Chapter Two

A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play! Everything else belongs to Disney!

*stares at review count in amazement* How did…I can't…Guys, thank you! Seventeen reviews in just the first chapter? I can't…I'm really honored, thank you!

To answer some questions: this is just going to be a fun side story, taking place during D2 (because while it's my favorite of the three because of the Bal kiss, it's also my least favorite because of all the Bal angst and therefore it must be fixed). No, Harry and Uma are not out of their denial much to the frustration of everyone (including the author).

Also…mark your calendars if you haven't already! The Royal Wedding is on August 13th! :D

Hope you all enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D

Ben sighed softly as he listened to whatever issue his council was presenting at that moment; his pen making half hearted semicircles on his notebook instead of taking notes. In all honesty, he wasn't paying attention one bit. His mind was still on the fight he had with Mal.

He wasn't happy with the fact that she'd tried to erase his memory…but he could deal with that later. How had he not noticed that she was unhappy? That she was trying to change herself? Yes he had given her props for doing so well but that was because he thought Mal wanted to make the change.

But to hear the pain in her voice…to know that there were tears in her eyes and they were there because of him…

I'm not one of those pretty pink princesses Ben! I'm not one of those ladies of the Court! I'm a big fake okay? I'm fake! This is fake, this is fake.

He'd had that peanut butter and jelly sandwich too, no sense in it going to waste after Mal put in the work of making it. It was good too—he would have been happy with a picnic of just that as long as he was with Mal.

"Excuse me? King Ben?"

Dean's voice brought Ben out of his thoughts and the teenaged King looked over at his chief attendant. It wasn't like him to interrupt a council meeting though Ben wasn't going to be anything but grateful for the intrusion.

"Is something wrong?" Ben asked, holding up his hand to stop whatever point Chi-Fu was attempting to make.

"Can I see you out in the hall for a moment?"

"Of course. Excuse me."

There was a general murmur of 'your highness' though Chi-Fu looked extremely put out. Ben was just thankful that Leah wasn't there—she was currently off with Audrey at a spa retreat to recover from everything that happened six months ago.

"What's wrong Dean?" Ben asked as the door closed to the council chambers. Yes he had council chambers at Auradon Prep—he was still a student mind you and he'd always be running late to the council meetings if they kept them at Beast Castle.

That being said, he still ran late to a few council meetings. Like the one he was going to when Mal was accosted by the press the day before. Ben still hadn't been able to figure out how they'd been able to get onto school property.

"Evie is waiting for you in your office sire. She said it was urgent but she didn't want to tell me what was wrong," Dean explained. "She seemed pretty upset."

Ben nodded. "Right. Of course, let me go and talk to her."

"Doug's with her," Dean told him. "Your highness, I have to say, I don't think I've ever seen Evie this upset before. If you think it would help, I'd be happy to get Carlos and Jay from R.O.A.R practice."

"Let me see if I can talk to Evie," Ben said and then sighed. "I'd better get back in there and let my council know that something's come up. Otherwise they'll all be sitting there."

"Or, and I'm merely making a suggestion sire, but why not ask for a recess? Say an hour?" Dean suggested. "That way you can have time to talk to Evie while not feeling like you're abandoning your council."

"Remind me to give you a raise," Ben told him. "That's brilliant."

"No raise necessary sire but thank you," Dean nodded as Ben slipped back inside the council chambers.

"Forgive the interruption but something has been brought to my attention that needs to be addressed," Ben said. "May I request an hour recess and then we can return to the task at hand?"

What ever that happened to be, Ben thought. His head really wasn't in the whole 'King' mindset today.

"Of course your highness," Elsa nodded.

"Is everything alright?" Aladdin asked, looking at the teenaged King in slight concern. Ben couldn't help but smile at the father of one of his best friends.

"I believe it is but thank you for your concern Sultan Aladdin," he said. "I'll be back in about an hour."

"Yes your highness."

Ben pulled down his suit jacket and made his way out of the council chambers once more; heading toward his office with Dean in tow. He honestly had to wonder what Evie needed to speak to him about.

Could it be something to do with her business? I know that's been taking off, and there's no way her shared dorm with Mal is enough space for what she needs, Ben thought. I'd be happy to help her find a place.

As Ben entered his office, he couldn't help but smile as he saw Evie and Doug sitting on the couch near the fireplace. It was really amazing how Evie managed to combine the Isle style of clothing that she'd grown up with to the style of clothes that those in Auradon wore.

"Ben," Evie and Doug stood up.

"Guys, you don't have to stand," Ben said, shaking his head. "But…what's going on? Dean said you needed to speak to me, Evie, but he didn't say what the issue was."

To his shock, unshed tears shone in Evie's eyes and Doug gently rubbed her back in comfort.

"Evie…?" Ben asked, his voice soft.

"Mal…Mal's gone back to the Isle," Evie said, her voice catching as she handed Ben a slip of paper along with the ring he'd given Mal all those months ago at his coronation.

Ben quickly opened up the note as he saw the ring, his eyes devouring the familiar scrawl of his girlfriend's handwriting and focusing on one particular sentence.

