Finally finished after working on this for so long!

Here is the final chapter of this story and the final chapter of this series.

As I said, I had promised that this chapter would be double the length of the longest chapter in this story. I thought my longest chapter was about 2500 words so I would have to type a 5000-word chapter. I didn't realize my longest chapter was close to 3500 words, which would make this chapter 7000 words. I have never typed a 7000-word chapter before. A 3500-word chapter usually takes me three to four days to type, so I had to bust my butt to get this chapter done in four days. I lacked about 500 words, but I figured all of you would be fine with it since I am so so close.

Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. Thank you to everyone who stayed with this series from the very beginning. Two of the stories in this series is in my top five most viewed stories. I never expected for this 'what if' idea to become so popular. Thank you.

I will say that in this chapter, I make a reference to an idea I have that will involve my other story 'Hades's Weakness'. It involves the crime Audrey has yet to commit. If anyone can point it out, one of the four chapters that are being posted next week will also be dedicated to them.

Now, without any further interruptions, here is the final epilogue for 'Welcome to Reality'.

Enjoy

Seven months.

Mal couldn't believe that was how long she had been asleep due to the curse placed on her by her mother's scepter and her father's ember. She couldn't believe that—even though she was their daughter—the spell affected her so much. The main thing she couldn't believe was how much she changed in those few months.

Mal's blue-streaked purple haired used to rest above her shoulders, but now it sprouted to the bottom of her shoulder-blade. Somehow her hair was grime free with surprisingly no tangles and smelling like fresh roses. Mal had no doubt that her closest and fashionista of a friend made sure to keep it that way.

The second characteristic about herself that changed was obviously her body. Her skin was paler than usual from the lack of sun exposure. Even though she lived on the Isle of the Lost for sixteen years where it was always cloudy, her skin was never this pale. She has never been this skinny before either. Her face was slightly sunken in and she could see the vague outline of bone in her arm. Now that she's thinking about it, she could really go for twenty pounds of fresh strawberries to help her gain back the twenty pounds she lost.

Throughout all the changes, there was one that Mal couldn't seem to understand:

The burn-like cut on her leg.

In her delusional dreams, Mal received the injury the afternoon before her Cotillion. Ben had been captured by Uma and her gang of pirates, so Mal had to trade him for Fairy Godmother's magic wand—though the one she had during the transaction was a fake. Uma found out and a massive sword fight broke out. During the violent scene, the sea witch somehow switched her weapon for an iron sword mid-way through battle and stroke the fairy on her leg.

But since that was only a figment of her imagination, what really happened?

"When you fainted, we had you in the nurse's office to treat you for any injuries that may have occurred," Ben—her amazing and wonderful Ben—began to explain as they slowly strolled through the empty halls of Auradon Prep. "A rumor emerged online so there were more and more people walking through the hallways to catch a glimpse of you through the window. Most weren't even students. Mainly paparazzi trying to get a picture to spread more vicious rumors so Audrey's punishment would become worse.

"After a week or so, we—me, Evie, Jay, Carlos, Uma, and your father—mutually agreed to move you to a dorm room on campus," Ben continued with a soft sigh. "We waited until past curfew so no students would be up. Carlos or Evie, can't remember which one, thought it would easier to have a couple guards move you onto a gurney since the rest of us were too exhausted. No one realized the railing on the gurney was made from iron until one of the royal guards slipped and dropped your leg onto it. You didn't scream out, to our surprise, but it still left a horrible laceration. It became infected three times before it finally healed, and it took the spell over five months to explain something that happened in the first week of your slumber."

Mal nodded absentmindedly, her main attention going to something her king said during the lengthy explanation. "You said something about Audrey's punishment," she noted. "What exactly did she get for cursing an entire kingdom?"

"One-year probation from any and all magical items," Ben rattled off like he had it memorized, or spent days deciding on the most suitable punishment. "One thousand four hundred and forty hours of volunteering for the VK Program, mainly helping them adjust to school life, tutor them with schoolwork, etc. Finally, she spent the rest of the summer helping other volunteers clean-up the Isle of the Lost and will continue to do so on the weekend until her probation is over."

