Final chapter of "Girl Talk". I know I could've probably taken this story in a bigger direction, but I chose to keep it simple, just like with my recent Carvie story - "A Special Night". It's just so refreshing not to put too much pressure on myself. Anyways, enjoy.
Leave a review after reading, please. Feedback is always appreciated.
I'd like to thank the following users for reviewing the previous chapter (and for making me feel better with my story choices): Dorothyshoes30, Ss, brico4899, Mara
WARNING: Dramatic Author's Note at the bottom. Read it or ignore it.
The influence of Maleficent's scepter within Audrey has been purged, but the end of her evil reign came with a cost. Just a couple days ago, Ben proposed to Mal on live TV and she said yes. Now, the people of Auradon just got the news that Mal had just ended the engagement. That's one of the issues that she and Ben need to address to the kingdom. They decided to talk about this right beside the magical bridge to the Isle of the Lost. Mal stood on the royal balcony with Ben, Belle, Beast, and Fairy God Mother, preparing to make her big announcement.
Evie, Jay, Carlos, Audrey, Chad, Jane, Doug, other students of Auradon Prep, and some of the citizens of Auradon watch from below and wait for Mal to speak.
"A few days ago, I gave your beloved king an answer that would shape my future forever," Mal started. "To be Queen of Auradon, it's been something I have been preparing for since I confessed my feelings for Ben. But choosing that position came with a momentary lapse of judgment. I turned my back on the Isle, the place where I came from. We made a decision to close the barrier forever, and it was my idea. The wrong idea. I made a couple realizations upon discovering the error of my choice. I realized that you can't live in fear. Fear clouds your judgment and it can't protect anyone, not even yourself. Without Uma and her pirates, Auradon would have fallen. Without my father Hades, Audrey would be gone."
The people below were shocked by the revelation. They have accepted the fact that Mal is the daughter of Maleficent, but to be the daughter of Hades...
"Everyone is capable of good and evil, no matter which side of the barrier you come from," Mal continued. "And that is why I can't be Queen of Auradon. I have to be Queen of the Isle. I may not sit on the throne beside King Ben, but I will work with him to unite our two worlds into one. And that is why your king has given me his approval to open the barrier forever."
"Are you sure about this, son?" asked Beast.
"I am," Ben said positively. "It's time for things to change. It's time for forgiveness."
Ben asks Fairy God Mother for her magic wand. The young king holds the wand in front of his ex-fiance with a smile on his face, trusting her to unite their two lands in peace.
"Queen Mal of the Isle, will you do the honors?" Ben asked.
"I gladly shall," Mal accepted.
Before grabbing the wand, Mal asks her three best friends - Evie, Jay, and Carlos - to come up to the balcony with her. She wants them to stand by her side as they make history. The three eagerly rush towards the Isle's new queen. They stand very close to each other as Mal holds the wand in her hand.
"To make the world a better place," Mal started the incantation.
"We have to do it face to face," said the four VKs at the same time.
With those words and a wave of the magic wand, Mal removes the barrier from the Isle of the Lost. The magical bridge appears as the VKs on the Isle notice the barrier disappearing. Uma, Harry, Gil, and Celia are among those VKs who are making their way to the bridge. Uma is already smiling, knowing that Mal has actually kept her promise of freeing the VKs from the Isle.
Cue the singing and dancing.
Uma and the other VKs cross the bridge and celebrate the bringing down of the barrier with the AKs. Mal and Uma are finally having fun together like true friends. Harry, Gil, Celia, Dizzy, Squeaky and Squirmy dance along with everyone, feeling so happy that things are changing for the better for both heroes and villains. Harry even finds a dance partner in Audrey (after Uma rejected his attempt at a kiss). Even Belle and Beast are in on the celebration, having accepted that it's time to accept change.
Dr. Facilier, Lady Tremaine, and Mr. Smee cross the bridge to be with their children and they too join the dance party.
Mal has danced with pretty much everyone during this happy moment. She's danced with Uma, with Evie, with Ben, and with Jay. But the person she wanted to dance with the most is Carlos. Pulling him away from the crowd, she jumps and twirls with him in her arms. Despite feeling surprised by the intervention, Carlos wastes no time getting into the groove with Mal. They match each other's steps as they hold hands tightly. After a graceful twirl, Mal plants her lips right on Carlos' cheek. It was a very deep cheek kiss, full of intense passion. Carlos knows where the intense passion of that cheek kiss is coming from.
