him away.
“Asshat,”
“You love me,”
“I do, against my better judgement,”
“Do you think they’re ever going to grow out of this?” Carlos asked, looking at Evie.
“Grow out of what? Being Mal and Jay?”
“I was going to say ‘acting like ten-year-olds’ but I guess that’s the same thing,”
Mal whispered some words under her breath and Carlos almost did a spit take when he drank his juice.
“Did you really use your magic to make my juice boiling?”
“Please, it was nowhere near-boiling. It was that, or superheat your fork, but I don’t want to actually hurt you,”
Carlos huffed but took up the glass, chugging it out of spite, maintaining a glare at Mal the entire time.
“You think Mal’s as mature as a ten-year-old?” Evie snorted, “You’re all toddlers from where I stand,”
“And you’re so mature, princess?” Jay squinted at her.
“One of us has to be the adult,”
“She’s not wrong,” Mal shrugged.
“You have to agree with her,”
“True, but that doesn’t make me wrong,” Mal laughed.
“Children, welcoming ceremony. We have to be there,”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re ready,” Jay elbowed Mal as he walked past her.
“What’s gotten into you today?” Evie shook her head as she led the way outside. Mal locked up behind them.
“Shotgun!” Carlos called as he jumped over the hedges between the front walkway and the driveway.
“Once Jay moves away, and Carlos working fulltime we’ll hardly get to see each other again. We have to make up for lost time now,”
“Is that what this is?”
“Obviously,” Mal held the door open for Evie, giving a little bow and holding a hand to help her into the back of the car.
“You know, I think the welcoming ceremonies are going to be the thing I miss the most out in Camelot Heights,” Jay said as he started the car, “Aside from you three,”
“You can still come for the ceremonies when you don’t have a game,” Carlos said
“I know. But it's always been more than the big cavalcade. I’m not going to be here to help kids adjust. No more Tourney with them on weekends and after school. No more showing them how to get rid of brain freeze when they eat their first ice cream too fast,”
“Yeah, but the other kids are around to show them those things now,” Evie said.
“Milo absolutely has you covered with Tourney,” Carlos punched his shoulder lightly.
“And no one knows how to deal with a brain freeze better than Dizzy,” Mal grinned.
Jay gave a happy sigh, “Yeah… I guess I feel like I’m going to be missing out on so much. Don’t get me wrong, I’m super excited to start playing pro. But I also just assumed I’d be there to watch Kon, Jace and the others try-out.”
“Aw, geez, our Jay has a heart, who knew,” Carlos crooned.
“Shut up, dude,” But he was blushing.
“Jay,” Evie leaned forward, squeezing his shoulder lightly, “You’re not going to be able to be there like you were before, but you’re still going to be there. I know you are. And if you miss it too much, we can work out video call training or something,”
Jay chuckled, “Thankfully one of us is the smart one,”
Evie laughed.
“I take insult to that,” Mal said.
“You think you’re the brains of this group?” Carlos angled his neck to look back at her.
“Need I remind you, who was the mastermind behind our plans back on the Isle?”
“Yeah, after you’d run the plan by Evie first,” Carlos said in a carrying whisper to Jay. He snickered and glanced at Mal, silently challenging her to contradict the statement. Mal went red, looking out the window. She felt Evie’s hand on her arm, but she brushed it off. The familiar warmth returned after a few moments and she didn’t brush it off this time.
“We’ll always be friends, no matter where we are?” Carlos’ question broke the quiet of the drive.
“Of course,” Evie said instantly.
“Duh, dude,”
“Friends?” Mal scoffed, “We’re family and you can’t rid of family that easily I’m afraid,”
Carlos and Jay laugh, while Evie gave her warm smile.
“Uh, okay, okay, if I knew moving would have meant all these feelings I wouldn’t have done it,” Jay said. Carlos punched his shoulder and Evie ruffled his hair from behind.
They shared a laugh, letting their conversation fall into a comfortable silence for the rest of the drive. When they got to Auradon Prep the usual crowd was there. A banner with ‘Welcome’ written in big and bold across. Fairy Godmother greeted them with a familiar smile. Jane was with her and waved when she saw them.
“Right on time I see,” Fairy Godmother said.
“We can’t miss this,” Mal said.
“I never doubt that you will,”
“Is the limo ready to leave?” Evie asked.
“Just about,” Jane nodded, “I think Ben is just saying a few words to the press and then he’ll be going across,”
“Ben’s going to pick up the kids?” Evie asked.
