Mal and Evie were both seated on Mal's new couch, relaxed there together as they tried to make it further through Jumaji. However, they weren't doing much better than last time, because they both were nearly asleep as Evie rested her head on Mal's stomach. Mal was gently stroking Evie's ears, rubbing them softly as she barely kept awake.
Evie's eyes were shut in pure contentment, enjoying her best friend's touch as she relaxed.
Evie was so unbelievably glad to be back with her sister. Her tail had been in a constant, never-ending wag since they had left the shelter. Ben and Uma were there to greet her and Mal as soon as she walked out of the back.
Ben had let her lick his face- Mal and Evie shared a conspiratorial wink at the fact that Evie had done it purely of her own will and not of the dog's, a sort of inside joke between them after the admission about the garbage hamburger- and Uma had knelt down and actually hugged Evie before attempting to blow it off with something about not being outdone by Ben.
And it had been so nice to see everyone that evening when Jay's Tourney game was over and Audrey, Jane, and Carlos were back from school. Harry and Gil had finally come over, but only after Uma had given Harry a stern fussing.
Everyone was so absolutely relieved to see her safe and at home. Jane had immediately hugged her in a suffocating grip, almost falling into tears at seeing her back. Audrey had fussed over her for a long time, and she had even giggled when the dog's impulses slipped through and caused her to lightly lick the tip of Audrey's nose. Jay and Carlos had scratched and petted her for a long time. Harry and Gil had even offered some pets for her.
Eventually, everyone, even Ben, had left Mal and Evie to spend some quality time together. And they had taken full advantage of the situation, immediately relaxing on that silly new couch.
All was well in their world at this moment.
Except for the fact that neither Jane, Carlos, nor Audrey had managed to find the spell book anywhere at the school. But that was the least of the two's worries as they were just enjoying one another's company.
However, a sudden knock interrupted them quickly. Mal jumped a bit beneath Evie and Evie raised her head up to look at the door, her brow furrowing curiously. Mal shared a glance with the dog, and she scooted out from underneath Evie as she got up.
Mal headed for the door, opening it and her eyes widening as she beheld the last person she expected to see at her front door.
It was Celia Facilier, standing there before her with an exceedingly guilty expression on her face as she looked at the faerie.
"Celia? What brings you here?" Mal questioned, totally confused as she looked at the girl. Evie raised up on the couch with increased interest, attempting to see past Mal to the adolescent in question. However, she couldn't manage to spot her, so she lowered her head a bit, resting it on the arm of the couch.
"I'm sorry, Mal. I just can't keep it anymore," Celia informed the young Queen as she procured a particular item from behind her back, holding it out to Mal carefully.
It was the spell book in all of its gorgeous, magical glory. It shone there in the light, and Mal could've sworn there was more glitter to it than the last time she had laid eyes on it. Of course, it could've been the general air of hope in things.
"I promise that I won't touch this ever again. Trust me, I have definitely learned my lesson," Celia swore firmly, waving her hand in a negating motion, and Mal was drawn from her stupor somewhat as she took it from the Facilier.
Evie tilted her head, trying to decipher what was going on.
"Well, thank you, Celia," Mal finally mustered.
"Sure. Just make sure that thing gets put away before something else happens."
"Wait… Something else? What's happened?" Mal questioned and Celia just offered her a huge, very guilty grin, almost running in her haste to escape from the situation.
Mal blinked, looking down at the book in her hand. After a moment, she shook her head, huffing in slight humor as she resisted the urge to laugh fully. Mal flipped through the spell book quickly, finding the reverse spell for Evie's current condition.
She then turned back to face Evie, the spell book behind her back as she looked at her sister.
Evie furrowed her brow confusedly, trying to understand what had just happened between the faerie and the Facilier. Their speech was so vague that she didn't have any idea what was going on or that Mal had the spell book on her person at all.
"What did Celia need?" Evie questioned, and Mal shrugged with a sigh.
"Oh, nothing really. Just coming by."
"Y'know, E, I've been so terrified," Mal started, trying to resist the urge to grin as she gestured behind her back, muttering the spell underneath her breath as Evie grew fully concerned with the statement, focusing on her side of the story.
"Yeah, me, too. I've been scared to death that I'll never turn back to a human again," Evie explained, keeping her eyes on Mal as she lounged on the couch.
Mal watched as Evie slowly transformed back into a human, her fur shrinking back as her features grew smaller and more human-like. Sprigs of hair started to grow from her head, and they swirled down in Evie's usual gorgeous spirals. Instead of fur covering her body, there was skin, and it seemed to somehow spawn back the clothing that she had before her transformation.
However, Mal couldn't help but be disappointed at the fact that Evie's broken paw had carried over into this form as well, and her hand was wrapped in gauze now.
Mal almost wanted to laugh at the fact that Evie was sitting there curled up in the same position as she was when she was a dog, her chin resting on the arm of the couch.
"I've really hated being a dog, M, I'll be totally honest. Toilet water, garbage cans, pooper scoopers. Gosh, this has been killing me," Evie explained, completely unaware of her current form as a human.
"But there has been some good points to it," Evie added thoughtfully, doing that little pinch of her eyebrows that always signified her state of deep thought. Mal almost wanted to hug her and shake her into realizing her current state, but she decided she'd let the joke last a little longer.
