Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Xavier hiccuped and Ben's heart melted.

"Buh," Xavier babbled to himself, repeating the single sound over and over. He was sitting beside the couch in Evie's living room, chattering and playing with the little toys Evie had left out. Ben hovered half in the doorway to the living room and half in the hallway, peering down towards the kitchen where Mal and Evie were talking. Audrey stood beside Ben and watched as Xavier slowly lost interest in the toys and then began examining the table legs instead.

"He looks like you," Audrey mumbled beside him.

Ben nodded. He reached for Audrey to put an arm around her shoulders, but she brushed his arm back and stepped into the room for some space. She knelt beside Xavier, who looked up with guarded concern at the appearance of his new playmate. "I wonder what it was like for her when he came and he looked exactly like you and you were gone."

"Well, it sounds like people had already assumed I was the father," Ben recalled, thinking back to how Audrey had asked Evie about people's reactions.

"I wasn't talking about other people. Just her," Audrey specified. She showed Xavier her hand and he carefully held his own up, glancing between their palms as if to ask "What now?" A smile spread across Audrey's face.

Ben considered that. Mal had seemed indifferent and absurdly calm when describing Xavier to him. Not the spitfire she was before, though she was still strong-willed. It could be, he supposed, a result of long-term stress or resignment.

Audrey placed her palm up to Xavier's to show him the size difference and Xavier stared at her with wild confusion. Ben snorted, cleared his throat, and waved. "Xavier," he called. His son's name felt familiar on his tongue as if he'd been saying it all his life. Xavier turned with a little jump and a tiny grin crossed his face when he caught sight of Ben, who was more familiar to him than Audrey was. He waved, rotating his wrist slowly as Ben stepped into the room and sat beside Audrey. Then, he leaned forward until he had fallen on his hands and crawled over to pull himself into a standing position using Ben's arms as a prop.

Audrey didn't look at Ben as she offered Xavier a hand and then guided him into a walking position. She did clear her throat before helping Xavier toddle around in small, easily-manageable circles. "So," she began. "Mal."

Ben flinched. He really, really didn't want to talk about Mal with Audrey.

"Is she Hades's daughter?" Audrey asked.

Ben relaxed again. That was an easily manageable territory. "Yeah," he agreed. "Hades and Maleficent."

"That's insane," Audrey huffed.

"Well, it certainly… yes, it is," Ben agreed.

"This little boy," Audrey began, leading Xavier closer to her until he was able to let go of her finger and grab her shirt sleeve for support, "is the grandson of Beast and Belle and Maleficent and Hades. What a pedigree."

"Do you like him?" Ben asked softly. He'd seen her betrayed expression the first time she'd glimpsed him this morning. No doubt she'd been reeling over their likenesses. Part of him reasoned she'd have every reason to loathe the physical proof of his infidelity, but she seemed rather content with little Xavier.

"He's cute," Audrey hummed with a nod. "He's got your face."

"Well, my features. His face is more his mom's."

"I don't hate him if that's what you're asking. Or her."

Ben stared as Xavier reached for Audrey's hand again. He'd noticed her nails and thought they were cool. "You don't?" Ben asked.

Audrey shook her head. "Mal is… nice. And it hurts knowing what you did with her, but I think you both have made your intentions very clear and-" she paused to wipe at her eyes as tears filled them. "It still hurts a lot, obviously, but that's where I am right now."

Xavier slowly let himself down to the ground and rediscovered his toys with fascination. As he picked up some sort of rattle, Ben reached over and set a hand in Audrey's back. "I'm sorry. I should have… I shouldn't have let my heart get the better of my head."

Audrey stayed silent.

"I want to fix things between us," Ben continued, setting his other hand on Audrey's leg. "Will you let me?"

Audrey moved away from his touch a little, but then sat still as his hand rested on her leg. She blinked at it slowly, as if she couldn't process that it was there, and Audrey wondered if she was going into another one of her phases where she zoned out. But instead, she squeezed his hand and then got to her feet. "Where's Belle?" she asked.

"She's still out playing," Ben reminded her. "We'll have to go find her before lunch."

On the floor, Xavier began to babble happily. He tossed his rattle aside and waved his hands in the air with a large smile. Ben turned to see what Xavier had seen and his entire body relaxed to see Mal leaning against the doorframe.

"I think I saw Belle running towards Uma's sector," Mal informed them both. "We're having lunch with Jay and Carlos at the pavilion today. We can walk over and I can find her if you need."

Ben picked up Xavier, who was still reaching for his mom with a pout becoming increasingly prominent as he extended grabby-hands toward her. Mal sighed and took the baby, letting a little smile show as he grabbed onto her hair and relaxed. "That is if this rascal doesn't need me still."

"I think he's just clingy," Ben chuckled. He set a hand on Xavier's back and then leaned in to boop noses with his son. Xavier turned away, wrinkling up his forehead and then burying his face in Mal's hair. He started babbling incoherently into her hair and then discovered Mal's hair was stuck to his hands. Mal pulled the purple locks out of his reach and then looked up past Ben with concern.

"Do you need an arm?" Mal asked Audrey. Ben looked over his shoulder and leaned out to catch his wife's arm as she swayed a little.

"Just blood rush," Audrey shook her head, though she held onto Ben's arm for a few seconds before she was able to stand by herself again. She gave Xavier a little smile that made the little boy return his face to Mal's hair. Ben pulled a few locks out from in between Xavier's fingers and let his fingertips hover on the strands a moment.

"Soft," he murmured to her and a little color rose in Mal's cheeks. She stepped back and exhaled.

Evie and Doug appeared, all wrapped up in light jackets against the faint breeze that had been blowing all day. Their little girl, Morgan, was cuddled under Doug's arm. Ben, Audrey, and Mal all followed Evie and Doug out of the house and down to the pavilion. There, Uma was serving sandwiches. She handed one to each as they passed and Ben marveled that Mal and Uma could now pass each other without insulting the other.

"We need Belle," Audrey said as she sat down.

"She already came through," Uma assured her. "All the little ones without parents get fed by us. She just followed her friends."

"Where did she go?" Audrey frowned, peering around for any group of giggling children.

"Down by the river," Harry directed her gaze, pointing towards where Ben had disappeared to the day before. "There's a little place you can hike to on the banks… they like to play games down there."

"Will she fall in?" Audrey demanded.

"The older kids keep an eye on them and don't let them get wet unless it's hot," Uma promised. "But we did set up a net downstream in case something - or someone - falls in."

"Dizzy's probably down there," Evie announced. "You remember Dizzy, right Ben?"

"I do remember Dizzy." Ben set a hand on Audrey's shoulder. "She's probably fine. Let's eat and go check on her."

Mal set her plate down beside Evie. She was close to Audrey, but not to Ben. She carefully readjusted Xavier on her hip and then glanced towards her towering building. "I need to go grab some food for him," she mumbled. "All the baby food is in his room."

"I can watch him?" Ben offered, holding out his hands.

"No," Mal declined. "I'll take him up with me. He needs to be changed and you'll have to go get Belle soon and I don't want him being carried around camp." She grew her wings out without any verbal command. Audrey dropped her fork in surprise as Mal walked around them and then took to the skies gently, holding tight to Xavier as she did.

"Wings," Audrey muttered. "She has wings."

"Yes, she does," Ben affirmed, picking up his sandwich.

"How am I supposed to compete with wings?" Audrey muttered under her breath. Ben paused with his sandwich halfway up to his mouth and gave her an odd look.

The ground rumbled. Everyone looked down, then up at the pavilion's roof. Then, the entire earth began shaking. The tables rattled and clanged and food slid off onto the ground.

"Earthquake?" Ben asked.

"Get out from under the pavilion," Evie ordered. She covered her head as she and Doug struggled to stand up. Ben used the table for support and helped Audrey up. Her hands were clasped around her neck and her eyes were squeezed shut.

They got to the edge of the pavement and Ben squinted. Out past the edge of the barrier, a great cloud was arising. Several tons of brown earth was being thrown into the air. A new shock knocked them all to their knees before the barrier turned vivid green.

"It's an attack!" Evie realized.

"Maleficent," Audrey whispered.

Lightning struck the barrier. People inside screamed. The ground continued to shake as if someone was trying to tear the barrier out of the ground. Audrey turned and seized the front of Ben's shirt. "Belle!" She demanded. "We need to find Belle!"

"I got her, I got her," Ben agreed, squeezing her hands. He got to his feet, stumbling as he tried to keep his balance on the rocking ground, and then began running towards the river. It was easier to run than to stand still. Within moments, the pavilion was out of sight. The barrier continued shaking as the sun was completely blocked out by the massive dust cloud surrounding them.

"Belle!" Ben shouted when he got close to the river. "Belle!"

He kept running downstream, hoping to find her there, but the sounds of the attack were beginning to grow louder. Loud blasts that could have come from a cannon were echoing off the barrier and the sharp crack of electricity made Ben's hair stand up on edge.

He suddenly reached the barrier's edge.

The river, which started in the east, flowed out to the west and then to the sea several miles outward. Several different sections were engulfed in the bubble-like barrier, and this was the beginning of the section closest to the road. In fact, he could see the carriage through the trees, out by the road.

A whistling sound caught his attention. Something landed to his right. Had Maleficent managed to break through? But no, it was Mal instead. Devilish horns had appeared on her head and her wings were extended, waiting to take flight at any second. Her hands were outstretched and her fingertips were glowing. her eyes were vivid, vivid green.

She raised her hands and Ben watched the barrier grow thick, almost like the green glass of a bottle. The shaking subsided. The booms seemed more distant now. He took a step closer - she still hadn't seen him yet.

Who had given her the right to be so beautiful? Even amid chaos, when she was fully prepared to murder for her people, she was immaculate. Ben watched her purple hair drift around her face as if it was obeying a gravity other than earth's. She hovered on the outskirts of the barrier, mostly turned away from him, and slowly let her hands down. Ben followed her gaze to see what she was searching for.

