AN: We're back to the Magical World from here on out, folks! As a reminder, "Dream Keeper Chronicles" is going to be splitting off into two spin-off stories come New Years, so be prepared for me to announce those spin-offs sometime in December (or whenever notifications are fixed, since I know those haven't been working recently).
Ben and Nuka entered the room in Cinderella Castle were the meeting was supposed to be held. "You sure you're okay with coming here?" Ben asked.
Nuka nodded. "I want… no, I need to do this, Ben. If I'm going to make up with my siblings, then I need to start here."
The duo was currently visiting Cinderella Castle to attend Villainous Parents and GuardiansSupport Group, or the VPG for short. It was a support group started by Cinderella as a way for the children or adopted children of villains could have a safe place to discuss their experiences in a safe place with others that shared similar experiences. Cinderella was already a kind-hearted individual, so her open-mindedness made her a great support group leader.
"There you two are," Rocket said, waving over to Ben and Nuka. "I was wondering if you were even gonna show up or not."
"It was Nuka's idea," Ben shrugged. He looked over and raised an eyebrow at two people sitting near Rocket. "Gabriel? Logan? What are you two doing here? Do you have evil parents I didn't know about."
"We don't, but Rocket asked us to be here at this meeting," Gabriel replied.
"Yeah, I've met Gabriel's parents and I'm pretty sure they don't have a mean bone in their body," Logan added.
"That's because you've never been around them when you forget to do household chores," Gabriel joked. "Still, it's nice that there is a support group of this kind for people in the Magical World. I know Lena has her Possessed Disney Kids group, but I think she would do well coming here as well."
"I'm sure she would. Trust me, I'm not a guy that likes to open up about stuff, but talking over my trauma with the High Evolutionary… it helps, ya know?" Rocket said.
Ben and Nuka sat down as more people filled the room, some familiar to them and some not. In particular Nuka locked eyes with a certain brown lion with a black mane. Kovu's eyes went wide when he saw Nuka, but he didn't say anything and took a seat.
"Welcome to Villainous Parents and Guardians. I see we have some new additions this week, as well as some guests that will be sitting in on the meeting," Cinderella said. "Would you care to introduce yourself to the group? Please give us your name and who your villainous parent or guardian is."
Nuka froze a bit as all eyes fell on him. He coughed nervously before speaking, "H-Hey there. My name's Nuka, and my villainous parent is Zira."
"Hello Nuka!" everyone else greeted.
"My name's Ben, and I'm just here to support my… friend," Ben said next, blushing as he and Nuka looked away from each other.
"Uh huh, sure you are…" Rocket muttered.
"Thank you both for being here," Cinderella said. "Now then, let's all introduce ourselves to Nuka and Ben. I'm Cinderella, and my villainous parent is Lady Tremaine."
A redhead sitting next to Cinderella sat up. "My name is Anastasia, and my villainous parent is also Lady Tremaine. I am… was one of the evil stepsisters, though I've been reformed for a while now."
A blonde boy with facial scars raised his hand. "My name is hunter, and my villainous guardian is Emperor Belos."
A hunchback raised his hand. "My name is Quasimodo, and my villainous guardian is Judge Frollo."
A blonde girl with long hair raised her hand. "My name is Rapunzel, and my villainous parent is Mother Gothel."
"The name's Rocket, and my villainous… well, he's kinda my dad but not really- illegal experiment and all that jazz. But the scumbag who created me is the High Evolutionary," Rocket said.
"My name is Kovu, and my villainous parent is Zira," Kovu said.
"Oh, are you and Nuka related?" Anastasia asked.
"Not by blood, but Zira raised both of us in her Outlands pride," Kovu clarified.
Cinderella clapped her hands. "Good. Now then, I'd like each of us to break off into pairs to get to know each other better and talk about our experiences, then we can come back and have a group discussion."
The VPG did just that, with Ben and Nuka getting paired up with Anastasia. "It's nice to see a new face here," Anastasia greeted, shaking Nuka's paw. "Kovu has been coming here for a while, but he's never really talked about having siblings."
"Well, it's a bit complicated," Nuka sighed. "You see, Zira raised me, Kovu, and our sister Vitani to be her underlings essentially. Scar personally chose Kovu as his heir, and I was jealous of him since I was the oldest child."
Logan coughed as he and Gabriel approached. "I have a question about that, Nuka. I know that you and your siblings aren't ever said to be Scar and Zira's actual children by blood, but I always thought that you shared the most similarities out of the three heirs. So are you Scar's actual kid or not?" Logan asked.
Nuka scratched at his beard. "Well, I don't really have an answer for that. All I know is I'm the eldest, so maybe Scar's my actual dad, but that just makes it sting even worse if he picked Kovu over me…"
"This is just like with Jasiri not knowing who her parents are: they didn't really go into it in the movies," Gabriel shook his head.
