I am so sorry I took so long to get this chapter started. I started back at work last week and this week has turned to hell since my coworker and trainer for my new position was fired.

I apologize once again and I hope to have the next chapter up within a week, give or take a day or so.

The VKs had to admit, they were surprised when Mal accused her mother of the time heist, as Jay jokingly called it one day. They just weren't sure how the Mistress of Evil could pull off such a stunt when—they assumed—she was still a lizard. Mal reminded the group she had taken her lizard mother to the Isle when she 'ran away'. With the barrier being removed, the spell could have broken.

But of course, that was not their first concern.

To keep anyone from seeing the broken princess and to prevent his friends from getting in trouble, Gil offered to wait until a few minutes into the next hour to take Audrey to the nurse's office. He deemed himself to be the best candidate in case the stitches were to open on the way there. Besides that, he was already covered in her blood, so he wasn't worried about getting any more on himself. Missing out on a few minutes of class would also give him the opportunity to wash up and change his clothes, so no one would suspect a thing.

And yet, a few noticed Gil 'suddenly' disappearing when the school day ended. When she hadn't seen him for some time, his captain searched for him in a particular place—

Finding him asleep in a chair next to his sleeping beauty.

Just as planned, Gil didn't attend Remedial Goodness the next day, much to the subtle annoyance of Fairy Godmother, who strongly believed in not favoriting the Isle children. Yet, the headmistress still smiled warmly when the prince interrupted her class for half of the students' surprise.

"As you may be aware, Family Day is tomorrow," Ben announced, just to play it off to Fairy Godmother. "I have many surprises planned, but this small one will just be for the 'Core Four', as you call yourselves. It's not much, but I hope you still enjoy it. I have somewhere I need to be, so, Harry, I will see you soon for your surprise. In one hour, meet me at the front of the school and please make sure Gil is with you."

Just as the prince finished his small monologue, the headmistress walked over to the TV monitor that had been brought into the classroom and pressed a certain string of keys on the keyboard. In the next moment, the screen filled with the image of the four's parents sitting on or near the couch in the Bargain Castle, Maleficent's home.

Somewhat reluctantly, the four friends trudged their way to the front of the classroom. Mal's sour mood only lifted for a moment when her beloved placed a sweet kiss to her cheek before he hurriedly left the classroom to keep his schedule.

Taking in a deep breath to calm herself, Mal greeted forcefully, "Hello, Mother."

"Mal," Maleficent cooed softly. "I've missed you, baby girl. Your father told me you've written to him a few times, but you haven't written me one letter. Why?"

Instead of answering, the fairy princess tilted her head in slight confusion. "You talked to Dad?" Mal questioned, surprise evident in her tone. "You haven't spoken to him in almost thirteen years. I leave the Isle for a few days and now you're civil to each other?"

"You voiced a concern to him, and he went to me for answers," Maleficent calmly explained. "I was completely surprised when your father told me what happened to your classmate yesterday. I promise, I haven't done anything."

"Mother, why should I believe you?" Mal challenged, but making sure not to have a rude tone in her voice. "You and her family did not have a good relationship with each other because of what her grandfather did to you."

"Yet, I helped raise Aurora because those pixies didn't know how to care for a child," Maleficent reminded sternly. "She considered me her god-mother and I do still think of her as my god-daughter. I wouldn't do something harmful to her daughter."

Mal raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her mother. "I'm sorry, Mother," she apologized unsympathetically. "Considering what I know, I don't believe you. You are the only logical party that could be responsible for all of this."

Clenching her jaw in annoyance, the evil fairy decided to take drastic matters to make herself be trustworthy. "I swear on the River Styx," Maleficent began confidently, "I am not responsible for Princess Audrey's condition, and I am not the one that used magic for this sudden rewind in time."

