Hi guys. Welcome back for the third story in my No Matter Where We Are trilogy. It was asked for so I wrote it. This is my thinking of what Descendants 3 might be like (EEEEEEEEk so excited for it to come out in 2019!) I hope you guys enjoy this story as much as you did its predecessors. Without further ado take it away chapter 1. Old readers you will note that this story has been revamped and edited. THANK YOU SO MUCH to my Beta xez2003 for helping me with that.

DISCLAMER: I DO NOT OWN DECENDANTS ALL RIGHTS GO TO DISNEY ANY DIOLOGE YOU RECONISE BELONGS TO DISNEY I OWN NOTHING! I also DO NOT own ANY songs used in these chapters all rights go to the RIGHTFUL OWNERS.

The sun shone brightly over the grounds of Auradon Prep. Not a single cloud was visible in the perfect blue skies and a light morning breeze ruffled the leaves of the nearby trees. It has now been two months since the events of the Royal Gala where Ben and Mal have been knighted by Hailey. Two months since Uma had last been seen and the students slowly returned to their day to day activities hoping that she had just gone back to the Isle. But one person did not share that sentiment.

The peaceful atmosphere surrounding the school grounds was interrupted by the sound of someone releasing a sharp breath as if she was punching or swinging at something. Mal straightened herself out to her full length before going back in a fighting stance sword in hand. Ever since Hailey had given her the Dame title, she had made it a point to practice with her daggers and sword every day. She just couldn't shake the feeling that it was not over yet…..especially with Uma still out there.

Her practice was interrupted by a nearby sneer which made her turn around to face who had disturbed her.

"Playing the knight since you can't play the princess?"

"At least I can play the knight Audrey. You would cry if you broke a nail fighting." Mal snapped back, clearly irritated by the tone used by the princess. Ever since Audrey had returned from her vacation and heard that not only Ben and Mal had saved Auradon again but had also been knighted by Hailey, she had been going out of her way to pester the VKs. Ben had simply brushed it off as simple jealously but with every new incident Mal's patience was beginning to lessen and as a result her resolve to keep her cool around her.

Audrey scoffed "I'd rather be royalty. Not that you would know the difference anyway. You never were a princess."

At this Mal rolled her eyes and before she could say anything she would regret, she barged past Audrey, sheathing her sword in the process, and decided to head out to take a shower.

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Mal stared out at the lake's still and peaceful waters lost in thought. Usually, this enchanted place always stirred in her feelings of calm and serenity, especially since it was her and Ben's spot, their refuge when they wanted to hide away from the world and have a quiet moment to themselves.

But not today. As much as she tried not to let Audrey get to her, her words from their earlier conversation kept on playing in her head all day. To Mal, it did not really matter that she wasn't born a princess. But rather, Audrey's words painfully reminded her that she had been born on the Isle including all the hardships that came with it, especially having to hide her love for Ben from the world, too afraid of the consequences of them being discovered.

"You ok sweetheart?" Ben asked her, breaking her line of thought, as he tightened his arm around her.

"Yeah. I'm fine" she said softly from where her head was rested on his shoulder.

"Mal-" he replied gently and she let out a long sigh.

"Benny. Do you ever think about what it would have been like if we had been born here?" she asked softly not really looking at him. "I mean think about it. We wouldn't have had to hide our relationship, fearing for our lives. We would have been free to live our love in the open under the sun. We wouldn't have gotten all the looks we got when we got here…we would have just… been part of the crowd as royalty, living the happy life described in all of our school history books."

"Hey!" he turned round and tilted Mal's face up to look at him. "What did I tell you six months ago? If you were supposed to be part of the crowd, you wouldn't have stood out from it in the first place. I love you just the way you are" he reassured her. He just always knew what to say to make her feel better, she thought wistfully. And just like that, Mal's negative thoughts were washed away as she looked into Ben's deep eyes so full of love towards her. She could only nod in response as she snuggled further into him, letting him embrace her in his strong arms.

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A few days after their talk, Mal started noticing a strange change in Ben's behaviour. Apart from the fact that she barely saw him anymore, unless they had a common class, when they did actually meet, she noticed that he looked extremely tired. She had also caught him falling asleep in one of the classes, which was starting to worry her.

"Benny. Are you ok?" She asked softly as he rested his head on her shoulder while they stopped in the hallway outside her locker after class.

"I'm fine sweetheart. Just a little tired" he murmured. "Anyway. I have to go." he kissed her quickly ready to bolt away.

"Go where?" Mal asked surprised as he walked away in a hurry.

