First Kiss
"... Get ready, set it off!
We 'bout to set it off!"
Mal arched herself to be as close to Ben as possible as the fireworks went off overhead. She wasn't sure if it was that he made her feel safe or that she might be in love with this crazy king, but she didn't want to be separated from him.
Then she noticed that they were poised to kiss again. Ah. Umm. Well.
"If I try to kiss you, are you going to be a tease again?" Ben breathed.
Ah right. She'd utterly swerved him in a moment just like this earlier in their celebratory number. It hadn't felt like the right moment, and she was cheeky by nature.
"Not this time." Mal murmured. "Wouldn't want to make a habit of swerving the king."
"Wouldn't be right." He agreed.
All honesty? Mal had never kissed anyone before. Ben seemed to know what he was doing though. He pulled her in gently and met her lips with his. And it felt like fire. Burning hot but not painful. Breathless yet she was fine. Better than fine. Great, in fact.
The feeling of fire spread through her body, but that was the moment Ben stopped. She smiled, dazed.
"Mal likes."
Ben's smile took on a cheeky look. "Does she now?"
"Mmmm… a lot." Mal breathed, her eyes flaring poisonous green for a moment.
She leaned up and caught Ben's lips before he could tease her again. And the fire burned even hotter. She tangled her hands in his hair and pulled him down to meet her in the middle. It was when one hand gripped one of her horns and pulled her closer Mal yelped into the kiss and broke it off.
"Can I keep you?" She panted with a teasing tone.
"Absolutely." Ben consented breathlessly. "Oh, that reminds me."
"What?"
"I promised you my kingdom for just one kiss."
Mal smirked wickedly. "Promises, promises. I counted two kisses."
"What do I owe you now?" Ben laughed, playing with her hair and caressing her horns.
Mal traced his jaw to toy with Ben.
"Well, I already have your kingdom for the first kiss. For the second one I'll have… your love."
Ben picked her up in his arms and Mal yelped as he hoisted her off the ground unexpectedly. His cheeky smile was full force again.
"You already have it, Mal."
"Oh no." She giggled. "I'll have to think of something else."
They both went to kiss again, but the crowd of students below shouted for them to get a room. Ben laughed, embarrassed. Mal blushed and simply hid their next kiss with her wings.
Mal's Auradon Breakdown
"I don't belong here!" Mal wailed.
"I'd disagree with that."
The half-fairy turned around to see Belle in the doorway. She froze. Even her wings stayed still. The Queen Mother closed the door and walked in.
Belle took Maleficent out of her hands and put her back in her tank, closing it. Then she pulled Mal over to her bed and sat her down, careful not to trap her wings under either of them. Didn't want any pulled feathers. Mal screamed bloody murder whenever they were pulled out instead of moulting naturally.
"Why don't you think you belong here in Auradon, sweetie?" Belle inquired gently, rubbing Mal's back between her wings.
Mal outright confessed. "Because I've been faking it the whole time! I've been using spells to try and keep up with everything and now it's all falling apart!"
Just as she said that, she seized up, her eyes glowing a sickening poisonous green. And she passed out.
When she came around, Belle was still there. She also noticed that she'd been tucked into her bed, and that more people were in the room. Ben, Fairy Godmother, some incredibly beautiful blonde woman, Evie, Jay and Carlos.
"Huh?" Mal questioned very intelligently. Her cheek was assaulted by doggie kisses. "Uhh, Dude get off!"
"Hey, don't get snippy with me!" Dude protested, to the surprise of some in the room.
"Sorry about him." Carlos apologised, lifting Dude off the bed.
Mal got up, nursing her head and groaning.
"What happened?"
Fairy Godmother gave her a worried look. "Mal, your brain sort of 'short-circuited' due to an overload of magic. You're lucky you're half Hades, a normal fairy hybrid would have died from the sheer number of spells you put yourself under."
Wait. She nearly died? From magic?
"But I'm only under..."
"A hair spell, a memory spell, a fast reading spell, regular sleep spells, a calming spell and a thought-clarity spell. And those are just the ones I know about." Evie shut her up real fast. "Also, don't get me started on how much you've been overstressing lately, Mal!"
Ben looked positively panicked from the number of spells Evie had recited. And it was true she had cast several others.
Fairy Godmother interjected. "I lifted all spells on you as soon as I got here."
That explained why her hair was dark purple with a dark blue streak again instead of the colours only occupying the ends faintly.
