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It was a week after the coronation. Things were finally settling down in Auradon and the majority of the population was beginning to accept the villain kids, both the ones currently on their lands and the ones being brought over to continue Ben’s decree. For Mal and her friends, the new calm was welcome as the Auradonians became used to their presence and their abilities. She and Jay often exercised the fact that they come from magical families by openly practicing in public and warding off anyone causing trouble with their group. Carlos was content to simply play with Dude at the rare times the group wasn’t together and often brought him along for some of the mischief they got into. Ben had even reinstated Evie’s royal status, much to the chagrin of Audrey, who had made it a hobby to tease Evie about no longer being a princess.
Now, a whole week later, the dorms of Auradon Prep were throwing a party just because and all of the student body was invited. Naturally, Evie designed the outfits for her three companions and herself, much to the jealousy of the other princesses. Now, Jay and Carlos were over by the snack table trying out some of the sweets that they hadn’t already tasted. Evie was giving styling tips to some of the other princesses who wanted to know how she always managed to get her hair to look amazing. Mal was hanging near the walls with Scarlet, the daughter of Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad (were)Wolf. The party was in full swing and Ben had even made an appearance to check up on Mal since their breakup.
Of course, no party is without its hitches, but Mal had made a point of flashing her dragon eyes whenever Chad made a comment about their heritage. When that failed to phase him, she would light her hands with magic and begin chanting, just to scare him off. After a while, Mal was missing her best friend and headed off to grab some drinks for herself and Evie while Scarlet spoke with Freddie about pendants she could wear during the full moon.
As she made her way across the large lobby the party was being held in, Mal stopped as Amelia, Larhini and Prince Kuzko walked past her. “Look at her, it’s obvious she wasn’t meant to be here.” Pointed ears twitched at Amelia’s comment and Mal’s head snapped in their direction, eyes turning bright green in oncoming rage.
“I don’t know, maybe they invited her so that she didn’t curse the people who are throwing it.” Larhini sneered. Mal felt her blood boil just below the surface and now, several people around were listening, watching the interaction with the smallest hint of fear. No one had spoken of Mal in that way since before the coronation except Audrey, Chad and a few others. But to do it so publicly while she was standing right there was surely a death wish. Jay and Carlos paused in their quest to eat more chocolate than the other while Evie straightened her back, all three of them narrowing their eyes at the trio.
Prince Kuzko snickered as Larhini continued, "Though, I can understand why they wouldn’t want to invite her in the first place. Even I would be a little wary of inviting her to any big parties. Her family has a habit of crashing them by turning into huge dragons."
"Why not just have her walk around as a dragon, then?" Amelia chuckled, tossing her hair with a sneer. "Save a lot of trouble and we would know right where to throw the magic sword."
"I wouldn't be surprised if her fire was hot enough to melt your sword." Prince Kuzko laughed. "After all, she did defeat her mom. She's obviously way more evil!"
Mal felt her heart sink, realizing that of course it wasn't over. It's not like she fought her own mother, the most evil person in the world, in order to prove that she wanted nothing to do with being a villain. Yeah, she occasionally did bad things, but that was her upbringing, a part of her.
But this?
It was so obvious now. Of course she would always be seen as evil incarnate. Because of who her mother was, because of where she came from... she would always be the same to them. A villain, no good, dangerous.
Turning on her heel, the purplette took a deep breath and shook her head, striding away. Behind her, she could hear the students still jeering at her mockingly, but she only continued walking. She couldn't stand to be around anyone right now. All of these Auradonians simply being around her right now was making her want to completely destroy the nearest room.
Evie watched her friend go, heartbroken that this had to happen. She knew how much Mal had been trying to come from beneath her mother's shadow and to see her breaking down like this because of these pricks made her heart hurt. Turning to Carlos, Lonnie and Jay, she found them already cracking their knuckles and striding over to the people responsible for Mal's upset mood. Ben and Doug were moving the others away and most everyone was turning away, infuriated that Mal had been hurt.
Evie paid no mind to the grunts of anger and yells of pain coming from the group that her three friends were beating down. She turned and hurried after her best friend, wanting to catch her before any damage could be done. In her rage, Mal was prone to doing dangerous and risky things. Evie wanted to be sure she wasn't going to attempt climbing to the roof of Auradon Prep to brood or throw paint balloons at passersby or something like that. Striding through the halls of the school, Evie made her way into the dormitory room she shared with Mal. What she found was... somewhat better than she was expecting.
Spray cans and torn canvases littered the floor. There were splotches of color dotting several areas of Mal's side of the room. Mal herself was currently spraying manic patterns into the walls of their dorm, not caring about aesthetic or mischief. Evie felt her heart tug painfully at this and she slowly walked closer. She knew Mal wouldn't let herself cry, but that didn't stop her pain from being real.
"Mal?" she asked tentatively.
