One thing Mal knew about life or death situations from previous altercations is that when you're about to die, and your body knows it, you get the craziest, most kinetically impossible ideas. And sometimes, they even work.
Mal saw her entire life flash before her eyes before she leaped into action. Birth, childhood, to now. Sometime around when she was kissing Ben for the first time in his car, she paused her life video so that she could execute her crazy plan and live. As Uma's blade came down on her head, she swayed and rolled right around Uma's legs, which was no easy feat considering the railing on the ship was rounded and polished and hovering above the ground. As Uma was trying to pivot around without falling, Mal kicked her in the knees. Uma dropped her sword, which tumbled off of the ship and hit Maleficent's tail on the way down, in order to catch herself in the railing. Mal scrambled away by balancing along the balcony railing as it creaked and wiggled underneath her and Uma's combined weight.
Above her, Audrey, Evie, Jay, Ben, Lonnie, and everyone was trying to pull themselves up to secure their safety from the fall. Most of the fighting had ceased as everyone struggling to keep from falling to the ground and the dragon below. Mal's eyes skimmed her surroundings and she came to a quick conclusion: She needed to level the playing field.
She left her sword next to the deck, grabbed the edge of the railing, checked to see that Uma still had not fully regained her balance, and swung down over the side of the ship. She heard Ben, Audrey, and Lonnie shout in surprise. She held on by clutching her knees around the railing and using her hands as if she were climbing a ladder as she examined the lines that were holding the ship to the ground. There were nine in all, extremely thick, and secured using many strong loops to both the ship's railing and to concrete pillars down on the dock. The wharf had been partially destroyed when the ship went airborne, but those pillars weren't going to budge. On the other hand, the old, rickety Jolly Roger might lose half of its hull if the strain wasn't leveled.
Mal looked at her sword and made a small whimper. She pulled herself back up and took her sword in two hands. "Break apart and become a dart." She commanded the sword. A green glow overtook it and faded. Mal snapped off the hilt as if it were a small stick and split the blade into six equal parts, keeping wary of the sharp edges. She heard Uma get to her feet and start walking up the polished railing to her. Mal tucked the sword parts into her sword bag and slung it carefully over her arm. Then she grabbed the railing again and swung back over.
The ocean seemed miles away. If she fell, only her magic would save her. The fall would either break her entire body or kill her. Mal took a deep breath and carefully fished a sword part out of her bag. Above her, she heard Uma cackle. "Oh, Mal!" She said gleefully.
Mal held the shard to her lips and muttered: "Fly straight, fly true; Nothing can stop you." The shard lit up again, and without a second thought, Mal flung it towards the ropes that were holding the ship to the ground. It cut through the four on that side, reaching all the way to the bow before the spell wore off and it dropped into the water below.
The boat lurched upwards. Everyone yelled and screamed as the bow section rose higher into the air. Only five ropes remained now, and they were pulling even harder on the old ship. Mal didn't have much time.
Uma had slid down when the ship lurched and was now at the stern of the ship, favoring a hurt arm and leg. She looked absolutely bloodthirsty. Governor Ratcliff, Clayton, and Shan Yu's nephew had landed hard near the stairwell and were groaning in pain. Shan Yu's nephew had obviously broken his leg, as it was bent at the thigh bone instead of at the knee. Mal looked away with her stomach actually churning.
She began to climb down the railing as if it were a ladder. Uma began to climb up. As Mal passed the fifth restraint, she charmed a sword piece and hacked it off the ship. The Jolly Roger rose even further into the air, and Uma fell back down, this time falling on her back and crying out in pain.
This had to end.
Mal swung herself back under the railing. Maleficent flew by and breathed a torrent of flames her way. Only Mal's quick reflexes allowed her to jump back to safety before she dropped back down again. She re-charmed the piece she'd used to hack off the fifth piece and flung it towards the remaining ropes. She cut two, but two more remained. As she yanked a third piece out and held it to her lips, something grabbed her by the neck.
It was Shan Yu, the real villain. He rambled on in Wei for a few seconds and shook her at her mother. Quickly, Mal focused and made her skin hot to the touch. Shan Yu dropped her with a yelp. She skidded down the railing but managed to catch herself halfway between Shan Yu and Uma, who had struggled to her feet and was now pulling herself up the railing, crying as she tried to not move her back.
It was now or never.
Mal swung one last time over the railing and sliced the last two ropes away with one fling of her piece. She nicked her finger on that throw and a drop of blood fell onto the wood and dissolved. The boat suddenly lurched upwards, righting itself as it went. Uma screamed as she was thrown onto the deck, and finally could move no more. The only sign she wasn't dead were the whimpers that echoed through the floorboards.
Mal clutched onto the railing as the boat leveled off high above the Isle of the Lost. She could see the city, Auradon, and the mountain range that divided North Auradon from South Auradon.
The air was a lot thinner up here, but still breathable. Mal used every fiber of strength left in her arms to pull her body back over the railing, only to be seized by Shan Yu once more.
Shan Yu laughed as he dangled Mal over the edge of the ship. Maleficent the dragon was flying up to meet them, and from the sounds that she was making, Mal thought her mother might be laughing at her.
She had no more strength; nothing left to give. Her fingers clawed uselessly at Shan Yu's meaty hands. Shan Yu squeezed her airway so tightly that her vision started to go dark. Her voice came out as useless fish sounds and for a while, Mal was sure that that was where she was going to die.
Then she heard the sound of running footsteps and felt the air move as someone punched Shan Yu in his glorious face, right in between his bright yellow eyes, with so much force he was knocked clear off the ship. Someone grabbed her hand as Shan Yu fell. As soon as his feet left the ship, his hold on her neck loosened, and sweet-tasting, glorious air rushed into her. Shan Yu fell to the wharf below and for a second she fell right beside him until the hold on her arm stopped her and she was left dangling off the side with someone squeezing her fingers for dear life. She coughed and looked up to see her savior.
