Jane was used to not being noticed, and even more used to being overshadowed by more beautiful girls.

She told herself that it was all right, that anyone could be beautiful under the right circumstances (read: magic). Besides, with her near-terminal shyness, it was better not to draw attention. She didn't need boys fawning over her when her mother would only say that she was too young to date. She didn't need to spend hours a day on her appearance, or friends who only liked her for how she looked.

But that was before High School.

Before Auradon Prep, before she was surrounded by girls who turned beauty into an art form, who had been pampered and prettied-up almost since birth. Before boys who flirted with anything human-shaped and breathing didn't give her so much as the time of day, let alone a second glance. Before her mother gave up the pretence that she was merely waiting until Jane matured before teaching her magic, and sat the younger fae down for a long, thoroughly hypocritical talk about setting an example by forsaking magic, even for the smallest of things.

She might as well have advocated for Jane to cut her own arm off!

The legendary Fairy Godmother got to glamour her hair brown, because there was no dye strong enough to colour it. She got to use her magic for coronations and blessings at royal births. She had created the barrier around the Isle of the Lost, and used magic to sustain it. Other Fae acted as Godparents and used their magic passively to maintain the blessings given to princes and princesses; beauty, strength, talent, courage, kindness (though Jane had seen little of the latter two).

Jane was the first Fae who would never get to use her magic, or even be taught how.

She had found herself unable to even form the words to protest, to give voice to her fury, and for the first time, she understood how a wronged Fae could bring themselves to curse a kingdom for an insult.

She barely heard the rest of what her mother was saying. Be modest and demure, even if it makes you look like a bizarre cross between a little girl and someone's grandmother. Don't offer decided opinions; a Fae couldn't be seen to be taking sides. Don't offend the children of Royalty and Heroes; some of their parents have the power to make life very uncomfortable. Dye your hair, hiding the natural shimmering white, because you need to blend in.

A small part of Jane knew that her mother was just being protective; aware of the scrutiny they were under. That didn't make it any easier to bear.

By the time Prince Ben made his first proclamation, bringing the children of the Isle of the Lost over, Jane was ready to crawl out of her skin.

The only thing that stopped her was the thought that she would no longer be alone. Maleficent's daughter (and wasn't that a surprise - everyone had expected that Diaval would return to being a Raven on the Isle... if he was even the father) had grown up on the Isle, without magic, cut off from her birthright the same way Jane was. Perhaps they could become friends as Jane helped her adjust.

Jane watched from the background, invisible as ever, as Mal and Evie stepped from the car. Evie was possibly the most beautiful person Jane had ever seen (Audrey was already scowling), elegant and graceful, but Jane's eye was drawn to Mal.

Brilliantly purple hair, inhumanly-fair skin and cheekbones just a little too prominent to be fully human marked her heritage as one of the Wild Fae, rather than the soft roundness of Jane and her mother, characteristic of Wishing Fae. Mal looked around her, commanding and unashamed of her heritage, fitting into the crowd the last thing on her mind. An air of power and authority hung around her like a cape, demanding attention.

She was everything that Jane had always wished she could be, without magic. How much of it came from being the daughter of a powerful Fae, and how much of it instinctively Mal, though? As desperate as she was to be able to use magic, to be beautiful, Jane didn't want her happiness to come at the expense of someone else.

Well, Jane would need time to work up the courage to approach Mal in the first place. She had time to consider her internal crisis while she did that.

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Fairy Godmother is a popular figure, and you'd think people would be nice to Jane on that alone, so I wanted to give some backstory on why Jane felt so lonely and isolated. A change of hair isn't enough to make Jane cling to Mal so quickly, so I wanted to give them more to bond /

Next chapter will be a bit of backstory for Doug.