Mal raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Almost fifteen-hundred hours of helping VK students at Auradon Prep? Why so many and just how many VK students are attending?"

"Nearly all of them," Ben answered with a careless shrug. "It was a new royal decree of mine. Any Isle children under the age of nineteen, even those who already graduate on the Isle, has to attend at least one year of school at Auradon Prep to learn kindness, goodness, and essentials for living in Auradon. They were given a choice to stay in dorms or live in their homes on the Isle while attending Auradon Prep. Most opted for dorms while other decided commute back and forth, like Celia, who missed her father too much."

"You still haven't told me why you gave Audrey so many hours," Mal pointed out. She tilted her head curiously with a wry smile. "I mean, that is a little excessive. It's not like she was convicted of attempted murder; just turning a kingdom to stone or falling to sleep."

"Well there are one hundred eighty days in a school year," Ben started with all the confusing math, "and eight hours for each school day. If you do the configuration, that is one thousand four hundred and forty hours in school year. That number sounded a lot harsher than one hundred eighty days."

"But why?"

Ben let a small smile grace his lips as he looked down at his queen. "It gave her a chance to spend some quiet time with her not-so secret boyfriend before her family and the paparazzi found out about him."

"A secret boyfriend," Mal mused, somehow not surprised by the news. "I'm gonna guess he's a VK."

"Of course," Ben concurred without any hesitation. "Why else would she want to keep him a secret?"

"Let me guess . . ." She trailed off as she tried to think of someone 'worthy' of the princess's attention. "Is it Harry Hook?"

To her surprise, Ben adamantly shook his head in denial. "Hell no," he insisted vehemently. "Audrey knows Uma and Harry have some sort of romantic thing going on. Besides, Audrey wouldn't do that to her since they are best friends."

Mal scoffed at the ridiculous notion. "Since when?"

"Since they became next door dorm neighbors," Ben claimed. "Yeah, I know, a lot of were surprised by their friendship, especially since it was discovered that Uma was covering for Audrey and her boyfriend. Uma was the first to know about their relationship."

"Just who is this mysterious boyfriend of hers?"

"You'll never guess."

"I'm tired of guessing," Mal whined in slight annoyance. "Ben, please just throw me a bone. I already have a major headache from trying to process everything that I missed these last few months and guessing will only make it worse; even though I've been guessing for the last couple minutes."

Chuckling at his queen's adorably whining behavior, Ben said one word to answer all her questions. He never expected to see her jaw drop at the announcement.

"Gil?" Mal repeated doubtfully. "He's her boyfriend? How in the world did that happen?"

"During our engagement party, after the bridge was built and the Isle children came over to celebrate, Audrey bumped into Harry after he got into that argument with Uma," Ben began once again. "He didn't want to get into anymore trouble with his captain, but he didn't want to blow Audrey off, so Harry had Gil keep her company so he could smooth things over with Uma. It was kind of like love at first sight, but they really couldn't introduce themselves since Queen Leah dragged Audrey away a moment later.

"They really didn't meet again until they bumped into each other during summer school. Gil wanted to start school early since he was so excited about going during the fall. They ran into each other in the hallway and Audrey led him to class since they had the same schedule. Audrey offered to help him if he had any trouble. Turns out, he didn't need any.

"With their first class, the teacher was asking questions and Gil never had a chance to answer because the teacher never called on him. With each question, Audrey noticed Gil writing something every time. When she peaked at his paper, she discovered that he had answered every question correctly. When Audrey asked him, he admitted that he has been hiding his intelligence for the last fourteen or so years from everyone so his family wouldn't find out. He agreed to start showing his knowledge, but only if she went out on a date with him.

"They snuck out past curfew and walked through the empty halls of Auradon Prep together, like we're doing now. They got to know more about each other and eventually she kissed him out of instinct. They managed to keep their relationship a secret for about a month before Uma found out, but no one else discovered they were together for another two months, right when the normal school year officially started."

"What a strange love story," Mal mused with a light smile on her lips. "How did Uma find out?"

"She walked in on them."

The fairy immediately halted in her stride, making her king do the same thing. She raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "When you say, 'walk in' do you mean . . .?"

