Here it is! Family Day!

Sorry for the long wait, but I did warn you guys that it would be posted at the end of the week. There was just so much happening in this chapter that I couldn't possibly finish it sooner. I know it probably made some of you impatient, but it couldn't be helped. I worked my ass off for the past couple days to get it published today instead of tomorrow to make up for the long wait.

With what I have planning for coronation, it's going to be split up into two chapters. You'll understand why when you read the first part of coronation. Although it may be dragging the story along, you won't have to wait as long as you did for an update like you did with this chapter. Hopefully.

That means my story with Violet Parr, Sulley, and Mike Wazowski will have to wait . . .

By the way: "Hades's Weakness" is now my most viewed story.

After being surprised with seeing their parents, Mal and Carlos each received another surprise when they entered their respective dorm rooms a few hours later. They each had a package awaiting them on their bed, both sent from the same person. Inside Mal's package was a beautiful lilac dress, which had a cloak attached to it about twenty feet long. Along with the dress was a note that said: You are going to rock this dress like a queen, Bertha.

Meanwhile, Carlos's package contained a wicked black and white suit that was just his style. His note said, which rested atop his suit, said: My dearest Carlos, I hope you appreciate the work I put into this outfit for you, my true love. And I hope your furry friend likes his suit too.

Confused by the last comment, Carlos lifted his suit out of the box to find an almost identical suit underneath it. The only difference was the size, which was about as small as a dog, more specifically, it was Dude's size. Seeing the handmade outfit for himself and the little dog made Carlos's heart swell with happiness, knowing that his mother was showing that she approved of him caring for the dog.

Speaking of outfits created by the amazing seamstress, Mal and Carlos wore a couple of Cruella's creations while Evie quickly made something for herself and Jay for Family Day. When they arrived at the occasion in their formal attire, none of them felt out of place. If anything, the four were the best dressed, causing a bit of jealousy among some of the Auradonians.

When the Core Four, arrived at the event—admittedly a few minutes late because Carlos had trouble dressing Dude—a group of students were in the middle of performing a song and dance for their parents, which was the first time the Core Four knew they were going to do such a thing. On the green lawn, Ben seemed to be leading the choir of students, maybe in a way to start the event. While some students and their families danced, other enjoyed plates of delicious food from various tables and tents.

Stepping into the crowd, Mal swiftly stole a strawberry from a nearby table; she fell in love with the fruit after her first date with Ben. Handing Dude to Evie, Carlos dipped strawberries in a lavishly flowing chocolate fountain. Jay decided to join in on the fun, but instead stuck his tongue out so he could drink directly out of the fountain, thus ruining it for everyone.

The happy choir dispersed a few moments with Mal nibbling on her strawberry as she watched her beloved join his parents and grandfather. The four stepped under a stone archway, posing for the photographer.

"Oh!" Ben suddenly exclaimed when he noticed a purple-haired beauty staring at him. "There's Mal. I wanted to introduce her to you two."

"I'll greet her," Maurice offered, immediately stepping out of frame. "There's something I need to give her anyways."

Queen Belle tilted her head curiously at her father. "Papa, have you already met her?"

"Yesterday at school when I went to see Benny," Maurice answered with a careless shrug, like it was no big deal that he met the girlfriend first. "Mal is a very beautiful and respectful lady. You will like her better than you did Audrey. You'll see, Mal is perfect for Benny."

Without another word, Maurice walked off to greet the purple-haired fairy, leaving the current king and queen with shocked expressions on their faces in their family picture.

"Mal."

Mal perked up at hearing her name, smiling kindly at the one who called for her. "Maurice," she greeted with a kind nod. "Nice to see you again."

Turning her head to face her friend—the boys having stopped chowing down on the delectable treats—Mal introduced, "Guys, this is Maurice, Ben's grandfather."

"The one who's fixing your mother's crow?" Evie clarified as she adjusted Dude in her arms.

"That's the one." Mal adjusted her attention to Maurice, her smile growing just slightly. "Maurice, these are my friends: Evie, Carlos, and Jay."

Evie waved respectfully at the gentleman, while Carlos and Jay gave a simple nod before they went back to chowing down on the 'unusual' food.

"Nice to meet you, but speaking of the crow . . ." Maurice trailed off as he removed the trinket from his pocket. "It's all fixed."

Although she wouldn't admit it later, Mal squealed happily as she gingerly took the precious object. Her already wide smile grew to an unimaginable size as she tested the little trinket, which flapped better and easier than it ever did before.

"Thank you so much!" Placing it delicately in her pocket, Mal beamed at the old man. "And I spoke to my father yesterday. He gave me permission to tell one more Auradonian, so I'm choosing you."

