It's hard getting over someone you thought was your happily ever after. It's hard to watch a life you thought was set in stone crumble into dust and brought to life by another. It's even harder to create a new story when you still feel so stuck in the middle of another but Audrey is getting there. She's sure she is.

Audrey holds onto a little wrapped gift box, a gift meant more for the groom, Ben than for the bride Mal. She tried to pick something that they both would like but the years of knowing Ben tipped the gift scale in his favor. It's nothing fancy. It's actually quite simple for the princess who preferred everything to be extravagant but Audrey knows that he'll like it. Well, she hopes he does.

Audrey and Ben were childhood friends. They used to play together with their two other friends, Chad Charming, Audrey's now on-again/off-again boyfriend and Lonnie Li who Audrey had felt abandoned her to join Mal's friend group. Back then they all were inseparable at least that's what Audrey always thought.

She remembers all of the games that they used to play. Audrey's personal favorite was the game where she and Ben pretended they were King and Queen. She thinks back fondly on when Ben shyly placed her tiara back on her head and called her his queen. They were going to be forever. They were—

Audrey shakes her thoughts away. This is the exact type of thinking that lead her down that awful path. A path she wishes she could forget she ever journeyed on. Audrey's learned her lesson and she will no longer live in her past. These past few weeks have taught Audrey that sometimes the best thing to do is to move on and let the past go.

Even though her heart was torn, a mere thread on a spindle, Audrey will move on. Audrey will let go.

Audrey places her small wrapped gift box on the table. It's light pink and blue wrapping makes it the least notable gift on the table. The most notable was wrapped up in a pirate's flag with the gift it's holding peeking through the sides.

It's a-well, Audrey's not sure. It looks a lot like a clear plastic box with holes poked in for airflow. The ones that were usually used for housing small living animals. Audrey places her hand over her mouth. Is something living inside of it?

Audrey tells herself to leave. To go find her seat by her Grammy and just make it through the wedding. Clap when she's supposed to clap. Awe when she's supposed to awe. And smile through all of it and ignore any awful feelings stirring up inside.

Audrey starts to leave but then she hears a deep throaty croak coming out from the pirate flagged wrapped gift. A frog? No, that wasn't a frog. It croaked and didn't ribbit at all which means...

A toad? Someone gifted Mal and Ben a toad? Audrey scrunches up her face. She was trying really hard not to be judgemental but a toad is just not a wedding gift someone gives.

It's trapped all alone in that case, a voice in her head says. Audrey frowns, she knew what it was like to feel trapped. To feel alone. She suddenly feels a sense of unity with the toad.

A sense that's so strong that she starts unwrapping the pirate's flag that holds the toad captive. She ends up struggling. The knot that the pirate's flag is tied into is so elaborate that Audrey's fingers get stuck while untangling it.

Uma finds her in this exact position minutes later. Audrey tried to pretend like her hand isn't stuck by taking her free hand and stroking her hair. She whistles a happy song, hoping Uma doesn't approach her.

Uma isn't fooled by Audrey's act. Uma walks closer to Audrey and almost immediately spots Audrey's entangled fingers that are caught in the knot in the pirate's flag.

Audrey didn't like how Uma was staring at her. It made her feel like she was being featured in an exhibit, so in response, Audrey places her free hand on her hip and puts on an expression that shows she has no shame.

"You left a poor defenseless toad wrapped up in a pirate's flag." Audrey scolds, her voice reminding her too much of her grammy. She shifts a little uncomfortable at the realization but tries hard to not let it show on her face. "Shame on you."

Audrey lifts up her chin but her eyes linger on Uma waiting for her reaction. A laugh catches in Uma's throat. Uma almost chokes on it but ends up pushing it down. Within a couple of seconds, Uma's laughing again but not even bothering to hide the fact that she finds Audrey's current predicament hilarious.

Uma raises a hand, shaking her head to try to stop herself from laughing. Tears are actually sprouting from her eyes because she laughing so hard.

Audrey purses her lips and hmphs a little offended. Uma finally stops laughing, wipes the tears from her eyes and looks at Audrey with a serious expression. A serious expression that falters into a grin.

"It's not funny." Audrey chastises, pouting.

"Of course it isn't," Uma says forcing her lips together to hold down another laugh. When she's sure her laughter is gone she asks Audrey a question. "So what exactly are you doing?"

"Freeing, the poor defenseless toad that you carelessly left here."

