She met Jay first.
It was after a really rough day of being Mal. Whoever had the brilliant idea of forcing a nine year old girl to live with the most evilest things on the planet really needed a psych evaluation.
Cradling her freshly wounded arm, Mal's eyes were downcast. Even though no portion of the island was considered 'nice', the area Maleficent and her precious child made camp was the roughest.
Please don't notice me. Please don't talk to me. Please -
Her thoughts were cut off by a force plowing her into the mud. If her arm wasn't broken before, it certainly was now.
"Sorry!" The force said, picking her up off the cobblestone road.
Finally actually looking at the figure - boy - she noticed he wasn't much older than herself. Matted brown hair hung below his shoulder and was held back by a rust colored bandana.
Before she could reply, a heavyset man Mal recognized as one of her more gentle customers came running around the corner.
Not wanting to stick around, the boy grabbed her uninjured arm and took off running toward the center of town. Mal's limbs flailing behind, trying to keep up.
The pain of her injuries made her eyes burn with unshed tears.
Following the boy behind a huge stock of potatoes from Auradon, the only food given to them by their home country, they watched at the man ran straight past them. Waiting in heavy silence, the noise of the bustling criminals drowned out the sound of the pair's hevay breathing.
"Sorry to drag you into that little fiasco." The boy said. "I'm Jay!" He grinned, revealing a missing front tooth.
"Mal." She looked down at her arm and winced. How was she to earn money if she was a broken toy? Her mother was not going to like that.
'Well, Mal, how about I take you to my house?" Jay asked, standing up as much as possible in their hiding place. "My dad is Jafar and he knows tons of ways to fix that arm of yours."
After a brief moment of hesitation, Mal stood up as well, taking Jay's outstretched hand into her own.
"After you, my prince."