The next day, the Isle children's attitudes weren't cheery like some thought they would be. From the shocking news about Jay and Lonnie's personal experience to the two possibly losing their baby due to the time travel, it would be reasonable for them not to be in the best of moods. Mal sent her father a letter that morning explaining the new development, hoping he could provide some reassurance that the baby would be fine when they returned to their time.
Although she was infuriated with him the night before, Lonnie was wrapped in Jay's arms for nearly the entire school day. They were only separated when they didn't share a class. When they were together, Jay spent most of the time comforting the distressed teenager by rubbing patterns up and down her arms and kissing her hair or forehead every so often to comfort her.
After being granted permission by the couple, Mal caught her fiancé up on everything he missed while putting the final details together for his coronation. Instead of being mopey or assuming the worse like everyone else, Ben congratulated his best friend with a massive hug once he saw her. Ben declared, when they returned to their time, he would throw an extravagant party to celebrate and promised to get everything or anything that the new parents will need. That seemed to cheer Lonnie up enough for her to tease that the promise was only made so Ben would be named the godfather.
Ben wholeheartedly admitted to the accusations.
Anyways, Mal was putting her school-books into her locker when Ben suddenly appeared leaned against the neighboring locker. "Hey," he greeted with a flirtatious smile. "What's up?"
Mal peered around the 'prince' expectantly, a look of worry in her eyes. "Where's Audrey?" she interrogated. "Last time—"
"Gil is talking to her," Ben reassured softly. "Audrey mentioned not wanting to go to the Tourney game, so Gil is trying to convince her to go. He's afraid if someone isn't near her—"
"Something will happen," Mal finished with a stressed sigh. "Has anyone told Fairy Godmother about her behavior? Surely she could help in some way."
"I spoke to her yesterday morning, Gil spoke to her yesterday afternoon, and Lonnie said she mentioned something to her a couple days ago," Ben informed knowingly. "Fairy Godmother claimed she noticed nothing different about Audrey, but would ask our classmates. Fairy Godmother came to me this morning and said no one else thought Audrey was acting different."
"That is bullshit!" Mal argued defensively. "Audrey is typically outspoken and puts her input in everything. In this time, I've only heard her speak when she's talking to Gil. Have you talked to Audrey recently?"
"Not since yesterday. She completely ignored me when I tried greeting her," Ben answered with a soft sigh. "Gil is the only person Audrey is talking to right now. Something needs to be done before she completely shuts down. I'm afraid something serious will happen if we don't."
"I'll send a message to Dad, ask him for his advice," Mal decided with slump shoulders. "He has a nephew that is like a god of doctors. If he can't help, there is another nephew that is sometimes called the god of insanity."
"Do you really think Audrey is going insane?"
"I have no idea," Mal stated as she shrugged her shoulders in uncertainty. "Uma thinks that's the reason Dude always wants to be with Audrey when he sees her, because he's a psychiatric service dog. Gil is thinking she has an extreme case of anxiety, but he's not entirely sure. He's hoping he'll have a 'diagnosis' by tomorrow. In the meantime. . ."
The fairy princess trailed off to grab a baggy from her locker. "Me, Evie, and Uma made a batch of cookies last night." Mal shook the bag to tease her beloved. "Chocolate chip and walnuts, your favorite. Do you want one?"
Ben eyed the cook suspiciously. "Please tell me you didn't spell it this time."
"Of course not," Mal denied with a vehement shake of her head. "The boys ate half the batch this morning when I tried giving some to Lonnie to cheer her up. I had to threaten them with no sweets during Family Day so I could save you a cookie."
Ben chuckled as he gingerly took the cookie from his beloved. "Thank you," he said as he took a bite of the delectable treat. "Hopefully, this will give me some good luck for the game."
Just like before, the atmosphere during the Tourney game was incredibly stressful with it being the championship game. Each team was making mistakes that could cost them the win. Even though a certain few knew how the game would go, they still thought it could be anyone's game.
Up in the bleachers, in the same row as before, Mal and Evie stood next to each other while Lonnie was on the other side of the blue-haired princess with Uma being on the other side of her cousin. Somewhat surprisingly, Gil did not join them.
In fact, he wasn't anywhere near them.
As part of the deal to convince her to go to the game, Gil joined Audrey in standing on the side of the bleachers, where almost no one could see them. Gil stood against the stands with an arm wrapped around the princess as Audrey leaned against him, her head on his shoulder with Dude in her arms once more. When they had been on their way to the game, another headache formed in Audrey, but she never spoke a word to Gil, so he wouldn't worry about her anymore than he already did.
The audience cheered as the Auradon cheerleaders did a routine to energize them. The opposing audience did a wave, which was quite basic compared to Auradon Prep's audience.
