Look who's back! I don't know how long it will be between updates, but I've decided to focus on the fanfics that I have extant, rather than try and work from memory. I have a few ideas for the sequels to Tunnel of Secrets, Fire and Fury, and Diamond in the Rough. As always, I am open to suggestions and feedback.

As always, neither the characters, the Descendants franchise, nor this fanfic belong to me. The rating is T for now, might change to M later.

Chapter 1

Lonnie has been the captain of Swords and Shields for a few months. In the beginning, Jay helped get the guys to accept her and help guide her through practice sessions. Now, she ran practice like a pro and had impressed Jay and the others with her skills. Lonnie even had several teammates asking for extra practice time with her. A few had tried to ask her out, by asking Jay for advice. Jay, however, wasn't thrilled to help any of the boys who came to him for advice.

"Hey Jay, you think I got a chance of going out with Lonnie if I asked her out?" Tyler asked, figuring Jay would know how Lonnie would answer since they were good friends.

"No." Jay frowned. He wasn't having this. Tyler was the third guy on the team to ask him that question. Jay gave Tyler his best 'are you an idiot?' look as Tyler walked away.

Carlos walked up and nudged Jay in the ribs. "You know, if you don't want anyone else to ask Lonnie out, really should ask her yourself. One of these days they'll figure out why you always tell them not to ask her."

"I didn't tell him not to, he asked if he had a chance with her, I just said no." Jay reasoned, looking over at Lonnie as she helped one of the new ninth-graders. As the boy fumbled with his sword, Lonnie looked up at Jay and shrugged, and Jay had to laugh. "They ask for her help and act like they can't do this, just to get her attention."

Carlos smirked. "Kinda like when you ask her to work out or come watch a tourney practice." Carlos raised his eyebrows t Jay's frown. 'Busted', Carlos thought to himself, 'one of these days, Jay is going to have to admit that he likes her and is jealous'.

"Not the same thing. See, I work out harder with her and play better when she's there. And, when I ask her to do something, she actually says yes. Big difference." Jay watched as Chad now asked for her help. Jay rolled his eyes at Lonnie, getting her to laugh.

"Yeah, the difference is you show off for her, and these guys intentionally act like goofs." Carlos teased as he walked away. Jay glared at Carlos' back for a moment, then smiled as he went back to watching Lonnie. She was a good captain and was becoming a really good friend. Jay was glad he had decided to step down for Lonnie. Taking her with them to the Isle to save Ben, he saw just how strong and brave she is. He watched her fight two pirates at once, and stand by her friends when they thought Ben had turned on Mal, and she adapted to her role as a leader with ease. For someone he had never paid attention to, she certainly had it now.


After practice, Lonnie didn't stick around as she normally did, to hang out with Jay and Carlos. She had been pestered enough by the same person and thought, if he bugged her again, she would scream. Racing to the dorms, she ran in and locked the door. Going straight to her bed, she flopped down face first and screamed into her pillow.

Jane laughed at her, before realizing it was serious. "You okay? Aran again?"

Sitting up, Lonnie nodded. She had enough of this game he was playing. Lonnie was becoming increasingly frustrated with her situation. She had tried being nice. She had even tried being mean, although she couldn't be as mean as Mal, or definitely couldn't be as cruel as Audrey. It just wasn't in her nature. Jane sat on Lonnie's bed, trying to come up with a new idea.

For the last few weeks, after the beginning of the new semester, and the new students joined the schools, Lonnie had been what she was now considering, stalked. The new guy just wasn't taking "not interested" for an answer. Aran, the son of Aladdin and Jasmin, was a royal pain in the ass.

Aran was a transfer student from Agrabah. She didn't know much about him other than that he was Aladdin's son, he had a huge ego, and an equally huge chip on his shoulder. Jay had felt it first when Ben introduced him around. Aran was rude from the beginning with Jay, after seeing it firsthand, Lonnie made her opinion of Aran. She wanted nothing to do with him.

"Why not just get one of your guy friends to fake being your boyfriend for a few days?" Jane suggested.

