A/N: So before I begin this next part, I would like to once again thank my very good friend Descendantsfan03 for allowing me to use her character little Mal for these next 2 parts as Evie's flower girl in her wedding! Anyway, that's all I wanted to put in this little authors note so with that said, onto part 6!
***
The countdown was almost finished, there was only one day standing between Henry and Evie and their wedding day. It was almost time for the rehearsal and so Evie was finishing up getting ready as she went downstairs to her coat and her purse. "You almost ready to go babe?" She heard her fiancé ask as he entered the kitchen.
"Yep, just give me a minute." She answered him.
"I'm leaving now E! I'll meet you at the castle." Mal called out as she ran down the stairs.
"Where are you going? Me and Henry can just take you over there with us." Evie told her.
"Well I have to go pick up Mal from that other universe and I can just spell us over to the castle." Mal informed her.
"Oh that's right! Alright then, we'll see you over there. But remember we're having dinner first and that's in the barn."
"Ok see ya!" Mal said before she snapped her fingers transporting her to the other universe to pick up little Mal. She walked up to the house as she knocked on the front door and waited for it be answered.
Evie then opened the door and smiled when she saw Mal standing there. "Oh hey, I just finished getting Mal ready. Mal! Look who's here!" She called out to her daughter who came running to the door as quickly as she could.
"Mal!" She cried out happily as she practically jumped right into the older Mal's arms. "Are we going to the wedding?"
"We're going to the rehearsal for the wedding, that's not until tomorrow." Mal informed the younger version of herself before turning back to Evie. "I'll have her back as soon as we're done."
"Alright then, bye Mal be a good girl and I'll see you later! Mommy loves you!" She said to the toddler as she gave her a kiss to her forehead.
"Bye bye mommy!" Little Mal called out before the older Mal snapped her fingers once again as she transported them to the castle. "Whoa! We're at a castle?!"
"Yep! This is where my Evie is getting married." Mal told the toddler as she began heading over to the barn.
"It looks like my daddy's castle." Little Mal said as she followed her older self into the barn as she swung the door's open for them.
"Your dad has a castle? Who's your dad?" Mal asked out of her curiosity as to who the other Evie could have been with that had a castle. Unless the Henry in that universe had a castle.
"King Ben."
Mal immediately stopped in her tracks as she heard those words come from her toddler self's mouth. "Ok hold up, King Ben is your dad?!"
"Excuse me, what?!" Came Ben's voice as he approached the two Mal's.
"Daddy!" Little Mal yelled as she ran for Ben not realizing that it wasn't her dad.
"Wait Mal, that's not your dad." Mal tried telling the little girl.
"Yes it is!"
Mal slapped her forehead as she had no idea how she was supposed to explain everything in a way that would make sense to a 4 year old. "Mal, this is not your dad because this is his...identical twin?" She tried coming up with something.
"Twin? My daddy has a twin?"
"...yes. Yes, he does."
"Sorry." Little Mal apologized to Ben as she let go of his leg that she had been hugging before running off to where she had seen food.
During all of this, Ben was just kind of standing there awkwardly not knowing what to say to any of this. "Ok what just happened? Why did that little girl call me dad? And why does she look so much like you?" Ben kept asking her questions.
"Ok one question at a time please. That girl is me from another from another universe where Evie is her mom and apparently you are her dad." Mal tried explaining to him.
"Interesting. Wait a minute, does that mean that Evie and I..we..."
"Eww! Gross! No, she's Evie's little sister that she has been raising for 2 years. She just calls Evie mommy and stuff like that." Mal said while trying to get that image out of her head that had been put in her head thanks to Ben.
"Oh ok, I guess that makes sense. But still, me and Evie, I could never see that happening." Ben said to her.
"Tell me about it. Gross!"
"Same here." Ben replied as he and Mal then smiled at each other very awkwardly before stepping away from each other.
Mal went to approach Evie who was talking with little Mal. "Hello there you two! Whatcha girls talking about?" She asked them.
"Oh we were just talking about how good chocolate covered strawberries are." Evie said to Mal.
"Oh yes those things are the best!" Mal agreed as she grabbed one off the table and popped one in her mouth causing little Mal to giggle at her.
"Oh hey Ben I was wondering if you want to join us at my house after the rehearsal, we're going to be celebrating Christmas then instead of tomorrow since we're all going to be busy." Evie asked the king as he walked by her.
Ben couldn't keep the red from appearing on his cheeks after the thought of him and her together in the alternate universe Mal had told him about. "Oh, are you sure you want me there? It won't be awkward or anything?" He asked.
"Why would it be awkward?" Evie asked him as she didn't know he knew about her alternate version being with Ben.
