Hey everybody! For those of you who read my Frozen & Tangled story before I gave it up I want to once again apologize for not completing it. I've just gotten many new ideas and have been working on an actual novel that has taken a lot of my time along with school and cheer. But I am excited to share this new story with you, which has been completed before uploading, and I hope you all enjoy. *NOTE: Even though the story is complete I will still be uploading chapters one at a time for suspense, but, don't worry, there's only five chapters and I'll upload one every month. Have fun!

Chapter 1:

He could tell something was wrong the second she was human again. She had landed gracefully and her new gown took everyone's breath away, but Ben saw something different. After standing there in shock for a few short seconds, Mal collapsed at the top of the steps in a fit of tears. He didn't hesitant, he rushed to her side and gathered her up in his arms.

"Hey, it's ok. Everything's alright," he soothed as he hugged her tightly. He glanced around quickly at the crowd before making up his mind, and swept Mal up in his arms bridal style. Then, he ran, shoving his way through the crowd, off the boat, and all the way back to Mal's room. She kept her arms wrapped tightly around his neck the whole time, little sobs escaping her as they went along. When they finally arrived he laid her gently on the bed and sat beside her, continuing to hold and soothe her the entire time.

"What did I do," she sobbed.

"It's ok, you saved everyone. You didn't hurt anybody."

"No, Ben, you saved everyone. I became a monster."

"You're not a monster." Her sobs soften slightly, and Ben could feel her slowly going to sleep. He laid her back down and pulled the covers up tightly as a soft knock came from the door. Evie opened the door slowly and came in. Ben stood up quickly and walked over. "Um, make sure she gets into some pajamas and let me know if anything happens," he stammered. Evie nodded, a grim look on her face.

He left the room and headed down the hall to the boys' wing, where he found his own. He locked the door and changed out of his wet clothes into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Then he threw himself down on his bed and stared up at the fan. What did I do? He thought.

As soon as Ben had left the room, Evie went over to Mal's dresser and found one of his old t-shirts Mal had. Her own clothes could wait, Mal needed her now. She carefully removed her friend from her gown and replaced it with the t-shirt. Then she slowly removed the pins from her hair, smoothing it gently on the pillow. "Sleep well," she whispered, then hurried to get herself ready for bed. She had just rolled over to go to sleep when Mal cried out beside her.

"Ben!" She cried. Evie turned over and crawled out of bed. Mal's eyes were still closed tight, but her mouth moved as tiny murmurs escaped her lips. "Ben," she kept saying.

"Shhh, it's ok," said Evie as she climbed into bed beside her.

"Evie?"

"Yeah, it's Evie."

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, Mal." Evie snuggled up close to her friend, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Ben woke up with Mal on his mind. He quickly changed and practically ran down the hall to her room, then carefully straightened himself before knocking lightly on the door. Evie opened it quickly and looked at him relieved.

"Ben," she said with a sigh.

"How is she?"

"Still asleep. She kept calling out for you in the middle of the night. I think she was having nightmares."

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah," Evie opened the door wider for Ben to enter, then reclosed it once he'd stepped through.

Ben walked over to the side of Mal's bed and sat down. Her hair was draped carefully over the pillow, and her features looked calm and peaceful. He could see the dark collar of a t-shirt he'd given her one day after he'd been teaching her how to swim and her own shirt had accidentally fallen into the water. He picked up her hand and brushed back a piece of hair that had fallen.

"Mal?" Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him.

"Ben?" Her eyes widened and she threw herself at him. "Ben!" Her arms wrapped him tightly and he did the same in return. "You're ok, I was so scared."

"I'm alright, it was only a dream."

"So I didn't turn into a dragon?" Ben and Evie glanced at each other quickly. "Oh," Mal said gloomily, and laid back down.

"You didn't hurt anyone, we're all fine," Evie assured her.

"But I still did it."

"Out of defense, you were protecting us," Ben said sweetly, and squeezed her hand tighter. Mal smiled at him weakly. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, I think," she answered before breaking into a fit of coughing.

"Mal?"

"I'm alright," she said, "really."

"Either way, I don't think you should go to class today," Evie put in.

"Definitely not," Ben added. "I'll stay here and keep you company."

"Ben, you know you can't do that. You have things to attend to," Mal told him.

"I can hold off on them until a later time…"

"No, Ben, you need to go. I'll be alright."

"I'll take care of her," said Evie softly, "don't worry."

He didn't like it, but they were right, he did have a lot to do. He sighed. "Get some rest," he told Mal with a quick kiss and walked out the door.

Mal sighed and leaned back on the pillow. Her head felt like someone had hit with a hammer, and she felt like she would throw up. In fact, she did. About 5 seconds after Ben had closed the door, she grabbed the nearest trash can and let out what was left of the previous night's dinner. Evie rushed over quickly and held on to her hair. Then she grabbed a nearby cloth off the counter to wipe her mouth.

"You alright?" she asked.

"No, not really," Mal replied.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"I didn't want Ben to worry too much."

"Mal, you should have said something."

"I know." The two sat in silence for some time before Mal finally spoke again. "Do you think I'm becoming my mother?"

"Why would you ever ask that?"

"What happened last night…"

"What you did last night you did out of fear for those you love. Your mother only cared about herself." Mal took a moment to think about this, but she wasn't quite convinced. "You need to sleep," Evie told her.

"I can't. Every time I close my eyes I see myself turning into a dragon and hurting one of you guys."

"That won't happen."

"But what if it does."

"It won't." Mal looked at her uncertainly. "Sleep."

Reluctantly, Mal rolled over and closed her eyes. Despite wishing she wouldn't, it didn't take long for her to fall into a deep sleep.

Ben tried to focus on his work, but his mind kept drifting to Mal. It didn't help when Jay and Carlos came in.

"How's Mal?" Carlos asked.

"She says she's fine, but I don't think so."

"What do you mean?" asked Jay.

"She thought she had hurt someone, and Evie said she was having nightmares. I'm just really worried about her."

"Hey, if she says she's fine, I'm sure she's fine," said Carlos. Just then Evie ran in, out of breath and looking panicked.

"Mal's not alright," she breathed.

"Or not," said Carlos.

Ben jumped out of seat in panic. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, but her temperature spiked, and she threw up a couple times. Plus she keeps screaming in her sleep. I finally got her to calm down and came here to get you. I'm really scared Ben. I've never seen her like this."

"I should get a doctor."

"No!" Said the VKs all at once.

"Why not?"

"Mal hates doctors," said Jay. "Last time she had to see one she turned him into a snake."

"Well how else are we supposed to find out what's wrong with her?"

"Maybe we could give her something to keep her asleep while she gets looked at," suggested Carlos.

"That could work," said Evie.

"But how would we get her to take it?"

"Leave that to me," said Evie.

"Hey, where did you run off to?" asked Mal as Evie came into the room. Her eyes were half closed and while she tried to smile it was clear she was in pain.

"I went to get you some food," she replied as she sat the tray down on the bedside table.

"Thanks, but I don't think I can eat right now."

"You need to try, and if not then at least have some water." Evie had spent the last hour searching through Mal's spell to find something that would work. She didn't like the idea, but they had to do something. Finally she'd found a recipe, now she just needed Mal to drink it.

"Alright, fine," Mal said at last. She picked the glass up and took a sip. "Evie, are you sure you got water?" She said with a yawn.

"I'm pretty sure."

"Ok." Mal nodded off and Evie hurried over to the door.

"She's out," she whispered.

Jay, Carlos, Ben, and Doc all came into the room. Doc and Ben immediately went over to Mal's side and Ben took her hand gently. Doc examined Mal carefully, making sure he didn't miss a thing.

"Did she hit her head at all?" He asked.

"Not that I can remember. Guys?" said Ben. Everyone shook their heads in unison.

"Well, in that case, it appears that your friend has a case of the magical flu."

"What's that?" asked Evie.

"Basically what happens is whenever you use magic, you use up a small amount of your energy. So when you use too much magic, it drains the body and leaves you weakened and causes you to become sick."

"How do we help her?" Ben asked.

"Lots of rest, and make sure she's eating and drinking properly. But most importantly, NO MAGIC!" Doc replied.

"For how long?"

"She should be alright in few days or so, but I don't want her to use anymore magic unless it's an emergency. If she keeps using it all the time, she'll just keep ending up this way. And whatever you do, try and keep her relaxed."

"Thanks Doc." Doc nodded and left and everyone sat down in various places around the room, Ben staying right by Mal's side.

"This is all my fault," he said. "She's been so stressed out, and I didn't even notice. She was using that spell book all the time not to mention last night….If I'd just been there I could have prevented all of this."

"It's not your fault," said Evie. "I knew she was using the book, I should have stopped her."

"Guys, stop," said Jay. "Alright? This isn't anyone's fault we all make mistakes. The important thing is helping Mal."

"Jay's right," said Carlos. "This is going to be really hard for her, so we have to make it better."

"Hey, guys, what's everyone doing in here?" mumbled Mal weakly as she started to wake up.

"We wanted to check on you," Ben replied. "How are you feeling?"

"I told you I'm…" Mal began coughing harshly and grabbed the trash can by her bed. Ben grabbed her hair as she began throwing up and Evie got the wash cloth. When she finally sat back her face was pale and she was breathing slow. Ben moved to sit on the bed beside her and put his arms around her.

"Feeling better?" he asked. She nodded weakly.

"Are you mad I didn't tell you sooner?"

"Of course not, I just want you to get better."

"What did Doc say?"

"You know about that?" said Evie shyly.

"I heard you talking in the hallway. I figured you were going to make me do it anyway so I might as well just go along with it."

"Well, in that case, he said you're experiencing a magical flu. You've used too much magic and it's made you sick."

"Oh." Everyone looked down glumly.

"But it's ok, cause we're going to help you get through this," said Ben. "Right guys?"

"Yeah," said Jay, Carlos, and Evie together.

"Thanks guys. Can I get some more sleep now?"

"Of course." They all started to leave, and Ben started to get up, to go as well, when Mal grabbed his arm.

"Can you stay here?" He sat back down and put his arms back around her.

"Of course."