❝ heigh-ho! ❞ ✧ ೃ༄

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𝐴𝑅𝑇 𝑇𝑂𝑂𝐾 𝑇𝐼𝑀𝐸, sometimes a long time. For this specific piece, Emelia had been working for days, almost consistently nonstop. Concentrating with a small paintbrush in her hand, putting the finishing touches with white paint before stepping back with a small smile.

Art was a large part of Emelia's life, she had painted her dorm room while on the phone with her mom. There were large suns on her ceiling, mostly throughout her room. She had a room to herself, so she had a fireplace near her windows. When she first moved in and started painting, her parents had visited and Rapunzel had excitedly got on top of the fireplace to paint the space above it, deciding on something she had done in her own home when she was her age.

She would never admit it, but Rapunzel had missed the Tower from time to time. She wondered if, despite the trauma she had endured there, she hoped that she could take Emelia there someday and show her the paintings she did while she grew up.

Ben Florian had knocked on her door cautiously, her door was open and he used the doorframe to echo the sound. "Come in" She called out, smudging white paint on the tip of her nose as she moved her hand out in front of her.

"You have a little" Ben joked, motioning to her nose. Emelia huffed and looked over at him with a glance to see what he was talking about. She was covered in many different colors of paint, and Ben could now see that as she turned toward him. "Oh, it's everywhere, wow how do you always manage that?"

"I get it from my mom" Emelia shrugged. "C'mere I need a second opinion" She walked over to him, grabbing his arm with her free hand and leading him over to about five feet across from the canvas.

Ben grinned widely looking at the hard work she had done. In front of the two stood an easel with a large canvas with the four villain kids Ben was hoping would be allowed to bring to Auradon. Emelia had gotten the pictures of them from Ben, who got them from somewhere unknown to her. "It looks perfect, I'm glad you remembered!" He said, bringing the painted girl into a tight hug as he lightly laughed at her expression.

"I thought it would be a nice way to welcome them to Auradon when your parents agree with you! Not to be rude or anything, or assume but I don't think they've had someone paint them before, I think they might like it!" Emelia smiled brightly, bringing her hand up to brush her hair away from her eyes as she took another step back, putting her hand out with only her thumb up.

"I haven't spoken to them about it yet" Ben shook his head

"Yeah but hopefully if I'm there it'll convince them" She shrugged, grabbing her hair and pulling it behind her shoulders with a huff, frowning when she remembered she still had her paintbrush in her hand.

"I was coming to ask if you wanted to come with me. The Tailor's coming and it's pretty boring just standing there." Ben suggested, the blonde turned her head to the side in thought for a moment, stepping toward her side table and exchanging the brushes she held, "Sure why not?"

"Okay, he'll be here in about five minutes," Ben told her, checking his phone and walking toward her door, expecting her to follow him. When he turned to say something when he got to her doorframe she wasn't there. He turned with a confused look, seeing the girl up close with the long-haired boy on the right of the canvas "What are you doing it looks great"

Emelia sighed, her shoulders slumping as she turned her head slightly, "I can never get noses right."

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Ben had been standing on the raised platform for around ten minutes. Emelia had sat quietly, humming while sketching one of the kids from the Isle. By now, she had drawn three out of the four, the girl was around halfway done with the last one she planned to do.

Ben was staring out the window with a confused look. Every few minutes Emelia would glance up from her book to see him looking at the same spot out the window as before. The tailor had muttered a few things while measuring him, the two kids didn't care enough to pay attention to his words.

"How is it possible that you're gonna be crowned king next month? You're just a baby!" The Florian's walked into the room with identical smiles as they saw their son. "He's turning 16, dear."

"Hey, Pops" Ben greeted with a smile. While walking past a table, Belle turned to pick up two items that were left there. "16! That's far too young to be crowned king. I didn't make a good decision until I was at least 42."

Belle scoffed and stopped beside him, "Uh, you decided to marry me at 28."

"It was either you or a teapot." Adam joked, Ben let out a small laugh and Emelia had to hold hers back with a smile. "Kidding."

Ben paused, "Mom, Dad..." he started, trying to step off the platform but getting stopped by the tailor. "I've chosen my first official proclamation" At this Emelia stopped humming and swung her legs off the side of the chair to stand up beside him. Adam and Belle turned to her and gave her a surprised look, to which she responded with a panicked smile. "I've decided that the children on the Isle of the Lost be given a chance...to live here in Auradon"

Adam and Belle dropped their smiles quickly, the latter dropping the pieces of fabric she had picked up. Emelia's smile faltered at this, but Ben decided to keep talking. "Every time I look out to the island, I feel like they've been abandoned." He takes a few steps off the podium and the tailor throws his hands up in slight irritation, Emelia following Ben's steps.