"Not the first time," Ben insisted with a careless shrug. "First time their walking date ended too early in the morning, at about five, so Gil stayed in her dorm room for a couple hours of sleep before he would sneak back into his dorm room. When they were kissing good-bye, Uma opened the door and she was let in on their secret."

"But you said, 'not the first time' . . ." Mal trailed off as she tilted her head curiously. "Just how many times did Uma barge into Audrey's room?"

"Uma barges in all the time," Ben stated like it was no big deal. "After she walked in on them doing . . . you know, she began knocking three times before letting herself in. Only a few of us know about their actions, so one of us always have Uma go get Audrey for her turn to watch you, since Uma is the only one not fazed by it. So far Audrey's family has no idea about that part of their relationship, and she hopes she can keep it a secret until after her probation is over with and Gil is finished with his school year at Auradon Prep."

Mal shook her head in amusement. She couldn't believe she missed the forming of such an odd relationship. She would have loved to see the look on Queen Leah's face when she discovered her grand-daughter was dating a villain kid. Maybe someone has a picture . . .

The engaged couple continued their trek and Mal continued her interrogation of what she's missed in the last few months. "What else has been going on? How's Jay doing at Sherwood University?"

"Well, Jay originally didn't want to go," Ben revealed reluctantly. "He wanted to stay at Auradon Prep to watch over you. It took me, Evie, Carlos, and Lonnie to convince Jay to attend the first semester. He was glad he did when he won a new scholarship for VK kids from the Isle. It's a scholarship for VKs who have only lived on the Isle. Basically, since he plans on going for eight semesters, Jay now has the opportunity to attend college in eight different kingdoms."

"That's awesome!" Mal exclaimed cheerily. "I can't wait to congratulate him. He must have enjoyed college life."

"Actually," Ben intervened softly, "he really hasn't had the time to do so. On days he had class, he called between each one of them to see if there were any changes with you. As soon as his final class for the week ended, he was immediately heading his way back to Auradon Prep for the weekend to look after you, despite it being a six hour drive. Jay spent every break he had from school to look after you. He had no idea what he was going to do if you were still under the spell during R.O.A.R season. He told me that he was going to not play the season if the spell wasn't broken."

Despite her once cheery behavior, Mal sighed as her shoulders drooped slightly. "So, I almost became the reason Jay didn't go do his dream," she mumbled to herself. Shaking her head to get rid of any disappointing thoughts, she adverted the subject to her other friend. "What about Evie? What's new with her business?"

"Evie added an entirely new and affordable line for the citizen on the Isle," Ben announced with a smile. "She just opened a small store on the island too and is gladly taking their worn-down coins as payment. She's hoping to open another store in Auradon City sometime after the New Year. Every time Evie watched over you, she worked on a new design for your wedding dress. Since she created so many sketches, I was able to see the few she didn't really like. I thought they were amazing and would look beautiful on you, but she claimed they weren't good enough for a future queen."

"Dizzy is still staying with her at the starter castle," Ben informed as his smile grew. "She was just too excited to be in Auradon with Evie. Her grand-mother didn't really mind since she could visit Dizzy whenever she wanted now."

Mal smiled happily at the news. "That's wonderful," she commented positively. "Are there any changes with her relationship with Doug?"

"A couple," Ben confirmed. "Doug moved in with her too about a month after you were cursed. He opted to take some online courses for the first semester to help her with her growing business. They've taken their relationship a step further a handful of months back. They are extremely grateful that Dizzy spends most weekends at her grand-mother's."

Mal snarled her nose in disgust. "Why and how do you know when our friends' relationships became sexual when we have done nothing like that? Do they come to you for advice or something?"

Ben chuckled at his queen's behavior. "They all confide in me with their secrets," he claimed. "Apparently, I am very easy to talk to and they discovered that I am a good listener and very patient, especially since I have waited so long for you to wake from the curse without losing hope. I knew you would wake for me."

Clearing her throat to get rid of the emotional lump, Mal decided to change the subject once again. "How about Carlos? How is he enjoying his senior year?"

