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Chapter Text

As they went away from Auradon, Uma had to take a deep breath to calm herself. Harry's fingers gripping one of her hands, Gil's the other. It was no return. They were outside of Auradon, and soon they would be inside the isle. And she felt that her heart might leap from her throat, that she might scream and beg to be set free. For a chance to live.

But Uma didn't.

She couldn't… they couldn't live knowing they had betrayed their home, their roots. It would have been betraying themselves.

The barrier had just closed behind them, and at that moment Celia began to cry. She was scared, and Uma had to bite her lower lip to keep from crying too. She leaned closer to Harry on the seat, holding one of his hands tightly, but not looking at him. She could not. If she caught a glimpse of hopelessness in his blue eyes, Uma believed that she could break for good.

So she focused on Celia. She motioned for her to sit in the empty space between her and Gil, and the girl didn’t hesitate for a second. She hid her face in Uma’s chest, who put an arm around her. She said nothing as she felt each of her sobs. She just held her against herself, steady, always steady.

The night was warm and humid, and Uma wanted to cry out in relief when she saw her ship in the distance, as she walked along the docks with Harry and Gil. She couldn’t help but stop for a moment, stunned, unable to believe that she was really there, after so long…

It had been the right decision, she tought. Going back home. How many times did she yearn to feel that rough wood, those old ropes, while she was outside the isle? There had been nights when she fell asleep lulled by her own sobs, her chest so sore that it seemed impossible, alone, completely alone in the world.

Maybe it was the hit of emotion, or maybe it was just an impulse filled with need, but she threw herself into Harry and Gil’s arms, who had stopped the moment they felt her stop walking. She felt Gil being surprised, but Harry held her up immediately. His grip filled her with certainty, and she realized he was there, real. Harry.

She decided that she couldn’t avoid him anymore, because if she found hopelessness in his eyes, she would share it with him. Just as they always shared anger and hunger.

And the blue was just how Uma remembered it. Whenever she saw him, she thought of amplitude. On freedom. And Uma did not know why she had thought that she would find there something other than devotion. And love, even after all this time…

“It is real”.

Her ship, her home. Her people.

She didn’t know how she managed to make her voice so firm. And it was just one more of the sharp edges in the silent night, on the lonely dock.

“You’re home, Captain,” Harry said, tossing one of her strands of hair. Uma allowed herself to enjoy the touch of his fingers for a moment, knowing that things would change in the morning. Because if they had returned to the isle, they would have to survive. However, at the time there were no pretenses between the three of them, no facade to maintain.

“We miss you,” Gil admitted, a little unsure. “I thought you just decided to leave us”.

And Uma didn’t blame him.  No one on the Isle of the Lost knew loyalty as well as they did, but it was a precious commodity and easy to lose. She reached up and put a hand on his shoulder, applying a little pressure, and Gil looked at her apologetically.

“I couldn’t come back,” she said, because if there was anyone who deserved an explanation, it was Gil and Harry. “But I wanted.  I wanted to come back more than I ever wanted to leave”.

It was strange, even if she knew there was no danger, to speak so openly about her feelings.  She allowed herself to be embraced by Harry again, his heartbeat echoing in her ears. Familiar, safe.

“I know,” he assured her. Uma looked at Gil and he surrendered to her gaze, his expression changed, filling with affection, and he joined the hug. Only a moment. Only this night when the moon shone insistently on the loose glass of the broken bottles.

Uma closed her cabin door and couldn’t help feeling a wave of nostalgia hit her. Here, finally, was her place. This was where she should be. She felt Harry behind her, keeping a safe distance, waiting for her to tell him how far he should continue, if he should continue.

Uma took off her boots and lay down on the bed, gesturing for Harry to accompany her. Silently, he removed his harness, vest, and boots, and lay down next to her. The ship creaked in its rocking, the wild tide crashed against the wood, and the wind howled in pain. And in the dead of night, Uma searched, hungry and a little desperate, for Harry’s lips. It was not the first kiss they shared, it was far from it, but it was the first that meant something beyond desire and affection. It was a promise, and unmistakable loyalty, and the certainty that no matter how much pain there was, if they could share one more moment together, one more minute, it would have been worth it.

God. She had missed him so much. It had been like an eternal moment without breathing.

It was when she felt his taste again that Uma couldn’t take it anymore. They had had freedom in their hands, a promise that finally came true, and now they had nothing but the certainty of dying. No effort had been enough in the end. She had endured so long, but now she broke. She sobbed against Harry’s chest, and he held her. The smell of him, so familiar to her, and his arms remembered exactly how to hold her, they adapted to her as if they were made for it.

“Shh. It’s over, Uma. You are here. I’m here,” Harry tried to reassure her, even as his voice cracked slightly through the pain.

“What have I done?” She wondered. “We’re going to die here, Harry. We’re going to die”.

She felt him nod. Again that calm, that storm about to break. Uma knew she was soaking him, that she should stop, but she just couldn’t.

“But we are together”.

He said it like it was the only thing that mattered, and Uma knew suddenly; really, it was the only thing that mattered. Because there were no longer plans to escape, there were no dreams of seeing the world. She also knew that, on the Isle or in freedom, she was grateful that he was there until the last moment.

“Will you tell me what it is like there?”

She smiled. And she talked to him about the outside world throughout the night. As she spoke, Uma stopped feeling that everything was like a dream. The ship became real.

Neither Harry nor Uma could sleep. There was a moment when they just fell silent, just feeling the mutual warmth.

And the sun came out, but it did not shine on the isle. The clouds darkened the sky. In Auradon, the welfare of Princess Audrey, and King Ben’s engagement with Lady Mal were celebrated. But the magical barrier, on the Isle of the Lost, remained immovable.

Chapter Text

“So, is it true?”

Uma rolled on the bed, not wanting to get rid of Harry’s grip on her waist.  Just maybe an hour ago she had managed to get some sleep, but the noise of the dock woke her up.  And at that precise moment, a familiar voice filled her cabin.  She sat up on the bed immediately, blinking to see Desiree and Gonzo in the doorway.

Her heart beat wildly, and she received the fierce hug in which Desiree enveloped her.  They hardly ever touched her.  Only Harry and Gil could hold her without her asking.  But right now, Uma just let it be.  Nobody was affectionate on the Isle and this showed how many emotions were exploding at that moment.  Still hugging Desiree, Uma glanced at Gonzo.

Tall, slim, with the same messy braid hairstyle.  Closer to being a man than the boy she left on the Isle. She gave him a curt nod and Gonzo leaned closer, closing the distance, and Uma would swear she saw him blink away the tears as he closed his arms around the two of the girls.

“Where are Jonas and Bonny?” Harry asked, wide awake and sitting up in bed.  There were no questions as to why he had slept in the captain’s bed, neither Gonzo nor Desiree seemed surprised, from which Uma deduced that he had probably slept there frequently.  She felt her heart clench more if possible.

“They left early,” Gonzo said, releasing himself from the embrace.  “They went to collect a debt the goblins owed us.  We just saw Gil on deck, he was the one who told us that the captain had returned”.

The captain.

It was a subtle and carefree way of putting it, but Uma knew what it meant.  That no one had stopped believing in her, that they were still hers.  That they respected her.  That they would follow her.

