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To say that Mal is running out of time is a colossal understatement.
Adding her name to the list of students participating in the Secret Godmother gift exchange had seemed like such a good idea at the time, like the perfect solution to her number of friends and lack of funds problem. But that was before. Before Jane had cornered her in the cafeteria, before she'd stuck her hand in that stupid hat, before she'd pulled it out and found a scrap of paper with 'Evie Grimhilde' written on it.
Mal still has the stupid paper; she can't seem to throw it away. She's tried countless times over the last week but, every time her hand hovers over the trash, she just can't bring herself to uncurl her fingers and let it go. Because it feels...not fated because Mal doesn't believe in fate - and if fate is real, then it's just another thing for her to fight against because no one, no one, gets to tell her who she is or what she'll be - but it feels important. Special. Or maybe that's just Evie. Everything else about her is special, why not this?
Whatever the reason for her inexplicable attachment to a piece of scrap paper, Mal is running out of time. She's spent hours scouring the nearby holiday markets, trying and failing to find the perfect something for Evie. Because nothing feels right and, if she didn't come up with an idea soon, she was not only going to disappoint one of the people she cared for most in the world but also go completely insane.
So, as much as it pains her to admit it, she needs help. Bad.
She seeks out Ben first because, in her mind, this entire thing is his fault anyway which makes him 'morally obligated' - thank you, Remedial Goodness - to help her. He is, after all, the one who told her about the whole Secret Godmother thing and the one who encouraged the four of them to participate. Lucifer, he's the whole reason they're in Auradon in the first place!
Unfortunately, he proves to be less than helpful. He just keeps looking at her like she's missing something painfully obvious and saying things like, 'I'm sure Evie will love anything you give her'.
So she goes to Jay. Because he isn't one for riddles or subtlety, unlike some people - cough, Ben, cough - and because he knows her in a way few people do. She goes to him because, even though Mal's never said the words out loud - to him or anyone else - she knows he knows how she feels about Evie.
Unfortunately, though Jay possesses many admirable qualities, he also has the obnoxious habit of acting like the smug older brother she neither has nor wants whenever it suits him and, for whatever reason, it suits him today. 'Come on, seriously? You're Mal; she's Evie. Stop over thinking it.'
Which is why, running out of time, patience, and people she can trust, Mal turns to Carlos. Who really should've been the first person she went to because, not only does he know Evie almost as well as she does, but he notices everything. And, if she's honest, it doesn't hurt that, unlike Jay, she knows he won't use this to embarrass her later.
After she lays it all out before him - 'it all' being her worries, varied attempts at acquiring a gift and subsequent lack of results, and her mounting frustrations - he says something so simple, brilliant, and simply brilliant that she tackles him to the ground in a bone-crushing hug. (It should go without saying but, if anyone dares to bring it up, ever, she will vehemently deny it ever happened. And probably curse them. A little.)
'Why don't you make her something?' The answer had been staring her in the face all along, she'd just been too caught up in the unpredictable whirlwind of her own feelings to see it. She could make Evie something, the perfect something. She could, she can, and she will.
Despite the fact that it seems like every trash bin between their room and the Auradon Prep property line carries evidence of her many false starts and failed attempts, Mal manages to finish more than a full day before the Secret Godmother gift exchange. And, with everything she is, she hopes Evie loves it, that she understands exactly what it means. Because, no, Mal isn't what any sane person would call 'good' with feelings but this...this feels like it says everything she wants it to say and, maybe, even a few things she isn't quite ready to admit.
She thinks about all of this as she painstakingly conceals her creation beneath hand-painted paper and, though she's vaguely worried the coming wait will kill her, she knows she's ready.
Leaning casually against the wall with the best view of the door, Mal may look the picture of nonchalance but, though she knows no one can tell, she's never been so nervous in her life. Her palms are sweaty and her throat is dry and she's fairly certain that, if Evie doesn't show up soon, her heart is going to beat its way out of her chest with all the grace of a drunken sledgehammer.
It doesn't help that she'd accepted her own Secret Godmother gift what feels like hours ago, relieving Jane of her tastefully wrapped burden with poorly contained eagerness. The obviously expensive but incredibly thoughtful set of art supplies had earned the young fairy a tight hug that Mal had decided she wouldn't even try to deny later.
She's actually starting to get a little concerned - it's not like Evie to be more than fashionably late to a party - when she finally spots the familiar head of royal-blue hair enter the room. She looks good, unreasonably good, considering she's wearing a lot less leather and a lot more lace than any VK ever has. But that's Evie for you; always breaking the rules.
"Mal!"
She drags her gaze from the line where tanned skin disappears beneath red satin and falls into mahogany eyes. "Hey, E," she swallows, hard, pushing off the wall. "What took you so long?"
"I got caught up with my designs, you know how it is," Evie says with a bright laugh. "Have you met your Secret Godmother yet?"
"Yeah, it was Jane, actually. Art supplies, really good ones too..." She pauses, considering something she hadn't before. Because they weren't just quality supplies, they were things she wanted to try and things she was running low and/or out of. Jane wouldn't know that, though. In fact, there was only one person in the world who would. "You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?" she drawls.
Evie smiles, eyes alight with mischief. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, M."
Mal hunns disbelievingly. "Sure you don't."
Evie's still smiling at her, warm and soft, and Mal knows she needs to do this now or she'll lose her nerve.
"E-" She clears her throat and thrusts the package into her hands. "Merry Christmas, from your Secret Godmother."
"My Secret Godmoth...?" Her eyes go wide. "Really? I can't believe-" she shakes her head and beams. "Thank you!"
She can't help but laugh. "You don't even know what it is yet."
Fingers busy easing the paper apart without ripping it, Evie pauses just long enough to give her a soft smile. "I know it's from you." she says simply, as if that's all that matters.
Mal forces her eyes away, scratching nervously at the back of her neck. She can't bring herself to look at Evie but she can't just walk away either so she just stands there, trying her best not to vibrate out of her skin.
Evie sucks in a sharp breath and Mal slams her eyes shut as every muscle in her body goes rigid. "Oh Mal…"
She wants to run. She isn't even entirely sure why, because Evie doesn't sound angry or disappointed. She does sort of sound like she wants to cry but that can be a good thing sometimes. She opens her eyes, just a little, just enough to see the wonder settle across Evie's face.
"This is, Lucifer, it's beautiful," she says. "I feel like I've seen this picture a hundred times but never like this." She runs her fingers along the edge of the frame and Mal shivers at the sight. "How did you even do this?"
Mal shrugs with a nonchalance she wishes wasn't faked. "Ben sent me copies of all the pictures from his Halloween party and I used Carlos' computer to sort through them all, find the one I wanted, and zoom in on the four of us. Then I just sketched it out and painted it. No big deal."
"Yes, big! Mal, this is...this is beautiful."
"So, you like it then?"
"Like it?" she laughs, a little wet, a little breathless. "I love it! I can't imagine how long this must have taken you. Just look at us. Those costumes really did turn out perfectly and, and...wait. I never realized you weren't looking at the camera. What're you…?"
Mal closes her eyes again.
"...me. You're looking at, at me. I didn't notice. Why didn't I…?" She feels the ghost of Evie's hand on her arm and can't stop her eyes from opening anymore than she can stop herself from breathing. Evie seeks her gaze immediately and she wants to look away but, for a reason she doesn't quite understand, she can't. "...Mal?"
Mal shrugs, cheeks hot and hands shaking. "Merry Christmas, Evie."
She smiles, bright and beautiful and, for the first time, entirely knowing. "Merry Christmas, Mal."