Ben drove through the forest on his moped, you on the back behind him. You were leaning on him with your arms wrapped around his waist, making him smile as a warm feeling filled him. Your wings were spread out directly behind you so you wouldn't stop the bike as it drove. You closed your eyes and leaned on him, enjoying the breeze on your skin and feathers. You sighed happily, making Ben smile as he heard the sound next to his ear. Once Ben stopped, you both got off and put the helmets down, Ben taking your hand. "Come on, this way." He smiled at you gently and started to lead you down a forest path. You looked around, feeling completely at home surrounded by all the nature. This was honestly the best place Ben could have taken you to. Looking in front of you, your eyes lit up when you saw a giant valley with a creek at the bottom, dimming a bit when you wondered how you were going to cross the hanging bridge that went across it. You walked in front of Ben, feeling his eyes on you and you skipped onto the bridge. You stopped a few steps onto it and turned around, flashing him a wonderful smile and sending a blush to his cheeks as the light hit you. Something was off though, there were odd shadows around you and the light seemed to shine off something just a little above you.
"Ben, this place is amazing!" You exclaimed, eyes wide as you took in everything, "Thank you so much for taking me here!" Ben laughed a bit, "We aren't even to our destination yet." He teased, walking up to you and taking your hand. You glanced down at your hands before looking back up at him, your smile softening, "I know, but I adore nature, you know? Being here after so long trapped on the Isle is like a breath of fresh air." You admitted, looking around with a peaceful look on your face. Ben watched you curiously as you let go of his hand and sauntered further across the bridge, playing around but making sure not to have him too close. "Tell me something about yourself that you've never told anyone," Ben said, following behind. You looked back at him, "Something I've never told anyone?" You echoed, before tilting your head back to think. "Hm... Oh! Here's one. I've never stolen anything before." You admitted. Ben laughed, "Really? That's it?" He asked. You turned around and sent him a pout, crossing your arms as you walked backward, "Everyone on the Isle has stolen something except me." You told him, stopping when he kept laughing, "Oh alright. Fine, I'll give you another one. I can talk to the trees." You told him, waiting to see his reaction.
Ben paused his laughter and stopped in front of you, looking down at you with a curious grin on his face. "You can talk to trees?" He asked. "Yep! I can talk to trees. Is that so hard to believe? Cinderella can talk to animals, why can't I talk to trees?" You shot back, giving him a challenging look. He noticed the amused tone in your voice and smirked, "Alright, I am going to go tell a tree something where you can't hear, and you have to tell me what I said to it." Ben declared. "Oh yeah?" You challenged, grinning at him. "Yeah," Ben said as you both walked off the bridge. Staying far enough where you couldn't hear him, but close enough he could still see you, Ben whispered something to a tree. "Alright!" He called. With an amused expression, you walked over to him and put your hand on the tree before snorting and turning to look at Ben with an extremely amused expression, "Your middle name is Florence?" You asked, shocking the prince. "You can talk to the trees!" He shouted, throwing his hands up in shock. You smirked and leaned against the tree, "Yeah, I know." "How can you do that?" He asked. You winked at him before continuing to walk down the path, "Talent." Ben watched you for a moment with a crooked grin before shaking his head and jogging to take your hand in his.
"Alright, close your eyes, I'll lead you the rest of the way," Ben whispered in your ear, causing you to flush pink. "Okay..." You obediently closed your eyes, following him slowly and keeping your wings close to you so you didn't bump into anything. You followed Ben's quiet directions so you wouldn't fall until he stopped you and you could feel him moving behind you. you bristled and cast subtle magic to make him oblivious to your wings, but you still pulled them tightly to you. "Okay... Open." Ben murmured softly in your ear, watching you for your reaction. You opened your eyes and were surprised and touched to see a picnic at the bottom of a steep hill, set up on a large beautifully ruined stone structure. It was almost fully surrounded by water as it was bordering a lake. You turned to look at Ben with a crooked grin, "You did all this?" You asked incredulously. Ben smiled shyly and nodded towards the picnic, "Go on." He encouraged. You smiled brighter and ran down the steep hill toward the picnic. Ben was surprised as he watched, it almost looked like you were floating each time you jumped further down, wind surrounding you just before you landed.
You and Ben sat down on the red checkered blanket, talking and eating for what seemed like forever. "Is this your first time?" Ben asked softly, looking up at you as he was laying on his side. You looked at him, swallowing the chocolate you had in your mouth. "Hm... Well, people don't really date much on the Isle, it's more like gang activity. However, I have been on a few dates before." You chuckled. Ben paused and laughed, "No-. No- I meant, is this the first time eating chocolate?" Ben corrected with a dorky grin on his lips. You flushed, "Oh, uh... Yeah. We don't really have this stuff on the Isle. Is it bad?" You asked embarrassed, wiping off your hands. Ben chuckled under his breath and reached up, leaning forward and brushing some chocolate from the corner of your mouth and licking it off his thumb. You flushed red and looked away, "You know, I've done all the talking. Your turn. I don't really know much about you. Tell me something." Ben said, propping himself up.