…I am so sorry…

Ben couldn't help but clench the note in his fist as he finished it. "You're sure Mal's on the Isle? There's no way we could head her off before she got there?"

"Ben, we checked her room, the kitchens, and the gym. Her handler hasn't seen her since her meeting with Mal this morning," Doug said, shaking his head. "Emma, Elle, and Melody haven't seen hide nor hair of her and neither have Carlos or Jay."

"Emir? Akiho?"

"They are still searching," Evie said, her voice soft. "Emir broke out his dad's magic carpet for this, he fully intends to get grounded for it later, but it's a long shot. Mal…Ben, Mal had asked me yesterday if I ever wanted to go back to the Isle. I guess she finally acted on it."

"This is my fault," Ben said after a moment of silence. "This is my fault. I—I blew it. She's been under so much pressure lately and instead of being understanding, I went all Beast on her!"

"Well going Beast on that desk isn't going to help matters," Doug said as Ben slammed his hands on said desk. "And if we're talking about people having pressures on them, Ben, being King and being a student hasn't been all sunsets and rainbows for you."

Ben shook his head. "We…we had a fight at our date."

"You had a fight?" Evie, Doug, and Dean asked in unison.

"Yeah," Ben nodded and sighed. "I…I have to go there and apologize. I have to get her back. I have to go there and—and beg her to come back."

"Ben, you'll never find her," Evie told him. If Mal was desperate enough, she'd go to the Underworld. After all, there's only one other person who knows her secret and that's me, she thought.

"I—."

"You'd need to know the Isle and how it works," Evie continued to speak, not letting Ben get a word in. She sighed as she came to a realization as Ben sank down onto the sofa that Evie and Doug had vacated. "You'll have to take me with you."

"Yes!" Ben said, springing up onto his feet.

"No!" Doug exclaimed at the same time as Ben.

"Doug, the last thing I want to do is go back to the Isle but Mal's my best friend," Evie said. "A few minutes of discomfort of being back there will be worth it if I can make sure M's not hurt. None of the four of us are really all that popular over there after we turned our backs on evil."

"How do you know that?" Ben asked.

Evie sighed and pulled out another letter, this one adorned with a broken wax seal. "My…my mother wrote me and told me never to show my face on the Isle after Mal defeated Maleficent at your coronation," she whispered. "She said…she said if I did it may be the last thing I ever did."

"Are you sure about this Evie?" Doug asked, looking at his girlfriend.

"Yes," Evie nodded. "Mal felt the need to return to the Isle despite all the risks and if she can do it, so can I. We'll bring Carlos and Jay along too—there's safety in numbers and Jay's practically Mal's older brother, they've been friends since any of us can remember."

"Right," Ben sighed. "Doug, can you run interference with Emir and Akiho?"

"I can try," Doug told him. "Ben, you know full well you can't just gallivant off to the Isle without letting people know. You're the King."

"I'll let my council know," Ben said. "I won't leave until Emma's up to speed, she's the unofficial heir after all."

"I…I want to get two things straight though," Evie said, cutting into the conversation. "Ben, you have to promise me that I won't get stuck there again."

"I promise," Ben said, the words flying off his tongue without an issue.

"And…there's no way you're going to the Isle looking like that," Evie said, looking over Ben with his suit and tie. "Give me a few hours, I'll whip up an Isle look for you and maybe that will give Mal some time to calm down too."

"Right," Ben said with a sigh. The last thing he wanted was a 'makeover' or maybe it would be a make under in this case…actually why was he thinking about this? Mal was on the Isle!

"I need to go inform the council," he said, handing Evie his wallet. "Evie, whatever you need for materials, you can have. I'll explain the charge to dad later."

"You're the King and you still need permission to charge your card?" Doug asked.

"I'm an Authorized User on my dad's account, I'm not going to abuse that privilege," Ben told him. "Now I'll meet you guys back here soon. Actually, Doug, can you go and get a key to the limo?"

"Just a thought sire," Dean spoke up. "Why not simply grab the remote and take your own car? The limo might…stand out a bit on the Isle."

Ben nodded. "Right. That's actually a good point Dean, remind me again to give you that raise when all of this is over. Doug, can you get the remote? I'll address the issue with my council and hopefully we'll have all of this resolved by the time Cotillion comes around."

"Well I mean, there's not much point in having Cotillion if Mal's not here," Doug told him. "Considering you're making her a Lady of your court there."

"Right," Ben said.

Evie gave him a small smile and gently rested a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright Ben. You'll see. We'll go, talk to Mal, and then we'll all be back in Auradon where we belong. Besides, Mal used to run the Isle. If anyone could stay safe for a few hours it's her."

Ben returned the smile before the four of them went their separate ways—Doug to grab the remote and hopefully run interference with Ben's best friends, Evie to rally Carlos and Jay before getting started on Ben's Isle look, and Ben and Dean to make their way back to the council chambers to announce that the King of Auradon would be stepping foot on the soil of the Isle of the Lost for the first time in twenty years.

Ben could only hope that announcement would go well.