It was Ben. He'd lost his hat, and his jacket was torn where the sleeves met shoulders. A few pieces of shrapnel had sliced his face, but he was otherwise alright.
"I've got you!" He told her as he hoisted her up. As soon as she was within reach, he hooked his arm around her thighs and pulled her onto the deck, where he wrapped his arms around her. She was so exhausted she couldn't even stand on her own. He pressed dozens of desperate kisses to her hair, burying his face in her locks. Her fingertips skimmed his neck but couldn't find a hold.
Behind them, the villains were being quickly overrun. Now that the immediate threat of people dying had been canceled out, there was no reason to not fight back full force. The villains were no match for the stun guns. They were quickly being annihilated. Poor Uma laid on the lower deck, weeping as she lay in utter pain. Other villains were left in their misery, to moan and groan as they waited for relief.
Ben set her on the deck. "Rest." He commanded. "We may need you to take us down again." Mal nodded and collapsed against the rough wooden planks. Ben immediately took up guard around her with his sword held in perfect form as he stood in front of her.
As Mal lay on the deck, her mother circled above her. She looked like a vulture, waiting to feed on Mal's flesh. She sat back up and stared at her mom. Then, against Ben's command, she used the railing to pull herself back up. "Mal?" Ben asked.
"Evie, Jay, Carlos, Lonnie, Audrey, Sammy, over here! Behind me!" Mal called.
Sammy, the small Isle boy, shot Drizella Tremaine in between her eyebrows. They all glanced at the last villain – Maleficent - and ran to do as Mal asked.
As her friends fell into formation behind her, Mal wrapped one hand around the railing to steady herself and the other hand around Ben's. She stared her mother's dragon form in the eyes and willed it to stop flying and hover in front of them.
Miraculously, the dragon began to move against its will towards them. It let out a squawk, almost like a chicken's, as Mal willed it to be on eye-level with her. She thought she might collapse from the effort, but it was easier when she was able to draw strength from the people behind her.
"The strength of evil is good as none when stands before pure hearts as one." She recited. Maleficent shook. "The strength of evil is good as none when stands before pure hearts as one." She repeated.
Beside her, Ben took up the mantra. "The strength of evil is good as none when stands before pure hearts as one." They recited together.
On the next recital, all of her friends joined in. "The strength of evil is good as none when stands before pure hearts as one." They repeated it four more times. Eight in all; one for each of them.
The dragon let out another squawk and vanished in a poof of smoke. A lizard appeared in its place. Mal thrust out her hand to catch it with levitation before it fell to the ground below. She pulled it towards the ship and set it down on the deck. Ben promptly picked it up before it could run off. He took the sword bag from Mal and emptied the contents out over the ship. He tossed Maleficent the Lizard into the bag and pulled the drawstring tight. They all each took a long, deep breath.
"That was a wide ride." Audrey murmured.
"It was." Evie agreed. Everyone else nodded.
Ben pulled Audrey into a hug as Mal lowered herself back onto the deck and laid her head against the railing. "I'm really proud of you, Audrey." He told her seriously. "I didn't think you had it in you."
Audrey pulled herself out of his grip and looked at her hands. There were new calluses and cuts that hadn't been there the day before, but she didn't seem to mind them all that much.
"It means a lot that you approve, Ben," Audrey said slowly. "Believe me, I've waited a long time to hear something like that from you. But what's even more important is that I didn't know I could do it. I didn't know I had it in me until Mal told me I was going to be group one."
Ben smiled. "Mal has a way of bringing out the good in everyone, despite how bad she claims she is." He bent down and kissed Mal's cheek as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
"Give me a few hours to recover." Mal yawned, pointing at him. "And then I'll show you how bad I can be, beast boy."
"Ew," Evie said, gagging and sticking a finger in her mouth as she turned away.
Ben rolled his eyes. "We'll see about that, tough girl. Now we've just got to figure out how to get this thing back to the ground." He leaned out over the railing and studied the ground, far below them.
"Can I help?" Someone asked from the far side of the ship. Everyone jumped around to see a boy with flamboyant red hair, wearing elf shoes and a green outfit as he balanced on the ship's railing.
"Peter Pan?" Lonnie asked in surprise.
Peter took off his feathered cap as he bowed low to the ground. "At your service!" He declared. He jumped off the railing and zoomed through the air to the Captain's wheel. He saluted them all, and then slowly began to direct them back to the ground.
Mal was just about ready to fall asleep. In under an hour, she'd incinerated a thirty-year-old barrier, held on for dear life as she severed an entire ship off the dock, and nearly died several times. Still, she knew she had work to do.
"Help me up." She commanded Ben and Evie.
Shan Yu's nephew had mostly gone into shock but was still whimpering. He refused to move his leg. Mal took the limb and straightened it out as best she could, despite the fact he howled and begged her not to touch it. Then she murmured: "Be real and heal," and the bone straightened itself up and the skin stitched itself closed.
She briefly healed the others, and then approached Uma. Uma's dirty braids were in knots in her outfit, and she laid with her legs splayed out awkwardly. As Mal came closer, Uma tried to scoot away using her hands. It was then she realized that the younger girl didn't have any control over her legs. Something was horribly broken in her spine.
Mal bent down beside Uma. "I can heal you." She offered, refusing to look at the girl's twisted lower body.
"I'd rather die." Uma spat.
"I can arrange that too." Mal rolled her eyes. They were still reasonably high in the air, after all.
"Mal," Ben whispered in quiet protest. "Please."
Mal stared at her old enemy and gave to a conclusion in her mind; she might have made Uma into the monster she was. If only she hadn't been so prideful years ago.
Mal wrung her hands. "Listen, your chances in the city are forfeited because of this. You kidnapped and held hostage hundreds, with or without my mother's directions. I can leave you like this here and you can live a short while as a cripple before you're killed by someone else. Or, I can heal you on the condition you'll let us leave peaceably."
Uma glowered. "If you heal me, I'll kill you. I'll hunt you down, Mal. No matter where you go, I'll never stop coming for you."
