Lonnie grinned as she watched the game unfold on the field before her. It was the Championship for the National Tourney League and Jay was leading the charge for the Auradon Lions. Thankfully Lonnie had helped her time win the R.O.A.R. World Series the previous week so she was able to come and cheer on Jay.
Most of their friends were in the royal box with Ben and Mal, though Lonnie had to wonder how long Mal was going to fool anyone with the 'baggy clothes' act.
Mal, you've become one of my best friends but sometimes you are really bad at hiding things, she thought. Then again, after the whole Natalie debacle when we were in school, maybe we're just more attuned to noticing when things change with you. I know I didn't really say anything because I didn't feel like it was my place but I still noticed. Don't worry though, the kingdom's comprised of a majority of idiots so they more than likely haven't noticed the baggy clothes.
"So...how badly do you think Jay's going to tease Elle and Akiho for sitting in the Arendelle box?" Emir asked, bringing Lonnie out of her thoughts.
"Eh, if the Auradon Lions lose, I don't think there'll be much teasing," Emma said, rubbing her stomach. "Or if there is, it'll be on Akiho's end. Besides, don't think you wouldn't be sitting in the Agrabah box if the Agrabah Scorpions had made it into the Championship."
"Oh you know I would have," Emir nodded. "But that's just it, I know Jay would have teased me for 'sitting with the enemy' therefore I know Jay will tease Akiho too."
"How fitting considering you two used to tease me about conspiring with the 'enemy' before the games with Imperial Academy," Lonnie snorted as she shook her head before looking around. "Where's Estelle? I thought he'd be here sniffing for crumbs."
"Jay asked if he could borrow him for the day, something about guarding his bag," Mal said as Lonnie looked down on the field with her binoculars. There were screens of course but she preferred the closeness of binoculars. Plus the camera didn't always stay on Jay—call her selfish but Lonnie wanted to watch her boyfriend in action.
Sure enough, there on the sidelines, was Estelle; resting his middle head right on Jay's bag so the only way someone could get in to the bag was if Estelle moved his head.
And the only way that was happening was if Mal asked or if Jay asked Estelle.
"And the clock is ticking down here folks as the Auradon Lions fight to take the championship from the Arendelle Arctic Foxes, the reigning champs," the announcer's voice came through the speakers, pulling everyone's attention to what was happening on the field. "With the score still tied three to three, it truly is anyone's game."
"I'll say, with how Arendelle's reapers have been picking off our guys, it'll be a miracle if we win," Emir sighed.
"Hey, we were tied in our Championship as well and we came out on top," Ben told him. "Sometimes all it takes is a little faith and trust in your team."
"For a moment there I thought you were going to finish that with mentioning pixie dust," Harry said with a small chuckle as Uma shook her head in amusement. Normally she would have been on a trading run but Uma had informed Ben about her pregnancy and he'd been amazing at rerouting the ships that managed trade so that Uma's ship could stay docked for longer periods of time.
"Pixie dust is illegal in Tourney," Ben said.
"Why am I not surprised that you know that?" Harry shook his head.
Lonnie chuckled. "Because Ben was the Captain of our school's Tourney team, led them to the Championship after all. Of course he'd know what was legal and illegal in the sport."
"And it looks as though the Auradon Lions are about to perform the Shield of Virtue as one of their final plays of the game," the announcer said, pulling everyone's attention away from the conversation and back on the field. "Pretty risky with a mere three minutes left on the clock, but if anyone can pull it off it's this team."
"What's the Shield of Virtue?" Hadie asked from his spot in-between Evan and Neal, both boys taking a break from being around their girlfriends with Hermie spending time with Evan's sisters and Grace Hatter having a family event in Wonderland. Oddly enough Grace's twin sister Paige had elected to bring her boyfriend, one of the male cheerleaders on the Auradon Prep cheer squad and the son of Princess Eilonwy and Prince Taran, to the event.
Hadie would have been with Alexandria but the last thing he needed was his friends teasing him about his dad walking in on them when she was there.
He was just lucky that Mal hadn't done that. Yet.
"Shield of Virtue's a defensive play," Emir explained, looking over at Hadie. "The team basically forms a solid, impenetrable wall out of their bodies."
"Normally at the school level, the players sing their school song," Ben added. "I wish I could still remember our fight song, it used to play in my head nonstop after a game whenever we made that play."
"So...what are they singing now?" Hadie asked.
"...I'm going to kill Jay. It just got bumped from the number one watched video on Auratube!" Ben groaned as some very familiar lyrics could be heard through the speakers.
"Wait, this is what you sang to Mal?" Hadie asked and burst out laughing. "Mom told us, and by us I mean me and dad, about this after it happened but she never found out the actual lyrics. Apparently the crowd drowned you out in the version mom found."
"And Ben? It's back on the top," Carlos said, looking up from his phone as he had pulled up Auratube to check and chuckled as Ben shook his head. "There will be no escaping that."
"I mean I like it," Mal said, shrugging slightly. "It was the song that got us together."
