Mal was sitting on the roof of the school, stargazing. She had decided that breaking the rules wasn't being bad if she wasn't harming anybody. Besides, she needed the calm and Evie's sewing machine was all but. Her friend had been overwhelmed with emotions and her coping mechanism was sewing. Mal's was silence, a luxury she rarely enjoyed back on the Isle. Of course her thoughts had to drift back there, no matter how hard she tried to keep the damned place out of her mind. After all, it was all she had known until merely a week ago.
To be totally honest, she missed it sometimes. At least she knew what to expect from people. And people knew not to mess with her. Maleficent might have lost her powers but she was still feared by most of the habitants. Of course they had no leaders, so they had settled for survival of the fittest. And without magic, owning respect meant taking more drastic measures. No one had ever dared say it to her face but she heard the whispers behind her mother. "Murderer". "Killer". One day she had mustered the courage to ask her Mom and she had heard the whole story: Maleficent and Anastasia Tremaine were at war, but they had kept themselves to mostly harmless pranks until Cinderella's step sister crossed the line and kidnapped a baby Mal. The horned fairy had snapped in her fury. And, of course, there was no institution to punish her. Back then, most of the other villains had rallied her side. After all, attacking a child called retaliation. She held these nasty whispers as a reminder that her mother loved her. She'd never hear her say it but it was proof enough.
A hand on her shoulder disrupted her, her aggressor was in a tight arm lock in a second. She loosened her grip when she recognized the King.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry! You scared me and I didn't think and…"
"It's okay" the Beast cut her off while moving his sore shoulder. "Old habits die hard."
The teen gave a sheepish smile and apologized again.
"Your friends are looking for you, you know?"
"I bet Carlos is the snitch", she chuckled.
"Jay actually. He went to your room and when Evie told him you'd been gone for seven hours, he went looking for you. Evie's mirror showed them the way but they happened to pass through Fairy Godmother's apartments. Jay told him you were missing. She called us first thing and sent your friends back to their dorms."
"I'm sorry you went through all the trouble" she apologized again.
"Why don't you tell me what you were doing here instead?"
"I just came up to see the stars" she half lied, looking up again." There's always smoke or fog under the dome so even at night they're never as bright."
The king smiled, stargazing with her in companiable silence before he spoke again.
"Now tell me the real reason."
Mal sighed.
"It's very nice of you to welcome us here but I miss home and… I miss my mom" she revealed.
She looked to the old man, trying to read his face. She hoped she hadn't offended him, or that he mistook her confession with her mom's influence being too engraved in her. But his face stayed blank.
"She loved me" she added. "In her way. At least when I was a kid: she'd protect me from other villains, or older kids. She taught me how to be feared like her, she said it was the only way to stay alive. But then she realized I was growing and she started saying that love is a weakness. So I learned that from her, too."
"Then she'll learn again. She'll learn how to love and when she does, she'll come back to her own self. As to your home, well…" the king grimaced. "Auradon is not so bad. Give us a chance."
She shook her head, unable to explain how finding someone to trust was easier in the snake nest than with these princesses.
"I should probably go. The boys must be worried."
The king proposed his hand but she stood up by herself, not common with that kind of gallantry.
"How did you get here by the way?"
"I climbed" the teenager shrugged.
After a tired Beast had walked her to the dorms floor, she found the boys' room. She had barely knocked when two skinny arms engulfed her in a hug, followed suit by more muscular ones.
"Don't do that again" Jay warned once he released her.
"You guys shouldn't worry so much. Wrinkles!"
Her poor imitation of the Evil Queen got a small laugh out of the boys.
"We thought your Mom had taken you."
She shook her head.
"Still a baby lizard under a glass bell."
Carlos hugged her again. He had gotten way touchier since they'd gotten here, Mal noticed. She didn't mind from him tough, the four of them were family. So she hugged him back.
"I should probably get going, Evie must be worried."
"Wait" Jay called.
He too offered her a second hug. He was half comforting her, half making sure she was still in one piece. Mal could feel the warmth seep right through her, exactly what she needed. In this new world, they needed the others more than ever.