Mal massaged her knuckles, wincing in pain every time she applied pressure to a particularly sore area. It was seven at night, and her day had been filled with lots and lots of paperwork as she documented and arranged things for the Isle.
She pushed open the door to her and Ben's room and discovered Sophia setting a long bag on the couch with a smile. Mal paused in the doorway as Sophia turned around. "What's that?" Mal asked.
"From Belle." Sophia smiled. "It's a gift. She thought you might want something pretty and warm."
"It's a dress?" Mal frowned.
"Yes, but don't knock it before you try it." Sophia told her. "I know it's not ripped jeans and combat boots, but I think you should give it a shot." She picked the heavy bag back up off of the couch and handed it to Mal, who gave a half-hearted sigh. She glanced towards the bedroom, and noticed the door was closed. "Is Ben inside?" She asked, walking towards the door.
"No." Sophia shook her head. "He left a few minutes ago."
"To go where?" Mal asked with her frown deepening, twisting the knob and glancing inside. It was predictably empty. She thought for a second but couldn't remember if Ben had told her he was going anywhere this evening. He didn't usually.
"Everyone's gathering in the family room." Sophia told her with a smile. "They think it might snow."
Mal blinked. "Oh." She hummed. She glanced down at the large, heavy bag in her hands. "Should I wait to try this on and just head down?"
"You could wear it down." Sophia suggested. "Ben actually came up just to get changed before he went down."
"What kind of dress is this?" Mal asked, shaking the bag a little to get a feel for where the fabric was. It was long. "Unless Ben got dressed in a suit with cufflinks and the entire get-up, I doubt we'll match."
"It's not as fancy as you think." Sophia rolled her eyes. "Belle knows better than to get you a ballgown. It's just a warm dress. Try it on." She reached for the door handle and tugged it closed in front of Mal, who sighed and unzipped the dress bag. Inside was a mess of velvet. The dress was a deep brown-red mix with long, warm sleeves. The heavy velvet skirt swished around her calves. It was double sided, sewn in a giant loop that made the dress pleat in a very feminine way. She slipped it on and then fiddled with the seams until it fell down the way it was supposed to. She tried to reach the zipper and found it entirely out of her reach, so she swallowed and held the back closed as she stepped back out of the room.
The skirts brushed against her legs in a tickling sort of feeling and Mal swayed from side to side to feel the comfortable, almost cool weight shift from side to side. She hadn't liked it first seeing it, but now that it was on, she felt nice. Not hideous. Not even close.
"Need me to zip you up?" Sophia chuckled, walking out of the bathroom with a brush and some hair ties.
"Yes please." Mal smiled and moved her hair out of the way as Sophia approached and dragged the zipper up the length of her dress. She went back to massaging her fingers as Sophia smoothed down the fabric around her neck. Her fingers felt warm on Mal's skin.
"Do you want to see it on you?" Sophia asked. Mal hesitated, and then slipped past her friend and towards the bathroom without a word. The lights were already on as she stepped in and examined the dress on her. There weren't any patterns on it, no decorations either. It was tapered to her hips, but there was no one hem for her waistline. Everything was one big block of fabric. It had a high neckline too – very modest - but looked very nice. Mal turned to examine her look from behind and nodded in approval.
"That's a lovely dress on you." Sophia smiled from the doorway as she watched Mal appraise the outfit. "Belle did well. It'll keep you warm too."
"Won't the living room be warm enough?" Mal asked, combing her hands through her hair as she continued examining herself.
"Yes, but it'll still be nice if you go on the balcony," Sophia explained. "Want me to pull your hair up? We have time."
Mal considered. She hadn't planned on it. After all, it was just Ben, Belle, Adam, maybe Lumiere and Sophia. But the dress was pretty, and so after a second, she nodded. "Yeah, that would be nice. Thank you."
Sophia got straight to work, braiding her hair up into a high ponytail. Mal's hair, which had been layered and short in the back when she'd first come to Auradon, was now long. It hung past her shoulder blades in heavy, dark purple waves. Sophia pulled her into the bathroom and gave her hair a quick curl and hung some simple white gem earrings in her ears before she let Mal go admire herself again. She stayed in the doorway of the bathroom and smiled as she watched Mal swish her head from side to side to see the pretty braid that guided the left part of her hair into the ponytail. It was strange to see such a hairstyle on her. She looked almost like Evie.