In that moment, Uma knew that it was all worth it.  Even with the pain, even with the irreversible future that awaited them, Uma knew that she could never have lived in Auradon and left them on the Isle. It would have made her the worst kind of traitor in the world.

Relief permeated Harry’s expression, and Uma knew he was happy to be first mate again.  Her’s.  Only hers.

She looked at Desiree and Gonzo intently, wanting to etch them in her mind like this, happy despite everything, and all she could say was obvious.

“You grew up.”

Because it was true.  She was looking at a man and a woman, not a couple of teenagers.  She wondered how much herself would have changed in that year, how different was the Uma that had left the Island in relation to the one that had just returned.

“You too,” Gonzo replied.

“What happened?  Why didn’t you come back?” Desiree asked.

Uma sighed and sat on the bed.  Harry seemed prepared to defend her if precise, but she put a hand on his arm and they shared a brief look.

“I couldn’t, Des. I was trapped outside”.

Desiree accepted the explanation without further ado, which Uma appreciated because, although there were hundreds of things that she wanted to tell them, that they were her family, she just couldn’t.  The lump in her throat blocked the passage of voice or any sound, and Uma felt her mouth suddenly dry.  She had to swallow hard to speak again.

“The thing is… I need to talk to all of you.  Jonas and Bonny have to be here”.

Gonzo nodded and left the room, but Desiree stayed, staring at Uma as if she was trying to read her.  It was in vain, the only one who had that ability, in the whole world, was Harry.

“Is something wrong?” Desiree asked.

Harry nodded with a grim expression.

“We will tell you when we are all together.  Now let’s take Uma to get something to eat”.

Food.  The idea made Uma nauseous, albeit for various reasons.  Food had never been something safe and constant in her life, and she almost starved to death the first few days she was away from the Isle. There, without the possibility of making a fire, she had to survive first on raw fish. She later discovered the coconut, whose water saved her from the inexhaustible thirst, and whose flesh served her as food.  However, Uma developed a resistance to going not just hours, but days, without eating something.

Now, knowing what fate was in store for them, it made her chest ache to think about it.  If only the Isle had a few palm trees, some kind of plant…

But she couldn’t deny that she was starving.  By the time she found Harry and the others on the bridge, Uma hadn’t eaten for almost a whole day.  Another day had passed and she was beginning to feel not only tired, but exhausted.

Harry kept his strong hand on the curve of Uma’s waist as the three made their way to the ship’s kitchen, and Uma thanked him.  It provides her balance and grip.  The smell of fish soup filled her nostrils and her stomach rumbled uneasily.  Harry served her a big plate, but Uma didn’t eat it alone, she shared it with him, because going back to the old habits made her forget, for a moment, the horror.

She knew that the fish was not of the best quality, that it had more bones than meat, and that the soup did not have too many seasonings, but it tasted like home, it tasted like the soup that Gil made, and Uma thought she could eat the whole pot.

“I missed all of this,” she said aloud.  She wouldn’t have done it before, talk about her feelings, but she no longer had anything to lose.  Nobody had anything to lose anymore.

“It wasn’t the same without you,” Desiree said, a little unsure.  “Although Harry was a good captain.”

Uma wasn’t surprised.  Harry had piracy in his veins, he had been born on one of the most feared pirate ships of all time and it was something innate in him.  However, she knew that he had surely suffered by taking her place… and that only made something inside her ignite, a kind of painful love that burned her insides.

Uma searched his eyes and she stared at him for a moment, sharing a silent conversation.  A wordless thank you.  Even a kind of “I love you” that did not need strange statements.  Harry put his hook on the table, close to Uma, and she hooked her little finger into the sharp metal.

At that moment, Gonzo walked through the door, followed by the others.  Gil, Jonas and Bonny.

“Gonzo said you were back,” Bonny said, and she didn’t succumb to her emotions like Desiree and Gonzo.  She just stood there, standing in the doorway, with Jonas close by.  She looked at Uma intently, with the longing they had felt for her to be there, imprinted in her eyes.

“I’m here,” Uma replied.

“Welcome, Captain,” Jonas leaned over to bump fists with Uma and made her smile for a moment.

The boys were tall and the kitchen was small, and suddenly they were all huddled there.  A strange family of pirates, of lost children who had found refuge and home on a ship.  Uma felt all the emotions rush through her body, making her feel dizzy.

“We have to talk,” she finally said, looking each one in the eye.  The others noticed that Harry and Gil were unusually quiet and serious, so no one interrupted.  And as she tried to decide how she would tell them, (how could she really tell them that they were going to die, that she had been unable to do anything, and that all the time she had spent away from them had ultimately only been useless?) Uma felt an intense and irrational hatred building inside her.  It didn’t matter that Mal claimed to do the right thing, to do this for the good of the people… she didn’t even have the courage to go to the isle and tell the people what the consequences of the decision she had made would be.  Why would they die.  Why their lives were worth less than anyone else’s in Auradon.  That would have to do Uma; she would have to condemn them.

Harry took her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss the back, and Uma looked at him more gratefully than ever.  He did not let go of her, but held her while he stood next to her to talk to the others.  Gil wasn’t smiling, his expression was full of hopelessness, something they had never seen in him before, and that was when Uma couldn’t take it anymore.  She looked away as she bit her lip and blinked away the tears, which came out anyway.

And just with that, the crew realized that whatever was going on, it had no solution.  Because Uma had never cried in front of them, she had never cried in front of anyone.

“We were in Auradon yesterday,” Harry began, full of courage.  “Things are bad there.  Sleeping Beauty’s daughter was driven mad by Mal and Ben’s engagement, and she stole the scepter of Maleficent and the crown of the Queen of Auradon.  She put them all to sleep”.

Unsure of how to proceed, he stopped, but Uma spoke before Harry could continue.

“Mal and I managed to unite our magic to stop her, but the magic put her in a deep sleep as well.  They are terrified of evil.  The threat of Maleficent, Hades trying to escape recently and the fact that I almost dragged the royal yacht to the bottom of the sea has made them decide that Auradon is safer if the barrier remains closed forever”.

 Bonny shook her head.

“Our only hope of freedom is you, no one expected them to open the barrier for us,” she said, looking at her blankly.

I failed them.  I failed them.  I failed them.  I failed them.

“When I say that they will close the barrier forever it is… not only the program that Ben proposed is canceled.  They’re never going to come in here again, Bonny, and we won’t be able to get out”.

“Wait,” Gonzo advanced, raising his hand as if he wanted to stop something.  “But the shipments from Auradon have to come, right?  We could try to sneak in there and escape“.

Harry shook his head.

“Nothing will enter the Isle anymore, Gonzo”.

Desiree sat in the nearest chair, stopping like she was dizzy.  And Uma’s heart began to pound, aching, undeniably pierced.  Broken.

“Why did you guys come back here, fools?” Bonny asked, shaking Gil.  Anger creeping into her voice.  “You should have stayed there, safe! Uma…”

Then she couldn’t help it.  Uma held her while Bonny shook into sobs, she comforted her even though she knew there was no thing, word or action that could remedy this.  Nothing that could take away that pain.

