Mal couldn't help but smile at Evie and Dizzy's hug; though if Evie tightened her grip any more, Dizzy would have to go without oxygen.
"Okay E, E!" Mal said after a few minutes. "Let Dizzy go. Poor girl probably needs to breathe."
"Oh!" Evie gasped and released Dizzy. "I'm so sorry Dizzy. I was just so happy to see you!"
Dizzy smiled, seemingly unaffected by the long hug, and then turned to Mal to give her a hug as well. "I can't believe I'm off the Isle!"
"Yes, how is that?" King Beast asked, looking at Mary Poppins as he had heard the younger girl's exclamation. No one asked how that was possible, despite the King sitting far away from the younger girl as Dizzy had been quite exuberant in her exclamation.
"One thing you need to know, your majesty," Mary Poppins told him, a slightly stern look on her face. "I never explain anything."
Beast sighed and looked over at his wife, who shrugged. "Alright. But next time, please warn us before you bring someone over from the Isle. This time it was a young child."
"Your majesty, I promise. I would never bring anyone who would harm Auradon," Mary Poppins told him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must see to the Banks children."
Beast nodded and Mary Poppins walked off, only to be greeted by three hugs from Annabelle, Georgie, and John.
"So, did Mary Poppins tell you how she smuggled you off the Isle?" Mal asked Dizzy, having heard the conversation between Mary Poppins and King Beast.
"All she said was 'anything is possible, even the impossible'," Dizzy told her, the young girl's megawatt smile never fading. "She somehow got permission from mom as well, which I found more impossible than getting me off the Isle."
Ben couldn't help but smile at Mal and Evie's interaction with the younger girl. Somehow, when he pictured the Isle kids interactions with younger children, it wasn't like the way he had in front of him. He went to clear his throat to introduce himself to Dizzy, but found that he was called over by Cinderella, Kit having been called away by a message regarding their youngest daughter, Alexandra.
"Your majesty," Ben said, bowing at the older royal. "How can I help you?"
Cinderella sighed. "Ben, is that truly Drizella's daughter over there?"
"From what Mal's told me," Ben told her. "Why?"
"I want to introduce myself," Cinderella explained. "I just don't know how much Drizella has told her about me—and how much of it is fiction."
Ben nodded, understanding the dilemma. "Your majesty, if I may? Why don't you wait for her to come to you? Fresh off the Isle, it might be overwhelming for the young girl to meet a long lost family member."
"You're right," Cinderella said with a nod, though the disappointment was evident on her face.
Meanwhile, Anita had managed to find Queen Belle once more with the help of Aladdin. The former street rat had walked away when Anita managed to get the queen's attention, and was in the middle of a quiet conversation with his spouse.
"Ah, Anita!" Belle said with a smile. "I hadn't forgotten that there was something you wanted to ask me."
Anita nodded. "Yes, your majesty. I had a question about the Isle children, specifically Carlos."
Belle frowned slightly, fearful as to the direction the conversation was going to go. Out of all the Isle children, Carlos was one she and her husband had a slight soft spot for—though it might have been due to his mother's lack of magic. Their dealings with the enchanted rose made Belle and Beast slightly uneasy at the thought of dealing with magic.
"Well, I was wondering," Anita continued as Belle didn't respond to the previous statement. "I was wondering where the Isle children would be staying over the summer."
"Oh!" Belle exclaimed, the smile back on her face as she realized that this would not be an awkward conversation at all. "You know what, I don't exactly know. Ben was the one who thought it up, I only learned about it when he told his father and me about his proclamation. Why don't I call him over?"
Anita nodded and waited for the prince to walk over, Rodger having made his way over to her side.
"Yes mom?" Ben asked, nodding in greeting to Anita and Rodger.
"Ben, dear, where will the children of the Isle go during the summer holidays?" Belle asked. Ben furrowed his brow in thought.
"I had assumed back to the Isle," Ben told his mother. "We all go home for the summer holidays and they consider the Isle their home."
"But if someone from Auradon wanted to sponsor a child from the Isle, could they?" Anita asked and Ben smiled at the thought of at least some of the citizens of Auradon getting used to and growing to like the children of the Isle.