"Hey, that's my wedding gift for Mal. It took me forever to catch him!" Uma says slightly offended herself now. "And the toad is fine I checked on him just before I let Harry wrap him up."

"Which was?" Audrey asks.

"Twenty minutes ago. The wedding starts in ten minutes, so I just came here to check on him."

"The wedding's starting already?" Audrey whispers, feeling like she's just awoken from a hundred-year sleeping curse.

How long did it take for her to finally put that small gift box down? To finally let go?

"Yeah, and I don't want to ruffle your feathers but there's a lot of interesting gossip about you out there."

"What are they saying?" Audrey asks, trying to move closer to Uma but the gift rises off the table, so Audrey stills herself.

"You don't need to know what they're saying," Uma says sympathetically, her expression shows she regrets uttering her earlier words.

"I must be the laughingstock. Who shows up at her ex-boyfriend's wedding? Who shows up to a wedding after cursing an entire kingdom?"

Regret flows through Audrey like water from a waterfall falling on top of her head. How can she even look at herself in the mirror after everything she's done?

"It wasn't that bad," Uma states, trying to comfort the girl she barely knew. Audrey shoots Uma a look that causes Uma to admit the truth. "It was that bad but everyone forgives you. Everyone understands."

A tear trickles from Audrey's eye at hearing that. She shakes her head, her entangled fingers start to feel numb. "No, they don't. Most people don't even believe I did it. And the ones that do…"

Sneers. Hidden laughs. Rejection. Things that Audrey had become accustomed to ever since Ben and Mal became the new it couple of Auradon. She should have gotten used to it by now but back then her only solace was that she was good.

A good person. A good granddaughter. A good princess. Audrey couldn't claim any of these things any longer. She had done something evil. She had let a devil sit on her shoulder and whisper in her ear. And worst of all she had listened to that goading voice. Listened to the siren-like call of Maleficent's scepter. She wasn't even strong enough to resist it!

Audrey had been bad. She had been an evil sorceress who had let wickedness and hatred take over her heart. She had tried to hurt people. She had cursed a whole kingdom! Audrey had—Audrey sobs, a heavy sob, her body shakes with her anguish as her mind replays all the evil things that she did.

Uma places a comforting hand on Audrey's shoulder. It almost puts Audrey at ease but shame puts its claim on her and she lets herself bask in its scorching light.

"That wasn't you," Uma says, softly. Uma didn't really know her, so her words didn't hold any meaning. Didn't hold any power.

Part of Audrey wants to let out a bitter laugh because Audrey doesn't even know who she is anymore.

"Magic has a way of influencing your mind and it takes a lot of self-control to resist it." Uma continues.

Self-control? All Audrey has is her self-control. When Ben dumped her in front of everyone, Audrey didn't cry at all. She hid how much it affected her and waited until she was alone in her dorm room. There she finally let her hurt feelings have control of her. She sobbed for hours and her tears had practically created a lake by the time they ran dry.

Later on, when her fairy godmothers/aunts Merryweather, Flora, and Fauna visited her they propositioned her with a short break that Audrey didn't take them up on. Not until Mal had officially become Auradon's darling did she accept their offer. It felt as if all of Auradon was always talking about how great Mal was and how she was always meant to be their queen.

As if Audrey never existed. As if Audrey didn't date Ben for years. As if Audrey didn't prepare her whole life to be the queen of Auradon. No one had ever said that about Audrey when she dated Ben. Audrey was furious. Audrey was hurt. And everywhere she went there always seemed to be pictures of Mal and Ben.

No matter how hard Audrey tried she couldn't avoid seeing them. She couldn't avoid hearing everyone gush about their love. A love that began with a love potion. And everyone acted like it was no big deal! And—

Audrey has lost her self control. She feels that empty part of herself when she listens to herself sob. She hears it when she tries to focus on happy positive thoughts only for it to parley with her negative ones and leave her aching in agony. She feels it, even more, when she realizes the knot on the wrapped up pirate's flag is feeling tight on her trapped fingers.

Audrey wipes her tears and struggles to regain her composure. To regain her self-control. She points to her fingers and mumbles to Uma about how much it hurts. Uma peers down and takes a look. She says Audrey's finger is turning a little blue with a panicked expression.

Uma suddenly bolts out of the room. Audrey feels panic at the thought of being alone and calls out for Uma. Audrey tries to pull her entangled fingers out of the knot it's stuck in but it only ends with her feeling helpless. Audrey thinks about her mom, touching the spindle of a spinning wheel that was set to curse her kingdom to sleep for a hundred years.