Gonzo sat on the ground, hugged his knees and hid his face in his arms.  Only the sudden jolts told Uma that he was crying and she forced herself to be strong, although every sob from Bonny and Desiree’s astonishment was worse than any fire, worse than anything.  Jonas thumped the table with his fist, squeezed his eyes shut, and then just walked away.

“I’ll go take care of him,” Gil said quietly, and left behind Jonas.

Harry stayed next to Uma.  His presence, stoic and strong, fierce and confident, somehow managed to calm things down a bit.  When Desiree snapped out of her shock, and saw Uma holding Bonny, Harry taking care of everyone there, she was sure of something.  The pain she felt, the anger and despair, no one could take it away.  She felt that she was not breathing, that her heart was going to leap from her chest, but she was sure… when she died, she knew that she was not going to be alone.

Chapter Text

"Auradon is celebrating," said the voice on the television, and the pirates gathered around it came closer, listening intently. There were frowns, crossed arms, and grunts, but no one said anything, not wanting to miss out on the news presenter’s words.

Behind them, a little further away, Uma was leaning against one of the wooden posts, with Harry less than a meter from her, almost hidden in the shadows, as if waiting for something. The customers in Ursula's store began to complain, unhappy about the bad service, and she silenced them with a quick and heavy look. If customers were puzzled about Ursula's daughter's sudden appearance, they didn't say anything; they assumed that the Auradon authorities had finally captured her and returned her to the Isle.

Harry was sitting close to her, less than a meter away, and seemed focused on the edge of his hook point, ignoring the news. However, he was listening intently. Gil, approaching Gonzo and Bonny, frowned.

Outside, it was a common day on the island. It was humid hot, but the sky was completely cloudy, the sound of thunder announced an intense storm. On the screen, the woman smiled, showing all her teeth.

"Our most reliable sources announce that Princess Audrey has fully recovered and will be in a position to attend the royal engagement of King Ben and Lady Mal", on television, images of Ben and Mal, waving from the balcony of the royal palace passed one after the other, like a macabre movie. “We are informed that the celebration party will be open to the public, and will take place in the royal palace, where a grand banquet will be given. A beautiful happy ending for everyone! Or a beginning? The royal wedding special will be broadcast on…"

The woman continued to speak, chattering all the time about the king's happiness, and Uma felt her stomach clench until it ached so badly that she had to support herself. In Auradon there was talk of happy endings and beginnings, of possibilities, and although they waited until the newscast ended to see if there was any news about the isle, whatever it was, nothing happened.

The programming changed and at that moment Harry, who had been silent, got up from the chair in which he had been leaning, grunting, and pulled so roughly on the cable that connected the television to the electricity that the set moved and almost fell off the ledge. He snapped it back into place.

The others muttered, grunted too, and scattered to help Uma with the customers. She didn't need it, but it was a habit they'd picked up over the past year, especially since Harry and Gil were completely at a loss when it came to running the fish and chip shop. They had formed a team in honor of Uma, and it was something they were already used to.

"They're really going to let us rot here," Gil muttered, and Harry was surprised to hear the furious tone in his voice. Of the three, Gil was the calmest, the unchanging. Maybe it was just that this was too much, too much betrayal, too much pain to bear.

"Yes, they will," Uma stated, picking up a couple of plates and walking into the kitchen.

The people on the island still didn't know anything. Mal had assumed that Uma would be the one to tell them, not even in the news there was anything mentioned. And Uma knew she would have to, she was simply calculating the situation. She needed her people to organize themselves to be as safe as possible in Lost Revenge when the situation got out of hand, even if there was no real purpose. Without food, there was no reason whatsoever to try to go on another day, and yet they would. Because it wasn't in their nature to let go themselves without a fight. Because they would defend themselves until the last second.

“Harry, I need you to take Gonzo and Desiree fishing with you. Get all the fish you can,” Uma ordered, and Harry nodded. His gaze seemed tremendously tired, exhaustion beyond exhaustion, and Uma felt some kind of unease in him, something she knew she would have to attend to as soon as there was a little time. She did not like to see him like this, although she realized that it was normal for others. “Gil, I want you to take the others to wait at the dock. They have not returned Hades to the Isle yet, but I imagine that they will take the opportunity to send the last shipments”.

They spoke in low voices, gathered very close, so that the customers would not hear. Uma wished she could do this elsewhere, but they were running out of time.

"Get everything you can, take it to the ship and have someone stand guard".

Harry wedged the tip of his hook into the wood of a nearby table, a nervous gesture that Uma recognized from their childhood.

"You will be alone".

She nodded.

“I can take care of this for a couple of hours. We'll meet at the Revenge later, okay?” She slid her hand up Harry's forearm, a hard caress that was more like marking her territory, but which he knew how to interpret for what it was, a reassuring gesture. She felt him breathe deeply, without making a sound, and then exhale. "Everything will be fine".

They said no more and scattered. Uma was restless all afternoon, while she collected dishes, carried orders, and washed dishes. She tried to focus on those things to quiet the thoughts in her mind. Not just Auradon's decision, but thoughts about Harry, about her, about her mother. A thousand things entangling in her mind, with no escape.

She could hear Ursula in her secret room, in her pond, the sound of her tentacles in the water and the noise of the television in the background. Her mother seemed not even aware of Uma's long absence, or at least she was pretending that. She hadn't said a word since Uma had returned, and she hadn't expected otherwise. Still, it hurt a bit.

She was lost in those thoughts, which wandered into darker places that Uma tried to avoid, but she couldn't resist for a long time. And she found herself submerged in them, so sunk that she couldn't breathe; the way Harry's eyes had shone on Auradon, contrasting with the clear blue sky, or the way the sunlight reflected off his hair, how his embrace had felt safe and loving, open, in public, without the fear between their fingers.

She hadn't realized she was biting her lip until she tasted blood on the tip of her tongue, and then Cook entered the kitchen. When she saw Uma enter the store, that same day in the morning, she had remained static, unable to believe what she was seeing. And she hadn't run to hug her, but she asked her if she had already had breakfast, which was her way of saying that she had missed her. That she cared of her.

"Your boy just arrived," she informed her, undoubtedly referring to Harry, and Uma dropped the dishes, which fell into the dishwasher with a clatter, and wiped her soapy hands on her apron as she made her way to the tables.

Harry, Desiree, and Gonzo were gathered at a table, talking quietly.

"I said we would meet on the ship," Uma said, reaching up to them.

“Gil stayed there with the others, taking care of things. We came so you wouldn't be alone,” Harry explained.

"People sense that something strange is happening, Captain," Desiree spoke. “It is unusual for Auradon to send such big shipments or at such times of day, and people were very confused. We think it would be better to be alert and warn you”.

Uma nodded.

“I’ll close this place. It's time to go home". She was no longer afraid to call the Lost Revenge home. "Come on, help me get everyone out of here".

Uma could tell that Desiree and Gonzo had a good time following her orders, shooing off customers or taking them out under threat, but Harry seemed distant, almost nervous. It was still early when the place was left alone, and it took Uma almost an hour to finish washing the dishes while Harry swept and cleaned the tables.