"Leave me alone, E." The venomous hiss shot through Evie's chest like an arrow from a huntsman. Mal was rarely so vicious with her, not since their friendship had grown more solid.
"Mal, please, put the spray can down. We can talk-."
"There's nothing to talk about!" Mal shouted, throwing the spray can to the princess' feet furiously. "Besides, why would anyone bother talking to the daughter of a dragon anyway, right? That's all anyone ever sees after all. Purple hair, leather clothes, green magic... I'm nothing more than the daughter of the wickedest soul to ever cloud the earth. Why should I have friends, or happiness, or even a shred of respect when I'm just going to end up being cruel and evil like my mom, right?"
"But you're not just her daughter..." Evie tried, shrinking under the fire of her friend's gaze. She knew it was hard on all of them, considering how some people still treated them based on what their parents did, but she hadn't expected Mal to be this worked up still, even after all this time.
Mal gave a dry laugh, her eyes still shining bright with rage. "Do you think it matters to these people that we're not just their daughters, E?" she demanded lowly, her voice sinking into a disgusted growl. "These pampered, entitled, disgustingly sweet morons have no idea what it's like to be us, E. They have no idea what it's like to grow up without love and being completely under the control of fear for your whole life, but they still feel it's their duty to remind us that they are better, that they'll always be better. Just because they were born into privilege!"
"They're not better!" Evie finally shouted, anguished that her best friend would say such things. "You were the better person! You've always been the better person, Mal! Ever since we got here you've been turning the other cheek to these uptight, smile-obsessed pricks! You've always shown them that you were better. You used your magic to make people happy. You walk away instead of unleashing your wrath on them. You fought your mother to protect them." Tears streamed down the fair cheeks as pleading brown eyes stared into turmoiled gray. "You've always been better than them."
The silence between them was tense. Neither noticed that their friends had long since arrived and were listening to the conversation. Carlos and Jay watched them worriedly, wondering if Evie was really capable of stopping Mal from doing something reckless. Ben and Lonnie were feeling guilt well in their chests, hearing the two women speak about them in such a way, realizing that they really had allowed others to still make the VKs feel like outsiders, especially when they separated them by calling them such.
Everyone watched the two women uncertainly, seeing that interference now could drive Mal back into her rage. Finally, Mal huffed in irritation. “We could never convince anyone of that, E.” she grumbled. “No matter where I go, everyone will always see me as Maleficent’s daughter. That’s all I’ll ever be to anyone.”
“Not me.” Her companion whispered.
“What?” Grey eyes lifted to brown in shock.
"You're so much more than just her daughter to me, Mal." Evie said quietly. "You're my best friend. Ever since we met and became close, you've always been there for me, looking out for me and making me feel beautiful not by how I look, but who I am. You're the only person I can be completely myself around. We've laughed together, pulled pranks, caused mischief... you're everything to me, Mal. I... I..."
"Evie?" Mal slowly stepped closer, seeing the uncertainty in the brown eyes. "What is it?"
Evie clutched her hands close to her chest as she whispered, "I still love you."
Carlos and Jay immediately motioned for everyone not to make a sound. Ben, Audrey and Chad all swallowed their exclamations of shock and moved slightly away. "Evie and Mal used to be a thing on the Isle." Carlos explained in a low whisper as Jay kept an eye on their friends, who had lapsed back into tense silence. "When their mothers found out, the Evil Queen was elated that Evie's beauty helped her win the heart of a wicked soul. Maleficent was... less-pleased. She forbid Mal from continuing the relationship or she would hurt Evie. They were forced to break up."
"Dude... harsh." Ben muttered, glancing to where Mal was now running her hands through her hair.
"We're the children of villains." Carlos shrugged. "We don't get a good life."
"Still... maybe Mal's right." Audrey said slowly. "I mean, we've been expecting something bad since you all got here." Everyone looked to her expectantly and she huffed. “Fine. In this group, I’ve been expecting something bad to happen. Outside of this group, a lot of people have been expecting it, even after you passed your Goodness test at Ben’s coronation.”
Ben looked ready to agree when more speaking filtered to them from the room. All five looked back to find Mal rubbing her arm, frowning in concentration. "Look, E-."
"You don't have to return my feelings." Evie interrupted quickly. "With the whole breakup with Ben and everything happening, I get it's a bad time to even say that. I'm fine with, you know, just being friends with you. I just... you're not just the daughter of a dragon. You're the coolest, bravest, greatest person I know. What those Prep kids said about you is worthless because you'll always be more than the Daughter of the Evil Fairy. At least... to me."
Mal shook her head, waving her hand. "E, that's not what I meant. I want to, uh... apologize..." Mal bit her lip as the word left a sour taste in her mouth. "I'm sorry for... blowing up at you like that. You didn't deserve it, especially when you came trying to help. And..." The purple-haired woman trailed off, looking slightly more awkward. "I... I never stopped loving you either."
"WHAT?" Audrey screamed, finally drawing full attention to the people in the doorway.
