A/N: Thank you all for the reviews so far! I got one requesting a parallel chapter from Lonnie's POV, so I gave it a shot. It's very long, I may have gone a bit overboard... let me know what you think!
Lonnie had known from the beginning that the Villain Kids were special. But falling in love with one had not been her intention at all.
Her mother had always told her that love was the only real magic in the world. It was the magic of two souls seeing one another for who they truly are. She said it was like finding a loyal teammate for the rest of your life.
Mulan could not have been more right.
Lonnie had never been in love before. Perhaps it was because she had never truly been herself before. She had always been reserved and pristine the way it was expected for girls at Auradon Prep. Girls didn't do sports, or color their hair, or wear edgy clothing. That was looked down upon — Lonnie didn't want to get confused for a villain from the Isle. She wanted to fit in and be cool.
But when Lonnie actually met the VKs for the first time, they turned out to be nothing like Lonnie expected. She was not afraid of them. And unlike the rest of her school, she didn't hate them either. In fact, she had grown to like all of them rather quickly.
The first she'd heard about Mal was from Jane. The shy girl had come running up to Lonnie with a giant smile on her face, her hair curled in beautiful long layers. She wouldn't stop raving about how kind the new girl had been, and how cool she was. Maleficent's daughter, using magic to do good things for others? None of the Auradon girls could believe it. Everyone was curious, but Lonnie was the only one with the guts to approach Maleficent's daughter to ask for her own hair to be done the same way.
On first hit, Mal and Evie were naturally cool. They knew that they were different than the Auradon kids, and instead of being ashamed, they were proud of it. Lonnie was a bit surprised at how friendly they were; she had expected nasty comments or threats. But the girls didn't do any of those things. Sure, Lonnie had to bribe the witch's daughter with a little money — Mal wasn't going to do a favor for nothing. But that wasn't evil. That was just... human. It became clear to Lonnie that these people were not villains. They were fighters, who knew how to get what they wanted. Like warriors.
Lonnie had always tried to be a good Auradon girl. But the moment she saw her reflection in the mirror with long elegant locks and stunning light brown highlights, Lonnie felt like a brand new person. The person she'd always wanted to be. Someone daring, and confident, and beautiful.
Someone like Mal.
Soon, all the girls at Auradon were asking Lonnie about her hair. So she told them. It was done by Mal, the cool new girl from the Isle.
One evening, the demands for Mal's hair magic had gotten so high that Lonnie decided to take the liberty of seeking out Mal herself. Partly, she just wanted to get the other girls off her case (why they couldn't just ask Mal themselves, Lonnie didn't understand). But partly, Lonnie also had a crazy hope that she might be able to make a new friend. Meeting Mal and Evie had emboldened her. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she could do anything — even befriend the VKs.
She had no idea how life-changing it would be.
"There you are Mal!" She smiled enthusiastically when she found her in the school kitchen with the other three newcomers. "I was looking for you." All four of them turned to look at her in surprise. They seemed a bit flustered that she was actually talking to them, which made Lonnie feel pretty good about herself. "You know, all the girls want you to do their hair," Lonnie said lightly.
No one responded. Lonnie looked around. The two boys, who she had seen from a distance but had not yet met, were sitting on the silver tabletops, watching her curiously like she was a strange new critter. Mal and Evie stood over a large cooking bowl with surprised expressions, though Mal did make an attempt to smile in a friendly manner. It appeared that they were baking something.
"Midnight snack, huh?" She tried, hoping to break the awkward tension that seemed to have been caused by her presence. "Whatchya makin'?" she asked, glancing at the batter in the bowl. Perhaps it was just out of habit from all the times she had baked desserts at home, but Lonnie instinctively dipped her finger into the bowl to taste it.
"No wait!" All four of them yelled urgently as she licked her finger.
Lonnie wasn't sure what she had done so wrong. Their visceral reaction was actually a bit funny. "What?" she asked, trying not to laugh. "I'm not gonna double dip," she assured them.
"Feel... anything?" Evie asked.
"Yeah, like maybe it might be missing something...?" Mal added.
Lonnie only half-heard the question. Jay, the son of Jafar, had suddenly appeared directly in front of her with a dumb smirk on his face. "Hey there," he greeted her.
Her stomach fluttered nervously. Flirting was not something Lonnie had much experience with, truthfully, but she got the sense that this guy was trying to make a lame attempt to do so. She wasn't sure whether to be amused, flattered, or annoyed. Had she done something that he liked? He was cute and muscular in a badass way, and clearly thought highly of himself. But he also seemed pretty harmless. It was... weird.
