Evie was a mirror. Her mother's mirror. A mirror who could never show her mother the reflection that she wanted to see. In turn, Evie couldn't see her own reflection. An irony because she had spent so much of her life forced to stare at it. Over the years, it had become distorted until eventually her eyes were covered by the fabric of her mother's lies. There were times where she could almost peek through but still, she saw nothing.
At one time, Evie's mother's beauty had captured the hearts of kings and exiled princes but beauty like apples offered to naive princesses could hold the most rotten of cores. One would think that in the mush of that core there would be a speck of love for the daughter she raised. Some might argue that there was but that love was poisoned. It numbed your lips, took your voice, and left you feeling like a doll rather than a daughter.
Evie had fared better than her step-sister, Snow White whom her mother had actually poisoned. Like Evie, she had poisoned her mind, but her feelings towards Snow White were way more sinister. According to her mother's mirror, Snow was the fairest in the land. A title that had belonged to her mother for years and even after she failed to reclaim it, she had redirected those dreams straight into Evie's head.
For years, she had mixed Evie's thoughts like a potion which clouded Evie's vision of who she truly was. In Auradon, Evie had discovered she was smart, talented, and beautiful. Everything her mother always told her she wasn't. Yet still, her mother's words had taken a permanent residence in her head. She would find herself staring at a mirror countering her mother's words but somehow her mother's words always won.
Today, Evie walks past a store window, out of habit she stops and checks her reflection but sees nothing there. Usually, her mother's words would fill her head but the stacks of fabric in her arms were heavy and commanding her attention. The stacks of fabric are piled high and her arms are wobbling from the weight of it, her line of vision is completely blocked, and she is one misstep from falling flat on the ground. She keeps her pace, finding herself wishing she had asked her young friend, Dizzy Tremaine, to come along with her.
When Evie had visited Dizzy earlier that morning, she was working on a headband that she just couldn't be distracted from even Dizzy's roommate and best friend, Celia Facilier, was shooed out of the room after Evie had left. Evie had considered inviting Celia to join her, but Celia had said she would go find some Auradon kids and read their fortunes for a price, of course, so Evie ended up going to the fabric store alone.
In the store, every fabric and accessory had called to her. There was a purple velvet fabric that would make a perfect bow for the winter-themed gown Evie was designing for Mal's trip to Arendelle. A pink faux leather fabric perfect for Audrey's distressed leather jeans request. The deeper Evie went inside the store; the more designs kept sketching out in her mind. The sparks of creativity had eventually fizzled and left her with the heap of fabrics she now carried.
The rolls of fabric in her arms start to slip out and Evie moves her arms in a different position to keep every roll from falling but all of Evie's efforts end up useless. The rolls of fabric fall, and there's no way Evie can catch them all in time.
Evie closes her eyes, not wanting to see the rolls of fabric drop.
"Um, do you need some help?" A voice offers. Confusion and wonder are mixed on the edges of the voice.
Evie opens up her eyes and yelps when she sees who offered to help her. Gil, son of Gaston, and a member of Uma's crew. He's holding the fallen rolls of fabric in his hand. They look untouched and perfectly intact. Evie sighs in relief.
Evie then asks Gil to place the fallen rolls of fabric back in her arms, but Gil shakes his head and offers his help once again.
Evie looks around. Everyone around them was going about their day not paying mind to their surroundings. There were no other choices or options for Evie to choose, leaving her with no choice but to accept help from a pirate who is a part of a crew that loathed her best friend, Mal.
"Sure." Evie agrees. She gives Gil half of the rolls of fabric she's carrying and feels like a weight has been lifted off of her arms. "Just please don't drop it."
Or try to steal it, she thought silently to herself. Evie knew of The Wharf Rats favorite hobby. They were pirates, after all. Her friend, Jay had managed to talk some Wharf Rats out of their favorite pastime but Harry Hook had retaliated by stealing Jay's R.O.A.R jersey and ripping it to shreds.
Evie had made Jay a replacement but he was still angry about it. Evie knew that there was a time when Jay and Harry were friends but with how much hatred Harry had in his eyes for Jay, one could never tell. Then again Uma and Mal were once friends too...and well everyone knows that story. Jay's and Harry's story, however, was a mystery. A mystery neither wanted to reveal.