The night was too dark and suffocating, and Uma had to control the beginning of an anxiety attack that threatened to nest in her throat when she saw the sky so closed with clouds, without escape, without amplitude. Outside, she had been used to star-filled nights, to the moon, with its terrible ruthless edge, bright and broken on the calm tide. The nights had been long, too lonely, and she had generally spent them lying on the fine sand, still warm from the afternoon sun, sometimes feeling that the pain in her heart would be enough to kill her that night. Sometimes, wishing it.

There was still activity on the dock, and some people watched without discretion as Uma passed between them. The news that Ursula's daughter had been returned to the isle quickly dispersed, and there were some curious who wanted to know more.

Being on the ship again was a relief, it gave Uma enough feeling of freedom and she could almost imagine herself there, in the vastness, on a night as dark as this, sailing without even knowing where to go. Only Jonas was on the deck, watching, and he nodded when they arrived and headed for the lower deck.

They heard voices in the kitchen; Gil and Bonny were doing a count of cans, bathroom supplies, among other things. On the long wooden table, there were at least four buckets full of fresh fish.

"This is what we were able to get," Gil said, disheartened, when he saw them enter the kitchen.

Uma walked over to the table to check the loot and felt her heart clench. They must have worked hard to achieve that, and yet it was so little… It would last two weeks, for a long time. Fish was hard to come by, so Harry, Gonzo, and Desiree had all done a wonder. Perhaps it was because more fish had stayed on their side of the barrier as it was opened to return Hades. Uma would have to make preserves to keep it, especially in the sweltering heat, but she was grateful to all of them. So much she felt a lump in her throat.

"Good job," she said, and couldn't help but notice the surprised expressions of her pirates. She had never said anything like that to them before, when it was all about gaining power, gaining loyalty, but things had changed too much. She had changed. She had missed her family so much… “You deserve a break, everyone. Tomorrow… tomorrow we will gather the people in the square, and we will tell them the situation”.

"They're suspicious, Captain," Bonny said. "It feels".

Gonzo nodded, arms crossed, his usual defensive posture, but his gaze was strange, more human than Uma had ever seen him before.

"There is something different in the air," he agreed. "There is something different on the isle, Captain, and the people feel it".

She nodded, silently, and looked at Harry for an anchor, because she had started to feel nauseous. She met his eyes, his gaze framed by black makeup. Even through hopelessness, even through the  terrible despair, Uma found love and devotion there. And it was enough to reassure her.

"Rest, everyone," she told them. “Tomorrow will be tough, but everything will be fine. I promise".

She couldn't promise, really. Before, she wouldn't have. Uma didn't usually make promises that she couldn't keep, but this time it was just necessary. And she knew that they knew that she could do nothing, that nothing would be alright, and yet they found strength in her words and enough peace of mind to sleep for that night. The crew stayed in the kitchen, eating some of the rice with canned vegetables and spices that Gil had prepared, but Uma was tired. So tired. She made her way silently to her cabin, knowing that Harry would catch up with her later.

She didn't light any candles, didn't expect there to be any lights. She lay down on her bed with her clothes and boots on, but she didn't close her eyes to sleep either. Uma just stood there for a long, long time, watching the light trickle through the crack in the door, until Harry entered the room and closed the door behind him. Then, she felt him carefully remove her earrings, and her boots, and Uma fell asleep when he hugged her in silence, and she felt him so real, so longing, that she was sure, like so many other nights that she spent away from the Isle, that she was just dreaming about him.

Chapter Text

The rain rocked the sea through the night, sending the ship back and forth, the swaying of a placid smoothness that contrasted with the suffocating darkness. From time to time, the fleeting rays illuminated the cabin, the covers, the outline of Harry's features. Uma, who woke up a couple of hours after falling asleep, looked at him for a long time. The expression on his face was different now, more relaxed, but Uma could see the marks of exhaustion under his eyes, and the way his jaw was tense, even though his mouth seemed relaxed.

The early morning was misty and gray, with the sound of the storm like a strange lullaby, and Uma couldn't resist, despite the chaotic thoughts… she snuggled closer to him. Even if Harry was nothing more than a dream, vivid and painful, she felt good in that moment. Safe. Alive. Finally.

Uma didn't know when she had started to love Harry. They were always unusual on the Isle, before Mal's betrayals, before Auradon's oblivion. Uma refused to acknowledge her feelings, sometimes stopping Harry’s advances, sometimes just pretending that she couldn't love, that she didn't know how. They shared kisses, and Uma pretended it was just lust. Now, she was regretful. Even on the island, with all the social rules about love, denying that her heart belonged to Harry, only to Harry, had been a waste of time. One that she longed to have now, and that she knew she could never get back.

But every time Uma tried to say it, every time she tried to utter the words, she couldn't. She didn't know why she was unable to just blurt it out, honestly. She didn´t felt afraid. Just feel longing, the size of the sea or even deeper, to grab every elusive second with her first mate.

At some point in the morning, Harry fidgeted, and Uma stroked his cheekbone to reassure him. He, however, opened his eyes at the touch. His blue gaze was clouded with sleep, and he seemed a bit confused, not quite awake. The instant of vulnerability was enough for Uma to read him and find the disbelief in his gaze.

Harry closed his eyes and sighed.

"You're a dream, lass," his voice was full of sleep, barely a whispered secret, and he laughed as he snuggled into her, hiding his face in the curve of Uma's neck, and inhaling deeply. When he spoke sleepily, his accent became more apparent. "Are you here?".

Uma reached inside his shirt, feeling his skin, contradictory in his natural softness and the hardness of his scars, and put one leg over his hips to catch him. Harry relaxed and pressed his lips to the skin of her collarbone.

"Here, here, Harry".

She couldn't assure him that she was real when she herself didn't know if this was just another one of her dreams. On one hand, she wished it was, because that would mean that she was still outside and that she could still find a solution. But perhaps nothing was worth more than being with Harry, despite fate. Unable to find any more words inside her, Uma reaffirmed her protective embrace. The feel of Harry’s hair firmly gripped by her fingers reassured her, and she fell asleep again.

The Fish and Chip Shop was almost empty, and the sweltering day raised the smell of damp wood and fish everywhere. In the morning, Uma had told Cook to go to the Lost Revenge so that Gil could give her some food and, although the woman had looked at her strangely, she did not object. So, now, she was alone in the kitchen, turning off the fryer that was bubbling with hot grease, and finishing washing the dishes. The others were outside, Uma had ordered them to go all over the Isle, summoning people to the plaza. Harry had wanted to stay with her, but Uma had insisted him to accompany Gil. Things could get a bit ugly, and she needed her two mates to be present as people arrived.

She kicked out the only two customers that were there and closed the store, wondering if she should tell Ursula about the situation. Finally, she decided that, since the old witch would not leave her pond toward the plaza, it was better to just tell her. Uma peered into her pond, where she saw her half-submerged, a tentacle lazily reaching for the television. Ursula didn't take her eyes off the screen when she heard her daughter hovering near her.

"Ma," Uma said, without waiting for Ursula to turn to look at her. A long time ago, Ursula had let her know that she couldn´t bear to see her. She reminded her too much of her mistakes, she reminded her of her father. “They will close the barrier forever. We are going to starve here”.

She waited for the answer, for an assent that would make her understand, at least, that she had heard her, but Ursula did not move her eyes from the television, nor did she turn her body a single centimeter. Uma waited seconds, what seemed like eternal uncomfortable minutes, until she snorted, denying, and wondering why she had thought Ursula would care, and she turned to leave.