"At the end of the fall semester, Carlos was announced as the senior class's Valedictorian," Ben declared as his smile grew even larger. "And as long as his grades remain as remain as perfect as they are now, he'll stay the Valedictorian and Jane will be the Salutatorian, if nothing changes. So far Carlos has won every single scholarship he has applied for, both academic and athletic."

"I had no doubt about that," Mal stated with a shrug. "Carlos is the smartest person I know and the most eager to learn everything he can. Every college in every kingdom is going to fight to have him go to their college."

"It will actually depend on the college that accepts his fiancé."

The fairy didn't bother hiding her surprise. "His 'fiancé'?" Mal repeated incredulously. "Since when did Carlos become engaged to Jane? When did he propose?"

"They are not engaged yet," Ben reassured before his queen could have a heart-attack or worse, fall back into that sleeping spell from shock. "Carlos has been planning his proposal for about a month now. He has been hoping and praying that you would wake from the curse so you could be there for it. Carlos debated whether or not he should post-pone proposing until you woke up. He decided he would go ahead with the proposal after realizing that he would lose the courage if he didn't do it soon."

Mal's jaw drop, but she somehow managed to ask, "Who all knew about the proposal?"

"Only me and Fairy Godmother," Ben listed at the top of his head. "Carlos wanted to tell you so badly so he could get your approval before he went through with it. Your opinion means absolutely everything to him. Evie was pretty irritated with him when he kept commenting that you will miss Christmas, because she didn't think that was important at the time. She had no idea about the proposal or him wanting you to be there."

Almost like it was planned by the universe—or by the devoted and stressed author who was struggling to achieve the promised word length of the extremely long chapter and is somewhat near the halfway mark—King Ben's phone let out a noise, signaling he had a text. Upon further investigation, he smiled.

"Message from Fairy Godmother," Ben relayed to his beloved queen as he placed the cellular device back into his jacket pocket. "Carlos is wanting to propose to Jane in about five to ten minutes."

"Where is it happening?" Mal wondering. "And just where is everybody? We've been walking around for who knows how long and haven't bumped into anyone yet."

"There's a massive party at the Bridge Plaza," Ben revealed. "Both citizens of the Isle of the Lost and citizens of Auradon have come together to celebrate the first Christmas as a united kingdom. Carlos wanted me there so I could make the enormous crowd quite so he could propose to Jane in front of everyone. He wanted to do it on the balcony, where we made our first proclamation as a couple to bring down the barrier on the Isle."

A mischievous smile wormed its way onto Mal's lips as her eyes flashed their bright green hues, like she had a plan in mind. "If he wants you for the proposal, then I guess you have to go." Her smile became even wider. "But, since it's Christmas, why not give him a gift to say 'congratulations'? Why not give a gift to everyone? Something that they will never forget and will never take for granted?"

Ben's smile matched hers, knowing exactly what his queen was thinking. "Do you think you can pull off a spell to stay hidden?"

"I'm the daughter of the Mistress of Evil and the King of the Underworld," Mal reminded as the mischievous smile turned into a wicked smirk. "I can hide in the shadows with no one knowing. Let's just hope that no one minds that their Christmas gift is dressed in her pajamas."

Ben laughed gleefully—his first one in over seven months. "I don't think anyone will mind," he reassured. "They will just be grateful that their gift will be there. I'll message Fairy Godmother and Carlos to let them know that I will be there in ten minutes."

Guess what people!

We are at the halfway mark of this extremely lengthy epilogue! Let's keep this story rolling by panning dramatically to a festively decorated Bridge Plaza with party-goers dressed in a holiday way!

Too much of a fourth wall break? Sorry, guess I got too excited . . .

Too be fair, the guests were excited to see their King of Auradon join in their celebration. No one expected to see him, especially since his closest friends said he was going to spend the joyful holiday with his queen.

While many party-goers were greeting Ben, he somehow managed to make eye-contact with Carlos, who looked overly-relieved to see the king. Ben gestured to the balcony. With a nervous nod, Carlos took his girlfriend's hand and led her to the designated area with the king following closely.

While Ben walked behind them, he could vaguely feel a hand grab his in reassurance, though no one was there. Ben had to suppress his smirk on how well the spell was working. She would have to wait just a little bit longer to reveal herself.