"Uh, well..." You hesitated, thinking about what you could tell him. "I am 16 years old. I am a twin, Mal being my twin sister. I've only ever lived in one place, and I really enjoy the forest." You told him, smiling a bit. "Hey! I'm 16, I've only lived in one place before! We have so much in common already!" Ben joked, grinning. You laughed bitterly, "No, trust me. No, we don't." Ben's smile faltered and he looked down, so you changed the subject. "And now you're going to be King. Isn't that exciting?" You asked, trying to catch his eyes. "Well..." He trailed off. "Yeah?" "A crown isn't what makes a king," Ben said, looking into your eyes. You sighed with a melancholy smile, "To some people, it does." You said, remembering your mother's first love. Ben, noticing the somber mood now, stood up. "Let's go swimming!" he declared, already unbuttoning his shirt. A slight panic filled you, "Swimming? N-No, I'm alright here." You shook your head, leaning back as he took his shirt off.
"Come on, it will be fun!" He encouraged. You shook your head faster, "No, n-no thanks. I'll be here watching instead." You faked a smile as the idea of your wings pulling you down as they were heavy when wet and you didn't know how to swim made you scared. Ben shrugged and took off his pants, revealing swim trunks, "Alright, come join me when you want." He agreed easily before waving and jogging up to the tallest rock wall around the lake. You stood up and went over to one of the pillars, leaning against it as you saw Ben ready himself on the edge. He yelled out a roar before jumping into the lake. You laughed at him for a moment before turning away, a small smile on your face. 'This is so fun! Ben's been unbelievably sweet the whole day...' You thought to yourself before you remembered, 'Right... Of course he is... He's under a spell... Do I have to leave- Yes I do. I must get Mother out of that place. Will he forgive me when I steal the wand? Ha! Absolutely not. Why would he? Everyone in Auradon thinks we are villains, he probably does too. Just touching the wand would prove them all right...' You sighed sadly, your smile following your mood.
After a few minutes of thinking, you turned around and looked over to watch Ben swim. You scanned the water, no sight of the prince. You started to panic. What if he was drowning? What was in this lake? What there were snakes!? "Ben!? Ben! Ben where are you!?" You cried out, beating your wings strongly and diving into the water, taking a big gulp of air. You looked around and could feel yourself sinking so you tried to resurface, only to remember you can't swim. You thrashed in the water, trying to get to the surface to breathe when you felt someone's arms under you. You held onto Ben tightly as you two surfaced and you coughed up water. Ben walked across the shallow end and set you down on the stone structure, shaking his hair and wiping his face. You took in some deep breathes and looked at Ben, "You scared me! What were you doing down there so long, I thought you were in trouble!" You yelled, scolding him as he looked up at you.
"Y-You can't swim?" Ben asked, panting a bit. "No!" You hissed at him. "You live on an island!" Ben furrowed his brows at you. "That has a barrier around it! It's safe to say that practically no one can swim!" You glared at him for a moment before leaning back on one of the pillars. You breathed out a sigh of relief as you pressed your hands against your eyes. "And now I'm soaked... But at least you're okay..." You whispered the last part. Ben blinked in surprise as he heard you before he cleared his throat, making you look at him. "Here. It's a rock from the lake. Make a wish and throw it back." Ben said, looking into your eyes and handing it to you. As you looked down at it, Ben finally realized something was different about you. You had giant dark wings with red amber accents, reminding him of your eyes. You had horns on them as well which lead his eyes up to your head, where a pair of dark horns sat, reminding him much of your mother Maleficent. Sighing, you made a wish that your plan will go well, and you tossed the glowing rock back into the water.
You looked up at Ben, "Ther-..." You cut yourself as you saw Ben's eyes scanning something above you and around you. You stared at him wide-eyed and moved your wing into your line of vision, watching as his eyes followed the movement. You glanced at your right-wing and realized it wasn't invisible anymore. You let out a shriek of fear and you beat your wings, launching yourself into the air. You watched Ben look up at you in surprise before you turned and flew into the trees, hiding amongst the branches. 'He saw me. He saw my wings and horns. He's going to hate me. He's going to tell everyone and then Mal and I are going to have to flee from angry mobs. What if they have those iron bombs prince Philip's mom has!? What if they have iron weapons for fighting faeries!? Aurora's kingdom is the only one that accepts the Fae, what are they going to do to me?' You wrapped yourself into a ball on one of the tree branches, hiding with your wings.