Happily ever after with a little flavor

[missrecalled_mods]

Sponsors for the ship? So... Sponsor'ship?

Rare had an hour seemed so long on the Isle, or carried so much hope. The King and Queen spoke to all who wished to speak with them, and to Yen Sid. At one point they even opened the barrier enough to go back to the ship where they conferred inside a silence spell with Sylvando. And once more for the King and Queen to return a few minutes later. Then back on the Isle they pulled a few individuals aside once more. Oddly, not those from the Isle this time. Aqua first. Then Lea. Then Æn'kae.

Finally the hour came to an end and the King and Queen called for everyone's attention. Mal stepped forward to address everyone.

"Alright, so here is how this is going to work," she told them without preamble, once she had their attention. The wind pulled at her purple hair, pulling it like a banner behind her. "Here are the terms by which we will take the people we will name to Auradon. Each person will be assigned a sponsor. If you want to change sponsors you may let us know once we are back in Auradon. Your Sponsor will be watching out for you. You need to check in with him, her, or them, regularly. How often that will be will be between you and your sponsor, but the sponsors will report to King Ben and myself. Behave and you'll get to stay in Auradon, and we will let you know when your probation is over and you no longer need to check in with your sponsor. Break the rules of Auradon, hurt anyone, steal.... depending on how bad the act and how many were harmed, we may, with your sponsor decide to give you a warning... or you may wind up back here. This is a chance to prove that the sorting magic was wrong, that you are good people. Or can become good people given the chance." Mal looked and sounded like she was clearly waiting to make her own judgments.

"As I list each name, please go to your sponsor if he, she, or they is here. If not, come stand with the king and I."

She took a deep breath. "Xion, your sponsor is Lea." she pointed to him, suspecting that she didn't actually have to, but it was good to set a pattern.

"Utau, you are with Sylvando, who is on the ship so come join us." Then a bit of a wicked grin. "He's also keeping an eye on Nadeshiko and Nagihiko, why not let him keep an eye on all three of you," she said, knowing she was throwing fuel on an explosion waiting to happen. But she trusted Sylvando to sort out which of the kids actually belonged on the Isle.

"River you are with Æn'ki. Hope you like animals," she said with a grin that wasn't all that softer than her last as she gestured to him.

"Morgana and Emporio, you are with Aqua," she added nodding to the woman with the blue hair. "Of course we understand if any of you want to stay..."

She turned to the Headmaster. Doctor F.... We're aware of you, and your efforts, I assure you. We'll be speaking with those heading to Auradon. But for now, stay where we can see you while the rest of you, those coming with us? You have ten minutes to get your stuff if you have any and say goodbyes to anyone if you want to. Goodbyes with the headmaster will be supervised so we can make sure he is being as good as he claims these days. Alright. Ten minutes, starting now!"


**************************************************

The gathering of belongings and saying of goodbyes was accomplished in the allotted ten minutes without much trouble. Getting everyone onto the boat, then equipped with lifejackets- thankfully the boat's owner was a bit over prepared so there were enough for everyone, if only just-, and reasonably settled for the trip back took a bit longer, however. The boat was a large catamaran, painted mostly in blue and purple pastels. The life jackets however, were the standard safety orange, and so stood out as sharply as they were meant to. The water was still rough so once everyone was equipped, Sylvando advised those unused to boat travel to settle down somewhere until they were in calmer waters.

Getting back to the mainland took time as well, though not quite as much as getting there had, as the tide was in their favor for the return trip. Still, there would be plenty of time for conversation, awkward silences, or angry glaring during the trip. And Sylvando himself wouldn't be adverse to conversation, provided it didn't interfere with the steering of the vessel. Those without their sea legs would also want to be careful walking around, as the boat-while large for a catamaran- wasn't large enough to prevent it from rocking.

Once they'd reached the harbor and the Bibbity Bobber had been secured in her berth, her passengers and crew disembarked and began the trek back up to the school. There seemed to be an inordinate amount of junk that had once been clearly blocking the road before the path to and from the harbor had been cleared. All of it was the sort of things one might expect to find in a modern city- cars, sign boards, fallen trees and lamp posts, etc- but there seemed to be too much of it for the simple vanishing of the populace to account for it all. Very odd.