Ben's hands curled protectively into Mal's shoulders. Mal balled her hands up in frustration. "What can I do?" I demanded. "I can't fix what I did. The person you are now can't live in the city - I'd have to kick you back out. I'm offering you a chance to move on and forget."
"Forget everything you did to everyone and forget everything Auradon did to us?" Uma's face twisted. "You never had to deal with scrubbing til your hands were bleeding and the entire Isle kicking you around because the daughter of Maleficent didn't like you!" She closed her eyes and shook her head furiously. "I wish I could."
Mal's hands stilled. She swallowed. "There might be something magical I could do to fix it, but..." She shook her head.
Uma stilled, processing Mal's words, and then turned her head a little to squint at the magical queen. "Take it away," She demanded. "Make me forget everything."
Mal's mouth fell open. "I don't... are you sure?" She gasped.
Uma nodded and set her jaw. "Do it," She hissed.
Mal's hands shook as she turned and looked at Ben, who looked uneasy. He took one of her palms as Mal tried to think. If she did this, then there wouldn't be any reason Uma couldn't come and live in the city and have pretty soaps and shampoos to finally wash that shrimp smell out of her hair. She wouldn't have to remember the pain, or what the Isle was like before. She could let everything go and be free. Maybe She could finally be happy, out from under her mom's thumb and not having to fight for her life anymore.
There was a long pause as everyone exchanged glances. Uma's eyes were growing softer. Every Isle child was well acquainted with the pits of the devil, as that was another word for the Isle of the Lost. Uma had been through torture and loss, and she knew those were things one doesn't just get over. A fresh start, though...
"Let's think about this," Ben cautioned. "Are you sure?"
Uma blinked. "I'm sure," She affirmed and gave a slow, blissful nod.
Audrey jumped forward and put a hand on Mal's shoulder. "Maybe this is a bit drastic?" She gasped, looking down anxiously at Uma. "Erase a person's memories? As in, everything that makes them them? Can't she just be taught and learn? You gave some of the other villains leeway."
"The villains I gave leeway weren't promising to kill me, and rotted here on an island for almost forty years." Mal raised her eyebrows. "The ones who maybe shouldn't have come in were Evelyn, because she still believes she was helping people by terrorizing them, and Hades. Evelyn barely scrapes by since she understands the other side and has covenanted to repentance. But she's also the most-watched in the city. I don't know how Hades passed Mercy's tests yet, but he's very obviously repentant. Uma, on the other hand, will never be able to stop hating me. She held an entire generation captive and people have starved to death and died of exposure because of her and my mother. Maybe in forty years, I might let her in the city, but the moment she tries for my life she'd be back out again - permanently. The magic barriers don't allow for murder attempts."
"Then heal her and leave her," Audrey responded. "There's a spell for sleep, right? She can live on the Isle with the villains."
"Yes, with Gaston," Mal agreed, watching Uma's expression twist. "She'd be the only young girl left on the Isle except for a few other stragglers, maybe. I wouldn't want to stick around to see what kind of scene that will create. With the city as it is, I won't be able to instate force laws that prevent murders and other extreme crimes entirely on the Isle until they're stable. That'd probably be plenty of time for him to go hunting again."
"Hunting?" Audrey asked, but Carlos set a hand on her shoulder.
"You don't want to know," He shook his head.
Uma's eyes were dark as she considered Mal's words. "I want to forget," She gritted out. "I want to. But I hope you remember what you did forever, because you're still going to be dragged down to misery for it."
"Are you sure?" Audrey gasped, clenching her hands at her sides.
Evie stepped forward and put her arms around Audrey's shoulders. "There's a joke on the Isle. 'If the crime isn't remembered, you're not a villain'. It used to mean 'do something big' but lately it's been meaning 'put it behind you'. More Isle kids than you realize would pay to forget everything they grew up around. All the crime and the horrors..."
Mal and Evie met eyes, and they both knew they were thinking of the same thing. Mal rubbed her hands together and looked to the deck. There were things she'd like to forget, sure, but they were also things she needed to know for her job.
Mal carefully moved to take Uma's head in her lap. She put her hands on the girl's shoulders as Uma cried out and tears fell down her face. "To see you whole is my only goal." Mal's voice cracked. "To set your life on track, I gift you a brand-new back."
Uma's body straightened. Her legs relaxed, and Uma gave her foot a testing twitch. Tears filled her eyes. She looked up to meet Mal's eyes, but no thanks fell from her lips. The hate still lingered in the girl's eyes. Mal smoothed Uma's braids down and put her hands back on her head. "No more sorrow, no more fantasy. Relieve your pain and no more memory." She whispered softly.
She removed her hands from Uma's head. The girl frowned, momentarily confused, and then her face relaxed. Fear and anger faded from her eyes, and her emotions flatlined and erased. Uma's eyes drifted closed, and she faded out of the world in a blessed sleep.
Mal wiped her eyes as soft tears began to fill them. "I guess that's it." She sighed. "She won't know me as a monster."
Evie brushed a hand down Uma's soft, dirty cheek. "Are you going to tell her?" She asked.
"Not now," Mal said. "I want her to find a life for herself without knowing who she was before. And after a little while… yeah, I'll tell her. And I'll tell her she wanted me to take her memories as well. Just not now."
Mal brushed a careful hand over Uma's forehead and set her old enemy's head on the ground. Everyone dropped to the deck around her, slumping against each other in exhaustion. Mal stared down at Uma, and then a force of shock so powerful it almost made her horns reappear shook her, and she whipped around and punched Ben's arm as hard as she could. Tears jumped into her eyes and started staining her cheeks as Ben jumped away from her. "Ow!" He yelped. "Why'd you do that!"
"I trusted you outside the city," Mal sobbed. "I trusted you to be smart and you put your sword down and got captured! Do you know what you did to me?"
