AN: How in the world is Christmas next week?
AmethystDragon14: Yep! I know a lot of people have him younger than Mal, or her twin, but I really liked the idea of him being older.
DeathCrawler, & dragonflamefairy: Thank you!
Mal never thought that she'd be happy to be back at school, and yet that's how she found herself late Saturday morning as she walked the halls of Auradon Prep.
Of course, it wasn't just that she was back at the school, but that within the day she'd be back with her gang. There had only been a handful of times that the four of them had been apart since Evie joined their group, and none of them had been pleasant.
She couldn't help but pull her phone out, looking at the recent messages on their group chat discussing their ETA's. Evie was set to be back mid-afternoon, and both boys by the evening.
Of course, her friends weren't the only ones she was excited to see.
'As if by magic,' Mal thought as her phone began to shake in her hand, answering it with a soft "Hey,"
She could hear the smile in his voice when he said, "Hey. Are you back at Auradon Prep yet?"
Even though he couldn't see her, Mal found herself nodding. "Yep, I'm heading to my dorm now. What about you? Are you still in the city?"
"Actually, I came back to the school this morning."
Her pace involuntarily quickened, "Where are you?" She asked, with the intention of dropping her bag off and going to search for him, as she turned the corner to her hall.
She paused, lowering her phone, as there leaning against her door was Ben. His eyes met hers, and he smirked when he said "Here."
She laughed, and quickly made her way over to hug him.
"I missed you." Ben told her, holding her close.
"I.." She faltered, the words caught in her throat. "It was a long week." 'I missed you too.'
He pulled back, smile never faltering. "Too long." He agreed, then leaned down to give her a quick kiss. He took her suitcase so she could open the door to her dorm room, and followed her into the room.
Unlike when she first arrived in Auradon, she no longer felt the urge to pull all the curtains shut. She did wonder if she could get Evie to make some different ones, preferably not pink.
"Did you enjoy Corona?" Ben asked as he placed her suitcase on her bed."
"It was amazing!" Mal told him, taking his hand and pulling him over to sit on the bed with her. "It was so different from Audadon City! There were others with colorful hair, who dressed in dark clothing and leathers and studs, who looked as if they had magic, and no one batted an eye! No one cared that I'm a faeling, or that my parents are villains."
"Well, one of their princesses does have thirty feet of magical blonde hair that she inherited from her mother," Ben said with a laugh, although his smile didn't quite reach his eyes and she was ignoring the lingering sadness there, "And some of the queens' closest friends, and husband, all have criminal pasts. The people of Corona have learned to be accepting."
"I guess so," Mal mused, her mind caught on the former criminals part. Former criminals who didn't have to go to the Isle of the Lost. Who didn't have to face what they did, who got to stay in Auradon and have lives, despite people being sent to the Isle just for being a witch or fairy, or having a villain family member.
Instead, only one Coronan had been sent to the Isle, in the place of all the others.
"You okay?" Ben asked her in concern.
She blinked, pushing back her thoughts, "Yeah, I'm okay. How was your week? You weren't in your office the entire time, were you?"
Ben didn't look convinced, but let it slide. He didn't answer at first, lost in thought, then said "I went to lunch with Jane."
"That doesn't count." Mal said, furrowing her brow.
"Well, you asked if I was in my office the entire time, and I wasn't."
"Ben,"
"I just have to get used to the workload. I'm sure things will quiet down soon," Ben assured. "Actually, I wanted to tell you, I have someone looking into the Isle records." His voice dropped at the end, eyes flicking to her open door.
If it wasn't for the school rules, which she knew Ben preferred to follow, she'd get up to close the door. But since that wasn't an option, she turned her body to block its view, ending up closer to Ben. She lowered her own voice, fighting to keep the excitement out, and asked "Who?"
"Captain Phoebus. He retired from the military last year, but he's agreed to this position for as long as needed. He and Esmerelda are heading to St. Petersburg tonight so they can work with the Sudayev's. If it's okay with you, Phoebus would like your number or email to reach out if needed."
"Of course," Mal agreed, uncaring that it was going to a person she barely knew. It was someone Ben trusted, someone who was going to help the VKs.
Also, Captain Phoebus and Esmerelda were notorious on the Isle for their role against Frollo. That already put them in her 'okay' book, moreso now that she was certain they had no idea that the monster had children.
