This was inspired by Xez2003's The Black Arrow; A Tale of Two Kingdoms. I do not own Disney Descendants.

In the morning, the ground was too spongy to move the carts without heaping piles of mud attaching themselves to the rims. Ben went around helping people pull their carts onto higher ground, and they all simultaneously decided that they'd park and wait for the day. Uma's large tent was erected, and then small children ran around with large sticks, chasing each other and playing swords. The rain had also brought a small benefit - in places where the mud had run, it had revealed dozens of different types of roots under the ground.

Ben helped Uma haul out the kitchen equipment, clean off what had been dirtied, and then they directed crowds of meandering people to the tedious task of digging up the roots. Ben, Harry, Gil, and several others scrubbed off the tough outsides as they came in with metal brushes, and then even more people shredded them and added them to heaping pots of water set directly onto the flames. Uma herself was busy, adding portions of shredded meat, a few dried fruits, and other items to the pots along with a variety of things like hickory salt, which Ben had decided he was going to get heaps of when he returned to the palace, and pepper. Some items came from the Isle, while others Uma had taken from their surroundings.

Gil told jokes as they worked, making the work fast and easy. Ben laughed, but his heart still felt heavy. Mal hadn't ever returned, and no one had seen her. He wondered if she had some sort of invisibility spell, but if she did, she wasn't looking for him.

"Ben," Uma called from her place by the pots. "Fetch me a ladle!"

Harry pouted. "Why he?" He demanded, sticking his lips out a tad.

"Because I need you to stay here and keep Jimmy from messing up," Uma nodded at a smaller boy who was fumbling with the large knives, "He can do the job well enough anyway."

"Sure thing, Uma," Ben nodded, setting his knife down and wiping his hands off before he set toward the large covered tent that had housed the equipment during the storm. His shoes stuck in the ground as he walked. Evie had finally gifted him so tennis shoes, which were much more comfortable than the boots he'd originally worn. He was wearing black pants and a blue shirt. He was grateful Evie was now catering to his normal colors and thought it was still strange to be out of suits, even though he'd been away for almost three weeks now.

As he reached for the tent flap, he heard Evie's voice from inside and paused, wondering if he should come back later. However, then he heard someone else, and couldn't stop himself from leaning forward to listen.

"No, Evie, that's not it at all," Mal huffed, clearly exhausted. "Listen, can you just leave me to sleep? I went all across the valley last night in the rain." Ben's fingers twitched. She was back?

"Well, that's your fault," Evie declared. "You can rest for a while, but we need you here. We needed you here. When everything is stable, you can run wherever and go wherever, but the VK's need us now. Remember? The kids we promised?"

"I know," Mal groaned. Ben could picture her face - exhausted and melancholy with a half-lidded stare. His fingertips grazed the canopy flap. He really should walk in now, and announce his presence and purpose before he overheard something he wasn't supposed to.

"Mal, what happened?" Evie asked in a soft tone.

There were several seconds wherein Ben pictured her shifting her weight while he tried to convince himself to enter, grab the ladle, and leave. His fingers itched towards the opening.

"I don't know," Mal finally admitted in this broken tone that Ben hadn't imagined could come from her. "I just… got so angry. Hurt and angry… I don't know. It was like I'd been lied to, but I knew I hadn't been. I guess I just let things get too big in my head, and then-"

"Ben told you?" Evie asked in a hushed whisper.

Mal burst into this crazed, frenzied laughter that made his skin crawl. "I don't know why - I should have assumed! I mean, yeah, there was no ring, but!" She choked a little. "I just… I thought for a while…"

She stopped. Ben's hands felt like ice. He knew exactly what she'd been thinking. That he'd liked her. That they had something small and special. That it was a beginning to something greater. He knew because he'd been thinking the same things too.

"You love him?" Evie asked, and that was the thing that brought Ben back to earth. He was eavesdropping. It was wrong. He shouldn't be invading their privacy like this.

"I don't want to!" Mal exploded. "This isn't fair - he has no right to be making me like this and-"

Ben seized the tent flap and opened it. Mal's rant cut short. He stepped out of the sunlight, ducking a little as he entered, and then kept his gaze firmly on the ground as silence reigned and he listened to Evie and Mal gape in shock. Then, finally, he let his gaze drift up. Evie looked a little green while Mal had gone glasslike again. She was like a statue as she examined him. He felt like some sort of bug under than piercing gaze, even without the magic.