Ben's eyes softened, though he rubbed his arm still and looked a little weary and annoyed. "I'm sorry, Mal. I should have just held onto it." He reached out and wiped a tear off her cheek. His thumb came away luminescent green, making Mal reach up and begin wiping away her own magic-infused tears before they could stain her cheeks green. He watched her with a little half-smile. "Keep crying like this and people will think you actually missed me," He teased her softly.
Mal broke down, grabbing the front of his shirt and burying her face into his Isle jacket. She could barely even keep her head up as tired as she was and so she focused on keeping her fingers twisted into the leather to keep her up. Ben brought her closer for a hug. "Sleep." He whispered. "You've done so much, and you're tired. Sleep."
Mal continued shaking her head furiously, keeping her fingers twisted into his jacket. "You can't leave," She told him. "If I wake up and you're gone, I'll seriously burn Auradon to the ground to find you."
Ben shook his head and she could imagine him rolling his eyes a little at her proclamation. "I'll be here," He assured her. "Now rest. Everything will be fine."
Mal took his hands and squeezed them tightly. She looked at him with an intensity he hadn't ever seen on her before - desperation, almost. He pulled his hands out of her grasp and smoothed her shaking palms out over her knees. "We're together now," He mumbled, setting his hand on hers. "Don't worry anymore."
"I don't want to be without you again," Mal mumbled.
A smile lit up Ben's eyes. He smoothed her hair down. "Sleep now. I'll be right here." As Peter Pan carefully navigated them back to the ground, Mal used the last amounts of strength in her body to pull herself away from Uma's sleeping frame and into Ben's arms. He wrapped his arms around her sore, overworked muscles, and kissed the top of her head as her eyes drifted closed.
Later that evening, the barrier returned to the sky. The bright colors of the sunset fell over the ruined buildings of the Isle of the Lost as the magical force sealed itself over the Isle. Mal, having remained unconscious all day after Peter Pan had delivered them back to the city, raised the barrier anew once more, with new regulations to help with the extreme pollution and natural decay on the Isle. This marked an important new era, as it was the first time the barrier would be tied solely to a person, and not to an artifact. No longer would the Fairy Godmother's wand be able to work inside the Isle. Only Mal would be able to perform magic inside the barrier, and she'd have to slowly teach her descendants how to access the barrier from the outside as they got older.
The Isle residents gathered on the beach to watch the large green shield grow over the outside world. It almost looked like a stained-glass bottle. Only a little less than a hundred people remained outside the city.
As the top sealed off against the darkening colors of the sky, Mal let her arms fall. Ben, who had been standing beside her, took her hand. "You're amazing." He told her honestly.
Mal chuckled. "I learned from an even more amazing person." She said and quickly kissed his cheek. They were still standing on the deck of the Jolly Roger, which had been unloaded of its cargo and washed out. Peter Pan was going to take the ship back to Neverland, where it belonged. Mal turned and watched Uma, who was looking down at the sand suspiciously.
"What do you think, Uma?" Mal asked, saying Uma's name so she could hear it clearly. Uma glanced over, and then went back to examining the beach.
"It doesn't look like you can stand on it," Uma decided. "It's like you'll sink right into it."
"You can stand on it," Mal promised. "Here, come on, I'll show you. We need to get you a card, and I need to go and help the people coming in anyways." She gestured broadly to the gangplank. Uma took a few steps forward and then tried to carefully take a few steps down. She almost slipped as her shoes caught on a rough nail. Ben grabbed her elbow before she could topple to the ground.
"Woah!" He called. "Easy, there. Here, let me take you to the ground." He held onto Uma's arm and took her down the gangplank and to the sands below. Mal watched from above as she took her first steps onto the beach and gave a short nod of approval before Ben turned and stretched his hand up for her. She took it as she walked down, smiling as she stepped beside him.
"Well, I'd best be off, then," Peter called. He waved to everyone on the beach, some of whom were gaping in surprise and pointing. "So long!" He waved and took up his place behind the wheel. "Off to Neverland!" Was his final cry as the ship lifted off the ground and returned to the sky. The people watched it fade out of view, waving as it passed through the barrier above them and continued onwards. The stars were just starting to appear in the sky.
"You did good," Ben whispered in her ear as they watched Uma look around, down at the beach and towards the sunset in the sky.
"I'm not done," Mal reminded him. "There are still people outside." She exhaled and squeezed his hand, still interlocked beside her own.
"Mal!" Evie called as she hurried towards the purple fairy with her shoes in one hand and a taller, handsome boy's upper arm in the other. "I need you to meet someone!"
Mal looked over her shoulder and switched hands with Ben as they turned. "Hi, Evie," Mal said. "Who is this?"
"This is Evan." Evie presented the tall, handsome man. "My brother."
Mal's eyebrows shot up. "I didn't know you had a brother." She said, holding out a hand to Evan. "Hi." She smiled. "I'm Mal."
"I know." He nodded. "Your mom is Maleficent." Behind Evan, Jay, Carlos, Lonnie, and Audrey were approaching the group. Lonnie and Jay appeared to be laughing together. Mal let go of Ben's hand and looped her arm through his as they got closer.
"Evan is kind of a pedigree fanatic," Evie explained. "He says he knows the parentage of about eighty percent of the Isle kids."
Mal's eyebrows climbed even higher. "Eighty percent?" She asked.
"Yeah…" Evan trailed off as he rubbed the back of his head. "Um, Carlos's dad was an old business partner of Cruella's. Jay's mom was a murderess who Gaston killed a few years ago. I don't know Mal's dad, but I know that little Malice was fathered by Jafar."
Ben crinkled his forehead. "Who?" He asked.
Mal almost bit through her cheek. "Malice?" She asked. "As in my little sister? Mom named her Malice?"
Ben turned to Mal. "You have a sister?" He asked.
"Yeah. You'd have already met her if you hadn't been captured." Mal glared sarcastically at Ben. She looked back to Evan. "But for real, Mom named her Malice? That's not okay. I'm changing her name."
Jay looked a little green. "Who cares about her name?" He sputtered. "Are you not going to comment on the fact your mom and my dad totally hooked up to have a kid?!"
