To answer some questions asked in the reviews;

-I don't have any plans to have Mal get wings or horns, nor to go visit the moors (not even sure if those exist within the Descendants universe), but she may turn into a dragon again at some point.

-In this story, Ben does have the ability to turn into a beast, not sure yet when to implement that.

A big thank you to everyone who's been keeping up with the story and for the reviews.

Please leave a review if you feel like it, I appreciate all feedback.

Don't be afraid to ask any questions, I always reply.

Chapter 10: Love

"Yes." Mal said.

Ben's thoughts, which had basically been spinning out of control ever since he got down on one knee, came to a grinding halt. For a second, he could hardly comprehend where he was, or what time it was. It was as if everything around him had been blurred, and only Mal and the ring in his hand were still clearly visible.

Had he just heard that correctly? Did she say yes?

"W-what?" He stuttered.

"Yes." Mal repeated, still somewhat breathless and both her hands clutched to her chest.

"Yes?" Ben asked loudly, his heart now starting to flutter.

"Yes!" Mal replied, a tearful smile now appearing on her face.

A loud cry of happiness escaped Ben's throat as he jumped up in his celebration, engulfed Mal in a tight embrace, and spun her around.

"Oh my god, Yes!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Mal, who had yelped in excitement when Ben picked her up, now started sobbing uncontrollably as she pressed her head to Ben's shoulder.

Ben gently took her face in his hands and looked into her tearful, but happy eyes. Without another thought in his head, Ben pressed his lips to Mal's and kissed her fiercely. Mal eagerly replied, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

For Ben, this seemed to go on for hours, and it wouldn't have mattered to him if it actually did. He felt his heart beating uncontrollably in his chest, unable to contain the massive amounts of pure happiness flowing through his veins.

When they finally separated, all that both of them could do was look into each other's eyes, breathing heavily. Mal still had tears streaming down her face, but all Ben could do was smile broadly. For weeks this had been the moment he had prepared for, and now he was finally here. Mal had said yes. She had said yes! Ben literally felt like he couldn't be happier.

"Yes?" He asked again, just to be certain.

"Yes!" Mal loudly exclaimed for the fourth time, a large smile now also appearing on her face.

Instead of hugging her again, Ben gently grabbed Mal's right hand. He saw his own signet ring around her index finger and was happy to see him provide yet another ring to adorn her hand.

He took the engagement ring out of its box and slowly slid it onto Mal's ring finger. It fit perfectly, not a surprise considering that Dizzy knew Mal's exact measurements. Both of them took a second to admire the ring in the moonlight, which only made the purple and green diamonds shine all the brighter.

"It's beautiful." Mal said before her voice stocked. "My god, Ben, it's beautiful."

She once again put her arms around his neck and once again embraced him tightly. Ben hugged her back, the excitement and ecstasy he had felt right after Mal accepted his proposal was now replaced with a deep feeling of both content and accomplishment. He had finally done it, this was it. This was the beginning of the rest of their lives, which they would now spend together. Mal was his, and he had no trouble with letting everyone in the kingdom know.

Suddenly, sound was heard from all around them. Ben looked up and saw all the fairies he had invited cheer and applaud loudly, their shrill voices creating a buzzing atmosphere.

"They appear to be happy." Mal said with a smile, as she also looked up at the dozens of golden flecks in the night sky.

"You just became their queen, they have every right to be." Ben replied.

Ben saw a look of fear appear in Mal's beautiful green eyes as she once again looked up at the fairies.

"What if I let them down?" She softly said, so that only Ben could hear her.

Ben briefly kissed her on the lips. "You won't, you will be great."

"How do you know?" She asked, the panic now clearly visible. "What if I screw up, and I end up making things worse for people?"

"Do you actually want to make things worse for people?" Ben asked.

Mal looked perplexed. "Of course not."

"Then you'll do great. Your intentions are good and that's what counts. If you slip up, I know you will try your best to do right for the people, and I will always be there at your side." Ben told her.

Mal appeared to breathe a big sigh of relief before a broad smile reappeared on her face. "I will do whatever I can, Ben. I want what's best for the kingdom."

"You are what's best for the kingdom, we couldn't possibly ask for a better queen." Ben replied.

Mal looked back up at the fairies. "Not everyone is gonna think that way."