Outside, the dust began to settle as the attacker realized their attempts were futile. Ben balled his fists up as he kept his gaze focused on the thinning cloud. The outlines of trees became visible, and then the ground began to gradually appear.

In the middle of the path, black robes became visible. Ben almost jumped out of his skin when he recognized the vicious, fanged snarl of Mal's mother, Maleficent.

The wicked witch turned with a snap of her robes and vanished almost immediately after she became visible, but there was no mistaking who had come and gone.

"Maleficent," Ben said from upstream. Mal's head swiveled around to stare at him. Her wings and horns were retreating into her head. "That didn't take long. Only three days even without the maps from the palace."

"She saw me." Mal chewed her lip. "Did she see you? Does she know you're here?"

"I don't know," Ben admitted. "I only glimpsed her on the trail."

"I don't know if she'll come back now that she knows I'm still with the VK's," Mal muttered. She nodded towards the pavilion. "Come on, I need to talk to Evie."

"I need to find Belle," Ben protested and glanced around to affirm there were no wayward children around. "Audrey's panicking without her. Where do the kids usually play?"

"Upstream." Mal's gaze hit the ground. "In, um, our place. They like to crowd around the water and they call it 'the enchanted lake'."

"Oh," Ben sighed and nodded. "Okay."

They walked back towards the pavilion. Ben would drift closer to Mal and then remind himself to put more space between them, again and again. She was like a magnet, pulling him into her.

At the pavilion, everyone had once again crowded underneath the roof and around the tables. Audrey was sitting down, but when she saw him, she got back up. "Did you find her?" she called, walking out to meet them both.

"Belle should be upstream with the other children," Mal told Audrey. She skimmed the people around the pavilion with pinched lips. "Where's Evie?"

"I think she went to go find the children too," Audrey explained, wringing her hands. "She walked that way." Audrey pointed towards the north and Mal sighed.

"Great," Ben decided. "That's exactly where we need to go for Belle, supposedly. Let's walk up and meet her."

Ben looped his arm through Audrey's to support her as the three began their walk away from the pavilion. Mal remained stone-faced, distracted, and on-guard as Ben explained to Audrey what he'd seen.

"Maleficent discovered us pretty quickly, even without the maps in my office," he thought aloud. "I hope she hasn't hurt too much of Auradon. With me gone, things will be in disarray."

"It's only been three days," Audrey whispered. "We'll be back soon. We can sort out this thing with Maleficent and figure out something with our family."

Ben ducked underneath a sign hanging from two trees and saw that the path Mal had led them on led right to 'the Enchanted Lake'. The area had been cleared of most of the underbrush that had hidden it from the settlement and it was now a wide-open grassy area. A large cart's handle - similar to the ones they'd used to travel - was put on a stone pillar beside the path's opening and several smaller carts for the children to use were scattered around.

Up ahead, Evie was bent down and talking to some shaking children. Others wandered around and picked up fallen debris. Ben and Audrey ducked under the trees, following Mal as she walked over and pulled Evie away from the kids. It felt odd to be with Audrey here, in this place.

"Where's Belle?" He muttered under his breath, looking around.

Audrey pointed ahead to the riverbank wordlessly and Ben saw Belle picking up a yarn doll from the ground and offering it to its owner, with her medical doll underneath one arm. The motion was so simple and sweet that Ben forgot to go grab her for a moment. He simply watched as Belle sat down on the ground with her legs stretched out and tied a little piece of cloth around the yarn doll's arm as if it were a bandage and then look back down to examine her own doll's marks.

Audrey leaned her head on Ben's arm. It had been years since she'd done that, it felt like.

He was so caught up in watching Belle examine a scratch on her doll's arm that he missed the sliding, griding sound behind him. With a crash, the cart, which had been knocked off balance in the attack, slid off of its dock and began to wheel backward. The handle thumped across the ground as it rushed right for the river - right towards Belle.

Someone shouted a warning.

It hit her full on and her head was knocked back from the base of the cart slamming against her ear. Her leg was caught in the wheel and the cart flipped on top of her. Audrey let out a shriek of horror. Ben started moving, but the handle of the cart had been caught by the current. With the wooden planks grinding down on the pebbles, it was pulled into the river, which was running much faster than it should have been due to the earth shaking. Belle was pulled in after it and her head promptly disappeared underneath the waves.

He reached the banks, fell to his knees, and stuck his hands in to grab the cart's large wheel. With a mighty heave, he began to pull it back out. His arms burned. the water tugged back and tried to pull him in, but he dug in his feet and kept his grip. Belle still hadn't resurfaced. She could swim, but probably not in this fast water and not with the cart holding her captive. With a yell, he yanked back and the entire cart began to be pulled up onto the shore. Ben kept going until both wheels and handle were on the ground and then realized with horror that nothing was underneath the cart.

"Where is she?" the littler kids howled in horror. "Where's Belle?"

Audrey collapsed beside him. Her hands searched in the dirt as she stared at the water for any trace of Belle. Then her arm shot out to point downstream. "There!" she shouted. Ben caught a glimpse of brown hair and a pink shirt and jumped to his feet. As he did, a blur of purple passed him by.

"Mal!" Evie shouted.

Ben caught up to her as she stood on the bank. Since the river was winding, she'd been able to run past a bend and was now watching as Belle's body approached her. She was splashing a little against the fast current, so she must be awake.

"You can't swim!" Ben gasped as he approached. "Mal, let me-"

Mal stretched out her arm and the river stopped in its tracks. It split apart, leaving a dry riverbed, and Belle dropped onto dry soil in the center of it. Mal wasted no time in jumping in and picking up Belle before rushing back to the bank and putting her into Ben's arms. The river resumed its course as Mal climbed back onto solid ground.

Ben squeezed Belle's body. She was cold and shivering. She gasped for breath and then began to throw up water. He helped turn her so she could throw up into the river, but she began to thrash against his aid. Gargled screams escaped her mouth amidst the streams of swallowed water.

"What's wrong with her?" Ben demanded, squeezing her arms in a panic as he looked up at Mal for answers. "What can we do?"

"Her leg!" Audrey cried as she came upon the pair. Ben looked down and his hands began to shake when he saw how Belle's pant leg was drenched in blood. She was cut.

Belle stopped throwing up and began to sob and scream. "Owie!" she cried. "Owie!"

Ben ran his hands through her drenched hair. "Hey, hey, we've got you," she tried.

Belle reached out blindly. "Mommy!" she called. "Mommy, mommy!"

"Let Audrey have her, Ben," Mal ordered, moving to support Belle's head as Audrey sat down and began reaching for her.

"Audrey can't - she's not strong enough to-"

"Let me have my daughter, Ben," Audrey snapped. Her voice was so firm and powerful that Ben immediately began to calm down. Audrey took Belle from him and squeezed Belle's arms as Belle began to babble in pain.

"Mommy, it hurts! My leg, my leg!"

"Hush," Mal commanded, taking the side of Belle's face. "Listen to me, Belle. I need you to look at me. Look at me right now."

"It hurts!" Belle continued to cry. Her eyes were squeezed shut against the pain.

Mal's pupils lit up. "Belle!" she called more urgently, and Belle forced one of her eyes open. "Listen to me, Belle. What hurts?"

"My leg! My leg!"

Mal reached for Belle's ankle and Belle let loose an ear-splitting scream.

"Can you numb her?" Audrey begged.

Mal took Belle's face again. "Listen to me, Belle. What color are my eyes?"

"My leg… my leg…"

"Belle!"

Belle forced her eyes to open just barely and her entire body relaxed suddenly. Mal breathed a little sigh of relief and maintained her gaze as Belle fell silent. "What color are my eyes, Belle? Can you tell me?"

"Green," Belle murmured in a tiny whisper.

"Good girl," Mal nodded. "I'm going to move your leg now so I can help you. We're going to do it fast and it'll probably hurt, but we need you to be brave while Mom is holding you."

Audrey glanced at Ben and then squeezed Belle tighter, rubbing her arms to keep her warm. Belle gave a small, dreamy nod. She was under some sort oh hypnosis charm.

Mal took Belle's leg and quickly straightened it out through touch while maintaining Belle's gaze. Belle grimaced in discomfort, but there was no more screaming. That was good because Ben thought he might cry if he heard her yell out in pain again. Once her leg was straight, Mal was able to scoot up her wet and bloody pant leg. She then broke her eye contact with Belle for seconds at a time to glance down at the wound.

Ben almost had to turn away to throw up himself.

Something - her bone - was sticking up through her lower leg in a horrible break that had punctured her skin. It looked almost like a PVC pipe except it was bone and bloody and made Ben think he might faint. Mal's fingertips grazed over it almost carelessly and she nodded and kept Belle's gaze off of her own ruined leg.

"Its a bit bad," she told her. "But we're going to get you help, okay?"

"I hurt," Belle whispered back.

"I bet," Mal agreed. "But you're being very brave. Now we're going to fix it so it won't hurt as bad. I'm going to do it myself to make sure it gets all better. I'll be your doctor - you like doctors, don't you?"

"I like doctors," Belle agreed.

"Good," Mal whispered. "I'm going to use a doctor trick now. I want you to count backward with me, and when you wake up, you'll be all better. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Three…"

"Three."

"Two…"

"Two."

"One."

Belle never responded because she went right to sleep with her cheek nuzzled against Audrey's shoulder. Audrey let out a breath.

Mal got to her feet and held out her arms. "I can hurry and set the break," she said. "It would probably be best that you don't see it, though. I'm going to have to open it more."

Ben set his hands on Audrey's shoulders. She seemed remarkably calm, though tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Let her," he whispered. "She's done this before."

Audrey nodded and slowly let Mal take Belle out of her arms. Mal's wings were appearing as she secured Belle's arms atop Belle's torso and carefully supported her ankle and leg with her arm. Then, with a swoosh of air, Mal was gone, heading towards the large building where she lived.

Audrey began to cry in earnest now. Ben was in shock as he slumped beside her. She turned and curled up into his chest and he dropped his head onto her shoulder in complete, numbing disbelief. Upriver, the cart was being hauled onto safer ground. One of Belle's new friends had found her doll where it had been dropped before the cart went into the water.

