Secret in the Heart ||Descendants|| (♡Ben)

32

"I knew I would find you here." I say as I approach Mal. She is looking out over the sea with some binoculars. "You did?" she asks me. "Yeah, I mean you are not that hard to read." I say as I lean on the railing with my arms. She turns towards me with a frown. "I know the history you share with Uma and I know you don't trust her." I say. She nods and turns back towards the sea. "You are right, I don't trust her." she says. "Look," I say as I take the binoculars from her. "If Uma was planning something she probably would have done it by now. Besides I don't believe she wants to do any harm." I say. "How can you be so sure? She spelled Ben into loving her and wanted to use him to take down the barrier." Mal says as she turns towards me. I raise my eyebrows at her. "I didn't mean it like that." she says. I smile. "You did, and that's okay. Just think about our intentions when we came here eight months ago. We wanted to take down the barrier so your mother could take over Auradon." I say with a sigh. "You are right, Uma tried to use Ben to take down the barrier, but Uma only wants what is best for the Isle. She wants everybody to get a chance. I agree her method wasn't the best one, but it was the only one she knew. Just like it was the only one we knew." I continue. "This doesn't mean I trust her you know." Mal says. "I know, and Ben's got your back." I say as I point at the men who are also watching the sea with binoculars. Mal nods her head. "Anyways, I did not come here to argue with you or anything." I say. "Then why did you come here." she asks. "I came to talk to you about the other day on the Isle and the person who is still there." I say and Mal raises her eyebrows. "Look I know we haven't talked about him a lot but with what is happening right now-" I start. "What is happening right now Kara?" she asks with a bit of an angry tone. "Look, I know that this is a sensitive subject but we are gonna be taking kids out of the Isle at one moment you are probably going to run into your dad. Even if that's not the case I don't plan on only taking the kids out of the Isle. I want to get everybody out eventually, which means you will see your father again." I say to her. She looks down. "If you don't wanna talk about him it's fine, I just wanted to tell you before I told anyone else because I don't want you to be uncomfortable with it." I say. "I'll always be uncomfortable around that man. I mean he never sought me out." she says. I nod. It's probably hard, knowing that your father is on the Isle but he does nothing to contact you or make an effort to see you. "It's not only that it's just also that I don't know if I even wanna see him." she says. "I get that, you've gone so long without him that you probably don't even need him." I say. "That and I don't know I guess I'm a bit scared." she says. "Of running into him?" I ask. "Yes and just of him in general. He's powerful. He hurts people. You know how everybody there talks about him on the streets. He's a monster." she says. "He's only a monster if you allow him to be." I tell her and she nods lightly. "Do you really think it's a good idea to get everybody out?" she asks. "Well, I think that by starting with their children and just having them live here and hopefully see them having fun that their parents will realize Auradon isn't all that bad. I hope that they will see that we can all live together in peace." I say as I look out over the ocean. "Besides, everybody deserves a shot at a better life." I say.

We're silent for a while until I feel Mal tugging on my arm. "Come on, let's go inside, dinner is probably ready." she says. I nod and side by side we walk inside. Once we get closer to the dining hall the smell of food hits our nostrils. "The smell still amazes me every single time." I say and Mal laughs as we walk into the dining room. A lot of the students are already sitting at a table and eating. We both grab a tray and walk past all of the delicious foods which Remy and his team of cooks prepared for us. I spot Remy walking towards me from behind the counter. "Don't forget about our deal." he says as he wipes his hands on a kitchen towel. "After we pick up the kids and get them settled I am all yours for as long as you'll have me." I say. He nods. "Enjoy your dinner ladies." he says. Mal and I thank him and we walk toward the table where our friends are sitting at. Jane, Carlos, Jay, Evie, and Lonnie are sitting on one side of the table. Ben, Connor, and Doug are on the other side, with two empty chairs beside them. "So Lonnie rightfully puts him in his place." Jay says as we sit down at the table. Mal next to Doug, me next to her. "It really wasn't that big of a deal." Lonnie says. "It was, he was behaving like a jerk." Carlos says. Lonnie waves the topic they were talking about away with her hand. "Doug, how is the band doing?" Lonnie says changing the subject. "Yeah, I heard there was this new kid..." I say letting the sentence finish itself and taking a bite of my food. "We were short on applicants and he really wanted to join so I just wanted to give him a shot. How he ended up in the tuba I do not know." Doug says. "Wait he ended up in the tuba?" Connor asks. "Yeah, he did." Doug says as he massages his head. Connor holds down his laugh and we all smile. "I'm sure he'll just need some time to adjust. The next rehearsal will be better." Evie says. "Let's hope." Doug says. "What are you practicing for?" I ask as I take another bite of my food. I can see Doug's eyes shift from Evie to Connor. "I'm sorry, is it a secret?" I ask. "No, no of course it's not. We are just practicing for when the kids from the Isle come here." Doug says. "Yeah, we were actually planning on the band being the welcoming committee with a good song." Evie says. I take a bite and nod. "Good idea." I say when I've swallowed the food. Ben asks Connor something, probably something about their council but I am sitting too far away to hear. Jane and Carlos join in their conversation. "You know I never asked you Doug, but why did you get into music?" I ask. "Well you know, my father doesn't really speak so I thought it would be a way of communicating with him." he says and I nod, not knowing that the reason would have been something so touchy. "And I just kinda stuck with it. I just came to love music, hence I joined the band when I enrolled here." he says. "Do you wanna make it your job one day? Or just keep it as a hobby and do some fun things with it?" I ask. "My ultimate dream would be to play the trumpet for The Dragon Slayers." he says. "Wow." Mal says. "But if that doesn't work out, I'm not going to stop playing." he says as he eyes Evie. "Maybe I would play at events like a party, festival, or wedding. That kind of thing." he says. "Oh a wedding, how romantic." Evie says. "Yeah I think it would be a really lovely experience playing the first dance for the newlywed couple." he says. I smile, it really is a nice future he sees for himself, doing something he loves. "What would your first song be Evie?" Mal asks her. "That's a good question." Evie says as she stares into space for a little while. "I mean I don't know yet, but I do think I want something a little more slow-paced so I can have a romantic dance." she says as she sighs slightly at the image. I chuckle and take another bite. "What are you chuckling for?" she asks. "Me?" I ask with my mouth full of food as I point at myself. "Yes you, don't you know what song you want to dance to or what dress you want to wear?" Evie asks. "For my wedding?" I ask as I swallow the food. "Yes!" she says. "Evie, I'm not even close to thinking about my wedding yet. I haven't even finished school yet. Why would I already want to get married?" I ask her. She hums and takes another bite of her food. I shake my head with a smile and look down at my plate, continuing to eat my dinner.