"You can never have everyone like you. There are plenty of people out there who still don't want me on the throne." Ben admitted.

"Yeah, but at least you are the son of Belle and Adam, you know, the good guys. Look at my family." Mal confided.

Ben looked into Mal's eyes. "You know as well as me that you are not your mother, not even close. If anyone is too stupid to see that then we'll try our hardest to change their minds."

"How?" Mal asked.

"For starters, by putting our all into ruling a peaceful and prosperous kingdom." Ben said.

Mal put her face in her hands. "Ugh, it's gonna be so much work." She complained.

Ben laughed. "You bet, you have another thing coming if you thought you had a busy schedule as 'lady of the court'."

Mal put her head on Ben's shoulder. "Please tell me you're not serious."

Ben kissed her head. "Well, it can get really busy, and demanding. But it's worth it, when you get to see all the good you can do for the people."

Mal suddenly gasped. "The kids! Oh my god, Ben! We can do so much more for the kids from the isle!"

Ben smiled. "Exactly! See, you're already taking others into consideration."

Mal went on. "W-we can build an entire new school for them, and the Auradon kids as well of course. Right next to Auradon prep I mean, that way we will be able to spend more time together!"

"Easy, easy." Ben said as he put his hands on Mal's shoulders. "We'll have plenty of time to think about those things after the wedding."

Mal's eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh my god! The wedding! There's gonna be a wedding!?"

"Well, yeah. That's a pretty common occurrence when two people get married." Ben replied.

Mal grasped Ben's collar and shook him violently. "Oh my god, Ben! The wedding! We have so much to do!"

"Easy! Easy!" Ben repeated, this time a bit louder. "We have plenty of time."

"But there is so much to do!" Mal repeated as she pulled on Ben's collar with more strength.

Ben turned to the fairies, who were still hovering around in the air, and made a small gesture with his head to signal that he would like to have some alone time with Mal. The fairies all made miniscule bows and disappeared into the tree line. This did mean that it was suddenly a lot darker, with Ben and Mal now only being illuminated by the moonlight.

Ben looked Mal in the eyes. "Don't trouble yourself so much, there's nothing to be worried about." He reassured her.

"B-but I've never even been to a wedding before, how am I supposed to organize one?" Mal asked fearfully.

"You won't be alone. I will be there, my parents will be there. Jane will probably demand to have a place amongst the organizing committee as well. And you'll get to pick out a maid of honor who'll pretty much do all the work." Ben explained.

"A-a maid of honor?" Mal exclaimed.

"Yes, and I believe that you might already have the perfect candidate picked out for you." Ben replied.

"Evie." Mal said.

"Of course! I'd wager that she's secretly been planning our wedding for a while already." Ben guessed.

Mal suddenly looked back up, the stressful look replaced by a more pervasive one. "Ben? Did Evie already know that you wanted to propose to me?"

Ben's head became as red as a beet, and he started stammering. "E-ehm, why do you think that?"

"A short while ago, when I just came back to Auradon prep, Evie suddenly started asking questions about our relationship and about us getting married. What did she know?" Mal asked as she crossed her arms.

"Ehm, well. Okay Mal, please don't be upset, but I told the others that I was going to propose to you." Ben explained.

"You did what!?" Mal exclaimed.

"Wait! Mal, wait! I only told them because I wanted to ask them, well, I wanted to ask them for your hand, Mal." Ben replied.

Mal looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that, in Auradon it's tradition for the groom to ask permission of the bride's family to marry her. Now, I know that you don't have any family apart from, you know…" Ben began.

"Mom." Mal finished.

"Exactly, so I did the next best thing. I asked Evie, Jay and Carlos, your other family." Ben told her.

Mal looked lost for words for a second, but then shook her head and looked back into Ben's eyes. "Y-you asked them for permission?"

"Yes." Ben replied.

"And what did they say?" Mal asked.

Ben smiled. "They gave their permission. They believe in us, Mal."

Mal looked at her feet, but Ben saw a small smile creep up on her face. "Those sentimental jerks." She mumbled.

Ben smiled but felt the need to come forward with some more information. "There are actually some more people who knew."

"What? Who?" Mal asked.

"Ehm, well, mom and dad knew. I wanted their input." Ben began.

"Okay, I can understand that." Mal replied.