"The children of our sworn enemies? Living among us?" Adam pointed with a disapproving look, the blonde girl giving a quick look to Belle in hopes that she understood why Ben was doing this. "We start out with a few at first, only ones who need our help the most. I've already chosen them." Ben smiles with a nod toward his mother.

"Have you?" The king stepped forward, and Belle held an arm out "I gave you a second chance. Rapunzel gave Flynn one too. Who are their parents?"

"Cruella de Vil, Jafar, Evil Queen...and Maleficent" Ben straightened his posture to finally speak the last one, Emelia grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly as the room let out gasps.

"Maleficent! She is the worst villain in the land!"

"Dad, just hear me out here..." Ben tried, Adam sticking out a hand with one finger raised toward him "I won't hear of it. They are guilty of unspeakable crimes, Emelia do you believe this is the right idea?" The girl was shocked, not expecting to be dragged into this conversation because Ben never clarified it was technically, both their ideas.

She stuttered quickly over her words, her face flushing red "Um...Well, I uh- their ch...uhm" clearing her throat and giving a quick squeeze to Ben's hand he spoke for her quickly.

"Their children are innocent. Don't you think they deserve a shot at a normal life? Dad?"

In this moment, all context removed from this conversation Emelia thought of her mother. How she was exiled without a chance at a normal life forever. Now, Emelia was not one to speak up to adults, or anyone for that matter but she believed Ben needed a little help.

"I don't mean to...downplay anything but uh." She started, the three Florian's all turned to her to give her a chance to speak, although Adam did not look like he wanted to listen to anything she had to say at this moment. "I know it's not the same, but my mom almost wasn't given a chance to be helped. If she figured a way out of her tower, she would be terrified of everything and just think of how quickly that changed for her, how much better her life is because she was given a chance."

"The Isle is all those kids have known, I assume it's not the best over there, but as far as we know they have done nothing close to what their parents have ever done. Imagine how better they could be if they learned how to live normally in Auradon if they never had a shot to keep growing up with their parents' mindset."

The entire room was silent for a minute. Emelia thought she had absolutely ruined Ben's proclamation and sighed as Belle and Adam exchanged looks in silence. The girl looked toward Ben with an apologizing look, he nodded and gave her a smile, mouthing 'thank you' to her. Emelia looked down at her paint-covered dress and waited for her dismissal that would inevitably be coming at any second now.

"I suppose the children are innocent." Adam nodded smal-ly. Emelia had looked up quickly with a surprised look, only catching the back of the king's head as he walked a few feet away. Belle quickly stepped in front of them, "Well...Well done." She smiled brightly, reaching to fix Ben's jacket. "You too" She turned to Emelia, brushing her hair behind her ear as the girl tried her hardest to suppress her squeals of excitement at the revelation that she did help Ben.

"Shall we?" Belle asked, walking toward Adam with her arm out. He nodded and they walked out of the room together, leaving the room to the two teens.

Immediately as they were alone Emelia let go of Ben's hand and squealed excitedly as she bounced on her feet happily. "We did it" Ben realized, giving her a surprised look. "Yeah, we did!" She shouted, jumping into his arms to give him a tight hug.

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Later that day, Emelia stood excitedly by Ben's side behind Fairy Godmother. The limo with the villain kids had just pulled up and the band had just stopped playing. The sleek door opened and two boys fell out immediately, shouting about something in their hands. Behind them, two girls stepped out gracefully one at a time. The girl in purple, Mal Emelia recognized her, telling them to stop as she saw the woman stepping toward them. "We have an audience."

Fairy Godmother had set her arms back to her side confused. Ben, Audry, and Emelia had all stepped in a line behind her to greet them. "Just cleaning up." The boy standing up grinned, so this was Jay. "Get up" he muttered to the boy on the ground, Carlos.

He looks better in person, Emelia thought as she let out a small giggle at his words.

"Leave it like you found it! And by that I mean just leave it" Fairy Godmother sang, pointing to the items under the boy's arm. It was awkwardly silent for a few moments, the villain kids glancing around at their surroundings and the people until all their eyes caught on the children behind the Godmother.

