Finding New Love

You're Joking. Right?

"Hey, Harry," Mal said dejectedly. "You wanna settle that thing once and for all?" She added a laugh at the end to make her performance that much more believable. She wanted it to end. She wanted the pain to end. She wanted him to end her. 

Harry stalked closer to her so that he was right up in her face. He studied her and then took a step back in surprise. Then anger flashed before his eyes. Others were cheering him on, encouraging him to do it. To end Mal's reign on the Isle. But he knew what she was trying to do. He knew that she was taking the easy way out. 

He grabbed her left hand and dragged her into the back where he whirled on her, looking at her with anger and hatred, but hidden beneath those were emotions that he was taught, made him weak. Beneath his hatred and anger was the love he felt for her before she left him to make her mother proud and the concern that he felt for her because he could see behind the mask that she put up. 

"What happened?" he said in a loud whisper. "Why are you back?"

Mal let out a dead laugh. "Why does it matter to you? You don't care about me. You hate me, Harry. You said as much. Right before I left to go to that stupid place where fairy tales do come true until you find that it was all a lie. But you have to be smart enough to realize that they don't come true. You have to see behind all of their deceit and fake smiles," she said, letting out psychotic laughs. "And you get your hopes up, and when you crash and burn... you do it hard. And you feel so broken, and empty, and...dead," she said, her demeanor changing completely. 

Harry looked at her, seeing the tears that threatened to spill over. Seeing the fiery girl he once knew, reduced to... a broken, almost nonexistent person that looked so miserable. "What did he do to you?" Harry said, this time softer, pulling her closer to him. 

Mal looked at the floor before replying, "He chose Uma." Harry growled at the words. He had told that scheming octopus to stay away from Mal and her life. "And then he made it very clear what it was that he hated about me," she said with another dead laugh. She ran another hand through her purple hair. She looked up at Harry with a desperation. "I fought for him. For us. What did I do, Harry? What did I do wrong?" This time, she let the tears stream down her face. She didn't care if she was deemed weak, or pathetic, or unworthy of being called Maleficent's daughter.

Harry shook his head. He didn't know what to do or say to make her stop crying. It pained him- as much as she had hurt him- to see her crying. He didn't want to say anything. He wanted her in his arms. And that's exactly what he did. He pulled her crying form into his chest, not caring as her tears got on his clothing. But more than that, he couldn't believe that the stupid, sniveling prince had actually done that. The whole kingdom supported Mal's uphill battle. He couldn't believe it. He would have thought that she was joking, except for the fact that she would never cry otherwise. 

He knew what she was going through. He knew the exact feeling. "It's okay, Mal. You're going to be okay," he said, doing his best to console the girl that he could never forget. And he was going to slaughter that prissy little prince for making his girl cry. 

"Stay," Mal said into his chest. The word was muffled. Her voice was soft, but he heard her. He heard the one-worded request that would either break her or help her. The one-worded request that made his heart clench for her. She looked up at him, expecting an answer. He saw the fear of rejection behind her tears. 

He nodded. That was all he could do for her. "Let's get out of here," he said with a small smile before dragging her out through the secret door.