“He doesn’t do that usually,” Mal arched her neck to spot Ben talking in front of a couple of camera crews.
“No, but Squeaky and Squirmy have been showing some anxiety being apart from their dad. We think having someone who’s not a guard there will help,” Fairy Godmother said.
“Ben volunteered to be the one,” Jane said.
“Of course he did,” Mal chuckled. She saw him walking towards the limo. She took Evie’s hand, heading there herself. “What are you up to your majesty?” Mal knocked Ben’s crown off-centre, making him laugh.
“I’m going across with the limo,”
“So we heard. Do you have room for a couple more?”
“Make that four more,” Jay said, he and Carlos joining them.
“Are you sure?” He looked at each of them, pausing on Evie for a moment longer than the others, “You don’t have to do anything that you’d be uncomfortable with,”
“This is the exact opposite of what we’re uncomfortable with,” Carlos said.
Mal noticed the way Ben’s gaze held on Evie and looked to her, her eyebrows raising slightly. Evie met her eyes and smiled. She nodded once to answer the question in her eyes, giving Mal’s hand a squeeze at the same time.
“Then, after you,” Ben stepped back and formally gestured to the open door.
“Is there candy?” Jay asked as he got in.
“That’s for the kids,” Ben called.
“We’re VK’s too,” Jay countered.
“You can afford your own candy,” Carlos said, taking the candy bar from Jay’s hand.
“I’m sorry about them. They’re all unusually hyper today,” Evie gave Ben an apologetic smile before sliding in after Carlos.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had the chance to talk, how have things been your majesty?” Mal asked. Ben moved to tap the screen between the driver’s section and passengers’ section before taking a seat next to Mal. He gave a sigh, his head slumping back.
“That bad?” Evie asked.
“Not bad,” He took off his crown, fixing his hair, “I just thought after I finished school I’d have less to do and yet I feel like I have more now than ever,”
Evie shifted forward to the edge of the seat across from Ben, pointing to his head, “May I?”
He nodded, leaning forward allowing her to smoothen out the strands.
“Isn’t that why you have your amazing council members, so they can help you with that work?” Mal asked with a teasing wink to Evie.
“Hush you,” Evie said to her.
“No, no, she’s right,” Ben said, “Without your help Evie the VK program would have stalled so many times over,”
“You would have made it work,” Evie said, “And there you go,” She added as she gave a flourish fixing the hair along his forehead.
“Thanks,” He patted the space next him for his crown, but it wasn’t there. He did a double-take as he looked for it.
“You really need to be more careful with this,” Mal held it up, hanging it off a finger, “Someone might try to take it from you,”
He laughed, “It’s a good thing I trust you with it,”
“Why would you do a thing like that?” Mal asked, half-joking as she handed it back.
“Because I know you and I know you’re good,”
“As long as you don’t share my secret with anyone,” Mal chuckled.
“I’m sorry to break it to you, honey, but everyone already knows you’re good,”
“E, you could have let me live in denial,”
Evie scrunched her nose at Mal.
Ben laughed, “I miss hanging out with you guys,”
“Take a day off from being King, we’ll take you out,” Jay said.
“Sounds great. The press won’t have a field day over that,” Ben said, mildly sarcastic.
“Ben, do you know Jay’s moving to Sherwood,” Carlos asked, “We’re having a party for him before his official move. It’s at the end of the month. You’re invited of course. It’s at Mal and Evie’s.”
“Because as usual, the boys volunteered our place for their party,” Mal said.
“I don’t care once they clean up their mess,”
“I heard you got picked to play for the Merry Knights. Congrats man,” Ben extended his hand for Jay and they clasped arms, “I’ll need to make it out for one of your games sometime,”
“Thanks, dude,”
“Speaking of parties,” Ben said, looking at Evie, “I don’t know if you’re aware, but my parents’ twenty-fifth wedding anniversary is in a few months. Would you be willing to do our outfits?”
“As in for you and your parents?”
“Yeah,”
Evie took out her phone, “How far away is it? I’ll need to have you come in for consults about the styles you want. And fittings. If it’s not at least three months away I don’t know if I’ll have the time for three outfits,”
Ben chuckled, “It’s five months away. I know all too well what it’s like to get a fitting scheduled,”
“Now that I can work with. Have your offices send over the times you can come in for a consult to 4 Hearts,”
The divider between them and driver rolled down partway, “Sire, we’re about to arrive,”
“Thank you,”
There was a small crowd standing around the square and an excited murmur rose up as they exited the vehicle. Mal’s first instinct was to scan the faces, looking for threats.