"Okay, I get that. What I don't get is why they…" Mal gestured at the other VKs, Ben and the unknown woman. "... are here."
Belle gave her a sharp stare that made Mal nestle back down into her bed in an attempt to hide before it softened. "Your friends are worried sick about you, and regardless of any fighting between you and Ben, he still wanted to be here."
"And her?"
"Right, you haven't met. Mal, Aurora. Aurora, Mal." Belle introduced them.
Aurora. Queen Aurora. Queen Aurora of the Moors. Sleeping Beauty. Audrey's mother.
"Hello, Mal, it's great to finally meet you." Aurora smiled.
Mal buried her face in her pillow.
"Shove off."
Her muffled reply made Ben and the VKs laugh a little. Belle giggled for a second.
"Mal!" Fairy Godmother hissed, poking her side with her wand. Mal growled. Her closest wing swatted Jane's mother in the face in retaliation. Aurora burst out laughing melodiously.
"You're everything I imagined Maleficent's daughter to be, Mal."
Mal rolled over and glared at Sleeping Beauty. "Cruel, callous and evil?"
Aurora shook her hair with a smile. "No, no. Sassy, strong and a wicked sense of humour."
Okay, what parallel universe had she woken up in? Audrey's mother was being nice to her. Like, what in the actual name of her daddy Hades was going on? Speaking of her daddy, she missed him terribly.
"Dang, you are not what I thought. I can't keep up being horrible to you if you're so nice." Mal grumbled. "All my mother used to do was whinge about what a 'horrible little beastie' you were. Miserable old dragon. But you're actually alright."
"Well she called me 'Beastie' a lot. Can't say I've ever thought of my fairy godmother as a dragon, that was actually Diaval in our story."
"Well she's a lot smaller these days. Have a look."
Mal flippantly gestured to Maleficent's tank and curled up, wrapping her wings around herself. Belle wrapped an arm around her, her free hand disentangling her bedhead hair from her horns.
While Aurora checked out Maleficent's enclosure, Belle spoke softly in Mal's ear.
"I'm going to have Adam help Ben with the kingship so he gets some more time off, and also those annoying reporters have been booted off the campus. They're not allowed back on either, so you can go about your day normally. That sound good, sweetie?"
"Yeah." Mal mumbled.
"I'm also going to have words with that son of mine about his temper. While I do that, do you think you can make an effort with Aurora? She's been in your position, she went from peasant girl to Queen inside a week." Belle added.
Mal pouted silently inside her wings. She didn't want to really.
"Mal?" Belle pushed.
"Fine. She's not totally awful. But I'm holding 'Beastie' over her head."
Belle giggled and stroked her hair as Mal emerged from her wings, pout in full force.
"I wouldn't expect any less of you. Don't ever change who you are to please anyone else, Mal, no one is worth you losing yourself."
Hades On Call
Mal came back to her dorm after classes up the day after her breakdown to find a tablet on her bedside. It wasn't there before she went out this morning. There was a note too.
Mal,
Belle and I had an idea to cheer you up. Pretty soon you'll see what it is, but keep this tablet close. It won't work with it.
Love, Beastie
Aurora. She'd arranged this. Mal couldn't help but smile a little. Aurora was honestly too sweet.
She'd only just managed to ditch her bag and stretch her wings when the tablet screen lit up and started ringing like a phone. Mal picked it up and pressed the accept button. Then squealed with joy and nearly dropped it when a familiar face filled the screen.
"Daddy!"
Hades smiled right back at her, waving his fingers in his signature 'hello'.
"Hey, Mali! How's my baby girl doing?"
Mal giggled, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "Not so great until yesterday but so much better now, Daddy."
Hades leaned closer to the camera, concern in his fiery blue eyes.
"Whose soul do I have to steal?"
"No one's really. Just pretty much all of Auradon not leaving me alone every time I stepped out in public until Belle and Sleeping Beauty booted them off campus and told them to leave me alone because they were causing me to pass out from stress. Actually, I could stand to have most of the reporters deal with you."
"Well as long as someone's taking care of my baby girl, I'll hold off on breaking out. I see my Ember has found a new home."
Mal glanced down at where Hades' Ember hung around her neck in a gold housing on a chain and smiled. "Evie designed it but Carlos made it. You like?"
Hades gave her a thumbs up. "It looks great, Mali. Definitely belongs there. Gotta say, those friends of yours are quite the skilled bunch."
