(Evie)

Wind whipped relentlessly at her face and tangled her hair, and at one point she felt her tiara slipping from its place on her head but she didn't dare attempt to catch it, keeping her arms wrapped tightly around the thick neck of the dragon she rode on the back of. The dragon that happens to be the girl I'm in love with. It seemed strange, alarming even, because there was only one other person Evie knew of that could transform into a dragon, and she hadn't ever really considered the idea that more people possessed the shape-shifting ability. However, it was impossible to ignore now despite the feeling that her mind had left her as soon as everything turned down the worst possible path; she felt as though she couldn't think about anything, but thoughts bombarded her anyway, bouncing out of her reach before she could decipher any of the meanings.

The only thing that seemed to stick was the newly discovered knowledge that Mal wasn't only magic, but someone who could shift into a different form at any given time. She figured that should terrify her beyond belief – especially since the girl's second form was a dragon, of all things – but she wasn't scared; not of Mal at least. Why should I be? She just saved my life. Though she didn't understand most of what was happening right now she understood that; Mal had saved her. And not only that, but the girl hadn't hesitated to take the pain for herself, more willing to suffer herself than allow Evie to. Mal really was a wonder to this world, both good and evil, pure and tainted, and it was exactly what made her the best person the world had to offer. No, she wasn't a hero with constant pure intentions or a villain always craving to destroy the world; she was the most beautiful mix of both Evie had ever seen. Mal wasn't a hero and she wasn't a villain, she was just a girl who lived life how she wanted to, making decisions quickly whether they were simple or complicated, never worrying about what was considered the line between good and evil; and Evie decided that was exactly what this world needed.

When the wind lessened its attack Evie finally let her eyes open for the first time since she had been lifted into the air, and she watched cautiously as the ground grew closer as Mal tucked her wings into her sides and landed. We're back on the ground, Evie released the breath she had been holding; we're back on the ground. She didn't know if she had a distaste for flying, or if she was merely in shock, but it didn't matter in that moment; she was glad to be out of the sky. The large, heated body beneath her lowered as far as the girl could manage, and it took her a moment to realize what was expected of her. Slowly releasing her hold, Evie brought both her legs around to one side and closed her eyes again as she allowed her body to slide from the dragon's back, her legs buckling on impact with the ground. Before she could even fall the slightest bit something was there to straighten her, and when she looked over to figure out what it was she found herself looking into sea-green eyes, Mal having used her snout to keep her from crashing to the ground.

It took Evie a moment to realize that neither of them were being plagued by a disabling pain, and she glanced down at her necklace when she registered the constant low hum emitting from the red jewel in place of the shrieking pulse. The red glass was lit brightly, but it was a different light than anything she had ever seen coming from it before, and paired with the new sensation it gave her she realized that it wasn't shining with anger, but something else entirely. It's... happy?

Before she could do anything else a thick layer of green smoke distracted her, separating her from the dragon beside her and causing her to take a step back, and she instead ignored the necklace to watch as the smoke dissipated to reveal Mal standing in front of her in her human form. Her breath caught in her throat as her heart seemed to forget how to beat, and she found herself yearning to make everything better when she noticed the fear plastering Mal's eyes. At first, she thought Mal was worried about how she would react to finding out what she was, but the longer their gazes held each other she realized that it wasn't that at all, it was something completely different. A deeper look revealed that it wasn't fear swirling through sea-green eyes, it was disappointment; Mal was horrified with herself for keeping secrets. Evie understood, though, because being able to shift into a dragon wasn't exactly the kind of thing people would brag about in Auradon, not with the strict rules looming over the use of magic. Mal had no reason to feel terrible about not telling her about this, but she knew there was little she could do to stop her from feeling the way she did, that all she could do was reassure her that it didn't change a thing between them.

And so, when Mal's lips parted for the words ready to spill from them, Evie reached forward before the first word could mix with the air, grabbing hold of Mal's shoulders and enveloping her in the tightest embrace she had ever given someone.

(Mal)

Lying in bed that night, Mal had never felt more conflicted in her entire life, not even when she had been learning how to survive on her own, unsure of everything. Let me help you, M. That was all Evie had said after she had explained everything to her; the agency, the artifact, the mission. That was all Evie had said after Mal had told her she had been sent to protect her from the greedy hands of agencies, only to kill her and take her necklace back to the worst agency of them all. She hadn't just drug another person into her quickly growing disaster, she had drug the one person who was probably better off knowing nothing into a mess that would more than likely leave her unhealthily paranoid from now on, constantly afraid that her life would be stolen at any given moment. Part of her wondered if it was better this way, knowing that Evie deserved to know about the price on her head, but she couldn't stop herself from worrying what would happen now.

Everything had blown up around her today.