"After Emir and Akiho told me to 'make with the dramatic' already," Ben said, chuckling at the look on Emir's face before wrapping his arm around Mal. Of course that changed as everyone moved to the edge of their seats as Jay lunged forward and swiped the ball from the opposing player.
"That guy looked stunned," Emir said.
"I'd be stunned too if the opposing team started singing so close to the end of the game," Evan spoke up.
"The man speaks facts," Neal nodded.
Lonnie chuckled before turning her attention back to the game, just as Jay passed the ball to one of his teammates only for that teammate to get blocked by an Arctic Fox.
"Say what you want about those guys, they play good defense," Emir sighed.
"And Jay's too loyal right now," Harry shook his head as he looked up at the screen. "I can appreciate loyalty but even I know in this wee boy's game that you don't waste time on stuff like this. Especially when the ball's loose."
"I knew you preferred R.O.A.R. to Tourney," Lonnie said with a grin.
"R.O.A.R. has swords, of course I prefer it," Harry told her.
"Tourney has cannons!" Emir exclaimed.
Harry shook his head. "Swords beat cannons Emir. Now hush, Jay has the ball."
"You could cut the tension with a sword as the clock ticks down," the announcer said, his voice the only thing preventing the royal booth from being in total silence as they all watched in anticipation. "With only ten seconds left on the clock, it makes one wonder why the Auradon Lions wasted so much time on the Shield of Virtue."
"Because it's a good play and a lot can happen in ten seconds," Ben said softly, his lips barely moving as his eyes never left the screen. Everyone watched with bated breath as Jay raced toward the goalie.
"...he shoots...HE SCORES! The Auradon Lions win the championship, four to three," the announcer exclaimed but no one heard him over the cheers that were coming from everyone in the room.
"We should go down and congratulate Jay," Mal said as she stood up.
"That's usually not allowed right after a game," Neal said.
Everyone paused and gave him a look, as if reminding him that a: most of the people in the room didn't normally care about what was and wasn't allowed and b: two of the people were the High King and Queen of Auradon.
Even if Mal and Ben never used their titles for their own benefits, they still received preferential treatment as a result of the crowns they wore. Though at an event like this, the crowns stayed in the castle.
"Oh. Right," Neal said with a sheepish chuckle and everyone made their way out of the booth to rush down to the field. Unfortunately, that meant they missed the trophy being handed to the coach of the Lions.
They also missed Jay rushing over to his bag and asking Estelle for another favor.
However, no one missed Estelle racing over to them; three big doggy grins on his face.
"Hello boy," Mal said with a small smile. "Did you have a fun time watching the game from the sidelines?"
Estelle yipped softly and wagged his tail. However, he also began to gently tug on Lonnie's sleeve, as if he wanted her to follow him.
"I think I'm being kidnapped by your dog Mal," Lonnie said with a small chuckle.
"You'd better go with him and see what he wants you for," Mal told her.
"I don't think he's giving me much choice otherwise." Lonnie said, shaking her head as she began to follow Estelle down to the field, where Jay was waiting.
"Jay, what is this all about?" Lonnie asked. "Shouldn't you be celebrating with your team?"
"You'll see," Jay said as he led Lonnie up to the stage where the rest of the team was celebrating with the trophy. "If my team can forgive me for taking a bit of the attention for a moment?"
"Hey, Jay, you scored the winning shot. I think you can take all the time you want," Lonnie heard the coach call and she let out a small chuckle. Though, she had to wonder what all was going on. She'd never known Jay to be this serious. Though she wouldn't lie, she liked the feeling of his hand in hers.
"Lonnie..." Jay started to say but then paused, as if he was trying to make sure he had his words in order. "Normally I know exactly what I want to say to a girl but right now, with you, I have no idea if I'm going to get this right. So...I'm just going to speak from my heart."
What in the world's going on? Lonnie thought. Sure Jay had no issue with speaking from the heart but normally he wasn't a big fan of doing so in public. Since they were both big named sports stars in their respective fields, their privacy was next to non-existent.
Neither of them wanted to see the words they'd whispered lovingly in the other's ear plastered among tabloids or fan websites the following day.
"You are the most amazing woman I've ever met," Jay continued, pulling Lonnie out of her thoughts. "I never know what I'm going to get with you, you always find a way to keep me on my toes and aren't afraid to give me a punch on the shoulder if I need it. You've been so supportive with my Tourney career even though the separation hasn't been easy on either of us and most of the time our calls have been you helping me with my course work for my degree."
"And I've been more than happy to do that," Lonnie said. "Mainly because I love any time we get to spend together and you always try to make it up during the bye week if they match up."
Jay gave her a small smile and took a breath. "Well...even though I know the saying is 'absence makes the heart grow fonder', I hope your heart's as fond of me as I am of you and you'll give me the answer I'm hoping you'll say."
"Jay...what are you...?" Lonnie asked, her words trailing off as Jay knelt down on one knee and stunned the entire stadium; many of the fans had remained when they saw her be escorted onto the field by the High Queen's Cerberus.
Lonnie stared in shock as Jay pulled out the ring box that apparently had been in his pocket. He opened it up to show Lonnie the most beautiful ring she could have ever imagined. The band was gold with a single diamond in the middle; the design looking almost like the flower on her mother's hair comb.