A knock sounded at the door in the other room and jolted Mal out of her thoughts. She took a few steps and entered the main room. "Come in!" She called to the door.
The doorknob clicked. Lumiere pushed the door open and peered in. "Mademoiselle," He stopped abruptly upon seeing Mal. A soft, awed smile spread across his face. "Oh, ma chère. You look like a dream."
"Not really." Mal chuckled as she turned. A bright pink blush danced over her cheeks nonetheless.
"Absolutely." Lumiere said. "Nary a beauty like you I've met since my Plumette. You are a lovely beyond beauty."
Mal smiled and blushed deeper. Sophia smiled. "He's right. You look very nice." Sophia reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a cluster of silver bells. "Would you like some bells?" She asked.
"Bells?" Mal asked.
"Ah, mademoiselle." Lumiere began to talk, effectively cutting off Sophia before she could explain. "Queen Belle made it tradition many years ago for her to wear bells in her hair during the winter."
"Yes," Sophia agreed. "I've heard many stories of how she and Ben would cause mischief all throughout the halls, and you could only judge where they were by the sound of the bells in her hair."
"Aye." Lumiere nodded. "Many times, I only had moments to dive out of the way before the barreled me over."
"Is it true he used to be able to hide in the chandelier in the entrance hall?" Sophia asked. Immediately, Lumiere winced and began to shake his head.
"He would climb up the door, standing on the handle, onto the frame and then swing into it. It was strong enough to hold him so he wouldn't fall, and there were so many crystals you couldn't see him unless you were looking for him." Lumiere groaned, rubbing the bridge between his eyes. "He and his mother – they were partners in crime. He would fake sickness to get her out of meetings, she would bribe him with chocolate to help her set up pranks on Adam…" He trailed off with a deep, longsuffering sigh.
Mal listened carefully. "It sounds like a dream." She said wistfully, trying to imagine what a young Ben would have looked like. "Yes, bells sound lovely." She told Sophia. "Can you please help me with them?"
Sophia smiled and walked over to Mal. Mal bent down as the taller woman tied five belles around the base of her ponytail. As she finished, Mal moved her head experimentally. The tinkling of delicate silver filled the room. Everyone smiled.
"Did you need something, by the way, Lumiere?" Mal asked as she reached up and wrapped her hand against the cold metal of one of the bells.
"Aye, thank you for reminding me. Ben sent me for you. He says he thinks it's about to snow. Everyone has gathered in the family room, and there is a cup of hot chocolate with your name on it." Lumiere informed her with a smile.
"I'll take you down." Sophia offered with a bright smile. She turned out a few lights and checked to make sure the windows were stopped up properly.
"I can walk myself." Mal told her.
"I know you can, but I want to see what Ben thinks of you." Sophia explained with a quick wink at Lumiere.
Lumiere chuckled. Mal raised an eyebrow. "I'd tell you what he said, you know."
"I know, but it's a different thing all together to watch his face change." Sophia laughed. Mal's light blush finally turned to a deep scarlet as Lumiere and Sophia laughed at her.
Lumiere opened the door with a bow and a bright smile. He and Sophia trailed after her as she walked down the hall toward the family room.
Candles had been lit around the room, which didn't do much for warmth, but were beautiful as far as decoration spoke. The furniture had been rearranged, and a large tree was set up in between the furnace and the open balcony doors. Boxes of pretty ornaments sat around the couches, still sealed. Despite the doors being open, it was toasty inside. The furnace was blaring, and a kettle with four empty mugs sat on a side table. Towels had been laid down around the tiled area of the balcony to soak up the melting snow as it fluttered inside. It wasn't snowing yet, but the sky outside was dark and grey, and the air was frigid.
Belle sat on a couch with Adam parallel to her. They shuffled through the boxes around their feet and examined colorful lights. As Mal walked in, Adam looked up. "Do I hear bells?" He asked before he saw Mal and let a bright smile light up his face. Mal shrunk a little. She'd never seen Adam look so happy because of her.