"I thought you were smarter than this, girl," she said suddenly, causing Uma to stop. "But you got caught, just like me".

The words surprised Uma, because it was almost as if she was telling her that she had expected something else from her. That she, in fact, had had the feeling that Uma would triumph, that she would find a way out. It was disconcerting and painful; her mother had never had expectations or faith in her, although this could not be called that.

"No, ma," Uma replied. "I chose to come back".

"Then you must be stupider than you look".

The path to the square was full of bewildered people heading for the center of the city. Uma slipped through lonely alleys and streets, until she reached the edge of the square and saw Harry and Gil leaning against the dry fountain, talking. Uma couldn't stop her heart from beating desperately when Harry, as if he sensed her presence, looked up and found Uma's figure a few feet away. Then Harry's expression changed from expectant calm to stunned disbelief, as if he again couldn't believe Uma was there.

Gil followed his gaze and exhaled, not stopping Harry when he stood up and walked over to Uma, taking long strides, as if he believed that if he didn't hurry enough, Uma would disappear.

"Hello, darling," he greeted her, stopping himself from giving a show of affection that would put them in a compromising situation. Uma was about to hug him, however, when a slim figure a little shorter than them approached.

They hadn't seen Celia in the last two days, when they arrived on the isle, but Uma was concerned about the way her face looked puzzled and seeing that she wasn't wearing her usual colorful clothes. She looked like a dead version of the vivacious and tough Celia, and Uma couldn't help it. It was instinct what moved her, as if she, too, had to satisfy a need. She pulled her into a hug, sharing a worried look with Harry, and then took her by the shoulders so she could better inspect her.

"Celia, tell me you've been eating something".

The girl avoided looking Uma in the eye.

"I preferred to leave the food to my dad".

"You should have gone to the ship, we would have fed you there," Harry scolded her, and Celia looked at him guiltily.

"I didn't want to disturb you".

Uma shook her head, her heart clenched and aching. She wanted to be able to protect her, and the only thing she had in her hands, the only thing she could offer to Celia, was her own helplessness.

People were crowding in the square, and Uma knew this had to be fast. On the isle there were several groups that fought among themselves, so grunts could be heard, threats that began to rise in tone and there began to be some shoving.

"Go with Gil," Uma told Celia. “Stay with him until we're done with this. Then you will go to the ship with us”.

Celia nodded, going over to Gaston's son, and Harry offered his hook to Uma, who tangled her little finger in the cold metal, tightly, and they both looked at each other for a moment before Uma nodded, ready for what was to come.

In the middle of the square, Bonny had just put up a chair so that Uma could climb up and be seen and heard by everyone. They walked there, and Harry helped Uma up to the top. There were whistles and screams, and Uma looked at the crowd with a terrible expression, her eyes, the color of an anise star, shining dangerously. Immediately, the noises stopped, people looked at her, dangerous and expectant, and Uma took a deep breath in the atmosphere full of anxiety. Gonzo was right. There was something different in the air.

"I'm sure many of you think that Auradon sent me back to the isle after they caught me," she began. Her powerful voice echoed through the square, and there was some mocking laughter that was drowned out. Even though people were always on the defensive, even though there were still those who refused to recognize Uma as queen, most just wanted answers. A few reassuring words to be able to continue with the miserable life they led there. “But listen carefully to what I'm going to say: Auradon didn't catch me. A few days ago, when Princess Audrey was possessed by Maleficent's scepter, back in Auradon, Mal needed my help, Harry's and Gil's to defeat her”.

There was still the expectant silence, and the feeling of pressure filling everything, making the air so thick that Uma couldn't breathe. She considered, for an instant, just giving up and being taken into Harry's strong arms. Hide there. There were children in the crowd, there were people she knew, there was Celia's father and Harriet, Harry's sister. She could not. She couldn't take their lives with her words.

But she couldn't run, either. She would not.

“We believed Mal would open the barrier. She promised, so we agreed to help her. But she betrayed us; not only will the program that Ben started be canceled, but they have decided that, for Auradon's sake, to protect Auradon from evil and our magic, the Isle of the Lost barrier will never reopen, not even to bring food shipments”.

Chaos broke out in the square. There were shoves and screams demanding explanations, and Harry and Gonzo moved closer to Uma, ready for anything. However, with her heart still pounding in her chest, she gestured with her hands for everyone to calm down. After a moment, the screaming lessened, though the shoving continued.

"I don't believe you!" Yelled a voice, almost at the edge of the square. It was Ginny Gothel, leaning against the wall of one of the surrounding buildings. Uma hardly recognized her. "You really hope we think you came back just to tell us this?"

"Uma never betrayed us like Mal did in the first place!" Harriet said, her voice rising above the murmurs. "I believe her word and I know my people will too".

Uma didn't know where that came from. Harriet and she had a cordial relationship of respect thanks to Harry, although she never believed that she would defend her or that she could stand up for her. However, Uma showed no surprise. She raised an eyebrow to Ginny, a little defensive, a little predatory.

“Choose not to believe me. None of you must do it. You can think what you want; even when you realize that Auradon’s shipment won´t come again. Mal didn't show her face, and she won't”.

Celia slipped out of Gil's protective grip, going over to where Uma was, and raised her voice.

“Uma is telling the truth. I was there when Mal said it. The decision is made".

The murmurs rose again, and soon the noise of the disgruntled, desperate, and frightened voices of the people was too much for Uma. She felt herself getting dizzy, and she wondered if Harry would hold her if she fell. She knew he would.

Some people made claims in her direction, telling her that she had failed, that she could have done something more for them, for their freedom. Soon, people understood what the news implied, and the shoving grew louder. In some places in the square, Uma saw that the pushing led to blows, screams, and chaos broke out. Suddenly, all there was a chaos of people running, perhaps towards the limits of the isle, desperate to know if there was still a way out, whatever it was. Other people tried to steal, catching their victims off guard. And then the worst began.

As people fell into chaos, among the jostling, several young children became estranged from their mothers. Maybe it was just an effect of the violence of the crowd, maybe it was on purpose. Children's cries caught Uma's attention and she got out of the chair with Harry's help. People dispersed and she was able to reach a child who was standing there, alone, scared and crying. As she lifted him up, ready to search for the mother, she saw a man push away a girl a little younger than Celia and yell at her not to follow him. The girl looked really scared.

Uma understood what was happening. And she understood that she would never find the mother of the child she carried in her arms and clung to her vest as if she were the only real and safe thing in the world. Without food, the children were a hindrance. Only mouths to feed. And some parents were abandoning them at the time.

A hand touched her back and she turned, startled, to meet her gaze crazed with Harry's.

“Uma, let's get out of here. This is a chaos. Gil, Celia and the others have already left. I have to get you out of here".

Uma held the child in her arms, feeling real nausea. She was going to throw up, she was sure, so she put the boy in Harry's arms to hold while she crouched on the floor and emptied her stomach, inhaling and exhaling rapidly. The child in Harry's arms must not have been more than two years old, and he did not understand what was happening. He didn't understand why his mother had abandoned him, or why all the people were screaming and pushing each other. And Uma couldn't help but wonder if she really could have done something else, if she should have faced Mal and Auradon.