"Hello, foxy" Jay grinned, stepping toward them. At first, Emelia hadn't realized he was talking to her so she glanced over at Audrey, expecting her to say something back. Until he stopped directly in front of her with a grin, "The name's Jay."

Emelia laughed, tilting her head to her left with a smile. "I have no idea what that means, but thank you! I think?" He nodded with a slightly confused look, keeping up his grin as he looked over all the paint on her.

Fairy Godmother moved her head in between them, "Welcome to Auradon Prep." Jay's smile dropped as she leaned back to her original spot. "I'm Fairy Godmother. Headmistress" She bowed slightly.

"The Fairy Godmother?" Mal asked, "As in 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo?'" Jay stepped back to his spot behind the dark purple girl as she made the motions of the wand. Fairy Godmother nodded, "Bibbidi-Bobbidi you know it!"

"Yeah, I always wondered what it felt like for Cinderella, when you just appeared, out of nowhere" Mal laughed, seemingly stumbling over her choice of words. "with that sparkly wand and warm smile. And that sparkling wand."

"That was a long time ago. And as I always say, 'Don't focus on the past or you'll miss the future!'" She made a motion with her hands and Mal widened her eyes slightly and Emelia slightly jumped back.

Ben stepped forward with Audry and Emelia, "It's so good to finally meet you all. I'm Ben."

"Prince Benjamin!" Audry cut him off with an excited glance toward the Isle kids. "Soon to be king."

The girl in all blue, Evie, stepped forward with a dreamy look, "You had me at prince. My mom's a queen. Which makes me a princess" She sighed with a bow toward him

"The Evil Queen has no royal status here and neither do you."

"Well, technically she did once!" Emelia cut her off this time and leaned toward Evie with a bright smile and her hands out, "You make a beautiful princess" she whispered and Evie's face returned it's smile from before as she nodded slightly.

Ben chuckled, trying to relieve the tension between the two royal girls. "This is Audrey and Emelia." And once again, he was cut off by her shrill voice "Princess Audrey! His girlfriend. Right Bennyboo?" She asked, reaching out for his hand as they both awkwardly laughed. Emelia cringed and closed her eyes with a small sigh.

"Ben, Emelia, and Audrey are going to show you all around, and I'll see you tomorrow." Fairy Godmother informed them, leaning between their interlocked hands. Quickly, she grabbed them and threw their arms up and away from each other "The doors of wisdom are never shut! But the library hours are from 8 to 11 and as you may have heard, I have a little thing about curfews." The VKs all tried their best to laugh politely at her words before she and the band all walked off, leaving the 7 teens alone.

"It is so, so, so good to finally meet you all." Ben took a few quick steps toward Jay to shake his hand, the boy giving his shoulder a punch instead. Emelia's eyes widened as she was right beside Ben, moving with him so now she was in front of Jay. "Please don't punch me" she muttered quietly, reaching her hand out to him. Jay paused but reached out to shake her hand lightly, he had heard what she said, but it sounded like she didn't mean for him to so he kept quiet.

Ben had shaken Mal's hand next, holding it slightly longer than needed, Emelia turned her head to the side at this. "This is a momentous occasion" he started, moving down the line and Emelia stepped in front of the girl. "I love your hair, I dream I could dye mine like that, super cool!" Mal widened her eyes at her, seemingly sincere, compliment as she did her best to smile back as she shook her hand.

"and one that I hope will go down in history...Is that chocolate?" Ben shook Carlos' hand next, pausing when he looked down to see a bit of chocolate on the tip of one of his fingers. Carlos brought his hand to his mouth as Emelia stepped in front of him. As he reached his hand out, the same one Ben had just shaken she cringed a bit, "Other hand, please" She smiled awkwardly, reaching down to his other hand by his leg and shaking it with a smile.

"..as the day our two peoples began to heal." Ben took Evie's hands last, still in front of her as Mal spoke out, not giving Emelia a chance to shake the blue girl's hand. "Or the day that you showed four peoples where the bathrooms are" She laughed, Ben letting go of Evie's hands to step back to Mal. Emelia took this opportunity to grab Evie's hand as she bowed slightly, "Princess" Evie smiled immediately, grabbing onto the girl's hand a little tighter as she took a small bow with her, and the two let out quiet laughs together.

"A little bit over the top?" Ben questioned, letting his hand rest back by his side. "A little more than a little bit." Mal quipped with a nod as the two laughed. "Well so much for my first impression."

