Love Blooms (Jane/Carlos)

Chapter 5

It had been almost a month. Carlos and Jane had kept their distance, shattering both their hearts in more ways than one. Tyler and Jane had been hanging out in group settings, so that Fairy Godmother was satisfied. All the while, Mal, Evie, Lonnie, Ben, Doug, and Jay were racking their brains trying to figure out how to get Carlos and Jane back together.

They were all hanging out by the Enchanted Lake, trying to figure out how exactly to do it. "This can't go on." Lonnie said. "Both of them are shells of themselves without each other."

Jay nodded. "Dude can't even cheer Carlos up and we all know how bonded those two are."

Mal groaned and flopped down onto her back, her head landing in Ben's lap. He ran a hand through her hair. "I feel like we're failing him, both of them." She said. "We swore to Corinne to keep Carlos happy and he's the only person who can make Jane feel as special and beautiful as she deserves to."

"You're not failing anyone, Mal." Ben assured her.

"It's Fairy Godmother who's failing her daughter." Doug reasoned. "Who would practically force their daughter to be with a prince instead of letting her choose?"

Evie looked down and raised her hand slightly. Doug realized his mistake and started stammering an apology. Evie stopped him. "It's okay, Doug. I've moved past it." She laced their fingers together before turning back to the group. "We need to find a way for Fairy Godmother to see what Jane and Carlos have between them."

"It's true love." Lonnie said quietly.

All heads snapped to her. "Are you sure?" Jay asked.

Lonnie nodded as serious as anyone had ever seen her. "The way they're acting now is identical to the way my mom and dad said they felt when they broke up briefly because of that stupid mission. And they way they look at each other. Ben, tell me you don't see that look when your parents look at each other."

"It's true." Ben agreed. "Carlos looks at Jane like my dad looks at my mom. And like how I'm sure I look at Mal." A slight pink tint came to Mal's cheeks. "Jane is everything to Carlos."

"And Carlos is everything to Jane." Lonnie continued.

"I may not have a lot of experience with love," Jay interjected. No one missed the not-so-subtle glance he gave to Lonnie when he said this. "But if what Carlos and Jane have isn't it, then I don't want to know what is."

Mal groaned again and stood up, pacing the gazebo. Everyone fell silent, working out ways to prove it to Fairy Godmother. Mal sucked in a sharp breath as she stood at the edge of the water. She felt her fingertips tingling and knew what this meant. Since she was a half-fairy she was able to since when an object had magical components. There was something magical near her, more than the lake itself.

"Mal?" Ben asked, concerned as to why his girlfriend had just frozen in place. All of them turned to her confused.

Mal bent down to look at the water. Nothing seemed to be different. Except... her eyes widened. Almost hidden by the gazebo was a small cluster of pale blue and white lilies. They were slightly open but still buds. (A/N picture above) She touched one of the buds and felt a small surge go through her. These were the magic objects. She gently picked one and stood up, showing it to the group.

"These flowers... are magic." She breathed. Everyone's eyes went wide. Even in a land of fairytales, they were still amazed by what magical objects can do. "I've seen them somewhere before. Evie, grab my magical objects textbook from my bag."

She and Jane were the only ones who studied magic history and objects since they were the only ones with fairy and magic blood in them. Evie quickly dug through Mal's backpack and pulled out the textbook. She flipped through the book until she got to the chapter on plants. Her eyes went wide and her smile grew. She let out a squeal.

She jumped up and ran over to stand next to Mal. "Those flowers are just what we need!"

Everyone raised an eyebrow. She let out another squeal. "You wanna explain without the hearing damage, princess?" Jay said, grimacing at the volume.

Evie started to read from the book out loud, "'Love Lilies. These flowers are very rare as they only grow near enchanted waters. Their white and pale blue petals stay primarily in bud form until enticed by the magic of true love, which gave the flower its name.'" Smiles started forming at the statement. Evie continued, "'The lilies will bloom when a person wears or holds the buds and is given true love's kiss in any form.' Guys, we can show Fairy Godmother that these lilies will bloom if Carlos kisses Jane!"

"This is perfect!" Doug said, "If what the book says is true, Fairy Godmother will have to let Jane and Carlos be together! She can't break up true love!"

"We can test it now!" Lonnie added, "Mal's holding one and we know she and Ben have true love between them!"

Everyone nodded, looking towards the couple. To see how little it needed, Ben lifted Mal's hand and pressed a kiss right above his ring. A gasp was heard when the lilies bloomed, spreading the white and blue petals into a layered star. Smiles came to everyone's faces.

"It worked." Jay breathed.

"We can get Carlos and Jane back together!" Evie squealed quietly.

"This is perfect!" Lonnie cheered, grabbing onto Jay's arm and jumping up and down slightly in joy. Mal and Evie smirked, knowing they could deal with those two later.

"Doug, grab some of the lilies still in the water." Mal started. Doug nodded and went to the water, pulling a handful of the flowers. Mal turned to the group. "We need to figure out when we can get Jane, Carlos, and Fairy Godmother together so that we can show this."

"And there need to be witnesses besides us so that Fairy Godmother can't try this again." Lonnie continued, showing the knack for strategy inherited from her mom.

"Family Day is next week." Doug suggested.

"We could do it in front of all the parents." Ben explained, "They know more about true love than anyone!"

Mal turned to Evie, "E, you think you can make Jane something to wear with these lilies?"

"Already on it!" Evie said, pulling out her sketchbook from her bag.

Mal turned to the group with a satisfied smirk, "Guys, it's time Romeo and Juliet got back together."

To be continued...