Rockabye •Descendants

rockabye •nineteen

...

That same day, Serena went to Auradon Prep. With Athena spending the day with her grandparents, Serena was free for the day. She stayed in her dorm with Ginny. Ginny sat with a paint brush in hand and a canvas in front of her. She put her finishing touches on her work then set her brush and paint down.

"What do you think?" Ginny asks with a smile. Serena stood up and walked over to see a painting of... She didn't exactly know what it was.

"It's a nice turtle." Serena says with a smile. Ginny's smile turns into a frowns immediately.

"It's suppose to be a fruit basket." Ginny says. Serena's cheeks turn red.

"Oh..." She says in embarrassment. Ginny stands and removes the white (and stained with paint) lab coat.

"Alright, so maybe painting isn't my thing, but I still have other options to choose." Ginny says. She grabbed the canvas and drops it next to the other failed attempts at painting. She drops herself on Serena's bed and lets out a sigh. She turns her head and saw the familiar blue and yellow papers that she had read earlier. "Whatcha' think of this?"

Serena looks over and shakes her head. "They're too harsh on her."

"But do you think she's trying to keep Ben away?"

"I... don't know, Gee." Serena mutters. She didn't believe it, she didn't want to believe it. Mal changed, right? Mal is not the same as she was and she wouldn't go as low as to destroy the life of a little girl. Serena looks up and shakes her head. "No, I don't believe it."

"But if it was true—"

"It's not!" Serena exclaims.

"You're too kind, 'Rena."

"And you're not kind enough." Serena fires back. Ginny grabs the nearest pillow and throws it at Serena. Serena caught it and threw it back. Thus, their pillow war started. Ginny stopped her swinging and drops the pillow.

"Oh man! I have a book report due in a few days." Ginny jumps off the bed and lifts her bag from the floor. She searches around for her books. "Anyways, I thought you hated her too." Ginny calls out as she shoves her books into her bag. Serena sat up and shrugs.

"I didn't. I was just afraid because she has magic. That she might hurt Athena if she was too close." Serena says. Ginny slings her bag over her shoulder before she sits down beside her friend.

"You have every right to be worried, I would be too if it were my kid." Ginny says.

"Do you... do you think I'm doing the right thing not telling Athena about her father? I mean—my mother says I am and so does my grandfather, Triton, but it doesn't feel right." Serena asks. She felt lost, so lost. Ginny smiles and slings an arm around Serena's shoulder.

"I think you should tell when Athena is ready." Ginny adds. "She's smart for her age. She's lived sheltered all her life, protect by your parents. They love her, but you love her more. You get me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Serena says. Ginny nods and stood up.

"I'll see you later." Ginny calls and walks out the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Bye." Serena says. She laid back and sighed.

She is Athena's mother. A mother's love conquers all, right? It's the right thing to tell Ben and Athena. But what if Ben tries to take her away? What if her mother tries to stop it? What if—

*knock knock knock*

Loud knocks took Serena out of her thoughts.

She stood up and walks towards the door. She opens the door and found herself frozen. On the other side, Mal stood there with a wide smile and a plate of cookies in her hands. Serena raises her eyebrows.

"Hi Mal." Serena greets cautious. Mal smiles, showing off her teeth.

"Hi Serena. I baked cookies for you and Athena." Mal pushes the plate into Serena's hands. She looks over Serena's shoulder to try and see Athena, but she wasn't there. "Where is Athena, anyways?"

"With my parents." Serena says. She saw Mal frown for a second before she put on a happy again.

"That's alright! I needed to talk to you anyways." Mal says. She takes a cookie from the plate and holds it in front of Serena. "Here, try it."

Serena stared at the cookie and took in the details.

"Are those almonds?" Serena asks.

"Yeah!" Mal says happily, but Serena shook her head.

"I'm allergic to almonds and Athena prefers walnuts." Serena says, pushing the plate back into Mal's hands. Mal lowers the plate. This was going to be harder than I thought. Mal set the plate down on the floor outside.

"Listen, I know that I've been kinda rude to you and I want to make things right." Mal confesses.

"Mal, you don't have to." Serena waves away.

"No, I do! It's totally not cool of me. It's just that Ben never told me about you or Athena."

"Really, Mal, it's—"

"And I totally pulled an Audrey at the party and made a fool of myself." Mal says. Serena didn't know why Mal was explaining herself. Was this...an apology? She honestly didn't know. Mal continued to talk until Serena decided to cover her mouth with her hand.

"Mal." Serena says. Mal shut up and looked at the princess. "Was there something you needed?"

Serena released Mal and she took a deep breath.

"I want to arrange a picnic for Ben and Athen. Ben really wants to get to know Athena more. Maybe this way, Ben can finally tell Athena he is her father. What do you say?"

Serena didn't say a word. Not a sound. He grabbed a hold of the door and closed it in Mal face, too shocked to respond.

TO ANY AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER FANS, I HAVE A NEW BOOK CALLED "NATURAL". PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.