Friends Don't

By Laura Schiller

Based on: Elena of Avalor

Copyright: Disney

/

"Friends don't call you in the middle of the night -
Couldn't even tell you why -
They just felt like saying "hi".
Friends don't stand around, playing with their keys,
Finding reasons not to leave,
Trying to hide the chemistry.
Drive a little too slow, take the long way home,
Get a little too close …
We do, but friends don't."

- Maddie & Tae, "Friends Don't"

/

"Naomi? I've been wondering about something and, ah … I'm gonna need you to be completely honest."

"When am I not? Go on, shoot."

Elena sat on a nearby crate as her youngest councilor stood at the wheel of the Royal Yacht. On the deck below, Mateo kept up a strong but steady wind spell to fill the sails, while Gabe climbed around the rigging making adjustments as needed. They were moving fast and she was glad of it; after their ordeal with the Alegria, she felt they couldn't get home soon enough. There was something else on her mind, however, which served her as a much-needed distraction from their narrow escape.

"The way the boys were acting today … "

"Like idiots, you mean?" Naomi rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't have put it that way, but yes. It doesn't make sense to me at all."

"No?" Naomi raised her eyebrows from under her captain's hat.

"They said they were competing for who's my best friend, but … it didn't exactly feel that way. I mean the heavy lifting, showing off their skills, winning games for me, holding my hand … " She blushed and looked down at her two hands in her lap, thinking of how Mateo had escorted her along the deck like a dance partner while Gabe held that massive crate. "If I didn't know better, I'd think they were courting me."

The Norbergian snorted. It was a loud, unladylike sound that would have made Esteban shudder if he'd heard it; a sound that meant she could not believe what she was hearing.

"What, Naomi?"

"Sorry. I just … you're only noticing this now?"

Elena's first impulse was to be annoyed, but her friend had a point. In retrospect, it should have been obvious. Gabe took his job of protecting her more seriously than any Royal Guard she'd ever met, even from harmless annoyances like Prince Alonso. As for Mateo, he had a delicate way of touching her shoulder or holding both her hands that didn't quite feel the same as when her family did it. And when she'd called him "more than my Royal Wizard" once after their defeat of Orizaba, he'd sounded strangely uneasy when she followed it up with "you're my friend". She'd been too exhausted from the aftereffects of the Scepter to worry about it then, but she hadn't forgotten.

"Maybe you're right," she murmured, leaning forward with her head in her hands. "Maybe I just didn't want to notice. I'm scared of things having to change."

While Esteban and some of the courtiers seemed to see her as a reckless innovator, she disagreed. Ever since her release from the Amulet, she'd thrown herself headfirst into restoring the Avalor she remembered (at least as close as it could ever be without her parents). She'd brought back Carneval, the Peace Festival, Navidad and more, hoping that if she worked hard enough, if she acted cheerful and confident enough for her people, she might finally escape the mind-numbing horror of those forty years.

"Yeah, I get that," said Naomi, who had seen more than enough change herself. "But you're gonna have to think about it eventually, right? Dating, I mean. Even if it's just to decide you don't want it. Don't you nobles have, like, arranged marriages anyway?"

"What, my family?" Overwhelmed as she was, that idea still made Elena laugh. "We're not that noble. Abuela's family were shopkeepers, remember? No, they always told me it's going to be my choice who I marry, or even if I marry."

"That's good, then. No one's gonna pressure you for anything you're not ready for."

"I know. Only … "

She trailed off as memories caught up to her: Mama kissing her forehead and draping the royal sash over her ball gown, Papa bringing her a corsage and telling her she looked magnificent, the smell of hair pomade and the feel of a gloved hand in hers, candles on a pink and red cake, the dizziness of waltzing, the dashing boys who spun her like a top and the sweet, shy ones who tried not to step on her shoes … She'd been so worried about not hurting someone's feelings or causing any political fallout that she'd chosen Esteban for her first dance. He'd been so proud, but who were the others? If she concentrated, she could just about remember their faces.

Some of those boys were dead by now, others in exile, and all of them forty years older. The thought of Victor Delgado – gray-haired, with a teenage daughter, and still paying the same compliments – would be unnerving even if he hadn't turned out a thief and a liar.

"My quinceañera was supposed to be the start of my first social season," she said. "But Shuriki invaded just a few days later. I wasn't serious about any of my dance partners, but still … "

Still, it felt as if something inside her had been interrupted before it could finish growing. Once during their magic lessons in the garden, Mateo had aimed a freezing spell at the water in the fountain and hit a rosebush by mistake. When she'd tried to modify the Blaze command with her scepter to thaw it out, the petals had crumbled to ashes instead. She was very much afraid of ending up like that rosebush, although it wasn't something she could say out loud.