Jay, I hope that you've at least let my parents know what you're planning, she thought. She didn't need permission, and her parents knew that. However, with her brother not being the most forthcoming with his love life, the last thing Lonnie wanted to do was shock her mother and father with her love life.
"Li Lonnie, will you make me the happiest man alive?" Jay asked. "Will you marry me?"
"Yes!" Lonnie exclaimed without a second thought.
She grinned as she saw the smile begin to grow on Jay's face. On her fiancé's face.
Okay now I can see why Ben always grinned like crazy whenever he referred to Mal as his fiancee. It feels good to even think of Jay with that title, Lonnie thought.
"Yes?" Jay asked.
"Do I need to say it in another language?" Lonnie asked, a small chuckle escaping her lips as she leaned down to kiss Jay on his amidst the cheers from the fans and Jay's teammates. "Yes I'll marry you!"
Jay's grin never diminished but then neither did Lonnie's as she felt the ring slip on her finger and Jay enveloped her into his arms.
Sure he was incredibly filthy from the game but Lonnie didn't care. Showers existed after all.
The two of them made their way down to the field where the rest of their friends were milling about, though Lonnie kept an ear out for all the reporters just in case someone asked for an interview.
Years of being friends with Emma White had trained her to handle the press after all.
"Wait...what's 'Jonnie'?" Lonnie asked, having heard the word come from one of the reporters' mouths.
"Don't tell me you're confused about your couple name," Emma said with a small chuckle as the group joined them.
"Seriously?" Lonnie asked.
Emir nodded. "Most of them are harmless, like Ben and Mal's is 'Bal' though honestly I prefer the lone 'Dragon King' I saw try to circulate around the interwebs as their couple name."
"...Ben was that you?" Jay asked.
"I can neither confirm nor deny that fact," Ben said. "But Emir's right, they're almost all harmless. Some are a little too cute for words, like Emir and Emma's—."
"Wait? We have one?" Emma asked. "If we tried to do one like your's, Ben, it would just turn out to be one of our names."
Mal chuckled. "Yours, apparently, is 'SnowThief' and it's not the reporters who come up with it but the citizens according to Chip."
"Please tell me there are others," Emir said.
"There are. There's GoldenCircus, IceSiren, WonderApple—."
"Wait, who's the last one?" Hadie asked.
Mal smirked slightly as she glanced over at Neal before looking back at her brother. "Well Hads, one half of that pairing is here right now."
"Wait, that's me and Grace?" Neal asked, his eyes growing wide.
"Yep," Mal nodded.
"Huh. I surprisingly don't hate it," Neal said. "WonderApple. Sounds like a really delicious apple."
Ben snorted. Chip had had a similar reaction when he found out his couple name with Lucas, his old Auradon Prep boyfriend with who he had an on again, off again relationship. The older man had found the couple name of 'PaintedTeacup' to be particularly amusing especially considering the fact that Lucas was a freelance artist.
Ben was just happy that his brother was happy. The last time Ben had heard the name 'Lucas' was during the food delivery barge drama, back before Leah had been sent to the Isle.
To no one's surprise, however, Chip had gotten married to Lucas maybe a year after Ben and Mal had married, though it was a small affair by choice. The only reason anyone had found out about Chip and Lucas was well Chip got publicity being the surrogate older brother of the High King though nine times out of ten, he wouldn't get reported on since he was a freelance videographer.
He drank from the same pool as the reporters and the photographers that longed for a photo op or an interview with Ben and Mal so no one was going to risk annoying Chip. Except for one entity that apparently had expanded its reach past the halls of Auradon Prep.
Yeah Ben had issued a civil case against The Gazelle when it was revealed that they'd reported on Chip and Lucas, even going as far as to get them temporarily shut down. He would have done the same back during his school days when he issued his proclamation that speculation on Mal's parentage was not to be tolerated but surprisingly The Gazelle toed the line there.
"Well anyway," Ben said, pulling himself out of his thoughts and back to the conversation at hand, "like we said, most of them are harmless. Chad and Ginny's is Chinny...and no, Emir, Akiho, you can't make fun of him for the fact that it sounds like something the three little pigs would say."
"Who said we would?!" Akiho asked as he and Elle made their way over to them. "Also, what are we talking about?"
"Couple names," Emir said. "One of the reporters revealed to Lonnie her's and Jay's couple name."
"All I'm saying is why couldn't it be 'Lay'?" Lonnie asked.
Carlos chuckled. "You can't fight the internet Lonnie. I offered to start a campaign when Jane told me that we had a couple name floating around on there."
"What's yours?"
"Jarlos. I offered to find a way to change it to 'Cane' but Jane said it was fine."
Jane chuckled. "Because it is. Besides, you already made me a necklace with our couple name on it. I'm not going to have that hard work go for nothing."
"Well I'm just going to say this," Mal said. "It took you long enough Jay!"
"Hey, I had to have the perfect moment," Jay told her as he brought Lonnie into a hug, kissing her on the lips.
It truly was a perfect moment. There was nothing that Jay could think of that would make this moment better.