"I didn't move," Belle said distractedly as she unboxed a string of lights. Mal smiled as she saw the cluster of silver bells in her mother-in-law's hair. Adam elbowed Belle lightly, and Belle glanced up. When she saw Mal, she began to tear up. "Well, look at you." She said. "I knew that dress would be a good match for you."
"Thank you for it," Mal said as she gave a small twirl. The velvet material caught the light and shimmered. She sat beside Belle on the couch. Belle reached up and ruffled the bells in Mal's hair. "What are you doing?" Mal asked, reaching down and helping Belle withdraw the light strings out of the box.
"Decorating." Belle said, nodding to the tree. "Adam pulled that up this afternoon, and we're going to decorate it now."
Mal examined the tree with a critical eye. It was shapely and even. And real. They had a real tree inside. It was held upright by a metal prop screwed into the base of the tree.
"Won't the tree die?" She asked.
"It'll stay green for a few weeks." Belle said distractedly.
Adam set a hand on Mal's shoulder. "In Auradon, we decorate a tree for Christmas, which, unfortunately, will pass before you return from the moors. We hang ornaments and put gifts underneath for Christmas morning."
"Oh. That's peculiar." Mal said. She paused. Had the word peculiar just come out of her mouth? What an Auradon/queenly thing to say. "Why do you do that?"
"It's tradition." Adam shrugged. He took the end of a cord from Belle and stood up to plug it into the wall. The lights lit up in dozens of beautiful colors.
"Viola." Belle said proudly. "They all still work."
She unraveled and untangled the cords as Adam knelt down and began to wrap the lights around the lower branches of the tree. Mal watched for a few seconds, then looked around. She spotted Sophia and Lumiere still waiting in the doorway and realized she didn't know where Ben had escaped to. She turned and looked out to the balcony, and saw a shadow leaning nonchalantly on the railing, looking up at the sky. She stood up and skirted around the boxes and couch and headed outside. Lumiere and Sophia moved to the center of the room to watch as she vanished from sight.
As she left the room, she understood why Ben hadn't come inside to see her. She couldn't hear anything – not Belle and Adam talking, not the furnace cracking. It was completely silent except for her feet as she walked. There was no wind, and the air was completely still.
Ben turned as she approached. When he saw her, his eyes grew a little large and his smile faded as he took a deep, cold breath. "Wow." He breathed.
Mal's cheeks went bright pink. "Hi." She said.
"You look good." He complimented her.
"You do too." She returned. She leaned against the railing and admired him. He had a themed sweater on. It had reindeer and trees like the one inside on it. Wool pajama bottoms, black socks, and slippers covered the lower half of him. Mal chuckled. "That is probably the least princely I've ever seen you look." She told him.
He laughed and put his arms around her. Mal wasn't very cold with her thick dress on, but the warmth was still much appreciated, as was the smell of pen ink and cologne he was wearing.
It was so dark she couldn't see the ground down below her. The front of the castle was lit up, but she couldn't see that from here. There was only the balcony, and the sky surrounding them on all sides.
Mal leaned back into Ben and sighed. He took one of her hands and began to massage the knuckles, which felt really nice since she'd spent all day writing and typing. After a few minutes, Ben stopped and pointed at the sky. "Look." He whispered.
Mal looked, but she couldn't see anything for a few seconds. Then, something white floated past her cheek. She blinked and flinched back from it. Three more wandered down on a path to the ground, right past her nose. Mal held out the free hand that Ben wasn't holding, and a pinprick of cold and white landed in her palm and melted. She gasped.
Ben's arms released her as she stretched her hands up. She caught more of the flakes in her hands as they floated down like a rain of shredded paper. When one landed on her dress, she inspected it. It was made of pretty patterns of ice and frost.
"Watch this." Ben smiled. He opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue, and caught a flake on his tongue.
Mal gasped. "You ruined it!" She accused.
"No, I didn't!" Ben protested. "It would have melted anyway. Here, you try it." He steered her to the balcony edge with his hands.
Hesitantly, Mal stuck out her tongue. A white flake flew in her eye and made her flinch backward and blink. She tried once more, and one landed on the tip of her tongue. Her face contorted, and Ben laughed at her as he caught another one. She watched a snowflake land in his eyebrow as he ran his thumb down her chin. "Can I kiss you?" He whispered.