"Nope." Mal held a hand up in his face. "I'm not even going to go there." She returned her attention back to Evan. "What else do you know?" She asked.
"Uma's dad is Triton." Evan began to tick off on his fingers. "Harry Hook is the son of the eldest daughter of Gaston, who may still be alive. Cruella had a daughter named Carly before Carlos was born, but she disappeared, and no one knows where she went. Lots of people have assumed Cruella killed her. Gil came to the Isle after the barrier was created. I think his mom lives in Auradon. Clay Clayton's mom was called the Miranda killer. You know of the Miranda rights? She based her name off of that." Evan opened his mouth to continue and then shoved his hands into his pockets. "I know, like, lots more." He said sheepishly. "Biology fascinates me."
"How do you know all this?" Mal's head was spinning. She pressed a hand to her temple.
Evie began to laugh, which brought Mal straight back down to earth. Evan had turned bright red and was glaring at his sister.
"What?" Mal asked.
"You'll never believe it." Evie laughed. "He's a floozy. He makes his way around in exchange for information like that."
"Excuse me?" Audrey asked, clearly appalled.
"It's not like that all the time!" Evan protested. "I mean – seriously – most of the time they'll admit stuff if I just kiss them hard enough. The sleeping thing was more for survival. I have standards, guys."
Mal pinched her lips together. "Clearly." She teased as Evan's face grew even darker. "But it's great that you have, I guess. Is there any way you'd be willing to find my two secretaries, Evelyn and Eliza, and have them record anything you can remember? Even if it's not a lot, tons of Isle kids have no idea where they came from, so I'm positive that they'd be grateful for the information. I can arrange for you to earn card points too."
"That sounds great." Evan relaxed. "I'm still not sure what I want to do yet, so it'll be great to have something small I can work on while I work up to that. By the way, when do you expect people to officially take up work?"
"Well, I'm hoping to get everyone settled and with future plans by two Saturdays from now, even just to hear people's ideas. Lots of folks will need a few specialized things brought in from Auradon to even start. But by the time I return in October, everything should be running semi-smoothly." Mal replied. There would, of course, be some people she'd have to tell no to until they had people who could come in to teach certain trade skills and a proper infrastructure up.
Ben squeezed her hand. "October." He reminded her.
Mal smiled. "Yes. I've been stuck with you for over a year now." She bumped him with her hip and smiled.
"Crazy." Ben rubbed his eyes with one hand. Overhead, the stars were beginning to appear. Down by the tide, small children were running into the waves and squealing. Young and old mothers brought children into the cold salty waves to use the sand to scrub off the worst of the years of grime. Ben yawned. "I want to go home." He admitted to Mal. "I want to sleep in my own bed. The Isle is great, but I want to go see my parents."
"Aww." Jay snickered. "He wants to go see mommy and daddy."
"Me too." Mal sighed. "I want to see your mom and dad too. I want to talk to Belle and Sophia. Maybe I'll just trust the people here to finish up and I'll go home for a night and a day." She put a hand on Evan's arm. "Thank you for being so willing to help. If you don't mind, I need to find my sister, and figure out what to do with my mom."
"Of course." Evan agreed, backing away. "Maybe I'll see you within the next week?"
"More than likely." Mal nodded. There was still a lot of work to do, after all. "Goodnight, Evan!"
"Goodnight!" He called and disappeared into the crowd.
"To think your brother is such a hottie." Mal winked at Evie. "I thought he was an old fling when you first walked him up."
"Evil Queen genes." Evie nodded. She hid a yawn behind her hand. "Can I come back to Auradon with you tonight?"
"Of course." Mal nodded. "We'll have to take a back way in since the main road has closed already."
"That, or you could just fly us in," Ben suggested. The small group laughed, all except for Audrey.
"Um, Mal?" Audrey asked. "Actually, I was wondering if I could hang out tonight?" She gestured with a thumb back to the apartments. "If it's okay with you, I'll stay in the same apartment I was in last night. Besides, I think a couple of the Isle boys are planning on having a party."
"Ooh, a party." Mal's eyes sparkled. "Remember the days we used to do that, boys?" She smiled at Jay and Carlos.
"Oh yes." Evie agreed dryly. "I remember quite vividly how you locked me into Carlos's mom's closet."
"You planning on staying?" Carlos asked Mal.
"Nah." Mal shook her head. "I'm a mature lady now. Married and everything." She held Ben's hand up for proof even as Evie, Jay, and Carlos's smiles faded a tad. "Besides." Mal continued. "I broke and re-erected an entire island's barrier today. I need my sleep."
Everyone chuckled. Mal gave Audrey a discrete thumbs-up of approval as the conversation moved on. Ben stole her attention by waving a hand in her vision. "So, your sister?" He prodded.
"We rescued her off the ship," Mal explained. "She's brand-new. And my dad... he's actually in the city now too."
"Your dad?" Ben's eyes grew a little wide and he looked around a little, as if expecting a tall man with purple hair and green eyes to materialize. "Who is he?"
"Hades," Mal revealed. She brushed her hair back and watched Ben's expression fall a little slack as he took in this revelation.
"Ha - he - your parents..." Ben pressed his fingertips to his forehead. "My parents-in-law are Maleficent and Hades. That's what you're saying?"
"He wants to meet you," Mal whispered, squeezing his hand a little.
"Hades," Ben repeated, looking starstruck. "Meet me. My father-in-law wants to meet me."
"That okay?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow at his repetitions.
"Is he... angry?" Ben asked cautiously. His palm began to feel a bit sweaty. Mal understood. She'd wondered if Belle and Adam would execute her when she'd first arrived, and Adam didn't have the influence or the power to keep her in immortal pain after she actually died.
"No," Mal reassured him. "I think he just wants to be a part of my life, for once." She shook her head. "It's complicated. I'll sort everything out later."