"Yeah, they are. Evie's making all the suits and dresses for Cotillion including mine. Which is annoying kinda because she's completely redone mine about 10 times already, and one of those was in our break today."
"Oh nice! Can your dear old Dad have a peak at what his little girl is going to be kicking it in?"
"Sure, let me just find her latest design."
Mal got up and wand wandered into Evie's space. She found the latest design for her dress at the top of the organised mess on Evie's desk and darted back to her video chat, holding up for Hades to see.
"Yikes! This girl is good! Are we sure she's not one of mine?"
Mal thought about it. "Well she does have natural blue hair, maybe a bit of your complexion. She's got some magical ability too. Did you hook up with Evil Queen at any point?"
"Not sure. Your mother started driving me to drink until I was black out drunk in the months before you were conceived and she did hark at me for drunken one night stands a lot. There's a real possibility she might be your half sister then."
"Yay!" Mal giggled quietly. "But enough about me, how're you doing, Daddy?"
Hades gestured around him. It looked like Maleficent's castle but given his steampunk style and blue ambiance lighting.
"I'm doing pretty well, Mali. Took over your mom's spot as ruler of the Isle before EQ or anyone could seize it and been laying down the law since. Running this place like the Underworld back in the day. Ursula's brat kicked up a fuss but I broke up her motley crew pretty quick. Did a couple serious censuses of the Isle, got a solid list of everyone here, topside or below. Might be handy when your boyfriend kicks off his grand rehabilitation scheme."
"Oh no, Shrimpy causing trouble. What a surprise." Mal commented sarcastically.
"Yeah. Plus, now got WiFi thanks to someone in the royal box. I'm thinking Belle or… what's his name? Bobby?"
"Ben." Mal corrected with a roll of her eyes. "So what else is new since your takeover?"
Wedding
"Mal, would you stop wriggling?" Evie reprimanded her. "I'm trying to do your hair back here!"
"But I'm nervous! It's your fault for not letting me do a dragon flight to calm my nerves! Or even just a regular one!" Mal pouted.
"I had enough trouble grooming your wings and getting you into that dress without you getting leaves trapped in your feathers and dirt all over yourself. Now stay still or I'll give you a headwrap like your mother used to wear and call it at that!"
Mal went still as a statue.
"Please don't."
"Good girl." Evie breathed in relief and masterfully weaved her dark purple and blue hair into the masterpiece she'd been trying for, having to work around her horns. Then she carefully decorated Mal's horns and the curved spikes at the main joint of her black and purple wings. Mal stood still through it under the threat of being made to look like her mother. It was bad enough that her mother was in attendance, she didn't want to look like her too.
When Mal was finally allowed to look in the mirror, she didn't even have the words.
"There's my beautiful baby girl!"
She looked at the reflection over her shoulder and saw her dad coming up behind her. She just smiled and laced her fingers with his, moving her wings to accommodate him.
"Hi, Daddy." She smiled.
"What, no hug for your old man, Mali?" Hades joked. He glanced at Evie. "She is allowed to hug me now that you're done right?"
Evie had a staring contest with him. She lost. The blue haired girl threw up her hands with a wry smile.
"Okay, she can! But if you mess up 4 hours of work, I'm gonna turn you into a gecko. Maleficent's old tank is still usable. Or a dog, Dude could use a playmate."
Hades chuckled as Mal hugged him tightly.
Evie rushed off to her place as maid of honour, probably to organise Mal's bridesmaids or some other such detail. Mal let out a sigh of relief when Evie was gone.
"Whew. Love that girl but she was going to kill me before I got to the altar."
"Can't have that." Hades chuckled again, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "How are you holding up?"
"Wishing I was allowed to fly before this, so nervous, scared and excited. And Mom's gonna be there. So there's that. How are you handling that?" Mal ranted quickly, her wings fluttering nervously.
"I could do without having to stand next to your mother but I suppose she's quite tolerable since she grew back to her natural form. What's blowing my mind is that my baby girl is getting married! At 19 no less! I'm so happy for you!"
Mal's worries melted away when she heard that. It was so sweet to hear.
Then the signal came.
"That's our cue." Hades smiled, taking her arm. "Ready, Mali?"
"To marry Ben? I've been ready since Cotillion a year ago. To be Queen? Not all all. Let's do this!" Mal laughed nervously.
"That's my girl! Never forget, we're rotten…"
"To the core!" Father and daughter chorused, and stepped out into the new world.
The carriage ride was fine. Hades kept Mal calm and soon enough they were at the cathedral where it all began. He led her up the steps and into the cathedral.
Mal looked down the aisle to the centre of the cathedral, when Ben had become king in his… exciting coronation 3 years ago. He was waiting for her, and he was speechless. Mal giggled. Evie had done her job well even with her misbehaving until threatened. She could swear Hades wiped a tear from his eyes before the music started and they began to walk down the aisle.
Mal couldn't help but smile at each person as she passed. Evie, Carlos, Jay, Dude, Dizzy, Uma, Harry, Gil, Celia and all the presently hosted kids from the Isle of the Lost were on her side of the procession.
At the very front were Aurora and Maleficent, side by side. Diaval, resurrected and returned to human form, was there too. And her mother was more than behaving, she was smiling! And it wasn't her evil smile with the wicked gleam either. Maleficent had a genuine, warm smile on her face. And tears running down her face too. She'd never seen her mother cry until now. And it seemed to be out of happiness for her.
It might help that she and Aurora had reconciled and that her own wings were returned when she turned back from Hades shrinking her from colossal dragon to a gecko the size of the love in her heart.
Hades delivered her to the altar and went to stand arm in arm with Maleficent. Ha! Could do without standing next to her mom? That was a lie!
Ben took her hands and Fairy Godmother presided. She was pretty sure they both switched off during her speech. But when she finally got down to business, Mal was paying absolute attention.
"King Benjamin Florian Beast. Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?"
"I do!" Ben declared boldly.
Mal giggled at him almost shouting the words. Oh Ben!
"Lady Maleficent Bertha Hades." Mal rolled her eyes at her full name. "Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?"
Mal gave Fairy Godmother a jokingly offended look. "Is that even a question? Hell yes!"
The entire crowd clapped.
Fairy Godmother didn't even scold her, just smiled.
"Then I hereby pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Mal disregarded tradition utterly and flapped her wings, lifting herself off the ground to match Ben's height and kissed him fiercely. His own wicked side came out and he pulled her close, one hand grasping one of her horns, the other pulling on her lower back. Only when Fairy Godmother cleared her throat did they stop.
"Whoops." Mal joked, covering her mouth cheekily with one hand after landing.
Ben sheepishly looked at the ceiling. "Sorry about that."
Everyone broke into laughter.
Ben stepped away as he had to, up the stairs, and Mal lowered her head for Fairy Godmother to place her new crown on her head. It was gold, sculpted like a dragon and, unusually, was designed to slide down over her horns and use them to hold it in place. Probably because the original crown Audrey had stolen a while back would never fit due to her horns. It was inset with purple jewels, and as its centrepiece there was a dark blue gem, not unlike Hades' Ember that hung around her neck.
Fairy Godmother slide the crown carefully over Mal's horns and rested it on her head at last. Then she retrieved her wand.
"Do you solemnly swear to govern the people of Auradon with justice and mercy, as long as you shall reign with our king?"
Mal looked up.
"I do solemnly swear… to give it my best shot anyways."
Mal found her hair catching fire with blue flames as she finished her cheeky answer. Like father, like daughter she supposed.
"Then it is my joy to bless our new Queen!"
Fairy Godmother did the whole blessing shtick. Then Mal rose and joined Ben at the top, smiling as everyone sounded their applause. It was quite overwhelming, but she just held onto Ben's arm and focused on him and her friends. Soon enough she could hear Jay calling from the crowd,
"All bow to Her Royal Majesty!"
Carlos joined in. "Ah yes, Her Royal Purpleness!"
She was going to spell them into little kids. It was official. But the straw that broke the camel's back was when Uma yelled,
"Speech, Your Specialness!"
Mock-glaring at Uma and the boys, Mal laughed.
"Silence, you annoying peasants." She jested. "I'm gonna have to make this speech short because these heels are killing me. Two words short, that is. 'Let's party!'"
The crowd went up in full party mode and Ben laughed at her behaviour.
"Honestly, Mal! I hoped you'd be a little responsible about this but I was expecting you to go off script. Not this much though."
Mal giggled and made his crowd crooked. "Glad not to disappoint, beloved husband."
"You're always so cheeky, darling wife." Ben teased her right back.
"Giving speeches to your subjects, Mal? I raised you worse than that!"
The royal couple turned around to see Maleficent with Hades still in tow. Diaval and Aurora were off somewhere in the crowd.
"Uh… hi Mom… and Dad…" Ben was so startled or frightened that he forgot himself.