It was time for Jane's present after all. They can't spoil the surprise just yet.

As the three of them made it to the balcony—Jane completely confused as to what was going on—Ben caught the attention of the entire crowd. "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen," he shouted over the loud crowd. "Princes and princesses. I'm sorry for interrupting your festive party, but there was someone here who wanted to give his Christmas gift to his significant other in front everyone here."

Ben smiled encouragingly to Carlos as he stepped aside. "You're up. Good luck."

With another shaky nod, Carlos stepped forward before facing Jane, who still had no idea what was going on. "Jane," he began slowly, "I've been debating for the last few weeks on what to get you for Christmas. I know I wanted it to be something special and memorable. I finally decided on the perfect gift, but then I wondered if I should wait until after the spell on Mal is broken so she could also be here for this. After a couple days, I realized I wouldn't have the courage to ask you if I waited."

Jane tilted her curiously. "Ask me what?"

Taking out the little black box that had been burning a while in his pocket for the last month, Carlos knelt on one knee much to the surprise of Jane and everyone in the audience. With a shaky hand, he pulled back the lid to reveal a beautiful ring; the pink band was shaped like a bow and the jewel wasn't a diamond, but instead the most beautiful pearl Jane has ever seen.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Carlos wondered, "Will you marry me?"

A million thoughts ran through Jane's head. Although she wanted to answer one way, there was something gnawing at her. "Carlos," she began softly and quietly so no one else could hear, "we are too young to get married. We aren't even out of high school."

"There are no rules saying when or how long someone can be engaged," Carlos argued strategically in the same quiet volume while trying to ignore the murmurs of the audience. "Being engaged now gives us extra time to plan the wedding. I already asked for your mother's permission. She's the reason I am able to propose right now."

Jane whipped her head to look at her mother, who was smiling encouragingly and approvingly at her. It was almost like Fairy Godmother was trying to tell her daughter to answer a certain.

With a newfound courage—though her heart was beating a thousand miles second—Jane adverted her attention back to her beloved kneeling before her. Smiling gleefully, she happily announced, "Yes, I will marry you."

Relief washed over Carlos as he shakily placed the ring on his new fiancé's finger as he absentmindedly heard the crowd below cheer at the news; a certain someone finally realizing why he had been so adamant about the date. The newly engaged couple shared a brief kiss before they embraced each other lovingly.

Ben, who had been hiding in the background momentarily, stepped forward to greet the couple. "Congratulations," he said sort of loudly, which caught the attention of the audience, who hushed down to listen in on the conversation. "I have a gift for you. Actually . . ."

Ben gazed down at the enormous crowd with a knowing smile. "I have a gift for all of you," he announced. "It is Christmas after all and the first time we are celebrating as a fully united kingdom. What kind of king would I be if I didn't have something for us to commemorate such a special occasion? I give you . . ."

Ben trailed off for dramatic effect, his smile growing as wide as it possible could as he declared dramatically, "Our Queen of Auradon!"

As if on cue, everyone gasped at the announcement, because they couldn't believe it was true. Jay and Evie, who were standing next to each other, quickly checked their phones to confirm the claim. There was no video feed. . .

The two friends jerked their heads up to look at one another. They both had a hopeful expression on their faces at knowing the curse had indeed been broken. But if the spell was truly no more . . .

Then where was Mal?

Everyone was searching the crowd to see if their beautiful queen had blended in with the audience. Completely forgetting that he just proposed to the love of his life, Carlos stretched his body as far as he could over the balcony railing to get a better view. He had been so desperate for her to wake on this day and to hear that she could be there . . . he would be in heaven.

A fragile hand rested on Carlos's hand just as a spectator screamed, being the first to see the queen. With a scared jerk, the newly engaged man whirled around to come face to face with the one person he wanted to be there. Somehow he managed to control his urge to burst into tears at seeing her until . . .

"Congratulations," Mal cooed as she smiled lovingly at how mature her youngest friend has become. "You and Jane are going to be very happy together."

