Walking into the docs, Jay told Carlos to stay behind him. Carlos was definitely not going to fight unless he had to. Dude sat in his lap, he stayed in the shadows. Mal walked forward, her head held high, and her eyes glowing green, she didn't come to play nice. Lonnie, an outsider to this entire way of life, witnessed the changes in her friends, how in an instant their eyes were cold and dark, calculating and ready to strike, as if they were a snake going after prey.

Even Evie was different somehow. The grace she usually carried around her was now replaced with agility, reflex and a tilted look in her eyes. Lonnie knew that if she was going to fight this battle, she too would have to be more than what she had been her whole life. She had to be the warrior her mother once was. Jay looked to lonnie and saw how Lonnie went into fight mode, much like she did in ROAR. Her eyes were focused, her hair pulled back, and her hand ready to draw her sword. It was like he was looking at Mulan herself.

Uma began the discussion, but it was more like a cat fight. Mal was definitely holding her own, her bitterness and attitude, much like her mother, showed through. She may have spent time in Auradon, but she was a VK at heart, or more like stone, because if you asked her, she didn't have one.

Carlos watched from the shadows, calculating every potential action, after all he knew the tricks and trades of the Pirates, and knew what to expect. When the fight began, it was no shock to Carlos that it would happen quickly. Grabbing smoke bombs, he launched them from the shadows, aiming for members of the other crew. When he hit Harry Hook, he laughed, the pirate looked confused at who had thrown it. Wheeling himself out of the shadows, he smirked at the pirate before flipping him off.

Ben proved that he could hold his own with a sword. Lonnie was kicking ass. When the other pirate dropped his sword, and she handed him hers, he was awful confused, but then she kicked him in the face and took it back. The boyish man fell into the water. She didn't feel bad, she couldn't- this was war. OK maybe not war, but it was still a fight, and having moral on an island where they had known would get you killed- she knew that much.

It wasn't until someone came for Carlos, that he realized how unprepared for this he was. He fought like hell, but got cut by the sword being yielded by a pirate. When he was backed into a corner, Dude came to the rescue. He charged the pirate, and took a huge bite out of his leg. The pirate immediately refocused his attention on the dog, allowing Carlos to hit him, and then push him into the water. Dude had released the man just before then, and jumped into Carlos's lap just as the Pirate hit the water.

The fight was over faster than they knew it, and soon they were all running for the car. Jay said screw it, and picked Carlos up, leaving the wheelchair behind. Luckily, Carlos had taken this possibility into account earlier, and left everything he valued in Auradon. The wheelchair was long forgotten as they all piled into the Limo they'd 'borrowed'. Jay put Carlos up front before hurrying to drive away.

It wasn't until they were safe in Auradon that they all stopped holding their breath. Evie was the first one to crack. "I got blood stains all over my outfit." Mal rolled her eyes, "it'll wash out, and even if it doesn't, you can make a new one." Evie did a hair flip and sighed, "yes, but I won't have time because the cotillion is like a day, and I have to finish everything."

"I don't know whether to say that was fun, or if it was terrifying." Lonnie admitted to no one in particular.

"I'd say fun, we threw their pirates in the water. And while they claim to be pirates, they can't swim." Mal said with a bit of a smirk.

"Neither could you, when you came here." Ben reminded her.

"But, I didn't kidnap the king, hold him for ransom, and then threaten to throw him off 'my ship'." Mal said with a wave of her hand.

"yes, but you did-." Ben started to say, "-semantics, past is the past, forgive, forget?" she said with a smile, batting her eyes. He let it go, which showed that he could be more like his mother, more caring, and kind, than his father could be.

Carlos sat up front, discreetly holding pressure to the slash wound on his stomach. It was only a mater of time before Jay noticed it. Parking the Limo, Jay was more distracted on putting the car back how he found it, and making it look untouched. With it seemingly unmoved, he then focused on grabbing his boyfriend and getting out of there.

It wasn't until they were back in the room, that Jay saw the blood. Carlos had been biting his lip to prevent crying out in pain. It wasn't the deepest wound, but it was deep enough to need stitches, and be bleeding quite a bit. Luckily he was already on his bed, not needing to really move anywhere.

"Babe, you're bleeding…" Jay said with worry.

"its nothing, I caught the end of his sword, just get a little gauze, put some pressure on it, and it'll be fine." Carlos had said, despite knowing it wouldn't be fine.

Jay began to lift Carlos's shirt, and saw how much blood was really there. It looked bad, and he was internally freaking out.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Because we needed to get out of there…before our parents found out we were there. There was no time to fix it, had we stayed longer, we risked getting caught by Uma again, and fighting, and not having an upper hand anymore."

"You need help…"

"And if we go to fairy got mother, she's gonna know. So, be a dear, and go steal some thread and needles from Evie's sewing kit, a bottle of either rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide from the nurse's office, and come back. And at the rate of blood loss, I've got probably another 10 minutes before I pass out and start having problems. We can deal with this, okay? Just like we did on the isle. I always sewed you up good when Evie wasn't there to do it." Carlos said as he calculated his blood loss and the rate it was coming out of him.

Jay nodded and was gone in a flash. Within a few minutes he was back with everything Carlos asked for.

"I need you to thread the needle, while I clean the wound. Then I'm going to need you to get a leather belt, or a towel." Carlos told him.