"Sorry," He whispered. "I was coming in for a ladle for Uma. I wasn't going to start eavesdropping, but I was surprised to hear Mal was back and froze up. I apologize for invading your privacy."

"How much did you hear?" Mal asked, stone-faced. She wasn't focusing directly on him - more on a point over his left ear.

"I heard everything from you saying you'd gone across the valley," Ben admitted, letting his gaze fall again. "I shouldn't have listened to as much as I did - I was just surprised. Please forgive me."

There wasn't anything after that. Nothing but heavy breathing as Mal tried to keep from exploding at him and his heartbeat hammering in both his chest and his skull. Finally, Evie broke the silence by crossing to a post and picking up a ladle from where it hung. "There," She declared. "You may go now."

Ben put one foot behind him and then his gaze shot up to see Mal had turned away, towards the West. "Can I talk to you?" The words spilled out of his chest like he was throwing them up. "Please?"

Mal turned and looked over her shoulder to make sure she knew who he was talking to. Evie tensed up as she looked back and forth in between them. Then Mal inclined her head and Evie exhaled as she took a few shaky steps towards the opening of the tent flap. ben stopped her and replaced the ladle in her hands. "Can you take that to Uma for me?" He requested. "I promise I'll be back out to help her soon."

Evie nodded hastily and then practically tripped out into the open. Ben took a breath and turned to Mal. She ignored him, facing away again, and then sat down on a crate, where she began tightening her shoelaces. Ben approached her softly until he was standing behind her. He couldn't tell if she had heard him approach or not, but either way, she jumped when he began to speak. "I'm sorry," He apologized. "I never wanted to hurt you."

Mal didn't answer. She yanked the laces on her boots tight against her skin and Ben felt a lump arise as he observed the curve of her calf into her ankles. "Uma and Jay and Carlos told me that I had to be careful… had to make sure you knew what sort of commitments I had because they didn't want you hurting more in the long run. I didn't realize… I thought… I hoped that whatever was going on in my head, it was all me, but-"

"Going on in your head?" Mal interrupted, turning to furrow her brow at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I meant…" Ben stammered. "Just… there were these glances and I could always feel your eyes on me, and…" He trailed off, awkwardly.

"You like me?" Mal asked, squinting a little. She sounded bewildered by the concept. It was as if someone had informed her that all of the villain kids were to be invited to Auradon or if he'd announced it was time to take the barrier down.

"I can't love you," Ben blurted out. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I have a wife and a daughter - they depend on me. You're amazing; I hope you know that, but I made a commitment to Audrey, and I can't break that."

"Audrey," Mal repeated in a soft tone. Ben cast his eyes to her feet again. "Is she a princess?"

Ben swallowed. He really, really didn't want to tell her, but he didn't want to lie either. "She's Aurora's daughter," He admitted, flinching internally at how backward this all was. "You know, uh, Sleeping-"

"Beauty," Mal cut him off, spinning away with a hot, hard look in her eyes. "I've heard the name."

"I know how that must seem to you," Ben began slowly. "She's not like Stefan, though. I mean, she's close to her grandmother, but she's not a bad person. She just… likes lots of things and people and yeah." He stopped himself as he started to babble. Even though Mal was mostly turned away from him, he could see her face twist in confusion.

"And you love her?" Mal asked softly.

"Yes," Ben agreed, though the words sounded hollow on his tongue. "I do. Her and my daughter."

Mal nodded softly as if that made sense. She took a small breath. It almost sounded as if she wanted to cry, but Ben doubted Mal would ever. He sat down beside her and put a hand on her back. "Will you be alright?" He whispered.

Mal nodded. "Yes," she affirmed. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Ben tilted his head down. "Because I know you felt… whatever it was too."

"It wasn't anything," Mal shook her head. "It was foolishness. All primal bull crap." She brushed his hand away. "Love is a lie, anyhow, but it's a beautiful one. That's why people buy into it."

Ben raised an eyebrow at her as she stood up and brushed herself off. She turned to face him, crossing her arms as she did. And this answer gave Ben the truth. "Did you… fall in love with me?" He asked in a hollow tone. Part of him was devastated, but the other… amazed. Audrey had never fallen in love with him. They had just fallen together as if they were fated. This whatever-it-was was so much more powerful than anything he'd ever experienced with her.

"Of course not!" Mal snapped. Her eyes lit up with deadly fire as she balled her fists against her sides. "How dare you imply such a thing!"