"Anyways, I always wanted to make Mom proud and would do anything to get back at the pride that wronged us… but all it got me was buried at the bottom of a pile of logs," Nuka sighed.
"Oh, so you actually died in your original story… I'm so sorry about that," Anastasia said.
"Eh, I've gotten over that for the most part, but it took me a while to come around to the idea that Zira wasn't the best parent," Nuka shrugged. "It wasn't until I became friends with Ben that I started to realize how manipulative and abusive she really was towards me. She knew how much I wanted to be validated in her eyes and used my insecurities to make me do whatever she wanted."
"I used to be a bad guy too. My sister and I did everything we could to make Cinderella's life horrible," Anastasia said. "But after she got married to Prince Charming, our family started to crumble since she wasn't around to do our chores anymore. Then one day I was in town and met this cute baker that my mother didn't approve of. Mother wanted me to marry a rich man, but my heart wanted to be with the baker. It was Cinderella that gave me a makeover and advice to follow my heart, and that was the first time in my life I ever went against my mother."
"Cinderella actually helped you, even after all the horrible things you did to her?" Nuka said in shock.
Anastasia smiled. "That's the thing about Cindy: she always sees the good in others and is willing to give you a second chance if you try to be good. What really cemented our reconciliation is when Mother tried to turn back time to make so Cinderella never married her prince, but I was able to help the two of them get back together and stand up to my mother one last time."
Nuka sighed. "Well I'm glad things turned out okay for you in the end, but I don't think I'll ever get that chance. Kovu probably hates me…"
"Hey, don't speak like that," Gabriel said. "I know in your tory you didn't get a chance to make up with your siblings, but I know that your death really affected both Kovu and Vitani. It was a catalyst for their own reformations and the uniting of the two prides, after all. Vitani comes over to my place to talk with Jasiri, and I've heard her talk about how she'd like to get to see you again."
"I think Kovu is the same way," Ben nodded. "If you really feel bad about the things you did to him and you sincerely apologize, then I'm sure he'll gladly accept it."
"…Okay then. I guess I won't know unless I try," Nuka said. The lion stood up and walked over to where Kovu was talking with Rocket.
"You've got this, Nuka," Ben whispered.
Nuka smiled at his friend before he took in a deep breath before speaking. "Hey there Kovu…"
"Nuka," Kovu greeted. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, it has…" Nuka nodded. "Look, I know I've been avoiding both you and Vitani for years, and part of that was because I was still trying to please Mom… But after I made a special friend, I finally realized that what I wanted from her wasn't actually love. I thought about all the things I did to demean you for all those years when we were kids, and how I gave up my own life for a woman that barely even saw me as her own son."
Nuka shook his head. "Sorry, I'm not good at talking about this stuff… What I want to say is: I'm sorry for all the terrible things I did to you, Kovu, and I want to start over and be your big brother again!" He bowed his head and covered his eyes with his paws, trembling at how Kovu was going to respond.
"…I forgive you, Nuka," Kovu said with a smile.
The older lion looked up with surprise. "Wait, really!? Just like that."
"Just like that," Kovu nodded. "While what you did to me and the Pride Lands was wrong, I know that you were just as much of a victim of Zira as both me and Vitani were. The fact that you came to this support group shows that you've changed and want to be better. While it may take a while for the others at Pride Rock to accept you, I know Vitani and I would be happy to have our brother back."
Nuka smiled, his eyes tearing up and he held out his arms. "Brothers?"
"Brothers," Kovu replied, pulling the elder lion in for a hug.
"Aw, isn't that sweet…" Anastasia said, pulling out a handkerchief to dry her own teary eyes.
"It's always nice to see a reunion like this," Logan nodded.
"What do you think Ben?" Gabriel asked, looking over to the wolf… only to see that Ben was nowhere to be found. "Uh, guys? Where did Ben go?"
"Oh boy, I feared this would happen," Rocket sighed. "This is why I asked you two to be here today. Ben wanted to support Nuka, but the kid clearly has issues of his own he's dealing with. I think all this talk of bad parents has brought some of his nasty memories to the surface, so he's run off somewhere."
"Well that's going to be a problem since he has his Shepard's Wool," Logan said.
"But he can only use that ability for a few seconds," Gabriel said.
Rocket shook his head. "He can use it as long as he wants, he just choses to limit himself whenever he fights. Luckily I gave him a communicator so I can still reach him..." The raccoon pulled out a device and turned it on. "Kid, can ya hear me?"
"…I'm here, Rocket," Ben replied, his voice sounding hoarse as if he'd been crying.
"Where'd you go, kid? We're all worried about you…" Rocket asked.
"I'm hiding in one of the bathrooms… I don't want to go back in that room…" Ben replied.
"Then we're coming to you," Rocket said.
Nuka looked to Kovu. "I really want to catch up with you, but I need to help these guys with Ben. He's… really, really important to me."
"I understand. Go help your boyfriend, Nuka," Kovu said.
