Carlos weaved his way through the crowd. He had to see for his own two eyes to be sure…and he was. Una was really there, in Auradon. Her typical outfit of a lilac blouse and long dark purple skirt was dirty and worn while her wavy chestnut hair was tangled with mud and leaves. Despite this, she still managed to look attractive and he could see more than a few of the guys ogling her. Una had always strived to look her best, even in the conditions they lived in and her preferred method of getting around the Isle. That thought reminded Carlos of the day they'd met.
Carlos was running from his mother's house. He'd been fixing one of her many coats when there had been a malfunction with the sewing machine; it had just started to spark and the coat had been irreparably damaged. Knowing how mad his mother would be, rather than face the brunt of her anger there and then, Carlos decided to escape before she'd found out. Of course he'd have to return eventually, but hopefully once she'd had a chance to cool off.
It didn't take long for his mum to come looking for him. Even though she hated dogs, Carlos would swear she had a nose like one, managing to chase him no matter which way he turned. Normally when Carlos wanted some time away from home he'd stay with one of his friends but he knew that would be the first place his mother would come looking for him. Their parents wouldn't bother to lie for him either; most likely they'd delight in knowing he was going to be horribly punished. Therefore, he had to find somewhere different.
She was catching up to him, he could tell. His mum's voice had always been louder than average and right now it was screaming his name as she rampaged through the streets. She was nearly upon him when a small hand darted out and pulled him stumbling into an alleyway.
"Follow me," whispered his saviour, which Carlos could just make out was a girl around his age, one who was vaguely familiar. She led him further down the alleyway, stopping by a manhole and picking up the cover. She looked at him expectantly.
Carlos recoiled in disgust. "I can't go down there, it's-"
"CARLOS!"
"Down I go."
Carlos climbed down the ladder and landed in the murky water below, closely followed by his rescuer. With the cover replaced, Carlos could barely see anything but the girl seemed to have no problem, striding through the dank area with ease. She didn't even seem bothered by the revolting smell that had Carlos covering his nose with his hood.
"So you're Cruella De Vil's kid, huh?" She asked and Carlos nodded, shaking slightly from the chill.
"Carlos. And you're Una right? Ursula's daughter? Mal's mentioned you." She'd done more than mention her, for they absolutely hated each other (Carlos hadn't quite figured out why yet), but he didn't want to antagonise the girl who for some reason had saved him.
"She has, has she? I suppose that makes sense since she believes we have a rivalry going on."
"So you don't?"
Carlos didn't need to see to know she was grinning. "Oh, we do. I just don't want her thinking that I would give her the time of day to even consider having a rivalry with her."
"…Okay." Carlos didn't bother to say anymore, since he didn't want to insult Mal – the closest person he had to a friend along with Jay and Evie. "Why do you guys hate each other?"
"Isn't that the way of the Isle? Trust no one, be hateful and rotten?" Una asked and Carlos hmm'ed in response. He had a feeling if he wasn't on the Isle then he'd have no reason to keep up with the whole evil thing.
Una carried on in his silence. "Well, I may have disrupted this heist Mal had planned. She wanted my mother's shell necklace and I stopped her. I don't think her mother has quite forgiven her for that failure. Since then, Mal has determined to make my life miserable and vice versa. After all, can't have people thinking I'm weak now, can I?"
That was right. If you were weak, you didn't survive long on the Isle. Carlos had learnt that the hard way when he was little.
"So why did you help me then? You know I'm friends with Mal."
"Let's just say I need a break from evil occasionally, and it never hurts to have a few allies. You never know when you may need them. Plus, any chance to annoy Cruella can't go unexploited, she is extremely annoying."
"You've got that right," Carlos snorted. Annoying was too kind a word for his mother.
They continued through the sewers, Carlos following the vague outline of Una, and was surprised Una would even consider walking around here. Then again, she was the sea-witch's daughter and this was the only place with a lot of water – although dirty. Personally, Carlos didn't think he'd be doing it often, especially when something slid past his feet.