"Who? Doug is dating Evie, Ben might as well be married to Mal already, you're dating Carlos…" Lonnie fell back on her pillow. It was useless, and she was stumped. It wasn't in her to lie, she didn't do it well anyway.

She tried being nice to the guy, but after seeing Aran treat Jay so horribly during practice, her kindness quickly ended. She didn't tolerate anyone who couldn't treat others with respect. It was one of the reasons her friendship with Audrey ended and her friendship with Chad was very strained.

Aran tried out for the team at the beginning of the semester and was placed on the team as a backup player. Lonnie was more than happy to welcome the new student until she witnessed his attitude towards Jay. Shortly after Aran saw Lonnie's close friendship with Jay, the kid decided to follow her everywhere. He asked her out daily now, and she did whatever she could to avoid him.

"There's Chad?" Jane giggled at the sour look on Lonnie's face. Chad was a friend, but not someone she would ever consider as more than that. He had been rude and mean to the VKs when he first met them and initially didn't want her on the team. It was difficult, but they were still trying to keep up their friendship. He had changed his mind about the VKs, now that Audrey was out of the picture, but he was still a goof and she wouldn't consider asking him for help.

"What about Jay?" Jane knew he would be her first and only choice. He was the one guy Jane knew Lonnie was head over heels for. Lonnie had a crush on Jay since she first met him. The problem was that they were friends, and Jay liked girls a lot. All of them. All the time.

Jay wasn't one to settle for one girl. Knowing this, Lonnie settled for friendship and kept her heart safe. She had a crush and hoped things could change with them, but he treated her like one of the guys most of the time. On the rare occasion he treated her like a girl, she got her hopes up and then he turned around and flirted with someone else.

"Yeah, like he would agree to that." Lonnie bit her lip, she only wished he would agree to date her, even if it was pretending.


Aran had been searching for Lonnie since practice. She had bolted from the gym and he lost track of her. Seeing the guys heading down the trail, Aran felt he had to ask again for the help. Trying to be cordial, he approached Jay and Carlos just as they finished their run and were walking back to the dorms. Aran ran up to them. "Hey guys, have you seen Lonnie? I can't find her."

Jay frowned and rolled his eyes at Carlos. He wasn't willing to give the guy an inch after the way Aran had been treating him. Aran made it clear that he does not like Jay, and Jay knew right away that Aran was up to no good. Aran has asked him about Lonnie every day for the last week. After she saw the way Aran treated others, she kept her distance. Lonnie would never date someone who didn't respect her or her friends. In Jay's mind, Aran was doing it all wrong.

Jay and Lonnie had gotten to be good friends after the battle with Uma and the Cotillion. They sparred together regularly and hung out together and with the rest of their friend group. Aran had tried to be part of the swords and shields group, but after seeing the animosity towards Jay, he wasn't welcomed. The team's loyalty to Jay and Carlos kept him from fitting in. Jay saw Aran as a bully, but since he'd dealt with bullies most of his life, Jay stood up to him and wouldn't allow the guy the opportunity to get close to Lonnie.

"She's probably studying," Jay answered and thought he should put a stop to the guy's pursuit. "You know, Lonnie is pretty swamped with classes and practice and everything else she does. If she wants to spend time with you, she'll let you know. You really should just back off."

Aran didn't really care what this villain kid thought. His parents had told him all about Jafar and the terror and heartbreak he inflicted on the kingdom and his family. Feeling that Jay took after Jafar, he would treat him like the villain he was. What Lonnie saw in him, he didn't understand.

Looking at his watch, Aran noticed that it was almost lunchtime. He thought he could catch Lonnie when she took a break. After all, she has to eat. Aran ran off toward the cafeteria to wait. Carlos shook his head. The kid had no chance.

"He just doesn't get it, Lonnie isn't interested." Carlos heaved an exasperated sigh. "Jane said that he asks Lonnie out every day… she's getting really annoyed with him."