Lonnie made an uncomfortable face and turned back to Mal. "It could use some chips," she replied to her previous question.
She turned to the refrigerator, trying to make sense of the strange interactions with these kids. It occurred to her belatedly that maybe they had come here to be alone. Had Lonnie come off as too eager? Did they think she was out of place? Were they making fun of her?
"And those are...?" Mal asked.
"Chocolate chips," she clarified, pulling out a bowl of them from the fridge. "Just the most important food group," she grinned.
The confused looks Lonnie received were surprising. Another more disturbing thought crossed her mind. "Wait, didn't your moms ever make you guys chocolate chip cookies?" She snuck a chip into her mouth as she added them to the batter.
More questioning looks. "Like, when you're feeling sad," she said, thinking that her childhood couldn't have been so different from theirs. All moms made cookies with their kids. Memories of her younger self flooded Lonnie's mind then and she smiled. "And they're fresh from the oven with a big ol' glass of milk and she just makes you laugh and puts everything into perspective and..."
Lonnie stopped herself when she saw their expressions. Mal, looking like she had never heard of such a thing. Evie, dubious that her own mother would ever do something so warm and loving. Carlos, with his arm wrapped around his dog, clinging to every word she said. And Jay, who suddenly didn't seem like an arrogant jock at all.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Mal shook her head. "It's just different where we're from," she said.
The disbelief hit Lonnie so hard that for a second she thought they must be joking. Baking with mom was like, a basic act of love. What kind of person had never made cookies before?
"Well, yeah, I know," she said, still waiting for the 'just kidding' moment. "I just... you know I thought," she continued warily, "even villains love their kids..."
The smile dropped from Lonnie's face. They were dead serious. None of them had any idea what she was talking about.
Lonnie looked at Mal, who was so effortlessly brave and sure of herself. Now, Lonnie realized that this girl was only like that because she had to be. Mal had never just been given love; she had never been given anything. She literally had to fight for everything she ever had.
And Evie, who had been nothing but kind to Lonnie. On first hit, Evie had ironically reminded her of a young Snow White; far more than Snow White's real daughter. Her intuitive fashion sense was something any girl would strive for. Now, Lonnie realized that she must get so much pressure from the Evil Queen to be perfect and beautiful all the time. The Evil Queen, who believed that beauty was the only way to earn love. It must be exhausting.
Lonnie turned to Carlos. The son of Cruella de Vil had befriended a dog as soon as he'd arrived at Auradon Prep. He played cool, but in his heart he was just a broken boy whose mother had not shown him the kindness that Lonnie had always had in her life. He was like a puppy himself, eagerly looking for someone to love him back.
Then her eyes fell on Jay. Jay, who'd probably never had a mother at all.
Jay met her gaze, and his expression struck Lonnie deeply, like an arrow to the heart. For a moment the world stood perfectly still. His eyes seemed to speak a million words, and she was completely and utterly captivated.
His soul was as pure as crystal.
Lonnie didn't understand this foreign, electric feeling in her gut. Jay was supposed to be a selfish thief and a devilish charmer like his father. But in that instant, all Lonnie saw was the frightened survivor underneath all that feigned charm and swagger. A person who had spent his whole life stealing things from others, doing what he had to do to take care of himself — but never possessing anything of his own.
Jay yearned for love, but was terribly afraid. Afraid of having things. Things that he could lose.
"Oh..." Lonnie breathed, blinking away from those intense dark eyes. She placed a gentle hand on Mal's. "How awful."
It was not pity that became her then, but respect. All four of these Villain Kids were stronger than Lonnie could possibly imagine. They had not been raised to be bitter and cold monsters at all. Instead, the Isle had made them resilient, powerful, and courageous.
Those were the makings of heroes.
Lonnie consistently kept her eye on the VKs after that. She watched as Mal fell in love with Ben, single-handedly uprooting the status quo of Auradon. She watched as beautiful Evie started being drawn to the school nerds — Doug, in particular, who was one of the sweetest boys Lonnie knew. She watched as Carlos grew more and more attached to Dude and became happier because of it. And she watched Jay as he discovered his talent and passion as the star player of the tourney team — the Lost Boy learning to trust for the first time in his life.
All four of them were changing the world that Lonnie knew, one small step at a time. The Daughter of Mulan had grown up in a world of magic, but she had to admit that she had never truly believed in magic until now. Suddenly Lonnie felt appreciated by her friends. People were talking to her who had never bothered talking to her before. Even Audrey, the most popular girl at school, had started inviting her to sit with the cool crowd at lunch. The Kids of the Isle had worked magic on all of Auradon, and things in Lonnie's life were finally starting to look up.