The weight of her secrets hadn't been meant for Evie's shoulders to bear, yet she had somehow managed to unload two of the worst ones onto them, pulling the girl not only into the stress of her mission, but also the mess of her life. Mal wasn't stupid; she knew Evie was intelligent enough to piece everything together. Still, she couldn't bring herself to admit out loud who her mother was, not directly. She knew it was only a matter of time before Evie knew everything, but she couldn't stand the idea of telling the girl where she came from because she didn't want her to know. It was a horrible way to feel, but she didn't care; she didn't want to know what would happen when everyone found out that she was the daughter of Maleficent. She didn't know much – only the whispers she had heard while growing up – but she had heard enough to know that Maleficent was considered the worst villain of them all, and the last thing she wanted was to be tied down by the things her mother had done. And though she knew Evie would never leave her she still feared the idea of the girl seeing her mother in her.

But nothing seemed to remain a secret in Auradon no matter how well protected it was, and she now wished she hadn't told Ben her mother claimed to be the Mistress of All Evil, praying that somehow he wouldn't recognize the title – though she knew it was nothing but wishful thinking.

The worst part was that she knew these worries of being seen as Maleficent's daughter stemmed solely from the fact that she found similarities between the woman and herself, and she couldn't seem to talk herself out of believing herself just as monstrous as her mother, if not more. That was her biggest fear; losing herself in her mother's shadow. She feared she already had with the way she harmed people without a second thought, the way she murdered without blinking. It hadn't bothered her before, but now she couldn't get rid of the gnawing feeling in her chest telling her that she wasn't any better than the woman Auradon viewed as the worst villain in all the land. Sure, she wasn't cursing entire kingdoms, but her mother hadn't murdered anyone with any of her evil schemes, while Mal couldn't remember how many lives she had already stolen. She couldn't even remember the faces of those she had struck down this morning, and though she hadn't known it before it had recently become obvious to her that murder was an everlasting haunting for any halfway decent person.

However, no matter how much these thoughts plagued her, they weren't the only nails clawing relentlessly at her mind.

Even as her fears struck her repeatedly she couldn't stop another question from finding its way to the front of her mind the same way it had that morning, her desire to know the answer slowly breaking her down. She wanted – no, she needed – to know what was going through the girl's head as they both lay awake in the dead of the night, sleep the farthest thing from their minds; and she swore she could feel Evie from across the room, swore she could feel her contemplating something. It wasn't only the girl's thoughts on what had happened in the woods that she wanted, it was her feelings about her in general, and though she knew it probably wasn't as important as it felt she couldn't help but crave the answer to the latter more; it was important to her, and she didn't care if it shouldn't be.

She was tired of waiting, tired of hoping she would figure this all out on her own; she needed Evie to reassure her that she wasn't insane for thinking there might be something deeper between them than friendship. And the longer she laid there staring at the ceiling the less she cared about hearing that she was nothing like her mother. It wasn't important to her in that moment, she could deal with it later, what she needed to know was how Evie felt about everything going on between them, and she hadn't gotten anywhere close to the answer on her own, not when the girl kept tucking emotions away in a place even Mal couldn't find. She knew it was only a matter of time before she lost all her restraint and the question poured out without any filtering again, so she figured there was no point in waiting for disaster to rain on her; she needed to do it on her own terms, not on the terms of the invisible force that often controlled her mouth when she was around the gorgeous princess.

Almost as if she had released her desires into the air carelessly, the sound of something sliding against sheets delicately brought her from her mind and back into the dark room her body was in, and when she shifted her gaze to the bed across from her she found her view blocked by a figure approaching her own. She watched every step Evie took, noticing that the girl wasn't the slightest bit hesitant in her movements as she pulled back the covers and lowered herself onto the mattress next to her, settling in on her side. Releasing a light breath, Mal rolled onto her side so that she was facing the older girl, tucking her arm underneath her head as she stared into red-brown eyes, waiting for Evie to speak first.

"Are you okay?" Evie asked in barely more than a whisper, eyes glazed with worry.

"I've been through this kind of thing more times than I can count," Mal replied, pushing passed the top layer of red-brown in search of the feelings she knew she would find. "How are you doing?"

Evie remained silent for a long moment, her left hand reaching into the space between them and beginning to manipulate the sheets, her eyes falling to watch the movement. Mal kept her gaze on the girl's face, studying every feature she could see, which happened to be most of them since she could see in the dark without struggle; the only features she couldn't see were due to the pillow pressing into one side of the girl's face.

"I'm only worried about you," Evie finally answered, bringing her gaze back up to meet Mal's. "I don't want to lose you, Mal."

The look shining in Evie's eyes tugged on something inside Mal's chest, and she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from turning upward in a relieved smile, her mind relaxing now that it had been clarified that Evie didn't think any less of her after today. Reaching forward, Mal slid her hand on top of Evie's, taking her time to memorize every bit of smooth skin she touched as she laced their fingers together under the sheets.

"You're not going to lose me," Mal reassured, hoping it wasn't a lie. "I'm going to stay right here and continue doing everything you don't want me to do."

A light laugh escaped Evie's lips at that, and she tightened her fingers around Mal's. "What happens the next time there's an attack?"

"I'll be better prepared," Mal answered honestly, still disappointed in herself for letting her guard break down in a way that endangered both of them. "I will never let anyone hurt you, my Princess."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of," Evie whispered brokenly, frantically searching Mal's eyes for something the younger girl knew she wouldn't find. "I'm afraid that you'll willingly sacrifice yourself to save me if it comes down to it."

