Timeline is a little weird since I don't recall them every mentioning how much time passed between each book and movie and I apologize if the characters seem out-of-character. Anyways, reviews and comments are always welcome. I hope you all enjoy!
Shifting through her bed sheets, Mal rolled onto her side and moaned as a ray of light shined right on her face. It was at moments like these, in the early morning that Mal always remembers her forgotten vow to replace these transparent curtains for more opaque ones.
"Wake up Queenie~" At the sound of Evie's voice, Mal cracked open her eyes slightly. Seeing Evie with her hands on the curtains, Mal cursed her inwardly and turned over, shying from the sunlight.
"You're supposed to meet Ben at the Enchanted Lake today, remember? It's practically noon Mal." Mal's head shot up on that note. With a quick glance at her bedside clock, Mal noted that it wasn't early morning, but in fact 11:45 a.m. She was supposed to meet Ben in an hour! Wide awake now, Mal shot out of bed, searching for what to wear frantically.
"Evie, I need a plate of toast and eggs ASAP!" Mal said urgently as she ran into the bathroom. The sound of running water and frantic brushing could be heard throughout their bedroom.
"Oh no, I'm already late for my date with Doug. The tour he's bringing me on starts in 20 minutes." Evie rested her hands on her hips and shook her head hopelessly, even though Mal wasn't in the room to see her.
"What?!" Mal came out of the bathroom, toothbrush in hand and toothpaste threatening to spill past her lips. "Why didn't you wake me up then?" Almost spilling toothpaste, Mal ran back into the bathroom and spit it out.
Evie coiled in slight disgust at Mal's behavior before putting her hands on her hips. "Consider this payback for making me late last week!" Evie yelled over the sound of running water and rolled her eyes before finishing up the last touches of her makeup.
Just last week, Mal had taken the VK's on a trip to the Enchanted Forest and had inevitably gotten them all lost. As a result, Jay and Carlos had to run extra laps for being late to tourney practice, and Evie started off with a -15 on her Chemistry Midterm.
"That was an accident!" Mal yelled back from the bathroom. "How was I supposed to know you needed an Enchanted Map to get through the Enchanted Forest?! What does an Enchanted Map even do?!" Mal ran out of the bathroom and into her walk-in closet.
"Oh well, you'll figure something out Queenie! Tah Tah!" Evie yelled before slamming the door behind her. Mal refused to respond, instead running out of the bathroom and into her walk-in closet. She stared at her closet and finally began to realize just how seriously lacking she was in clothes. And by that, she meant clothes she could actually wear in front of Ben on their dates.
Mal groaned as she remembered. No wonder she couldn't find any clothes to wear, she hadn't done her laundry in two weeks! Evie was always nagging her to do her own laundry, she must've finally decided that Mal learn her lesson. With a quick glance, Mal's eyes spotted a flash of purple hidden behind her usual dark jackets and clothes.
With a quick sweep of an arm, Mal pushed aside the rest of the clothes, revealing the outfit she had worn on her first date with Ben to the Enchanted Lake. Mal chewed on her lip slightly, recalling Evie's reminder about clothes. Apparently, she had to wait 3-4 months before wearing any outfit again. With another glance at the clock, Mal made up her mind. Taking the outfit off the rack, she shut the door to her closet.
10 minutes later, Mal reappeared out of her closet with the outfit on. Readjusting the straps on her outfit, Mal made her way to the bathroom to wash up once more. Taking one look at her bathroom mirror, Mal froze and felt her heart jerk at the mess that was her face. For Pete's sake, her skin was pale and deathly enough to rival her mother's.
"Evieeeee," Mal groaned as she rolled her eyes up hopelessly. Magic could help change fix hair, but no spell to her knowledge could teach her how to put on makeup.
At the sound of a knock, Mal's sighed in relief and rushed to the door. "Evie! I have 20 minutes to at least look not-hideous and I have no idea what I'm-"
Mal halted abruptly as she opened to door to find Lady Belle, former Queen of Auradon, standing in front of her door rather than Evie.