"Oh," Emelia muttered, letting go of Evie's hand but still staying in front of her as they watched the two interact. Audrey looked insanely jealous as she stepped a little in between them. "Hey! You're Maleficent's daughter, aren't you? Yeah, you know what? I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff. Oh, my mom's Aurora. Sleeping..."

"Beauty! Yeah, I've heard the name." Mal cut her off with a sarcastic tone. Emelia, again tried to refrain from laughing at the jab at Audrey. "You know, and I totally do not blame your grandparents for inviting everyone in the whole world, but my mother to their stupid christening."

"Water under the bridge." Emelia could not stress enough how much she disliked Audrey, it was getting infuriating being around the girl at this point. Mal bit back with the same tone as the girl, "Totes!" They both let out forced laughter and sighed at the same time

"Okay! How about the tour now," Emelia suggested, clearing her throat to get their attention. Jay nodded, "Yeah?"

Ben took over, "Auradon Prep, originally built over 300 years ago and converted into a high school by my father when he became king." Ben and Audrey linked arms and started walking off, Emelia following closely behind. The VKs took cautious steps following them, reaching a large statue that Ben clapped twice at.

Carlos screamed loudly and jumped directly into Jay's arms. Emelia looked over and giggled at the look on his face. Ben laughed and put his hands down, linking his arm with Audreys again. "Carlos, it's okay. My father wanted his statue to morph from beast to man to remind us that anything is possible."

"Does he shed much?" Mal joked, turning to him. "Yeah, Mom won't let him on the couch." Ben turned with Audrey and walked off in front of them.

"He's kidding," Emelia told them, Mal nodding and muttering a small "Okay." The three girls glanced at Jay and Carlos behind them.

"Are you gonna stay in his arms the rest of the tour?" Emelia teased, pointing from Carlos to Jay with a smile. Jay looked toward her and immediately put Carlos down, shoving him away as the girl followed behind Ben and Audrey. It was a small walk inside, Emelia trying to catch up with Ben as she hummed to herself.

"So, you guys have a lot of magic here at Auradon? Like wands and things like that?" Mal asked, taking a stand in the middle of the entrance as she looked expectedly between the three royals. "Yeah, it exists of course, but it's pretty much retired. Most of us here are just ordinary mortals. Except for Emelia, her hair is magic like her mother's."

"Your mom's?" Evie repeated, her head to the side as she put her hands on her hips. The blonde nodded, "Ben why would you say that..." She sighed, "Rapunzel. You know, stuck in a tower, hair that glows when she sings."

Mal clicked her tongue, moving the conversation back. "So, mortals who happened to be kings and queens."

"That's true. Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years." Audrey chirped, still obviously jealous as she threw Ben's arm around her shoulder. The VKs all noticed how Emelia pursed her lips and muttered "Oh, wow really? Right here, great"

Ben took his arm back quickly, "Doug! Doug, come down." He walked to the stairs, the boy still in his band uniform as Ben put a hand on his shoulder "This is Doug. He's gonna help you with your class schedules and show you the rest of the dorms."

He stepped in front of Mal, "I'll see you later, okay? And if there is anything you need, feel free to..." Audrey cut him off, not wanting him to say himself, "Ask Doug or Emelia!" More forced laughter came after.

After the two walked off Emelia was left standing by Doug. "Hi guys, I'm Dopey's son? As in Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and...Heigh-Ho" He trailed off as soon as he caught sight of Evie. The blonde girl grinned and stepped to the side as the blue girl stepped closer.

"Evie. Evil Queen's daughter." She smiled, taking slow steps toward him. Emelia was happy for him, he had never had a girl, what she was guessing, flirted with him before. He sighed and cleared his throat quickly, "Okay. So about your classes. I put in the requirements already."

Mal stepped toward them, moving to read behind Doug's shoulder. "History of Woodsmen and Pirates, Safety Rules for the Internet, and Remedial Goodness 101." Mal laughed, taking out a candy from her pocket that Emelia guessed she got from the limo. "Let me guess, new class?"

Doug nodded meekly as Mal nodded. "Come on guys, let's go find our dorms." She grinned, moving to the stairs as the other three followed after her. Doug watched as Evie walked past him, and Emelia hated to admit she was watching as Jay walked off too.

Doug couldn't seem to take his eyes off the girl as they walked up the stairs, but a few seconds after watching Jay, Emelia shook her head quickly and called out to them "Uh, your dorms are that way!" She pointed in the other direction.

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