As for the Sudayev's, Dimitri was a former conman, and Anastasia spent many years as an orphan. They were two people who might emphasize with the VKs.
Not to mention that Damien didn't like Chad, which automatically made her like him some.
Ben told her he'd send her number later, then shifted the conversation back to Corona and what she'd did that week.
She was more than happy to share, content to be there with him, and forget about the world outside for just a little bit.
Laughter filled the girls dorm later that night, interrupted briefly by a loud thump.
Ben and Mal got to spend a couple of hours together before he had to leave for a meeting, something he promised wouldn't become a Saturday habit. Not long after that, Evie got back, and then it was only a matter of time before the boys trickled in.
Speaking of which, Carlos looked down at Jay, who was laying on the floor with his arms wrapped around his midsection, unamused. "It's not that funny." He protested, looking to Mal and Evie for backup.
Mal was barely holding it together, while Evie giggled lightly, her sewing having been pushed to the side. "It kind of is." She told him, causing him to fall back with a groan, his head almost hitting the bed frame.
"You just need to learn Spanish." Mal told him once she could speak. "Then you won't have to worry about an awkward conversation.
"Easy for you to say," he grumbled. "You can practically just glance at a language and pretty much have it down."
She rolled her eyes. "It's not that simple." She told him, poking his side with her foot. She only had two instinctual languages, and those were Latin and Greek. If she stopped speaking any of the other languages she knew, she'd probably forget them.
Of course, it wouldn't take her too terribly long to relearn them, but she wasn't going to tell him that.
"We can learn together," Evie was saying as she reached down to pull Jay back up. "It'll be fun!"
Carlos covered his face with his hands, and said something unintelligible.
"On the bright side, none of the people you were around looked ready to kill you at any moment." Jay said brightly, flopping down next to Mal.
"Moira wasn't going to kill you." Evie told him in exasperation.
"You don't know that. She looked pretty stabby after that walk Marette and I took." Jay said. He leaned against the headboard and crossed his arms, getting a thoughtful look on his face. "It actually made me warm up to her a little."
Carlos removed his hands and gave Jay a wry glance. "Only you would warm up to someone who wants to kill you.
"She wasn't going to kill him!" Evie insisted, while Jay protested.
"He has a point. You did flirt with that one Saints girl." Mal teased, her smile especially sharp.
"I didn't know she was a Saint at the time!" Jay exclaimed remorsefully. They all knew he regretted it, considering it led to a three-day fight and numerous injuries, but it was still fun to tease him about it now that it was in the past.
And she'd admit it, none of them would have expected someone with magical blood joining the Saints, considering that they despised everything about magic, so she could cut Jay a little bit of slack.
As her friends continued to bicker, Mal noticed Jay's wrist, which had three bracelets dangling from it. One of hers and two of Evie's. She hadn't even noticed hers gone, not that she was complaining, it was why she wore the annoying thing. What was concerning was how quickly it was gone. She'd noticed Jay fidget when he'd arrived, then how relaxed he ended up, and could only wonder how much he had to fight his instinct over the past week.
"Am I interrupting?"
Mal looked up to see Karine in the doorway, practically vibrating in place.
"Nope, come on in." Mal invited with a wave and a laugh. She finally got a bit more used to people just dropping by after weeks of it happening. It was the price of Auradon Prep's open door policy, she supposed, and their newfound rule-following ways.
Karine looked relieved, and bounced over to Evie, holding out her phone.
"What's this?" Evie asked, taking it from her.
"A recent email from Fairy Godmother revealing our new chemistry teacher!"
Carlos leaned over to read the screen. "Aiko Amador-Frederickson? That sounds kind of familiar."
"You guys might know her as Honey Lemon." Karine explained, taking her phone back from Evie. The blue-hair girl moved over so the younger princess could sit next to her, and Mal vaguely became aware of the diminishing space on the bed as she shifted to lean against Jay. "She's part of Big Hero 6."
Carlos snapped his fingers. "Yes! Professor Callaghan taught a class at Dragon Hall, and he's mentioned her before."
"She's also Ricky and Holly's mom." A voice said from the door. Aksel walked in, smiling broadly at them. His strawberry-blonde hair was all over the place, as if he'd just woken up from a nap. "And an amazing chemist. I'm honestly sad that I took chemistry last year."