"No reason. I guess I'll stop by." He said before continuing to walk over to Jay.
"Ok, that was a little weird. Do you know why he was acting like that?" She asked Mal.
"Oh he found out that the alternate versions of yourselves are together." Mal told her.
Evie's eyes widened at that. "How did he find out?"
"I'll tell you later. Right now, I am starving." Mal declared as she grabbed herself a plate and started getting a bunch of food.
Evie shook herself out of her shock as she then went over to where her fiancé was. They all then pretty much just dug into the food and enjoyed some time together before they had to go and rehearse for the wedding.
Mal, however, since she had started eating sooner than everybody she had also finished before everybody. And she was going to use that to her advantage. She first came up with an excuse to tell Evie so she could leave the barn. "Hey E, you know I need to go the restroom. I just realized I forgot to shave." Mal whispered in her best friend's ear as she gestured to her armpit.
"Ok Mal, TMI! Just go and do whatever." Evie said as she didn't want to hear any more about that.
Mal sent her a quiet thank you before quickly leaving the barn. She snapped her fingers once again as she made her dirt bike appear in front of her before quickly starting it up and heading for the isle of the lost. She drove the crowded streets of the marketplace and through some alleyways before she slid right in front of her father's cave. She took off her helmet and hopped off her bike and approached the gate. She pulled on it only to find out that it was locked yet again, but this time she had her dagger with her so she used that to pick the lock. She walked through the caverns until she arrived at her father's den where she found him fooling around with one of his speakers as a screwdriver stuck out of his mouth.
"Hey dad!" She said as she stepped down the stairs.
Hades, startled by the unexpected sound of his daughter's voice, jumped slightly making the screwdriver fall out of his mouth. "Mal! It's you, how do you keep getting in here? I don't remember ever giving you a key." He said as he stood up to his feet.
"You didn't, I just know how to pick any lock." Mal told him.
"Very clever, anyway what brings you back to my humble abode?" He asked as he gestured to his man cave.
"I'm here concerning Evie again."
"Again? Mal, I already tried with her and things didn't work out." He tried telling her.
"Dad, she still needs someone to walk her down the aisle. She's getting married tomorrow! This would be your last chance to fix things between you two before gets married."
"Mal, she doesn't want me to be her dad so why bother trying anymore?" Hades said as he sat down in his chair.
"Dad please! I just want Evie's wedding day to be absolutely perfect for her and I don't think she should have to walk herself down the aisle. For me dad? If not for Evie, if not for you, would you do it for me?"
Hades sighed as he looked down at his coffee table. "Fine, I'll try. But I can't guarantee that Evie's going to be happy when she sees me again."
"Thank you dad. We better go before they start the rehearsal." Mal told her father as they then left the cave and went back out to her dirt bike. "Hop on dad."
"Great! Bikes are just my favorite thing." Hades sarcastically said as he hesitantly sat down behind Mal and put on the spare helmet. Mal revved up her bike before taking off back towards Auradon.
***
Back at the castle, Evie and her wedding party had just finished dinner along with cleaning up and were all ready to begin rehearsing for the wedding. Audrey got ready to take charge again as soon as everybody was in the ballroom.
"Okay everyone, the setup and order for the ceremony is very simple and easy to follow."
Audrey said as she got her clipboard back out while looking some written things over. "So when the ceremony starts, the orchestra is going to softly play canon in d while Henry and his groomsmen enter from that doorway over here where Fairy Godmother will already be standing."
Audrey then motioned for the guys to begin making their way up to Fairy Godmother and stood in the positions they would stand in for the ceremony. "That good?" Henry asked the princess.
"Yes, that is perfect! After that, all the bridesmaids will come down the aisle in order from Jane, to Dizzy, to me, and then Mal. After them, Dude will walk down with the rings on a pillow placed on his back and then Mal will come down right before Evie with the flowers." Audrey read off her clipboard. "Then the music will switch over to the wedding march as Evie will then make her way down the aisle. Let's go ahead and do that real quick."
All the bridesmaids exited the ballroom and waited behind the door. "Is everyone here?" Evie asked the girls.
"Wait, where's Mal?" Audrey asked not seeing the purple-haired girl anywhere.
"I'm right here!" Little Mal declared as she pointed to herself.
"Yes, I know you are sweetie. But Audrey meant the older Mal. Have you seen her?" Evie asked the little girl as she bent down to her level.
Little Mal tapped her chin in thought as she tried to think. "I don't know." She answered as she shrugged her shoulders.
"That's okay, I don't know where she is either." Evie responded to the toddler.
"Well we can't wait for her forever. Let's just get on with this." Audrey said as she opened the doors and let the bridesmaids start walking down the aisle.