No words were needed, so Mal simply nodded.

"Please, Mal, please promise me you won't throw away your life for me," Evie pleaded, untangling their hands to reach up and caress Mal's face.

"I promise I will do everything I can to keep both of us alive," Mal danced around the girl's wish, knowing she would be lying if she were to tell her what she wanted to hear. "But I can't promise you what you want me to, Evie, because I will always choose myself over you in that kind of situation. I'm not going to lie to you, but I am sorry that I can't make you happy."

She didn't want to see the tears she knew were filling beautiful eyes, so she reached out to flatten her palm against the girl's back and pull their bodies together, allowing Evie to bury her face in her neck. Slipping her other arm underneath the girl's body she held her tighter, feeling fingertips dig into the nape of her neck as hot breath tickled her collarbone. It wasn't long before Evie pulled back just enough to press her forehead against Mal's, using her grip on the back of her neck to guide her where she wanted.

"Don't you ever think that you don't make me happy, okay?" Evie spoke too loudly for how close they were, but Mal didn't mind, the amount of emotion and passion lacing the girl's voice taking her breath away. "I couldn't ask for anyone better to be by my side. You're brave, you're thoughtful, you're selfless, you're intelligent, and you're beautiful. I... You are amazing, Mal, please don't ever think less of yourself."

Everything Evie had just said were the things that Mal would hold onto whenever she felt like shattering, but at this time she could only focus on one thing; the small hesitation. I... You what, Evie? It was exactly what she had been hoping to figure out. Once again, Evie was holding something back, and Mal wanted to scream at the world to let her be sure of something for once instead of being left in bewilderment because the pieces were too challenging to place together. It broke her to know that there were things Evie wouldn't say, things she didn't trust her with, but she was determined to push that pain aside in order to gain the proper pieces to finally finish her puzzle.

Pulling away from Evie so she could look directly into her eyes, Mal didn't fight the question as her emotions and desires got a good hold of her. "Why do you do it?"

"What do you mean?" Evie questioned, eyebrows reaching toward each other to express her confusion with Mal's sudden question.

"You always shove down your feelings for my sake, for my health," Mal explained after releasing a deep breath that had been meant to settle her. "Why do you do it?"

A flicker of realization flashed through red-brown eyes, but Mal watched with difficulty as Evie immediately placed a cover over that section of her, effectively shutting her out. Why do you do that? Please, Evie, please let me in. She still wasn't used to being left in the dark when it came to how Evie was feeling, having had a talent of knowing the things rushing through the girl's veins from the beginning, but no matter how hard she tried, how much she pushed with her pleading eyes, she couldn't get into that part of Evie, and it was steadily crushing her under an unbearable weight.

"I don't..."

"Don't do that!" Mal exclaimed, not being able to control herself. It was all too much. "Don't do that," she repeated with a broken whisper.

"I..." Evie began, stopping herself when she seemed to think better of what she had been about to say. She reached up to thread her fingers in Mal's hair. "I can't explain it."

"Bullshit," Mal retorted, reaching up to grab hold of the hand tangled in her hair.

"What do you want me to say, Mal?" Evie asked in exasperation, fingers curling around Mal's as much as they could.

"I want you to say everything you feel, I want you to stop hurting yourself for my sake," Mal answered with just as much emotion coating her voice, praying that she didn't have everything entirely wrong, praying that this was more than just a fool's wish. "You've been holding something inside for a while and I can see that it's killing you. It's killing me too, Evie, to see you hurting yourself because you think it's what's best for me."

She felt like the world was completely against her, she felt like there was a force keeping her from finding everything she wanted, and she was tired of living this way; she was tired of living off the pathetic scraps that were handed to her. She wanted something real, something breathtaking. She wanted Evie. Don't I deserve something? Mal asked, shutting her eyes for a brief moment; please, world, please just let me be happy.

But her surety that everything was working against her only grew when all Evie did was shake her head, the simple movement a forceful blow on her heart. She let go of Evie's hand, gaze averting to the room over the girl's shoulder.

"It would make me selfish," Evie whispered, bringing her hand up so that her thumb could brush delicately over a prominent cheekbone. "And that's not how I want to live."

Mal lifted her gaze to meet Evie's again. "Everyone deserves to be selfish."

"You can't tell me to be selfish, Mal, you don't get to," Evie replied, voice low and quiet. "You don't get to tell me to be selfish when you would literally give your life to save me."

Broken, but understanding the girl's argument, Mal nodded, shooting forward to hide her face against Evie's chest as she closed her fingers around the back of the girl's shirt and held the material tightly. She felt lips press to the top of her head and fingers slide through her hair, and she shut her eyes again, breathing in the girl's scent and letting it fill every crevice of her senses.

All she had wanted was for the world to answer a single prayer, the one that could gift her with the one surety she needed the most. Apparently, it had been too much to ask for. Or maybe she had gotten everything entirely wrong, maybe she had learned to love herself enough to fool herself into believing someone else could love her, too. Maybe that was all there was to it.