Rain had one plan for the day: stay in bed and wallow in her own emotions.

Ruby didn't like this plan.

"Come on," she's sat on Rain's bed, pouting "It'll be fun,"

"It will not be fun,"

"It will! We can have strawberries! Oh! And french toast,"

"The food doesn't erase how awkward it'll be," Rain huffs, sitting up

"My mum invited you herself, it won't be!" Rain raises an eyebrow. She truly couldn't understand how all of Ruby's family could be so kind "Jo will be there, and Ethan said he had some news so maybe they're getting engaged and it'll erase all thoughts about you,"

Rain took a deep breath, looking at the excited girl, she was only a year younger, but she had some wisdom about her, something which made Rain sigh and get out of bed "We're leaving at 12,"

"Yes!"

The restaurant Ruby's parents had chosen was quaint, small but charming and pretty much empty.

"Oh Rain! I'm so glad you came!" Rapunzel greets her with a smile, dressed more casually today in a purple corset and paint-splattered jeans.

"I'll admit I was a bit...confused by the invitation,"

"I -" Rapunzel stops herself "I know you think this is uncomfortable given my past..." she brushes Rain's right arm, and smiles "But...she was my mother too for a long time, and I can only imagine what you grew up with. I want you to know that we hold no ill feelings towards you,"

"Oh," Rain gulps, she really was a kind woman. She had wide eyes, something neither of her children had inherited, but deep within them Rain saw something familiar, perhaps it was their shared history "Thank you, really,"

"Of course, come, we saved a seat for you," Rapunzel loops her arm through Rain's and leads her to the table where Ruby is already sitting, chatting happily with her father. Jo and Ethan greet the teen, and Rain sits between the two Fitzherbert siblings. She looks over to the head of the table, where there's a spare empty seat.

"We save it for our sister," Ethan explains

"Oh, I heard about that..." Rain looks at the King and Queen "I'm sorry,"

"Thank you," Eugene nods, and the moment fades as Ruby places a plate in front of Rain and starts pilling on dish after dish

"You have to try this!"

The breakfast was...nice, Ethan and Joanna were often talking in their own little bubble, but Rain was always included in conversations. She learnt about Ruby's horse riding competitions - and how proud Eugene was of her.

"We're so sorry for what happened yesterday Rain," Rapunzel states, taking a sip of orange juice "Chad has always been..."

"Rude?" Ethan suggests

"Mean?" Ruby adds

"A huge snob?" Jo shrugs

"A spoiled brat," Eugene finishes, his wife swats his arm "What?"

"It's fine, I'd gotten kind of used to everyone expecting the worst of us. I just feel bad for Mal..."

"Oh, uh speaking of..." Ruby picks at her food a bit "Does Mal have a date to the coronation?"

"I don't think so, why?" Rain gets no response, she looks to her left at a blushing Ruby greeting her "Oh my Hades! You want to ask her don't you?!"

"I was just thinking about it..."

"You should ask Rubes," Rain grins "I'm sure she'll say yes,"

"Whilst we're talking about coronations," Ethan starts nervously, Jo takes his hand and he looks at his parents "Mum, Dad...I...I don't want to take the throne,"

"What?!" 

"Oh honey you have years before that happens," Rapunzel reaches over to take his hand but he pulls it back

"I don't want it ever," he blurts out "I've never wanted it,"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Ruby exclaims, standing and shouting over Rain's head "Did you think about how this affected me?!"

"Ruby-"

"You don't get to just burden me with it!"

"It's not a burden-" Rapunzel interrupts

"Not now mum!" Ruby snaps "I don't want this! I wish she was here!" she points at the empty chair "Then it'd be her problem," and then she's gone, storming out the door and leaving Rain with her breaking family.

Rain thought it was best to give Ruby some space, so she headed to the Library, hoping to find something to kill the time, and maybe help her learn a bit about Auradon before Maleficent takes it over. She was trying not to think about it the past month, but after yesterday's events, she needed to be realistic.

"Rain?"

She turns, expecting to see one of her friends, maybe even Honey-May who was starting to appear in many of her classes

"Ben? What're you doing here?" he's sat on a small armchair, a thick stack of papers on his lap, Rain walks towards him, leaning on the chair next to him, up close, he looks tired, dark circles under his eyes and his hair ruffled, "I thought you had lunch with your parents"

"They uh, cancelled," he admits shyly

"What? Why?!" she sees the guilt cross his face and it hits her "Oh Ben I'm sorry,"

"They said it was my fault..." he mutters slowly, clearly upset, Rain isn't sure what to do "And maybe they're right, I wanted to do something good; change Auradon for the better...but I was selfish,"

"How?" She couldn't understand why bringing five underprivileged kids to Autadon was in any way, shape, or form, selfish.

"I used to have these dreams when I was a kid..." he admits, head down between his knees "I was on the Isle with this girl, I can't remember what she looks like now. But she was pretty...long blonde hair and green eyes,"

"Hm," Rain laughs

"I guess selfishly I was hoping I'd find her,"

"Great thing to say to your girlfriend," Rain jokes, but Ben looks panicked

"No I-"

"I'm kidding," she stands up, kneeling down to look at him closer "Ben, what happened yesterday is nowhere near your fault. You did do something good by inviting us here," as she looks into his own hazel eyes, Rain can see her own dreams flash before her eyes. The cute boy by the lake had disappeared a few months ago and now she wants to be sick.

"I think -" she stops herself again, taking a breath before continuing, she didn't want to say anything too negative about his kingdom "I think your dad is just upset...angry," she sighs "because you're undoing his biggest, and first decree and it doesn't sit right with him. That doesn't mean it was a bad choice or that it's your fault," She takes his right hand, making sure he's listening "You're going to give kids like me a chance...a chance to prove that we can do better than our parents. What happened during Family Day was unfortunate but there is bound to be pushback. It will get worse before it gets better, but one day, maybe very soon, we're all going to get the chance to live a better life here," she smiles comfortingly, "And that is thanks to you." she bops his nose, causing Ben to laugh

"Thank you Rain," he seems to be in a much better mood now, giving her hand a squeeze "You already are better than your mother,"

Rain just smiles, but one day, maybe very soon, we're all going to get the chance to live a better life here.

They wouldn't. She knew that Maleficent would take over, the country would be destroyed, Ben and his family would be imprisoned or maybe killed...and she and her friends wouldn't even be happy.

They'd be their parent's pawns once again.

"You're a good guy Ben, I'll let you finish up here," with that, Rain stands and walks away, wiping a stray tear.

As he watches the girl leave, Ben watches her hair glisten in the low lights of the library, and he finally sees the girl from his dreams all those years ago, and she was right there, giving him a quick grin before she leaving the room. 

-----&-----

Special thanks to @EnchantedWerecoyote for helping me with this chapter! She also has a Descendants fanfic, it's an OC x OC.

@ninjasawakendmystar has also been an angel! She has an OC x Jay fic you should all check out!