"Then there was Doug, Jane, Lonnie, Jordan and, oh, Freddie. They were also there when I made the announcement to the others." Ben continued.

"Okay." Mal said, a bit less certain.

"Then there was, ehm, Archer. I really valued his council on this, I guess he told the rest of the troop as well, so they probably know too." Ben went on.

Now Mal's look darkened a bit. "Is there anyone else who knew about my engagement before me?"

Ben gulped. "Ehm, actually… Audrey might have been listening in when I told Archer, so she might know as well."

"Ben!" Mal exclaimed in an accusing tone. "Really? I was the last person at school to know of my own engagement?"

Ben groaned. "Come on sweetie, you weren't literally the last person to know about it. I only talked about it with some people to, ehm, you know, get multiple viewpoints."

"Get multiple viewpoints?" Mal asked incredulously. "What does that even mean?"

Ben inhaled deeply. "Look, I wanted to marry you. I was sure of that, but I did feel as though I needed permission from your family to do so, which is why I asked Evie, Jay and Carlos."

"I know that, but the rest? Ben, isn't this supposed to be a special thing between us?" Mal pleaded.

"Yes, but it still is. I haven't told anyone of how or when I was going to propose. This, this night is all for you, and all about you. It's always been you." Ben replied.

Mal's resolve seemed to disappear right at that moment, as her shoulders sagged, and an involuntary smile appeared on her face.

"Damn you and your words and all." She said.

Ben grinned. "I love you."

"Love you too." Mal replied, and the two kissed yet again.

Ben felt his stomach rumble, which was logical since he and Mal hadn't had dinner yet even though it was pretty much nearing midnight.

"Ehm, how about we head back to school? I'm actually getting quite hungry." Ben proposed.

Mal sighed loudly. "I thought you'd never ask, I'm starving."

Ben grinned and grabbed Mal's hand as they gathered their things and headed back.

Ben never let go of Mal's hand during their journey back, unable to stop looking at the new ring on her finger every once in a while.

"You're really proud of yourself, aren't you?" Mal asked when they neared the bridge.

"The ring just looks really good on your finger, I can pat myself on the back for that." Ben shrugged.

"It really does look good, doesn't it?" Mal said as she admired the ring herself. "How does it look with my eyes?" She followed up and she put her hand next to her eyes.

"Beautiful." Ben truthfully replied.

"And my hair?" Mal continued.

"Beautiful." Ben repeated.

"And what about my…" Mal began before Ben hugged her from behind.

"Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Beautiful and perfect, just like you." He whispered in her ear.

"Perfect? That's a big word." Mal said.

"But perfectly applicable." Ben replied.

Mal stopped walking across the bridge as she hugged Ben back. "Well, you're quite a good guy as well."

Ben grinned. "Good to know that my future wife has at least some respect left for me."

Mal looked up at Ben. "I'm gonna be your wife…" She slowly exclaimed.

"Yes, yes you will." Ben said, slightly uncertain. He still didn't know if or when his actions would provoke Mal into another panic attack. These had mostly occurred when large changes happened, or he had somehow put Mal under too much pressure. For this reason, he had vowed to always take things slow and careful with Mal and to always look out for her best interests. "You're not scared, are you?" He asked.

Mal's eyes widened. "No, I don't think so. You and me, getting married, it just feels… right, you know?"

Ben smiled, grabbed Mal's hand and placed it on his heart. "My heart says it does."

"And we should always listen to what your heart has to say." Mal said with a smile.

Ben gently squeezed Mal's hand. "Is this really happening? I'm not having, like, the best dream ever?"

Mal shrugged. "I wouldn't know, I'd just be a figment of your imagination."

Ben laughed. "Come on, please tell me this is real!"

"It is! It is." Mal reassured him. "Ben, we're gonna get married."

"We're going to get married." Ben replied.

A gust of wind breezed past them, making Mal's purple locks dance around her face. Ben never understood how she could just always astound him with her beauty. He did know that he couldn't care less.

"Come on, let's get back. I don't know about you, but I'm still hungry." Ben proposed.

"Same here." Mal replied as she started walking again.

Ben followed her down the bridge, the occasional sparkle showcasing the ring around his girlfriend's, no wait, his fiancé's finger.