She wiped her mouth, only to see Harry next to her, almost getting crazy, but not letting go of the boy.

"Uma, are you okay? Please, let me get you out of here..."

She leaned on his firm arm, wanting to just hang onto his neck and cry. Shout out. But she couldn't do that. She felt a bitter taste in her mouth, and she was sure it wasn't just from the vomit.

“We can't leave them, Harry. They are abandoning them”.

Then Harry looked around, at the chaos and the children crying, scared. And saw Harriet, his sister, who was walking towards them with a baby in her arms. She crouched down next to Harry and Uma.

"What the hell is going on? A woman gave me her child. Uma, what are we going to do?"

The world made no sense, the Isle made no sense at all. And Uma didn't know anything about goodness and evil. She no longer knew anything. Nothing. The only thing she knew was that she couldn't leave those children there.

Chapter Text

"What the hell are we supposed to do with them?" Bonny asked Uma, looking around, and she couldn't deny that the question had been on her mind from the moment they returned to the Lost Revenge, carrying with them scared and abandoned children, and the broken heart, and the hopelessness more ingrained than ever.

The children were scared, some hiding behind the barrels or holding onto the rope, the older ones, in silence, watching over the others. Except for the baby a woman had give to Harriet, whom she was still holding, although her arms seemed uncomfortable. Celia, next to Uma, bit her lip to avoid crying.

“Feed them”, Uma decided without hesitation, and headed for the ladder to go to the lower deck, to the kitchen, and redistribute the supplies. Harry was closely following her, and Uma could feel his presence like rain that cools drought, overwhelming and lightening at the same time.

"We don't have enough," argued Desiree, who had approached the captain and the others to listen to her orders. “Not even for us. We won't last a week..."

Uma stopped, haughty and firm, and looked at her pirates, trying to keep her mind and her heart from wandering to how much she had missed them, and how much she loved seeing them, ready to follow her. Trusting her. Even Gonzo and Jonas seemed disengaged, stripped of their usual savagery. As if, suddenly, they did not know what to do, where to go.

“We must do it. We are going to hold on, do you understand? But we are not going to leave them like this. We’re not going to do what Auradon did to all of us".

It wasn't about survival, Uma realized, because the death sentence had already been issued and there was nothing they could do. It was about something else, something she was afraid to name, because it went against what the villains believed, but it was born in her heart and it made her chest ache in a strange way, as if it burned wrapped in ferocity.

"My crew and I will help," Harriet intervened, nodding to Uma with a gesture of recognition and mutual aid. "I'll bring some of the things we have on the ship".

Without saying more, she turned towards the ladder to go up to the upper deck again, and before she reached the middle of the ladder, the baby started crying. Harry looked where his sister had gone, dismayed, but then his attention returned fully to Uma.

“We just have to ration everything again. They won't have much, but they won't starve”, she said, nodding to herself. For a second, she avoided meeting Harry's eyes and it was enough for him to realize how scared she was, and that she was trying to hide it to keep others calm. He brought his hook close to her, almost imperceptibly, but Uma did notice it. She hooked her little finger to the metal, reassuring herself.

Once they got to the kitchen, they began pulling out all the things they had managed to take in the shipments from Auradon. Cans, bags of stale bread, bottles of drinking water, watered down biscuits and some seeds, oatmeal, some rice that had to have some worms removed but which, for the most part, was good. Uma's heart pounded in her chest, causing her to hear a constant pounding in her ears. There was no way these children could live with the little food they had...

"It will be more when Harriet comes back," Harry commented, and Uma felt that something was making her heart change, to stop being gripped by grief, to make her feel a little freer. Harry was trying to be optimistic, although it was something so foreign to him, but he sensed that Uma needed it and, actually, she felt better.

"Gonzo, Desiree, find all the hammocks on this ship and install them wherever there is room, the deck, the magazine, wherever," Uma ordered. “Harry, Gil, you guys are staying with me to count the supplies when Harriet returns. Jonas, I need you to be sure that we are the most secure that we can be, go to the docks and tell me if you see something suspicious. Bonny, you must go upstairs and count and record all the children we have. Ask Celia to help you with that".

The orders were given, and no one even thought to question them. By the time they were alone, Uma allowed herself to undo for a second, just an instant where she let out a desperate whimper, but then she forced herself to compose herself. One second could lead to another, and it would be useless if she collapsed. Harry pulled her into a hug.

"Are you okay, darling?"

Uma inhaled deeply his scent, still incredulous. She nodded with her eyes closed. The hug was taking longer than it should have, but then again, only Gil was there. And Uma was no longer willing to waste any moment. She should talk to Harry, if they only had a moment...

She pulled away from Harry, looking for Gil, and found him staring into one of the pantry floors, where they kept the eggs. He seemed to be counting them and didn't look animated. Uma felt her heart clench.

"Are you hungry?" Uma asked, making him jump. Harry held onto his stomach, which was suddenly growling. "You two didn't have breakfast?"

"I thought there would be time later," Harry admitted, shrugging.

"I did have breakfast," Gil confessed. "But…"

Uma exhaled in exasperation and affection.

"Sit down," she ordered. “I'll prepare something for you two. If we had a little coconut... "

She cut herself off mid-sentence. She had forgotten that Gil and Harry did not know what coconut was, and she had forgotten the sensation of cool water running down her throat, but, in that moment, she felt it vivid, as if it was teasing her. She fell silent and began rummaging through the supplies for the pasta they were keeping, thinking that, at once, she would cook dinner for the crew.

"Don't stop," said Harry, "we want to know."

Gil nodded in agreement with his mate.

So, while she was looking for ingredients to cook, Uma told them about the things she had eaten outside. Coconut and bananas, and the smell of an herb called tobacco that was abundant not so far from the Isle.

Harriet returned, with Sammy and another boy carrying a couple of boxes with some cans and other products, although not in abundance. Harry and Gil were finishing eating, and they stepped aside so they could put the boxes on the table.

"It's almost half what there was for my crew," Harriet pointed out, helping Uma unpack things. "How many children are there?"

"Fourteen," Uma replied, "Bonny and Celia counted them".

They are the ones who wanted to follow them to the ship, because there were children so scared that they only did the first thing that occurred to them, hide away, find some refuge in a nearby alley.

For the rest of the afternoon, the crew worked to accommodate the children. Harry assigned them a hammock and some simple chores on the ship, and then Uma brought each of them a portion of food.

Late afternoon came, almost night, and Uma, who had been tending to a girl who had been injured in the stampede in the square, went up to the upper deck to look for Harry. He was sitting on the bowsprit, looking out of the Isle, out into the clear blue water that stretched out beyond the horizon, away from Auradon, away from all known. The sun was barely visible in the distance, a red dot that fell asleep under the waves, that was the only thing they knew of it. They did not know what it was like when it warmed the dim morning, or how it looked like at noon, like a giant coin in the sky. Uma remembered. And she remembered how dazzled she had been the first time she saw it, the first morning after the cotillion, trying to look directly at it until she realized she was hurting her sore eyes from crying.

"Do you want to accompany me to the beach?" She asked, and Harry nodded, still looking at the horizon. A minute later, he stepped down from the bowsprit to join her. The other crew members pretended they weren't seeing when Uma and Harry landed, but they all noticed.