She'd almost drowned. Her head had been under the water probably for two minutes. He'd almost lost his daughter.

Ben wasn't used to feeling so powerless and vulnerable all the time.

Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Two hours after Mal had taken Belle, he and Audrey were hiding in Audrey's room, waiting for more news. Ben wasn't sure how they'd gotten there - only that he'd come back to himself with Audrey asleep on his chest. They were lying width-wise on top of her covers with shoes on and tear tracks down their faces.

He focused on the light moving outside and listened carefully for any trace of sound around them besides Audrey's quiet breathing. Nothing.

Audrey stirred after a long while, opened her eyes, rolled her chin to lay on her hand on top of Ben's chest, and blinked down at him in confusion. "You're here?" She muttered.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Problem?" he whispered.

Audrey's face fell as she apparently began to remember what had happened and sat up, rubbing her cheeks. "Where's Belle?" She asked. "Has Mal come back yet?"

"No," Ben shook his head. "Nothing yet."

Audrey nodded and turned away. She sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her face, trying to get the stiffness and the sleep to leave her. Ben watched her, almost numb, until she moved her hand and set it on top of his on the bed. Then, he had the urge to move away but sat up instead.

"She'll be alright," Ben muttered under his breath. "Mal… she has lots of experience."

Audrey exhaled and nodded. "I trust her," she agreed. "I'm just… worried. I mean, you never know what's going to happen. I want her to be okay."

Ben nodded. Audrey took her hand away with a breath and so he patted her knee with his hand. She chuckled and glanced up at him before shaking her head. "It's been a long time since we woke up like this," she mumbled.

Ben's mood soured even further. He gave a one-shoulder shrug and got to his feet.

"Ben," Audrey stopped him and then slowly got to her feet. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Ben repeated.

"I know I was distant. I know I wasn't there. I know you were unhappy." It was hard to keep her gaze up. She kept looking at her feet. "I… I do miss us. The way we were before."

"I'm sorry too," Ben said, though the words felt hollow on his tongue. "Maybe we can get back to that stage again."

But Audrey remained silent and didn't offer up any words of confidence. If anything, she looked like more life was being drained out of her.

A knock came from the door. Ben reached for the handle and swung the door open. Mal was behind it with curly horns still poking out from her hair. Audrey gasped and stepped in front of Ben. "You're here!" She said. "Is she alright?"

"She's in her room now, but asleep still. the sleeping spell I used should probably wear off soon," Mal explained, taking Audrey's arms to steady her. "You can go sit with her. I've wrapped her leg up because it's probably not good for her or-" her eyes flit to Ben. "-Ben to see it."

"Ouch." Ben wrinkled his nose.

"No, she's right," Audrey rolled her eyes. "You probably don't remember, but you went into shock down by the river."

Ben's face turned red. "Oh," he muttered.

Mal rolled her eyes, but there was mirth in her eyes. "In his defense, no parent should have to see their children's bones exposed. Anyways, she, uh, I numbed her. She won't feel any pain. I set the break and she should be fine. But you'll need a proper doctor to look at her. She may need extra help to walk normally again."

Audrey let out a breath and nodded. She stepped past Mal and began heading down the stairs. As she walked away, Ben put a little extra space between him and Mal. "Thank you," he muttered. "For helping her."

"She's a sweet girl," Mal shrugged. "I hope she still likes doctors after all of this." She exhaled and turned to head up the stairs. "I left Xavier when Maleficent struck. He's been alone for too long now. He's probably fine, but I need to go check on him."

"Okay," Ben agreed.

Mal paused with her hand on the barrier. "Ben… I'll be leaving soon. Today, probably. Now that I know where my mother is, it'll be easier to take her down."

"Just tell me when and I'll find a sword and-"

"No, I'm going to leave you here," Mal shook her head. "I can't spare the extra energy to protect us both. You're in charge of Xavier."

"Are you-"

"I'm sure."

Ben grit his teeth. "I can go out with you, you know."

"I know," Mal agreed. "But I need you to stay here. Really, Ben, I do. And I need you to understand that."

Ben exhaled. "Okay."

Mal nodded and headed upstairs. Ben left the room and shut the door behind him. He wandered down the stairs and looked up. He could see Mal's arm on the next stairway up as she headed up, but then she was gone. He sighed and headed downstairs.

The next bedroom down's door was open. He could see Audrey's legs as she sat on the edge of the bed. He walked towards the doorway and opened the door wider to slip in. Audrey didn't look up at him as she ran her fingertips through Belle's mangled, ratty hair and traced the cuts on her face. Belle was pale with dark lips and shallow breathing. She looked like how Ben might have imagined the original Sleeping Beauty.

"Ben, find me a comb in the bathroom, please?" Audrey murmured. She stood and moved so that she could lift Belle's head onto her lap. Ben glanced towards the attached bathroom in the room and then peered inside. There was a comb on the table that he grabbed and brought back to Audrey. Audrey took it carefully and began to pick at the ends of Belle's hair, trying not to pull or rip her hair. Ben sat down on the bed beside their little girl and found Belle's chilled hand atop the covers.

"Where's her doll?" Audrey asked.

"I saw one of the kids grab it. They'll probably keep it for her."

"We should go grab it," Audrey murmured.

"We will," Ben agreed. "I can go out and grab it later."

Audrey hummed and continued picking at Belle's hair. It occurred to Ben that Audrey had always - always - done Belle's hair and he didn't honestly know how to do that much with it. Even when the nannies had been in charge of her, Belle had gone into her mom's room every day to get ready. It was their thing.

About twenty minutes passed before a shadow appeared in the door. Ben and Audrey both looked up. It was Mal, holding a sleeping Xavier to her shoulder. "Can I leave him here?" She asked Ben.

Ben nodded and held out his hands. "I can take him," he whispered. Mal stepped inside and placed the baby into Ben's arms.

"I'll be back," she whispered.

"Be safe," he whispered. She nodded and left.

"Where is she going?" Audrey asked when Mal was far enough away.

"Her mother," Ben replied and Audrey took a little breath.

She finished with Belle's hair and set the comb aside before stretching her hands out towards Ben. "Can I have him?" she asked.

Ben blinked. "Do you want him?" he asked.

Audrey patted a spot on her lap beside Belle's head. I want to compare them," she admitted. "Belle doesn't look as much like you as he does."

Ben tilted his head at Audrey and then slowly laid Xavier beside her. He doubted Audrey could safely lift him. Xavier gave a little sigh as he settled into a fold between Audrey's leg and Belle's head and his fist settled beside Audrey's thigh. Audrey gave a little hum and combed his hair down with her hair before sighing. "He's precious," she whispered.

"You think so?" Ben asked.

Audrey nodded and leaned back towards the headboard. She continued running her fingertips down both children's heads, one at a time and going still whenever either stirred. Ben watched without a reaction for what felt like a long, long time.

Audrey's head rested on Belle's head. "She'll want her doll when she gets up," she said and Ben nodded in agreement. "I know you said you'd do it later, but will you go find it now? Before she wakes up?"

Ben nodded once and got to his feet. He paused and then leaned over the bed to kiss Belle's forehead, then Xavier's, and then Audrey's cheek. Audrey didn't say anything as she continued brushing down the two kids' hair. He left, shutting the door behind him.

The doll had been picked up at the river where the accident had happened, that much he knew. Kids were once again running around in the clearing and when they saw him, the began to maul him about Belle.

"Is she gonna be okay?"

"Is her leg broken?"

"Where's Belle?"

"Belle's going to be fine," he assured them. "But I need to find her doll. Where is it?"

The kids scrambled to the heap of toys and began to pull thins away to see if they could recover it, but Molly the doll wasn't anywhere to be found. One of the older kids sat down to think. "Um…" she said. "Barley took the doll when it fell, but I could have sworn she put it into the pile. Maybe she picked it up afterward and took it to her house to keep safe. The only other place it could be is with some of the other kids who went off on an adventure that way." She pointed downriver, back towards the place where Ben had gone looking for Belle earlier that day.

Ben sighed. He remembered Barley but didn't know where she lived. Maybe it would be easier to go find the other kids first? He thanked the kids and began to head downstream, pausing every so often to see if he could hear whispers. The river once again began to take him closer to the barrier.

He happened past the trail that led to where his empty carriage still waited and squinted at it. It still looked undisturbed. He hoped none of the little ones knew it was there - it wouldn't be good for them to be outside of the barrier at the moment.

Ben crossed the path, tripped over a rock and stumbled before he spotted something pink up ahead. It made him pause - hadn't Belle's doll been wearing a pink dress when they'd left the palace?

A few steps closer and the familiar plastic face came into view. It was laid against a rock as if standing and looked like it had been abandoned. Strange. The Isle kids rarely abandoned anything - they were all paranoid with the idea of things being stolen or taken away from them if they weren't in protected spots. Even stranger was that the area around the doll was undisturbed. No tiny stick teepees for the kid's adventures or heaps of leaves to serve as pretend food. It was as if the doll had been dropped and left.

And strangest of all, it was three feet behind the barrier.

" Don't go out," a voice commanded him that sounded strangely like Mal's. " Don't do it."

But the doll was right there, almost within arms reach, and he had to make sure he knew where the other kids had gone.

"It could be a trap."

Or it could have been a trap. A trap that had already worked. Ben stepped closer to the barrier and looked all around. Everything was calm and undisturbed. If he were to grab the doll, jump back inside, and rush to tell Evie, everything would be fine.

" Leave it there. It's a doll."

Ben pushed a hand through the barrier. He had long arms but still could only reach about halfway. With a deep breath, he poked his head out and reached.

His ears were filled with sweet… music. How hadn't he heard it before? It was beautiful and alluring and made his entire body feel numb and sweet.

"Come with me, child," someone beckoned him from the trees.

Ben straightened up and left the barrier behind. The person gave a hum of approval. "Touch the doll," they encouraged. "Touch it, I say."

Ben looked down. The doll had transformed - it wasn't Belle's prized medical practitioner's equipment but a long and curved sword. When had that happened? He picked it up.

