Mal PoV

The flames surrounding the crumpled letter take over the paper that has consumed my waking days. The lights are off and it's the middle of the night but yet sleep does not come. I am beginning to fear it never will.

Aurora. This is the reason. The sweet letter explaining how she never blamed my mother for anything and how upset she was when she died. The words are real but the meaning seems off. I've kept the letter from everyone, even Ben. How can I explain something like that? I have been putting it off for so long that he is starting to get suspicious about everything so Im burning the evidence and hoping that he will just forget but I know that's wishful thinking. These things never quite go away. The secrets that I have been keeping are small in a sense but in my mind they take president. That will never change.

"Mal? What are you doing up so late?"

I twist and see Ben standing in the kitchen. My heart twists and I stand quickly, his shirt nearly coming down to my knees. Oh how I hate being short.

"Just thinking" I whisper, a pathetic excuse just escaping my lips.

"What where you burning and why?" he questions, stepping forward to get the answers he has been denied for so long.

"Im sorry" I whisper again as I beckon him over. He sits by me and looks at the burning piece of paper with confusion written on his face.

"Who is it from" he asks as I lean against him softly, trying not to fall asleep right there. Turns out when you are seconds away from spilling your secrets, sleep is an easy task. Wish I'd known that sooner.

"It's from Aurora. She sent her condolences and im thankful but I can't…I can't look at it any more. Whenever I try to make sense of it my stomach starts to turn and I feel sick and I..." I chock out and bury my face in Bens shoulder.

"It's ok. It's ok. I understand why you didn't tell me. Im just worried about you Mal." He comforts me as he talks and he helps me stand up. He puts the fire out and pulls me closer. The tears do not fall as we stand in a close embrace and I promise to myself that my grief ends tonight. My mother wouldn't want me to sit here for months on end.

"I have a meeting tomorrow" Ben says suddenly as he sits down on the sofa heavily, his head in his hands. I sit down next to him and take one hand from him, forcing him to look up and our tattoos intertwine us. I can't help but help notice how our positions had been switched.

"They wish to discuss my future in Auradon, providing that I go back. My parents are insisting that I do and take my proper place as crown price. My father won't be around forever and im the only legible heir. The palace will be given to another family and the kingdom will no longer have us as part of the royal families. This means everything to my parents, the kingdom they worked so hard for and I don't want to let them down but I do not wish to leave here" he says in a breath and turns to me.

"Or you" he finishes and kisses my forehead.

"If you could, would you come with me" he asks, seeming scared of the answer that he might get.

Could I leave the isle? My home for sixteen and the only world I have ever known. I couldn't leave. My family and my friends are here, my life is here. What can I do? I can't leave the isle but I can't watch him leave. My love is true for him and he has always been there for me, never once letting me suffer on my own. I have always yearned for my freedom, a chance to explore a world that has been concealed for so long. It is then that I am reminded of something that Evie said to me long ago

You can show everyone that we are not our parents-

This was it. It was our chance and I wasn't about to throw it away. I knew that this was the best thing not only for myself but for everyone here to.

"Yes"

At Maleficent's house (meeting in full swing)

Ben PoV

The shouting from the iPad is deafening as I pace around the corridor that I have been confined to. Much to Mals amusement, I have not been allowed in for a few hours and I am beginning to get restless. She seems rather calm but I know that she is nervous to. She brought a book along but has been unable to focus for a while now. I can't say that I blame her.

"Ben darling? They are ready for you and Mal now" my mother says softly as she could.

Mal stands up and takes my hand as we walk in to the living room. The room goes quiet as we enter. The royal council look at us and Queen Leah was the first to react.

"I hardly think it is appropriate to wear jeans and a tea-shirt to a formal meeting Benjamin and I don't recall inviting anyone else either" she hisses. I open my mouth to tell her off but Mal beats me to it.

"I hardly recall asking for your opinion your majesty and I hardly think it is appropriate to undermine the crown prices wishes. I was invited here by your superiors so I would advise you to stop talking about myself and Ben that way. He is not the boy you once knew him as" she says back in a calm manner.

"Couldn't have put it better myself Mal" I say and kiss her cheek as we sit down, making sure everyone on the council know of her position on the matters. Aurora gasps from behind her hands and speaks up.

"Mal? As in Maleficent's daughter" she says. Mal nods and she seems to know who she is.

"Hi Aurora. I am sorry that I haven't replied to your letters yet but im finding it hard to put the word son paper at the moment." She lies but Aurora seems to buy it.

"Im sure that you are all aware of Mals situation at the moment" she says stiffly and all the royals look up with guilt on their faces. They all look over to snow who is burning bright red. She pulled the article on Maleficent but the majority of people saw it, mal included. No snow white was not going to be involved in this decision.

"Im sorry for you loss" Queen Leah says awkwardly and Mal nods.

"I know that you and my mother do not have the best history but she always spoke very highly of your family. I hope that you will except both her apologies and mine for everything and know that she regrets her actions towards you" she says, stunning the room to silence.

It is a few seconds before Aladdin speaks up.

"So when can we expect you"

They think of that day fondly as the step out of the limo, towards the flashing lights and reporters, ready to start a new chapter of their lives.