"I have a meeting with Hailey." he replied, turning back and kissing her forehead before leaving.

Mal frowned slightly as she remembered that Ben had been having a lot of 'meetings with Hailey' lately. A strange feeling bubbled inside her as she came to the realization that she was jealous of Hailey.

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Ben walked along the corridor leading to Mal's dorm room with a proud smile on his face. He was excited, and admittedly slightly nervous, for the surprise he had planned for Mal that evening. He just couldn't believe he had managed to set up everything up in such a short period of time. He was literally exhausted from the sleepless nights as he got everything in motion but that did not matter to him. All that mattered to him was Mal, especially after their last conversation at the lake. After all they had been through on the Isle and the last few months since they arrived in Auradon, all he wanted was to see her happy.

"Hey sweetheart. Are you free tonight?" Ben asked her as he stood in the doorway of Mal's dorm.

As she saw his smiling face, Mal got up from her desk and walked up towards him. "Well…I was going to do some studying but I'm always free for you."

Ben chuckled in response as he wrapped his arms around her. "Good because I happen to have a surprise for my girl. Evie will be here in a few hours to help you get ready." He told her cryptically with a mischievous smile on his face before giving her a quick kiss and walking away back down the hall.

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"So what has Ben got planned tonight?" Mal asked Evie a while later as she curled her now dark purple, blue tipped hair. She was wearing a gorgeous purple and blue dress which Evie had apparently been making in secret for her over the last few days. The dress was dark purple with blue swirl designs on the front and bottom of the puffy skirt.

"If I told you that, Ben would be very upset." Evie chuckled, as she finished curling and placed a blue stoned clip in Mal's hair, before starting on her makeup. "Ok. One last thing." she said softly as she got up and picked up a box, handing it to Mal.

Mal opened it and could only gasp in wonder as she saw a purple stained pair of glass slippers, with a rose design on the front lying on a bed of silk. "Evie-"

"Hailey had them custom made for you at Ben's request. They are to go with your dress." she explained as she took them out gently and placed them on the ground for her to step into. "He also said to give you this when you were ready to go." she continued, giving her a small blue bag and a note.

Mal opened the note:

Hey Sweetheart

I suppose you're wondering what's going on…Well as I said I have a surprise for you. Along with this note, Evie should have given you a blue bag. In it is fairy dust. There will be a chair in the courtyard. Blow the dust on it and it will bring you to me.

See you soon my love.

Love Ben

Mal could only grin as Evie led her out to the courtyard. She tipped the blue dust into her palm and blew it on the chair in front of her. In a swirl of blue smoke, the chair became a light blue coach with grey horses pulling it.

"Have a good time, M." Evie grinned as a footman helped Mal inside. The coach pulled away taking Mal to her surprise destination.

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Mal felt a wide smile spread across her face as she looked around the inside of the elaborate coach she was riding in. The dress, the shoes, this coach…what was Ben up to? Mal wondered…it was as if she was just living in one of the fairy tale stories she had studied about in their history lessons at school. And as she looked outside of the coach window, she could only feel a sense of excitement and anticipation build up inside of her at the prospect of finding out what this surprise was all about.

The coach finally stopped in front of Charming Castle where Mal found another note, together with a rose, waiting for her on the door. She opened the note to reveal another message from Ben:

Follow the roses.

I'm waiting for you.

Mal smiled as she sniffed the rose, opening the main door. Mal could only look around in wonder as she took in the scene in front of her. The corridor she had just stepped into was lit by a series of candles on either side of the wall. Not only that…the middle of it was lined with a row of red roses leading to another door. She collected them all until she was one away from an even dozen but most importantly she arrived at the next door, behind which she hoped Ben finally was behind.

She opened it slowly and a soft gasp escaped her throat. The room was dimly lit with a table of food to one side and a mini dance floor. Mal smiled in awe as she saw Ben standing in the middle of it, dressed in a smart blue suit holding one last rose. "Benny-"

"Surprise!" he said softly, awe clearly on his face as he took in Evie's makeover. Mal slowly made her way over to him blushing slightly. "You're one short." he grinned giving her the last rose.

A pleasant shiver gripped Mal she slowly took the rose from Ben's hand. All she could do was stare into his eyes as she instinctively leaned upwards, her lips brushing with his in a sweet kiss. He led her over to a table where there was an empty vase.

"Just when I think you can't look more beautiful, you go and prove me wrong." he whispered in her ear and Mal blushed harder in response.