Mal laughed, hesitated, and got on her tiptoes to kiss him as snowflakes swirled around them.
Inside, Belle, Adam, Lumiere, and Sophia had gathered to watch Mal's first interaction with snow in Auradon. Belle wished she'd had a camera to record Mal's shocked expression when she first saw one flit by her face. A thought that had been occurring to her more often as of late pressed at her chest.
Lumiere and Sophia chuckled as they watched Ben and Mal give each other a quick hug. "I'd better run upstairs and make sure we've sealed everything up." Lumiere smiled.
"Mhm," Sophia agreed. "I'm going to go and meet up with Stewart after I help Lumiere. Enjoy your evening."
Their two servants left the room with the door closing behind them.
Belle continued half-watching Ben and Mal outside, and half unraveling lights. She swallowed, and finally decided to voice her thoughts.
"Adam." She started quietly. Adam hummed to let her know he'd heard her as he plugged in a new string of lights and began moving up on the tree. "What do you think of Mal?" She asked.
Adam thought for a few seconds. "She's a lovely girl. I didn't expect the daughter of Maleficent to be so civilized and smart."
"She gets along well with Ben." Belle probed.
"That she does, luckily." Adam stuck his tongue out of his mouth as he strung the lights around a particularly misshaped branch. No tree was completely perfect, unfortunately. "I'd hate for them to be miserable as we get this whole mess sorted out." Adam paused, then asked: "I wonder if he'll go back to Audrey after all this?"
"No," Belle said immediately. "That ship has long since sunk. Thankfully. But… Adam-" She turned and faced him instead of the doorway. "Would it be so terribly bad if they stayed like this?"
Adam fumbled the lights and stared at his wife incredulously. "What are you saying?" He asked.
"Well…" Belle fumbled over her words. "They work so well together, and it's clear they like each other a lot. Maybe give it a few more months and we can call it true love and-"
"Belle." Adam interrupted her. "This isn't a book. We all want a happy ending, but these are real people's lives. While Mal is a lovely girl, she's also a very free spirit. The idea of queendom doesn't appeal. She's taken it up out of fear of returning to her mother. If and when the spell is broken, and she is neither faced with the threat of returning to the Isle or being trapped here forever, who knows what she will do? It's not fair to imply that Ben and Mal will stay together when we have no idea what forever will look like in a few months. Fairy Godmother, while they haven't gotten far, is still working on unraveling that curse. She could break it in thirteen years, she could break it next June. I like Mal, but the fact is she could leave just as easily as she came."
"I get it." Belle withered. She continued unraveling lights a great deal sadder than she had been a few minutes ago. Outside, Ben and Mal shared another kiss. His arms pulled around her lithe frame, and one of her arms pulled his head down against her cheek. Both of their mouths were open, so Belle could only assume something French was going on there.
With a sigh, Belle finished untangling the rest of the lights and started helping her husband string the tree as Ben and Mal stood outside, catching snowflakes in their hair and on their clothes as they kissed each other. Meanwhile, Adam's heart was in turmoil.
It turns out he hadn't been the only one wondering what it would be like if Mal became a permanent fixture in their lives. He wasn't sure if he should be frightened by the fact Belle agreed with him or happy that they were still on the same page after all these years. He wasn't quite sure what to do with all these thoughts in his head, because at first he'd have been all too happy to let Mal drop out of their lives, but now that they were both laughing and smiling together, clearly happy, Adam wasn't quite sure which idea he hated more: villainy tied to the throne of Auradon or Ben having to say goodbye to the purple-haired teen.
He'd been sorting things out: they couldn't keep Mal here forever like this. If five years were to pass and nothing changed with the spell… eventually Ben would grow old. There would have to be someone else to eventually put on the throne. Like it or not, at the moment, that was Mal's responsibility. If she couldn't handle it then…
And, deep down, Adam had a different secret. He'd been staying up late, thinking of Belle's old dreams of children and grandchildren, and he'd been dreaming of purple-haired little kids. Despite all the logic and the reasons he could conjure up of how unfair it was for him to wish that future on his son and this poor, mistreated teen, he wanted that future just as much as Belle did.