Did her mom feel guilty for not being able to resist the curse placed upon her? Audrey didn't have that right. She knew what she was doing when she had cast those spells on those unsuspecting Auradon citizens. She had wanted to hurt everyone because she wanted revenge! She wanted everyone to feel the anger they ignored was stirring up inside of her. The anger she tried so hard to control.

Control. She thinks of her horse, Firefly. She thinks of holding his reins in her hands. Thinks of the wind flowing in her hair. She thinks of stopping Firefly in front of the beautiful scenery of the woods. Scenery her mom would always point out to Audrey and her dad whenever they went on their family horseriding trips. Nature felt like another home to Audrey because of the joys it always brought her.

When Audrey was little her mom would sneak her out into the forest after they had royal training with grammy and there they would dance with each other in the woods. Her mother had always sung an enchanting tune about finding love once upon a dream. Animals would always approach them and join in on her mother's song.

That song had also been Audrey's lullaby when she was a baby and to this day could always lull her into a deep sleep. Audrey wished she could go back and relive that moment forever.

She wanted to go back to being the little girl who danced in the forest and lived in her dreams.

The little girl who always knew that one day she'd be Ben's queen but still kept a part of her heart hidden in the forest. A part of her heart that she must always keep under lock and key so that Grammy's expectations never found it.

Audrey couldn't think about this. Couldn't dwell on that past. Her grammy might have forgiven her for everything but she knew that she still had to live up to her expectations.

Audrey needs to get control of herself. Needs to stop following the thread that leads her to the scepter and lead her astray. Audrey thinks of things that bring her joy. Like the songs that birds sing. Like the neigh of her horse. Like the feel of her family's arms wrapped around her.

Audrey is in control. She closes her eyes and breathes, a long breath. Two sets of hurrying footsteps enter the room and Audrey finds a hand touching hers as it tries to undo the knot she's caught in.

Their hands feel familiar like she danced with them before. Not, once upon a dream, like her parents did but in actual reality. She opens her eyes and finds herself unsurprised to see Harry Hook, a boy who crossed her thoughts a couple of times this week.

Harry's whole concentration is on the knot that's entangled with Audrey's fingers. Uma is on the side of Harry, her arm slouched on his shoulder as she watches Harry work. They look so comfortable with each other almost like—oh!

Well, that explains why Harry rejected her offer to go out on a date after their dance. She had thought his rejection meant he was just a flirt but seeing at how at ease he was with Uma the truth reveals itself to her.

Harry's in love with Uma. And Uma doesn't know. Audrey is a hopeless romantic so she finds herself imagining them finally realizing their feelings for one another. She gets so in her head, she ends up almost falling backward as she accidentally starts to squeal at her thoughts.

Audrey regains her stance and apologizes to Harry who tells her it's alright. Meanwhile, Uma looks over at Audrey with an expression full of concern and pats Harry's shoulder to tell him to work faster.

Audrey couldn't believe that Uma seems to actually care for her wellbeing. Regardless of the fact that Audrey wasn't in line for the throne and had no royal status. Regardless of the fact that she and Audrey barely knew one another. Regardless of the fact, Audrey had tried to cause harm to all of Auradon.

Audrey's hand is finally free and she immediately brings it close to her. With her free hand, she starts rubbing the previously entangled fingers to bring back some circulation.

"Thank you," Audrey says taking notice of her rescuer, Harry Hook. The boy she danced within reality. The boy she asked out but obviously liked someone else.

Harry nods his head and gives her a flirtatious wink. "Anytime, I love rescuing beau-"

"You love what now?" Uma interrupts. There's a slight hint of jealousy in her voice that Harry catches onto.

Harry turns to Uma with a smug smile on his face. "Finally, ready for that kiss now, darling?"

"Never," Uma answers sweetly. Harry frowns at her answer. Harry and Uma then have a standoff.

Uma keeps her expression neutral and Harry just stares at her pouting as if that was an effective method to finally getting his way. Uma's wedding gift to Ben and Mal croaks, making Audrey remember why her fingers got entangled in the first place.

"Release, the toad," Audrey demands. Uma tilts her head away from Harry and eyes Audrey with a disbelieving look. Audrey glances over to see the tank is uncovered and somehow, someway Audrey feels an instant connection with this trapped toad.

"It's Mal's wedding gift. I mean, what do you expect me to do? Hold it?"

