Wicked Ones ♛ MAL [✓]

➣ thirty.

030. | FOR GOOD

The following week was the engagement party. All of Auradon had gathered at Ben's castle to celebrate, and I couldn't have been happier that so many people had come.

"Is it bad that I'm nervous?" I said as I looked out at the crowd.

"Don't be," Mal said, coming up to me and putting her hand on my shoulder. "You know everyone loves you."

"Yeah, it's just..." I sighed and faced her. "We've been through so much in such a short amount of time. And sometimes I wish that it all hadn't been our fault."

"Freddy," Mal said, taking my hands. "Even though not all of it has been the best... In the end, I wouldn't change a thing. Everything needed to happen exactly the way it did. If it didn't, we wouldn't be here. And we wouldn't be together. Okay?"

I nodded, giving her a small smile. "Okay."

Mal put her arm around me. "C'mon, let's go before everyone gets impatient."

We left the castle and walked outside, where everyone was waiting. They cheered when they saw us, and I grinned before looking at Mal.

Once we were up on the balcony, overlooking everyone, I smiled and looked out at the guests.

"Mal and I wanna thank you for celebrating our engagement with us today," I said to them. Smiling at Mal, I said, "I couldn't be prouder or happier to call you my wife. So..." I lifted my glass of sparkling water. "Raise your glasses... to the best and bravest defender Auradon has ever had. To Mal!"

Everyone raised their glasses, repeating my phrase, "To Mal!"

"Speech, Your Brave-ness!" Carlos called out.

"Speech, Your Winged One!" Jay agreed.

We all laughed at their silliness. Then, Mal's smile faded, and she looked out at the crowd. "I can't," she said.

Everyone gasped.

"I can't be Auradon's defender," Mal said, earning an even louder gasp.

I frowned at her. "Mal," I said quietly.

"We can't turn our backs on the Isle," Mal said to me, her voice soft and gentle. Then, she turned to address everyone. "Ben and I made a decision... to close the barrier forever. And it was my idea. But it's wrong. I've learned... that you can't live in fear... because it doesn't actually protect you from anything. You never know where the bad is gonna come from. And you never know where the heroes are gonna come from either. Without Uma and her pirates, Auradon would be gone. And without Hades..." Mal glanced around. "...my father..." Everyone gasped, and she went on, "Audrey would be gone."

She looked at Audrey and smiled, and I squeezed her hand before I spoke as well. "We are all capable of good and bad, no matter which side of the barrier we come from."

"And that's why I can't defend just Auradon," Mal said, facing me again. "I have to defend the Isle, too. It's just as much my home as Auradon is." She took my hand and looked at Ben. "And it's time that we take the barrier down forever."

Beast stepped forward in surprise. "We can't do that."

Ben smiled, looking at his father. "It's up to us, Dad." Stepping forward, he addressed the crowd. "I choose to be a King who moves forward." He glanced at his parents. "It's time for forgiveness. It's time for new beginnings." He looked out at everyone again. "The barrier will come down!"