Mami. Papi. I know you'd want me to be brave, but I can't always.

Naomi, for once, had nothing to say. The feathers on her hat fell forward as she bowed her head over the wheel in compassion. Elena was grateful, especially for the lack of eye contact, as she swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked hard several times.

"Listen," she said, once she could trust herself to speak again. "When I said all three of you were my best friends, I meant it. Whatever else happens, I need you to know that."

Naomi didn't hesitate for an instant. "Of course," she said. "We're your crew, Elena. We stick together."

Her crew. She liked the sound of that.

She tipped back her head to feel the brisk night wind, letting it dry her tears as it billowed the sails. On the deck, the boys were working together quite naturally now, after spending the whole day trying to outdo each other. Gabe was up in the crow's nest, calling out directions, while Mateo made adjustments to his spell with light taps of his tamborita and subtle changes of position. The wind tousled his wavy hair and rippled the folds of his wizard's robe. As awkward as he could be sometimes, he moved with controlled elegance when casting a spell. It was fascinating to watch.

"Look at Gabe up there." Naomi's smile was audible in her voice. "Can you believe this is the same guy who didn't know to secure the rudder this morning?"

So she'd been watching Gabe, had she? Elena smiled. "You'll make a sailor of him yet, Captain."

"Hey, Elena!" Mateo glanced over his shoulder and waved. "Look, we're almost home!"

He was right. The beam from the lighthouse shone out across the sea, against a scattering of golden sparks that were the lights of her city. Her beautiful city, which she'd come so close to never seeing again.

Gabe swung himself down from the crow's nest by a rope, landing right in front of the two girls with a proud grin on his face. Mateo followed, as they were in familiar waters now and could afford to sail in a more ordinary way.

"Uh-oh," Naomi muttered, keeping an eye on the lighthouse beam, which was flickering rapidly in the code she herself had developed. "Mom and Dad just recognized this boat. They are not happy with me for staying out so late. Think they'll accept immortal pirates as an excuse?"

"Don't worry, Fancy Feet." Gabe came to stand next to her and tweaked her captain's hat over her eyes. "They'll have to believe you if all three of us back you up."

"Thanks, Gabe. You're not gonna let that nickname go, are you?" She made a show of straightening the hat, but she didn't stop smiling at him.

"No way. It's too good. I've danced with you before, so I should know."

This was true. Naomi had made a much better partner for Gabe at her quinceañera than Elena had done. Who knew that switching boys was all it would take to make the first dance a success?

As the guard and the councilor bantered back and forth, Mateo leaned against the railing beside Elena. His amber eyes glowed like a jaquin's in the light of the full moon.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

With almost anyone else, she would have shrugged off the question with her usual determined cheer, but Mateo had a sixth sense when it came to reading her. He could always tell when the Scepter of Light was wearing her out, and if he couldn't persuade her to stop, he would hold her up and help her aim. She loved the way he did that, taking care of her without making her feel powerless. He deserved an honest answer.

"I was thinking about my parents," she answered. "It still hurts to think of the world moving on so fast without them. Sometimes I wish we could just stay like we are now."

"I know what you mean," said Mateo somberly, "But I wouldn't make that wish where anything magical could hear you. Look at the Alegria."

"You're right." She thought of Captain Chiloya's crew, their manic cheer and the desperation underneath, and shuddered. Frightened as she was of change, eternal stasis might be even worse.

"We need to report this to the Coast Guard. I won't have any more of our ships running into them if I can help it."

"I wish we could've broken that curse for them." He sighed. "But they didn't seem to want that … and besides, my magic's not even close to strong enough."

"You will be someday, Mateo. I know it."

She placed her hand over his heart as she had done on the night of his investiture as Royal Wizard, reminding him to believe in himself. He covered her hand with his, a soft smile on his face. "Thank you, Elena. One can only hope."

Was it normal, she wondered suddenly, for friends to touch each other like this? Was it normal to feel his heartbeat under her fingertips and not want to let go?

"Hey, Mateo!" Gabe called. "Help me with these ropes, will you?"

There was a sharp edge to the Royal Guard's voice, and Elena could guess why. She and Mateo flew apart like magnets in one of Isabel's experiments, running to help Gabe and Naomi dock the ship.

Blazes. This was exactly why she shouldn't get too close. If she let jealousy ruin this delicate balance the four of them had, she'd never forgive herself.

She might reconsider someday, when her kingdom was stable, no prophecies of doom were hanging over her head, and Gabe had found someone who suited him better.

Someday, but not today.