A crooked finger appeared, beckoning him onwards. Ben walked across the clearing towards the trees. Smoke began to billow out of the trees as he neared them. A shadow emerged - someone with curved horns and a thin nose and pink mouth. Cold fingers reached forward and curled around his chin. "Tell me, child, what color are my eyes?"

That was a spell. Hadn't someone used that spell today? He couldn't remember who or what for.

"Green," he answered, and felt his eyes roll into the back of his head.

"A dream is a wish your heart makes," Audrey sang softly, alternating between brushing Belle's hair off her face and brushing down the peach fuzz on Ben's son's head. "When you're fast asleep."

Ben had been gone for a while now and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious where he'd gone. Mal was gone, not that it would matter too much if they were talking alone. All the damage had been done.

"In dreams, you will lose your heartache. Whatever you wish for, you keep." Belle stirred underneath her mom's touch and Audrey sent another frown to the door. Where was Ben?

"Mom?" Belle asked, blinking up at Audrey's tanned hand.

Audrey leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Hello sweetheart," she whispered. "Are you feeling better?"

Belle nodded and turned her head. She smiled when she saw Xavier and leaned her head against his leg before she sat up. She moved the covers aside and found her bandaged leg underneath the sheets, which she ran her finger down. "Is it broken?" she asked.

"Yes," Audrey sighed with her stomach twisting. "We're going to take you back to Auradon to get you checked out just as soon as Maleficent is gone."

"Did Mal fix me?" Belle asked.

"She did," Audrey couldn't stop a smile. "But we want to still get you checked out. You might need some extra help to learn to walk, just like I'll need some help to start not being sick again."

"We can get better together," Belle nodded and fell back into Audrey's side, snuggling up against her torso. Audrey's ribs ached, but she only squeezed Belle tighter and kissed her head.

"That's a good idea," Audrey whispered. "I want to spend lots of time with my little doctor."

Belle patted her hand. "I can take care of Xavier and me and you. And maybe Dad, if he gets hurt."

Audrey chuckled. "Dad has some things he needs to figure out, so it might just be you and me sometimes, baby."

Belle went a little quiet and then tilted her head into Audrey's side. "Mom, how come we all have different rooms at home?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Evie shares with her husband and so does Uma and all my friend's parents," Belle explained. "At first I thought it was weird, but they all think I'm weird because you don't share with Dad."

Audrey chewed on her cheek. "Yeah, dad and I are a little different," she agreed. "We're not like a 'real' married couple, I guess."

"You're fake married."

Audrey laughed. "I guess."

Belle nodded. "That makes sense."

Audrey kissed Belle's hair again. Her little body felt warm against hers. She didn't want to let go.

The door opened. Evie appeared, holding Belle's doll in one hand. "Oh, hey," She smiled. "Sorry, I didn't want to wake Belle by knocking. The kids told me Ben was looking for this? Where is he?"

"I don't know," Audrey frowned. "He's been gone for a while."

Evie looked surprised. "I'll go find him," she decided. "It's not like him to wander off." She gave the doll to Belle and tucked the covers up underneath her shoulders. With a kiss to the head, she was gone again.

Audrey laid a hand on Xavier's head. If Mal had returned, she would have come to check on the baby. Unless she'd found Ben en-route, then she might have stopped to ask where he was. But no one besides Evie had stopped in and that meant Mal was probably out looking for her mom still. Could Ben have gone after her? If he had, he would be in a world of trouble for leaving their son with Audrey and then not bringing back Belle's doll, but that seemed so unlike him.

He was probably still just out looking. He'd hopefully be back soon.

Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Swish, swish, swish. The rough edges of the leaves tried to catch onto her pants, but couldn't get a good grip on the leather. Mal did wish they'd be a bit quieter, though.

She could see the remnants of someone using magic in the area as she wandered through, but it was all in traces and hard to track. A little bit of something caught on a tree here and there and there… or stuck on a rock here or there or there.

It hadn't been very long and she didn't expect to have found her mother after scarcely a half-hour of searching, but she did need to keep in mind that the longer she spent looking, the higher the chance of her getting jumped was. And she did have a limit of sorts - she had to be back to take care of Xavier eventually.

She jumped over a log and finally caught a glimpse of something physical in the earth. Faint lines of someone dragging fabric behind them. Her mother had been here then. But only for a few seconds before becoming smoke again. it looked like she'd been popping around the barrier, looking for some way in. That was the third she'd found just by making her way around the barrier.

Someone shouted inside the barrier and nearly scared her out of her wits, but nothing outside was disturbed as of yet. She decided to keep heading on. She was almost to the entrance and that was the last place they'd seen Maleficent and probably both the most likely and least likely places to find her, depending on Maleficent's mood. She'd either be dramatic and pop out of nowhere or she'd be cautious and refuse to make a move. Given the state of their relationship, with Maleficent being terrified out of her mind, Mal assumed it would be the latter.

She came upon the path and hesitated only a moment before stepping out into view. Everything was disturbed here, in the area Maleficent had blown her dust cloud into. Maleficent must have thought that she was still strong enough to penetrate Mal's magic, even a little, and had given it her all. She'd barely shaken the foundations.

Ben's carriage still stood on the side of the road. Mal wandered over and dusted off part of the front to reveal the Auradon crest. She remembered it well from the night she'd stopped Ben's carriage in the road. As she studied it, she felt something shift in the air around her but refused to move. Her mother was here then? And sneaking up on her… odd of her to take the quiet route. She'd assumed Maleficent would draw near and try to call out to her - convince her to join her side one last time. But no, apparently she'd decided her only daughter was uncontrollable and far too much of a liability. And since Maleficent wasn't powerful, fast, or smart enough to kill Mal head-on, she had to resort to sneaking up.

A pebble rattled across the earth. Odd - why wouldn't Maleficent use her smoke attack? She must have assumed Mal was looking for traces of magic and would immediately sense it. She felt the waver of a sword being readied, waited, and then ducked down at the same second the metal blade would have slashed through her head. She came back up, summoning her powers about her, and stopped in shock.

"Ben?" she asked.

Ben attempted to drive the sword through her chest and Mal stumbled back into the wheel of the carriage. "Ben?" She called. "What's going on? What's gotten into you?"

He kept coming, and his attacks weren't clumsy either. At some point, someone had trained the King of Auradon in sword-fighting, because he was far too talented to be an amateur. She ducked around the wheel, rolled underneath the carriage, and jumped up on the other side before throwing up a barrier around herself. It was invisible, not nearly as powerful as the monstrosity that was keeping everyone safe, but still enough to protect herself. She expected Ben to run right into it - he was human, and had no way of knowing what she'd done - but he straightened and ceased attacking immediately. His face was withdrawn and blank.

Two options; either this wasn't the real Ben, or he was spelled. There was no other way he would have known she'd used a spell. And while she knew she'd left Ben with Xavier in the bubble not even an hour ago, she doubted Maleficent would have thought to… torture her like this. Playing with her mind with this man - the king who'd fallen for her and loved her - when Maleficent had no way of knowing what had happened. No, it was more likely that Maleficent had found him. He must have come out of the barrier. Had he been looking for her? After she'd told him no?

"Ben," she called, backing up even more as Ben remained stone-faced. Something twinged in her chest. It wasn't as if he looked horrible when he was focused on nothing and looking as if every emotion had abandoned him, but it was a different picture from the passionate person she usually knew. "Can you hear me?"

He didn't react at all. His eyes followed her hands as if he suspected she might try and attack him. She tried to keep them from shaking. Maleficent could be using Ben as her eyes and she couldn't let her mom see how much this was hurting.

"Isn't he pretty?" Someone crooned behind her. Mal was so focused on Ben that she jumped when she realized Maleficent had appeared behind her. She kept her shield up as she rotated her body around to see them both at the same time. Ben didn't move. Mal waved her hand to him.

"Is he real?" She asked.

"Kill him and find out," Maleficent challenged with the widest smile Mal had ever seen on anyone.

Mal didn't move. She readied her shield and squinted at her mother. "That's treason," she announced blandly.

Maleficent nodded. "King of Auradon. Better hope he's not the real one."

Ah. So that was the idea. Have Auradon declare war on the villains.

"I could just put a shield around him," Mal snarled. "If I take you out, his spell will be broken."

Maleficent wavered a little. There it was - the fear Mal had been reeling over for the last three years. Maleficent had an ace - she had the King of Auradon, for heaven's sakes (And Mal's lover, though her mom didn't need to know that) - she just had to play it right or Mal could steal him back and Maleficent would have to withdraw or lose.

Mal lit a hand up with her signature green flames and extended it towards Ben as a silent challenge to her mother. If they ended up having a battle over Ben's mind, Mal would win. She studied Maleficent's reaction. Her mother didn't move. it was as if she was waiting for something to happen.

Ben moved behind her and her head snapped around to watch as his knees hit the ground. He took his sword, put it at an angle, and held the blade flush to his neck. Mal's blood went cold. One half-inch more and he'd be bleeding out. Ben was holding his breath so the exhale wouldn't cut his neck open.

"Take down your barrier, Mal, and the king lives," Maleficent called.

Mal's eyes filled with stubborn tears. She'd never been this emotional before - why now? "What does it matter?" She demanded. "If I take down the barrier, you'll take the villain kids. if he dies, Auradon comes after us. Either way, you're dooming us."

"Not that barrier," Maleficent crooned. "Your barrier. Come, Mal, join me and I'll break his spell and let him walk away. I swear it."

"I'm not interested in being under your rule," Mal sneered. "I spent sixteen years and I learned, mom. You're afraid of me anyways."

"Mal, baby, I was never afraid of you," Maleficent lied and Mal raised an eyebrow at the telling shake in her voice. "I was so, so proud. And I'll be proud again… just come back to me."

"No," Ben said suddenly from behind them both. Maleficent had let his spell lift while she struggled to stay still in Mal's presence. His head was wrenched back as Maleficent re-asserted her control of his body, and then the edge of the blade drew a line of blood from his neck.