Ben blinked slowly. "You thought I implied it."

There was a loud echo of something smacking against something else in the teepee, like a brief clap of thunder. Ben hadn't realized she'd hit him until he caught the glare in her eyes and then briefly felt the sting begin in his cheek. He put a hand up to the wound with a small frown, but it didn't hurt as much as what he was going through internally. "That wasn't very nice," He reprimanded.

Mal looked confused. "It wasn't supposed to be," She furrowed her brow.

Ben tilted her head. "Then why did you do it?" He asked.

Mal looked down at her hand for a second as if it had done something she couldn't explain. Then she looked back at him. "It doesn't matter," She spat. "I know now. You don't have to worry about leading me on and anyways, you weren't in the first place."

She tried to storm past him, but Ben seized her hand. Mal tried to yank it away, but Ben quickly tugged her forward before she could wrench away. "Did you hit me thinking I would stay away after that?" Ben asked, scoffing a little. "Listen, if you want me to stay away, fine, but this isn't the Isle of the Lost. And you're hurting - you don't have to slap me to get that out."

"I don't have to-" Mal sputtered, and ceased fighting with him. She slumped a little, bowing her head and looking frazzled. "I know this isn't the Isle, Ben. But… I hit you. It's over. You hate me now; that's how these things work!"

"You don't think Audrey has hurt me before?" Ben deadpanned. "Or that Harry has hurt Uma before or that you've hurt Evie, Jay, and Carlos? We don't just leave people behind, Mal."

Mal kept her head bowed, staring at the ground as she took long, slow, deep breaths. "I'm sorry," She apologized. "Is that what you want from me?"

Ben released her hands and she withdrew them to herself like she was guarding her heart against something. He put his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry," He whispered. "I wish I could make things better for you."

Mal shook her head and exhaled. "Please…" her voice broke a little. "Please, just… let me be alone."

Ben took five immediate steps back before he turned and headed towards the door. There was a time to grab her wrists and keep her from marching out and there was another to obey and depart in peace.

He returned to the fires and Gil whistled upon seeing his cheek. "Man, who hit you?" He called, a little too loud. A few people glanced his way, looking confused. Ben waved them all off.

"No one," he assured Gil as he sat down, pointedly ignoring Uma's piercing gaze.

He worked alone for several seconds and then a shadow fell over the table. He looked up right as someone tossed a cool, wet bundle to him before turning on their heel and walking away. It was Mal, that he knew alone from the purple and the feeling that his body had caught fire, but if he hadn't have had any other hints he would have assumed it was Evie or Uma because Mal wasn't exactly the person to toss a wet cloth his way for his face. He picked it up and discovered a bit of frost on the outside. He unwrapped a portion of it - there was ice inside? Where had she gotten ice?

It must be magic.

He felt even worse as he pressed the bundle to his cheek and continued working.

The first real alarm the caravan had had since Ben had been accepted as an equal came as they passed the halfway mark between Arendelle and Cinderellasburg. Ben had been sitting with Evie, watching as she sewed the outsides of a shirt together when someone gave a shout of panic and he became aware of dozens of people snatching up spears and bows and rushing to the north side of the camp. He stood up and immediately saw what the chaos was - someone in pink and orange had appeared on the side of the field they were pausing in. Ben started to dash over, weaponless, and almost toppled over Mal, who had apparently had the same idea but from a different direction. She shoved him a little as she struggled back to her feet but Ben seized her arm. "We can't let them kill them!" He declared urgently.

Mal nodded, and then somehow they were running side-by-side towards the commotion. As they got closer though, it became clear that it wasn't exactly turning into a massacre. Instead, it was turning into… a battle?

The figure in pink whirled around, wielding a sword with steady expertise. Their face was mostly covered, but the long hair was a giveaway to who it was.

"Lonnie?" Ben gasped upon nearing the circle she was defending herself from. Everyone paused and exchanged glances as the girl stopped, spotted Ben, and pulled off her face covering.

"Ben?" She asked, equally confused.

Mal nudged him. "You know her?" She demanded.

"Yeah. She was an old friend from school," Ben supplied. "I haven't seen her in a few years, though."

Lonnie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, not since Audrey went ballistic the last time." She stepped forward, keeping a hand on her sword. "What are you doing out here? Does she know you're gone? How'd you convince her to let you go out to the middle of nowhere with a bunch of girls involved?" Lonnie scanned up and down Mal's frame, looking startled.