Instead of heading down to the dock, Mal led her team back up to the orphanage area. They slipped inside. Now, there were parents searching for children and volunteers who had offered to care for children crowded inside. Ben's smile fell as he stared at all of the wounded people in the area. Many refused to look at him, and he knew they were thinking of the various ways the monarchy had robbed them. Goosebumps formed on his arm.
Mal went to a woman in the back who, though obviously tired, was smiling as she cooed to small children and handed out soft toys. "Hello." Mal greeted her. "Is my sister still here?" She asked.
"Yes." The woman smiled. "It's nice to see you again. Bring her back anytime. She's asleep in that little cradle over there." The woman pointed to a lone cradle in a corner and went off to help a small boy who was holding an empty sippy cup and pouting silently.
Mal let go of Ben's hand and went to peer inside. She scooped up a tightly-wrapped bundle and turned around to show Ben. Jay, Evie, Audrey, and Carlos had already seen little Malice, but they smiled like this was their first time laying eyes on her as they spotted her naturally purple hair curling softly over the pillow. Ben's breath caught as he peered on the face of the sleeping girl. She hadn't been completely cleaned, but her face and arms had been sponged off.
"She looks just like you!" He gasped, eyes flicking back and forth between the two girls.
"Well, people who are related often bear similar features," Mal nodded.
"Can I hold her?" He asked, stretching his arms out a bit.
"Maybe on the boat," Mal answered. "I have her now." She waved to the woman once more as they began to head out. "Thanks again, Claudine!"
"Anytime!" Claudine called back with a smile.
As the door swung closed behind them, Mal quickly hissed: "Daughter of Judge Frollo."
They had to find Eliza before they could leave. Eliza was delegating tasks left and right, assigning people to help others to apartments and ordering others to fetch things like extra card boxes or possession coins. Mal explained that she was taking people, including the King of Auradon, back to Auradon and that she was going to organize a place for her sister. She might be back the next day, but chances were she'd be busy trying to organize people like doctors and pharmacists to the Isle of the Lost. The sun had mostly set as they returned to the dock and waited for the soldiers to finish loading the boat. Ben hovered over her like some sort of overgrown fly or mosquito as she carefully held onto little Malice. He looked absolutely excited.
"Carlos," Mal began, moving her head to see past Ben as he ran his knuckles down Malice's cheek, "I have a favor I need to ask you."
"What is it, Mal?" Carlos asked, shoving his hands into his pockets and taking a few steps forward.
"I want to get the Isle an interweb of its own. Something separate from Auradon that will still connect the two systems so we can have some intermingling. But I want to be able to filter some content," Mal announced. "Building bombs and things like that. If I got a small team and some experienced helpers, could you head that and bring an internet to the Isle?"
"For sure," Carlos nodded, though he looked a little overwhelmed. "It'd probably be a little similar to what Doug's been working on at the palace, right?"
"Right," Mal agreed. "Just a little bigger." She wrapped Malice up a little tighter and sighed dramatically as Ben turned his head to peer down at the little girl. He still looked amazed as his eyes flicked back and forth between her and her sister.
"I can't get used to this," He laughed.
Mal rolled her eyes. "You will," She declared. She looked down to watch the little girl breathe in and out, and then heard footsteps behind her. Heavy footsteps with metal clanking as the person walked. She turned around.
"Heading back to Auradon?" A man asked, stepping forward a little. There were no lights on the beach and the natural light was vanishing quickly, but Mal could still hear Ben take a breath and felt him straighten up.
"Oh! Um, dad, I mean..." He trailed off, stumbling over every sentence, and Mal winced internally on his behalf.
"Hades," She corrected Ben carefully, glancing over her shoulder to watch her friends all take cautious looks at each other. Audrey looked a little pale, but she was straightening up, not slinking away. Only Evie had known that Hades was her dad, but she supposed that secret was out now.
"Who's that?" Hades asked, furrowing his brow and nodding to Malice.
"Mom's new daughter," Mal explained. "Daughter of Maleficent and Jafar." She brushed her hair back and watched Hades's hair burst into fire, lighting the area a bit more. Ben took another breath.
Hades stepped forward to compare Mal and Malice and then nodded in acceptance. "Wonder if he's surviving her crazy now," He laughed. "Watch out - people will think she's yours."
Jay, Carlos, Evie, Lonnie, and Ben all nodded in agreement to this statement. Mal sighed. "At least she doesn't look like Ben." She stepped sideways so Ben couldn't hide behind her as well. "Oh, and by the way, this is Ben, the King of Auradon and my husband."
Ben started holding his breath as he took a little step forward to stand by her side. 'Don't try and give him a speech about taking care of me,' she begged him mentally. Hades tilted his head back, angling the flames so he could examine Ben's face. "Prince Charming?" He asked. Mal flinched internally.
"Pleased to meet you," Ben inclined his head.
Hades hummed. "I know he sheds, but can he growl?" He gave a little demonic growl to demonstrate as Ben's face turned beet-red and he sent a scathing look to Mal, probably cursing her for exposing that to Auradon.
"No," he tried to deny as Mal opened her mouth to say: "Only if I kiss him weird," Immediately, Ben's face exploded into a red so violent it almost became purple. Jay and Carlos wrinkled their noses up a bit and Hades didn't look too accepting of the comment either. Mal, meanwhile, paused to toy with the idea. What could she do to make Ben growl?
"Mal!" Ben bumped her arm a little, trying to urge her to take it back.
Mal rolled her eyes and shifted the baby in her arms. "It's true. Besides, Ben, he made me. He knows how it is."
She'd pay for that comment later, she knew, because Ben didn't like any bad implications about their relationship and embarrassing him in front of her dad was a one-way ticket to the lake of fire and brimstone in his book. Even now, he was glaring two sizzling holes into her skin, practically screaming at her to take it all back. Surprisingly though, it was Hades who moved to silence her.
"That's enough," He declared softly, narrowing his eyes between the two of them. "Now, listen Mallie, I have a special place in the Underworld for this fool when he dies. If you would like to keep him here longer, don't ever give me a response like that again."