"Stop!" Mal shouted when she saw the blood. What could she do? Even if she put a barrier up around him, he'd still be under her control. He had done something - obeyed a command of some sort - and not even severing the magic would undo the spell right away. She could try and battle for Ben's mind but there was no chance Maleficent wouldn't slit Ben's throat before she could stop him and no guarantee she wouldn't damage his mind trying.

"What do you want?" she demanded. "On your side, what do you want me to do?"

"Come rule with me," Maleficent crooned. "Nothing more. He'll walk free."

Mal grit her teeth. An idea popped into her head. She narrowed her eyes at her mother, then sent a cutting blast of hardened flames at her. Maleficent barely managed to get out of the way - leaving a charred tree behind her as she tripped over her robes and toppled down. Ben let out a strangled gasp behind her - with Maleficent's focus gone, he could bring the sword down from his neck.

He jumped to his feet. Blood was dripping down his collarbone in a little river that made Mal so angry she could feel heat behind her eyes. She kept sending near-solid fire blasts toward her mother as Maleficent jumped out of her way. The older woman's face was white with fear. Ben took the sword he was holding and jumped to Mal's aide, even though there wasn't a lot he could do while she was hurling fire back and forth. He did stamp out a flame near his foot and it was then that Mal was reminded she needed to be careful to not set the forest on fire as she attacked.

Maleficent vanished into a few wisps of smoke. Mal stopped her attacks and glared all around her, waiting for her to reappear. The forest had gone quiet again.

"Where'd she go?" Ben whispered after several long seconds of nothing.

"I don't know," Mal whispered. She might have scared her off, though she hoped that wasn't the case. She stopped looking around to skim Ben. He looked unharmed except for that tiny cut on his neck. He was holding the sword in his right hand and kept fixing the handle as if the sword wasn't weighted properly for his arm. "I'm going to kill her, and then I might kill you too."

"I'm sorry," Ben muttered under his breath. "I saw Belle's doll behind the barrier. I was trying to get it."

The doll. Mal cursed mentally. That must be the object Ben had touched. Fabulous. At least it wasn't around now. Maleficent's control over Ben would be weaker without it. She sneered and turned to press her fingertips to her head. "Hey," Ben began and reached out to set a hand on her shoulder. His fingers knocked into her barrier and there was a zap that made Mal gasp. When the light smoke cleared, Ben was shaking his hand. "Oh," he said. "You have a barrier."

"Get under here," Mal demanded and pulled him in, making the space wide enough for both of them. "Goodness gracious. Okay, this space will follow me around, so as long as you stay close to me, we should be fine."

"Fine?" Ben repeated, and his voice sounded a little weird. Mal wrinkled her nose up at him and then a green fog crept into Ben's eyes. Mal took a step back. How? Maleficent wasn't around and the doll was…

She looked down at the sword. It had a black handle and looked new and clean. There wasn't anything like that around here.

Oh. She'd screwed up.

Ben attacked, stabbing straight for her heart. Mal jumped back and her foot caught on a rock. Before she could wrench it out, he stomped on it. He swung for her head and Mal put up her arm to stop it, letting a metallic-like protective surface cover her sleeve before Ben's sword clanged off.

"Ben!" She shouted. He was still inside the barrier - shouldn't Maleficent's hold be weaker? "Ben, it's Mal. Remember me?"

"I remember you," Ben agreed, but every word echoed with Maleficent's tone. "Don't you remember me, Mal? Didn't you remember me when you left me locked up on that island?"

It was Mal's fervent wish to never hear Ben impersonate her mother - ever.

Mal jabbed Ben in the knee with her elbow. He fell and she rolled on top to try and pin him down. She kept a particular focus on his sword hand as he tried to inch the blade down onto her head. She just had to wrestle the cursed blade away and…

Ben kneed her in the stomach. It didn't have as much effect as it would have if she hadn't been clenching her abs as tight as possible, but it still left her a little breathless and caused her to lose focus. Ben used the distraction to flip her. Now she was on the ground with a hard rock pressed into her spine and Ben was pressing his blade down onto her neck.

For a moment, she wondered if she might die, but then she noticed Ben's grip grow looser. He stopped pushing her into the ground and simply held her there. Some of the fog cleared out of his eyes.

This didn't make any sense. Why would Maleficent stop focusing on him right when she had Mal pinned?

"You need to kill her," Ben stammered. It was his voice without Maleficent behind it. "I know you can… please?"

"You need to go back into the barrier," Mal hissed. She wanted to spit out Xavier's name, but if Maleficent got any sort of hint who Ben was to her or what else she had on the line, then this battle would be better than over.

"Mal…" Ben whispered. His grip was loosening even more now. Mal imagined a target painted on the side of his head. If she could just knock him out, then…"

"I love you," he whispered.

Her eyes snapped back to his. Why on earth would he say that now? After everything?

A prompt came to mind: "Grab him. Get the sword."

She seized his arms and flipped them again before she managed to wrest the sword out of his hands. Ben's head dropped onto the ground as he gasped for breath and Mal got to her feet, raising the sword triumphant over her head. His eyes returned to their normal color.

Mal, in turn, felt hers color over.

She tried to bring the sword down - she couldn't. She tried to cast a spell - nothing.

While she'd been fighting with Ben, she'd lost focus. Her barrier had dropped. And then Maleficent had issued a command that had seemed perfectly reasonable - without her even knowing.

Mal felt her mind lockdown. Ben got to his feet. He was frowning at her. He reached forward - first for her face before he changed his mind and set his palm down on her shoulder. "Mal?" he asked. "I'm okay. I promise. I'm sorry I attacked you."

Mal flung her left hand out and smacked him. The blow was so hard he flew back and landed against another thick rock, gasping for breath. Mal shrunk the sword down and put it in her pocket - it'd be safe there and hard to retrieve. Ben was staring at her as he slowly connected the pieces and, for the first time from him, she could see real fear. It was a strange look for the King of Auradon.

Then Mal summoned her powers around her, and the world became walls of fire.

Audrey was, thankfully, out of the tall building with both of the children when the bubble popped. The ground had started shaking again just as Jay had set Belle down in the grass outside of the building. Xavier was babbling on Audrey's hip as he examined her earrings, which had been in for a few days now. Everyone looked down, and then everyone looked up as the green barrier flashed once and then burst open with a sound like firecrackers. Evie gasped.

With the barrier gone, dust was thrown into the air. Within seconds, it was as if the world was gone. Xavier began to cry and rub his eyes with tiny fists. Audrey shushed him as she stumbled, trying to find her balance, and almost tripped over Belle. She dropped to the ground beside her. "Mom," Belle whined, bouncing up and down on the earth and trying to hold onto Audrey's arm. "Where's Mal?"

"We have to get out of here," Evie shouted. "Everyone, head for the safe place!"

"Evie?" Audrey called and Evie appeared out of the dust. "What's going on?"

"Maleficent got Mal," Evie said, dropping down and reaching for Xavier. "Come on, we have to get out of here. It's not safe!"

"Take Belle!" Audrey told Evie and pulled Belle's arm off of hers. "I can carry Xavier but I can't carry Belle."

"Mom!" Belle began to cry. Her leg was broken, her dad was gone, and now her mom was handing her off too. "I want to stay with you!"

Audrey kissed her forehead quickly while struggling to her feet. The ground was still shaking, but she was slowly growing used to it. "Come on, baby. Go with Evie and I'll see you soon. And when this is all over, you and I will go somewhere special together where we can both get help, okay?"

Belle continued crying as Evie scooped her up. She took Audrey's hand and helped her to her feet. "Come on, it's this way," she said.

Audrey pushed Xavier's head down into her shoulder to shield him from the onslaught of dust and trudged over the shaking earth. Evie showed her the way into the trees, where others were marching. Soon, they came upon a giant cement hut that was two stories high and partially buried. The windows were so thick she couldn't see inside of them. Despite the fact the earth was shaking, this structure didn't move or crack in the slightest.

Everyone was dusty inside and stamping off dirt on large mats whilst also trying to move inside and make room for other people. Evie carried Belle over to where Carlos was sitting in a chair, looking broken. She set Belle down beside him and gasped out: "What do we do?"

Carlos snorted. "Mal's gone," he said. "We're done for."

"She wouldn't have left," Evie protested. "She gave Maleficent up, remember? She wouldn't go back!"

"I think she did," Carlos snapped. "And it's only a matter of time before she comes to kill us too. I told you from the beginning, Evie, the day Mal decides she's done is the day we're all done."

"But what about Xavier?" Audrey asked. "He's her son."

Carlos ran a hand through his hair. "The thing about Mal is… she's always searching for that sense of belonging. And she wants to feel like her mother wants her around. Like she belongs with her mom. I guess we gave her a bit of that. I guess Ben did too, and that's why she tripped over herself for him. And Xavier… I mean, when someone thinks you're the sun, how could you not feel like you belong?" Carlos shook his head. "I guess it wasn't enough to keep her."

"That's wrong," Audrey shook her head. "No, there's got to be some other explanation."

"Oh, and what would that be, Princess?" Jay spat. Audrey jumped - she hadn't seen Jay sneaking up on them from behind. He pulled a knife out of his bag to whittle at the end of a stick. "Carlos is right. Mal left. She's always looking for someone to… welcome her with open arms. And now she'll kill us all, hoping that her mother will finally love her."

"No," Audrey insisted. "That's not the kind of person she is."

"Oh shut up!" Jay yelled. "Don't you understand? We're all going to die!"

Everyone turned. People were silent except for the little echoes of Jay's proclamation. He kept going. "What do you know? You're from Auradon, live in a castle, ignore everyone around you for years, and destroy your own marriage." Jay scoffed. "Ben's told us about you. We know what kind of person you are. You're just like her. You'll do anything to be able to live the way you want to live with the title you want to have. Even chase away a guy's friends and keep him isolated."

"Maybe that's me," Audrey snapped with tears filling her eyes. "But that's not Mal!"