A whirlwind of emotions went through her as Mal turned to look around again, taking in her surroundings. "Thank you...You did all this?" she asked softly, looking at the food as she put the roses down in water.

"I had help." he grinned, going over to the stereo and pressing play. "Dance with me?" he asked softly holding out his hand.

Mal looked at Ben's outstretched hand hesitantly as she wasn't very good at ballroom dancing. "I don't know Ben…."

"Sweetheart…would I let you fall? Trust me" he reassured her gently.

Mal got lost in his reassuring gaze and nodded slowly as he took her hand, letting him lead her to the dance floor. The music started to play as he held her waist gently and started to guide her.

How does a moment last forever?

How can a story never die?

It is love we must hold on to never easy but we try.

Sometimes our happiness is captured; somehow a time and place stand still.

"That's it." he smiled softly.

"Where did you learn to dance like this?" Mal asked amazed as Ben gently spun her round.

"Hailey." he smiled, pulling her back to him.

"So…All those 'meetings'"… Mal trailed off as it all came together.

"She was giving me dance lessons for this." he nodded smiling as they continued to twirl round.

Love lives on inside our heats and always will

Minutes turn to hours, days to years then gone, but all else has been forgotten still our song lives on….

Maybe some moments weren't so perfect…maybe some memories not so sweet…but we have to know some bad times or our lives are incomplete.

Then when the shadows over take us.

Just when we feel all hope is gone…we'll hear our song and know once more our love lives on.

"What brought this on?" Mal asked softly as she locked gazes with Ben.

He just gave her a warm smile at her question. "You were wondering what it would have been like if we were born here and had been free to showcase our love to the world…to have the opportunity to live the happy-ever-after life enjoyed by royalty…So I wanted to make you feel like a princess for once." Ben replied lovingly.

An awed and shaky smile touched her face at his admission as tears welled in her eyes threatening to fall. She suddenly pulled him closer, gently kissing him.

Minutes turn to hours…days to years then gone.

"You may not have a title that makes you a princess Mal…But you will always be my princess." Ben told her as he lifted her in a gentle spin.

How does a moment last forever…when our song lives on…

The song ended as he put her down, kissing her gently. Mal felt the world around her melt in the background as she kissed him back feeling like an absolute princess and wondering what good she had done in her life to deserve someone like Ben.

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"You made dinner too?" Mal asked as he helped her sit at the table a little while later.

"Ella helped." he said lifting the lids to reveal their favorite dish, mushroom ravioli. They ate and made small talk for a while until they were cut off by a loud bang. Mal's lifted her head in surprise at the sudden noise.

"There's one more surprise" he told her taking her hand and leading her over to a seat outside on the nearby open balcony.

"Benny you don't need-" she started but was cut off by Ben grinning "Just watch".

Purple, green and blue fireworks exploded out in the night sky. "Doug, Jay and Carlos helped with this." he told her as he pulled her on his lap, staring at the bright lights together.

Mal suddenly felt overwhelmed as the events of the evening caught up with her, realizing the length Ben had gone to give her this perfect evening. She turned to look at him in awe. "Benny… all of this is…amazing…..I…I…I love you." she whispered.

"I love you too, my princess!" he whispered. He tightened his arm around her waist to keep her even closer as his other hand cupped her cheek pulling her in for a long and loving kiss.

As they separated for air, she laid her head on his shoulder watching the fireworks happily. Mal's only thought at that moment was that she was the luckiest girl in the world to have found someone like Ben and that finally nothing could ruin their happiness.

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Darkness

This eerie atmosphere was how the owner of this place liked it. The only light in the room was coming from a single candle placed on the table where he was seated at. This darkness reminded him so much of the good old days when he was free; free to create havoc with the help of his friends.

A low laughter filled this cavernous chamber, once home to great magical activity. Who would have thought, he said to himself, that after all this time an opportunity would have once again presented itself. And as he eyed the Amulet in his hands and the Royal parchment signed by HRM Hailey Charming herself, he couldn't stop feeling delight at the prospect of finally being able to keep that old promise and reclaiming the life he once had. This time he would take the matter in his own hands and he would not fail.

He could already almost feel the excitement of victory which made him let out another low laughter; this time the light from the candle casting a familiar shadow on one of the nearby walls…that of a long hat and a thin feather…

That's it. THEIR SO FLUFFY I'M GOING TO DIE! lol I was gently reminded in a review on my last story that with so much drama bal didn't get much time for just them so I tried to give our OTP some fluff. And a little hint of what's coming. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Review? Pretty please?