Audrey gasps and then nods. She tells Uma that's exactly what she should do. Uma nods repeatedly and then starts angrily walking towards Audrey. Harry blocks Uma from approaching Audrey. He grabs Uma's arm, slides his hand down it and intertwines their fingers. Then he twirls her in the opposite direction then whispers something in Uma's ear.

Uma responds with a grunt. Harry turns back towards Audrey with a charming smile.

"We talked it over and we really think the toad is happy where he is."

Audrey frowns and gives the toad's tank a worried glance. "No, he wants to be free and live in the woods. Where he can hop with his toad friends."

"I feel like you're not talking about the toad…" Harry states awkwardly.

Audrey shakes her head, vehemently denying it. "Yes, I am. Don't you see how lonely he is in that tank?! How stifling it is? Why can't you guys just let him hop and be free?"

Harry starts to say something but Uma silences him, walking in front of him. With a sense of hesitation, Uma walks over to the tank that holds the toad. She picks up the tank and hands it to Audrey.

"Go find some freshwater pond for him to live in." Uma than turns to Harry and motions for him to come with her. "Come on, we've got to find Mal and Ben a new wedding gift."

"I told you we should've given them my gift idea."

"Harry, your phone number in case one of them ditch the other at the altar is not a good wedding gift," Uma grumbles.

"What is the point of having those fancy new Auradon phones then?" Harry reasons.

Uma rolls her eyes, walking out of the room. Harry calls after her and then leaves the rooms too.

Audrey starts thinking of where she's going to place the toad. She knows there's a nearby forest here and it should have a pond somewhere. After Audrey formulates a plan she walks out of the room into an empty hallway. There is no sign of Harry or Uma.

Audrey decides to peek in the wedding hall. She spots Ben standing at the altar, fiddling with the cuffs of his jacket. Ben has three groomsmen standing by his side. Chad whose holding a selfie stick and taking selfies. Audrey cracks a little smile because she knows exactly who he's going to send all those selfies too. Carlos stands next to Chad holding his dog Dude. Dude is dressed in a matching tux with Carlos and wearing a belt that places a pillow upon his back.

Audrey couldn't believe they were making the dog their ring bearer. If it were-no she wasn't going to think like that. She's moving on. She's finally letting Ben go.

Jay is mouthing words to someone in the crowd. Audrey's too far away to even try to read his lips. But she does notice that one of Uma's crew members, Gil is holding up his hand and making a thumbs-up sign.

Audrey grips the door handle. This is really happening. Mal and Ben are really getting married today. The toad she's holding croaks bringing eyes to the cracked open door. Audrey quickly closes it, hiding away. Hiding her pain away.

Her heart gallops over hedges and she can't calm herself. She rushes out of the building where the wedding ceremony is being held. She runs. Runs. Runs.

She stops with a sharp breath and finds herself at the edge of a forest. She walks in.

Audrey can hear birds singing in the trees. She can smell the minty freshness of the forest as she listens to the branches of trees rustle. She can feel the tank against her fingers. The numbness in her once entangled fingers is now gone.

Audrey walks deeper into the forest. She walks until miraculously, she manages to find a freshwater pond. She crouches down, speaks a passionate farewell to her toad friend, and then she opens the tank. The toad jumps out and is finally free.

No more tank to contain him. No more expectations for him to fulfill. No more reminders of a life he was supposed to have.

Oh, Harry was right this wasn't really about the toad for Audrey this was actually about her.

Audrey closes the tank, feeling angry because she thought she was fine. She thought that she could handle this. That she could move on.

Audrey watches as the toad she released earlier hops under a large leaf and rests. The toad has moved on. Forgotten all about the tank it was just trapped in.

Okay, so Audrey realizes that none of that makes sense but somehow it inspires hope. Hope that told her she could do this. She could create a new happily ever after for herself. She could live out a new story. One that isn't written for her and has predetermined paths. One that she's created all on her own.

How could she start? Audrey thinks of how Uma showed genuine concern for her. Could they be friends? Could she make new friends?

Friendships were always so easy for Audrey growing up. Everyone would flock to her vying for her friendship and Audrey loved every second of it. But Audrey knows now they didn't actually want her friendship. All they wanted was the benefits that came with her future status.

Could anyone like Audrey for her? But at this very moment, Audrey has no idea who she is.

Audrey thinks about herself. Something she admittedly does often but this time is different than all of the others.