Across the room, the door snapped open. Everyone turned around to see someone shaking the dust out of his hair. He was so dirty that no one recognized him until he cleared his throat and began to yell.

"Mal's been spelled!" Ben shouted at the top of his lungs. His throat was scratchy, but he was still clear. "She's under some sort of mind-control charm!"

"I told you so!" Audrey snapped at Jay. She pushed him back a little, which probably did her more damage than him, and then dropped to the ground and gave Xavier to Belle. Then, she marched across the room. People got out of her way as she went. She put her hands on Ben's arms. "Where is she now?" she demanded.

"Heading back towards Auradon. The city… the city is flattened." Ben's shoulders dropped in disappointment. "She'll hit Charmington soon. I think they're going to head for the Isle and break it open all the way."

Well, we need to stop her," Audrey declared. "What can we do to stop her?"

Ben stared and fumbled for words for several seconds. "Well… the mind control spell only works if Maleficent is focusing and if Mal has that cursed sword on her. She put it in her pocket - there's no way we can get it out. But if we break Maleficent's focus for long enough, Mal might be able to break free herself."

"I'm sorry," Uma appeared on Audrey's left side. "About five things happened at once and I got distracted. How do you expect to distract Maleficent long enough for Mal to get out from under a mind-control spell? And what if she doesn't?"

"Well, then we'll go to plan B," Audrey replied as if it were obvious.

"What's plan B?" Uma asked.

"Not sure yet. Let's go." Audrey waved for Evie, Jay, and Carlos to join them. Evie hesitated, then kissed Doug and their baby on the cheek and head respectively before heading over. The boys followed behind. Uma looked impressed.

"I knew there was something I liked about you," she laughed. "How are we going to catch up?"

"Our carriage," Audrey decided. "Ben, you know how to drive, right?"

Ben shook his head. "I know how to crash," he corrected her.

"I'll drive," Uma decided. "And before we go-" She kicked a barrel and something metal rattled inside. We may need some swords."

"We may," Audrey agreed. She glanced back to Belle and Xavier, who were huddled into a corner. As Uma handed her a sword, she took a deep breath. Doug moved closer to the kids - he'd be just fine to watch over them. Still, she wandered over, knelt beside Belle, and kissed her forehead. "I promise, when all of this is over, you and I are going to spend lots of time together. We'll play games, and read books, and we're going to be very, very happy."

"And dad?" Belle murmured, looking behind Audrey's shoulder. Audrey glanced behind her. She hadn't realized Ben had followed her.

"And dad," she agreed.

Ben knelt and picked up both kids. Belle sniffled and buried her face into his chest. "You'll be okay," he whispered. "Just stay here and everything will be fine. We'll be back soon."

"I'll watch them," Doug volunteered. "It'll be okay."

Ben kissed Belle on the cheek and then Xavier's little head. Xavier wasn't quite sure what to make of his dad getting back up and towering over them. Audrey gave them a last little smile before they headed to the door. Uma and Jay were working on wrenching it open. Ben grabbed Audrey's arm to stop her.

"That was cool," he whispered. "I haven't seen you… come alive like that before."

Audrey shrugged and didn't meet his eyes. "Let's just get out of here," she muttered. "She needs help."

The door was wrenched open at the same time Ben spoke, so Audrey missed whatever he was going to say. Outside, the wind was howling and screaming. Clouds of dust rushed inside. Six warriors pushed their way out before the door was shut again and all was quiet.

Across the way, Mal was leaving a path of destruction. uprooted tree trunks and gigantic boulders reduced to silt piles. Clouds of lightning were her escorts as she blazed through the forests, flattening the hills into charred pathways and filling the rivers with steaming gunk. She'd never used so much power in such a destructive way before.

There came a mountain and Mal threw out her hand and watched it crumble from the peaks down. The ground shifted and shook as she pushed everything down to her level and continued her march. Up ahead was Charmignton and beyond that was the bay where they'd first landed.

She was so close. So close to doing everything Maleficent had ever wanted to do. Using this power was so good… so fulfilling… her head felt fuzzy from all the new and strange feelings that were rushing into her from the magic. Almost there and-

Something whizzed past her nose. Was that… an arrow?

"Now!" Someone yelled from inside the dust storm, and a group of people rushed out of the dust. They were so small, despite their height, and seemed so silly armed with their swords and knives and bows. Mal raised her hands.

This should be fun.

Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Ben hoped to never see anyone in this state again. He barely even recognized Mal as she flattened the Arendellian southern mountains with a gesture and glare. Her skin was blue with oxygen miscoloring and she flashed and flared like some sort of living fire that was crackling with power. All of the plant life was sucked from around her as she walked. Lichens, mosses, and grasses withered into dry and cracked earth at her feet. The blue sky vanished as blue and purple storm clouds swallowed up the horizon, swirling around her like a hurricane without an eye.

They rushed in towards her, but the fog grew thick. Ben felt small particles stinging and burning his skin as they struggled to her. It was hard to breathe. He had always felt breathless around her, but this was like he was swallowing electricity. Like she was trying to pull his heart up his throat. The others were also struggling - Audrey especially could scarcely keep her balance.

Mal moved rather slowly for someone with so much raw power. Her goal clearly was to ruin as much as possible, not rush to the Isle of the Lost. She was doing a good job, too.

Uma drew back with a bow and shot towards Mal's leg. The arrow's flight path was immediately distorted and pulled upwards, towards the sky. It ended up skidding past the tip of her nose. Mal whipped around. When her green gaze landed on where their group was hidden, Ben felt an individual flame lit in every pore on his body. He'd never been more terrified of anything in his life.

Jay leapt first. He batted the smoke that was wafting off the ground away and jumped forward into Mal's line of sight. "Mal!" He shouted. His voice echoed in the vacuum of air Mal was creating. "You need to stop!"

Mal batted her hand and several thousand needle-like green shards of glass began sprouting out of the ground. Jay panicked and jumped away. Carlos snatched the back of his jacket and yanked him into the group and onto safe ground. Ground that immediately opened up beneath them.

Carlos and Jay fell with a shout but Jay caught the ledge of the ledge and pulled them both back up. At the bottom of the chasm was a swirling pool of lit magma that was quickly rising to the surface.

"Move!" Ben shouted, grabbing Jay's arm as he got back to his feet. "We've got to get away from this!"

Something hard struck his cheek. Ben grabbed it and looked skyward. A pebble landed beside him on the ground, then another and another.

It was now raining rocks.

They scrambled away from the chasm as similar cracks appeared in the earth. Lava began to flow from the cracks as they jumped to higher ground. Debris continued swirling in the air.

Ben helped Jay, Audrey, and Uma up onto a boulder. As he did, the lava was slowing down. He could feel and smell it from twenty paces away, but Mal's magic swept it mostly back down into the cracks in the earth. Still, not safe.

"Mal!" Evie yelled at the top of her lungs, though Ben was sure most of the sound was lost to the wind. "You can't do this!"

A lump of fiery green coal was shot out of the smoke. It slammed into Evie's cheek and knocked her back, off of the boulder. Mal's Maleficent-tinged laugh echoed all around them. Ben caught her before she could tumble into the cracks in the earth around them. A blueish burn had made the skin bubble up on her face.

The earth shook and the boulder split in two. Ben, Evie, and Carlos were hurled to one side, and Jay, Audrey, and Uma to the other. Ben heard shouts of pain from Carlos/

"Maleficent!" he tried, getting to his feet. "I know this is you!"

The rock rain stopped and out fo the fog, a shadow appeared. It was Mal, who crossed her arms and smiled like the Cheshire cat at him. "Oh, it's the king!" Maleficent cackled through her voice. Then, Mal's chin dropped to her chest and she went unresponsive. Maleficent appeared out of nothing beside her daughter and drew her fingers down her cheek. "Isn't she pretty? She's grown up so much."

Ben's heart thudded. Was Maleficent trying to imply…?

Maleficent hummed a little. "Mommy's little bomb," she hummed. "I knew she was powerful, but this… this is glorious." She gestured at all the destruction around them.

"It'll certainly be interesting to see how she reacts once you take that spell off her," Ben replied. He couldn't raise his voice too high in this smog. "You can't keep her under that spell forever. You'll have to let her go eventually, and she'll destroy you."

"She won't destroy me," Maleficent disagreed, petting her fingers through Mal's hair. "She's always wanted me to love her. What happened in the forest… that was just her panicking because of her friends."

"Take it off now," Ben challenged. "If you're so confident."

Maleficent narrowed her eyes.

"The moment you go to sleep, the moment you turn your back, the moment you let your guard down, you're a dead woman," Ben told her.

"I don't need her much longer," Maleficent sighed. "It's a shame - if she had joined me, she could have lived. Now she's disposable. Useful only for her powers."

The left side of Mal's face twitched, which was odd because she was supposed to be completely under Maleficent's spell. Ben zeroed in on the movement.

"You won't be able to kill her," he mumbled. "She won't let you do that."

Maleficent run a hand across Mal's shoulder's and Mal's head snapped back up. "You're annoying," they said, echoing each other. "Little Beasty King alone in his castle. You didn't pay attention to the Isle of the Lost, so pay attention while we destroy everything you love."

Uma raised her sword and rushed forward with a battle cry, but Mal threw a hand out and the sword imploded. Uma was blasted back and her head slammed hard into the ground. Ben willed himself to stay still, staring straight at Mal and trying to keep from blinking against the dust as much as possible.

"Kill him," Maleficent requested, walking a bit behind Mal and watching with interest as Mal's hand immediately went to her pocket. She pulled out a sword - the same sword that Maleficent had commanded Mal to take and which was serving as an anchor over her will, enlarged it, and readied it in her hands. "Go on, Darling. Do it for us. For everything he did to us."

Ben's mind was racing. Should he say something? Should he try and argue? He wanted to remind Mal of their son but if it didn't work and Maleficent realized, then it really would be game over. Instead, he prepared to duck if Mal decided to swing that sword at his head.

Maleficent suddenly frowned at Mal, as if she had said something incredulous. "Go on," she barked.