After hearing the distant boom of thunder, confirming the promise had been made, the daughter watched her mother closely to see if anything would happen to her. When a few moments passed with nothing happening to the mother, Mal visibly paled as a look of worry took over her expression. "You really are telling the truth," she determined. "You aren't the one responsible, but then who—"

"Carlos!" Cruella shouted annoyingly, interrupting the fairy. "Is that a dog?" She paused for a moment to consult the stuffed-dog head sewed on her vest. "Yes, Darling, I do understand! It would make the perfect size for earmuffs!"

"Dude is the perfect size for a pet!" Carlos shouted fiercely, clutching Dude closer to his chest. "He is a loyal and loving companion. If it wasn't for him, Princess Audrey would be dead!"

"Carlos," Evie scolded with a light glare. "Don't."

"What are any of you talking about?" Evil Queen wondered with a curious raise of her eyebrow. "Why would the princess be dead without that mutt? And Malef, what do you mean by a rewind—"

"The children have assignments they need to attend to," Fairy Godmother quickly intervened, but that was an out-right lie. "They will find another time to speak with you. Excuse us."

With a few simple keystrokes, the TV screen went blank before any of the children could say 'good-bye' to their parents. Fairy Godmother adverted her attention to the children with a much too perfect smile. "You may use the remaining class time to study or for any personal reasons regarding the coronation, since it has been rescheduled for this Sunday."

All in silent agreement, the Core Four politely nodded before they turned their back to the headmistress as they walked down the classroom aisle. "Is it just me," Jay mumbled under his breath, "or did anyone else think that was weird?"

"Fairy Godmother did act strange," Evie agreed quietly. "But I am more concerned about someone else: Maleficent."

"Mom obviously was sent back in time too," Mal reiterated for those who hadn't caught on. "If she had been responsible like I thought, something would have killed her after she made that promise. She really isn't the person behind this, so we are back to square one."

"Maybe whoever is responsible is waiting until the coronation to reveal their master plan," Carlos suggested with an unknowing shrug. "Until then, let's try to lay low like we have been, so we don't tip anyone off."

"Meanwhile, I do need to put the finishing touches on Mal's dress," Evie informed with a stressful sigh. "I forgot this dress took the longest out of all the ones I've made. Someone can update Gil about the new information and let him know Ben has a surprise for him and Harry."

Surprisingly, Gil didn't appear too surprised about the new development. Then again, he had been a bit preoccupied with scrubbing the blood out of the sweater he temporarily used on Audrey's arm. At the moment, he seemed more concern with cleaning up the bodily fluids before picking up all the glass shards.

"So I have a question," Gil commented when the seven all met in Evie's room, though his main focus was still on the clothing in his hands. "I went to my room to grab a set of clothes, just in case I needed to change, and I noticed someone had put an extra bed in there. I didn't think anything of it, but when I went into Harry's room to replace the bandages I used, he had a second bed too."

"I do?" Harry wondered curiously. "It wasn't there when I left this morning."

"Maybe Ben knows," Uma suggested as she unsuccessfully hid the knowing smile on her lips. "He did say he had a surprise for you two. Maybe the beds have something to do with it."

"Speaking of the surprise . . ." Mal trailed off for a moment while checking her text messages. "Ben says he is ahead of schedule. We can head to the entrance now, and he will be pulling up by the time we get there."

"Pulling up?" Gil repeated with a confused snarl of his nose. "What do you—"

GASP!

"No fucking way!" Harry shouted, jumping up from his seat in excitement. "There is no way he could have pulled that off when the seven of us just got here. It's impossible!"

"Ben is the crown prince and will be king again in two days," Uma reminded as her smile grew even more. Shrugging somewhat carelessly, she added knowledgably, "It may also have had something to do with me asking if there was any way you could be given something, since tomorrow is Family Day. He thought this would be the perfect way to bring them over."

"Then what the hell are we waiting for!" Harry impatiently exclaimed, much to the sea witch's amusement. "I don't want to keep them waiting!"

Needless to say, as soon as he was out the door, the first-mate sprinted down the hallway with his group having a hard time catching up with him. Harry didn't care that he bumped into multiple students in the hallway, absentmindedly hearing Evie or Jay occasionally apologize for him.

