Ben hoped to never see anyone in this state again. He barely even recognized Mal as she flattened the Arendellian southern mountains with a gesture and glare. Her skin was blue with oxygen miscoloring and she flashed and flared like some sort of living fire that was crackling with power. All of the plant life was sucked from around her as she walked. Lichens, mosses, and grasses withered into dry and cracked earth at her feet. The blue sky vanished as blue and purple storm clouds swallowed up the horizon, swirling around her like a hurricane without an eye.

They rushed in towards her, but the fog grew thick. Ben felt small particles stinging and burning his skin as they struggled to her. It was hard to breathe. He had always felt breathless around her, but this was like he was swallowing electricity. Like she was trying to pull his heart up his throat. The others were also struggling - Audrey especially could scarcely keep her balance.

Mal moved rather slowly for someone with so much raw power. Her goal clearly was to ruin as much as possible, not rush to the Isle of the Lost. She was doing a good job, too.

Uma drew back with a bow and shot towards Mal's leg. The arrow's flight path was immediately distorted and pulled upwards, towards the sky. It ended up skidding past the tip of her nose. Mal whipped around. When her green gaze landed on where their group was hidden, Ben felt an individual flame lit in every pore on his body. He'd never been more terrified of anything in his life.

Jay leapt first. He batted the smoke that was wafting off the ground away and jumped forward into Mal's line of sight. "Mal!" He shouted. His voice echoed in the vacuum of air Mal was creating. "You need to stop!"

Mal batted her hand and several thousand needle-like green shards of glass began sprouting out of the ground. Jay panicked and jumped away. Carlos snatched the back of his jacket and yanked him into the group and onto safe ground. Ground that immediately opened up beneath them.

Carlos and Jay fell with a shout but Jay caught the ledge of the ledge and pulled them both back up. At the bottom of the chasm was a swirling pool of lit magma that was quickly rising to the surface.

"Move!" Ben shouted, grabbing Jay's arm as he got back to his feet. "We've got to get away from this!"

Something hard struck his cheek. Ben grabbed it and looked skyward. A pebble landed beside him on the ground, then another and another.

It was now raining rocks.

They scrambled away from the chasm as similar cracks appeared in the earth. Lava began to flow from the cracks as they jumped to higher ground. Debris continued swirling in the air.

Ben helped Jay, Audrey, and Uma up onto a boulder. As he did, the lava was slowing down. He could feel and smell it from twenty paces away, but Mal's magic swept it mostly back down into the cracks in the earth. Still, not safe.

"Mal!" Evie yelled at the top of her lungs, though Ben was sure most of the sound was lost to the wind. "You can't do this!"

A lump of fiery green coal was shot out of the smoke. It slammed into Evie's cheek and knocked her back, off of the boulder. Mal's Maleficent-tinged laugh echoed all around them. Ben caught her before she could tumble into the cracks in the earth around them. A blueish burn had made the skin bubble up on her face.

The earth shook and the boulder split in two. Ben, Evie, and Carlos were hurled to one side, and Jay, Audrey, and Uma to the other. Ben heard shouts of pain from Carlos/

"Maleficent!" he tried, getting to his feet. "I know this is you!"

The rock rain stopped and out fo the fog, a shadow appeared. It was Mal, who crossed her arms and smiled like the Cheshire cat at him. "Oh, it's the king!" Maleficent cackled through her voice. Then, Mal's chin dropped to her chest and she went unresponsive. Maleficent appeared out of nothing beside her daughter and drew her fingers down her cheek. "Isn't she pretty? She's grown up so much."

Ben's heart thudded. Was Maleficent trying to imply…?

Maleficent hummed a little. "Mommy's little bomb," she hummed. "I knew she was powerful, but this… this is glorious." She gestured at all the destruction around them.

"It'll certainly be interesting to see how she reacts once you take that spell off her," Ben replied. He couldn't raise his voice too high in this smog. "You can't keep her under that spell forever. You'll have to let her go eventually, and she'll destroy you."

"She won't destroy me," Maleficent disagreed, petting her fingers through Mal's hair. "She's always wanted me to love her. What happened in the forest… that was just her panicking because of her friends."

"Take it off now," Ben challenged. "If you're so confident."

Maleficent narrowed her eyes.

"The moment you go to sleep, the moment you turn your back, the moment you let your guard down, you're a dead woman," Ben told her.