Gil, on his own, assures Evie that he won't steal the fabric. He speaks about knowing how hard it is to get these materials then mentions how he prefers recycled material himself. Evie suddenly remembers something she overheard Fairy Godmother say to Ben. Fairy Godmother had told Ben that the pirates were destroying their sheets and curtains, but she couldn't figure out why. Ben had told Fairy Godmother that he'd speak to Uma about it but he's been so busy lately Evie's sure he probably never got a chance to even ask her.
"Have you been using your dorm room curtains and sheets to make clothes?" Evie squints at Gil as she comes to a realization. The yellow in Gil's current outfit looked reminiscent of the Auradon yellow placed everywhere in Auradon Prep.
Gil looks sheepishly down at his outfit. "I haven't had the chance to dye it a darker color. Because they won't let us go into the kitchen or the science lab."
After Harry decided to put every chemical ever in a beaker and it caused a big explosion that Fairy Godmother had to contain with magic. All the other pirates were essentially banned from touching any type of chemical but Evie had no idea that Gil even made clothes till just now. A question pops up in her head. A question she just has to ask.
"Do you make outfits for the rest of your crew?" Evie wonders.
Gil nods, enthusiastically. "Yeah! I also make both of my brother's clothes and my own."
Ugh, the Gastons. As much as Evie didn't like those twins they both were fitting nicely in Auradon with the help of their new best friend, Chad Charming.
"Wow, really?" Evie says, feeling impressed by the reveal. Evie thinks about some of the pirate outfits that she's seen. "You even made their patched faux leather jackets?"
Gil makes a sound of agreement. A hearty proud smile on his face. "Yeah, and I even stretched the faux leather myself."
That discovery leads Evie and Gil into a deep discussion about designing and making clothes and it ends once they get outside of Evie's door. Evie looks at her door disappointed as she really didn't want the conversation to end. She invites Gil into her dorm room to help her sort through the rolls of fabrics in both of their hands.
Gil agrees and Evie opens the door, walking in with Gil following behind her. Evie then places the rolls of fabric on her drafting table. She had adjusted the drafting table before she left, so now it lays flat and not at an angle. Evie then tells Gil to do the same with the rolls of fabric in his arms.
Gil does and awkwardly waits for Evie's next instruction. She tells Gil to pull up a chair. He does, going over to Evie's roommate's desk and taking the chair from there. He then walks back over and places the chair at the side of Evie's drafting table. Gil sits down while Evie goes to search under her bed and then pulls out some long empty storage boxes. She hands one to Gil and places the other by her chair already at the drafting table.
Evie then sits down at the drafting table. She takes a breath then explains to Gil how he should place any color of his choosing in that specific storage box she gave him. Gil nods his head in understanding then starts searching the pile for any yellow rolls of fabric.
Evie gets to work too, reaching for a dark blue roll of fabric. They both do this for a while and talk about sewing tricks that they've both learned. Gil mentions his mom who Evie is shocked to find out is a seamstress.
Gil starts talking about his mom's shop back on the Isle. With every description, Evie feels a faint feeling of familiarity but not enough for full recognition. Gil is proudly gushing about how his mom built all of the shelves in her shop by herself and how she once lived in Auradon where she designed outfits for royalty. Evie asks Gil a question that she knows she shouldn't. On the Isle, there was an unspoken rule to never ask how a VK's non-villain parent got sent to the Isle.
Evie kind of knew the reason why her dad was sent to the Isle. Her dad was once royalty or so her mom says. His reason for being imprisoned on the Isle involved poison and a dream to be king. Her mom said they had hit it off immediately after she heard that. Together, their two darkened evil hearts were synchronized but it didn't last.
Evie's father was handsome, but in the eyes of her mom, his handsomeness had waned too much for him to stay a part of their lives. She had banished him from their sight and forced Evie to swear to never acknowledge him. Evie had told her that she was fine with it. She had said she was fine when on her sixth birthday her dad wasn't allowed to show up at her party. She had said she was fine when the tears in her eyes started to pour out like the juice of a squashed-up apple. She almost admitted that she wasn't when Captain Hook, feeling so bad about Evie's sadness, tried to make her laugh by placing his head inside a crocodile.
