Ben was exhausted

Mal had been on the Isle for a day now and nobody knew if she was okay

He missed her

He was in his room, on the bed staring at the ceiling

Where are you, Lily Love?

He couldn't think about anything else

You would be a liability

That is what she had said

He understood it, he didn't know the first thing about a true fight, whenever he got in a fight with someone they would yell sure but nothing more

On the Isle when they got in a fight... he had seen it from Mal's memory when they shared a dream.. people got killed

A knock

He got up to open the door

FG

Ben: "Goodmorning FG, how can I help you?"

FG: "Ben, I would like to talk about the dreams and the connection you have with Mal"

Ben: "Now?"

FG: "Not now. This afternoon"

Ben: "Fine"

FG, noticing Ben's mood: "If you don't feel like it, we can do it another time"

Ben shook his head: "No, it's ok. I need a distraction"

FG nodded and then left

Lily Love...

Ben reached the library where he knew FG was

Ben: "FG, I'm here"

FG: "Oh Ben, here you are! I have wonderful news, Mal and Carlos are okay. Jane, Evie, and Jay met Uma, who told them she had crossed paths with Mal and Carlos during the night."

Ben smiled like it was Christmas: "Where are they?"

FG: "They are with Hades, in the Forest. Uma met them in the Evil Part, she took custody of Maleficent, Jane doesn't know why and she didn't ask. You know what that means?"

Ben: "They'll come back tomorrow"

He felt so relieved he almost started dancing

FG nodded

FG: "Now, let's talk about your connection. I'll just ask you a few questions"

Ben nodded

FG: "When did you start dreaming about her?"

Ben: "I was 8 years old. But 'dreaming about her' seems the wrong term... I don't dream about her, I dream with her. It's like.. we fell asleep and we found ourself in a room, or my mother's garden, an alley... we find each other in our dreams"

FG: "Interesting. Did you always know that she was real?"

Ben: "Nono. At first, I thought that she was just a dream. It was funny" he chuckled a little "when we would meet during the time we thought they were just dreams we used to fight" now he truly laughed

FG was confused: "What do you mean?"

Ben: "I'll tell you what happened once. We were near my swimming pool, I was 9 I think, I was sitting there with my feet in the water when she came near me. She was so angry. She came to me and said 'What are you doing here again? I told you to stop pestering me!?' and I told her 'Look, this is my pool, that Castle is my home. It seems like you are the one pestering me.'" he shook his head with a smile "The next dream we shared terrified me. I had never seen a room darker than that one, I entered because I heard her talking, she was sitting there alone, on the walls there was blood.. so I asked her what she was doing there, she jumped at my voice and I still remember her eyes, there was so much fear in them... she got up and got closer, she looked behind me and said 'Shh, don't make noises or she'll come back. Mother doesn't like intruders' I asked her who her mother was, but it was like I already knew; she looked at me and said 'Maleficent. If she sees you, she'll kill you. You are from Auradon, right?' I simply nodded"

Ben got up and went near the window

Ben: "At that moment I understood that Mal wasn't a dream, that she had known for a while now and that our life would have never been the same"

FG: "Why did you never speak of these dreams with your parents?"

Ben: "My dad didn't speak of the Isle very fondly, once when I was 10 I asked him about the kids of the villains, he looked at me and told me that the kids of the villains deserved to be on the Isle because they were evil too. You can imagine why I didn't want to tell him about Mal" he turned to look at FG "She was my best friend, she still is, and I would never do anything that could hurt her. When he told me what he thought of the kids of the Isle, I knew I couldn't trust him with her safety"

FG: "Ben, your father would never harm kids"

Ben shrugged: "I'm not sure about it. If one of them turned out to be bad, he would have treated them like a villain"

FG: "Maybe, but you are his son. He cares about you, he would have listened."

Ben: "Does it matter now? I didn't tell anyone about her. Now she is here"

FG: "You are right. Now can I ask you how did you connect with her the night she and Carlos escaped their mothers?"

Ben: "I don't really know how I did it. I had a cold, I was in my room and I remember feeling her presence there with me, I closed my eyes and I heard her calling me so I let myself go with her, next thing I know I'm in the Isle and Mal is there in her room, I understood immediately that she needed to go away; I checked where Maleficent and Cruella were, and I told her what to do, when she was safe, away from those monsters I knew that my job was done"

FG: "Mal was the only one who could see you?"