Maurice raised an eyebrow in amusement, teasing quietly, "Hades sure is picky about who knows about him."

Evie subtly gasped at the remark while Mal's eyes widened in surprise. "You knew?" Mal questioned rhetorically. "How?"

"I had a hunch," Maurice corrected with a shrug. "And I may have seen a snippet of his face on a drawing you had in your locker. You are an incredible artist, though you need work on one or two things. I could give you a few pointers, if you would like."

"That would be amazing!" Mal cheered, her cheeks growing sore by how much she was smiling.

"Now that I gave you good news," Maurice began with a mischievous smile, "are you ready to meet your future in-laws?"

Blushing once again—she's done that a lot since being in Auradon—Mal argued, "We've only been dating a week!"

"Yet Benny has been in love with you ever since he saw you in that picture twelve years ago," Maurice reminded, before chuckling at a memory. "He would get so embarrassed when I catch him looking at the photograph of you. Now, are you ready?"

Mal sighed rid herself of her nervousness. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Don't worry." Evie smiled knowingly at her friend. "Ben's going to be way more nervous when he meets your parents. He doesn't realize how much of a 'daddy's girl' you truly are."

Laughing happily at her friend's attempt to reassure her, Mal allowed herself to be led to the royal parents, silently praying to her uncles that the rest of the day would go smoothly—

Not knowing that her uncles would be unable to answer her prayers.

"Mal, you are so beautiful," Ben complimented his beloved after he met her in the middle of the path—his grandfather excusing himself moments before to speak to an old friend. "Your godmother out-did herself with this outfit."

"Cruella added the blue as a nod to my father," Mal practically whispered so only he could hear her. "Just wait until you see my coronation dress. This outfit is nothing compared to it."

Sharing a brief, comforting hug, Ben kissed his girlfriend's forehead lovingly to ease her nervousness. "You have nothing to worry about," he mumbled reassuringly into her ear. "I'll be with you the whole time."

Reluctantly breaking their embrace, they intertwined their arms before Ben escorted Mal to his parents, who stood just a few yards away. Once there was only a handful of feet between the two couples, Ben introduced, "This is Mal: my girlfriend and current Queen of the Isle."

King Beast raised an eyebrow in uncertainty. " 'Queen of the Isle'?" He repeated in disbelief. "How did you get such a title?"

"I earned it," Mal answered a little too quickly, "by stopping a boy from being bullied so bad that he could have committed suicide. By helping that same boy grow into a some-what confident teenager. By doing whatever I can to help the people of the Isle of the Lost, like a queen is supposed to do."

Queen Belle tilted her head in curiosity. "How long have you been queen?"

"Roughly three years, give or take a few months," Mal estimated with a light shrug. "Some didn't take me seriously for the first few months, so some of the people on the Isle would say differently on when I came into power."

"What made you decide to become a queen?" King Beast interrogated almost forcefully.

"When I learned what 'betrothed' meant," Mal replied with a slightly shaking breath. "I was thirteen when I was watching a program on TV. On the TV was a prince that I admired and a princess that didn't make him happy. That prince was your son. It broke my heart when I realized he was engaged to someone else, someone who didn't deserve him. At that moment I thought I would never become 'Queen of Auradon', so I decided to become 'Queen of the Isle'."

Ben gazed down at his beloved in surprise. "You never told me that."

Adverting her gaze, Mal mumbled under her breath, "You didn't need to know."

Nodding absentmindedly, Ben decided to change the subject with an all-too perfect smiling. "I was hoping Mal could join us for lunch," he informed his parents. "This way you can get to know her before the coronation tomorrow."

"That would be wise." King Beast raised yet another judgmental eyebrow. "Did you come with Ben's friends?"

"I came with my friends," Mal retorted defensively without thinking. "Can they join us instead? I think they will help rid you of your biased behavior toward Isle children."

"How about a game of croquet first?" Queen Belle suggested before her husband could start another argument that he would just end up losing. "It would give all of us a chance to mingle with other people first."

"Of course!" Mal agreed all too perkily before either male of the group could argue. "There's someone else I wanted to meet."

While her friends were off playing a game she had no interest in partaking in, Mal stood on the sideline as students frolicked around her. Well . . . more like they were trying to avoid her. It seemed like they heard about her sort of fight with King Beast. Now everyone seemed to be afraid of her—

Except for one person.

Mal was just minding her own business when she sensed somebody walking toward her. Closer and closer they came, until . . .

"Hello, Mal."

Taking in a deep breath to calm her nerves, Mal turned her head with a small, kind smile. "Hi, Beasty."

Aurora, now a beautiful woman who still wore a lot of floral in her outfits, chuckled slightly at hearing the familiar name. "You don't know how much I miss being called that by our mother," she commented with a smile.