"Dad, come on," Mal rolled her eyes. "It's just a joke. You've seen my interviews. I like to tease him."
Hades frowned. The fire in his hair dimmed. "Well," He sighed, seemingly deciding to put it behind him. "I'm sure you two will be very happy together."
"We will be," Ben agreed, still not meeting Hades's eyes. "We are." He reached around Mal to put a hand on Malice's head.
"All aboard!" The captain yelled from the boat deck, sending a pointed glance towards the Queen and her entourage.
Mal sighed. "Bye, Dad," She whispered, leaning up to kiss his cheek and then turned to the boat. She heard Ben stumbling a little more over his words before the two important men in her life managed a handshake. Hades stood on the deck with Audrey and watched them all board the boat.
"You sure you don't want to come back?" Ben asked, examining Audrey as he stood on the bottom of the gangplank. She looked very different, with dirt and grime in her hair, smudged makeup, and a cut on her knee.
"No thanks." Audrey wrinkled her nose, still clutching her sword tightly - the same sword she'd used to break the underground door open and save Mal's life with. "But can you let my mom know I'm good? Maybe I'll go back tomorrow. Maybe."
Ben examined his old girlfriend. Something really was different about her. It was… cool. "Stay safe." He said. "We'll see you tomorrow." He boarded the ship and soon, they had disembarked from the Isle of the Lost.
"So, you have a sister," Ben began, sitting down beside Mal on the ship as she curled into a chair.
"I have a sister," Mal affirmed. "She, uh, even has the mark of Maleficent."
"On her shoulder?" Ben asked, putting his hand on the shoulder where Mal's own mark lay. Mal nodded.
Carlos furrowed his brow. "The what?" He asked.
Mal blinked slowly, and then turned her shoulder to him and slipped the sleeve down. Jay's eyes bugged out at the dragon, even though he knew she'd had it. "I have the mark of my mother," Mal explained, tracing it with a finger. "I think I was born with it, but I'm not sure. She might have tattoed it on herself." Ben reached forward and began tracing it softly. Jay watched the action from across the deck.
"You knew about it?" Jay asked gruffly. Mal glanced at him tersely but said nothing.
"Yeah," Ben nodded as he pretended to not notice the tension between Mal and her old friend. "She told me about it and let me see it on our honeymoon. I still think it looks cool." He brushed her sleeve back into place and let her lean back into his shoulder.
The ship passed through the leaflet barrier to enter international waters and woke the baby with a squawk. She started to whimper a little as Mal moved her to lay on her legs. Ben looked over Mal's shoulder as Mal put the tip of her finger in the baby's mouth for her to suck on until they got to Auradon. He was absolutely enchanted by the tiny girl. Little Malice had the greenest eyes he'd ever seen on anyone besides Mal. Her hair curled naturally down a high forehead, and she had porcelain skin, untouched by freckles.
"She's pretty darn cute," Lonnie chuckled, jumping up on the barrier of the ship and glancing between the baby and the ocean foam being battered against the hull of the ship. "Beautiful baby."
Ben sighed and nodded ecstatically in response. "Now can I hold her?" He begged.
"She's my sister." Mal pinched her lips together as she shuffled the baby away.
"Exactly!" Ben agreed. "You're going to get to hold her all the time, so – please?"
Mal sighed begrudgingly and handed little Malice to Ben. Ben, mindful of her head, took her carefully and put her on top of his legs as the small girl stared up curiously at the newcomer.
"Hello!" Ben whispered with a bright smile. "You're so small!" He marveled. "How old are you?"
"We don't know." Mal supplied. "Probably a few days old. See how her skin is flaking off a little?" She laid her head on Ben's shoulder and set her hand on his knee. "Do you like her?"
"I do," Ben affirmed, kissing Mal's head. "Not as much as I like you, though. Why?"
"Just making sure," Mal shrugged. She reached forward and brushed Malice's hair aside.
Ben squeezed Mal close to his side. "Are we adopting her?" He asked.
Mal choked a little. "I, um, don't know," She admitted. "I don't think it's a good idea because I'm not ready, but I haven't decided. I want some more time to think about it."
"I wouldn't mind adopting her," Ben informed Mal, smiling down at the baby. "Just in advance, if you decide that's what you want to do. You know I'll approve no matter what, right?" Mal nodded with some unease as Ben continued smiling at Malice. After a few seconds, Ben started talking again. "So, her dad…" Ben trailed off as he slipped his pinky finger into Malice's little grasp, where she waved it in amazement. "Is Jafar?" He finished.
"Yeah." Mal nodded. Malice released Ben's finger and went back to clenching her fists. It'd be a little while longer before she learned to make grabby motions with her hands and stretch her hands out.
"She doesn't look much like Jafar," Ben commented, tilting his head to each side.
"It's subtle." Mal agreed. "She looks more like Mom and I. But see, her nose is a little wider than mine, and her facial structure is more oval than moms. She'll probably have a longer face as she gets older. And her ears are connected instead of free. See?"
Ben nodded as she pointed at each feature as she spoke, occasionally glancing up to examine and compare Mal's features to her sister's.
Carlos leaned back into the chair he was sitting in and yawned, and then stood up. "I'm going to walk around before I fall asleep," he informed them. "Be right back." Jay and Evie remained sitting nearby. Jay was twiddling his fingers in his lap, but Evie was sitting, staring out at the open water with a hostile expression. Ben observed them both briefly, then returned his eyes to the tiny girl in his arms.
"So." He started abruptly. Mal's head snapped up and he met her eyes. "Let's say… Jafar wasn't her dad."
Mal crinkled her nose. "I'm pretty sure he is, but for the sake of your point, go on."
"Let's say if I was her dad…" Ben started.
"Gross," Mal said automatically, shoving him a little. "You realize Maleficent is your mother-in-law, right?"