"It would be up to the child in question," Ben told her. "I'm not going to rip children from their parents if they want to return."
Anita nodded, understanding that some parents on the Isle might want to see their children again. "But if the child agrees?"
"We can set something up," Ben nodded. "Anita, if it's any help, Carlos would probably jump at the chance to stay with you guys."
Anita flushed. "How—"
"Lucky guess," Ben told her with a smile before giving a slight bow and walked back to Mal and the others. Anita turned to Belle, who gave her another smile.
"At some point, you will have to talk to Carlos," Belle told them, a serious tone slipping into her voice despite the smile that still graced her features. "I won't sanction a sponsorship without the child's permission—even if Carlos' legal guardian is abhorrent. But of course I would never say that."
"Cruella has probably poisoned him against us," Rodger said with a frown. "Would he want to speak to us?"
"You'll never know unless you ask," Belle told them with a kind smile. Unbeknownst to them, Carlos had noticed the conversation.
"Hey Mal? What do you think the Radcliffes are talking about with Queen Belle?" Carlos asked, leaning over to Mal to avoid anyone else overhearing. Mal looked over and frowned slightly at the sight. They all knew that they would have the heroes that faced off against their parents in the room with them, but to see two of them talking to Queen Belle raised alarm bells in Mal's head.
"Probably just asking for help at caring for their abundance of Dalmatians," Mal told him, trying to keep a calm tone as to not worry the younger boy, and couldn't help but smile at the lack of fear in Carlos' eyes at the mention of dogs. "You know, they probably could use a pair of big, strong hands to help them out over the summer."
They all knew that Carlos would not survive going back to the Isle after the taste of freedom from his mother and none of them knew what the plans would be for summer. Even though Mal would hate to split up the gang, it would be the best thing for Carlos to stay in Auradon.
"Then why don't they ask Jay?" Carlos asked and Mal chuckled. The chuckle froze when she saw Hercules walk past. Mal hadn't even realized the Demi-god was in the room with them, despite having heard Meg's comments once or twice.
"Mal?" Carlos asked, slightly confused at his best friend's change in mood but Mal had quickly gotten up and dragged Evie over to a corner.
"What is wrong with you?" Evie groaned, rubbing the spot on her arm that Mal had grabbed.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?!" Mal exclaimed. "Hercules is here!"
"Are you sure?" Evie asked, all annoyance forgotten.
"Considering I saw the big lummox walk past me, yes I'm sure!" Mal hissed, rubbing her temples. It was bad enough being in the same room as Aurora, not knowing when the other shoe would drop with her. But Hercules was not quiet about how he felt about Hades—her father. She honestly didn't know how she could face her cousin, even if no one but Evie knew they were related.
"Calm down," Evie told her, putting her hands on Mal's shoulders. "No one but me knows who your father is. I would never tell anyone without you telling me I could."
"I know, Evie," Mal gave her friend a smile. "But—"
"No buts," Evie said. "You are Mal. You are amazing and powerful and no one can take that away from you. If anyone gives you grief for being yourself, point them to me."
Mal chuckled at the idea of Evie doing anything unlady like but gave her best friend a quick hug. "What would I do without you?"
"Probably go unmosturized and flat haired," Evie shrugged. "Come on, we're probably getting some looks. People are going to assume we're plotting."
"But I like plotting," Mal said with a smirk and wrapped her arm around Evie's shoulders. The two of them walked back to their group, where Dizzy was talking Ben's ear off.
"Careful Dizzy, leave some oxygen for the rest of us," Mal chuckled, sitting down next her boyfriend.
"Everything okay?" Ben asked, looking at Mal. He had noticed the little conversation between Evie and Mal in the corner.
"Just girl talk," Mal told him. Out of the corner of her eye, Mal noticed the dark haired daughter of Ariel. It seemed that the younger girl was in the process of getting snacks.
"Be right back," Mal told Ben and scurried over to where the younger girl was. "Hi! You're Ariel's daughter, right?"
The raven haired girl nodded. "I'm Melody."