Outside, Mal felt content. On the Isle, snow meant cold, frozen toes and fingers. It meant the air became toxic where pollution was bad, and light was scarce because the snow formed on top of the barrier and fell through in odd, grey chunks. Here, snow was chocolate drink and lights on trees inside. Snow was a snack that didn't fill you up and gentle air kisses from mother nature. Snow was Ben kissing her with growing passion like he'd rather kiss her than do anything else.
His hand breezed past her face like the wind as he played her mouth with his tongue and pressed their bodies together. Mal had never had anyone kiss her like this before. He bit her lip as his arms crushed her against him. She moaned - a bit audibly - as a deep fire erupted in her chest.
They paused in their facial struggles for a second as snowflakes landed in her eyelashes. Ben brushed snowflakes out of her ponytail with one hand and pressed his mouth back – face-value - onto hers. Mal forgot how to breathe for a second as he caught her lip with his teeth for a second.
After several minutes, they finally subsided and stood with their arms around each other as the snow fell around them and began to pile around the balcony in fluffy heaps like sparkly glitter.
Ben whispered in her ear: "I think mom and dad are almost done stringing the tree."
His breath came out in a puff of fog. Mal held her hand in front of her face and exhaled. A little cloud formed in front of her eyes. She smiled. "Okay." She whispered. They broke apart. She fixed her hair, self-conscious considering she'd just full-out snogged Ben a few feet from his parents. "Do I look bad?" She asked him.
"Impossible." He waved a hand at her worries.
They walked back over the threshold. Mal was immediately stunned by the change in temperature as she walked into the furnace-fueled room. Belle and Adam were stringing the last of the lights upon the highest branches. Mal was stunned. The twinkly lights looked beautiful. They'd been wrapped in a way that made it seem almost like the colorful lights had grown out of the tree. The idea made Mal homesick for the moors.
Ben picked up a large cardboard box and opened it. Mal leaned against his shoulder as he lifted the lid to reveal white bubble wrap. She furrowed her brow as he pushed it aside and revealed a beautiful three-dimensional star with white glass and a gold-colored metal holding it together.
"Pretty." She said. "What is it?"
"A tree topper," Ben explained. "It goes up on top." He moved to the tree with an outstretched arm. Mal stood back and watched as Adam tucked the end of the strand around the top of the tree, and Ben reached up past him to set the star on the top. He wasn't quite tall enough though, so the star sat at an angle. Ben groaned as he tried to hop and nudge it into place. Mal waved him aside.
"Let me." She commanded. She concentrated and flicked her finger upright. The star righted itself.
Belle gave Adam a look. After a few seconds, she declared: "I'm not going to say anything if you aren't."
Adam shook his head, looking weary. "I already lost that argument with Ben." He grumbled, crossing his arms and looking a bit sour.
Belle fixed her eyes on Mal. "Well." She said. "You are your own Queen, but you should probably know that Auradon does discourage against most magics. Fairy Godmother oversees. I won't stop you, but just be aware lots of people will take the opportunity to criticize."
"Auradon doesn't discourage." Ben said lightly. He paused. "They discriminate." He finished, turning on his heel and picking up a clear box filled with beautiful blue plastic bulbs. Beautiful snowflake patterns stretched across them.
Adam frowned. "That's not true," He interjected. Belle promptly held a hand up in his face.
"False." She told him. "Incorrect. Imprudent."
Ben picked up a plastic baggie with hooks and began to wrestle them free of each other. He hooked one on a bulb and handed it, the first one, to Mal. She held it, unsure of what to do with it as he sorted more hooks out. "Dad, most Auradonians single out what is different or unique. Mom was ostracized for reading and thinking, you were isolated as a beast, and you still think Auradon isn't judgmental?"
"Ben, that was ages ago, and there is good in everyone. But what you're proposing – bringing back magic – while admirable, would open Auradon to thousands of new problems. There are reasons we restricted it in the first place. It's too hard to fight fire with fire." Adam sighed.
"Why was it you wanted your statue in front of Auradon Prep to morph from Beast to Man?" Ben asked. He stood up straight and squared off with his father. Adam was silent. "Anything is possible dad. I found the most amazing person in a villain. The Isle of the Lost will be healed to become good again. The moors have reconnected. Maleficent's spell worked around the barrier on the Isle, and I will bring magic back to Auradon again."