“Do you see them?” Jay asked, “One up on the roof to the west and two others hanging back in the north alley,”
“The members of Uma’s gang,” Mal nodded, “I see them,”
“Easy,” Evie said, her hand on Mal’s arm, “They couldn’t have known we’d be here. They’re not here for us,”
“Are they going to make a move to stop the kids?” Jay suggested.
“They haven’t tried anything before this,” Carlos said.
“It’s more likely they’re here to keep Uma updated,” Evie said.
“Still, don’t let your guards down,” Mal said.
“Never,” Jay said.
They joined Ben as he greeted some of the crowd. He approached Mr. Smee who had two tween-aged boys clinging to his sides. He was rubbing their backs in a gesture that spoke only of comfort.
“Squeaky and Squirmy, it’s a pleasure,” He leaned down so he was on their level, smiling warmly as he talked about how excited they all were they were coming to Auradon.
Mal was still keeping an eye on the pair on Uma’s goons lurking in the alley. They weren’t doing much of anything. Instead, she saw Celia coming up running, pulling a bag onto her shoulder and another dragging behind her. Her hat flew off and Mal blinked when she saw Dr. Facilier coming into view, picking it up. He called out and Celia skidded, spinning around. Facilier fixed the hat on her head and Celia gave him a big hug. It didn’t end until Facilier gently patted her back and gestured their way.
“Did you see that?” Mal asked.
“Celia and Facilier you mean?” Evie looked at her, “I did,”
Mal didn’t say anything more, silently watching as Celia got closer to them.
“Something about it?” Evie prompted.
Mal’s expression remained stoic and she didn’t answer. By now Celia was right up to them and Evie’s attention was forced away from Mal. Celia was almost tall as Mal, thought her hair gave her another couple inches.
“I didn’t know there’d be a whole royal escort,” She said, looking at them all.
“Consider yourself lucky kid,” Mal chuckled.
“We’re so happy you’re joining us in Auradon,”
“I almost didn’t believe it when I heard I was finally getting my turn,”
One of the guards started to reach for her bag. She froze, gripping the bag closer to herself. The guard hesitated.
“I just want to put your bags in the trunk miss,”
“It’s okay,” Mal cut in, “They’re not going to take anything,”
Celia still eyed him suspiciously, “I can take it myself,”
“That’s okay too,” Mal said, nodding at the guard. He looked a little confused but he stepped away.
Celia marched her stuff to the limo, putting her things in the back.
“It’s going to be here when we get to the mainland right? No funny business?”
“You have my word,” Evie said, “No more worrying about pickpockets constantly,”
Celia didn’t seem completely convinced.
Mal chuckled, “If someone tries to take your stuff I’ll send a fireball their way,”
That got Celia’s attention. Her eyes widen slightly, lighting up, “Or I could use my own magic to stop them,”
“Oh yeah?” Mal chuckled and her eyes sparked with interest, “What’s your signature?”
“Shadow magic and fortune-telling. Like my dad,”
“Fortune-telling isn’t a real magic,”
“Says who?”
“Uh, the girl who helped develop the magical lessons being taught now,” Mal pointed at herself.
“I bet I can tell you your fortune right now. Before we cross the barrier and I have my full magic,”
Mal snorted, “Alright kid, sure you can give it your best shot,”
Grinning, she pulled out a deck of cards, holding them out for Mal, “Pick any three,”
Mal took three, stacking them on the hood of the limo. Celia flipped the first one over. The card showed a curtain-like veil, dotted with a pair of roses one in each top corner. The veil parted around a dark skull. There were lines of silver following the natural curves of the skull. Its lower jaw hung open and from the gap of its mouth fell golden sands. In Celia’s hand, the image was upside down.
“Death, reversed,” She said.
“Oh, so I’m going to die someday,” Mal guessed, “Oh does it being reversed mean I’m not dead now, because both are true, but not very impressive feats of looking into the future.
“Death, when it comes up like this gives a glance into you, now. You’re upon change. But it’s something you’re denying. Maybe you’re resisting because of fear or because you’re stubborn. Whatever reason, you’ve put yourself in stagnation,”
Mal bit down on the inside of her cheek, her pocket suddenly feeling heavy. Celia continued to the next card. This one showed the night sky, dotted with silver stars above the intertwined form of two figures, held in a close embrace.
