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Mal felt pure rage when she would look at Evie. Seeing the bruises that marred her body. She could see handprints left on Evie’s neck. It took her days before she could sit up without feeling pain.
It was one of her biggest regrets. Leaving Evie behind. Letting their parents get their hands on her. Evie, who was once a bright, smiling girl, was now scared of making those around her angry. She no longer had the light in her eyes, even when she smiled. And she did smile more.
Mal had felt responsible for Evie’s happiness. She had a lot to make up for, having her banned to the outskirts when they were younger, for almost putting her in a one thousand year sleep, and for leaving her behind.
Evie had her own room, next to Mal and Uma’s. A door connected the two rooms, something Mal had conjured up the second Evie was released from hospital. Mal had taken to keeping the door opened. Evie woke up most nights, screaming. Mal and Uma would run to her, and Mal would spend the next two hours ushering Evie that she was okay. That she was safe.
It was a few weeks later that Evie started therapy. And the smiles were bigger, but the light hadn’t returned.
Ben had suggested a weekend away from the school. He’d house them all. Mal accepted, hoping a change of scenery would help Evie. Especially since the other girl had always dreamed of living in a castle.
They all packed, and Mal helped Evie pack what little she had. The other girl’s body still had bruises, but she could see them healing. The scars that were left behind, they would always hurt.
Before they knew it, the VKs were in front of Beast’s Castle. Mal reached over and grabbed Evie’s hand. The blue haired girl looked at her. Evie gave her a small, sad smile.
And they went.
The girls were rooming together, and the boys were going to be right next doors.
“What do you want to do?” Mal asked, looking at Evie.
The taller girl’s fingers were running over the material of the comforters. She looked at Mal and shrugged.
“C’mon Evie, this is a castle, what you always wanted,” Mal stated, her eyes on the other girl.
“What my mother always wanted,” Evie whispered, looking away.
Uma reached over and slapped Mal’s elbow. And the purple haired girl flinched. She looked out the window, seeing the garden just outside.
“How about we go to the garden?” Mal suggested, turning to her roommates.
Evie shrugged, and Uma nodded. They collected the boys and headed outside. Mal watched as Evie walked through the garden, her fingers running over different petals. She knew that Evie had always loved pretty things, and the flowers were beautiful.
They found a spot of just grass and Evie sat down. The other Vks were quick to sit down around her. Evie wrapped her arms around her legs. She stared at the flowers, and Mal could just watch her.
The others got bored after a while and went off to do their own things, but Mal didn’t move. She couldn’t unless Evie did first.
The other girl looked at Mal. “Can we just stay here?”
Mal nodded. “For however long you want.”
It was dinner when everyone saw the fear Evie lived in at the Isle.
The VKs, Ben and his parents were in the dining hall for dinner. Adam was watching all the children, but his eyes went to the Evil Queen’s daughter. He could see a scab on Evie’s hairline. He could see faint remnants of bruises left from the villains. While the other Vks were making their presence known, Evie tried to make herself as small as possible.
Ben’s girlfriend, Mal seemed intune with the other girl, and seemed to reassure Evie. Of what? He didn’t know.
But then Evie reached for something and her glass tipped over. Water spilled out, and Evie froze. Adam could hear Evie’s labored breathing from where he was. The girl had tears in her eyes, as she looked from Adam to Belle. “I-I-,”
“Evie,” Mal whispered, reaching over to touch her friend’s shoulder. But instead of helping her relaxed, it caused her to panic.
Evie flinched and her chair fell backwards. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Evie said, stepping away from everyone. Mal and her friends all stood up.
“Sweetie, no one is mad,” Belle told the girl, moving closer to Evie.
The young girl cowered, protecting her head. Her body was shaking. Adam’s heart dropped, seeing the young girl protect herself.
“Evie,” Mal whispered, crouching down in front of the girl. “Hey, you’re not in the Isle. You’re in Auradon. You’re with your friends.”
“Mommy’s going to be mad,” Evie whispered, her wild eyes looking around.
“Your mother is not here. And she is never going to hurt you again,” Mal told her, and Evie looked at her. Maleficent's daughter reached over and offered Evie her hand. The other girl took it, and just lunged into Mal’s arms, holding her close. “You’re safe here with us.”
Dinner was over then, and the teens retreated into the girls’ bedroom. Belle and Adam were left.
“Ben was right,” Belle said, looking at her husband. He could just nod, his eyes on Evie’s plate, just thinking of what must have happened to her while she was left behind.
Of what his law had caused her and other kids left on the Isle.
Evie was asleep, using Mal’s lap as a pillow. Mal just ran her hand through her best friend’s hair.
Jay covered her with a blanket, and Carlos held Evie’s hand.
“We can help her get better, right?”
“We have to try,” Mal said, looking at the girl. “We can’t let them win.”
Evie woke up screaming that night, and Mal was quick to hold her best friend. Evie gripped Mal’s shirt, her body trembling. Mal could just stroke Evie’s hair, whispering whatever she could think of to shake the girl out of her nightmare. When she was sure that Evie wasn’t on the verge of a panic attack, something she had seen happen multiple times, she stopped talking and just hoped the silence would put Evie into a dreamless, nightmare-less sleep.
The two laid in silence, Evie’s finger running over Mal’s shirt.
“Do you ever think that we deserve what we went through?” Evie asked, her voice breaking through the silence. “That we are being punished for existing?”
“No. I don’t,” Mal responded, her voice holding conviction.
“Then why did this happen to me? To us? Why did we have to be raised there and not here?” Evie asked, her eyes on Mal’s face.
“I think we were unlucky. I think life is just unfair, and there is not much we can do but keep fighting for a better life. Like we are.”
“What if I don’t want to fight anymore?”
“Evie-”
“Just when I think I’m going to get better, that I can put those months behind me, something pushes me back to their hands. I’m tired of fighting Mal,” Evie whispered, the tears evident in her voice.
“Then let me fight for you. Let me fight until you can again. I don’t want to lose you Evie. I can’t lose you. Not now, not ever.”
“It hurts too much. To know my own mother hated me. That they hated all of us.”
Mal felt tears fill her own eyes, thinking of how her own mother didn’t care for her either. She nodded. “If you ever feel like giving up, I want you to tell me. I want you to tell me, so I can fight for you.”
“I don’t want you to hate me,” Evie whispered, her voice barely a whisper, “I don’t want you to hate me if I do give up.”
Mal shook her head. “I could never hate you. I’d be devastated, but I could never hate you.”
“I just want it all to stop hurting.”
“And it will, one day. One day, you’ll wake up, and all this will be behind you. You’ll smile, and sing, and you’ll shine. We just have to get to it one day.”
“One day,” Evie repeated, leaning closer to Mal.
“One day will come. You just have to wait for it. And that one day will be so beautiful. And you’ll realize fighting would have been worth it,” Mal whispered into the darkness, just as Evie’s body relaxed next to her. “And you’ll feel complete, whole in a way you never were before. And we will all be there for you. One day you won’t need to fight anymore, because you won’t have to. One day you’ll be able to breathe easily. And that one day may be closer than you think. One day.”
Mal could hear Evie even breathing next to her. She stared at the dark ceiling, tears streaming down the side of her face. She knew she’d have to keep fighting too. To find the hope ahead of her. As she also hoped for that one day for herself.
One day.