A/N: This was originally posted to ao3 but I am posting it here as well for those who would rather read it on ff . net
Enjoy!
The chill in the air had just begun to settle in by the time Mal snuck out the back door of Bargain Castle, hoping to escape the snide remarks of her mother for the remainder of the night.
The sun was tucked partly behind the edges of Auradon, shielding just enough brightness from the star to let Mal take a good look at it. From a distance, it reminded her of the moon— small and round and bright— and Mal thought for a moment that if pink and orange hadn't been scattering the sky around it, she could have convinced herself that the full moon had arrived early.
She stared at it a moment longer, pondering on how much more magnificent it must look from Auradon, before she shook her head and brought her gaze to her feet, following them as they walked alley after alley until the smell of week-old fish pushed its way into her nose. On any other day, she would have tolerated the smell without a complaint, but something about the way it violently contrasted with the unusual beauty of that night's sunset made her wish that any other smell would fill the air that hung staley around the bay.
Mal finally tore her gaze from her scuffed combat boots as she neared the edge of the island, only to find that her usual pouting area was already occupied by waves of dark blue hair that made the ocean below them seem dull and brown in comparison.
Mal's first instinct was to let anger twist her face into an intense glare, but when she noticed hands burying the face of the girl sitting on the edge of the bridge, she wiped the indignant expression from her visage.
She could easily recognize the girl before she saw her face— a task assisted greatly by the fact that there was only one blue-haired princess on the island. Evie, daughter of Evil Queen— Little Miss Fairest Jr. herself.
Mal's nose scrunched at the thought, but she stepped closer anyway, craning her neck, only to find the blue-haired girl's chest rising and falling rapidly in a way that Mal only recognized because she had seen her own do the same a few times before.
But why would Evie be crying?
She moved closer to the broken end of the bridge still, only stopping when she was a few feet from where Evie's legs dangled off the edge, and cleared her throat loud enough to grab the girl's attention.
Immediately, brown irises surrounded by reddened whites shot towards her, the edges still swimming in tears that Evie hurriedly moved to wipe away.
"Sorry, I'll just— leave now." The sniffling girl stumbled over her words, hands already pushing into the metal of the bridge in preparation to stand up.
And as if something else was in control, Mal's hand lifted slightly into the air, just enough for Evie to notice and pause in her actions.
"You can stay." It was neutral, neither an invitation nor a command, but rather a show of indifference that Mal almost regretted as Evie's eyebrows furrowed before the sitting girl returned her gaze to the water below.
Mal took the silence as an opportunity to walk the rest of the way to the edge, staying as far to the opposite side of Evie as she possibly could. The purple-haired girl swung her legs off the concrete, head leaning against the support column beside her, and let out a rather loud and noticeable sigh.
The silence that followed didn't last longer than a few seconds.
"Since when are we on good terms?" Evie's voice held a familiar sting, one that everyone on the island seemed to speak with, but Mal effortlessly saw through the building facade, remembering the tears that were brimming in the girl's eyes just moments before.
Mal hummed softly, tapping her fingers on the cement as she considered the question. Finally, the purple-haired girl shrugged.
"Why don't we call a truce for the night?"
Normally, Mal would never have been so welcoming and— dare she say it— kind, but she couldn't find the energy inside her to uphold her longstanding grudge between the Evil Queen's daughter.
And the idea of sharing her alone time with a girl, who seemed to be at the bridge for the same reason, didn't sound too bad, she supposed.
Evie nodded slowly, still sniffling and wiping at the corners of her eyes in a desperate attempt to keep her perfected makeup in tact.
Mal didn't have the heart to tell the girl that her mascara had already started to run.
Silence reclaimed the space between them, their eyes locked on the murky water far below their feet. Mal watched as the dark waves slapped against the barrier of the island, ricocheting off the stunning blue water that lingered just on the other side.
She attempted to fill her mind with the laments that had originally drawn her to the location, but found her thoughts wandering to the girl sitting a few feet beside her, instead. The mystery surrounding the situation was enough to convince Mal to indulge in the questions racing through her head.
"Why are you—?" Mal waved a hand vaguely at Evie's face, thankful when the blue-haired girl filled in the blank and answered almost immediately.
"Parent troubles. Same old, same old," Evie attempted to sound apathetic, as if the attitude could somehow erase the tears that had just been flowing freely from her eyes.
"Me too."
Their eyes met momentarily before Mal turned away, biting her bottom lip as she comprehended the information she was just given.
She wondered what Evil Queen could possibly have done to make Evie cry. After all, the woman only cared about makeup and beauty, and neither of which sounded too harmful.
Perhaps Evie was just weak— maybe all that time spent locked in a castle had turned her soft— but as the sniffling girl reached into her purse for a mirror to begin meticulously fixing her smearing makeup, Mal changed that opinion.
Because all Maleficent cared about was evil and world domination, and when she compared that to Evil Queen's obsessions, she figured that they weren't very different at all.
In the end, Maleficent and Evil Queen were both parents, desperate to turn their daughters into exact replicas of themselves. And that made Mal and Evie pretty similar as well; just two daughters, eager to please their moms, but cracking under the pressure that was being placed upon them.
And sure, Mal may not have been crying this time, but she could easily bring a few occasions to mind where her mother's yelling had caused her own eyes to spill from the disappointment in herself.
