My Once Upon a Time 《Descendants》

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Mal

So, even though it had been nearly a year since we lost Carlos, one of my best friends, I still hadn't really gotten over it. Most days, I half expected him to walk into a room and say something funny about one of the adventures we went on together with Evie and Jay. Jane, his girlfriend, had yet to go out with anyone else since he died, which was understandable considering how close her and Carlos were. I've never been very good at handling loss in a normal way, preferring to just bury it deep within me. I refused to talk about how losing Carlos had affected me with anyone except for Ben, my husband. When I was alone with him, there were times when I started crying uncontrollably out of the blue, to the point that I made myself throw up. Still, he did his best to help me feel better, which I appreciated. I was out walking with Evie one day when I felt the tears starting to form in my eyes, and I tried to hide it from her. "M, what's up?" She asked me softly. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it," I said simply. "Let's sit down here," she said, leading me over to a nearby bench. We sat down, and she turned to face me. "Talk to me, M. I know something's bugging you," she said. "It's because of Carlos," I said reluctantly. "You still haven't processed that yet?" She asked. "Yeah. You know how I deal with losing people close to me," I said. "I know. Have you talked to anyone about how it's affected you?" She asked. "Just Ben. He's been really understanding with this whole thing. Honestly, most  of the time I half expect Carlos to walk into a room and say something funny about one of the adventures we went on," I said. "I get it. Up until his funeral, I kept hoping that it was all just a dream, and that he was still with us. Part of me still hopes that part of my life is just some kind of dream," she replied.

"I really miss him. I..." I said before breaking down in tears, causing Evie to pull me into a warm hug. "It's okay. Just let it all out, M," she said, letting me sob into her shoulder for a while. I ended up crying to the point that I made myself throw up on Evie. "I'm so sorry, E. I didn't mean to do that," I said sheepishly. "There's nothing to apologize for, M. I did the same thing a few times with Doug," Evie replied, which I didn't know about before. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah. It was the only way I could get all of my feelings out, crying uncontrollably. It made me feel like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders afterwards," she said. "I feel the same way," I said, then I remembered something. "There might still be a way for us to see Carlos," I said. "What are you -? Oh. How has it taken us a year to think of that?" She asked. "I have no clue, but it's worth talking to my dad about," I said, taking out my phone to let Ben know that I was going to talk to my dad, Hades.

When Evie and I arrived at Dad's place, I knocked loudly, since he was never in the same place twice, for some reason. After a few minutes of waiting, the door swung open, and Dad stood aside to let us in. "What's up, Mali?" He asked casually. "Well, um..." I began, but I couldn't seem to find the rest of the words. "Wait! Don't tell me. You came because of my status as the God of the Underworld and the dead, and you want to talk to Carlos again, right?" He asked, and I simply nodded. "Well, it'll probably take me a little while to find him, with as many people all over the planet that die every day, but I'll text you when I find him," he said. "Thank you, Dad," I said, hugging him tightly.

When I returned to the castle, Ben was waiting for me in the Entrance Hall, which he usually only did if something major had happened while I was away. "What's going on, babe?" I asked him. "You might want to see for yourself," he replied, and he led me to the room where my mother, Maleficent, stayed in. Since she was a lizard, she didn't really pose a threat to the kingdom. The thing is, there was no longer a lizard in the room. Instead, I found myself face-to-face with Mom for the first time in almost four years. "M-Mom?" I asked in a barely audible voice. "Hello Mal. It's nice to see you again from my old perspective," she said, and I took a few steps back, confusing her. "What did I do?" She asked. "You... have you changed since... you know...?" I asked hesitantly. "What? Oh! Yes, I have. Before you ask, I will admit that I was furious with you at first, but I learned to accept my state and let it go. It took a little while, but I was able to do so. I also learned the true strength of love from observing the pair of you when I got the chance," she explained. "It's good to see you back to normal, Mom," I said with a slight smile. "Well, I suppose I'd better see if I can find a place to live, so I'll see you later," Mom said, walking out of the room, leaving Ben and I alone. "Well," he said. "Well what?" I asked him. "I don't know what to do," he said. "I have a few ideas for stuff we can do," I replied with my signature smirk.

Evie

I was looking forward to my upcoming wedding to Doug, my longtime boyfriend. Mal came over to help me sew my wedding dress and plan my bachelorette party, and we talked about whatever came to mind. "Oh, I should tell you, my mother's back," Mal mentioned casually, and I did a double-take. "She is? I thought you'd be more scared than this," I replied. "I was when I first saw her back to normal, but she's not her old self anymore. She admitted that herself. Apparently, she learned the true strength of love from observing me and Ben when she got the chance," she replied. "Huh. I never thought I'd see the day," I said simply. "Honestly, neither did I," she responded, smiling at me. After that, the subject changed to family plans. "Well, Doug and I haven't really discussed it yet. We want to wait until after our wedding to start talking about it," I told her. "Ben and I have been talking about it a bit lately. Right now, we plan on having two or three kids, but it isn't for certain yet. Did you hear about Harry and Audrey?" Mal asked me. "No, I didn't. What about them?" I asked her. "Apparently they're expecting a baby sometime soon. I'm not a hundred percent sure how far along Audrey is, but both her and Harry are really excited," Mal replied.

"It's been too long since we last talked to them. We should invite them over to visit and catch up," I said. "That's a great idea! I'll text Harry and see when he and Audrey are available," Mal said, pulling out her phone and texting Harry. After a few minutes, she got a response. "What did he say?" I asked. "He said that they can come by next Tuesday," Mal replied, and we set to making plans for their visit.

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Just a little story I came up with recently. Until next time!