Mal glanced between Ben and Lonnie, squinting more and more as Ben's cheeks and ears turned red. He shrugged awkwardly. "I, uh, she might know by now?" he suggested slowly. "What are you doing here?"

Lonnie turned back to the woods and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Hey, guys!" She called. "Come on out! It's Ben!"

Mal leaned to the far right to watch as two other figures stumbled out of the trees. One was a tall boy with sandy blonde hair. The other had long, dark, curly hair and a blue hiking outfit. Ben felt his entire expression light up. "Doug!" He exclaimed. "Jane!"

"Who are these people?" Mal asked.

"Old friends," Ben smiled. He presented them to each other as Doug and Jane came closer. "Mal, this is Lonnie, Mulan's daughter, Doug, the son of Dopey, and Jane, Fairy Godmother's daughter. Lonnie, Jane, Doug, this is Mal. She's the daughter of Maleficent."

Doug let out a squeak and Jane's face went white. Lonnie raised up her sword in panic and with a brisk movement, shoved Ben away from Mal and behind her. "Why is she here?" Lonnie demanded. "How long has she been holding you?"

"Don't you think I would have called for help if I needed it?" Ben asked, annoyed. He pressed on Lonnie's hand to lower her blade down and returned to Mal's side. "Listen, Mal is one of the leaders around here and she commands everyone who holds weapons. I'm sure that if you ask very nicely, she'll tell everyone to quit aiming their arrows and brandishing their other weapons at you."

Mal looked like she would much rather tie them up and leave them somewhere like she'd left Ben. She glared at Lonnie's sword suspiciously. Ben nudged her, then gave Lonnie a pointed look. Lonnie carefully sheathed her sword, looking confused and cautious, and then cleared her throat. "Can you guys, uh, lower your weapons?"

Mal pressed her lips together and then gave a single nod. Everyone dropped their weapons. Lonnie looked amazed. Ben beamed at Mal and then made a gesture back to camp. "Go on, everyone. These guys are friends. You don't need to worry." He turned to Lonnie, Jane, and Doug. "Come on, guys. I'm going to introduce you to the other leaders. There's Uma, she's the daughter of Ursula, and Evie, she's the daughter of the Evil Queen. They're both super nice."

Mal stopped Ben before he could begin to lead them back. "Ah!" She snapped, sounding miffed. "I get the sword. She can have it back when she leaves."

Lonnie seized the hilt of the sword in panic. "This was my mother's. I'm not leaving it behind with a stranger."

"I'll take it," Ben offered. He held a hand out for the sword and then took a glance at Mal. "Unless you still don't trust me to take off with them?"

Mal clenched her teeth together. Ben tried hard to fight a smile as Lonnie slowly handed the blade over to Ben. Ben took it but kept a hand outstretched. "Knives too, Lonnie," he laughed. Lonnie begrudgingly removed two daggers and handed them to Ben.

"So, you know them?" Jane asked as they began their trek back to where Ben had left.

Ben nodded. "Yeah. They picked me up back in Charmington and I'm helping them relocate." As they passed back into camp, a little kid came up and took Ben's hand. Ben smiled and swung their arms back and forth as they continued walking. Mal took the knives from where Ben had tucked them under his arm as they went.

"How long have you been here?" Doug asked.

"Umm…" Ben tried to think back. He felt like he'd been here his whole life. "I think about a month."

"You've been our friend for twenty-eight days," the little kid babbled as they jumped over a tiny puddle in the ground. "And tomorrow it'll be twenty-nine."

"So yeah, a month," Ben nodded and then pulled the little kid's arm to help him leap over a puddle. "Has the palace said anything yet about me going missing?"

"No," Doug shook his head. "No. No one has any idea that you're gone."

"Wait," Mal blurted out. "The King went missing and no one knows?"

Lonnie shrugged. "Maybe they're trying to keep it on the down-low?"

"No," Ben shook his head. "You need the Queen's signatures to get anything done in the king's absence. That just means Audrey doesn't know I'm gone yet."

"How can she not know you're gone?" Jane asked, furrowing her brow. "Wouldn't they have told her?"

"Well, they might have tried, but she's queen. If she doesn't want people to talk to her, she won't be bothered," Ben let the little kid's hand go with a bright smile. He pushed his hands through his hair. "I know you guys think she's clingy, but she honestly has been pretty distant and lax since Belle was born."

"Because you have no friends that want to deal with her when they come over?" Lonnie asked with a snort.