"Hesnotmyboyfriendwhotoldyouthat!?" Nuka shouted, his face burning in embarrassment as he ran out to go find Ben. The four of them soon came to the bathroom where Ben was hiding, Nuka going in first. "Ben, are you in here?"
"I'm here," Ben replied, pulling off his Shepard's Wool as he let Nuka give him a comforting nuzzle. "Sorry, I just… all that talk of evil parents just made me want to run and hide… which I guess I did…"
"Is there something going on with your parents that we need to know about, dude?" Logan asked. "You're one of my students, so I'll help you out if you need it."
"And you're my successor as Dream Keeper, so I want to make sure you're okay as well," Gabriel added.
"I'm sorry, everyone, but it's not something I feel comfortable talking about with… well, anyone. Even you, Nuka," Ben sighed.
"Can you at least give us some basis to know what's going on?" Rocket asked.
Ben was silent for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I guess I can give you that much. I won't name names, but the gist is this: for how I understand it, my dad disowned me one day for no reason and has treated me like a stranger ever since. What's worse is that even since the incident I haven't been able to see my brother, despite how close we were. It just… sucks."
"Dude, I had no idea," Logan said. "Man, I really want to go and punch your dad in the face. How dare he disown you for no reason!"
"It's Ben's decision on how he wants to handle things, but we are willing to help you whenever you want to confront him," Gabriel nodded.
"Now I feel bad for making up with Kovu in front of you like that…" Nuka said.
"Don't feel that way, Nuka. I'm glad you and your bro can finally start working on a good sibling dynamic," Ben said with a smile.
"You know, kid, hearing what happened with your bad dad makes me think back that one time a few months ago," Rocket said. "You accidentally called me "Dad," and at first I didn't think much about it, but clearly you look up to me as a father figure, and I'm sure I can do a heck of a lot better than your dad ever did for you. I'd be happy to adopt you, and I know Lylla would too. Groot would love to have a younger brother too, I'm sure of it."
"Thanks for the offer, Rocket, but I don't want to be a burden on you guys," Ben shook his head.
"Well, the offer will always be there for you," Rocket said with a smile. "Though saying that, I think you should join the support group so you can actually talk out these feelings instead of just bottling them up."
Yeah, I can agree to that. I need to learn to be more open about my past…" Ben nodded. "Man, now I feel really bad about overshadowing your big breakthrough with Kovu, Nuka…"
"It's not big deal, Ben," Nuka said. "These things can just happen sometimes. I'm just glad you're okay now."
"And all of your friends will be here to support you, Ben," Logan said with a smile, Gabriel nodding in agreement.
Ben smiled back, holding Nuka close as they nuzzled each other again. "Okay, enough beating around the bush!" Rocket suddenly exclaimed. "Are you two finally admitting your feelings for each other or not? Cause you've been really touchy-feely lately and I want you to actually answer the question instead of avoiding it."
Ben ad Nuka blushed deeply, chuckling nervously. "Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag now… Yes, Nuka and I are a thing now," Ben admitted.
"We had a breakthrough during Halloween and after… exploring our feelings for each other, we decided to get together," Nuka added.
"Finally! Aline's been wondering when you two would finally fess up," Logan sighed in relief.
"I just can't believe my own brother caught onto my feelings so easily…" Nuka muttered.
"If it's any conciliation, Vitani is in a relationship with a goddess right now, so you're not the only one who's suddenly realized his true feelings," Gabriel pointed out.
"Vitani got with a goddess!? I have so much I need to catch up on," Nuka exclaimed, making everyone laugh.
"Okay, let's get out of this bathroom and back to your brother. I think I need to apologize to him as well," Ben said.
As the five of them left, all felt lighter now that their feelings were out in the open. Off in the shadows of the castle, however, a mysterious figure watched on, her gaze focused on Ben from behind a rabbit mask, hiding her face save for her long white hair. "Please save him, so we can save them," the woman whispered before disappearing into the shadows.
Author's Note
This chapter was suggested by b-wolf95, Ben's creator! The idea of a support group for evil parents in the Magical World is a great idea and using it as a vehicle for Nuka and Ben to get character development was a good call.
In particular he wanted Nuka and Anastasia to talk, which was great as it gave Nuka the chance to talk with another reformed villain about how he could fix his relationship with Kovu. Seeing the two brothers make up was sweet, and hopefully they can go see Vitani and the siblings can all be a family again, away from Zira this time.
Ben also spoke a bit about his past and how his father mistreated him, explaining why he's always dodgy about talking about his feelings. He doesn't say everything here (mostly because b-wolf95 wants to tell Ben's story in his own fic in the future) but it's enough for him to start opening up to Rocket, Logan, Gabriel, and Nuka. We also finally get confirmation that Ben and Nuka are an item now! (which b-wolf95 wants to tell the story of how they got together as well, so I'll leave that to him)
Next time: Lena and Gabriel team up with some superheroines to save the day from a cosmic threat!