Here Me Roar

Age 11

"You have to learn this stuff, Mal."

"Why?" I wined; I didn't want to do anything to do with her.

"It's a part of who you are, Mali, however much you don't like it." Dad had more patience than I would have had in the same situation.

"But there's no magic here."

He took me by the shoulders, sinking down to my level. "One day, little demon, we will be free and both fire and magic will fill your soul, you need to make sure it doesn't overwhelm you."

"Cool, calm and collected. Breath, don't let the fire take control. I know the drill."

"This isn't about my fire; this is about your mother's magic."

"I don't want anything of hers."

"You might not have a choice."

Hope rushed through me. "You mean, I might not get it."

Dad took a seat. "We won't know until you cross the barrier. You might be my daughter; you might be your mother's or you might be both."

"I'm your daughter."

Dad smiled. "Powers or not, you will always be my daughter." Picking me up he threw me over his shoulder and span around. "My little dragon." He set my back down on the ground and gave me stern look that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Again."

I couldn't say no to dad, despite the complaining I would always do as he asked:

"Magic from my very core

Take this toy and make it roar."

Nothing happened.

Not that either of us expected anything. Not while we were trapped beneath the barrier. Had we been in Auradon the toy lion should have sprung to life.

Not here.

"Again."

Present

My mother's recipe didn't seem that hard. We were only missing one ingredient.

"All right. It says we still need one tear, and I never cry." A slight lie, but only ever with dad. Not in public, not even with my friends. Villains didn't cry.

Carlos looked around the kitchen. "Let's just chop up some onions."

Nope. I shook my head. "It says we need one tear of human sadness. I'm pretty sure this is the best love potion, so we need to follow it exactly."

"A tear's a tear."

Before I could remind Jay of what I just said Evie spoke up. "That's not true. They both have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein-based hormones than a reflex tear."

I smiled. "Listen to you." Evie had always been discouraged from learning anything other than how to cook, clear or sew. In Auradon she was thriving.

Jay puffed out his chest. "Yeah, I knew that."

"Did not."

"Yeah, I did."

"No, you didn't." I shut Jay up before his and Carlos' argument woke the whole school.

"So much for going to bed." I looked up to see Lonnie step into the kitchen. "Midnight snack?"

"Yeah. You?" The lie flowed easily from my mouth. It wasn't like lying to my friends, there was no guilt.

"Same. Burned a lot of energy tonight." She studied the bowl. "What you guys making?"

"Nothing special. Just cookies." Lonnie dipped her finger in the bowl, tasting the mixture. "Oh, no, no."

"Wait, wait, wait."

"Relax," she smiled, "I'm not gonna double dip."

That wasn't what I was worried about. "Fell anything? Maybe it might be missing something?"

Jay gave Lonnie his most charming smile. "Hey there."

She ignored him and shrugged. "It could use some chips."

Chips? "And those are…?"

"Chocolate chips." She headed to the fridge. "Just the most important food group." Taking out a bowl and placing it in front of us Lonnie frowned. "Wait, didn't your mums ever make you guys, like, chocolate chip cookies. Like, when you're feeling sad, and they're fresh from the oven, with a big old glass of milk and she makes you laugh and puts every thing into perspective…why are you all looking at me like that?"

On the Isle we couldn't get the supplies to make such a thing. Most of all that would have involved my mother giving a flying fig where I was. The only cooking the Evil Queen ever did was to show Evie how to snag a prince. Carlos did all the cooking for Cruella and Jay's mother cared as much about him as much as my mother and Evie's father cared about us.

"It's just different where we're from."

"Yeah, I know. I just, you know, I thought… Even villains love their kids." Silence. "Oh…how awful."

Some villains loved their kids.

Dad.

Dad love me. Unconditionally.

I missed him. I was doing all this for him. Just to see him again.

A tear. A single tear escaped.

A tear of human sadness. Well, fairy/god sadness, good enough.

I flicked it into the bowl. "Yeah, well. Big bummer, but we have to get these in the oven, so thanks so much for coming by." I started spooning the now chocolate filled mixture onto the tray. "Really, good night. I'll see you tomorrow. Evil dreams and all that."

Lonnie frowned but shrugged and after grabbing her own bowl of chocolate chips she left. "Night."

Evie frowned; she had seen the tear. "You okay, Mal?"

"All good." I lied as another tear managed to escape.