Carlos had no words to describe the joy he felt at that moment. He swallowed her in a massive embrace, vaguely hearing the sounds of screaming, hollering, shouting, cheering, etc. This is all he wanted for Christmas.

Meanwhile, the spectator that screamed was none other than Evie, who—as previously stated—had been the first to see her dear friend. The fashion designer couldn't believe Mal had just appeared from the shadows like she did. Evie almost didn't believe it was the queen, but she wore the one-of-a-kind night dress that Evie created a few months prior.

Evie turned to look at Jay, who was in a complete state of shock. After barely a second being looked, Jay burst forward like it was a start of a race. He shoved past anyone that got in his way with Evie following close behind. Once he made it to the stairs, he practically jumped over the steps; skipping two or three steps at a time. Carlos had just barely let go of Mal when Jay practically plowed over her.

Later, when everything had calmed down, Mal would joke about the wind being knocked out of her. Jay embraced her so tightly, almost like he was afraid she would vanish in air. He didn't realize at the time that he was crushing her newly delicate body. He had even lifted her off the ground for a few moments out of excitement.

When he finally pulled away, Jay furiously wiped the tears that streamed down his face while Mal continued to smile.

"Ben told me about you winning that traveling scholarship," Mal revealed softly. "Jay, I am so proud of you, but you are not allowed to quit your dream because of me. I expect a schedule of your R.O.A.R. games next semester because I am going to every single match to repay you for you missing out on your college life to watch over me."

Mal adverted her attention to her best friend, who was utterly speechless at seeing friend. "Congratulations on your new store, Evie," she commented with her genuine smile still in place. "You're going to have give me a tour and show me all those sketches of my wedding dress you've been working on. And you're gonna have to catch me up on what's been going on with you and Doug."

"How are you awake?" Evie interrogated after she choked back the lump that formed in her throat. "How was the spell finally broken?"

"I heard my Ben," Mal insisted as her smile grew wider. "I heard other voices before, but couldn't make out who they were. When he spoke to me, I immediately knew it was him. He reminded me that I needed to listen to my heart and that everything wasn't as it seems. A short time later, I got into an argument with the dream Ben, who told me to listen to my head instead of my heart. Before then, dream Uma and dream Audrey were continuously throwing jabs to wake up. Once I got into the argument with dream Ben, I realized that he wasn't my king and I needed to wake up."

Pausing for a moment with her story, Mal peered over the balcony to scan the ground of happily chatting audience. "Speaking of the princess and Shrimpy," she began as she looked back at her friends, "where are they?"

"Well Harry finally got the courage to ask Uma on a date," Jane informed with a small smile, "so that's where she is."

"Meanwhile, Audrey is, uh . . ." Carlos trailed off as he debated on how to say what he needed to. "Um . . . busy with her new boyfriend."

Mal snarled her nose as she adverted her gaze to her king. "It seems like Audrey is finding some 'quiet time' with Gil without your help."

Evie whipped her head to Ben in surprise and fear. "Just how much have you told her?"

"Quite a bit," Ben admitted.

"Why else would I ask you to catch me up with what's been going on with you and Doug?" Mal teased as her smile turned mischievous. "I figured you'd wait until after marriage."

Since that completely caught her off guard, Evie turned redder than an over-ripe strawberry, causing the boys to snicker at her reaction.

Mal stole one last glance at the crowd before wondering, "So, where's my dad? I figured he would have known I was awake by now since he's such an 'almighty god'."

"Hades became a little mopey a few days ago," Jay answered with a soft sigh, "after your confrontation with him in your spell dream. He's been hiding out in his lair since."

Mal shook her head in disbelief with a soft sigh. "I better go check on him," she insisted, "and reassure him that I didn't mean anything I said."

"Do you want us to go with you?"

Once again, Mal shook her head, but this time in denial. "Nah," she commented. "I better go by myself to check on my pouty father. I need to stretch my legs anyways since it's been seven months since I've had any good exercise. If you get worried, have Audrey and or Gil get me, that way they can tell me the story of how the hell they got together on the walk back."