"This is a nail-biter, folks," the announcer—a middle-aged man with blonde hair—informed the audience before summarizing, "There's 47 seconds left on the clock. We're all tied up. The Sherwood Falcons, two. The Fighting Knights, two. What a game between Auradon's fiercest rivals."
Coach Jenkins smiled encouragingly to Jay, a tourney stick in one hand and his clipboard in the other. "You're up."
Jay vaguely heard the Announcer say, 'And now a substitution. . .' when he bravely stood to his feet and pulled Carlos and Harry with him. "Coach, how about my buddies here?"
"Oh, no." Coach Jenkins said as Harry and Carlos got out the thief's grip. Carlos sat down as the coach continued, "Not so sure about that."
"Coach, they've been practicing," Jay insisted. "You and I both know Harry is better than Chad Charming. And you said yourself a team is made up of a bunch of parts. Well," Jay paused to rub his friend's hair affectionately, smiling proudly, "Carlos's kind of like my brain."
Coach Jenkins pondered on it for only half a moment before turning back to the field, "Akiho! Chad! Come here!" Jenkins offered Carlos a smile, tossing him the Tourney stick he was holding. "You heard him. Get out there!"
"Don't worry, bros." Jay encouraged with a smile. "I got your back."
"How about our fronts?" Carlos wondered.
"Pfft." Jay shoved him forward in a joking manner. "Get out there."
The trio jogged pass the two other players, one of which appeared confused. The audience watched as Chad spoke to the main coach and the assistant coach. Jenkins said something, which caused the teen to look panicked. He tried reasoning with him, but Jenkins simply pointed to the bench. With a grumble, Chad sat, causing all the audience and the cheerleaders to gasp in surprise.
"Well, will you look at this!" The announcer exclaimed after he caught on to what had happened. "The coach is taking Chad Charming out for the newbie Harry Hook. That's going to be a major upset folks. He's also brought that hothead Jay in from the Isle of the Lost and that little guy Carlos who can barely hold a shield!"
"When they break from their huddles, this is gonna be a big moment here. And the tipoff is ready. Here we go. Long pass goes to Jay. Jay dishes off to Prince Ben. Nice little block by Carlos. He does a little dancing jig in his opponent's face. And now Jay gets the ball back. Here comes Jay! Jay, hurdling maneuver at mid-field.
"Jay makes a nice pass to Prince Ben through the kill zone. An impressive block by Harry Hook! Prince Ben moves over wide, gives it back to Jay. He's in the clear! Shot! Oh, what a save by Philip the Falcon's' goalkeeper!
"23 seconds left. You could cut the tension with a sword. The long ball is played into Jay. Jay, great jump, great leap. And a great move by Jay. Another great block by Harry Hook! Jay dishes off to Prince Ben. And then Carlos with a big block, goes down. Jay through the kill zone, picks up Carlos. Oh, he's being hammered by dragon fire. Still, going on. Jay, hurdling maneuver at mid-field. He's in the clear. The ball goes back to Jay.
"He passes to Prince Ben. He scores! Prince Ben has won it! What an unselfish play by Jay! What a team! Incredible! And it's the new guys, Jay, Carlos, and Harry who set up the prince for the win here. What a victory! An absolutely wonderful end to one of the best games ever. Here they come, folks. The winners of the—"
"Excuse me!" Ben shouted into the microphone he stole from the announcer. "Excuse me. Can I have your attention, please? There's something I'd like to say."
The 'prince' waited until the spectators' voices changed to hushed whispers. "Mal," he acknowledged as he looked directly at her, easily finding her in the stands due to her purple hair. "Will you come down here for a moment?"
Smiling softly to herself, Mal slowly made her way down to the field, already having a sneaky suspicion on what the 'prince' was going to do.
"My Mal," Ben began when the fairy stood a mere foot away. "We've only been dating for a few days now, but it feels like a few years. I gave you the ring because I truly believe you are my true love and will eventually become my queen. I could have sung a sappy song to express my feelings, but that would have been too over the top. I'm going to keep this simple: I love you."
The audience cooed at the confession for it seemed so sincere. Meanwhile, a genuine smile graced Mal's lips, looking exactly like the one she had after their first kiss.
"Mal, the beautiful daughter of Maleficent and daughter of Hades," he complimented, making sure everyone knew exactly who she was, "will you do me the honor of being my date for the Coronation?"
Instead of giving a verbal answer, Mal pulled her beloved into a proper, loving kiss. The kiss was exactly as it was meant to be: slow, soft, and caring. Anyone could tell the genuine emotion behind it.
The fairy broke the kiss after a few moments with a smile. She confessed, unintentionally into the mic, "I love you too."
The couple shared another quick kiss before enveloping each other in a tight embrace as the audience cheered for them. It was the end to a perfect day. Nothing could go wrong—
Until the next morning, where everything changed.