"Queen Bel- Uh Lady…Lady Belle," Mal stammered. The VK, known for her snarky and sarcastic remarks and attitude, found herself speechless at this unforeseen turn of events.
"Technically, it's still Queen Belle." Seeing Mal step aside, Belle made her way into Mal's and Evie's dorm room.
"Ben may be King of Auradon, but it's more of an unformal title. The other kingdoms feel that we should still take care of some of the royal affairs until Ben grows older. So until then, his father and I still possess the thrones," Belle continued as she took a look around the room, pulling Mal alongside her by her hand.
"But Lady Belle has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Belle stopped in the middle of the room and turned around to face Mal. Having noticed the hairbrush in Mal's hand, Belle smiled and brought their conjoined hands up to eye-level. "Plus I know a thing or do about looking fine and dandy."
"Right…Right!" Mal shook herself out of her daze and gave Belle a smile. "What… brings you here Lady Belle?" Mal laughed nervously. Regardless of how Mal looked far from a prim and proper lady, she tried to at least act the part.
Even as she spoke, she was internally checking off a list of everything a Royal Lady should be doing: straight posture – but not so straight that she stood out like a stick, bright smile – but not too bright that if freaked people out, etc.
Seeing how uncomfortable Mal seemed, Belle gave her a pitying smile. It seemed that only time could reduce the tension that Mal always felt in front of her and Adam.
"Well," Belle trailed off as she pulled Mal over to her dresser table and sat her down in front of the mirror. "Ben seemed to have this idea that you may need help this morning getting ready for your date. And lo and behold it seems he was spot one!" Belle joked as she positioner herself behind Mal. With a brush in her right hand, Belle began to gently brush through Mal's hair, using her left hand to straighten and caress Mal's hair at the same time.
Mal felt her eyes threaten to roll back into her head at how nice it felt when Belle stroked through her hair. She took a moment to mentally thank Ben for his diligence – and for just being perfect altogether – before closing her eyes in bliss at Belle's strokes. Mal could feel the knots in her hair undo themselves every time Belle stroked, and unlike when she brushed, there was no pain at all.
Even when Evie would be the one holding the brush, there would still be some resistance, a brief moment where the brush would halt before plowing through the knots. But now? With Belle, it was like she was waving her hand through water, the knots just giving away at the moment's touch.
"You're… reeeally good at this," Mal said slowly, halting mid-sentence briefly at yet another of Belle's strokes. She let her head be pulled back slightly, the bliss and pleasure almost putting her to sleep. "Are you using magic?"
Mal could've sworn she heard birds singing outside at the sound of Belle's laughter. "That's a very sweet and flattering thing to say Mal. But I've been combing hair for as long as I can remember. Who do you think does Ben's hair every day?"
"You mean it's not perfect every single second of the day?" Mal laughed, the prior tension easing out of her with every stroke. Belle laughed gently alongside Mal as she began to caress her hair.
"Oh, heavens no! You should see Ben's hair first thing in the morning. As cute as it may look, it would embarrass him if the people of Auradon were to see their young King with bed hair." Belle said jokingly as she put the brush down and began to work on Mal's face.
"Although I'm not complaining one bit," Belle continued as she applied a little blush to Mal's cheeks. "I don't get to spend too much time with my baby boy these days. And besides," Belle trailed off and blew on Mal's face gently.
"It makes for a great way to ease some tension out of the air, no?" Belle asked knowingly at Mal, who gave a small apologetic smile. But before Mal could apologize for her somewhat distant attitude, Belle had already continued on.
"Now now dear, there's nothing to apologize for. Sometimes, all it takes is just a little bit of time for things to work itself out," Belle reassured Mal, who smiled quietly at Belle's understanding. It's not like Mal disliked Belle or was intimidated by her – perhaps a bit by Adam (his roar at Ben's coronation was quite the show) – Mal just didn't know how to act around royalty.