Silence clouded the room. Belle and Mal exchanged looks, and Belle put a hand on Adam's shoulder. "If anything, let's not discuss this tonight. We are together as a family, and it is Mal's first Christmas in Auradon. If I'd known you'd have so much to say over her fixing a tree topper, I wouldn't have said anything. Now, let's move on. We can talk politics at a later date."
Ben walked around the couch, away from Adam. He noticed Mal was still holding the hook of the bulb. "Aren't you going to hang it up?" He asked.
"Is that what you do with it?" Mal asked. She examined the bulb.
"Yeah," Ben snorted. "Want me to lift it up so you can put it near the top?"
Mal made a face. "I'm not that short." She protested.
Ben held up his hands in surrender. "I know you're not." He defended. "I was just asking if I could."
Mal pursed her lips and stalked to the tree without a word. Looking up at it, she saw that it was quite tall. She let out a sigh. "Okay." She said. No sooner had she muttered the word than a pair of hands wrapped around her hips.
"On the count of three, give a little jump," Ben instructed. Mal bent down a little as Ben counted back and jumped at the same time as he lifted her. She shot right by his head and quickly placed the bulb on a high branch before he put her back on the ground.
"Thanks." She said.
"No problem." He said, leaning down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "We should take dance classes together."
"Uh huh," Mal agreed, skeptically. "And then we can have overlapping surgeries when I mutilate your feet and break my leg in one fell swoop?" Ben laughed, so Mal continued. "We could get casts in a matching color and sign each other's cast with our best ugly signatures."
Ben snorted and picked up two new bulbs from where his dad was hooking them. He handed one to Mal, and together with Belle, they began to decorate the tree. Mal was amazed by the variety of ornaments they had. There were silver bows hung from white cords, sparkly snowflakes, blue jewels, and white icicle-shaped rods that spun as they hung. After about an hour, the tree was laden with all sorts of lovely decorations. Only three boxes were left. Ben frowned as he looked underneath the couches and under all the other boxes they'd already used.
"What are you looking for?" Mal asked, getting down to help him look.
"A box like these," Ben said, tapping the remaining boxes on the couch. They were small, brown, and about the size of Mal's phone. Ben looked up at Belle. "Did it not come in?" He asked. Belle shrugged.
Mal didn't know what he was talking about, so she sealed her lips and sat down as he continued looking. There was a knock at the door. Lumiere opened it, holding the fourth box Ben was looking for. "This was in your office, Ben." He informed them, giving a disapproving look. "I hope you hadn't put them up yet."
"Not yet," Ben shook his head , sitting up and looking relieved. "Thank you, Lumiere. You're welcome to stay if you want." He walked over and took the box from Lumiere.
"No thank you." Lumiere shook his head. "I think I'm going to turn in now. Have a good night." He shut the door behind him as everyone wished him good luck, and Ben turned with the box in his hands.
"Alright, Mal. We have these things we call family ornaments. Everyone in the family has one, and I got this one for you. My parents got theirs when they first got married, and they got me one when I was born." He pressed it into Mal's hand. "So here you go. Merry Christmas."
Mal was stunned. She stared at Ben. And then at the box in her hands. "Family ornament?" She asked.
Ben, Belle, and even Adam nodded encouragingly.
Mal bit her lip. She didn't ask any more questions because she didn't want to make it sound like a big deal, but it really was a big deal to her. She ran her hand over the box, which was imprinted with a pattern, and lifted the lid. She brushed tissue paper aside and lifted a delicate metal ornament. Belle laughed when she saw what it was.
It was a metal dragon with purple accents curled around a green crystal the shade of her own eyes. Atop its head was a small, silver crown. Mal began to beam and quickly covered her mouth as a strange thing happened to her eyes. It was like they went swimming, and suddenly her world was underwater. Her chest felt like she had several weights set on it.
Ben took the box out of her lap and helped her up. He guided her to the tree, where she hesitated before hanging her little dragon in between a snowflake and a blue gemstone. It bobbed and twirled in the light of the furnace before finally settling on the branch.