She should have known it wouldn't last.
Lonnie saw everything that had happened at Family Day. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know the bullies from the victims. And Lonnie had just stood there, watching.
Maybe she hadn't really changed at all. Maybe she was still that mousy girl who desperately wanted to fit in. Maybe she was too much of a 'fraidy-cat to ever be a real hero. Because a real hero would have done something. Anything.
But Lonnie did not.
Chad must have known that she had wanted to though, because he pulled her aside the day after and pointed at her accusingly.
"You, like them," he said, like a child tattling a juicy secret.
Lonnie crossed her arms. "What are you talking about?" She tried to play innocent.
Chad nodded and laughed. "Oh yeah! You totally think those villains are cooler than Audrey, don't you?"
Lonnie opened her mouth, maybe to tell him what she was thinking — that they were not villains. But no words came out.
"I knew it!" He cheered victoriously at her silence. "You think I don't see the way you hover around them like a stray dog? And the way you look at that wannabe jock like he's your long lost Prince Charming?"
Lonnie was so shocked she forgot to breathe.
"Well he's not!" Chad declared angrily. "You wanna be one of us? You've got to act like one of us! You are going to sit at Audrey's table silently, and not say a word to them. You are not even going to look at them. Got that?" He challenged her. "I'm not taking my eyes off you for a second."
Lonnie wanted to scream, but her voice had stopped working. She imagined herself in that moment doing something heroic, telling Chad that he was he biggest jerk she ever knew and then storming off to where the VKs sat and asking to join them.
But she didn't.
She wanted to cry.
Why oh why could she not be brave?
Things changed after the events of the Coronation.
The heroes had proven themselves to be just that — heroes. Lonnie knew that they would. The rest of Auradon calmed down about the VKs, still playing cautious but no longer hating on them. They had gained enough respect now that most people were willing to deem them as... acceptable, at the very least.
Lonnie blended back into the background. She no longer wanted to fit in with the popular kids. They had shown their true colors when they were mean and judgmental towards the VKs, and Lonnie didn't want anything to do with that. Instead, she stuck near Jane and Doug who, like her, had been bullied into silence by Audrey, Chad, and their posse. Jane and Doug were also drawn to the VKs. Doug started dating Evie, and Jane began spending a lot more time with Carlos. Lonnie maintained a friendly relationship with all of them. But still, it was not what Lonnie really wanted.
She wanted to be a strong hero, too. She wanted to be a warrior like her parents. She wanted to break boundaries and have adventures and be a part of something special.
So she trained. Lonnie had always been good with a sword; her mother had made sure of that. But Lonnie didn't want to just be good. She wanted to be the best.
I am a warrior, she recited to herself. I am a fighter. No backing down. Take the risk. Be the trailblazer. Make a difference.
It was all things she had heard her mother say. Lonnie wasn't sure she fully believed those words, but she said them anyway.
She still hadn't worked up the courage to talk to Jay. She wanted to. More than anything. He was always talking to girls, who giggled at his flirtatious antics and gossiped about how hot he was. But Lonnie didn't want to be just another girl to him. She wanted him to notice her. She wanted to be someone important.
Lonnie had started watching training sessions for the Royal Order of the Auradon Regiment after Jay had been elected captain. He was by far the most talented of the group — Lonnie could probably out-fight most, if not all the guys on the team. She observed Jay carefully, watching and learning every move so that she could practice them herself. When Ben had to take a sabbatical from the team because his extra 'king' workload had gotten too heavy, they held open tryouts in order to fill the spot.
Lonnie knew what she had to do.
She showed up at Regiment tryouts already dressed, and snuck out onto the mat late. No one was paying attention to her as they began their first exercise. Jay had fought his way to the center of the room, and Lonnie saw her chance.
No backing down. Take the risk. Be the trailblazer.
She took the leap. She went straight for Jay, meeting his blade halfway. Lonnie knew how talented he was, but she also knew his tricks. Her opportunity came when he pulled a move she had seen him do a million times. It was so predictable really. Knowing what was coming, Lonnie was able to pull the sword right out of his hand.
She could have gloated. But being the kind gentlewoman that she was, she let him take back the sword before revealing herself beneath the face guard.
His expression when he saw her was as great as she had hoped it would be. He was visibly impressed. Lonnie thought her heart was going to beat right out of her ribcage when he grinned.
"Not bad," he complimented.
