Jay, Mal, and Evie sat on benches behind Evie’s cottage. The sun had gone down and the moon was out and it was the only light beyond a single light at the back door. None of them seemed to notice. They had talked a little but mostly they were quiet. Most of the evening they had stared at the ground or gave each other knowing glances. They had gotten together to have dinner at Evie’s but none of them had an appetite. Anytime that one of them tried to start a conversation, they all just seemed to run out of fuel and go quiet again. The four of them had left the Isle of the Lost together but now there were only three. It was so painful. All three of them were alerted to the sound of footsteps on the stones leading around the house.
“There you are,” Uma said. “Ben told me I could find you here.” Her face was solemn but it was clear that she was trying to keep her voice somewhat light. All three tensed at her approach and Mal almost stood up. “Whoa! I come in peace.”
“Sorry, Uma,” Evie said. “It’s still hard to get used to you being friendly after all of the kidnapping and swordplay.”
“That’s fair,” Uma said. “I admit I’ve been a little nasty to you. I’d be on guard if I were you too.”
“No,” Mal said, her own voice almost startling her for a moment. “It’s not fair. We’ve all done bad things here. None of us are innocent. We shouldn’t judge you.”
“The bridge is restored,” Uma said. “My beef with you and Auradon is over. Well, it’s a start and after we put the smackdown on Audrey together, I think there’s a future for us.”
“I’d like that,” Evie said. “I always liked the whole sea pirate sheik thing you have going on.”
“We’d all like that, I think,” Mal said. “We could use more friends right now.” They all nodded at that sentiment.
“Yeah,” Jay said. “I kind of liked hanging out with you, Harry, and Gil without fighting.”
“Same,” Mal said. “I’m so tired of fighting.”
“We all are,” Evie said, moving to take her best friend’s hand in hers. “No more fighting.”
Uma sat down on a bench. Mal waved her hand and ignited the fire pit with a thought. They all relaxed for a moment.
“You know, you said that none of us are innocent,” Uma said. “but do you know who was the closest? Carlos.”
There was a deep silence at that moment. None of them had mentioned the name of their dearly departed friend.
Jay suddenly smirked. “Yeah,” he said. “He talked a big game but he was a pretty lousy villain.”
“He was the first of us to turn away from the dark,” Mal said. “He helped inspire me to shake off my mother’s influence. I mean, you all did but Carlos was just so sweet about the whole thing.”
“I know,” Evie said. “We all helped each other and Carlos was a big part of that. If we hadn’t made the decision to be good together, we would never be where we are now. Life is getting better for everybody, right?”
“I think so,” Mal said. “We’re going to make sure it does. Ben and I have made sure that Auradon is dedicated to helping reunify with the Isle of the Lost.”
“I never cared about anybody back on the Isle,” Jay said. “but Carlos had a big heart and that kind of rubbed off on me.”
“We were all pretty selfish back then,” Mal said. “Carlos took to being kind the fastest. The rest of us followed suit.”
“If you four hadn’t become such big shot do-gooders out here, I wouldn’t have started my crusade to free the Isle,” Uma said. “When we were all on the Isle together, I only cared about crushing your crew. When you were gone, I took a look around and wanted better for everybody. I didn’t think it would end with the bridge rebuilt but I guess friendship really works.”
“You are our friend,” Evie said. “I don’t want any enemies.”
“We need your help to figure out how to really help the kids on the Isle too,” Mal said. “Helping is what Carlos would have wanted.”
They all nodded at that thought. Carlos was mischievous but ultimately a good guy and there had to be more on the Isle more like him that they could seek out and reform. They had to move on without Carlos. It would be hard but the realm was depending on them. They had to follow through.
Wolf of Words 
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