"No," Ben protested. "No, just because she didn't have the energy anymore."

"Oh, please, Ben," Lonnie sighed dramatically. "The woman is vile and lazy and you know it, but you won't talk bad about anyone."

"That's Evie," Mal pointed ahead to where Evie was standing beside a cart, looking concerned. Doug let out a little gasping sound. "She's going to help me decide whether or not we want you tied up or not." She set a hand on Ben's arm and gave him a confused, worried look.

"What?" Ben asked, pausing as the other three carefully walked up to Evie. Lonnie shook her hand with a smile and a "Wow, your hair is amazing!"

"Is all that true?" Mal asked softly, staring at Ben as if she was trying to see through his soul.

"Is what all true?" Ben asked.

"Ben," Evie called. "Who is this?"

Ben had to leave to introduce everyone, but Mal stayed hovering by the cart, watching as people passed by and examining him from a distance. Her mouth has twisted into a deep frown.

It took a while to catch everyone up - how he had been captured and what they were doing and who these people were and what they were doing. It turned out that they were a lot closer to Charmington than Ben had anticipated and Lonnie had seen them from the road. It wasn't a problem, per see, but Evie, Uma, and Mal quickly decided to move onwards.

Night was falling, and the three were invited to stay for dinner. Ben usually ate with the kids and they all told jokes and silly stories, but Lonnie sat down beside him and he knew he was about to be interrogated.

"So," she began, biting into an orange with a furrowed brow. "Audrey doesn't know you're here. She's gonna pissed that you're working with three girls without her knowing."

Ben shrugged a little. "I might just focus on Uma," he mumbled. "She's committed. Maybe if I focus on her and Harry, the explosion won't be so bad." Then, he shrugged and took a bite of his food. "But if she doesn't ask then that's that."

Lonnie rolled her eyes. "Ben, when was the last time you talked with someone? Like friends? Someone not a servant or Audrey or Belle? And not for work."

Ben didn't answer. He could feel fire creeping into his veins though. A tell-tale sign someone was eavesdropping. Lonnie snorted when he remained silent and then got to her feet. "You can sugar-coat it all you want, but she's ruined your life, Ben."

Ben bit his cheek as she walked away. That wasn't true, he thought. It wasn't all Audrey's fault.

The icy-fire wasn't leaving his skin as he continued eating. Ben sighed and rolled his eyes. He kicked the chair Lonnie had vacated and nodded his head at it. "Come on," he invited. "I know you've got questions."

It took a few seconds, but slowly the purple-haired fairy moved from wherever she'd been to stand behind him. After a long pause, she finally dropped into the chair. Ben broke his roll apart. Uma had been experimenting with Mal's magic on food and they had discovered a wonderful multiplying spell that they could use on the non-perishable stuff. Suddenly, there was an abundance of flour, sugar, salt, and other base ingredients.

"That girl is interesting," Mal began blandly.

"Lonnie?' Ben questioned. "Yeah. She and I were good friends back in high school. She never liked Audrey much."

"Any reason why?"

"Audrey's a bit delicate. Not a very active person."

"That's a lovely cover-story, Ben. Now, what's the real reason?"

Ben picked at his plate a little and then set it down at his feet. "Audrey gets jealous. And defensive. She doesn't like me hanging around with other people much. Even for work."

"You?" Mal squinted at him and twined her fingers together. "But you love being around people."

"I don't much anymore," Ben nodded. "She, uh, used to get all… well, I mean…" He huffed a little. There wasn't really another way to describe what Audrey had done. "She used to threaten the people I'd hang out with. And she'd hire people to follow me around if she wasn't invited. She was kind of obsessed during our early dating years. Lonnie got threatened, and so did her parents. That's why she doesn't like her much."

"That's sadistic," Mal declared. "And that's coming from a villain kid."

Ben snorted. Her humor somehow pushed through a barrier in his head, and he found himself spilling out a few more secrets. Things he'd tried to brush under a rug in his head so he wouldn't have to look at them. "She once had a fit when I took my mom out to lunch. And when I turned twenty-one, the very first thing she wanted me to do was to get a tattoo of her name."

"Did you?" Mal asked.

Ben shook his head with a little snort. "No. I'm not one for needles. She didn't speak to me for a week after I said no." He straightened up. 'But she's not like that anymore. Ever since she had Belle, things have been different."

"Ah yes, she's become the wife that hasn't realized you're gone after a month," Mal snorted, eyeing him suspiciously. "What's up with that?"