Mal raised the sword above her head and Ben watched, expressionless, as it inched down at an angle toward his neck. The slower she went, the more confident he got.

Maleficent went stiff.

"Mal," he whispered and took a half step closer to her. The cold metal hit his neck but didn't press any further. "You know you don't want to kill me."

"It'd be easier," she muttered, and her voice didn't have Maleficent's echo in it.

"Come on, Mal," Ben shook his head. "Are you really going to leave me alone?"

The green light vanished from Mal's eyes and she snapped the blade away from Ben's neck. "No!" She declared. She turned around towards Maleficent and the ground caught fire at her feet. Her skin on her hands started burning away as she trembled to hold the cursed sword. It began to break apart. Ben had to look away. His skin felt like it was on fire. In the distance, he could hear Maleficent screaming, begging for some sort of mercy, and there was this horrible ripping sound that was like velcro except he knew without a doubt it couldn't be velcro and that made him sick. Then there was prickling, like the sound glass made when it got too hot, and he was thrown back.

His body skidded across the earth. By some miracle, he avoided falling into the chasms. For several minutes, Ben couldn't see anything but white - so great had been Mal's explosion in front of him. But then he started to make out shapes again and could see the fuzzy outlines of the ground.

Someone took his shoulders and hoisted him to his feet. Ben gasped for breath. He could see the outlines of someone with a vest. "I can't see," he gasped as they tried to set him upright. "Give me a minute. Where's Audrey? Where's Maleficent? Where's Mal?"

"Over here," Jay replied gruffly. "Audrey's fine. Maleficent… we're not sure but there's a lot of blood over here so we're assuming she's… gone. Mal is… down."

"Down?" Ben repeated. He rubbed his eyes and the white shapes took on a bit more color. Jay turned him around and he spotted - off in the distance - purple. He tossed aside Jay's help and stumbled over the ground, where he almost tripped over the edge of a crater that had appeared around Mal.

He gradually was able to see where the bumps in the path were and that helped as he hurried to her side and dropped to his knees. She was lying spread-out and was very, very pale. He felt up and down her neck with nimble, numb fingers. No beat. No thrumming anything. No pulse.

"Jay? Evie?" Ben began to shout. "Carlos? Uma? I can't get a pulse!"

Pale hands budged him aside. It was Audrey, looking grimy and exhausted and with a hot bit of rock that had melted onto her ear. She waved him aside and felt up Mal's neck with one hand before reaching down to press her fingers at her wrist. "We need to try CPR," she whispered. Her voice was hoarse from breathing all the charred smoke.

"We already tried," Uma announced, coming up behind them with a shake of her head. "She's cold, guys. She burned herself out breaking that spell."

Ben sat back on his heels and stared down at Mal in something like shock. How could this have happened? This was… all his fault. He covered his face with his hands and exhaled, trying to let all the air out of his lungs. Oh, what would happen now? What was he going to tell Hades and Xavier when he was older?

What was he going to do?

Audrey muttered something, and Jay let out a startled sound - something between a scoff and a laugh. Ben tore his eyes off Mal, wiped them on the back of his hand, and looked to her. "What?" he gasped. "I missed that."

Audrey pulled her ponytail out of her hair, staring at the ground as she did. She raked her fingernails up and down her scalp. "True Love's Kiss," she mumbled. "Works every time."

Ben's mouth fell open. Was it… Audrey who had suggested that? Audrey, whose mouth had curled with jealousy when he went to see his mother and Audrey who was paranoid about everyone everywhere?

"Worth a shot," Evie muttered. "Old magic - might work."

"Audrey," Ben whispered. "You…" He trailed off when the words wouldn't come.

Audrey got to her feet, shaking a little, and stepped back. "Go on, Ben," she nodded. "Just give it a shot."

Ben stared. Evie, Uma, Carlos, and Jay all stepped a little closer to see. Ben's hands were shaking.

He slowly picked her head off the ground. She was stiff even though she hadn't been lying there for long. He kept his eyes on Audrey, but Audrey focused on Mal. Finally, he followed her gaze down.

Mal's mouth was shut and her eyes closed. Her cheeks seemed hollow as if there was no fat in them. Slowly, he leaned down and brought her up. Then he let his lips brush against hers. Nothing more than that.

It wouldn't work. The only reason he was doing it was because he'd wanted to kiss Mal at least once more ever since he left and because everyone was gathered around, expecting him to. He and Mal had known each other for mere months and no matter how electrifying and alluring she was, he couldn't call it love. Couldn't - it wasn't reasonable - there was no way -

Then Mal took a gasp underneath him and that train of thought stopped in its tracks. Her eyes snapped open and one hand seized his shoulder in a vice grip to support herself. Ben sat back up - half in surprise and half in fear that she'd smite him to the ends of Auradon. "It worked?" he asked.

Mal felt her mouth, apparently as shocked as he was.

"Mal!" Evie sank to her knees and took Mal's arm to help her to her feet. Ben let her go as Uma, too, came and helped her up. Mal leaned on them both for balance and continued looking back at Ben in shock. Ben didn't get up - he felt like his brain had flatlined and there was no shock that could revive it. Jay let out a breath and Carlos chuckled at his shock, then they both glanced at Audrey. Ben did too.

Audrey stood with her weight mostly on her right leg and her entire face unresponsive. She kept her arms crossed over her ribs as if bracing for a hit there. Ben swallowed. "Audrey?" he whispered and got to his feet. He reached for her hands, but she refused him. For several long moments, they stood at ends, and then Audrey relaxed and let Ben take her hands again. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I really am - I swear this doesn't mean-"

"I'm glad she's okay," Audrey cut him off. "And I'm glad Maleficent is gone. Let's go home."

The Villain Kid's city had been completely flattened to nothing but charred earth. Not even rubble stood in the places where Evie's home, the pavilion, or even Mal's giant fortress had been. Every toy and tool had been incinerated and every foundation turned over. Even the river had been dried up and overturned as if nothing had ever actually been there. Mal observed it all with dead eyes, avoiding Ben and keeping Xavier close to her chest. Most people avoided her with the same casual hate and fear that Ben had noticed in small amounts when he'd first come to them. After all, she'd destroyed the only home they'd ever had. Nothing was left except for a barren wasteland.

Evie cried with her face buried in Doug's shoulder. No eye was dry as everyone shuffled through the dust, looking for something - anything - they could salvage.

"Can't you just magic it all back?" Someone snapped at Mal and she flinched away from them, covering Xavier's ears from the loud sound.

But even Mal's magic had temporarily gone offline. When she'd broken the spell, she'd overdone it. It'd probably be a long time before she could start using it again without hurting herself.

Ben stayed by Audrey's side, keeping his hand in hers as often as she'd let him, and trying to avoid Mal just as much as she was avoiding him. Every second was pain and confusion.

The sun was setting when shouts came over the bluff. A line of horses came and Ben recognized the familiar coat of arms on the shields. "Chad!" he shouted. His voice echoed through the nothingness. "Over here!"

Chad had, of course, seen the Arendelle Mountains be flattened. They'd amassed an army to investigate once everything had stopped. And now it was Cinderellasburg's job to liberate the royal family plus every single villain child in the area.

"Where do we take them?" Chad asked, flabbergasted once he'd heard Ben's basic explanation.

"Out," Ben said simply. "Fill the hotels and inns in Arendelle and Cinderellasburg first. I'll take the rest to Auradon." He paused. "If they need doctors - any of them - it'd probably be best to take them with me. Out of the three of us, we have the most doctors per person."

Audrey laid a hand on Ben's shoulder and squeezed it. "I want to take Belle back to the palace to get her leg checked now," she whispered. It was the first thing she'd said to him since suggesting Ben kiss Mal. "Are you coming with?"

"No," Ben shook his head. "I… need to see everyone else out. Can you take her safely?"

"I can," Audrey agreed.

"Okay." Ben leaned down to kiss Audrey's cheek out of force of habit and she stopped him with an open palm. Then, straightening herself and righting her frame, she extended a hand instead. Ben shook it, more than a little confused.

"Chad." Audrey held a hand to signal their old friend. She pointed along the way to Mal. "That woman is very weak. She'll need a horse to get out. Find one for her."

The sun set and the night grew dark. Ben saw Audrey and Belle off with the first wave of people heading to Auradon. He tried to keep an eye on Mal every time he walked past to make sure she was handling things okay and that she didn't need any help with Xavier, but when the sun rose she was gone with lots of the others.

It took three days to get everyone out. Supplies were called in, but it was still a way away from Cinderellasburg and Arendelle even with the new paved area that Mal had created in her storm. The sun was blistering without any kind of trees or protection. The concrete building still stood, and it was here that most resided and shied away from the sun.

Finally, Chad put the reigns of the last horse in Ben's hands and told him that he was it - everyone else had gone. Ben and Chad exchanged numb thank-yous before Ben began the trek back to Auradon with a few guards to keep him safe and make sure he wouldn't be ambushed on the way.

The trip gave him time to think: What was going to happen to his families? How was he ever going to fix things with Audrey now? What was he going to do about Mal?

He found Audrey asleep in the master bedroom when he arrived at two in the morning. He stood in the doorway and watched her for a moment and then turned to sleep on the couch instead. The next thing he knew, the sun was shining in his eyes and an outside breeze was blowing through his hair.

Audrey was sitting in a chair across from him. He sat up slowly so he wouldn't startle her and ran a hand down his face. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied.

"You're up late."

"What time is it?"

"One. When did you get home?"

"Two." Ben yawned and stretched his arms out in front of him. "Where's Belle?"

Audrey chewed on her cheek. "With the other kids," she muttered. "There's about twenty left, though your mom and I have been placing them into foster families."

Ben stared at her incredulously. "You've been working with my mom?" he asked. Audrey nodded without a change of face. That was unnerving. He was used to knowing exactly what she was thinking based on her face and eyes. He sighed. "Did her leg get checked out?"