Ben: "Yes, I tried to speak with Carlos but he couldn't see or hear me"

FG nodded: "I think that once Mal is home again we could try this connection to see if it's something triggered by you feeling her need of help, or if it's something you both can control"

Ben nodded

Lumiere came in the library to tell them that dinner was ready and they followed him

The next day

Ben, Belle, FG, Doug, and Lonnie were in the living room

Adam was in his office working

FG was talking with Jane

Jane: "Mal is here too"

Ben: "Mal? Mal is there with Jane?"

FG laughed a little: "Yes, they are at the market"

Doug and Lonnie distracted him again, but there was no need, Mal was okay, she was coming back

The call ended, FG and Belle went to the library while the tree teenagers stayed in the living room

A few minutes passed when Ben heard someone screaming

Then the blood

Then the fever again

Mal was in danger

Ben was on the Isle again

Mal was on the ground, she looked up to met his eyes and smiled, she had seen him

He smiled at her

She was in a fight with someone and she wasn't winning, he had to help her

She moved quickly away from the man (Gaston), that was the moment to act

He passed through her and she got her strength back, she was ready to fight again but she heard someone approaching behind her and she turned... too late

Mal and Ben's shadow looked down to see a sword

Ben was in his room again when he felt something trespass his stomach

He opened his eyes and saw his parents, friends, and FG

He felt nauseous

He closed his eyes again and heard someone screaming, it wasn't his name, someone yelled Mal's name, he was seeing someone in front of him, he resembled someone he had seen before and a male's voice: Gaston

He opened his eyes again to find again his parents, friends and FG

Ben: "Mal, she got hurt"

Then he was out again

Mal was dying again

He knew that she was going to come back, it wasn't the first time

Once she had died when they were dreaming

Apparently, Maleficent was bored and entered her room and killed her

This didn't help too much

There she was

She was beautiful even while laying on that table

Then she was gone again

He couldn't blame her, she knew what was coming and she didn't want to wait in pain

The next day he would see her again

Finally, Mal was coming back home

He went downstairs, in the kitchen he found his parents

Belle: "We are waiting for FG, she'll call Jane and then we can send the ambulance"

At that moment FG came in, she sat down at the table

FG: "Let me regain my breath and then I'll call Jane"

A few minutes later she was calling

Jane: "Hey mom" they heard a weird noise "Sorry, give me just" there was a crash "a minute"

Belle: "Is everything all right, Jane?"

They were all reunited around FG, to see the mirror

Jane: "Yes, here I am. Sorry, there was a problem with the.. ehm.. with Mal."

Ben: "Did she wake up?"

Jane: "Not yet. But mom?"

FG: "Yes darling"

Jane: "I think it's best if we wait for her to wake up here... we don't know if she can come back to Auradon.. what do you think? Carlos said that the curse would still work there"

FG: "Carlos is right. The curse was put before bringing them inside the dome. Mal will survive"

Jane: "Oh. Yeah, Grimhilde had said something about it but.."

I didn't want to think you would do something like that that was what Jane thought

FG: "I know.." I was wrong that was what FG thought

Jane: "Ok, send the ambulance in.. let's say an hour"

FG nodded

Jane: "See you in an hour and a half"

The call ended

Jane: "I told them to send the ambulance in an hour"

Evie nodded

Jay: "Well, let's pack then"

They packed all their stuff

Hades brought Mal downstairs and laid her on the couch

Jane couldn't stop staring at her

Mal was even paler than usual, there was no color in her face, her lips were starting to regain their color, she wasn't breathing. Her body was more relaxed now

Carlos had approached Jane that morning

Carlos: "How are you?"

Jane had looked up: "I've been better... what about you? Is Mal...?"

Carlos had shaken his head: "Still dead, but she is coming back"

Jane: "How do you know?"

Carlos had smiled a little looking at the floor, then had looked at her: "Come with me"

She had followed him upstairs, in the bathroom

Carlos had moved a little Mal's T-shirt: "Look at her wound, it's close now"

He had looked at her in the eyes for the first time since the day before "Also she isn't as cold as yesterday, try to touch her"

Jane had taken a step back causing Carlos's laugh

Carlos: "Give me your hand"

Jane had done as told

Carlos had taken it, gentle, and had put her hand on Mal's hand

Jane: "Woah, she is cold"

Carlos: "You have never touched a body, have you?"