Once they had all walked down the aisle, Evie began to make her way down to Henry. She wished in that moment that this was for real, that she was walking towards her soon-to-be husband about to marry him. But unfortunately that wasn't for another few hours.
"Ok now that is perfect!" Audrey said once Evie had made it down to Henry. "Now I think the rest of the ceremony is even easier to follow, Fairy Godmother is going to speaking, you two will say your vows, light your candle and listen through your song of choice. Then you'll-"
Audrey was interrupted by the sound of the ballroom doors swinging open. All heads turned towards the door to see Mal had stepped in but the sight which made them all gasp was Hades right beside her.
"Hey guys! What did we miss?" She asked.
Nobody answered her as they all just gawked at Hades, shocked by his presence. "Um, hello. Are you guys okay?"
Evie was quick to snap out of her shock as she stepped away from the altar and make her way over to Hades and Mal. "What are you doing here?" She asked him.
"I'm here to see you again, Evie." Hades said to her.
"I don't want to see you! There is no reason as to why you should be standing here right now." She told him.
"Evie stop! Don't talk to him like that he doesn't deserve that!" Mal shouted as she stepped in between her and Hades.
"Yes, he does! You know what he doesn't deserve? He does deserve to call himself my father, he will never deserve that."
"Evie please, just give me a chance." Hades tried saying.
"You had a chance, you could have been my dad, you could have tried to save me from my own mother. But no, instead you ran to Maleficent had another baby, ignored me and now here we are. You don't deserve another chance when you already had plenty!" Evie continued to yell at him.
"EVIE! Would you just stop?!"
"No Mal! I told you I don't want him at my wedding, and here you are trying to get me to change my mind again!" Evie now yelled at Mal making her flinch as Evie had never spoken to her like this before, and it felt awful.
"Evie listen, I know I made a mistake. I've made more mistakes than you will ever know about, most of them I will never be able to fix but this one I can. So please, all I ask is that you let me try."
Evie shook her head at him. "Why should I let you? All you have done is ignored me my whole life, why should I give you the chance to hurt me again?" She asked him.
Hades looked down as he knew he deserved this, he knew he didn't deserve Evie's forgiveness, but it still didn't hurt him any less hearing the words his daughter was saying to him. He had never known how much pain on little choice could cause one person, and now he regretted everything, he wished he could change things but that was one thing he was not capable of doing. "I'm sorry Evie, I know that can never take away what I did to you, but it's all I know I can say."
"You're right, it won't. So please, get out and leave." Evie said as she pointed towards the exit.
"Evie!" Mal yelled to her best friend. "Don't leave dad!"
Mal grabbed onto her dad's arm trying to stop him from leaving somehow. "Mal, just stop okay? I need to leave." He said to her.
"No, you don't."
"Come on kiddo, I need to go." He told her before breaking away from her grip and walking out of the ballroom.
Mal turned back towards Evie with anger in her eyes. "How could you!? He just wants to be there for you on your wedding day!" Mal yelled to her.
"Not now Mal, we have a rehearsal we need to finish up." Evie replied as she turned around about to go back to the end of the altar.
Mal was not about to take any of that, she grabbed a hold of Evie's wrist and yanked her back to face her. "NO! You need to listen to me! How could you talk to our dad like that! He only wanted to fix things between the two of you so he could be there for you on your wedding day and that's how you repay him!"
"Mal stop it! How many times do I have to tell you that he is not my dad! You are just trying too much on this whole family thing, well it's not happening! I will never forgive him for what he did. So stop and leave the matter alone!"
"But I was just trying to help you. I just wanted your wedding to be perfect." Mal replied softening her tone.
"Mal, you're forgetting that this is my wedding, so just stop."
Mal had enough of Evie's yelling and she was getting way too angry at her, something she was never able to say too often. "You know what?! I've had enough! You can find yourself a new maid of honor because I'm done! I hope you and Henry have a nice life together!" She yelled as she stormed out of the ballroom and outside ready to hop on her dirt bike and go back home.
"Mal," She tried saying but it was already too late. She was gone. Evie immediately felt horrible about the way she had spoken to her, she had already been stressed out from all the planning and little time to finish everything, and then Mal showing up with Hades had made it all worse. Remembering what Mal had said made Evie stop with her thoughts and run outside after Mal. She didn't want another maid of honor, nobody could take that place, not after Mal. "Mal wait!"
Mal didn't stop after hearing Evie call after her, she just kept on going towards her dirt bike. "MALEFICENT BERTHA!" Hearing that name yelled made Mal freeze. "I knew that would make you stop." Evie then ran down the steps and to Mal as she wrapped her arms around her.