Jay threaded the needle, Carlos waited for him to grab him a belt, and then put it in his mouth. Biting down, he grunted into it as he poured the hydrogen peroxide on it. It burned badly, but it needed to be cleaned. Once the blood was gone, he took a deep breath and began to sew himself up. It'd been a very, very long time since he'd last had to do this. Once he was done, he had Jay bring him some juice, which he drank and then passed out from pain. Jay woke him up a few hours later to check on him. He was still in pain, but he was doing better. He'd forgotten to wrap gauze around himself, so jay tapped the gauze to his midsection, where the wound was, and brought him some pain killers he'd lifted from the nurse's office.

The two of them skipped classes, which led the others to come around and see why. Carlos, when he woke up, claimed it was because he didn't have his wheelchair and didn't know how to get around saying he'd lost it. Jay claimed to be tired, and didn't want Carlos to be lonely. Ben had pulled some strings and got Carlos a new wheelchair by the end of the day.

It was the next day when his secret was out of the bag. Ben had come in to talk to the two of them but Carlos hadn't heard him enter. He was changing his shirt when Ben walked in and startled him. Ben saw the gauze, and there was no way getting around it. Carlos then had to explain how a pirate had slashed his side/ stomach area and that he stitched it up himself. Ben was impressed with the skill and ability Carlos possessed. Despite it being sewing thread, it looked as if a professional had done it. To which the younger boy admitted, he'd had lots of practice growing up with Cruella. It was an offhand comment, but it made Ben think about Carlos throughout the day.

Where would the younger Boy be if he hadn't made the declaration. Perhaps he'd still be able to walk, but he would be living with the abusive and insane Cruella, a mother that had no affections of love in her heart for her only son.

With that in mind, he went to Evie and asked for a list of names of children to come over. Soon Most of the children were off the isle. It was hard for them to adapt, but over time they eventually did.

The others eventually found out about Carlos's wound on the isle, and were not pleased he hid it. It was cotillon right after, and Carlos was in misery the whole time, as his wound was still fresh, and the stitches pulled every time he moved. Despite his pain, he still had a good time. Jay looked amazing in his outfit, and had Carlos checking him out at every chance. It made the older boy blush, which was something that he didn't do very often, and that made Carlos smile every time. Jay could tell that Carlos was feeling a bit down, and did his best to keep his spirits up. He understood how frustrated Carlos must be feeling at the moment. Everyone was dancing, and he was confined to his wheelchair. After a bit, Jay got an idea.

He took Carlos somewhere more private, and helped him out of his wheel chair. Supporting all of his weight, he held Carlos up, having Carlos standing on his feet and he danced slowly. It wasn't perfect, but for one song, Carlos was feeling ecstatic and over the moon. When it ended, Jay helped him back into his wheelchair, and sat with him. They looked at the stars, and back at the isle from the side of the ship.

"I didn't know I could feel so many things at once." Jay said softly.

"its hard…everything we were ever taught was wrong, and learning to be…right…is so…different." Carlos admitted.

"Sometimes, I wake up and I think I'm on the isle, but then I realize I'm in Auradon, and I'm safe. For the first time, we're safe. Cruella cant ever get to you again, my dad can't touch me, Evie is free from her mother's verbal abuse, and Mal can be herself for the first time. I could have never imagined a life like this. I couldn't imagine being here, but now that I've lived it, I can say that I would never trade this for anything. We may be Isle made, but Auradon is our home now. I dont think the isle was ever a home, it was a place, it was where we lived, but our home is here now. And, I'm glad that I've shared this experience with you. We were friends…but you were always closer to Evie, I was always closer to Mal. Now we're together, and we would do a anything for each other. Mal and Evie are my sisters. You, you're the boyfriend I never knew I needed. You understand what life was like back home, but you also understand it here. You see things like me, maybe with more science behind it, but you see the struggles to be good, how easy it would be to be our isle selves. You were always the better one of us, you were the least evil, the most hero like. Sometimes I think I don't belong here, but then I look at you, and I see that I do. I see that Auradon might never feel like home, but its the best home we've ever had.

To go through school, a real school, its amazing. I'm more than a thief, I'm me. I know how to read, I can write, I can do so much, and I owe so much of it to you. We're almost done with school, and I have no idea what's coming next. But as long as I have you beside me, I know I can face it." Jay said softly. His words came from a place of heart, a place he rarely spoke from. Carlos was touched by his heart filled speech. He held Jay's hand kissed his cheek. "Together we can do anything."

Carlos accepted that his life may never be perfect, or turn out how he had planned it to be, but it had a way of working out. He became the best version of himself, and continued to make strides to be the man he wanted to be. Jay struggled, but he too became a better man. Together they helped other isle kids make their way through adjusting, and learning. When school was over, Carlos had no clue what they would do next, but he knew, that if he had his friends by his side, they could do anything. He'd been through hell and back, and knew whatever else came his way, would be an adventure and a lesson, one he took with grace and a smile, no matter how seemly difficult it was.

A/N: Well I guess this is the end! I wanted to wrap it up. I had planned to go on further but I think ending it here is a good spot. I am so sorry this took so long! between last semester ending and work, and this semester starting, I've been busy. Definition of team no sleep. Thank you so much for reading, following and favoriting this story!