"You hated chemistry though!" Elsie exclaimed, following him in. She had no hesitation in sitting on the bed across from the VKs and Karine, and gestured towards Aksel as she said "He once debated injuring himself just so he'd miss class."
"I stand by that decision." Aksel stated as he sat on the floor. "Mr. Deley and I didn't get along."
"Sounds like Mr. Deley didn't get along with over half the school." Jay said, while Carlos asked "Aren't you a Sophomore? How did you already take chemistry?"
Aksel leaned back on his hands, and lifted one of his shoulders. "I'm on an accelerated course." He explained. "Ben was put on it back when we started Auradon Prep, to give him the option to graduate early, and I didn't want him to be the only one doing it. We tried talking Elsie into joining us, but…" He trailed, looking up at her with a grin.
She nudged him with her leg, "I love you and Ben, but I was fully aware of my learning limits at that age, and now. Unlike you two, I can only handle so much before my brain wants to explode. I'll stick to the arts."
Mal laughed, while Karine gave Evie a hopeful look. "You know, if you enjoy chemistry, you should see if Honey Lemonde will tutor you."
"Maybe," Evie said softly, glancing over at her desk drawer, where her test scores sat. She had been enjoying it, anyone with eyes could see that, and she had been at a disadvantage coming so late into the school year, from a school that didn't really teach anything like that.
Mal gave her a questioning look. Are you okay? Evie smiled back softly. I'm fine.
"Is everyone meeting here?" The new visitor was Lonnie, and with her was none other than Chad. He seemed uncomfortable to be there, and if it wasn't for Lonnie's iron-clad grip on his arm, he probably would have turned and ran.
"Seems like it." Jay said, his eyes narrowing at Chad. Even so, none of them protested as their pair entered the room, though Karine was shooting daggers at her brother and he wasn't meeting her eyes.
Lonnie grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Okay, so do you remember during the viewing you guys were talking about sword fighting?"
Mal and Jay exchanged glances, "Yeah?"
"Well," at this point Lonnie was bouncing more, and the hand that wasn't clutching Chad came up towards her chest. "and I know it's pretty late, but are you guys still up for a spar?"
Mal tilted her head to the side, nodding towards Chad. "How's Charming involved?" She asked.
"I'm here against my will." Chad said, while Lonnie talked over him and explained "To prove to him that you guys were telling the truth."
It would be nice to put Chad in his place. And it had been a while since she and Jay had a friendly spar. They'd been so busy with the plan for the wand and getting used to Auradon, they hadn't even had a chance to track down swords, making due with their knives. Not that they'd needed weapons in Auradon... yet.
She looked at Jay, who shrugged and grinned. "Why not." She said, sliding off the bed. Behind her, Evie and Carlos groaned.
"Okay, but we have to set rules." Carlos said, over Lonnie's cheer, which was followed by Chad saying "You are too excited for this." Their entire group had gotten up, and Lonnie had already rushed out of the room with her prisoner, calling to Aksel to bring the VK's to the R.O.A.R. training room, whatever that was.
Evie was nodding and was digging through Mal's dresser, though Mal wasn't sure what she was looking for. "We are not going to spend hours in there."
"Hours?" Elsie questioned. The VK's ignored her, Carlos and Evie continuing to speak. "Twenty minutes tops, regardless if there's winner or not."
"And no drawing blood!"
The AK's all looked panicked at that. "How intense do you guys get with spars?" Aksel asked. Mal snickered behind her hand at the exasperated look Carlos gave her and Jay. He turned to the royals in the room.
"They are evenly matched." He explained. "Evenly matched and very skilled. Let me tell you about the four-day spar..."
Despite the late hour, it wasn't just the group from the girls dorm that showed up to the training room. Instead, quite a few of the students who were vocal during the Viewing had arrived, all in their own groups. Even Audrey stood on the balcony, chatting with Maisie and keeping an eye on the center of the room, where Jay and Mal stood.
Neither were dressed in sportswear, instead dressed in their everyday clothing. Their jackets were shed, hair tied back, and thankfully someone had convinced them to shed their shoes because Coach would throw a fit if he discovered combat boots had been on his mats.
Ben had just gotten back from his meeting when Aksel texted him, and he'd gone straight there, not wanting to miss this. He made his way over to Aksel, quietly asking if he'd missed anything.