The Descendants of Auradon were a different case, their close ages being the key factor to bringing them and the VK's together. Not to mention, her relationship with Ben was filled with more immaturity than formality. It also didn't help that the royalty in this case was literally her boyfriend's parents.
"I…I just want you to know that it's not you," Mal explained to Belle. She looked around and tried to find the words to explain what she was thinking, some way to explain to Belle what Mal's issue was. But Mal just closed her mouth and silent frustration at her inability to verbalize her feelings. Things like this were so much easier with Ben, who understood her so well at this point.
Belle simply caressed Mal's hair gently, offering her a smile that she hoped would comfort Mal. "I understand sweetie. I just want you to know that Adam and I are proud of who you are, no matter what you believe. And we don't expect you just become some Royal Princess of Auradon. The Descendants have been taught since the moment they were speaking gibberish, after all."
Mal tucker her lips inward in contemplation before looking at Belle questioningly. "No expectations? Not even a little bit?" Mal pinched her thumb and forefinger close together and squinted her left eye.
"Well," Belle pulled Mal away from the dresser table and to a standing mirror. As Belle stood behind Mal with hands on her shoulders, Mal took in the full view of herself. With the Queen's touch, Mal felt like she went from a pale witch in disguise, to a model. Belle stood behind Mal and rubbed her arms comfortingly.
"We do hope for the little things, like a curtsy here and there, some manners – although we have all the time in the world for that – and other little things. But you need to understand sweetie," Belle turned Mal around, taking her hands into her own and looking her in the eyes.
"We don't want you to act like someone you're not. Otherwise you wouldn't be the same girl that our Ben is in love with." Mal smiled at Belle appreciatively, gripping her hands in gratitude.
"And besides," Belle winked at Mal. "A little mischief is nice here and there." Mal laughed at Belle's sly behavior before standing back and giving a slight curtsy to Lady Belle.
Belle looked at Mal proudly. Just this one moment told her so much about who Mal was, and who she was trying to be for Ben's sake. Any hesitation that she felt about Mal and Ben's relationship vanished on the day of Ben's coronation, and she hoped that all of Auradon felt the same way.
"Now then," Belle clapped her hands together lightly and smiled happily at Mal. "I believe it's due time that Ben sees just how gorgeous you're looking, don't you?" She raised an eye at Mal's hesitation, sensing her slight distress.
"I actually wore this outfit on our first date, a few months back." Mal waved her hands down the side of her outfit. "You don't think he'd be a little…I don't know, disappointed that I'm wearing it again?"
"Oh please!" Belle pushed off Mal's concerns with a wave and a laugh. "You should've seen how Ben rambled on and on after his coronation about your first date together. He must've mentioned how beautiful you looked at least, seven times; something about finally knowing the difference between 'cute' and 'beautiful'."
Mal laughed at Belle's imitation of Ben and looked at the ground thoughtfully. "You think maybe…maybe we could do this again?" Mal asked Belle with a questioning smile. At Belle's own smile, Mal – for some reason – found the urge to laugh growing within her. At least she knows where Ben got that effect from now.
"It'll be our little thing," Belle whispered with a finger to her lips. "Now go on dear, Ben is most likely waiting outside for you already."
Mal waved at Belle and rushed out the door before halting in the hallway. She turned around once more and gave Belle one more curtsy with a small laugh, and then rushed down the hallway.
Belle sat on Mal's bed for a few more moments, relishing in the sweet pleasure she felt in what she believed was her most successful attempt yet at getting closer to Mal. After all, now that the Cotillion had passed, Ben had essentially implied that he hoped to make Mal his Queen one day. Someday Mal might just become her daughter, and the closer she can get to Mal before that day, the happier she'll be when she sees Ben and Mal on their wedding day.
…
Not to mention she'd already bragged to the other Royals across the lands about how Auradon's next Queen was going to knock their bodices off with how badass she was.
Just a heads up, the sequel to this story - Who, Mal? - is already up. Check out my profile if you like this story and are interested in reading a sequel.