"Would you care for a hot hor d'oeuvre?" I asked.

"Yes please." Ben replied. We finally had some time to ourselves and decided to have our first date in quite some time. We were having a picnic under a gazebo near a lake. I had opted for a black skirt, a red, sleeveless button-up shirt and red heels. My hair was pulled to the side and held back by a gold broach. I held a piece of food in front of Ben's face. He smiled before leaning forward and taking a bite. Ben hummed in appreciation, "This is the best thing I've ever had."

"You like it?"

"I more than like it. I, uh." Ben reached over and plucked a pastry from the tray closest to me, "So like it." Ben pointed to a dish. "Beef ragout?"

"Of course." Ben took a spoon and dug in,

"This is amazing."

"How's this for a surprise?" I asked, leaning my elbows on the table and folding my hands, resting my chin on my laced fingers.

"Oh, yeah, you surprised me. This is every single dish Mrs Potts made for my parents. What did it take you? Three days?"

"Of course not. I'm not that crazy, it's only a little bit of each dish, otherwise, we'd have too much food."

"Well, it means a lot that you stopped and did this all for me. Especially with all the craziness we've been through." Ben took my hand. "I missed spending time with you." I gave Ben a small half-smile. He lifted his hand and caressed my cheek. I leaned into his touch. "We don't get much time to just be us anymore."

"I know." I reached out my hand and wiped a small piece of food off his chin.

"You can't take me anywhere, right?"

"Ahhh!" I laughed, remembering our first date before he became King. Ben reached over and took a napkin off the small pile in the middle of the table.

"I really hate to bring this up, but what's up with Mal?" I sighed, letting my hands fall to the table.

"Mal is...not handling me being in charge, so to speak." I admitted. "But I honestly think she's just mad she can't control any of us through fear anymore."

"What…?"

"So, you know Mal was the de-facto leader on the Isle Kids." I started. "She got that power through fear. She terrified everyone, and when she couldn't get what she wanted, she went crying to mummy. When we were six, Evie and I had a massive birthday party. We invited all of the Isle Kids, and I bagged her mum to invite Mal but EQ refused. She didn't really think it through, and the four of us were banished to the other end of the Isle. Ten years later, we emerged from banishment and what does Mal do? Apologise? No, she shoves Evie and I into a closet filled with bear traps. Then, she attempted to curse us with her Mother's sceptre not two days later. She…" I sighed. "She hasn't apologised. It's been over a year."

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Ben asked.

"Because, Ben, we just didn't have the confidence. But, after almost dying, I knew I had to stand up for myself more. First thing was accepting my role as a Princess, and the influence that came with it. Look what we're doing now. We managed to secure Peace Treaties with all the kingdoms in the Enchanted Forest."

"You are more confident." Ben agreed. "But...I'm just sad that she hasn't said sorry yet."

"It's ok, it's Mal. I don't expect her to do anything other than lead her stupid fan group around. She's made everyone think that she was the only one to beat Maleficent last year. And because everyone was frozen, no one knows for absolutely sure."

"But you and Jay and Evie and Carlos know. Can't you argue against her claims?"

"We could, but we've been so busy with securing these Peace Talks that I haven't had a chance. Plus, people will think I'm just vying for attention, which I'm not."

"I know." Ben reached over and wrapped his hand around mine. "But don't you want to set the record straight?"

"It's fine, Ben, trust me." Ben nodded.

"Ok."

TIMESKIP

Later that day, Ben and I were in his study going over the final details of the document for my parents. "We humbly accept your offer of peace, and hope that our Kingdoms can forge a lasting friendship." Ben finished. He lifted his quill. "There."

"Very formal." I complimented, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and I leaned down. I kissed his cheek.

"Well, it is your parents."

"And they know that you spent your first months as King in the Enchanted Forest, then stuck in Storybrooke and then was a victim of yet another curse." I rested my chin on Ben's shoulder. "They'll understand. They didn't fight a war just to be ignorant." There were rapid knocks on the door, causing Ben and I to look up. Evie, Jay and Carlos stood in the door frame, Jay itching to get in.

"Ben?" He called.

"Jay, guys." Ben greeted as I straightened, keeping my hands on his shoulders. "Come on in." Jay pushed in, paper in hand.

"Mal's gone back to the Isle." Jay declared, shoving the paper into my face. I blinked, before taking it reluctantly.

Dear Everyone,

I am so sorry. I don't belong in Auradon. I'm going back to the isle and there is nothing any of you can say to stop me, that's why I'm writing this, so nobody can try to convince me to stay.

Mal.

"Seriously?" Ben questioned.

"Yeah." I muttered, handing him the paper so him.

"We have to go get her." Jay stated.

"Let's just talk this through." Evie suggested.

"There's nothing to think through! She's been under so much pressure from everyone to be an Auradon girl."

"When did she ever say that?" I asked. "The entire time we've been back she's been convincing the entire population that it was her who defeated Maleficent, just her, not the five of us together."

"She's kept her Spell Book locked in our dresser draw." Evie added.

"She said that Regina gave her permission to use Spells but she hasn't." Carlos added.

"I'm reluctant to go after her." I admitted. "She hasn't apologised for everything she did to the three of us as kids." I gestured between Evie, Carlos and myself. "The banishment, the bear traps-"

"Trying to curse us with her mother's Sceptre?" Evie added.

"Yeah, that wasn't so good." Carlos muttered.

"She's still our friend!" Jay protested. I sighed, closing my eyes and collecting myself for a second before opening them again.

"Ok." I relented. "We'll go back to the Isle, Jay tries and convince Mal to stay, if, and only if she decides to come back, we'll bring her back. If not, we respect her decision to stay. Ok?"

"Yeah, I'm ok with that." Evie replied.

"Me too." Carlos agreed. We all turned to Jay. He looked at us all with wide eyes for a minute before sighing.

"Yeah, ok, fine." Jay relented.

"I'll come too." Ben said, standing.

"No, Ben." I argued. He turned to me.

"But, Hadley-"

"Ben." I said softly. "I get that you want to help, and that's so sweet of you, but the Isle is really dangerous, especially for someone who hasn't been there before. Plus, I'm pretty sure the four of us aren't that well-liked after we betrayed them. So for your safety, please, stay here." Ben was silent for a moment.

"Ok." Ben sighed.

"Thank you." I leaned down and kissed his cheek before straightening again. I turned to my friends. "Let's go save Mal."

"There's just one thing." Evie stated. "We're not going to the Isle dressed like this."