With her friends chuckling at how she was still surprised about them being together, Mal slowly descended the stairs, smiling at the guests as she went. While limping slightly due to her sore leg, her smile grew a little wider as the crowd split so there would be a path for their queen.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Mal began the long trek down the bridge with every single person in the area staring at her as she went.

Surprisingly, there weren't many people that were awake on the Isle of the Lost. Although it had to be nearly two in the morning, Mal assumed there would be more people in the streets since the villains and their children are usually more active at night. She could vaguely recall a handful of villagers who she wondered if ever slept since they were always roaming the streets.

Anyways, by the time Mal made it to her father's lair, which is where he also lived most of the time, she began to wonder if he would even be up at that hour.

When she walked in, Mal immediately noticed that her father was laying on his back as he stared at the ceiling in a sort of daze, almost like he was contemplating every single moment in his existence.

"Why so serious?" Mal questioned curiously as she leaned against the wall for support. "I figured you'd be jumping for joy at knowing that your baby girl is finally awake after seven months of being under a sleeping spell."

If she hadn't been so tense, Mal would have laughed at the sight of her father falling off his worn down couch in surprise.

Hades quickly collected himself off the ground and stood as he stared at his daughter in amazement. "Mali?"

"Hi, Daddy," Mal greeted, surprised that she called him that. The last time she did, it was the day he left her sixteen years ago. Why did she say it then?

Hades stumbled toward her in surprise. "What are you doing here?" He wondered. "You should be resting."

"I've been 'resting' too long," Mal retorted somewhat tensely. "I needed to stretch my legs, see what's changed since I've been asleep so long. Why are you here?"

"This is my home," Hades replied in a sort of confused tone. "Why wouldn't I be here?"

"I mean why weren't you in Auradon?" Mal interrogated as she limped forward. "Why weren't you by my bedside when I woke up alone?"

"Wasn't your fiancé—"

"Ben forgot his gift for me and went to get it," she interrupted bitterly. "I woke up before he got back." Mal lifted her arm to display the beautiful flower that was still securely attached to her wrist. "He gave me the rose that I loved so dearly in the spelled dreams." Lowering her arm back to her side, she asked again, "Why weren't you there? Why weren't you watching over me?"

"I thought you wanted nothing to do with me," Hades admitted bashfully. "In your dream—"

"It was a dream!" Mal shouted somewhat hysterically. "No one would tell me what the hell was going on! At the time I didn't know who to trust! By the time I got to the last part of the dream, Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Ben were telling me one thing while you, Audrey, and Uma were telling me another. Audrey never liked me and Uma hated me after I gave her, her 'Shrimpy' nickname. You were siding with them, which confused me even more!"

"I didn't think you would listen to me," Hades mumbled timidly, just loud enough for Mal to hear. "I thought if I kept throwing taunts at you, you would finally get the hint that it was a spell. I honestly believed you would never wake from that curse, so I wanted you to say whatever you wanted to me. I knew it would be something bad, but I didn't think you would accuse me of hitting you and your mother."

"I'm sorry," Mal apologized almost immediately after. "Singing was the only way I could think of expressing my inner feelings. I sang what I did without thinking. I know you never touched us because you care too much for us, even if you never showed it."

After a moment, Mal tilted her head curiously. "Where is my mother?" She questioned. "Obviously everyone heard what happened to me. Did she ever show up afterwards? Or talked to you?"

"Nobody has seen her," Hades denied with a soft sigh. "And I looked every day for nearly seven months, hoping she could be the one to break the spell, since her scepter caused it while my ember amplified it. I couldn't find her and stopped looking after our little tiff in the spell dream."

"And that's why you are the better parents," Mal reassured as she stepped forward once again. "You did everything that you could possibly think of to help me in my time of need when my mother was nowhere in sight. You should have been the one to raise me as a child, not her, because she would have never tried to help me like you did. She would have left me to solve my problem on my own, thinking it would be some kind of test. You helped me like a real parent should."

Strolling forward, Mal hugged her father, burying her head into his chest as she mumbled, "And that's why I love you."

Tensing slightly, Hades wrapped his arms around his little girl as he tried adjusting to the unusual physical contact that he never gives and rarely receives. Kissing the top of her head, he muttered, "Welcome to Reality."