The idea that she wasn't the only one on the island fighting against an unloving parent preoccupied her thoughts, and by the time the silence was broken again, the sun was barely visible beyond the hills of Auradon.
"It's freezing out here." Evie's breath collected as a cloud in front of her as she spoke, her bare arms wrapping around her midsection in an effort to stay warm.
"You should go home, then. It's only going to get colder." Again, Mal's tone was neutral as she turned to look at the shivering girl.
Evie didn't respond, didn't look up from the ocean, and definitely didn't move to stand up. Mal couldn't blame her; she wasn't ready to face her mom yet either.
Still, Mal couldn't stand to see Evie huddled up in a tight ball— though she told herself it was simply because the blue-haired girl's incessant shaking was annoying— and she scooted closer, holding back an instinctual urge to roll her eyes.
She unzipped the main zipper on her jacket, pulling the sleeves off her arms, and gasping quietly at the cold air that immediately fanned over her exposed skin.
Mal held out the jacket for Evie to take, but the blue-haired princess only lowered her eyebrows in concern as her eyes landed on the offering.
"But you'll be cold," Evie said like Mal hadn't already realized.
"No, I won't," she affirmed, the goosebumps rising on her arms telling a different story.
"Mal, it's—"
"Take it before I change my mind." She shimmied closer until the two were inches apart, the leather jacket practically shoved into Evie's lap.
Evie paused momentarily, seemingly deep in thought before she tucked the magic mirror back into her bag, using her newly free hands to grasp the material and sling it around her shoulders. She didn't dare to thank Mal, but Mal wasn't expecting the gratitude anyway. Politeness wasn't taught on the Isle, though Mal would bet her next meal that Evie knew lots about it.
Silence reigned once more as the sun continued to slip past the horizon, blanketing the isle in a semi-darkness that told Mal her mother would be awaiting her arrival back to the castle, probably standing at the front door with one hell of a lecture on sneaking out prepared for her.
Her stomach soured at the thought, and after a few more minutes of considering the possibility, Mal couldn't stand the nervous anticipation any longer. She cleared her throat, pushing up from the bridge with the heels of her hands, only to be stopped by Evie's fingers wrapping around her wrist.
"Not yet."
Mal flinched at the sudden contact, green eyes flicking to the pleading brown ones beside her. Evie held her gaze unwaveringly, locking the two in a staring contest of sorts, much like the ones Maleficent and her daughter would find themselves a part of.
And just like how they ended with her mother, Mal was the first to look away from Evie with a huff of self-disapproval escaping her lips.
Because how was she supposed to say no to the girl?
Mal was evil— rotten to the core— but even she couldn't find enough malice inside herself to kick Evie when she was already down. Mal knew what that feeling was like and sharing that pain with others wasn't a notch that she wanted on her belt.
So, she relaxed against the bridge once more, vision locked on the setting sun as it fell further and further out of sight; the darkness it left behind turning the brown water to an ocean of black.
The grip on her wrist loosened, but never left it's place on her arm, and Mal didn't seem to mind the constant contact, despite how uncharacteristic it felt.
Mal watched as Evie's eyes fell shut, her chin tilting towards the starless sky with a deep inhale that Mal couldn't stop herself from mimicking.
The breath left their lungs in a simultaneous sigh before Evie glanced over to find that Mal was already looking. She offered the smallest of forced smiles and nodded solemnly.
"Okay."
Mal understood the context instantly and slid her hand from under Evie's, standing up to begin brushing the dirt from the back of her purple, ripped jeans.
Mal helped Evie to her feet, fully leading the blue-haired princess off the uneven bridge before untangling their fingers and allowing her hand to fall against her side.
The Isle was strikingly quiet in the early hours of the night, the only sounds to be heard coming from the distant clatter of Jafar locking up his Junk Shop and the soft tapping of Evie's heeled boots as they echoed through the empty alleyways.
As Bargain Castle began to make its appearance from behind a cluster of shanty shacks, Evie slowed her pace considerably, eyes glued to the dirt road at their feet.
She reached for the zipper of Mal's jacket, lip pouting slightly until the shorter girl cleared her throat, bringing brown irises back to green ones that probably looked as sympathetic as they ever would.
"Take it. You've got a longer walk than me. Just return it tomorrow." This time, her voice refused to stay neutral, dipping into a tone that Mal had never heard coating her voice; one that made her feel weak and empty. She could practically hear her mother yelling at her for being so selfless— "you'll never be evil if you spend your days helping others," she would say.
Mal felt torn in two as Evie's eyes lit up in gratitude, a meek smile spreading across the face of the girl Mal had always sworn to hate.
She forced as much of Maleficent's taunts from her mind as she could, flashing a small grin as she watched Evie disappear into the night, arms wrapped around the purple leather jacket clinging to her.
One act of charity couldn't erase years worth of evil coursing through the purple-haired girl's veins. (Or, at least, that's what she told herself.)
And Mal couldn't see any harm in one simple good deed, especially when the result was a smile so bright, she was sure it would permanently burn itself into her memories.
Mal trudged back to the castle, not bothering to speed up to escape the frigid air surrounding her. She didn't feel cold— couldn't feel cold— when the inside of her chest was filling with a new emotion. One that dispersed through her body, leaving every part of her feeling oh, so warm.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated!