None of the Villain Kids' parents loved them, Mal knew that instinctively and if she ever doubted that then all she needed to do was roll up Carlos' sleeves to reveal angry pink cigarette burns, or watch as Evie struggled to eat a fourth of any meal, or see Jay's fingers flex and clench as he walked past Auradon's pricey decor. No, their parents didn't love them. If there was one thing that Mal had learned in Auradon and with Ben, it was that you didn't hurt people you love.

But there had been the illusion, at least, on the Isle. Back then, when they were bitter and lonely little children without knowledge of anything beyond the island's shimmering barrier, they could pretend.

When Mal arrived in Auradon and began learning the truth and severity at which she and the others had been abused, she had been confused. Certainly all parents, even ones as awful as the villains, had some amount of love or affection for their children. It was human nature, that was what Fairy Godmother and all the other Auradon prep shmucks had tried to drill into her. "Your parents love you, but they made terrible mistakes. You children, however, were not one of them."

That had been reassuring at first, especially for Evie and Carlos, who had spent their whole lives believing the opposite to be true. Mal had found comfort in that sentiment. She wasn't a mistake. Her mother, in her own twisted and villainous way, loved her.

But then that comfort, like so many others that Mal had desperately tried to cling to, was shattered.

It hadn't been all at once. Her hope, the belief that Maleficent had loved her daughter, was like a tiny mirror that Mal held close to her heart. In it she could see moments of supposed tenderness and affection from her mother—that time Mal had made Ginny Gothel wet her pants and cry, Maleficent had stroked Mal's hair for several seconds and even smiled at her! Then there was the time she tricked Uma into surrendering one of Ursula's prized necklaces made from mermaid scales to her. Maleficent had let her keep it instead of confiscating it as she normally would have done. Oh, and how could Mal forget! When she had so deviously laid a trap for Anthony Tremaine that caused him to break his ankle and put him out of the Catch the Pixie tournament at Dragon Hall. He had been the only one in her way of snatching first place. Afterwards, Maleficent had been so proud, she had kissed Mal's head and had a special dinner prepared.

But it didn't take long for the mirror's images to become warped and soured by everyday sights at Auradon—Belle singing sweetly to Ben after he'd hurt his leg during Tourney (he didn't know Mal had been watching from the shadows of the infirmary, otherwise she knows he would have been horribly humiliated) and him melting under her gentle touch, Audrey being engulfed in Aurora's arms on Parent's Day and having kisses rained down on her cheeks, Lonnie leaping onto her father's back for a playful wrestle and not being elbowed in the face and thrown off immediately, Chad receiving a delicately wrapped pair of new Tourney cleats just because. That was love. Better (or worse?), it was unconditional. Maleficent's affections had always had conditions, rules, and were never handed out freely and certainly never when Mal had failed to impress her with some sort of spectacular display of wickedness or cunning.

Her mirror was chipped slowly with each witnessed instance of unselfish, unconditional, love until there was nothing left but shards. Her mother hadn't loved her. None of their parents had.

"Don't you ever miss your mom?" Evie asked one night after yet another Parent's Day had come and gone. The four of them hadn't even bothered to join the festivities that day. They stayed in their rooms and did homework instead.

"No." Mal answered automatically, without hesitation. There was a time, during her first few weeks at Auradon, and even after the whole wand incident, that Mal found a small part of herself aching for Maleficent's presence. There was none of that now. "Why? Do you?"

Evie smiled, a tiny fragile smile that would have earned her a harsh smack from the Evil Queen on the island. "Sometimes. I mean, she wasn't always horrible."

That was true. Sometimes Mal believed the Evil Queen to be the kindest of their parents, if such a word could be applied. At times, she seemed to genuinely adore Evie and even spoil her, as much as the Isle of the Lost would allow spoiling at least.

But then Mal remembered how Evie still scorned food. She remembered how Evie would spend hours in front of their mirror, pinching her skin and frowning. She remembered the bruises that had since faded. She glanced down at the scars that remained on Evie's delicate wrists.

