Mal's POV

"Dad this isn't their fault" Ben says, trying to plead with his father whose fists are shaking with anger.

"No son, it's yours" King Beast said, his voice laced with dissapointment. I see Ben wince and look down at his feet in shame and that's when I decide I can't let this continue.

"No sir, it's your fault" I say, coming to stand next to my boyfriend and taking his hand in mine. He looks up at me in surprise and I give him a small smile as I squeeze his hand reasurringly.

"What?!" King Beast roars, glaring at me as Queen Belle grabs his arm to keep him from coming closer.

"Who left hundreds, if not thousands of children to starve and be beaten and forgotten on a dirty run down island!" I hiss back and he flinches, along with several other royals.

"As far as my friends and I are concerned, your son is only trying his hardest to fix your mistake!" I say, my voice gaining more strength with eat word.

"You have no idea what you've done, do you?" I say hardly, and King Beast has the decentsy to look down in shame.

"Do you have any idea what it's like not knowing if you're going to live through the whole day? Not knowing if you're going to be murdered in cold blood if you make the slightest mistake?" I ask in an eerily calm voice.

"Do you have any idea what it's like feeling like you're going to lose conciousness as you search for something at least edible as you scrounge around in a pile of trash for your next meal? Or being beaten close to death if you didn't steal something valuable enough for your parents liking?" I continue on, and out of the corner of my eye I see the whole crowd of Auradonians looking at me in horror as they take in my words.

"Do you know what it's like to be laying on the ground writhing in pain and barely able to breath for hours on end after a beating until you can sum up enough strength to army crawl up the stairs of your house and barely be able to pull yourself up on to a old lumpy beaten up matress you call your bed? Or wishing you could just end it all and die but every time you try the wounds on your wrists just heal up and leave little faint scars?! As if the universe was mocking you by saying 'No one wants you alive but you don't deserve to be put out of your misery'" I say as I hold up my free wrist for him to see the little white lines on my pale skin,and at this Ben looks over at me with tears in his eyes and a heart broken expression.

"Let me just tell you that not being able to breath sucks!" I shout and King Beast and Queen Belle wince at my words, and Queen Belle has tears beginning gather in her eyes too.

"Do you?!" I demand and he barely looks up at me.

"No" he mumbles quietly and I growl.

"No you don't! Because you grew up as a spoiled brat that got everything you wanted and never appreciated anything you had! That's what got you to being cursed so you looked as ugly on the outside as you were on the inside!" I shout and tears prick his eyes, but I don't stop. I've held my tongue far too long.

"You may not be a beast anymore but you will always be a monster in my eyes" as soon as these words escape my mouth he winces.

"What kind of king lets the innocent suffer?! Last I checked Gil never did anything to you or Belle! Harry never did anything to Peter Pan or The Lost Boys! Freddie never did anything to Tiana and Naveen, Carlos was afraid of dogs so I'm not even gonna start on him! Evie did nothing to Snow White, and Jay didn't do anything to Aladdin and Jasmine! They weren't even born yet for Hades sake!" I yell, feeling my frustration grow with each word.

"So what were their crimes to deserve suffering every day not knowing which day was going to be their last?! What did they do that was so horrible to have to endure a fate worse than death?!" I demand, feeling angry tears prick my eyes but I blink them away, now is not the time to be weak.

"Nothing" he sobs out quietly.

"Exactly, nothing. My friends and I suffered for sixteen years for crimes we didn't commit, sometimes just wishing we could die so we didn't have to suffer anymore and it was all your fault!" I shout and a tear slides down my cheek.

"So if you want someone to blame, go look in a mirror" I say quietly, my anger leaving me and making me feel completely drained. Without another word I let go of Ben's hand and just walk away quickly, ignoring everyone's stunned silence.

"Mal! Mal wait up!" I hear Ben call out faintly as I walk farther and farther away from the party.

"Mal" he says gently as he catches up to me, taking my hand so he won't lose me again and spins me around to face him. I look down at the ground to avoid his gaze, I don't wanna see the devastation in his eyes.