Calling the thick and dirty piece of land that was lost on the shore of the island a beach was almost an understatement, just like calling the weak waves that reached the shore a sea, almost as dead as the island itself, just shadows of foam and bubbles. The water was more brown than blue, but the breeze still smelled of salt, and that was enough to make Uma feel peaceful again.

"You've been thoughtful and quiet," she told Harry bluntly, sitting on the shore and kicking off her boots to allow the water to touch her feet. Harry followed suit, frowning. He sat very close to her, their shoulders brushing. "What's going on?"

Harry surrendered to Uma's sharp gaze, shedding the facade. And the pain she saw on his face almost completely undone her. She took tightly his hook, then released it and took his free hand, needing to feel his skin.

"The usual, darling," he replied, his voice full of bitterness and something else that she couldn't define immediately. "I hate Auradon. Like every day. As it always should be”.

So that was it… Harry felt like he had let his guard down too much.

"You allowed yourself to be hopeful there," Uma acknowledged, and Harry nodded, laughing without heart, as if he were a little drunk. Then, when discovered, he took a small bottle from one of the bags in his coat and passed it to Uma, who took a long drink without thinking twice.

"I thought, for a moment, what it would be like to live there," Harry confessed, his voice muffled, and the blue in his eyes seemed gray for a moment. “They had taken you away from me, Captain, and when I came back to you, I thought about what our life would be like there, if we could have serious freedom. All those plans would have been worth it..."

Uma looked at the weak waves. Everything on the Island was like a shadow from the outside, the glint of a world to live in, the hallucination of a life.

"I dreamed of you every night," Harry continued, anger and helplessness now creeping into his words. "But whenever I saw you, you were free, with those beautiful tentacles that I saw on television, were you like that out there, Uma?"

She looked away, suddenly feeling something strange flutter in her stomach, the heat on her cheeks.

"At sea, yes," she confessed, shy without knowing why. "But when I was on land, on one of the islands where I was hiding from Auradon, I only had these human legs".

Harry took her hand and brought it to his lips, caressing her skin like the brush of the wind, and left there a kiss that made Uma feel all the air from her lungs rush into her chest.

"They are beautiful. And your tentacles, the greatest thing I've ever seen. And I wanted to see you destroying something, really”. Harry was unprotected, opening his heart, being totally sincere, and then Uma felt all her emotions wash over her, relentless. She felt them on her skin and inside her, and she felt her lips burn, so she moved fast. She pulled Harry up to her, found his lips, and drank the taste of his mouth greedily, ecstatic at the way he melted in her grasp.

"I wanted to see you being the most feared pirate in the sea," Uma admitted, her mouth still very close to his lips, feeling his skin slowly, the edge of his teeth on her upper lip, and she trembled in his arms. “The whole time while I was out there, I missed you so much that I wanted to drown. You are…” Uma stopped suddenly, unable to pronounce the words, although they were on the tip of her tongue, struggling to gush out, and she closed her eyes to calm herself. This was Harry, and there wasn't a person in the whole world that she trusted more. There was no one in the world whom she loved more. "I wanted to live my life there with you".

They weren't going to have any of that. Uma would never again feel her divine heritage on her skin, she was just a waitress again, with the smell of shrimp in her hair, and Harry was a pirate without waves or fury of the sea, a sailor who did not sail.

"I don't want to die," Harry admitted, and Uma felt the pain spread across her skin. However, something in his gaze changed, as if he was calmer. “But I don't regret coming back here with you. I want to be with you for the rest of the days of my life, if you allow me to do it".

The rest of his days… it could be weeks, maybe a couple of months. It would depend on how he was getting weaker, on the portions of food he had. But nothing prevented time from advancing, even if the world of the Isle imploded into nothingness.

"I'm always going to want you by my side, first mate," Uma said, giving him a playful punch. Laughter welled up in her throat but died before reaching her lips. She gave up. "I love you".

"I love you too," Harry replied, unsurprised, and Uma raised an eyebrow.

"Won't you make a sarcastic comment about it?"

Harry smirked.

"I would never make fun of you, captain," he said, and Uma gave a mocking laugh and replied "liar." Harry kissed the back of her hand again. "Besides, I always knew it".

He pulled her closer to him, and Uma hugged his waist and hid her face in the crook of his neck. The sun had already sunk, like a castaway from the sky, and the sea stretched dark and infinite towards the horizon. Things had always been natural between them, there was never a need for statements and Uma didn't know why she had thought this would be different. Nothing had changed, she realized, because not having said it before didn't change the fact that that love had always been there, unflappable. Uma felt calm about that.

They stayed there for a while, listening to the wild wind that ran on the beach, as if it were also desperate to get off the Isle, until the night became darker than the sea.

Chapter Text

"It's chaos out there," Jonas said, looking scared. Uma never believed that she would ever see the fear in his eyes. But there was a little fear in every inch of air, or perhaps something even worse than fear, a kind of tiredness and satiation and desperate plea. It was raining, the sky looked like it was falling, and the television in Ursula's store was on, broadcasting the news from Auradon.

"Our sources assure us that something really big is cooking in the palace," said Snow White, all red smile and pale skin. Behind her was King Ben's palace, where people were delivering what seemed like kilos and kilos of fabrics of every possible shade of purple and white imaginable. Snow White raised an eyebrow. “It seems that the wedding of King Benjamin and Lady Mal will be one of the most eccentric and memorable weddings of the century. Let's see what Evie, in charge of the design for the bride's dress, can tells us”.

The next moment, Evie appeared on the screen. She was in a study, surrounded by mannequins, skirts, and ribbons. She almost bounced off herself with excitement, with a huge smile.

Uma grunted.

"Just turn that thing off".

She couldn't think. The noise of the storm falling on the fragile roof of Ursula's tent was tremendous. Uma looked around for Harry, trying to calm her fury and helplessness. He was with Desiree a few feet away, putting a bucket under one of the larger leaks. Desiree had tried to plug the hole in the ceiling but failed.

Gil hurried to turn off the television, and the hideous noise subsided a little. Uma was able to think again, although the television image was still in her mind. How could Mal…? The people of the Isle died of hunger and despair as the future queen chose the perfect shade of purple for her big party. She was a traitor, much more than just a traitor. Thinking of Mal made Uma really want to vomit.

Ursula's store was busy, partly because of the rain and partly because there were fishermen who no longer cared to spend all they could steal or get from selling fish. They got drunk waiting for death. On the tables, jars and jars were gathered, and rustic laughter full of despair and fear could be heard. Outside, Jonas was right, it was chaos. They had heard of more than twenty suicides since people heard the news. Some would not sit and wait for the emptiness in the stomach or the dryness in the throat.

Uma let out another growl, from deep in her throat, but stopped when she saw the expression of Celia, who had been sitting next to Gonzo at the crew table and seemed to be making a real effort not to cry. Crying was one thing in Auradon, but here… a simple death sentence. Because not due to the fact that the same fate awaited them, people had suddenly become in solidarity with the rest. People were still just as terrible, or maybe more.