Ben hugged her from behind and kissed the top of her head.
Belle and Adam opened their own boxes. Belle's was of herself in her classic yellow ball gown that she'd danced with the Beast in and holding a book under her arm. Adam's, meanwhile, was the beast. It didn't morph or anything, but simply displayed himself in the form that Belle had first loved him in.
"What's yours?" Mal asked as she wiped the water from her eyes before it could fall.
"Oh, it's pretty great," Ben smirked. He let go of her, picked up the last box, and unwrapped it. Inside was the likeness of a branch twisted into a circle, with three birds sitting on it, wearing crowns. Ben let her examine it for a few seconds before he explained it. "The birds are an owl, a dove, and a phoenix. An owl is supposed to be a symbol of wisdom, the dove is supposed to be a sign of peace, and the phoenix is a symbol of rebirth. My parents hoped I would grow up to be a leader who would bring wisdom, peace, and rebirth to Auradon."
"Wow," Mal said, smiling. Ben stood up and hung it on the tree a few feet from Mal's dragon. Above their two, Belle's Belle and Adam's Beast spun near each other with bright glass smiles.
As Mal, Adam, and Ben gathered all the empty ornament boxes into an easily-manageable pile, Belle poured four mugs of hot chocolate. She handed them out, and they sat down on the couches. Adam pulled up Christmas songs on his laptop. Mal didn't know any of the words, but she liked them nonetheless. She sat beside Ben on a couch facing the tree as they began to talk.
"I'm sad you'll miss Christmas," Ben said after a while.
"And the new year," Belle added. "Bad luck."
Mal swirled her mug carefully. "I was thinking… maybe if I stay an extra few days to the end of January, then I wouldn't be leaving in the middle of the month anymore. That way, Ben and I won't be celebrating our anniversary as I'm leaving to the moors, and I won't miss things like Christmas."
"That's smart." Belle nodded. She hid a small smile at the words 'our anniversary'.
"Let's see…" Adam sighed, counting back on his fingers. "January, March, May, July, September, November, rinse and repeat."
"Your birthday…" Ben frowned.
"And yours." Mal returned. "We'll have to do something when I come back those months." She released one hand and rested it on Ben's knee, where she began rubbing little circles into it.
"She'll miss Summer Solstice." Belle shrugged, watching Mal's fingers.
"And winter solstice for this year, but that's all well and dandy. It's being held at Agrabah. They're not much for winter." Adam shrugged.
Ben snorted. "True. Isn't it at Elsa's next year?" He asked. He leaned over and put an arm around Mal's shoulders, and she leaned into his grasp on instinct alone.
"Yes, and that is one you won't want to miss!" Adam declared, slapping the couch. "Lights, everywhere! Snow, and music, and treats with powdered sugar!" Belle and Mal chuckled at his enthusiasm.
Ben put his hand over Mal's. "When you get back in February, we'll have to have you open your presents." He whispered.
"Presents?" Mal asked, crinkling up her nose in curiosity.
"Yeah." Ben smiled. "You didn't think we were going to forget about you, did you?" Truthfully, Mal hadn't even had any thoughts on the idea of presents. She drummed her fingers as she wondered what she was supposed to be doing in return.
"I'll have you get you each and Lumiere, Sophia, and Stewart something then." She nodded.
"We won't think any less of you." Belle waved her off.
"Mph." Mal sighed contentedly. She took Ben's hand, turned it around, and began tracing his fingers lightly. "Next year," She yawned. "I'll stay at the palace for Christmas."
Ben smiled as he watched her examine his hand. "Now, wouldn't that be incredible?" He murmured.
As Ben and Mal continued their banter, they failed to see Belle arch her head back and meet her husband's gaze. Both their eyes were alight. 'Next year.' Belle mouthed. A bright smile stretched across Adam's mouth.
Adam wrapped his arms around his Queen as the fire crackled and Ben and Mal talked playfully while she examined Ben's hands. Next year, there would be another snowfall, another tree, another Christmas. Hopefully, next year, there would also be one more set of hands.
I do not own Descendants, Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent, Beauty and the Beast(1991 and 2017), Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella (1958 and 2015), Aladdin, or Frozen.