"A bit too soon, don't you think?" Carlos asked, despite the smile on his face.
"Don't ruin the moment. Enjoy it," said Mal.
"Are you really sure about this, Mal?" asked Carlos.
"Being Queen of the Isle, or you?" Mal replied curiously.
"We both just went through separate breakups. Kinda messy ones, you know," Carlos pointed out.
"I know," said Mal. With a teasing tone, she adds, "But if I ever need a king, I just have to look right in front of me."
"Okay, too soon," Carlos remarked.
Mal just bumps foreheads with Carlos - in a loving way - as she lets out a joyful laugh. She may not have found true love in this happy ending, but it's not an ending at all. It's a brand new beginning, for both Auradon and the Isle of the Lost. But maybe it's also a brand new beginning for her and for Carlos. Who knows? The future is here and there's plenty of time to explore.
"Aren't you two such bad kids?" Dude teased.
"Shut up, Dude," Carlos said, embarrassed.
"Hey, I'm not judging. Bad kids be bad kids, you know," said Dude.
"Yeah, I guess we do," Mal agreed.
"This is crazy, you know," said Carlos.
"I do, but I don't mind," said Mal. "Just enjoy the moment, Carlos. We'll have more time later."
"Sure," Carlos responded happily.
"Uh-oh, we got company," said Dude.
That "company" is Hades, who has also crossed the bridge to see his child. Mal quickly approaches her father, obviously feeling very happy that he could finally have a chance to be close to her. Carlos just stands back and lets the two have their moment. Also, it's Hades.
"My Queen," Hades said playfully, bowing to his daughter.
Mal rolls her eyes, but laughs it off anyway.
"It's great you showed," said Mal.
Mal gives her dad a hug. Carlos can't help but feel a little envious. Despite how his mother treat him, he secretly wishes that they can be what Mal and Hades are to each other.
"Oh, Dad, remember Carlos?" Mal asked, holding the puppy lover's hand.
"Cruella's son," Hades replied. "Moving on too fast, Mal?"
"Give it time," Mal answered.
"And I heard you gave him a harder time than anyone else on the Isle," said Hades.
"Those days are behind us," said Mal.
"And we couldn't be happier to be where we are now," said Carlos. "Welcome to Auradon, Mr. Hades."
"Just Hades to you, Mr. Devil," said Hades.
"It's De Vil," Carlos corrected.
Hades just glares at Carlos for daring to correct him. Carlos just holds Mal's hand tighter just to feel safe. She laughs at his nervousness around her father. All that's left now is to introduce Hades to everyone.
After the party, everyone goes home while the VKs introduce their parents to the rest of Auradon. There are a couple of people who didn't leave the party scene, though. It's Mal and Carlos, holding hands as they look at the Isle of the Lost across the bridge. They stayed here after the celebration to have some alone time. They just wanted some peace and quiet together, alone.
"Can you believe this all started with some stupid girl talk?" Mal started. "Not stupid, obviously, but... I just can't believe it would affect us this much."
"I just wanted to help," said Carlos.
"To help me and Ben have a future together," Mal added. "And while I do have a future, it's not with him."
"Makes you feel like that girl talk didn't do its purpose, huh?" Carlos assumed.
"It did, halfway, at least," said Mal. "Maybe I couldn't have the future I wanted with Ben, but I learned not to give up when things get hard. I wanted to run, to go home, to forget about Auradon, to be the baddest of the bad again. But thanks to you, I stayed and gave myself another chance here. Sure, I don't get to be Queen of Auradon, but I like to think that I'm right where I want to be."
"As queen of the villains?" asked Carlos.
Mal giggles and says, "Yeah, pretty much."
"I guess there's something to be said about all this. It's you, Mal. You are the true bridge between Auradon and the Isle," said Carlos.
"Well, that's a nice sentiment," said Mal. "But that bridge was broken once and needed to be fixed. By someone."
"You didn't have to do it for me, you know," said Carlos.
"I know, but I wanted to do it for you," said Mal. "Because I lo..."
Carlos cuts off Mal that same way she cut him off last year, with a kiss. Unlike Carlos last year, Mal didn't freeze. She actually returns the kiss as she puts her arms around Carlos, pulling him closer. Despite having just gone through hard breakups this morning, this moment just feels so right... somehow.
After the kiss, Carlos says, "I love you, too."
"Yeah, I know," said Mal. Jokingly, she adds, "But maybe I need a sleeping spell to verify those words."