Mal wasn't much better. She hadn't really interacted with her mother that much since she was restored. She managed not to stutter though.
"Mother." She replied cordially.
Maleficent broke her disappointed expression with a laugh. Not a wicked one either. Seeing Hades laughing along with her mother, Mal pouted.
"I hate you both right now."
Hades tweaked one of her horns irritatingly, grinning like a madman the whole time. Maleficent gave Ben an odd look and a genuine heartfelt smile to Mal. Then she took her daughter's hands softly, much to the younger winged woman's surprise.
"I am so very proud of you Mal. And I'm happy for you. You couldn't have turned out better despite all my mistakes." Maleficent told her gently.
Mal couldn't help but blush. Her wings fluttered happily and tears began to well up. She turned her face to the ceiling, much to Hades' concern. Ben wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Mali? You okay?"
"I'm good, great even. Best I've ever been." She smiled. "It's just… I need to cry, and Evie will kill me if I mess up my makeup."
Maleficent laughed softly again.
"My silly daughter, have you already forgotten about magic? Both mine and yours? I can fix your makeup as soon as your eyes are dry again."
Mal faced back down and blushed at both of her parents and Ben laughing at her actions. She let the tears fall. She launched herself into her parents with a flap of her wings, surprising them with a tight hug. Hades let her bury her face in his shoulder and Maleficent rubbed her back comfortingly. Then her dad dragged Ben in with a murderous 'I'm watching you' glare.
Hades and Ben pulled back at some point, but Maleficent held Mal in her arms until her tears of happiness were finished, fixed her makeup with a flick of her fingers and golden magic, then departed with a final kiss on her forehead, leaving Mal more confused than ever.
Ben took her back in his arms without hesitation. Aurora came up to them with Diaval, having watched the whole affair.
"Maleficent isn't very open with her feelings, but she was teasing with the first bit." Aurora explained with a light laugh. "Don't think too much about it, little sister."
Diaval chuckled. "That's true. The last person I saw her kiss was Hades, and before that it was Aurora, to wake her up from her own curse.
Epilogue
Mal sat happily on the couch as Ben brought the guests in. Evie, Jay, Carlos (with Dude of course), Maleficent, Hades, Aurora, and his parents. They all sat down.
"So why the vague summons, Your Majesty?" Evie dramatically jested.
Mal shot her a playful glare. "Knock it off, E. We've got an announcement."
Jay raised an eyebrow.
"A super secret announcement? So secret we couldn't even bring our significant others? Oh, do tell, Your Esteemed Crankiness. We're eager and…"
His jokes were cut off by Maleficent waved her fingers. She had golden magic dancing around them. Everyone looked at Jay, only to find that he had become an exceptionally large dark brown bunny rabbit.
Maleficent gave an innocent look when everyone's gaze fell on her.
"What?"
Mal sighed, holding in a laugh. "Mom, turn Jay back."
"Why? He's much preferable like this. Cuter too." Her mother reasoned.
"Mother!"
Maleficent grumbled. "Fine."
She waved her fingers again and gave a clear command.
"Back into a man."
Jay returned to his natural form, glaring at Maleficent but otherwise silent. Message received. Mal sighed with relief and took Ben's hand. Moment of truth.
"There's going to be a new Prince or Princess in Castle Beast in about six months or so." Mal announced.
There was silence.
Then all hell broke loose. Evie, Aurora and Belle squealed in delight. Jay and Adam looked shocked. Carlos had an adorable grin on his face. Dude barked "Awesome!". Hades looked murderous toward Ben. He went to stand up, but Maleficent held up her hand and stopped him without a word. Her piercing gaze fell on Ben and she turned her head to face him.
"So, Benjamin. Let me get this straight. You and Mal consummated your marriage, on the night of or soon after your wedding, probably both and several other occasions, and you got my daughter pregnant?"
Ben nodded nervously. Mal glanced at her mother worriedly.
Maleficent seemed to think the information over deeply. Then she gave Ben a curt nod and simply said, "Good job."
Mal stared disbelievingly at her mother.
Evie broke the awkward silence. "Do you have ultrasound pictures?"
Ben nodded happily and put them on the coffee table. Everyone, even Hades, jumped up peered down to have a look. Carlos, bless him, was too short to see past Jay, even while jumping. So he just asked the most important questions after leaping onto Jay's back.
"So is it a yes or a no on horns? And what about wings?"