There are some more things that Evie's remembering that she's never dwelled on before. Harry Hook chasing around his sisters Harriet and CJ. Meanwhile, his friends, Uma and Desiree were apple bobbing. Evie remembers Uma grumbling because she lost and Harry stopped his running to volunteer to be Uma's champion, proceeding to lose too. Uma had declared rotten apple bobbing as boring and she and Harry started playing another game together.
And then, her memories stop on the memory she had never forgotten. She sees Maleficent cursing her and her mom for not inviting her daughter, Mal. Evie had wanted to invite Mal but her mom had forbidden her from doing so. Her mom held a grudge towards Maleficent who had gone and crowned herself Queen Of The Isle. A title Evie's mom felt should've belonged to her. Evie stops herself not wanting to think of the consequences of the action. Not wanting to think of the years of isolation she had to experience. Especially, not wanting to think of how her mom's constant nitpicks affected her.
Evie strays far from the forest of her thoughts. Gil is quiet. He's been analyzing the same roll of fabric for minutes now. Evie tells Gil that he doesn't have to tell her and then changes the subject. Gil easily recovers and the conversation goes back to the rhythm they had before. They finish sorting through all the fabrics Evie bought today and Evie much to her surprise invites Gil to help her out again.
Gil is happy with the invite and immediately agrees. They set up a time to meet again and then say their goodbyes.
Later that day, Evie is pinning some fabric on a mannequin. She takes a step back from the mannequin and sighs. Evie lifts her hand up and places it on her chin. She looks at the mannequin in deep thought.
This dress isn't for any of her fellow students at Auradon Prep. Or even for any of her closest friends. Or even for Evie herself.
This dress is for the princess who used to live under the sea but traded that up to live on the land. Princess Ariel. Well, Queen Ariel now. Evie was shocked when she went to one of Mal and Ben's royal obligations with them and Queen Ariel had approached her. She gushed to Evie about her designs and told Evie that she was a fan.
Her hair sways as she enthusiastically asks Evie to make a dress for her. Evie had to hold in a squeal as she agreed. Now, Evie contemplates whether she should go with a green skirt with a purple top or a magenta purple skirt with a sea-foam green top for the gown princess Ariel ordered.
Mal walks in, looking tired as she walks towards her bed and plops herself on it.
"How were your royal duties today, M?" Evie asks.
Mal groans. She turns over on the bed and sits herself up. "Great. More people are complaining about Ben's decree to let every child from the Isle come to school in Auradon."
"It'll take time but I really think the people of Auradon will warm up to the initiative," Evie says with confidence in her voice.
When Evie and her friends first came here everyone was wary of the vk's but with their strengths and their powers of four, they found their way into everyone's heart. Well, except for Chad Charming but Evie was really glad to dodge that rotten apple.
"I hope so," Mal says, quietly then her voice brightens up a little. "Hey, I managed to convince the royal painter to let me do my own royal portrait. Well, self-portrait now."
"I thought you already had one," Evie says confused.
"That one sits in a hall at the place Ben had his coronation. My official royal portrait will sit in the royal hall of Ben's castle."
"I...guess it'll be mine too," Mal adds as an afterthought.
"Cold feet?" Evie wonders, worried.
Mal shakes her head. "No, it's just that I've been doing all of these royal duties but I've never really sat and thought about being queen. Auradon is, like, a whole country, Evie. That is a lot of people who need me to make decisions for them."
"Yeah, but you'll have Ben." Evie encourages, walking away from the mannequin she's working on. She goes to Mal's bed and sits beside her best friend."And me and all of your other friends."
Mal doesn't say anything, her face appears deep in thought.
"Don't worry." Evie consoles, offering her hands up for a hug. Mal accepts it and leans into her friend's arms, hugging her."You're going to be the best queen ever."
The next morning, Evie wakes up with an idea but she's not exactly sure if it's a good one. The idea centers on Gil but she barely knew him, so she's not entirely sure if she can even trust him.
But then again, he held half of her rolls of fabric yesterday and he didn't run away or even try to steal it. Evie decides her idea will have to wait. Wait until she's sure that Gil is trustworthy enough.
Later, Evie and Gil are sorting through her accessories. The mannequin wearing the dress she's working on for Princess Ariel is covered up and put somewhere where it's unnoticeable.