"I don't need her much longer," Maleficent sighed. "It's a shame - if she had joined me, she could have lived. Now she's disposable. Useful only for her powers."

The left side of Mal's face twitched, which was odd because she was supposed to be completely under Maleficent's spell. Ben zeroed in on the movement.

"You won't be able to kill her," he mumbled. "She won't let you do that."

Maleficent run a hand across Mal's shoulder's and Mal's head snapped back up. "You're annoying," they said, echoing each other. "Little Beasty King alone in his castle. You didn't pay attention to the Isle of the Lost, so pay attention while we destroy everything you love."

Uma raised her sword and rushed forward with a battle cry, but Mal threw a hand out and the sword imploded. Uma was blasted back and her head slammed hard into the ground. Ben willed himself to stay still, staring straight at Mal and trying to keep from blinking against the dust as much as possible.

"Kill him," Maleficent requested, walking a bit behind Mal and watching with interest as Mal's hand immediately went to her pocket. She pulled out a sword - the same sword that Maleficent had commanded Mal to take and which was serving as an anchor over her will, enlarged it, and readied it in her hands. "Go on, Darling. Do it for us. For everything he did to us."

Ben's mind was racing. Should he say something? Should he try and argue? He wanted to remind Mal of their son but if it didn't work and Maleficent realized, then it really would be game over. Instead, he prepared to duck if Mal decided to swing that sword at his head.

Maleficent suddenly frowned at Mal, as if she had said something incredulous. "Go on," she barked.

Mal raised the sword above her head and Ben watched, expressionless, as it inched down at an angle toward his neck. The slower she went, the more confident he got.

Maleficent went stiff.

"Mal," he whispered and took a half step closer to her. The cold metal hit his neck but didn't press any further. "You know you don't want to kill me."

"It'd be easier," she muttered, and her voice didn't have Maleficent's echo in it.

"Come on, Mal," Ben shook his head. "Are you really going to leave me alone?"

The green light vanished from Mal's eyes and she snapped the blade away from Ben's neck. "No!" She declared. She turned around towards Maleficent and the ground caught fire at her feet. Her skin on her hands started burning away as she trembled to hold the cursed sword. It began to break apart. Ben had to look away. His skin felt like it was on fire. In the distance, he could hear Maleficent screaming, begging for some sort of mercy, and there was this horrible ripping sound that was like velcro except he knew without a doubt it couldn't be velcro and that made him sick. Then there was prickling, like the sound glass made when it got too hot, and he was thrown back.

His body skidded across the earth. By some miracle, he avoided falling into the chasms. For several minutes, Ben couldn't see anything but white - so great had been Mal's explosion in front of him. But then he started to make out shapes again and could see the fuzzy outlines of the ground.

Someone took his shoulders and hoisted him to his feet. Ben gasped for breath. He could see the outlines of someone with a vest. "I can't see," he gasped as they tried to set him upright. "Give me a minute. Where's Audrey? Where's Maleficent? Where's Mal?"

"Over here," Jay replied gruffly. "Audrey's fine. Maleficent… we're not sure but there's a lot of blood over here so we're assuming she's… gone. Mal is… down."

"Down?" Ben repeated. He rubbed his eyes and the white shapes took on a bit more color. Jay turned him around and he spotted - off in the distance - purple. He tossed aside Jay's help and stumbled over the ground, where he almost tripped over the edge of a crater that had appeared around Mal.

He gradually was able to see where the bumps in the path were and that helped as he hurried to her side and dropped to his knees. She was lying spread-out and was very, very pale. He felt up and down her neck with nimble, numb fingers. No beat. No thrumming anything. No pulse.

"Jay? Evie?" Ben began to shout. "Carlos? Uma? I can't get a pulse!"

Pale hands budged him aside. It was Audrey, looking grimy and exhausted and with a hot bit of rock that had melted onto her ear. She waved him aside and felt up Mal's neck with one hand before reaching down to press her fingers at her wrist. "We need to try CPR," she whispered. Her voice was hoarse from breathing all the charred smoke.

"We already tried," Uma announced, coming up behind them with a shake of her head. "She's cold, guys. She burned herself out breaking that spell."

Ben sat back on his heels and stared down at Mal in something like shock. How could this have happened? This was… all his fault. He covered his face with his hands and exhaled, trying to let all the air out of his lungs. Oh, what would happen now? What was he going to tell Hades and Xavier when he was older?