Ben picked up a stick from off the ground nearby and snapped it in half. He began picking all the bark off of it, debating how much he should tell her. "We live separate," He admitted. "She has her area of the castle and I have mine."

"But you still love her?" Mal asked, spitting out the word 'love'.

"Of course I do," Ben affirmed.

"No. Say it," Mal pinched her lips together. "You always make it out to be about duty or you brush the question off. Tell me you love her. Not just because you promised you would or just nod and pretends that's the same thing."

Ben opened his mouth. He could feel the words on the tip of his tongue, but somehow they wouldn't come out. 'I love Audrey', he wanted to assure Mal. 'But I don't', his heart protested.

He closed his mouth. "Do you want to know the truth, then?" He asked softly. "Because I haven't seen Audrey in two months now and she didn't even look at me the last time I went to see her. When she first came to live in the castle, she had half of it redecorated, including our bedroom, and told me where I was and wasn't allowed to go. Then, when she was six months pregnant with Belle, she asked me to sleep in another room. In my own castle, I'm only allowed outside, in my office, in the guest areas and my own bedroom. I have to set up appointments to see her."

He could see the varying shades of bafflement crossing Mal's face, and he didn't blame her. His life felt like a soap opera whenever he thought about it too much. He shook his head and tossed little splinters of bark to the ground before continuing.

"I used to have lots of friends and be pretty popular, but things… fell apart. She doesn't want me around my own parents, taking meetings, playing with little kids, and every once in a while even gets upset if I take Belle somewhere. I tried to consolidate her at first, but that obviously worked really well. Most of my old friends won't hang out with me because of things she's said and done.

"Belle is almost exactly the same as her, and it's really irking me, but if I discipline her too much, then Audrey gets mad at me. The girl is just… she's so spoiled! And she doesn't like anything. No water, no fresh air, no hot or cold. She's always cross and begging for candy and goodness knows I love her because she's mine but then she's not really… mine."

"Why on the Isle are you still with this woman?" Mal asked, shaking her head as if it were spinning. "She's a monster."

"No," Ben disagreed. "No. No, she's not. And… she was just everything I thought I was supposed to have. She was royal, pink, pretty outgoing and popular when we were teens and yeah, she was pretty… and we'd known each other since we were kids. I was hoping I'd fall in love with her."

"Isn't this supposed to be the land of true love?" Mal demanded, rising to her feet. "Of dreams-come-true and happy-ever-after?"

Ben stared at the ground, digging his toes in a little. "Of course," He nodded. "But sometimes… we look in the wrong places for love." He glanced up at Mal through his eyelashes.

"In the wrong places?" Mal repeated as if she couldn't believe what had just come out of his mouth. Ben sighed and buried his face in his hands.

"I… don't really want to talk about it," He admitted. "I still have to go back eventually. Maybe after all of this… I might try and make changes. Tell her she can't spend all day in that stupid spa and make Belle behave and maybe I'll even pull them out of the palace. If Audrey gets mad… she can just leave me." He shook his head. Part of him honestly wouldn't mind if she left. It'd probably be good for her to not have him allowing whatever atrocious behavior she wanted to put on.

If she left, would he come back here? To Mal?

He glanced up at the purple-haired family and shook his head. "I know this probably all sounds trivial to you. I mean, I haven't heard much about the island, but I've heard some things, and…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "I'm sorry.

Mal tilted her head to the side. "Yeah," She agreed softly. "It was hard, but you've been through lots too. All of that… it stinks." Ben shrugged, and Mal sat back down beside him, slowly. "And I understand…. what it's like to hope someone will love you back."

Ben found himself immediately getting to his feet. "Mal, I can't love y-"

"I wasn't talking about you," Mal snapped, pushing her hands through her hair and turning her face away from him. "I could stand to care less about you. My mother, Ben. Maleficent."

Ben slowly retook his seat. Mal looked like she was being… wracked with pain. Her hands shook as she took several long, deep breaths. "I… always wanted her to be proud of me. To love me back. And so I kind of understand why you would have kept at it for so long with Audrey. I mean, I may be wrong, but…" Her mouth twisted into a bitter line as she bit her lip. Her eyes squeezed shut, but he could still see green light ebbing out under her lids. She ran a hand from her forehead, down through her hair, and then latched onto her shoulder as she kept focusing on her breathing. Ben pulled his chair closer, so her knees were touching, and then tugged down the zipper on his jacket. It was his favorite blue one, but he still pulled it off his shoulders and then swept it over hers. Mal closed her eyes a little as she took deep, steady inhales.

