Reporters are chasing Rain through the school and she flings open Carlos and Jay's dorm door. Rain slams it shut and leans against it, before locking it, and pacing up and down until she hears the T.V.

"Six months ago, no one thought... the wrong side of the bridge would last. Rain must be counting the days until the Royal Cotillion, when she will officially become a Lady of the Court," Rain grabs the remote and profusely clicks the off turn off button.

"Is this all they show?!" It finally turns off and Rain throws it on a bed. She attempts to calm her breathing, but it just gets more rapid. The same electric blue. Rain slams her eyes shut and takes some deep breaths before opening them again.

"Whoa. Easy, girl," Carlos looks alarmed.

"What?!" Rain storms over to his bed where he's lounged on his bed "You think this is so easy?! You don't have people taking a photo of you every single time you open your mouth to say boo! I mean, it's not that I could even say, 'Boo,' but, you know what I..." Rain can't help the screams that run out of her mouth.

"Sorry..."

"Carlos, don't you ever miss screaming at people and just making them run away from you?" Rain asks, and Carlos can tell she's stressed out of her mind.

"You're thinking of my mother, and I was usually on the other end of that. So, not really. No" Rain feels a pool of guilt and closes her eyes. She didn't mean to shout at Carlos, he definitely didn't deserve it.

"I'm sorry for shouting...You don't - It's just getting a bit too much," Rain feels tears start to come up and covers her face with her hands as she cries. Carlos stands and hugs her tightly, causing Rain to cry harder. If she was back on the Isle, she wouldn't have let anyone see her cry, even a year ago when they were in Auradon, she wouldn't cry. Rain felt weak. She tries to quickly stop herself.

Carlos pulls back and Rain wipes away her tears frantically "hey, it's fine," Carlos smiles "I get it...do you have it?" he asks after and Rain rolls her eyes, a small smile coming to her face.

"I've just had a meltdown and you're asking about some stupid spell?"

"Hey!" Carlos defends "It made you smile!" Rain laughs, reaching into her jacket pocket to grab the star shaped pot which held what Carlos wanted.

When we let go, he steps back before gesturing to the pot in my hand,

"Me and Mal made it last night," Just as Rain's about to take it out, the door opens. And none other than Chad Charming sneaks through. He doesn't notice Rain or Carlos, once the door is shut, Chad chucks the key in the air in triumph before he finally does notice them. Both students and the dog stare at him.

"Hi. Just came to use your 3D printer. Won't be a sec," Chad walks towards said 3D printer in the middle of the room.

"How'd you get a key to my room?" Carlos demands.

Chad looks at the key as if thinking of an excuse "Oh, I printed it off last time I was in here," Rain and Carlos look to each other in disbelief "Uh... you guys were sleeping," Rain can't help but smile, it seemed not everyone in Auradon was a goody two shoes. "Look, I just- Your printer's so much better than mine, and you install these hacks, and everything runs so much smoother than mine and ..." by now Rain's actually laughing.

"Out!" Carlos points to the door, Chad doesn't move "Now!" Chad turns to leave.

"Fine. Fine. Are you..." he gestures to Rain "okay?"

"No," Rain smiles slightly, she knew she looks like a mess. She obviously didn't apply waterproof make up since she rarely cried.

Chad nods before going to leave.

"Chad!" Carlos shouts

"What?" he's acting like he's not in the wrong and Rain looks down.

"Leave the key!"

Chad places the key in their line of sight before leaving in quite a dramatic fashion. Rain knew he definitely has another key.

"Rain?"

"Hmmm?" she looks up at Carlos, wondering when on earth he got taller than her.

"My potion?"

"Oh, yeah, um," She takes it out of the pot and holds it up to him " this is a truth gummy,"

"So, this thing will make me say what I really feel to Jane?" Rain nods

"Perfect," he goes to take it, but Rain moves it away.

"Hold on, though. Are you sure that you want to be taking this? Because this is gonna make you say the truth all the time, no matter what, and the only reason that I'm asking is because I know that if I took this right now, I would get myself sent back to the Isle. Which, it's not that that sounds super unappealing, but you know..." Rain keeps rambling and Carlos just nods.

"Yeah. I'll take my chances, I guess,"

"Okay..." Rain drops her hand down to give the gummy to Carlos, but Dude jumps down just as Carlos is about to take it "Dude!" he jumps up onto the bed.

"Ugh," Rain and Carlos turn around in shock. Did he just...?

"Man, that thing was nasty!" Carlos looks to Rain but she's still staring at Dude. "And you. You just got to man up," neither of them respond "And while you're at it, scratch my butt,"

"You heard him. Scratch his butt," and with that, Rain takes a sharp turn and leaves his room.

"Rain! You're just gonna leave me with him?"

"Yep!" Rain rushes away, hoping there's no reporters on her way back to her room. They didn't need to see her with dried mascara everywhere, it would just be embarrassing.

----------&----------

"And you remember it's Ruby's birthday soon?"

"Yes mum," Rain's in her room, her jacket's thrown on a chair in the corner and her makeup's been touched up. She falls back onto her bed.

"And you and Ben are coming next month?"

"I don't know, we're both pretty busy right now," Rain sighs

"We saw you on TV yesterday,"

"Did you? It seems to be all they show lately,"

"You looked beautiful," Rain didn't quite believe her, she barely recognized herself in the mirror anymore, "the reporters were a bit harsh,"

"Oh, you mean asking if my mother was dead? Yeah, harsh is a bit of an understatement,"

"You don't have to refer to her as that..." Rapunzel starts

"I know mum but...she raised me whether you liked it or not. I learnt a lot from her, I grew up on the Isle,"

"I..."

"Don't worry...Anyway, I'm sure you get it,"

"Yeah...I do kind of,"

"Anyway, I've got to go. I have a date with Ben,"

"Okay... Love you," Rain hangs up and throws her phone next to her.

Rain takes in a deep breath before standing up and walking over to her makeup table. She stares at her reflection. She no longer looked like Rain Gothel, she looked like Rain Fitzherbert. No longer a VK, a Princess. Future Lady of the Court. The King of Auradon's girlfriend.

Rain Gothel could not live up to those titles. Rain wondered how the others were coping, she barely recognised them anymore. She knew they were the same people, but the only one she felt she really knew anymore was Mal. Rain closed her eyes, had she changed so much she didn't recognise them?

She looks up in the mirror again and realises she was crying again. She really should have put waterproof mascara on. Rain looks at her outfit again, the pastel purples made her feel like a cheap knock off, princess version of Mal. But Purple and Yellow were Corona colours...

Rain looks over to her wardrobe where some black boots have fallen out. Maybe she'd change her look up a bit...

Edited: January 2021