“Interesting,” Celia said softly.
“What?”
“This is the lovers,”
“I already have that,” She glanced over to Evie. Evie rolled her eyes but was wearing a fond smile.
Celia’s lips twitched in a smile, “The lovers can mean romance. But it’s also about harmony and opportunity. You’ll have a divergence ahead of you. I just thought it’s interesting this is what you pulled after death. This could be referring to that path you’re resisting. Or something else entirely. You’re going to have a lot of choices ahead of you,”
“You mean I’m going to have to make decisions? Truly enlightening,”
“Alright, alright, the final card,” She revealed the face of the last card. The image of a noble, but old and gaunt-looking man, sitting on a throne. Dressed in a dark cloak with a sceptre across his lap and a domed crown on his head. The back of the throne rose well above him, a set of rams horns set above his head.
“The emperor,” She said a little cryptically, frowning at the card.
“Why are you frowning?”
“The emperor could mean wealth or achievement. He’s a symbol to embrace aggression, to be bold and brave and is linked to paternal or brotherly bonds,”
Mal looked over to where Carlos and Jay were taking the twins’ bag to the limo.
Celia continued, “But it usually points to a leader figure in your life. Issues with a boss or someone of a similar role. It could be in a professional role or familial,”
“Issues with Bria?” Evie suggested.
“I doubt that,”
“The cards show me the possibilities ahead of you. It’s up to you how use the insight they give you,”
“It’s cute kid. But I can show you real magic when we get back,”
“Don’t doubt the cards. You’ll see,” She put the deck away, hopping into the back of the limo.
“Death, the lovers and the emperor huh?” Evie looked slightly amused. She turned to face Mal, placing her hands on Mal’s hips as she leant back against the limo.
Mal huffed, “Sounds like a lot of predictions just vague enough to always be right,”
“It sounds like something Celia believes in. And what do we always do?”
“Encourage their interests in a healthy and open environment,” Mal said in a monotone, repeating words she’d heard from Fairy Godmother time and time again. She sighed, dropping her head onto Evie’s shoulder, “You know, I never signed up for the whole wise, supportive mentor thing,”
“No,” Evie kissed her temple, “But you’re so good at it,”
“Must you always be infuriatingly right?”
“It’s my burden to bear,”
Mal snorted.
“Besides, I thought you liked that about me?”
Mal lifted her head, shaking it, “It’s what I love about you,”
Evie laughed, moving on a hand to Mal’s cheek, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were flirting with me,”
“Is it working?”
“Of course,”
They giggled, Mal leaning in for a kiss. A hand suddenly pushed Mal away from Evie before they could.
“Jay!”
“Not in front of the impressionable kids,” He smirked, as he helped the twins into the back.
“The only thing that’s impressionable is going to be my foot in your –”
“Okay,” Evie cut her off, “Is everyone ready to go?”
“All the goodbyes have been said,” Carlos got in after Squirmy.
“I think we’re good here,” Ben nodded.
“After you ladies,” Jay said.
Mal rolled her eyes as he bowed for them, getting in. Squirmy and Squeaky were kneeling on the back of the seat, waving at their dad. Mal watched them as Evie sat next to her. Ben noticed as he got in too.
“Maybe we should talk about making it easier for the kids to visit their parents, if that’s something they’d want,” He said to Evie.
“Sure, getting your cabinet to approve even more trips to the Isle will be easy,”
He winced and she sighed.
“I didn’t mean to come off so cynical,”
“You have a point, nothing with the Isle has ever been easy,” He rubbed his brow, “The more kids we brought over, the easier I thought this was going to be. But that’s never the case is it?”
“Sire, are we ready to depart?”
He nodded, his mind already somewhere else. The vehicle started to move, turning in the square and heading back Auradon.
Evie placed a hand on Mal’s shoulder when she noticed she was still looking at the twins. “M?”
That shifted Mal’s gaze to Evie, “Mmh?”
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Of course,”
“What’s on your mind?”
Mal took a breath, shaking her head.
“Umm,” Squeaky’s concerned tone broke through the steady chatter of the vehicle.
“What’s up kid?” Jay asked as he and everyone else turned to the twins.
Squeaky was looking back with wide eyes as his brother pointed at the back window. They all saw the figure trying to push through the barrier before it closed around him. Mal felt a cold stone drop into her stomach.
"It's Hades,"