"Yes," Audrey replied. "It's a very, very bad break. Of course, we knew that but…" She turned a page of a book in her lap. Ben blinked - he hadn't realized she'd had it. When was the last time Audrey had read anything? "She'll need physical therapy. And now that Mal's hypnosis spell as worn off, she's in a bunch of pain. They're going to do a second surgery because they think one of her nerves is like… messed up in her leg. Should be fine after lots of work, but they've still got to do a decompression surgery."

Ben swallowed hard. Audrey glanced up from her book. "I got the surgery scheduled already and she's out of school for a while. We can homeschool her until she's good enough to go back."

"Sounds reasonable," Ben agreed. "What about you?"

"I…" Audrey took a deep breath. "Evie and Uma were right. Hypoglycemia. It's… insane that something so small caused so much damage. But essentially, Belle wasn't in my belly in the best position, and so she cut off some of the blood flow to my pancreas. Cue long-term damage that never got fixed. It must have started around month five or so, which is when I started feeling horrible all the time and everything. I just didn't notice it wasn't normal because I'd never had a baby before."

Ben nodded along to her words. "Do you have to have surgery too?" he asked.

"So far, no," Audrey shook her head. "They're giving me artificial enzymes to make up for what my pancreas can't do. And making me eat lots of sugary foods." She leaned her head back and sighed. "I never thought I'd get sick of Dr. Pepper," she mumbled aloud.

Ben snorted. It had been her favorite drink, ages back. "I'm sorry about… what happened out West. I never planned for… anything to happen like that."

Audrey stared at him, procured a slim stack of papers that she tucked into her book to mark her place, and set the book on the ottoman in between them. Ben traced the papers that were jutting out of the stack with his eyes. "Mal's here," she said softly. "Went to Cinderellasburg and Chad sent her in for a doctor. She's still out of magic. Doesn't come out of her room much. I went by to talk once, but she didn't want to see me. I don't blame her."

A knock came at the door. Ben turned. It was a footman, so Ben immediately started trying to straighten his hair. "Queen Audrey," they called and bowed a little. "Your carriage is waiting out front."

"Thank you," Audrey bid him before he disappeared into the hall. She turned back to Ben. "Xavier is here too. She hasn't let him out of her sight. I think she's paranoid. I get it - it's hard for me to let Belle go play - let alone not know where she is."

"I've got to figure out…" Ben put his head in his hands. "I don't know where to have her live. It feels wrong to not have her live in the palace when Xavier will have to come here anyway but it also doesn't seem quite… fitting to have her live with us here. I mean… I don't know."

"I think I can solve that problem for you," Audrey muttered.

She got up from her chair and then sat back down on the ottoman. Their knees were about three inches apart as she picked up the book and pushed it into his lap. Ben squinted at the cover. "Enchanted," he muttered. "Goodness, this story's old." He opened the book to where Audrey had marked it - near the end. In glorious full-color illustration was Robert Phillip, leaning over poor and lifeless Giselle. That made Ben pause. He studied Audrey. His wife seemed exhausted and stressed and somehow at peace with herself. "Is there something you want me to learn from this story?" he asked. The story that happened to contain the guy's fiancee telling the guy to kiss the other girl before it was too late.

Audrey gestured at the papers. They were facing the wrong way. He flipped them back over and his breath caught in his throat a little. Across the top read: "Divorce Agreement."

He looked back up at Audrey. "Is this… what you want?" he asked. "No more us?"

"When was there an us, Ben?" Audrey sighed. "You tried so hard and I… I only took advantage of that. Plus… being queen is hard. I'm not cut out for it."

"We could fix it. I'll… I'll stay, Audrey. I'll stay if you will."

"Ben, I destroyed all your friendships and your relationship with our mom and everyone," Audrey sighed. "I'm not going to ruin a literal true love for… greed." She ran a hand through her hair. "What I want is to go back to Auroria and be with my parents before they die. I already sent a message ahead to my mom. You keep your castle, I'll take my dowry and my dividends back and you keep your inheritance and we can part ways so we both have a better shot at life."

"And Belle?" Ben asked.

Audrey chewed on her cheek. "I know you love her and she's your daughter, but I was hoping you'd agree to let me have her on weekdays during the school year, and I'll bring her for weekends and breaks here unless I ask you ahead of time. We can do vice versa in the summertime."

"Would you be able to do that?" Ben asked. "With your blood sugar and everything?"

"Yeah," Audrey nodded. "We both need time to heal anyways. I was thinking I could take her for a while so you and Mal can get things sorted out and we can get this finalized. You could get married again and maybe even have more kids if you wanted. Then we could start switching her back and forth. When she gets older, she can pick and choose a little bit more."

"Are you sure you'll be able to do it? I don't want her going the way she was before… she's got to at least make her bed and clean her room."

"I'll make sure she does. You were right. She needs to do it. And I'm sure you'll keep track of her here too." Audrey put a hand on his knee and squeezed. "She needs her dad."

Ben skimmed the papers. She'd written a few things in pink pen - how neither she nor Ben could take Belle places without a little notice and who held medical responsibilities and a few other things. Audrey waited for his response and fidgeted. Finally, when he was done, he set the pages aside and pulled Audrey off the ottoman and into a hug. Tears had started running down his face at some point, though he wasn't sure when. "Thank you," he whispered in her shoulder. "I just… thank you."

Audrey patted his head. Ben sniffled and straightened up, wiping his eyes. "You… you don't have to, I swear," he said. "I meant it - I really will work things out with you if that's what you-"

"This is what I want," Audrey cut him off, putting her hand on the discarded pages before gathering them up and handing them back to Ben. "And this is what you need."

It was as if thirty elephants had been lifted off his shoulders. He took the papers carefully, well aware they contained his whole future, and wiped his eyes. "Where do I sign?" he asked.

Audrey pulled a pen out of her sleeve. She pointed out the places that required his signature and then left them on the ottoman. "Can you file them?" she asked. "You know better than I do about things like that."

"I'll take care of it," Ben agreed. He hesitated, then took his ring off his finger and offered it to her.

Audrey made a face. "I have your other one," she pointed out. "The blue one. You could keep that one and maybe use it for when you and Mal get married."

Ben chuckled softly. "Or you could use it?" he suggested. "Whenever you find someone."

A smile crossed Audrey's face. Still, she shook her head. "Keep it," she told him. "You bought it yourself. I had nothing to do with it."

So Ben tucked the ring into his pocket.

Audrey's room had been cleaned out, but Belle's remained the same. They found her with the other girls. She had a wheelchair now and a new medical doll since the old one had been incinerated. She was telling the other kids all about how she and her mom were going to go on a long vacation to visit her Grandma and Grandpa, and how she'd have two rooms. Ben didn't think the news fazed her much, though he did worry about when she got older. Hopefully, Audrey could find someone she loved, and then Belle could have two examples of real marriage instead of thinking that what he and Audrey had had was remotely close to normal.

It was odd to know he'd have two families now. One with Audrey and little Belle and one with Mal and Xavier, if she'd have him. Two parts of his life that were equally astounding.

He saw them off from the front circle in a carriage that would take them to Auroria and then headed upstairs.

Mal's door was on the left in a corridor three floors up. All the small children and adults were downstairs near the playrooms or out on the gardens, so it was silent up here. Her door was closed, but he opened it softly without a knock and saw her sitting, curled up on the window chair, with Xavier in her lap playing with toys against her collarbone. She was craning her head to see outside.

"Mal," he called and she spun around. Xavier looked up, startled, then turned and gave Ben the wide-eyed "how-dare-you" stare for disturbing the peace. Ben laughed and stepped inside.

Mal swung her feet off the window seat and used the wall to stand up. "Ben," she replied and glanced at the door to see if anyone was behind him. "I didn't know you were back."

"Surprise," Ben muttered. He kept walking forward until he was able to rest a hand on the bedpost a few feet from her. "You feeling better?"

"I am," Mal agreed. "Is everyone out?"

"They are," Ben nodded. "What have you been up to?"

"Settling things." Mal ran a hand through her hair. "My, uh, dad came to see me. I don't know if I said anything, but, uh…"

"Hades," Ben agreed. "Where is he now?"

"Downstairs," Mal's voice wavered. "We… sorted a few things out. He's going to come and visit Xavier and I… but he's also going to go back to the Underworld. Says he has a special place for my mom's soul." She swallowed and leaned against the wall. "As soon as I'm able to… move and everything again… I'll be out of your hair."

"To where?" he asked.

"Back west," Mal mumbled. "It's not good for me to be around you and Audrey and…" she sighed. "I'll let Xavier come back, but…"

"They're not going to rebuild. The land is uninhabitable. They've started integrating the villain kids into society. People seem to like them a lot." Ben crossed his arms and took a step closer to her. "If you want to go, fine, but I was hoping I could convince you to stay."

Mal closed her eyes. "Ben, you picked Audrey. I respect that."

"We're done."

"Who's done?"

"Audrey and I." Ben pointed out the window. In the far distance, the carriage was visible. "She asked to get out. She wants to live with her parents and doesn't want to be a queen and wants to spend more time with Belle."

"What?" Mal's tone was disbelieving. She took a step to peer outside the window and Ben stepped up behind her. When she turned to see what he was doing, he picked her up. She and Xavier together. She shrieked a little as he sat them down on the bed. Somehow, his hand found her hand and he squeezed hard.

"Listen," he gasped, kneeling down on the floor as Xavier held onto her shirt for dear life. "I've never done this before in my life - you know I haven't - and I don't have a ring for you but I need you to know that I love you, Mal Bertha. Really, I swear it. And I know I'm lousy and I never checked up on you all those months and it's been hard for you but if you give me the chance I swear I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you and Xavier. Will you please, please, -"

"Yes!" Mal cut him off, ripping her hand out of his and dropping to the ground beside him. She set Xavier on the ground, where he sat and looked very stunned with everything happening, and leaned in to kiss Ben. When she tried to pull away, Ben put a hand to the back of her head to keep her there. She was crying; he was crying; Xavier was starting to whine because he didn't know what was going on. Ben pulled her onto his lap and then picked up Xavier too to squeeze them both to his chest.

His true love. His true love and their son. And their start at a new life.