Jane had shaken her head

Carlos: "They are colder than this. Plus, Mal has always been colder than usual"

Jane nodded: "I noticed"

Carlos had been about to say something when he had gotten distracted

Jane had looked where he had been looking: "What is it?"

Carlos: "Her body. It relaxed. Can you see it?"

Jane had looked and seen that Carlos had been right

Carlos: "What are you thinking?"

Jane smiled: "Nothing... it's weird... I can't take my eyes off of her"

Carlos: "It's not weird. Actually, it's normal"

Jane looked at him with a raised eyebrow

Carlos laughed: "It's some sort of magic about the curse. Evie stayed up all night to watch Mal the first time she died since we came to live here, it wasn't because she was worried when I asked her why she was watching Mal's body like that, she looked at me and said she didn't know"

Jane: "Interesting... we should ask my mom"

Carlos nodded: "Listen... I wanted to apologize for yesterday"

Jane: "Apologize?"

Carlos: "When you reacted so badly at something I always found normal... I saw how different we are and I didn't like it..."

Jane blushed: "It's okay... I shouldn't have.."

Carlos shook his head: "No, you were right. You came here to try to understand and of course, you didn't expect to see Mal die... The first time it happened I remember I didn't even have time to think if it was normal..." He sat on the couch near Mal's body and took his head between his hands "We are so messed up... Mal and I... we don't even know what's normal. I'm a weirdo"

He wasn't crying, he was overwhelmed by the situation, the last days he had lost a friend, almost killed his mother trying to make her powerless, got in a fight, and his sister got killed...

Jane: "You are not messed up" she got closer to him "You had a rough childhood, Carlos. You are different, that doesn't make you a weirdo. It makes you special because you are here. You survived what many people could never. You are brave. Kind. Selfless"

Carlos had looked up, he was looking at her in the eyes, he smiled: "Thank you, Jane"

They were interrupted by Jay coming downstairs

Jay: "We are ready, the hour has passed. It's time to say goodbye"

Grimhilde had packed food for them

Jay: "Mom, we have food there"

Grimhilde: "Is it better than my cooking?"

Jay thought about it

Grimhilde: "Jayden, are you saying that you prefer their food?"

Jay seriously: "Actually no. Yours is better"

Grimhilde had been kidding but hearing her son say it made her smile, then she looked at Jane: "I made this for your mother, it's her favorite"

Jane smiled and nodded

Hades was talking with Carlos

Hades: "Will you two come back for the trial?"

Carlos: "I don't know if Adam will let us"

Hades: "It's your mother's trial. You have to put that woman in jail for the rest of her miserable life"

Carlos smiled: "I'm sure that Mal will convince him"

Jane was surprised: "Carlos, I noticed that you and Mal call Belle and Adam by name. I do it because I know them since I was born, why do you do that?"

Carlos: "It's pretty simple. They have no authority over us, they aren't our King and Queen."

Jane: "Oh right"

Grimhilde: "You should show them some respect nonetheless. They are the rulers of a nation"

Carlos: "They let us in here far too long, they aren't getting any respect from me..." then he seemed to think "Maybe Belle, since she is nice and showed us that she is truly sorry but Adam... he saw our scars and yet he treated us like villains"

Jane: "Carlos is right. I'm not sure I respect Adam and I am kind of one of his subjects"

Jafar: "Enough of this"

Hades nodded

The goodbyes started, with lots of hugs, sobs (Jafar) and smiles

They all went near the dock where the gates were

The ambulance could be seen

Mal was in Hades's arms, he was looking at her and rocking softly while humming a lullaby

The ambulance arrived and behind it, there was a limousine

The guards clearly didn't expect to see Hades, but seeing the God so focus on the girl in his arms calmed them

Jane, Evie, and Jay went in the limo, Carlos was going in the ambulance with Mal

Hades didn't let anyone touch Mal, he put her on the stretcher, he kissed her on the forehead and said something in a foreign language, then hugged again Carlos and left

Carlos got in the ambulance and took his sister's hand

Hellooo

So I'm starting the Jarlos ship

Soon enough will come the others too

Byeee