"I guess you guys have it pretty rough on the Isle," He sympathized.

Mal nodded. "We weren't exactly running from comfort, Ben," She snorted. She rubbed her sweating, trembling hands down her knees and then clutched a little at the zippers on his jacket to pull them closer. "My mother… she demanded a lot. I had to live up to her standard of evil, but it wasn't like I could curse everyone. And you may have noticed I'm small and not exactly intimidating. So I had to learn to be vicious instead. There's a lot of things… in the back of my head… I don't even want to think about it with you or the other Auradon kids around because they're not exactly things to be proud of. At the time I wasn't really focusing on the people I was hurting. Every single thing I did, I was always looking over my shoulder to see if I'd finally done the thing to make her proud. I was chasing something impossible."

Ben hummed in understanding. "What sorts of things?" He asked. Not because he particularly wanted to embarrass her or make her uncomfortable. Not so he knew what he was getting into, being friends with her. And not so he could have her prosecuted, certainly. If anything, it was because he was curious to see… how far her trust would stretch.

Mal looked back up at him and examined his gaze. "Murder," She whispered. Ben didn't let the surprise and momentarily disgust enter his gaze. She raised an eyebrow.

"I was expecting that to be relatively near the top," he shrugged.

"Ouch," Mal snorted hollowly.

Ben gave her an exasperated look. "You know I didn't mean it like that," He reprimanded her.

"I'm not your daughter," Mal deadpanned, sounding empty through the sarcasm. "Don't take that tone of voice with me." She rubbed her brow before continuing. "Dismemberment. I set places and possessions and people on fire. If my mom had someone brought into Dragon Hall, it was my job to, well, get creative as I killed them. Snuck poisons into kid's lunches at school. Fought brutally so no one would question me or come after me. People were afraid. None of the villains my mom worked with ever talked back to me and my teachers never complained about all the school I missed or whatnot. People got out of the way when I walked by." Mal gestured around them with her mouth pressed into a thin line. "They still do," She sighed.

"So what changed?" Ben asked, running a hand down his chin and glancing over to where Evie, Jay, and Carlos were talking with the newcomers avidly.

Mal blinked. Her gaze became distant as if she was looking into another time, and then she reached down and began fiddling with her boot strings again. "My mother," She admitted. "I realized that I couldn't make her proud - ever. Even if I destroyed the entire world and killed every person alive, it never would have been enough for her. She just… doesn't have the ability to love me because…" She bit her lip and then shook her head.

"You don't want to tell me?" Ben asked.

"Well, I didn't, but now that you've asked I feel like I have to," Mal chuckled without humor. Ben knocked his knee against hers lightly, and she sighed. "It was because she was like everyone else. She couldn't ever love me because she was just as terrified as everyone else. Terrified of what she'd created. She thought that so long as I kept chasing after her love, she'd have me under her control, and that was why she never gave me anything back. But I kept getting scarier, and I didn't realize how much I scared her until she broke down one night when I corrected her on something. That was when I realized."

"So, let me get this straight," Ben clapped his hands together. Mal flinched at the loud sound. "You're telling me that Mal - Mal Bertha - Pixie Mal who can't read and who is scared of thunder-"

"I am not scared of thunder!" Mal snapped, glaring at him.

"-Who held the barrier open for kids to escape and who thinks rain is magical and who refuses to swallow her pride and help Uma out with anything, that Mal terrified Maleficent into a breakdown? Maleficent, Mistress of all Evil?" Ben leaned back into his seat, smiling despite the formerly heavy mood. "I don't buy it."

"I drank blood!" Mal snapped, though a grin stretched at her mouth too. "I burned people alive with my gaze alone - through the barrier! Gaston ran from me! How dare you doubt me!"

"I think you must be talking about someone else," Ben snorted, though his stomach twisted with the extra details. "That sounds more like something Uma would do. Are you sure you're not trying to steal her thunder?"

"Oh, wow, Uma would fish in the poisonous lake and eat the fish raw. I literally ate a piece of a man's throat after ripping it off with my teeth. It never even touched my hands," Mal scoffed, crossing her arms.

"You're too small and cute for such a vicious act," Ben waved her off. "You're practically a little kid. Let me know if you need help reaching the top shelf for your sippy cup."