"Mal please look at me" he pleads, cupping my cheek with his free hand. I slowly look up at him and see tears pooling in his eyes. He wipes the tears away from my eyes and strokes my cheek as he looks at me as if I'm the most important thing in his world.

"Don't do it again" he hiccups as tears begin sliding down his cheeks.

"What?" I ask softly, confused about what he could possibly be talking about. He just lifts up the hand he's holding and gently kisses the faint horozontal lines covering my wrist.

"Please don't do it again, ever again" he sobs, rubbing his head against my wrist.

"Ben-" I say gently, ready to tell him I haven't done it in months.

"Please! Mal I love you" he begs as he continues to look into my eyes with so much love and devotion in his eyes, and I can't believe it's all for me.

"Okay" I say gently, nodding my head as I answer him.

"No say it, Mal I need you to promise me" he insists, letting go of my wrist in favor of putting both his hands on my waist.

"I promise" I say softly, looking him right in the eyes as I say it. He sobs and wraps his arms around me, pulling me to him as he begins to cry into my neck. I close my eyes and begin getting lost in a memory of when I almost made the biggest mistake of my life a few months ago.

I stare down at the dark murky water, the moon light reflecting off the surface, contemplating on whether or not I'll actually jump.

'Might as well, no one needs you' a little voice in my head says and I take a small step forward towards the edge of the dock.

'That's not true, Evie and the boys need you' another voice argues, causing me to halt. I'd never even thought about what my death would do to them.

'They'll be fine, they'll probably be better off without you' the first voice says and I wince, knowing the voice is probably right about that.

'Of course I'm right' the voice says cockily and I take another small step forward.

'Wait!' another voice cries out, an unfamiliar male one.

'Don't do this' he begs and I frown.

'Why not? I don't want to be in pain anymore' I think to myself, bracing myself to jump.

'Please don't, I don't want you to die' he whimpers, and that makes me freeze in place.

'You don't know me, I don't even know who you are and why I'm hearing your voice' I protest.

'I don't wanna lose my mate before I can even get the chance to meet her for the first time' he whimpers and my eyes widen in shock.

'Mate?' I repeat to myself, stunned.

'Yes, mate' he says desperately.

'I don't have long to explain, I'll probably forget about this once I wake up' he says hurriedly.

'You can't give up, I won't let you' he says, and I hear his voice crack.

'Please don't leave me, I need you' he pleads.

'where are you?' I ask, feeling curious. He doesn't sound like any of the boys on the Isle.

'I will find you, just please wait for me' he pleads, ignoring my question and I sigh.

'I'll stick around for just a bit longer' I say reluctantly and he cheers.

'Thank you' he says relieved as I begin walking off the dock and away from pirates bay.

'Just don't make me wait too long please' I say as I begin my journey to my hideout, not wanting to face my mother's wrath just yet.

'Don't worry love we'll be together soon' he promises before he falls silent, he probably woke up and forgot about me again. I frown as I realize I'm alone again, and wonder if I can handle waiting a bit longer. I look up at the moon and for once in my life hope floods through me, I can do this. Little did I know I'd be hearing that voice again in a few months, being greeted from the soon to be king of Auradon.

"I promise" I say again as I snap out of the memory, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and playing with the hair on the back of his neck with my right hand.

"I love you" he mumbles over and over into my neck, clinging to me as if he was afraid I would disappear if he didn't hold on to me tight enough.

"I love you too" I murmur as a few tears slide down my cheeks, moving my head slightly so I can kiss his cheek comfortingly. He looks into my eyes with happiness in his eyes from my confession, and leans forward so our foreheads are pressed together and our noses are brushing.

"I love you" he repeats softly, closing his eyes.

"I love you" I say before closing my eyes slowly as I lean in and seal my words with a kiss, thankful for this amazing guy that saved me in every way a person could be saved.

A/N: I really think Mal should have spoke up about the state of the isle in the first movie. And in all honesty I think King Beast needed some sense knocked into him so he could see what harm creating the Isle and not removing the kids as they were born caused. And I honestly cried the entire time I wrote Mal's rant, just picturing all that in my head was absolutely heart breaking.