"Yeah, what's that?" Mal asked as she surreptitiously sat the spell book behind the pot of flowers on the small table nearby the door.
"Well, I really liked going to Walmart with you and Uma and being a guide dog. And tackling Carlos was kind of funny. Except I wasn't really aware of it when it happened," Evie laughed, her lips curling into that beautiful smile for which she was so infamous. Mal smiled as she ambled a bit closer to the very-human Evie sitting before her.
"Yeah," Mal trailed off, just taking in Evie's appearance as she enjoyed seeing Evie back as a human.
"Come here, E," Mal requested, and Evie complied easily as she raised up a bit on the couch. Mal snorted slightly as she watched Evie crawl down from the sofa, her hand drawn to her chest as she knelt down on all fours.
"What is it? Haven't you ever seen a dog with a broken paw before?" Evie questioned with an eyebrow raise, and Mal giggled a bit.
"Don't worry. It's nothing. It's just… I've never seen such a human-looking dog," Mal informed her, and Evie just looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
"I don't know what you're talking about. There is nothing human about this Labrador," Evie humorlessly chuckled, pursing her lips in that infamous slight pout that so signified her displeasure.
Mal finally couldn't handle it anymore, and burst out laughing, unable to resist finding enjoyment in Evie's unawareness any longer. Evie just sat there staring at the faerie as she tried to understand what could possibly be causing these hysterics.
"Am I missing something?" Evie asked, and Mal just laughed harder. Evie tilted her head to the side, as Mal tried to overcome her mirth.
Eventually, Mal finally pulled herself together, and Evie crawled over to her feet carefully. She brought her good hand up to Mal's knee as if it were a paw.
"I think that you need a whole lot of help," Evie informed her, and Mal knelt down to Evie's level, sobering completely as she smiled lovingly at the girl before her.
"Evie I love you so much, but you are so clueless," Mal informed her, pressing her forehead against Evie's and squishing her nose against the taller girl's.
Evie furrowed her brow in confusion, and Mal laced her fingers in Evie's good hand, pulling their conjoined digits up beside them so Evie could see. The bluenette looked over at their two hands, taking it in slowly.
Then a ridiculously large grin came onto her face as she lit up like a Christmas tree. She shot up from Mal, standing on her two legs shakily as she looked down her body. Mal looked up at her from her position on the floor.
The squeal started to build slowly in Evie's throat before she suddenly let loose with it loudly, hopping up and down in her purely adorable excitement. Mal stood up quickly as Evie jumped in circles, her squeal dying down in favor of thrilled laughter.
Mal stood there for a moment, smiling at Evie, and as soon as Evie realized that Mal was just standing there, she rushed over with her tongue extended a bit. Mal's eyes went wide in horror as she caught Evie by the shoulders.
"Hold on!" Mal cried, and Evie paused, confused until she realized exactly what was going on with her mouth.
"Oh! Sorry… It's habit now, I guess," Evie explained herself, a blush coloring her cheeks. Evie then grabbed Mal's face in her hand, kissing her sister's cheeks in turn before hugging her tightly. Mal returned it fully, resting her head against Evie's shoulder lovingly. Mal quietly reveled in the fact that Evie was finally taller than her again, and Mal was finally able to hide from the world in the slightly older girl's arms once again.
"How am I back?" Evie questioned somewhere nearby Mal's ear as she held Mal tightly. Mal shook her head with a chuckle.
"Celia brought you the spell book, didn't she?" Evie asked her accusingly, but her tone was much too happy to communicate any frustration effectively. Mal rolled her eyes and snuggled into Evie's hold more closely. Honestly, Evie was so quick on the uptake of some things, but on others, she was completely thick-headed.
"What gave you that idea?" Mal inquired playfully.
"Something about it hiding over here nearby the vase," Evie informed her, and Mal just grinned, nestling her face into Evie's shoulder.
"I'll never tell," Mal joked, and Evie laughed sweetly.
They both sat there in silence for a little while longer, just holding each other tightly, until Evie spoke up.
"Hey, Mal, what am I going to do without the use of both hands?" Evie questioned worriedly after a moment. "I'm going to be so bored if I can't sew."
"Well, I've got an idea," Mal informed her as she looked past Evie's shoulder just slightly.
"What is it?"
"You could vacuum my new couch and get the dog hairs off of it…"
A/N: Well, that was the real end of Genevieve Labrador. I hope you all enjoyed it! Thank you so, so much for all of the follows, favorites and reviews! I truly do appreciate them so much, and it really means the world to me for you guys to let me know what you think.
Now… For the writer's agenda update we've all been waiting for…
The next chapter fic on my list centers around the five stars of Girls' Trip, and it is about when Mal, Evie, Uma, Audrey, and Jane are totally sick of the boys picking on them about their misadventures in Girls' Trip, We Are Off to See the Wizard, and Genevieve Labrador, and they finally decide to do something about it. They make a bet and wager that they can last several days at a place of the boys' choosing. Trust me, it is going to get interesting.
As for oneshots in the Descendants area, I have been considering an Evie-centric fanfic that accompanies "Keep Your Enemies Closer," "His Captain," and "Actions Speak Louder than Words," my oneshot series focusing on individual characters feelings in the aftermath of D3. Also, there may be a few more Jaudrey (Jay x Audrey) oneshots coming. ;)
Until the next fanfic!