What was he going to do?

Audrey muttered something, and Jay let out a startled sound - something between a scoff and a laugh. Ben tore his eyes off Mal, wiped them on the back of his hand, and looked to her. "What?" he gasped. "I missed that."

Audrey pulled her ponytail out of her hair, staring at the ground as she did. She raked her fingernails up and down her scalp. "True Love's Kiss," she mumbled. "Works every time."

Ben's mouth fell open. Was it… Audrey who had suggested that? Audrey, whose mouth had curled with jealousy when he went to see his mother and Audrey who was paranoid about everyone everywhere?

"Worth a shot," Evie muttered. "Old magic - might work."

"Audrey," Ben whispered. "You…" He trailed off when the words wouldn't come.

Audrey got to her feet, shaking a little, and stepped back. "Go on, Ben," she nodded. "Just give it a shot."

Ben stared. Evie, Uma, Carlos, and Jay all stepped a little closer to see. Ben's hands were shaking.

He slowly picked her head off the ground. She was stiff even though she hadn't been lying there for long. He kept his eyes on Audrey, but Audrey focused on Mal. Finally, he followed her gaze down.

Mal's mouth was shut and her eyes closed. Her cheeks seemed hollow as if there was no fat in them. Slowly, he leaned down and brought her up. Then he let his lips brush against hers. Nothing more than that.

It wouldn't work. The only reason he was doing it was because he'd wanted to kiss Mal at least once more ever since he left and because everyone was gathered around, expecting him to. He and Mal had known each other for mere months and no matter how electrifying and alluring she was, he couldn't call it love. Couldn't - it wasn't reasonable - there was no way -

Then Mal took a gasp underneath him and that train of thought stopped in its tracks. Her eyes snapped open and one hand seized his shoulder in a vice grip to support herself. Ben sat back up - half in surprise and half in fear that she'd smite him to the ends of Auradon. "It worked?" he asked.

Mal felt her mouth, apparently as shocked as he was.

"Mal!" Evie sank to her knees and took Mal's arm to help her to her feet. Ben let her go as Uma, too, came and helped her up. Mal leaned on them both for balance and continued looking back at Ben in shock. Ben didn't get up - he felt like his brain had flatlined and there was no shock that could revive it. Jay let out a breath and Carlos chuckled at his shock, then they both glanced at Audrey. Ben did too.

Audrey stood with her weight mostly on her right leg and her entire face unresponsive. She kept her arms crossed over her ribs as if bracing for a hit there. Ben swallowed. "Audrey?" he whispered and got to his feet. He reached for her hands, but she refused him. For several long moments, they stood at ends, and then Audrey relaxed and let Ben take her hands again. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I really am - I swear this doesn't mean-"

"I'm glad she's okay," Audrey cut him off. "And I'm glad Maleficent is gone. Let's go home."

The Villain Kid's city had been completely flattened to nothing but charred earth. Not even rubble stood in the places where Evie's home, the pavilion, or even Mal's giant fortress had been. Every toy and tool had been incinerated and every foundation turned over. Even the river had been dried up and overturned as if nothing had ever actually been there. Mal observed it all with dead eyes, avoiding Ben and keeping Xavier close to her chest. Most people avoided her with the same casual hate and fear that Ben had noticed in small amounts when he'd first come to them. After all, she'd destroyed the only home they'd ever had. Nothing was left except for a barren wasteland.

Evie cried with her face buried in Doug's shoulder. No eye was dry as everyone shuffled through the dust, looking for something - anything - they could salvage.

"Can't you just magic it all back?" Someone snapped at Mal and she flinched away from them, covering Xavier's ears from the loud sound.

But even Mal's magic had temporarily gone offline. When she'd broken the spell, she'd overdone it. It'd probably be a long time before she could start using it again without hurting herself.

Ben stayed by Audrey's side, keeping his hand in hers as often as she'd let him, and trying to avoid Mal just as much as she was avoiding him. Every second was pain and confusion.

The sun was setting when shouts came over the bluff. A line of horses came and Ben recognized the familiar coat of arms on the shields. "Chad!" he shouted. His voice echoed through the nothingness. "Over here!"

Chad had, of course, seen the Arendelle Mountains be flattened. They'd amassed an army to investigate once everything had stopped. And now it was Cinderellasburg's job to liberate the royal family plus every single villain child in the area.