Ben again started feeling ecstatic, he was eager to show everyone in the kingdom that Mal would be his future wife.

"Do you think everyone is asleep?" Mal whispered as she and Ben headed up Auradon prep's porch.

"Probably, it's quite late." Ben softly replied.

"Good, I don't really want everyone to find out already. It would probably take until dawn for us to get some sleep." Mal confessed.

"I hear you." Ben agreed.

"So, where can we get our food?" Mal asked as she softly opened the door into the school.

"In the kitchen, we'll be able to warm something up there." Ben answered.

"Amazing, so a warm-up meal will be our first meal as betrothed?" Mal asked with a grin.

Ben shrugged. "If you would rather grow famished, be my guest."

"It's fine." Mal replied as she grabbed Ben's hand and headed for the kitchen.

"Do you think they fixed the door already? From Archer's blast, you know?" Mal asked.

"No idea, I would guess so though." Ben replied.

They continued walking through the dark halls of Auradon prep, not a soul in sight. When they turned the final corner, Mal almost ran into someone heading in the opposite direction. Both Mal and the other person yelled in surprise as they startled each other.

"Evie!?" Mal exclaimed.

Ben looked around his fiancé and indeed saw Evie standing in the hallway, her hand clutched to her chest and an open box with a plethora of cookies spilling out on the floor.

"What are you doing here?" Mal asked.

"I just finished baking these cookies, but now they're ruined, so thanks for that." Evie complained.

"Why are you here so late though?" Ben asked.

"The kitchen was occupied for the entire evening. The staff said something about having to keep a meal prepared. They only left about an hour ago." Evie explained.

"Yeah, that might be my fault. It told them to keep a meal waiting for Mal and I." Ben said.

"Ooh, how did your date go?" Evie asked, her interest in the cookies suddenly forgotten.

"Ehm, good. We just ran a bit late eventually." Mal explained, failing to keep her tone casual as her cheeks also started burning up.

Evie, as nosy as she is, noticed this immediately and Ben saw that her eyes quickly flashed down to Mal's right hand, the hand where her engagement ring sparkled brightly.

Evie gasped loudly, putting her hands in front of her mouth.

Both Mal and Ben were startled by Evie's sudden reaction but said nothing to arouse any suspicion.

"What's wrong, E?" Mal asked.

"You didn't care to mention that!?" Evie shrieked as she pointed to Mal's hand.

"What?" Mal asked, failing miserably to hide the ring under her other hand.

Evie pulled Mal's hand off the ring and shrieked again, basically loud enough for the entire school to hear her.

"You said yes! You said yes!" She screeched as she enthusiastically started jumping up and down, not letting go of Mal's hand.

"Evie, please!" Mal begged. "Keep it down a bit."

"But… Oh my god! This is huge! You're getting married! This-ehm… Ooh, and you! Mal! Ben! We… Oh my god, your dress! We can… Oh my god!" Evie ranted, unfortunately not quieting down for any second of it.

"Evie, please calm down!" Ben urged.

When Evie continued rambling, Mal simply put her hand over her mouth, effectively shutting her up.

"Evie! Listen!" Mal commanded.

Evie nodded underneath Mal's palm.

"Yes, Ben and I are getting married. We will tell everyone tomorrow, but it's really late now and we haven't even had dinner yet, so can you please let this be? Just for tonight." Mal begged.

Evie looked at both Mal and Ben with pleading eyes, obviously eager to literally shout the news from the roof tops. Mal slowly removed her hand from Evie's mouth nonetheless.

"Guys, I'm so happy for you." Evie said heartfelt.

"Thank you." Mal replied with a smile. "We're quite excited ourselves."

Mal looked at Ben and smiled. Ben smiled back and leaned in for a kiss, which Mal happily reciprocated.

"I'm sorry guys, I can't help it." Evie suddenly said.

Before either Ben or Mal could do anything, Evie made her loudest shrieking sound to date. It was more like a scream.

Both Ben and Mal grabbed Evie and effectively silenced her again.

"Evie! Really!?" Mal exclaimed, obviously annoyed.

Ben knew that the damage had been done. Above him, he heard the loud, rumbling noise of footsteps walking in the hallway. Evie's scream had alerted other students, who would undoubtedly come downstairs to investigate.

"Get ready Mal." He said. "We may have some explaining to do."