"Is it wrong to miss them?" Evie wondered. "Cause I do, sometimes. I know Jay does too, when he gets that itch to steal something. Even Carlos, when he gets that faraway look. He's thinking of Cruella."

Mal didn't know what to say. She recognized that Evie was looking for comradery, she wanted Mal to relate and reassure that it was normal to miss one's parents, even if they were scum. But Mal couldn't do that. She didn't feel anything for Maleficent anymore.

"It's normal." Mal lied. "I understand."

She didn't.

Carlos was having an episode.

Mal and Evie had just returned from their final class of the day and it was Friday, which meant their weekly movie night as the original four—no boyfriends, no girlfriends, and no goody-two-shoes hero kids. This was perhaps the only time during their entire week that the four of them felt completely themselves. No need to put on an act for the Auradon citizens, no need for lies.

But as soon as Mal and Evie opened the door to the boys' room, they knew that Carlos wasn't okay.

Jay was knelt beside Carlos' bed, peering underneath into the darkness. "It's okay, Carlos. It's okay." He was whispering over and over again.

Mal set her bag down and crawled on top of Carlos' bed, laying flat on her stomach and hanging her head over the edge. She could just barely make out the shivering form of Carlos backed against the wall.

"Hey." She said. Carlos didn't answer, but she didn't expect him to. "It's okay, Carlos. We won't let anything happen to you. Just let us know when you're ready to come out." Ben had taught her this method. Before, on the Isle, Mal probably would have dragged the boy out by his ankles and forced him to tell her what the hell was going on. But Ben had shown her a more effective way of dealing with this sort of panic.

"It's okay, Mal. You don't have to come out." He whispered against the closet door. "I won't let anything or anyone hurt you. I'll be right here when you're ready."

Mal sat back up on the bed and crossed her legs. "Did you guys pick out a movie." It was the boys' turn this week.

Jay, accustomed to this routine, joined Mal on the bed and smirked. "Yeah. Something called Sharpshooter 3."

"Sounds dumb."

"Probably."

"Who wants grape and who wants strawberry?" Evie held up two soda bottles for them to choose. She'd already gone about setting up their snack table.

"Grape." Mal smiled deviously as she twirled a lock of purple hair. "It would seem like a betrayal to pick the pink one."

Jay wrapped an arm around Mal's neck, trappin her in a headlock, and gave her far too gentle noogie. "I'll take Strawberry, Eves."

This right here was why Mal would never ache for Maleficent again. Mal had never realized how touch starved she'd been until the first time Ben tried to hug her and she flipped out. Hugs were not a thing on the Isle, not unless you were using them as a way to stick a knife in someone's gut or steal something from their pockets. He'd looked at her with the cutest bewildered expression before he understood the disconnect. It took three weeks for Mal to accept a hug from Ben.

Now, Mal craved those hugs from Ben and she even initiated a few herself when she was really desperate. And she loved when Jay wrestled with her, the feel of his fingers digging playfully into her skin, knowing that those same fingers would never be used to hurt her. She longed for the nights when Evie would timidly ask to brush out her hair and do something amazing with it. And Mal could even express the amount of joy she experienced when Carlos would build a fort of blankets and pillows and cuddle with her in it for an afternoon nap. Mal had once scorned the touch of others because it had never been used in any way other than to hurt her or control her. But now she was free to enjoy touch and all the tenderness and warmth it could bring.

Jay eventually stopped his noogie, and settled on placing Mal's head in his lap, stroking her hair gingerly. This wasn't new. Mal had seen Jay do the same thing to Evie and Carlos a thousand times when they were having bad days and he'd done it for Mal just as much. Despite his reputation on the Isle and, to a certain extent, in Auradon as a shameless flirt, Jay was incredibly intuitive when it came to the emotions of others. Ben had called him an empath at one point. Maybe he was. He certainly seemed to have the uncanny ability to sense what Mal and the others were feeling at any given time and he always knew how to respond.