"You should put me on the team," she replied.
Just as he began to nod in agreement, Chad had to go interrupting the moment. The big blonde bully went on about how they would become the "laughing stock of the league" because she was a girl.
"So?" Jay replied.
Genuinely confused. Genuinely insulted on her behalf. Lonnie wanted to hug him.
But Chad didn't back down. He had to go and point out the rulebook. And Jay, despite knowing that she was good enough, let his argument win out.
Jay hadn't wanted to say no. But Lonnie could see the insecurity in his eyes. The fear of doing something wrong. The fear of losing his place on the team. The fear that she would be upset with him for yielding.
Lonnie was upset. She had hoped he might vouch for her. But she also knew all too well the pressures that came from from Chad and the status quo of Auradon. It wouldn't help either one of them if he got thrown under the bus too.
And she had accomplished something. He had seen her now. He had seen what she could do, and who she wanted to be. And he had liked it.
Lonnie wasn't ready to give up just yet. She had bigger goals than making it into the Regiment.
A couple nights later, she was on her way back from the training gym, and like always, past by his room. The door was open, and she couldn't help but eavesdrop.
"Why are you making Fairy Godmother's wand?"
It was Chad's voice. Lonnie stopped in her tracks, and peeked her head inside the room. Jay, Carlos, and Chad stood around their 3D printer having some sort of argument.
"Ben's been captured!" Dude announced (the dog who had recently been magicked to be able to speak — don't ask.)
"What?" Chad asked. "Dude can talk?"
"I was stalling!" Carlos said to the dog.
"I thought you forgot!" The dog replied stupidly.
"Don't tell anyone," Jay told Chad, his tone urgently serious. "Ben's life depends on it."
Lonnie suppressed a gasp, her heart racing into action. The heroes were back at work. And this time, Lonnie wasn't going to miss it.
No backing down. Take the risk. Be the trailblazer. Make a difference.
So she had taken the leap. She put her foot down this time, and spoke her mind. Chad wasn't there to interrupt this time, and Jay and Carlos had agreed to let her come. She couldn't quite believe her blackmailing had worked. Before she knew it she was sneaking off campus in the limo with Jay and Carlos, breaking multiple rules in the process, and they crossed the magical bridge to the Isle of the Lost.
It was like a dream come true.
The Isle technically did not have any magic the way Auradon did. But from the moment Lonnie got there, she was convinced that there was far more magic here than in her entire high school. It was the people. They all had a drive and grit that she had only ever heard about in legends. As she fought against pirates and ruffians, she imagined herself telling her own story one day; about how she was unstoppable, working with the heroes to defeat the army and save the king.
Lonnie had never had an adventure as amazing and as important as this one. It was like finding a new home. She had finally gotten her chance to do something good and meaningful, and she had succeeded.
And that wasn't the only good part. The way that Jay kept looking at her had caused her heart to do crazy jumping jacks in her chest the whole time.
Later that evening, Jay came through for her. He did what heroes do best — he found a loophole.
"The team shall be comprised of a captain, and eight men," he read from the Regiment rulebook. "So," he announced to the team. "Give it up for your new team captain," he introduced her with a giant grin on his face.
Lonnie had never been so happy in her entire life.
He didn't ask her to Cotillion. He didn't ask anyone. But it didn't matter to Lonnie. She was the only one he danced with the entire night.
It was magic. Really and truly. They danced together like two halves of the same heart, and everything fit perfectly. All she wanted was to be with him; supporting him, protecting him, laughing with him. He needed her. She didn't dare leave his side the entire night. He kept looking at her, double checking to make sure that she was really there. She placed a hand on his arm or his shoulder periodically as a reassurance. I'm here, she made sure he knew. I've got your back.
And every single time, he smiled.
By the time the evening came to end, they were both drenched in ocean water. Lonnie gripped his hand like a lifeline, and he pulled her off the boat onto the docks. They were both laughing, but at this point Lonnie wasn't even sure why.
He watched her, his soulful eyes asking a silent question that Lonnie heard as clearly as the night sky.
"You're beautiful," he murmured, so quietly that Lonnie wasn't sure she'd heard it. His voice was so genuine, so raw, so real.
Then, beneath the dimly lit lanterns, she kissed him.
Lonnie had always been told that love was the only real magic in the world. And that night, she knew it was true.
Lonnie was in love. And it was magic.
A/N: I feel like I just psychoanalyzed every Descendants character, lol. There's a lot of myself in there actually, so this was quite enjoyable to write. Most chapters should not be this long in the future. Please let me know if you liked it!