Audrey loves the color pink. The same color of pink on the outfits her Grammy always wears. Grammy who she loved more than anything. Grammy who she wishes she could make proud but all of Grammy's expectations leaves Audrey's head spinning like a spinning wheel because there's no way Audrey can ever fulfill them.

Audrey loves the color blue. The same color of blue that Audrey's mom always wears in a mixture of her signature color of pink. Audrey loves and adores her mom whom she's inherited so many aspects of herself from but not enough for Audrey to have the ability to fill her mom's shoes.

Audrey loves horses. She loves her horse, Firefly. She loves riding her horse with her family. Loves remembering all of the riding advice her dad gives her. She loves stopping to look at the scenery and indulging in the beauty of the world.

Audrey loves animals. She loves dancing with them in the forest and getting lost in the songs of the birds.

Audrey loves her family. She loves her Grammy who taught her everything there needs to know on how to be a princess. Her dad who had taught her how to ride a horse. Her mom who inputted in her a love for nature and animals. Both of her grandfathers who loved her more than anything. Her aunts/fairy godmothers who always protected her and tried to whisk her away from the hurt that ended up overwhelming her.

Audrey hears two voices calling out her name. She stands up and searches for the sources. She blinks in surprise when the sources are Chad Charming and Ben. They rush over to her when they see her and bring her into a group hug.

"What are you-" Audrey starts but she's cut off by Ben whose crying and telling her he's sorry.

"Mal and I should've postponed the wedding after everything-"

Audrey interrupts Ben. "No, you shouldn't have. Ben, I'm fine."

Audrey's voice is soft. She pulls away from Ben and Chad but keeps her gaze on Ben. "Ben, you were my best friend? Did you know that?"

Ben shakes his head shocked. Audrey finds herself filled with disappointment. How could he not know?

Audrey decides it's time to uncover the missing part of her heart. The heart she left hidden away in the forest. The toad croaks, an encouraging croak. It's all the encouragement she needs.

"I really loved you." Audrey confesses, she can feel tears brimming in her eyes."And I don't know if I'll ever love someone the way I loved you ever again."

Ben looks at the ground guiltily. "Audrey, I'm so sorry. I wish I could apologize to you forever for everything that I've done to you. For everything I made you feel."

"It's okay, Ben. I told you before I forgive both you and Mal. It's just everything is—dealing with what—" Audrey couldn't voice her thoughts in a coherent way. All of her thoughts are like a dragon's fire hitting a large shield.

She hears the birds sing, a familiar song about what happened once upon a dream. Audrey can't help but whistle along. She finds the part of her heart in the song. She finds the Audrey she's hidden away awaken and the Audrey who Grammy always tells her she needs to be falls fast asleep.

She takes a deep breath and reaches out for Ben's hand. Ben lets her take her hand in his. She lifts up his hand and lets it hover near her face.

"I'm going to move on from you." She says with shaky confidence. All of Audrey's self-control is gone because now her heart is back. It doesn't want anything hidden away, it wants to sit and relax on her wrist for everyone to see.

"I'm going to be so happy! And you're going to be happy too." Audrey continues and Ben apologizes yet again.

"I know," Audrey answers, quietly while dropping Ben's hand. Audrey then looks to Chad and positions her arm so that he can interlock his with hers. "Care to escort me to a wedding? As friends, of course."

Chad says a bunch of things that Audrey tunes out but he happily interlocks his arm with Audrey's. Audrey looks back over to Ben. "You've got a wedding to attend."

"I do," Ben answers with a smile. "You think I can join…"

Ben points to Audrey and Chad's interlocked arms. She says yes but instantly regrets it. Ben comes to her side and interlocks his arm with hers. Audrey's heart speeds up like Firefly when he's frightened by thunder.

Audrey muffles the sound of her beating heart with casual conversation. Chad does most of the talking while Ben listens to them both. It's exactly how it used to be, so much so that Audrey finds herself drifting away to their shared past. Audrey's heart that's beating wildly on her wrist stops before she sinks in too deep.

Audrey reminds herself that Ben isn't her happily ever after. That them having a shared past will no longer craft any of the paths in Audrey's life. Audrey is starring in a new story now and in that story, Audrey is moving on.

A.N. This started as an idea of Uma gifting Mal a toad as a wedding gift and everyone being like ok but why? But then I couldn't stop thinking about Audrey wanting to free the toad and projecting her actual feelings on it, so this was born. Thanks for reading!