"And you were her mom." Ben amended. Mal's head snapped back up. She stared at him in surprise and with more than a little unease. Ben didn't look at her as he smiled at Malice. "What do you think she'd look like?" He asked. Mal let out a little breath and relaxed against his arm. He wasn't fooled by her act of ease, but the question wasn't supposed to mean anything.
Mal looked down at her little sister and a soft smile spread across her face like she was having a wonderful dream, but her eyes were wide open. She drew a soft hand down Malice's cheek, who gurgled and blew small bubbles from her lips as she raised a tiny fist triumphant over her head. "She'd probably be about the same size." Mal hummed in thought. "And her nose and mouth would be a little wider. Her chin would go in a little more, and her eyes wouldn't be as deep-set." She looked back up at Ben. A small cloud of fog appeared in front of her face as she let out a short breath.
Ben hated to break the moment, but he shrugged. "I'm not trying to insinuate anything." He told Mal. She nodded like she'd known all along. "I do not expect you to have children before you're, like, twenty-five." Mal burst into laughter. "And I know you're busy." Ben continued.
"Hush," Mal commanded. "I get it. And you know I'm not interested. Now hush."
Ben shut his mouth as Mal leaned forward and combed her fingers through Malice's purple locks. Across the deck, Evie stood abruptly and walked to the stern of the ship. Ben and Mal watched her go, heels clicking all the way. Ben took Mal's hands. "She's upset." He whispered. "You should go talk to her." Mal exhaled with a small grumble.
"She'll have to get over it one day," She sighed. Mal nodded and pressed a quick kiss to Malice's hand before she stood up and hurried away after Evie. In just a few seconds, it was Jay and Ben left alone on the bow of the ship with Lonnie wandering up and down the rigging several meters away. Jay shifted uncomfortably. Ben wondered if he should be worried. After all, the last time he'd been alone with Jay, Jay had punched him in the lip.
"Have you decided to apply for school, Jay?" Ben asked.
Jay remained silent for several seconds before he coughed and sat up straight. "Yeah." He said softly. "I was hoping to. Are you sure the palace is okay with helping pay fees, or should I start looking for work?"
"Well, of course, you should start looking for work, but the palace will still support you, Jay. We won't throw you out into Auradon without helping you as much as we can." Ben said. Malice yawned and stretched her hands above her forehead, resting them on top of her head and closing her eyes. Ben chuckled and missed the way Jay sniffled.
"You guys' kids are going to be cute," Jay mumbled.
Ben smiled and lifted up his shoulders a little. "I know. I hope they look more like Mal than me though." He moved Malice into his arms and let her curl into his chest.
"Ben," Jay called for his attention. His throat sounded like it was about to close up.
"Yeah, Jay?" Ben asked.
"I, um, I want to get this off my chest… I bet Mal will tell you eventually, but I want you to know about it so… I don't know." Jay rubbed his hands all over his face like he wasn't sure what to do with them and was trying to resist the urge to hide.
"Shoot," Ben replied as he straightened up and focused on Jay. This must be why Mal had been so tense around him the last few hours.
"I kissed Mal," Jay admitted. For several seconds, the words didn't quite register with Ben, and then he looked up with a furrowed brow. A cloud of confusion set over him as Jay continued. "Yesterday, when we told her that you were gone. She started crying and… see, when I was younger I kind of figured I'd either be alone forever or that she and I would eventually just be each other's partners, and I had this moment of realization where I realized that… she wasn't going to come back to get my help this time." Jay dropped his hands to his lap and began to shake as tears filled his eyes. "I know she's… totally into you, totally into this. She doesn't need me to watch her back because she's got you. We're not… going to be the same invincible pair we were before, and it really hurt to think I wasn't going to be as close to her as I used to be. So, I gave her my first kiss because that's where I always figured it would go. She's pissed at me and I don't know yet how much of our relationship I threw away, but I tried so hard…" His voice cracked.
Ben wasn't sure how to react. His hands felt a little numb, his heart was beating a little fast, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little angry, but he still had his head screwed on right. "Okay." He shrugged and looked back down at Malice. "I'm going to wait and see if Mal will tell me about it. I'm pretty confident in her though, and even if she does decide to leave, I just want her to be happy." Did the thought drive knives through him? Absolutely. But if it was her happiness at stake, could he do it? Absolutely.
"You're okay with that?" Jay asked, wiping his eyes and sitting up.
Ben shrugged. "Okay with it... that's a strong way of putting it. I mean, I get the feeling it was a one-time vibe. If you're going to plan on it a lot, I mean, that's a little more than weird, but hey – we do crazy things when we're sad or scared."
"It was a one-time thing," Jay confirmed. Mal would kill him if he tried it again. "I'm sorry for kissing your wife."
"Did she kiss you back?" Ben asked casually. His heart picked up a beat at the question.
"No." Jay sighed and shook his head. "She stayed all still for, like, two seconds before she realized what was happening and started pushing me back. Then she snapped at me for it."
Ben nodded along to Jay's words. "Okay," He acknowledged. A laugh bubbled up inside him, though he wasn't really sure why. Maybe it was just the tenseness of the situation "She's a good kisser, man. You should have drawn it out a bit."
"She would have killed me on the spot." Jay laughed. His eyes were beginning to dry. "She loves you, man."
Ben drummed his fingers on his leg and exhaled. "I'm not going to do or say anything about it because she's already got the situation covered, and she knows what she wants and she doesn't need me going and taking over for her. But, uh, don't do it again, please. She gets the first say on where her lips go."
Jay nodded forlornly. "I got it," He whispered. "Thanks for looking out for her when I wasn't around. I can't imagine if she'd ended up with that guy who grabbed her on TV. Just... don't go breaking her heart."
Ben smiled. He took Malice's tiny hands and brought them down from her head. "Never." He told Jay. Then, he bent down and kissed Malice on the forehead. "Night-night," He whispered. She let out a colossal yawn and went right to sleep. Ben carefully examined her features and imagined a different child in an older Mal's arms, with more of her features and a couple of his. His heart opened. 'One day,' he promised himself. 'That'll be us. And boy, I can't wait.'