Bursting through the main entrance, Harry could feel all of his pent-up worry from the past few days transform into overwhelming as he watched the royal limousine pull into the front driveway. The pirate unconsciously walked toward the now parked vehicle, never one noticing that Ben—dressed in Isle clothing—stepped out of the driver's seat and walked to the back passenger door.

Smiling at the group of Isle children that were watching, Ben announced, "I know you all know them, but I still wanted to introduce you to the four newest transfer students from the Isle of the Lost; the daughter of Drizella, the daughter of Dr. Facilier, and the sons of—"

The prince didn't get the chance to finish since the limousine door 'magically' opened on its own and escaped two young boys with identical blonde hair, the lightest shade of blue eyes anyone could possibly imagine, and dressed in the same blue striped shirt and red stocking hat.

Falling to his knees, Harry engulfed the boys in a massive embrace as they tried their best to wrap their tiny arms around the muscular pirate. Choking back a sob, Harry mumbled to the twins, "I've missed you so much, Squeaky and Squirmy."

"Gil?"

Flinching at his name being called, Gil placed the dress—that he just put on a hanger—in the closet before adverting his attention to the bedroom door, absentmindedly continuing his task of hanging the clothes in the princess's closet. The princess looked absolutely stunning in her baby blue night gown, which Gil had taken to the nurse's office for her to change into. Somehow, the fresh bandages on her arms made the princess look even more beautiful than she already was.

"Audrey," he greeted softly, as he moved his attention back to his task. "I'm sorry I'm not finished yet. I wasn't sure how to wash some of your clothes, so I asked Evie for help. I scrubbed the dress and sweater I used on your arms for two hours before they came clean. I wanted to be careful so I didn't ruin the fabric—"

"Gil," Audrey interrupted with a soft sigh, stepping in the room to close the door behind her. "This is incredibly sweet of you and the nicest thing anyone has done for me, but you didn't have to do this. I know you spent all day on this, and I heard your cousins from the Isle are in Auradon. You should be spending time with them instead of cleaning up my disaster."

"They spent the day with Harry. He, Uma, and Evie took them, Dizzy, and Celia on a tour of the campus after school," Gil reassured with a careless shrug, though he carefully placed the last dress in the closet before closing it shut. Turning around to face the princess once more, subtly hiding his surprise that the princess moved to the foot of the bed, he informed, "The twins knew I had something to do, so they understood me not being with them. Squirmy did act a little upset, but he cheered up when I promised he could stay in my room."

Audrey smiled softly at the comment. "Squirmy has a soft spot for you?" she assumed. "Does his brother have a soft spot for Harry then?"

"More like Squirmy has a soft spot for my dad," Gil corrected with a smile of his own. "When the twins were toddlers, they became sick one day, but Squeaky had different and worst symptoms than Squirmy. Uncle Smee didn't want Squirmy to get as sick as Squeaky, so my dad offered to watch and care for Squirmy. Squirmy didn't leave my dad's arm the entire time. After that, he started to call Dad 'Uncle Gi-Gi' and me 'Gi-Gi' because I reminded him of Dad."

"That's really sweet," Audrey informed with a soft smile. "Like I said, you really don't have to do this for me. I can clean up my own messes."

"It's ok," Gil reassured as his smile grew. "I wanted to do this."

"But why?" Audrey interrogated, shaking her head unsurely. "Why would you go out of your way for me?"

"Well . . ." Gil began, nervously shifting from feet to feet, "it's because . . . I love you."

Eyes growing wide in surprise, the princess mumbled under her breath, "What did you . . . ?"

"I said . . ." trailing off to step forward so he was just within arms reach of her, Gil confessed softly, "I love you, Audrey."

Heart beating too fast for her to register it and cheeks turning a scarlet color, Audrey decided to do the first thing that came to mind when thinking about her feelings for Gil—

And that was to give him a True Love's Kiss.