Mal perked up at the wording. " 'Our mother'?" She repeated incredulously. "You mean—"

"Yes, I do consider Maleficent to be my mother and you to be my sister," Aurora clarified as her smile continued to grow. "When I was under that curse, I could still hear what everyone was saying, though I was supposedly asleep. I heard what our mother said, and I know she was the one that broke the curse because of her forehead kiss which held a mother's love."

"She gave me those forehead kisses all the time," Mal commented with just a tiny blush on her cheeks. "I just recently learned how much love she puts into them."

"Speaking of love," Aurora teased in her beautiful accent that almost made Mal swoon, "our mother told me she fell in love and married a god."

Mal tilted her head slightly in surprise. "She told you? When?"

"She sent me a letter last week," Aurora answered, "after the incident with my daughter and Prince Ben. We've been each other's pen-pals for the past few days. My husband has been helping us so my biological parents don't find out. He has been very supportive of me talking to the woman that practically raised me."

Hesitating for a moment, Aurora bashfully informed, "Maleficent told me she gave you her favorite picture of her and her husband. Do you think I could see it? I'm kind of curious to see what my godfather looks like."

"Of course!" Mal cheered as she eagerly took her precious picture out of the inside pocket of her jacket. "Here you go."

Gingerly taking the photograph, Aurora couldn't help her smile from growing even larger at seeing the expression on her godmother's face at her significant other proposing to her. "She looks so happy," Aurora commented as she returned the photo. "And so in love. Your father is a very lucky man."

"Mom said she realized then that he was her true love," Mal revealed as she placed the photo securely in its original hiding spot. "She hoped that by giving me the photo that I would be hopeful in finding my true love."

"Do you think you found him?" Aurora wondered curiously. "With Ben, I mean. You definitely are better for him than Audrey."

"Speaking of Audrey, how did she become so vicious and mean?" Mal interrogated as she purposely changed the subject. "You are so sweet, kind, and beautiful. What happened?"

"That would be her grandparents' fault," Aurora climbed as she sighed in annoyance. "From the moment she was born, my biological parents took over raising her, yet I gave birth to her! When she was a baby, I would hold her for barely a minute before Leah would take her from me. Every time Audrey did something wrong and either I or my husband punished her, Stefan and Leah would go behind our backs to reward her for her bad behavior. For a while, they tried to raise Audrey without mine or my husband's assistant because they believed I was not sane enough to do so."

Mal was taken back by the explanation. "How could you not be sane enough to raise your own daughter?"

"Because, apparently, our mother had too much of an influence on me." Aurora rolled her perfect eyes in annoyance. "I didn't think that was possible, but after talking to you, I can see how similar we are."

Laughing softly, Mal eagerly nodded in agreement. "Yeah! We definitely are."

"I would love for us to talk like this again." Aurora paused before she sighed sadly. "But there's something I need to tell you . . . about Dia—"

"Aurora!" An older woman in a pale pink suit shouted as she strolled over to the 'sisters'. "There you are! I have searched everywhere for you because I can't find Audrey anywhere. Oh!" The woman gave a Mal a once-over with a slight snarl of her nose. "And you are?"

"A new transfer student," Aurora introduced before Mal could say anything. "I was just complimenting her outfit that her godmother made her. I'll help you find Audrey in a moment, Leah." Adverting her attention back to Mal, Aurora smiled. "It was great to finally meet you. I hope we can do this again sometime soon."

Mal smiled with a bashful nod. "Yeah, I would really like that, Beasty."

"What?" Queen Leah narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What did you call her?"

Knowing she had been caught, Mal became a stuttering mess while Aurora was trying to come up with some kind of excuse to salvage Mal's tiny mistake. Somewhat luckily, Audrey appeared out of nowhere, wearing a pale pink dress and holding a glass of punch.

"Grammy," Audrey greeted with a sugar-sweet smile. That smile immediately turned sour when she snarled her nose at Mal. "What are you doing here?"

"We are just talking, Audrey," Aurora insisted a little tensely. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"Mother, don't you know who she is?" Audrey interrogated offensively. "She's the daughter of Maleficent!"

"What!" Queen Leah exclaimed as she instinctively backed away from Mal in horror. "How could you possibly be here? Maleficent is still on the Isle!"

Everyone in the garden grew quiet at hearing the evilest villain in the kingdom. Most gathered around to watch the argument that they knew was bound to happen. Ben rushed over to assist his girlfriend, not knowing that a husband was coming over to do the same thing.

"Queen Leah, everything is fine," Ben reassured as he took his place next to Mal. "Don't you remember my official proclamation? Four children from the Isle of the Lost have been given a chance to live in Auradon."

"Why would you do such a thing?" An old man with a scraggly beard interrogated as he stood next to Queen Leah. "They will only use you in the end."

