Mal had thought about cancelling. Thought about explaining the situation and backing out. The Mal that Peter had met wasn't who she was anymore, after all. He didn't have to show her all the things that being good had to offer, didn't have to try to make her see that evil wasn't the way to go. She'd already realized all of that back in Auradon, choosing good not once but twice. There was something in her, though that balked at the idea of turning tail and running. She owed him...an apology? Something. And that was better done in person, she'd decided. Maybe she'd actually retained some of those manners from Auradon, after all.
It wasn't that she was ashamed of who she was back then. It was all that she'd ever known and she had been groomed by her mother since birth to be the worst on the Isle, eventually taking over for her someday as unofficial head honcho. The truth was, that Mal was still inside of her, still showed herself, more often than not now that she realized she could still be herself and choose to be good. She could still be a fearless, badass leader who had a penchant for spray paint without falling into the trap of evil. She didn't have to pretend to a pretty Auradon princess - she just had to be Mal.
So she made her way to the pond in the middle of the housing area, ready to explain everything. She winced at the sight of some graffiti she'd done just a few hours prior, her trademark long live evil sprawled across walls. Pausing for a moment, she turned to face one of the tags and recited, "Beware, forswear, make these images appear not there." Raising her hand, moving it to the left, then right, then up again she smiled to herself as the graffiti disappeared into shimmering green glitter, letting out a small sigh of relief. Well, one down.
Mal saw him then, waiting for her and took a deep breath. Well, either he would still be into showing her how he saved the day or would think she was a boring old goodie-goodie now. Not that she still didn't have the knowledge and means to be a baddie-baddie if she really wanted to. Walking up to him, she gave a small, awkward wave and forced a little smile. "Hey. Mal," she said, as if he didn't already know. There weren't many girls that had purple hair and wore purple leather around Atlantis, after all. Putting both of her hands up, she continued, "Before you say anything, I should come clean with you about our talk."