"Where do we take them?" Chad asked, flabbergasted once he'd heard Ben's basic explanation.

"Out," Ben said simply. "Fill the hotels and inns in Arendelle and Cinderellasburg first. I'll take the rest to Auradon." He paused. "If they need doctors - any of them - it'd probably be best to take them with me. Out of the three of us, we have the most doctors per person."

Audrey laid a hand on Ben's shoulder and squeezed it. "I want to take Belle back to the palace to get her leg checked now," she whispered. It was the first thing she'd said to him since suggesting Ben kiss Mal. "Are you coming with?"

"No," Ben shook his head. "I… need to see everyone else out. Can you take her safely?"

"I can," Audrey agreed.

"Okay." Ben leaned down to kiss Audrey's cheek out of force of habit and she stopped him with an open palm. Then, straightening herself and righting her frame, she extended a hand instead. Ben shook it, more than a little confused.

"Chad." Audrey held a hand to signal their old friend. She pointed along the way to Mal. "That woman is very weak. She'll need a horse to get out. Find one for her."

The sun set and the night grew dark. Ben saw Audrey and Belle off with the first wave of people heading to Auradon. He tried to keep an eye on Mal every time he walked past to make sure she was handling things okay and that she didn't need any help with Xavier, but when the sun rose she was gone with lots of the others.

It took three days to get everyone out. Supplies were called in, but it was still a way away from Cinderellasburg and Arendelle even with the new paved area that Mal had created in her storm. The sun was blistering without any kind of trees or protection. The concrete building still stood, and it was here that most resided and shied away from the sun.

Finally, Chad put the reigns of the last horse in Ben's hands and told him that he was it - everyone else had gone. Ben and Chad exchanged numb thank-yous before Ben began the trek back to Auradon with a few guards to keep him safe and make sure he wouldn't be ambushed on the way.

The trip gave him time to think: What was going to happen to his families? How was he ever going to fix things with Audrey now? What was he going to do about Mal?

He found Audrey asleep in the master bedroom when he arrived at two in the morning. He stood in the doorway and watched her for a moment and then turned to sleep on the couch instead. The next thing he knew, the sun was shining in his eyes and an outside breeze was blowing through his hair.

Audrey was sitting in a chair across from him. He sat up slowly so he wouldn't startle her and ran a hand down his face. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied.

"You're up late."

"What time is it?"

"One. When did you get home?"

"Two." Ben yawned and stretched his arms out in front of him. "Where's Belle?"

Audrey chewed on her cheek. "With the other kids," she muttered. "There's about twenty left, though your mom and I have been placing them into foster families."

Ben stared at her incredulously. "You've been working with my mom?" he asked. Audrey nodded without a change of face. That was unnerving. He was used to knowing exactly what she was thinking based on her face and eyes. He sighed. "Did her leg get checked out?"

"Yes," Audrey replied. "It's a very, very bad break. Of course, we knew that but…" She turned a page of a book in her lap. Ben blinked - he hadn't realized she'd had it. When was the last time Audrey had read anything? "She'll need physical therapy. And now that Mal's hypnosis spell as worn off, she's in a bunch of pain. They're going to do a second surgery because they think one of her nerves is like… messed up in her leg. Should be fine after lots of work, but they've still got to do a decompression surgery."

Ben swallowed hard. Audrey glanced up from her book. "I got the surgery scheduled already and she's out of school for a while. We can homeschool her until she's good enough to go back."

"Sounds reasonable," Ben agreed. "What about you?"

"I…" Audrey took a deep breath. "Evie and Uma were right. Hypoglycemia. It's… insane that something so small caused so much damage. But essentially, Belle wasn't in my belly in the best position, and so she cut off some of the blood flow to my pancreas. Cue long-term damage that never got fixed. It must have started around month five or so, which is when I started feeling horrible all the time and everything. I just didn't notice it wasn't normal because I'd never had a baby before."

Ben nodded along to her words. "Do you have to have surgery too?" he asked.

"So far, no," Audrey shook her head. "They're giving me artificial enzymes to make up for what my pancreas can't do. And making me eat lots of sugary foods." She leaned her head back and sighed. "I never thought I'd get sick of Dr. Pepper," she mumbled aloud.

Ben snorted. It had been her favorite drink, ages back. "I'm sorry about… what happened out West. I never planned for… anything to happen like that."