There weren't many animals on the Isle and Carlos had heard about the ankle-biters from his mum so that's what his brain automatically assumed they were, causing him to muffle a shriek of terror. To his embarrassment, Una noticed but instead of mocking him like a villain should, she just began to sing. Carlos had heard about Ursula's talent with voices and so he was convinced Una's had to have been stolen. It was incredible. Even though there couldn't have been any magic at play, Una's voice managed to calm him through the rest of their trip until she stopped at the bottom of another manhole.
"That was…wow," Carlos praised.
"Feel special, I only do that occasionally," she winked.
"You should definitely do it more."
"Mother says our voices have special powers. Maybe not here on the Isle, but on the outside. In case of the chance we escape, I can't have anyone knowing about it. Best to keep these things a secret. You won't tell anyone, will you?"
Carlos promised to keep her secret and he did, not even telling Mal, Evie or Jay. What he couldn't keep secret was him hanging out with her a lot more after that and even considering her close to a friend, not that either of them said the word. Mal had been livid, as expected, and Evie and Jay had as well out of loyalty, though they weren't as insistent as Mal that he stop seeing her. None of them liked it though but it was the one thing Carlos was determined to not be bullied about and he hadn't regretted his decision since.
"Una!" Carlos yelled, getting the girl's attention. She turned to Carlos with wide eyes, her mouth forming a grin.
"Carlos!" She cried and brushed past a startled Ben to get to him. Automatically, he hugged her which caused her to stiffen. Living in Auradon had shown him he really liked hugs and he'd forgotten that Una had probably never experienced one before. He released her apologetically.
"Oops, sorry."
Una waved the apology away. "It's ok. It's so good to see you!"
"You too, but what are you doing here? You shouldn't have been able to get past the barrier."
Ben stepped forward. "I'd also like to know that." Although Ben was trying to come across as friendly and inviting, Carlos could see the underlying worry. A villain's kid should not have been able to get here without invitation.
"Well, when the barrier broke, mum told me this was my chance to go. She's pretty sick and was worried what would happen to me if she got worse. Even though I hadn't learnt how to swim, mum said it was in my blood and I'd make it to the shore. I was worried, since the gaps supposed to be un-swimmable but mum was right – I picked it up right away. I landed on the coast and thought since you'd already taken in some villain's kids, this would be the place to head towards, although that was hard since I had no directions, though people did point me in the right direction occasionally. I'd hoped since you'd accepted the others you might be able to accept me too? I hated the Isle, I want the chance to live here instead and become good."
"Oh that's a load of crap." Mal shoved past students to reach Ben. "She's lying! She wanted to be bad just like I did. I don't believe you're here to learn to be good. What do you want? What's your crazy mother put you up to?"
Una scowled and Carlos would have stepped between the two except Ben beat him to it.
"Mal, honey." He put a hand on Mal's elbow while she looked past him to glare at Una. "We'll look into this, get Fairy Godmother involved, but you used to want to be bad too and that's not the case anymore. We ought to give the same chance to…Una, was it?"
Una nodded, smiling at Ben in a way she knew would antagonise Mal. Carlos nudged her to get her to stop.
"I don't like this," Mal stated, giving Carlos a displeased look and Ben sighed.
"We'll talk later but right now I need to help get Una sorted, get her some new clothes and stuff. Will you be alright while I'm gone?"
Mal turned her infamous glare on Ben and without answering, spun around and stormed through the path in the crowd that had parted for her. Evie and Jay followed her, but not before Jay gave Carlos a questioning look – 'aren't you coming with us?'
"You'll help me get settled in, right Carlos? It's just, you're the only one I really know here," Una chimed in his ear, tearing Carlos in half. Did he go with his best friends or stay with the girl who at this moment had no one? He bit his lip and hoped he'd made the right decision.
"I'll stay with you Una."
Thank you for the favourites and follows. Let me know what you think.