"He's a jerk. Lonnie sees right through him." Jay said as they reached the boy's dorms. "I get why he likes her. She's nice, brave, strong, smart…"

"And not bad to look at," Carlos added, seeing the way Jay's face changed when he talked about her.

"Yeah, that too…" Jay added with a devilish smirk. He had taken notice of Lonnie and her attributes when she wanted to join the fencing team. Jay had to admit, he checked her out every chance he got. The girl was nice to look at. "But the guy is not her type."

"You know, Jane suggested she fake a relationship with someone to get the guy to back off," Carlos told him as they reached their room. "Sounds like Lonnie's desperate to get rid of him."

Jay raised his eyebrows at the idea. That really wasn't Lonnie's style. "She gonna do it? I mean, who would she get to go along with it?" He figured it had to be one of the guys on the team. Any of them would date her in a heartbeat.

"Don't know," Carlos said as he sat down on his bed and rubbed Dude's belly. "I can ask. You interested?"

"Nah. I don't do that." Jay headed for the shower. Stripping down, Jay turned on the water and looked in the mirror. He may flirt with every girl he saw, but he wasn't one to mess with their feelings… or his own.

Standing under the hot spray of water, Jay closed his eyes and saw Lonnie in his mind. He would admit that there was an attraction there, and he wouldn't turn her away if she asked, but there was their friendship to consider. That he wasn't willing to risk. She had become a good friend, and he respected her.

Tilting his head back, he let the hot water pour over his head and down his body. Thinking of Lonnie, he remembered dancing with her at the Cotillion, how she felt dancing in his arms. It seemed like yesterday they had danced, but it was months ago. His time with her now was more spent on the mat training for fencing.

There were times he had considered asking her out but always walked away from it. They were friends, and he didn't want to scare her away.

His mind stayed on her, though; the way she moved in practice, the way she pushed each of them to work harder to do their best, and her bright smile every time he saw her. He saw her once in the locker room. She was changing her clothes. It was a brief moment when one of the cheerleaders walked through the door and he happened to be looking in that direction. It was a brief moment, and he got an eyeful before he turned away. She was wearing nothing but small amounts of cotton and lace before she put on her sweats. He had memorized her curves that day, and could still see every bit of her in his memory. Remembering her this way, Jay reached over and changed the temperature of the water. Ice water was what he needed now.


The first thing the next morning, Lonnie and Jane were heading to class when Aran caught up with her. She looked around but didn't have enough time to escape. Aran blocked her from going any further. "Hey Lonnie, I've been looking for you everywhere today."

Taking a deep breath, she tried not to scream. "Oh, what do you need?"

"Oh, I just wanted to see about us getting together to study, workout or something." He grinned wide. He had had plenty of time to think about what Jay said about her being busy. Maybe a study date would work.

Jay and Carlos walked up the steps to the main promenade and saw the girls with Aran. Jay shook his head. Slapping Carlos in the chest, he nodded towards the girls and headed in their direction. The guy really needed to get the hint.

Carlos walked up behind Jane and put his arm over her shoulder. Smiling, she looked up at him and gave him a soft kiss. Thye watched Jay move in next to Lonnie. Leaning in close to her heart, as if it were a secret, Jay spoke softly to her. "Hey, you still want to workout with me this afternoon?"

Turning to face him, Lonnie frowned at him for a second. She didn't remember having any plans with Jay. "Sure." She wasn't going to say no to spending time with Jay, and it got her out of another date request. "When do you want to meet?"

"Amphitheater at three works?" Jay figured an extra workout for the day wouldn't hurt. Nodding in agreement, Lonnie watched as Jay figured an extra workout for the day wouldn't hurt. Nodding in agreement, Lonnie watched as Jay moved around her, patting Aran on the shoulder as he walked past. That got her out of the afternoon at least. Lonnie gave Aran a "see ya" look, and quickly walked away, aiming for anywhere he was not.

"How did he do that?" Aran asked Jane and Carlos. "Jay just made a date with her, and I've been trying for weeks!" Carlos patted him on the shoulder, and taking Jane's hand, he escorted her away, leaving Aran to figure it out on his own.