"Nope." Aksel told him, gesturing to the two VKs, "They're just about to start."
"Where's Chad?" He asked, glancing around. Considering it was Chad's words that had Lonnie suggest the spar, he expected the prince to be somewhere.
Aksel pointed across the room, where Chad stood with Lonnie, who held a death grip on his arm, Evie, and Carlos. "Lon won't let him go." He said with a chuckle. "I don't know if she wants to prove that the VKs can fight, or that Mal, specifically, is capable of fighting."
Knowing Lonnie, it was probably the latter. At least Chad looked interested. He put on a front, acting like he wanted to leave, but Ben could tell that he was watching Mal and Jay carefully. He could be a pompous jerk sometimes, but he knew his way around a sword. Quite a bit of the boys' time together when they were young was Chad dragging him to watch the royal guard practice. Not to mention their own lessons.
Hopefully, his love for it would outweigh his stubbornness.
He was so focused on Chad, he barely registered Evie yelling for the pair to start, then the first lunge that came out of nowhere. However, as soon as the fight started, it held all of his attention.
Jay and Mal moved as if they were in a dance. One made of cuts and lunges, blocks and parry's. Their forms were unfamiliar to Ben, and he guessed they would have been learned from those around them, disgraced royals, military gone rogue, pirates, huns, perhaps they were even self-taught. They followed no Auradon rules, and more than once he felt his heart in his throat when Jay's sword got too close to Mal's skin, or the one instance where Mal almost slashed Jay's neck.
And yet, neither ever touched the other. They were perfectly matched, trading quips and smiles, and yet simultaneously seeming completely focused on their actions.
Five minutes in, Ben's eyes hadn't left Mal. He felt his chin lifted, his jaw having dropped. "Like what you see?" Elsie asked teasingly.
He didn't turn to look at her, just said "My girlfriend is amazing."
At the fifteen minute mark, Aksel whistled low. "They don't even look tired." He said, watching in fascination. "And both of them have been traveling today. How long do you think they can keep it up?"
"Longer than I'd care to stand here." Reiner commented, and Ben suspected that it had nothing to do with the fight and everything to do with the girl who was practically asleep against him.
Thankfully, the VKs were wrapping this up, for Carlos clapped his hands and yelled at the pair to wrap it up. Jay and Mal exchanged a few more blows, which ended with both swords clashed against each other. For a moment, everything was quiet, then the two stepped back.
"What do you think, Charming?" Mal called, turning to look at Chad. "Did I prove that I know what I'm doing?"
Chad frowned, and Ben almost wanted to stop him from saying a word. But honestly, he was a little curious to see how this was going to play out.
In the end, Chad's stubbornness won out. "No." He said. "You two are too evenly matched. How do we know you just haven't learned Jay's preferred moves?"
And, okay, Ben would admit, that was fair. It was still obvious that both were skilled, but the argument stood.
Mal shrugged. "Fine." She said, and without warning, she tossed her sword to Chad, who stumbled when catching it. She held out her hand, and Jay placed his sword in it. "Then why don't we spar?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Ben could see Reiner nudge Karine, who had perked up slightly at those words.
Chad looked from Mal to the sword, then to all the students in the room, many of whom began to look more alert. He swallowed hard, but he didn't back out. Instead, he stepped forward and followed Mal into the center of the room.
The difference between them was stark. Chad's stance was more proper, while Mal's was relaxed. He was more aggressive, while she flowed around him.
To be completely honest, the spar was over almost as soon as it began. Sure, it lasted a couple of minutes, but that was because Mal was toying with him. In the end, he was on the ground with moth swords pointed at his neck.
"Chad!" Audrey yelled from the balcony. Mal didn't jump at noise, but she stepped back, dropping the swords.
Chad waved Audrey off, climbing to his feet. He stood in front of the faeling, then held out his hand.
Mal stared at it for a moment before shaking it.
Hope swelled in Ben's chest as Lonnie rushed to pepper Mal with questions, and Chad went to talk, civilly it seemed, to Jay.
Maybe his friend was going to warm up to them. Perhaps, in an odd way, this spar was one step closer to bridging the gap between their two worlds.
AN: I know that this was a little rushed, but if we spend too much time in between the two movies, it's gonna take forever to get to D2 XD