Audrey stared at him, procured a slim stack of papers that she tucked into her book to mark her place, and set the book on the ottoman in between them. Ben traced the papers that were jutting out of the stack with his eyes. "Mal's here," she said softly. "Went to Cinderellasburg and Chad sent her in for a doctor. She's still out of magic. Doesn't come out of her room much. I went by to talk once, but she didn't want to see me. I don't blame her."

A knock came at the door. Ben turned. It was a footman, so Ben immediately started trying to straighten his hair. "Queen Audrey," they called and bowed a little. "Your carriage is waiting out front."

"Thank you," Audrey bid him before he disappeared into the hall. She turned back to Ben. "Xavier is here too. She hasn't let him out of her sight. I think she's paranoid. I get it - it's hard for me to let Belle go play - let alone not know where she is."

"I've got to figure out…" Ben put his head in his hands. "I don't know where to have her live. It feels wrong to not have her live in the palace when Xavier will have to come here anyway but it also doesn't seem quite… fitting to have her live with us here. I mean… I don't know."

"I think I can solve that problem for you," Audrey muttered.

She got up from her chair and then sat back down on the ottoman. Their knees were about three inches apart as she picked up the book and pushed it into his lap. Ben squinted at the cover. "Enchanted," he muttered. "Goodness, this story's old." He opened the book to where Audrey had marked it - near the end. In glorious full-color illustration was Robert Phillip, leaning over poor and lifeless Giselle. That made Ben pause. He studied Audrey. His wife seemed exhausted and stressed and somehow at peace with herself. "Is there something you want me to learn from this story?" he asked. The story that happened to contain the guy's fiancee telling the guy to kiss the other girl before it was too late.

Audrey gestured at the papers. They were facing the wrong way. He flipped them back over and his breath caught in his throat a little. Across the top read: "Divorce Agreement."

He looked back up at Audrey. "Is this… what you want?" he asked. "No more us?"

"When was there an us, Ben?" Audrey sighed. "You tried so hard and I… I only took advantage of that. Plus… being queen is hard. I'm not cut out for it."

"We could fix it. I'll… I'll stay, Audrey. I'll stay if you will."

"Ben, I destroyed all your friendships and your relationship with our mom and everyone," Audrey sighed. "I'm not going to ruin a literal true love for… greed." She ran a hand through her hair. "What I want is to go back to Auroria and be with my parents before they die. I already sent a message ahead to my mom. You keep your castle, I'll take my dowry and my dividends back and you keep your inheritance and we can part ways so we both have a better shot at life."

"And Belle?" Ben asked.

Audrey chewed on her cheek. "I know you love her and she's your daughter, but I was hoping you'd agree to let me have her on weekdays during the school year, and I'll bring her for weekends and breaks here unless I ask you ahead of time. We can do vice versa in the summertime."

"Would you be able to do that?" Ben asked. "With your blood sugar and everything?"

"Yeah," Audrey nodded. "We both need time to heal anyways. I was thinking I could take her for a while so you and Mal can get things sorted out and we can get this finalized. You could get married again and maybe even have more kids if you wanted. Then we could start switching her back and forth. When she gets older, she can pick and choose a little bit more."

"Are you sure you'll be able to do it? I don't want her going the way she was before… she's got to at least make her bed and clean her room."

"I'll make sure she does. You were right. She needs to do it. And I'm sure you'll keep track of her here too." Audrey put a hand on his knee and squeezed. "She needs her dad."

Ben skimmed the papers. She'd written a few things in pink pen - how neither she nor Ben could take Belle places without a little notice and who held medical responsibilities and a few other things. Audrey waited for his response and fidgeted. Finally, when he was done, he set the pages aside and pulled Audrey off the ottoman and into a hug. Tears had started running down his face at some point, though he wasn't sure when. "Thank you," he whispered in her shoulder. "I just… thank you."

Audrey patted his head. Ben sniffled and straightened up, wiping his eyes. "You… you don't have to, I swear," he said. "I meant it - I really will work things out with you if that's what you-"

"This is what I want," Audrey cut him off, putting her hand on the discarded pages before gathering them up and handing them back to Ben. "And this is what you need."

It was as if thirty elephants had been lifted off his shoulders. He took the papers carefully, well aware they contained his whole future, and wiped his eyes. "Where do I sign?" he asked.

Audrey pulled a pen out of her sleeve. She pointed out the places that required his signature and then left them on the ottoman. "Can you file them?" she asked. "You know better than I do about things like that."