"Why didn't your parents name you something with an A or an E?" Mal asked, realizing that the way she had started the conversation felt similar to how she had cornered Jane in the bathroom. This time, though, there was no plot underlying the reason for her conversation with the younger girl. "That seems to be the pattern around here."
"Don't know, didn't really ask," Melody said with a chuckle.
"Look, I'm just going to cut the small talk," Mal told her. "Dizzy's here and while I don't think Evie's going to let her go, we can't be everywhere. Do you mind keeping an eye out?"
Melody looked at the older girl in shock. "Why me? There are hundreds of people you could ask—heck Rachel Fitzherbert and her brother are sitting right next to you!"
"You're closer to Dizzy's age, so if she ends up coming to Auradon Prep, you'd be in the same year," Mal told her. "Dizzy needs more friends than just Evie and myself. Plus, after what you did to Morgana, you're practically a legend on the Isle. You tick off Uma more than your mom does—anyone who can do that is alright in my book."
"Thanks, I guess," Melody said, looking slightly confused. "I mean, my grandfather did more to take down Morgana—"
"Details," Mal waived her off. "So what do you say?"
Mal held out her hand and Melody looked at it skeptically. While Mal didn't blame her, it still stung a little to have a favor questioned.
"No strings?"
"No strings," Mal told her. "I'm just doing this for Dizzy. I don't trust Chad as much as I could throw him."
"I'll do it," Melody told her, shaking the older girl's hand. "I've got a few friends I can rope into watching Dizzy too. I know what it's like to be the odd one out."
"I should probably get some snacks for the group," Mal said after a few minutes of awkward silence. "See anything good?"
Melody nodded and helped Mal pick out a few snacks—Mal piled on the strawberries on to her own plate and made a separate plate for Dizzy. Walking back to her group, she overheard the tail end of Dizzy and Evie's conversation.
"Will I get to try ice cream?" Dizzy asked.
"Maybe, if it's at the snack table," Evie told her, grinning from ear to ear; not worrying about the potential for wrinkles for once. Mal plopped the plate of snacks in front of the younger girl.
"While there was no ice cream, I think this will tide you over for a while," Mal said with a smirk that changed to a smile upon seeing Dizzy's wide eyed astonishment at the selection. "Yeah, I know. No dirt, no flies."
"Thanks Mal!"
"Dig in, Dizzy," Mal told her, sitting down next to Ben once more and bit into a juicy red strawberry.
"What were you talking to Melody about?" Ben whispered. He had been keeping an eye on Mal, though he knew his girlfriend could handle anything that came her way. He wanted to step in if backup was needed.
"Asked her to keep an eye on Dizzy," Mal whispered back. "E and I can't be everywhere and there are plenty of people here who don't like us Isle kids. Evie and I can defend ourselves, Dizzy's just a kid."
"No one would do that!"
"I'd rather be prepared," Mal told him with a sigh. "No one messed with Dizzy on the Isle because of our mothers and Jay's dad. We don't have that muscle here. Plus, if Dizzy gets to go to Auradon Prep, Melody will be closer to her in age so they could at least be friends."
Ben couldn't help but smile at that. "I'll make it so that Dizzy's part of the next batch."
"There will be a next batch?" Mal asked, looking at him.
"I can't make any promises, but I will fight my hardest to make sure that all children from the Isle get to come here," Ben told her. "Don't think I didn't hear your comment to Dizzy about the lack of flies and dirt on the food."
"Ben, thank you," Mal told him.
"The kids didn't do anything to deserve being locked on an Isle," Ben said. "I just can't believe my parents were the ones who set that up in the first place."
Mal looked over at him and saw the frown on his face. "Hey, your parents thought what they did was right. If they had brought kids over right from birth, they'd either have to separate families or bring the villains with their kids. Your way's smarter—prevents a bunch of resentful villains pounding on your door."
"You think so?"
"Don't tell anyone I said that though," Mal said with a smirk.
"Of course not," Ben chuckled and wrapped his arm over her shoulders.
"If everyone is ready?" Blue Fairy called out and everyone scrambled back to their seats. With a wave of her wand, the Blue Fairy started the film back up and Mal couldn't help but wonder what would be shown next.