Once they arrived at the school, they were led past the pretentious sign and statue of King Beast and directed into the lobby. There, they were issued phones and information sheets. On account of everyone being exhausted, no formal welcoming ceremony was planned for that evening, and those staying were directed to the dorms to get showered and settled in. Since that was sure to be a process in itself, Ben, Mal, Sylvando, the other sponsors, and anyone who still had the energy would likely be around for all that as well until everyone got settled. Thankfully the exhaustion had been anticipated, and it was announced that there was soup in the kitchen's refrigerator that had been premade and portioned out and needed only to be reheated for supper at each person's leisure.

The next morning however, proved that Auradon was still Auradon and couldn't really go without some kind of official welcome, as those who came down to the lobby would find a simple but tasty breakfast of muffins, fruit - provided by Malia-, tea, and coffee waiting for them along with the eternally chipper Sylvando, ready to answer any further questions they might have.


****************


Professor Yen Sid and the Headmaster stood and watched the ship through the barrier until they could no longer see it. Then the headmaster, looking bitter, turned on his heel, stalked back to the school, muttering under his breath about needing to speak with someone. He did not say who, but it did not seem like it was likely to be a pleasant conversation.

Yen Sid, on the other hand, turned to those who chose to remain. “Shall we get these supplies in before the humidity destroys them?” he asked, gathering his things into his bag before grabbing it and one of the boxes.

Comments

[nobodys_puppet]

"Walking is okay... what about that thing we passed that looks out over the ocean...?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Hmm? You mean the docks?", he said. That was the only place he could think of that looked out over the water.

[nobodys_puppet]

(She meant the thing that Mal did her whole speech from at the end of the third movie).

"Docks?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

"The place we first arrived on the mainland yesterday," he said. "Where all the boats were tied to."

[nobodys_puppet]

"Oh, I meant the tall thing.... we could sit up there..."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Nah, no way am I hiking all that way every day," he said. "Partly because I don't want to give Aqua any idea; I've been doing Keyblade training with her and she's really into it. If she found out we were walking down there every day she'd probably want to turn it into a jogging route or something ad her idea of training is tiring enough as it is."

[nobodys_puppet]

"Why does she have to know?" she asked, confused. "She's not your best friend." So she didn't have to know, right?

[hotheadwarmheart]

"I wasn't exactly planning on inviting her along," Lea said. "But she's pretty observant and would notice if we walked all the way down to the sea at about the same time every day; she'd want to know what's up. And if there's one thing I've learned about Aqua, it's that if something can conceivably be turned to exercise or training, she'll find a way to do it."

[nobodys_puppet]

"Can't you just tell her it is a Best Friends mission?" Can you hear the capital letters in how she said that, Lea? "Or is she someone who... who we have to listen to here?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

"I think that would make her more curious, not less," Lea said. "And no, we don't have to. But she's smart and knows a lot about Keyblades; she's a good teacher. Once you've settled in, you could come to one of my lessons and see."

[nobodys_puppet]

"Do... you have to go to lessons here?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

"We don't have to, no," he said. "But I like Aqua's lessons for the most part, even if they tend to be a real workout and she usually starts way too early for my taste. They've been helping me get stronger, and better with my Keyblade."

[nobodys_puppet]

"Better... with the Keyblade?" she looked dubious at best.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Well I'd hardly keep doing them if it was making me worse at it, after all," he said. "So yes, better with the Keyblade."

[nobodys_puppet]

"But... how?" She was so conflicted now. If she got better too... would she be more useful?

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea shrugged. "The same way practicing anything makes you better at it, mostly," he said. "But having someone who really knows what they're doing around to give you tips and tell you stuff you might not have found out on your own makes it even more effective."

[nobodys_puppet]

"But... what if I'm... not good enough...?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

"That's kinda the point of training," Lea said. "To get good at something. If you're not as good as you want to be now, then training will help you get better. And when you get to that point, training helps you keep in shape."

[nobodys_puppet]

"Keep inside... what shape?" she was so confused. "And don't I get better by fighting Heartless? Except I'm not supposed to do that any more and there are no Eagulls her, though I'm not sure if those helped much either..."