"I'll take care of it," Ben agreed. He hesitated, then took his ring off his finger and offered it to her.

Audrey made a face. "I have your other one," she pointed out. "The blue one. You could keep that one and maybe use it for when you and Mal get married."

Ben chuckled softly. "Or you could use it?" he suggested. "Whenever you find someone."

A smile crossed Audrey's face. Still, she shook her head. "Keep it," she told him. "You bought it yourself. I had nothing to do with it."

So Ben tucked the ring into his pocket.

Audrey's room had been cleaned out, but Belle's remained the same. They found her with the other girls. She had a wheelchair now and a new medical doll since the old one had been incinerated. She was telling the other kids all about how she and her mom were going to go on a long vacation to visit her Grandma and Grandpa, and how she'd have two rooms. Ben didn't think the news fazed her much, though he did worry about when she got older. Hopefully, Audrey could find someone she loved, and then Belle could have two examples of real marriage instead of thinking that what he and Audrey had had was remotely close to normal.

It was odd to know he'd have two families now. One with Audrey and little Belle and one with Mal and Xavier, if she'd have him. Two parts of his life that were equally astounding.

He saw them off from the front circle in a carriage that would take them to Auroria and then headed upstairs.

Mal's door was on the left in a corridor three floors up. All the small children and adults were downstairs near the playrooms or out on the gardens, so it was silent up here. Her door was closed, but he opened it softly without a knock and saw her sitting, curled up on the window chair, with Xavier in her lap playing with toys against her collarbone. She was craning her head to see outside.

"Mal," he called and she spun around. Xavier looked up, startled, then turned and gave Ben the wide-eyed "how-dare-you" stare for disturbing the peace. Ben laughed and stepped inside.

Mal swung her feet off the window seat and used the wall to stand up. "Ben," she replied and glanced at the door to see if anyone was behind him. "I didn't know you were back."

"Surprise," Ben muttered. He kept walking forward until he was able to rest a hand on the bedpost a few feet from her. "You feeling better?"

"I am," Mal agreed. "Is everyone out?"

"They are," Ben nodded. "What have you been up to?"

"Settling things." Mal ran a hand through her hair. "My, uh, dad came to see me. I don't know if I said anything, but, uh…"

"Hades," Ben agreed. "Where is he now?"

"Downstairs," Mal's voice wavered. "We… sorted a few things out. He's going to come and visit Xavier and I… but he's also going to go back to the Underworld. Says he has a special place for my mom's soul." She swallowed and leaned against the wall. "As soon as I'm able to… move and everything again… I'll be out of your hair."

"To where?" he asked.

"Back west," Mal mumbled. "It's not good for me to be around you and Audrey and…" she sighed. "I'll let Xavier come back, but…"

"They're not going to rebuild. The land is uninhabitable. They've started integrating the villain kids into society. People seem to like them a lot." Ben crossed his arms and took a step closer to her. "If you want to go, fine, but I was hoping I could convince you to stay."

Mal closed her eyes. "Ben, you picked Audrey. I respect that."

"We're done."

"Who's done?"

"Audrey and I." Ben pointed out the window. In the far distance, the carriage was visible. "She asked to get out. She wants to live with her parents and doesn't want to be a queen and wants to spend more time with Belle."

"What?" Mal's tone was disbelieving. She took a step to peer outside the window and Ben stepped up behind her. When she turned to see what he was doing, he picked her up. She and Xavier together. She shrieked a little as he sat them down on the bed. Somehow, his hand found her hand and he squeezed hard.

"Listen," he gasped, kneeling down on the floor as Xavier held onto her shirt for dear life. "I've never done this before in my life - you know I haven't - and I don't have a ring for you but I need you to know that I love you, Mal Bertha. Really, I swear it. And I know I'm lousy and I never checked up on you all those months and it's been hard for you but if you give me the chance I swear I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you and Xavier. Will you please, please, -"

"Yes!" Mal cut him off, ripping her hand out of his and dropping to the ground beside him. She set Xavier on the ground, where he sat and looked very stunned with everything happening, and leaned in to kiss Ben. When she tried to pull away, Ben put a hand to the back of her head to keep her there. She was crying; he was crying; Xavier was starting to whine because he didn't know what was going on. Ben pulled her onto his lap and then picked up Xavier too to squeeze them both to his chest.

His true love. His true love and their son. And their start at a new life.