Ben sat in the coffee shop nervously nursing a hot chocolate. Mal walked in and ordered a coffee. When she drank the first sip, she was shocked that it didn't taste like mud. And she didn't like the taste. She just put it on the table. Ben smiled. "Not a great taste is it?"
"not like home. Not great at all. Don't get me wrong, coffee at home was way worse, but it was all there was."
"Try this." He offered her his hot chocolate.

"much better." She just sipped it a little, before she had the guts to ask her question. "I need an honest answer from you. What went through your mind when the spell washed off?"
"Mal?"
"I want to know honestly why you didn't get mad about it." Ben thought back to that day.

As he entered the water, it didn't hit him at first. Then as he came up to the surface and broke the water, it flooded over him. Why was he there, and where was…Mal? It all came back to him, the cookie, the song, their date. And he was furious. He looked over at her, and could see her face…she was sitting there on the stone platform, just staring into space. She was truly beautiful. And then the last thing he said to her before inviting her to swim. "I can look into your eyes and see that you aren't evil." And he thought about those eyes, those beautiful green eyes. The green eyes were the same as the ones in his dream. They weren't evil, just lost. He remembered the times before the cookie that he looked into those same green eyes. When they first met, their gaze lingered longer. When she was at her locker and he offered to get her into art classes. And when she gave him that cookie. And he decided to help her find herself. He was just about to swim around a little longer, when he heard her voice..it grew louder and more panicked. He swam towards it worried she was in trouble. He heard the splash, and then….flailing. 'Crap that's why she didn't want in….she can't swim."

"Mal I did get mad, at first. But then I remembered the look on your face, in your eyes when I told you that I didn't see evil in them, and I meant it. Then you were calling to me, the distress in your voice, scared me and I swam back as fast as I could. Then you were in the water, almost drowning, because you needed me. And well, I knew I was right, you weren't evil. So when we got settled back on the platform, I had to ask you if you loved me, because I knew I did love you, even without the cookie. I knew I loved you before you gave me that cookie. Your answer was so honest, so vulnerable, I knew I had made the right choice asking you over here, and better still eating the cookie. The cookie that actually saved me." He laughed and she looked at him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"so my almost drowning was what kept you from yelling at me?"

"No. not at all. I was only mad for an instant, then I thought better of it. I have never doubted you. Even after hearing you were after the wand. I always had fate that you would listen to your heart. It just took you a little longer to realize that you were safe here. That well your parents couldn't get you here."
"Other than Jane's little mistake."
"Yes, well…"
"Which was my fault too. If I hadn't done the hair growth spell on her…"
"Jane wouldn't have had the confidence to stand up and grab it. Mal, Jane has changed so much for the better, since she met you. Yes, she made a mistake, but it wasn't just what you said to her that made her think she needed to change her looks to win friends. It had built up for years. The way other kids at school have always treated her did way more to her belief system that your little spell did. Your spell actually gave her the confidence to be brave. You did a good thing for Jane."
"I guess….but…"
"I swear to you I was mad all of a minute if that. We can…go there and prove it if you'd like."
"No, I trust you." Mal smiled, and kissed the tip of his nose.

Neither noticed their entire conversation was recorded, not only by their guard but by another. They finished sharing his hot chocolate and held hands as they headed back to their rooms. Ben kissed Mal good-night and left her at her room.