"You would know, wouldn't you Stefan?" Mal questioned rhetorically as her eyes flashed bright green to show her irritation.

"That is king to you," Stefan corrected with a venomous glare.

"You are no king to me," Mal retorted bitterly. "In fact, you wouldn't be king if it hadn't been for my mother."

"Careful," Stefan warned with a small threat in his tone. "Don't mention that monster in my presence."

Seeing that the conversation was going to turn dangerous, Lonnie—who was standing on the sideline—decided to intervene. "Sir—"

"Lonnie, don't." Mal chided, turning to her friend with a small smile. "I got this. You don't need to get in the crossfire of my family dispute."

Adverting her attention back to Stefan, Mal gave a glare of her own. "From what I heard, you were the monster in her story."

"She cursed my daughter—!"

"Because you used her generosity against her," Mal reminded. "The two of you were friends until you decided to use her one weakness against her so you could be king. You practically ripped her wings off her body. Don't you realize how painful that must have been for her?"

"Maleficent doesn't have wings!"

Mal scoffed. "Is that what you told everyone in Auradon? Because everyone on the Isle of the Lost have seen the scars on her back from where her wings used to be. My mother was used to walking with wings on her back. Now, she can't walk on her own. She has to use walls, railings, anything to keep her balance."

"That's not my problem," Stefan argued snidely. "I did nothing to her."

"You keep telling yourself that." Mal's glare worsened. "No matter how much you convince people that you were a born royalty, you will always be a poor, orphan peasant."

Obviously, that insult didn't sit well with Stefan. Instead of denying the claim, he raised his hand in what looked like an attempt to slap the teenage, causing a gasp amongst the audience. Luckily, it was only an attempt since somebody caught the man's wrist when it was raised in the air. That man was none other than the amazing Maurice.

"Enough," Maurice ordered with a glare of his own. "You are only making this worse for yourself."

Adverting his attention to grandson, Maurice instructed, "Benny, take Mal somewhere safe. I'll take care of the situation here."

Nodding slightly and wrapping his arm around Mal's shoulder, Ben protectively led her away as Jay, Evie, and Carlos followed behind them.

When lunch rolled around, the five were outside at a picnic table. None of them spoke. Mal had her head leaned against Ben's shoulder as he tried to soothe her with calming words and by rubbing comforting circles on her arm. A ring of empty tables surrounded theirs, and beyond that sat the others in their cliques, staring them down.

Doug and Lonnie each checked on Mal and her three friends, though they couldn't stay long since they had to get back to their families. Doug, once again, invited Evie to be his date for the coronation while Lonnie offered to have the boys be her plus two. Since Lonnie was deemed to be Ben's unofficial sister, she could invite two people to join her close to the front row instead of one. Of course, all three accepted the invitation with small smiles, grateful that they didn't lose their Auradon friends.

Actually . . . they did lose one.

After Ben abruptly left the group to speak with his parents about the incident, Audrey casually strolled pass the Core Four's table with Jane at her side, who were acting like they were best friends though they never spoke to one another before.

"How long does she think that's going to last?" Audrey wondered loudly enough for Mal and her friends to hear. "Her trying to play the part of a perfect princess? She can't go on pretending forever."

"She pretended to be my friend for a few weeks." Jane reminded before she shot the group a rueful smile. "But Ben will never make a villain a queen."

Laughing viciously, Audrey and Jane strolled to their table with a victorious spring in their step.

Mal glowered and flipped through her spell book, waving her finger as she chanted, "Beware, forswear, undo Jane's hair."

Jane screamed as her short bob replaced the long wavy brown locks. Jane's 'friends' backed away, pointing and laughing at her hairdo. Jane looked absolutely mortified.

Mal stood from her seat, shutting her book closed as her friends following her lead. "Jane, I never pretended to be your friend," Mal argued with her green eyes glowing and her hair changing to a pinkish hue to show her anger. "I changed your hair so we could be friends, but then you turned your back on me. In retaliation, I turned your hair back to normal. You can't blame me. You would have done the same."

"Excuse me?" Audrey placed her hands on her hips to show her authority. "Who do you think you are?"

Mal raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Do you know what the difference is between you and me?" Mal wondered rhetorically. "You were raised to be a princess. I was raised to be a queen. And as queen . . ." She trailed off to open her spell book threateningly. "I know exactly how to deal with problems like you."

Audrey and Jane ran off before a spell could be casted on them. Their posse, who had previously had their backs, scurried away as well; like mice trying to flee from a hungry cat.

Closing her book once again, Mal spun around to her friends. "I'm really looking forward to tomorrow." She slammed her book shut. "Let's show them that we deserve to be in Auradon."