Mal and Carlos just laugh at the joke together. But Mal couldn't deny those words, sleeping spell or no sleeping spell. Neither could Carlos.
"All this time, the two of us, and it took a dumb little girl talk to bring everything into the light," Mal said thoughtfully.
"See, I said girl talk was dumb."
Mal and Carlos turn their heads to the direction of the voice who said those words. It was Jay, who just got smacked on the arm by Evie. The four of them agreed to meet after the party to visit the Isle, but Evie and Jay had to leave for a while to accompany the other VKs.
"Maybe we need another girl talk to straighten your head," said Evie.
"I think he just misses Lonnie," Mal teased.
"Hey, she chose to travel. I chose to help the Isle. We're both okay with this, okay?" Jay said. "So, Carlos, are we gonna be calling you King Carlos from now?"
"Yeah, very funny," Carlos replied, unamused. "Mal and I, we... we just need time to settle this."
"But now it's as clear as daylight how you two really feel about each other," said Evie. "I hope for nothing but for you two to be happy together."
"Supportive to the end, huh, E?" Mal questioned.
"Hey, we've been through so much together. We always need to have each other's backs, even in the most difficult of times or the oddest circumstances," said Evie.
"You think Carlos and I are odd? Have you seen Doug's hair?" Mal laughed.
The four VKs laugh together.
Mal wraps her arm around Carlos' arm as she lovingly leans on his shoulder. Carlos leans against her as well, just simply enjoying the moment. Evie couldn't resist smiling at them.
After a brief laugh, the four of them stand side by side as they look upon their old home across the bridge. The barrier is gone for good and all the villains and VKs are welcome to Auradon to start over. Not everyone has left yet, due to either bewilderment or suspicion, which gives Mal and her gang a chance to visit their parents.
"Isn't it funny that we abandoned them and now we're running back to them?" Mal started.
"They're out parents. Good or evil, they mean a lot to us," said Evie.
"I admit, I want what you and Hades have, Mal," said Carlos.
"I just hope my Dad doesn't go nuts or anything," said Jay.
"Do you think they ever miss us?" Evie wondered.
"I like to think they do," said Jay.
"'Cause we're rotten," said Mal.
"To the core," the Core Four finished together.
"Hey, last one over the bridge," Carlos challenged.
"Is a rotten apple!" All four VKs said excitedly.
And so, the race begins. Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos start running, racing each other to the other end of the bridge, just for the fun of it. No matter how much they've matured since they came to Auradon, in the end, they are still just kids.
THE END
And so ends another Descendants story. I wish I could've done more, but I hope you've all enjoyed this.
Just to clarify the ending, Mal and Carlos had just broken up with their respective partners, so that's why they're not officially together in the end. But it's clear that at the end of this story, they have chosen each other. And all it took was that one little girl talk.
Again, I could've just kept this as a one-shot like I originally planned, but I'm more or less glad I expanded on it, even if just a little. Thank you to everyone who has followed and reviewed this story.
...
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
(dramatic speech warning; ignore, if you wish)
Oh, boy. Where to even begin? I've been writing Descendants stories ever since the first movie came out. It's how my FanFiction career started. I will say, I am super embarrassed at how I started. My 7-part Forever Wicked series wasn't my first attempt at a series. Even from the beginning, 4 years ago, I was already trying to tie my Descendants stories together into one convoluted narrative... one that I am NOT proud of (seriously, I'm not; I was just making it up as I go along). So, one would say "Forever Wicked" was not just a passion project (a carefully planned passion project, to avoid personal embarrassment) but also a personal redemption journey. Whether or not I've improved as a writer, I am more proud of "Forever Wicked" than I am of my beginnings.
But I'm afraid my two recent stories - "A Special Night" and "Girl Talk" - will have to be a possible goodbye from me to the Descendants FanFiction archive. 2020 is around the corner, I am growing up fast, and I am afraid of how my undetermined future will affect my writing. While I've had more successful stories, I like to believe that I've hit my peak with my 7-part series, "Forever Wicked". Sure, I can keep writing and I will keep writing (I'm not retiring from FanFiction, but I do need either a much deserved break or to write smaller stories for other archives). But I think I'm done with Descendants. Yes, I know that I could've written a new series based on Descendants 3 and I have been thinking about it for a while, but I am honestly burnt out, both in energy and ideas. I hope you can understand.
Still, writing Descendants stories has honestly been my favorite part of my FanFiction career. I'll always look back to this and remember how fun it has been.
So long, everyone, and have a Happy New Year!