"W-what are you all doing here?" Mal demanded, throwing up her walls instantly.
"Well, we came to make sure you were okay." Ben said, stepping forward. "Not, you know, throwing paint balloons or setting things on fire to vent."
"So, to make sure I wasn't doing something bad?" Mal muttered bitterly.
"Mal, we meant that you didn't use your magic to make them pay, so we tried to think of things you would do to make yourself feel better." Ben gestured to the half-graffiti-covered room. "We expected this to be the first place you came, so we came here after Lonnie, Jay and Carlos beat down those kids."
"You beat them up?" Mal gawked at her three friends. "You could get detention!"
"Small price to pay to show'em who they’re dealing with." Jay shrugged, usual grin in place.
"We've been trying to treat you better since the coronation." Lonnie explained, coming forward. "We want you to feel like you have a home, not like you're just some troublemaker. If we make you feel like an outsider, then it's no different than you being on the Isle of the Lost."
"A possible reason some of the villains were evil is because everyone expected them to be." Ben told her, scratching his head. "I mean, some of them seemed like good people. But if we kept shutting them out because they practiced magic and looked scary, then we were just dooming them into thinking that they had to be evil. I don't want you all to feel like that.
"Just because you enjoy dark places, playing in the mud, frowning and wearing different clothes shouldn't be a reason to think you're going to be like your parents. Some of the things you do, you do for fun! Like Jay. You don't steal anything too valuable anymore, right? And when you do, it's just to test your skill and you give it back. Freddie uses her voodoo to help people plan out their futures more efficiently. Even the Queen of Hearts' daughter, uh..."
"Amora." Lonnie coughed.
"Amora! Even she doesn't do much harm in her poker games each night anymore now that she’s stopped attempting to behead people for beating her." Ben sighed as he gazed around at all of the kids from the Isle of the Lost. "Just because you came from a bad place doesn't mean you're going to turn out like the people there. Mal," He turned to his ex-girlfriend with an encouraging smile. "You shouldn't be disgusted or afraid to be who you are and use your power how you want. You may be the daughter of a dragon, but the only thing I've ever noticed about you that resembles a dragon is the size of your heart. It's so big, Mal. Don't shut everyone out because of what some morons say."
"I don't." Mal murmured, reaching forward to entwine her fingers with Evie's giving her signature smirk at the blush coloring the fair skin. "There's always someone I let in."
"Bout time you two got back together." Jay snickered.
"Yeah. Jay and I were beginning to think you would never do it." Carlos laughed, patting Evie's shoulder.
"Yeah, well... maybe I just needed a push, okay?" the purplette huffed, shoving Jay's shoulder.
"So, when do we get to see the kiss?" Jay asked, his grin growing wider.
Mal scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Of course you're thinking about that. Very well, if E doesn't have anything wrong with it."
"I've been wanting to kiss you since we were fourteen." the blunette pointed out. "What makes you think I would disagree?"
Mal simply rolled her eyes again, her usual smirk softening as she leaned close to the blue-haired princess. Evie moved to meet her and all of the others in the room waited in anticipation. Slowly, purple lips met bright pink and Audrey and Lonnie about died from cooing at the cuteness. Carlos and Jay simply waited, knowing Mal’s wild side wouldn’t let this kind of kiss go.
Mal pulled back from the kiss, cringing as she immediately expected reproach. Wait. Her eyes widened as a sudden realization came over her. I don’t have to be afraid. We beat my mom. She’s locked away in some jar who-knows-where… Everyone watched as a grin spread over Mal’s lips, gray eyes rising to meet Evie’s puzzled brown. “We’re free.” Mal whispered happily, taking Evie’s face gently in her hands. “E, we’re free! My mom can’t hurt you!”
Evie was taken by surprise as Mal’s lips suddenly crushed against hers. Even when they were dating in secret back on the Isle, Mal had kept their kisses light and tentative, not wanting to get too caught up in case they got caught. But this kiss was deep, it was passionate and Evie could feel it warming her from the top of her head to her toes. Mal was pouring every bit of love and happiness she was feeling in that moment into this kiss.
A wolf-whistle vaguely registered in the women’s heads, along with Carlos snickering, “That’s more like it.” Neither of them could muster the energy to care at the moment because Mal’s words had also dawned on Evie and the princess was reciprocating the intoxicating kiss. It was wet and warm and breathy, but it wasn’t sloppy or gross like most of the kisses Evie had gotten while on the Isle. Or maybe it was gross, but she couldn’t tell because it was Mal.
At last, the two women pulled away, panting heavily as they looked at each other. The rest of the group was grinning at them and Mal chuckled. “I can’t believe it.” She murmured. “I never thought there would ever be a time I could kiss you like that.”
“Like you said,” Evie giggled, snuggling against her best friend. “We’re free now. We can make our own paths and show people we’re more than just the children of villains. And now we can do it together.”