Mal let her head rest in his warm lap for several minutes as Evie started pouring various chips into bowls. Maleficent never would have allowed this. The one time Mal had tried to find solace in her mother's lap after she'd been mocked brutally by Harry Hook, Maleficent had dragged her by the hair into a broom closet and left her there for three days until she toughened up and became worthy of the attention of the great Maleficent.

Mal shivered thinking about that closet now. It had been so dark and so cold and she had been so very hungry for those three days. She had wet herself at least a half dozen times when she couldn't hold it any longer and the smell had been so nauseating by the time the door was finally unlocked that Mal had been quite proud of herself for not vomiting and making the situation so much worse.

All those terrible memories associated with those cramped little rooms called closets and it was still where Mal ran when she had her 'episodes'. Carlos bolted under beds, Mal into closets. Maybe it was because for those three days, though they had truly been the most miserable three days of Mal's existence, she hadn't had to worry about meeting Maleficent's unrealistically high expectations. She slept and hummed and etched little doodles into the wood floor as much as she wanted and she was never interrupted. For those three days, she'd been the safest she'd ever been. And that was just pathetic.

Mal realized a moment too late that she was beginning to enter into dangerous territory with those memories. She was beginning to curl up, tuck her knees under her chin and turn to bury her face in Jay's thighs. This wasn't fair of her. They should be focusing on Carlos, not her. Carlos, who was quaking so hard beneath the bed that the iron posts had been rattling. Quick as she could, Mal stretched herself out and sat up.

"You okay?" Jay asked.

She could lie. She should. Telling the truth rarely ever led to a positive outcome. But Jay had a way about him that just made Mal, and everyone else honestly, want to spill her guts to him.

"Just thinking about old times." She mused.

Evie had paused in her preparations and turned to eye Mal from across the room. Jay took hold of her hand and squeezed. "It's okay. I think about that too."

"It's not a big deal."

"It doesn't have to be."

Mal sighed. Of course it didn't have to be. But it was. And that was okay. That's what Jay meant. "Thanks."

He squeezed her hand firmly and didn't let go. The pressure grounded Mal, made her remember that she wasn't on the Isle anymore. She was here, in Auradon, in Jay and Carlos' room, with her friends who would rip out someone's throat out with their bare teeth before they let anyone hurt her again. Mal squeezed back.

A few moments passed in silence. Evie joined Jay and Mal on the bed and wrapped her arms around Mal's waist, hugging her tight. Thank heavens for Evie hugs.

The three stayed like that for what seemed like forever, a moment frozen in time where Mal could just breath and savor the feeling of being held tenderly. She had these moments with Ben too, but there was something undeniably special when it was with Jay or Evie or Carlos.

So wrapped up in her moment was Mal that she almost missed when Carlos shimmied out from under the bed and nervously slipped up top. He looked very out of place for a second as he observed his friends, but Jay quickly remedied that by pulling the white haired boy down for a hug.

Finally, Mal untangled herself from the safety of her friend's limbs and put the aforementioned Sharpshooter 3 into the DVD player. Evie joined her and brought over bowls of chips and plates of snack cakes that Jay had smuggled from the kitchens earlier. Everyone rearranged themselves on the sofas, all touching in one way or another, and settled in for the movie.

As Mal had suspected, the movie was dumb. But that hadn't really been the point of these nights anyway. By the time the credits rolled, Mal realized she was the only one still awake. Evie was snuggled in between Jay's legs, her head resting on his chest looking every bit the part of the real Sleeping Beauty. Carlos was squeezed in behind her, arm thrown over Evie's waist and holding her close to him. They looked like a pile of napping pups, especially with the way Carlos' nose would twitch in his sleep.

This was love.

What she had with Ben was love.

And Maleficent couldn't take that away. She was free.