Someone burst into crazed laughter behind Mal and her face bloomed bright red as she turned and watched Harry Hook hit the ground, heaving for breath. Across the way, Evie, Jay, and Carlos looked incredibly surprised while Doug, Jane, and Lonnie's expressions held a mix of fear, disgust, and shock. Ben hadn't realized how loud they had been getting.

Mal turned back around, looking sheepish, and whispered: "I can't believe you got me to admit all that out loud in front of you." She covered her hands with her face. "God, you must be disgusted. I'm so sorry."

"Well, I don't exactly want morbid details," Ben sighed, "But it's in the past. And hey, I'm proud of you for talking."

"If Auradon knew I was ever in your presence, they'd want to hunt me down and lynch me," Mal muttered. "If they knew I existed period, then-"

"I'd like to bring you to Auradon one day," Ben interrupted. Mal was so surprised she almost fell out of her chair. "When I get home… I want to fix things. Clean up the Isle so that any new kids who are born there don't rot for another twenty years. Take better censuses and lock villains away in cells who are at the head of the killing. I could use someone who knows what they're doing on the Isle to tell me where to start."

Mal snorted. "You want to give Auradon a taste of Evil," She pointed to herself, "With me? They'll never let you out of the palace again."

"I'm the king. I can do whatever I want," Ben replied.

"Except go where your wife tells you not to," Mal deadpanned.

Ben rubbed his hands together with pinched lips. "I'm going to try and patch things up there, too. I think I just went… numb to everything bad. Being out here… I like people. I like hard work. I like little kids who want to cuddle and rain and feeling like I have a purpose. So when I have to go home… I'm not going to let things be the way they were."

Mal nodded slowly. "I hope you do," She whispered. "But, uh, be careful. You might go back and get busy and become… complacent again."

"I doubt it. Especially if I have a spunky someone to remind me of the type of king I promised to be," He bumped Mal's knee again. "You could come back and be part of the solution."

"Me?" Mal asked, wide-eyed and regretful. "Part of your solution? You really think I could survive in a place filled to the brim with prissy pink princesses?" She shook her head. "I'm not one of those ladies of the Court, Ben. I'd be a big fake or a big menace. And besides," She nodded to the camp around them. "They need me here. I'm their big defense. Everything I've done and everything I can do… I could fend off entire armies and no one else would have to lift a finger. I can't leave them that unprotected."

"No one will attack you, Mal," Ben put a hand on her wrist. "And if you worry, I could send in an army from the kingdom to protect you. I know there's no way I can convince you that they won't turn on you, but… you could leave whenever. Trust me when I say Auradon has little to no clue how to imprison a dragon. You could fly back and forth."

Mal took her hand away from his. A tiny blush had bloomed into her cheeks. "Thank you for the offer," she began, "But given the recent… circumstances between us, I think it's best that I don't go anywhere Audrey could meet me. If she can't stand Lonnie, who was holding her own against my soldiers pretty darn well, then there's no way she'll stand me, the daughter of her mom's enemy."

Ben's mouth closed. Unfortunately, there was no way he could argue with that. He sighed, leaning back into his chair, defeated. Mal twiddled her thumbs slowly. "I hope…" she began in a tone not far off from a snail's pace. "That you do get things patched up with Audrey. Maybe I can visit then, one day."

"When you're over me?" Ben asked softly. Mal pinched her lips at him and growled.

"I am over you," She snapped. "I was never hung up on you to begin with. It was all nonsense."

Ben shook his head. "It amazes me," he sighed, "How easily you deny things. Your first instinct is to snap, and then apologize. Don't you remember that I was there?"

Mal scoffed and pulled his jacket back off her. She dropped it in his lap and then stood and stretched. "I'm beat," She announced. "Evil dreams, Ben. I hope you're ready to move out tomorrow."

"You mean you're going to go sit on top of Evie's cart and strike fear into the hearts of all who pass," Ben sighed, rolling his eyes and then pulling his jacket back on. "I'm very impressed with your avoidance skills. Well, goodnight Pixie."

"You do not have permission to call me that," Mal glared. Ben snorted and closed his eyes. He listened to her trek off, but could still feel eyes on him. Human eyes - eyes that weren't enchanted or enhanced. He peeked out and glanced over to where Evie, Jay, Carlos, Doug, Lonnie, Jane, Uma, and Harry were all glancing over, lips mouthing as they examined him. They probably couldn't tell he was squinting through his lashes from here. But it didn't matter.