"What are you doing? We're supposed to be mad at each other." Mal said as she hesitantly reciprocated the hug.
"Mal, I think we both know we could have the biggest fight in history and make up in the same day. I didn't mean to snap at you, I've just been so stressed lately and while I know that gives me no right to yell at you, I'm still so sorry. Would you ever be able to forgive me?"
"Why can you forgive me so easily, but not Hades?" Mal asked as she wasn't able to understand.
"Mal its complicated. I've known you for longer, I don't know Hades nearly as well as you do." Evie replied.
"Why does it have to be?! I just wanted him to be the one to walk you down the aisle!"
"Mal, I don't want him to walk me down the aisle!" She yelled. "I want someone else to do it. You!"
Mal furrowed her brow at that. "Me? But..but what about tradition? Especially since I'm already your maid of honor?"
"Mal I could not care less about tradition, I want you to walk me down the aisle, I want you to give me away, I want you to be the one to stand behind me as I marry the man I love." Evie said with her tears streaming down her face.
Mal smiled through her own tears as she grabbed Evie again into a tight hug. "Will you let me be your maid of honor again?"
"Of course I will Mal, I never replaced you. I never could anyway, you're irreplaceable." Evie told her as she placed a kiss to her cheek.
***
A few hours after the rehearsal was officially over and everybody had gone their separate ways for the night Mal hopped right back on her dirt bike and headed to the nearest bar & grill to find her father as she knew that was where he would have gone. She took off her helmet and walked right in and found her dad sitting at the bar finishing another shot. Mal sat right down next to him as she banged her hand down against the counter.
"Aren't you a little young to be in here?" Hades asked her as he stared right in front of him not needing to look beside to know it was Mal who had sat down.
"I'm not here to drink dad. I'm here to talk about earlier." She informed him.
"What's there to talk about Mal? We both saw what happened, there's nothing left to discuss." He declared as he signalled the bartender for another shot.
"Dad I think you and Evie can still fix things between you two."
"Mal I think I've tried enough times. She's just gonna reject me every time, it not worth it anymore. I tried, I really did but it's just not gonna work out. I'm sorry kiddo, I know how much you wanted to be a family." He said to her as he was given another shot.
"So that's it? You're just giving up?"
"Mal come on, Evie's done just fine the past 18 years without me. I think she'll do just fine for the next 18 years."
Mal looked at her father and watched him drink from his shot glass in sadness. This wasn't what she wanted to hear from him. "You won't even come to the house anymore?"
"I don't think Evie would want to see me all that much. Besides, she's an adult she has right not to see me if she doesn't want to. But that doesn't mean you can't come to the cave and visit whenever you want." He said as he stood up from the counter and paid for his drinks about to leave.
"But dad, this wasn't what I wanted."
"What did you want Mal? Life doesn't always go the way we want it to. If it did, me, you, and Evie might be out getting some pizza right now. But it isn't like that. You're a big girl now, try to grow up."
Mal shook her head in disbelief at him. "I guess I'll stop by after the wedding tomorrow and spend the rest of Christmas with you, if you don't mind."
"Of course I don't mind, Mally. I'll see you tomorrow. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you too." She told him as he began walking away from her. "I love you dad!" She suddenly called out.
Hades stopped in his tracks from his surprise. That was the first time she had ever said that she loved him. "I love you too kiddo." He replied.
Mal gave him a small smile as she hugged onto him as tight as she could. Hades wrapped his arms around her as well before kissing the top of her head. "I'll see you tomorrow kiddo." He whispered down into her hair.
"Bye dad." Mal whispered softly back as she waved at him before heading back over to her dirt bike and heading back to the cottage.
When she arrived back she saw everyone gathered around the tree in the living room laughing while drinking Evie's homemade eggnog. "Hey M! You're back, now we can get started on our Christmas!" Evie declared as she started passing out the presents.
Mal tried being enthusiastic about everything but she just kept thinking about Hades and that whole situation. All she had wanted was for him, her, and Evie to be a family but clearly it just wasn't meant to be, but somehow she still hoped that sometime in the future, whether it was near or far, their father-daughter relationship would be restored.
A/N: Ok, I had no idea I would be posting this today, but I did. And I am very proud of myself especially considering the fact that this is over 3k words long lol. Anyway, please let me know what you thought of this and once again thank you Descendantsfan03 for letting me use little Mal in this! The next part will obviously be the wedding and also the final part so stay tuned cause Henry and Evie will soon be married! I am officially done taking Christmas requests as I will more than likely not have any time to write any more, I will still take any and all requests for a regular one shot or short story if you have any! But anyway Merry Christmas to you all! Until the next chapter!!!