As they sort, Evie and Gil get deep into a conversation again and Gil once again mentions his mom's shop. But this time as he describes his mom's shop the faint feeling of familiarity Evie felt before blooms into full-blown recognition. Evie knew of that shop. She had even been a frequent customer there and they always had the best fabrics.
She croons her compliments of the shop to Gil who just smiles in appreciation but Evie suddenly pauses saying she doesn't recall ever seeing Gil there.
Gil's reaching for a small-sized accessory when Evie asks him this question but suddenly his hand drops. He lowers his head as he admits he never was at his mom's shop during opening hours.
"My dad would always force my brothers to come and get me. He was afraid my mother was making me soft." Gil let out a deep heavy sigh at the memory. "Now, I can't see her at all."
Evie picks up a medium-sized accessory then places it in a bin. She gives Gil a sympathetic look he can't see.
"Family Day is coming up soon, so I'm sure you'll be able to speak to her."
"If my dad is there she won't be able to show up," Gil reveals, disappointed.
"Why?" Evie wonders.
"My parents broke up when I was a baby." He reveals with sadness intertwined in his voice." My mom was his second wife and his least favorite because when they broke up she took me with her. My dad's previous wife gave him full custody of my older brothers so my mom taking me was like the ultimate defiance or something."
"Oh," Evie says, frowning.
She had taken to avoiding family day herself. Whenever she was around her mother she found that she couldn't trust herself. The bad memories seemed to fade and her mother's words tasted sweet, making her forget how poisonous they truly were.
"Maybe..." Evie pauses, not sure if she should suggest what she wants to suggest."Fairy Godmother can set up a family day meeting for just you and your mom."
"Could she really?" Gil asks, lifting his head up. He's hopeful and his voice comes out sounding almost child-like.
"Well, I'll have to ask Ben but I'm sure he can sway her."
"Thank you," Gil says, covering his mouth after his words set sail. "Oh no, I'm not supposed to thank someone. That's not evil at all."
"Gil," Evie starts, her voice soothing. "You're not evil. It's okay to say thank you. It's okay to be kind."
"Really?" Gil asks, quietly. "I don't think the other wharf rats will think that way though."
Evie's idea, the one she wasn't so sure about earlier, comes back. She gets up from where she sits and gets out the two boxes full of rolls of fabric that Gil and her sorted out the day before. She sets both of them down on the floor behind Gil's chair.
"Why don't you choose some fabric?" Evie offers then adds." I won't be needing all of them."
Gil looks behind him and tries to stifle a noise of excitement but it comes out anyway. And then he thanks Evie again. He gives Evie a shy smile, stands up from his chair, and then goes to look at the boxes full of rolls of fabric.
Gil chooses three rolls of fabrics. A dark yellow that looked almost Auradonian gold most likely for himself. A teal blue that matches the teal-colored clothes Gil's Captain/Best friend Uma usually wears. And a shining red fabric that almost glints with a little wickedness that matches Gil's best friend, Harry Hook.
"What are you going to make with them?"
"Well...I'll have to draw it out first. But I do think I could start out with something simple. Like, gloves or..." He pauses. "Gloves?"
"Gloves are nice but it's going to be summer soon."
"Ohhh...Do you have a piece of paper I can draw on? Or a napkin or something?"
Evie hmms, getting an idea, and then tells Gil to wait. She then pulls out a drawer hidden under her sketching desk. From that drawer, she lifts up an empty sketchbook that she then hands to Gil.
Gil lets the book sit in his hands. His face looks unsure and not at all at ease. His eyebrows knitted in confusion as he eyes the book. Evie knew Gil like most of the kids on the Isle weren't used to kindness or ever receiving a gift. Unless there was someone ready to immediately take it back.
"It's yours." Evie declares, a smile on her face. "Make sure to take care of it by putting your very best designs on every page."
Gil grips the book and then pulls it close to himself. "I will." He assures.
Evie then invites Gil to come over to her dorm again, telling him that maybe she can help him out with the gloves he's making. Gil happily accepts. He even sheepishly admits he prefers working with another person rather than just doing it by himself.
They decide on a time to meet again the next day and after that Gil is gone.