Celia spent a lot of time with them now, and Uma fed her. The girl did not want to be a burden to her father, although she spent all the time that she was not with Uma, with him. She was strong, but she was still just a girl. She was scared. Celia had also held her freedom in her hands, and she too had seen it slip in front of her eyes.

"Help me get more buckets," Uma ordered, and Celia, still biting hard on her lower lip, nodded. She passed through the customers with her head high, an expression similar to Uma's, and she followed her toward the back of the store. Water fell from the sky like waves when the sea churned with the moon. Uma remembered it suddenly, and her heart contracted.

Celia didn't even think about it. She hugged Uma and allowed herself, now, to cry. She was brave and strong, Uma thought. She had come back because there was a person whom she loved. She sacrificed herself for her father, and that was something Uma respected. So she hugged her against herself, not quite knowing how to be loving, how to reassure her, but Celia seemed to feel safe under Uma's firm, gloved hands.

She wasn't going to say words of comfort. She wasn't going to mutter empty promises of "it's going to be okay, everything is going to be okay," because even when she knew her crew needed that, she knew that Celia wouldn't allow herself to fool herself with it. She needed someone to be honest with her because she had been lied to.

"I need you to do something, okay?" Uma said, her voice strong and serious. Celia tried to calm down, unable to achieve it for a few minutes, in which Uma waited with a calm that she did not believe lived in her, and when the girl could finally stop crying, she looked at her with big eyes, waiting for her orders. “When we get to the Revenge, we will have to ration food again. Harry was able to get two big fish today. Help him and you can choose which part of the fish you want”.

Uma wasn't used to getting things done without fair exchanges, so it was what she offered Celia. A deal. If Celia's mind was busier, if she felt that Uma really needed her, she might not think so deeply about the betrayal. Although Uma knew that the feeling in her chest did not disappear no matter how busy she was.

Celia nodded.

"Can I help Harry and Gil fishing tomorrow?" She asked.

Uma nodded, knowing that she just wanted to feel useful. Contribute something.

"Sure," she saw her bite her lip again, her eyes filling with tears. And Uma couldn't help it. Something in her heart broke, and Uma wanted to back away, scared by her emotions. It was one thing to admit how she felt for Harry, for her family, but this...

She closed in on herself again, just for a second, to protect herself. To be able to protect Celia from afar as well. And she let her cry again on her chest for a long time, but Uma hid away from her heart.

As the days passed, things on the isle got worse. Then it was real, even for those disbelievers who waited, like every week, for a ship with shipments from Auradon, which never arrived, and the confirmation of the sentence became tangible and scarier than hell, and people lost their minds.

Suicides, fights to the death over what little food was left... Every night, as Uma tried to sleep, she was bothered by old nightmares that she believed were long, long gone. Mal appeared in her dreams, smiling triumphantly at having obtained everything she wanted. They were dreams that she used to have some years ago, after the shrimp incident, but now there were hunger cries added, which she Uma heard frequently on the ship.

The children who were now under the care of the crew ate their portions every day without fail. But Uma knew it was little food and still, she had to be firm and not give in one bit. Every food that was on the ship, or that came into her hands, was carefully rationed, so that they had the food assured for at least one month.

Every night, when the memory of those cries and the crushing silence that filled the docks at some hours of the day made her shiver, and Uma tried to contain herself, she tried not to feel, Harry was there. Loyal. With his reassuring presence for her, willing to follow her to the end of everything, everything... Still trying not to let her feelings overwhelm her, when Harry kissed her, needy and longing, giving himself to her completely, Uma couldn't help but feel that her heart was as exposed as the sun itself.

Uma was grateful for Harry beyond anything, beyond any reason or feeling. She ended the days exhausted, her legs shaking uncontrollably from exhaustion but Harry, weakening like everyone else, with his chaotic smile and those bright and slightly evil eyes that made Uma want to kiss him forever, every second, he was always there to hold her.

One of those nights, as they fell into the stupor of sleep, Uma caressed Harry's hip, pulling him closer to her, wanting to feel his familiar body, his body that she loved for the simple fact of being Harry, and then frowned when her fingers felt sharp edges through the warm skin. Edges that weren't there before, and that felt as dangerous as the edge of a broken bottle in a deserted alley.

Harry had said that he wanted to spend the rest of his days with Uma, few as they were. But those days seemed to be spent too quickly. At that moment he was next to her, breathing calmly while he slept, but Uma's heart stopped. She got out of bed, dizzy, and went out onto the deck to catch a breath, almost suffocating.

The night was fragile, and the waves lacked strength, so the ship barely moved. Uma saw the hammocks the children slept in on the deck, filled with silent breaths, and she moved closer to the bow of the ship, holding tightly to the rope so that the world would make sense again, and everything would stop spinning.

Harry was ill, and Uma didn't want to see him die, and she didn't want to even think about him dying, despite how inevitable it was. And then, like never before, rage filled her because she was a goddess, with divine blood running in her veins, powerful… and she could do nothing against the hunger of her people. She couldn´t.

Chapter Text

When dawn broke, Uma still had her fingers curled in Harry's hair. The ship moved slowly, (the Lost Revenge always moved, but never moved forward), and it smelled of burnt plastic, surely someone had done a bit of vandalism outside, on the dock. Harry fidgeted on the bed, frowning, and Uma moved her fingers to his forehead to soften the gesture. Still asleep, he seemed to recognize her touch, and he relaxed a bit, though most of his body was still tense.  

Uma hadn't slept a bit. 

There was a stillness that seemed almost infinite, so unflappable. Sometimes Uma couldn't bear the silence. Accustomed as she had been to the Isle of the Lost, so loud and full of life, living alone on an island had been one of the most difficult things she had ever done. The silence seemed much more violent than the noise of the cutlasses, the passivity, so imposing that it was scary. Uma had believed, more than once, if she was to be honest, that she was going to go crazy, she was going to lose the sense of everything, of everything... if there had ever been a little sense. 

This silence reminded her of that one, but she did not move from the bed. Every second that passed by hurt her as deep as defeat.  

You’re not going to die. You’re not going to die.   

Was she telling that to Harry, herself, the world? 

The only thing she knew, at the time, was that if she could make some exchange, give all the gold and jewels of the sea, in exchange for more minutes with him, she certainly would. 

She ran her fingers over his hip again, almost masochistically, knowing the wound that would feel the sharp edges of his protruding bones. But before she could get there, on her way over Harry's ribs (and she no longer knew if they were her imaginations, or if there was really less muscle there), a noise was heard that thundered in the night of salt like a bottle exploding, as if all the opaque glass on the island had been lit on fire. 

Harry was awake in a minute, pulling Uma under his body, staring around, his warm hand on her wrist. 

 "It is fine Harry, it wasn't here," Uma said, sitting up on the bed and pulling him to calm him down. She felt his fast, flowing pulse as she placed her hand on his neck, making him look at her. Harry focused his blue eyes on her. 

“Were you awake?" 

Uma was about to respond when they heard footsteps down the aisle of the ship, and then a couple of knocks on the cabin door. Right away, Gil's voice. 

“Uma, Harry, it's me. You have to see this". 

They both sat on the edge of the bed, putting on their boots even though they were wearing their nightwear. Before leaving the cabin, each took their cutlass. When Uma opened the door, Gil was waiting for them. 

 "I think someone tried to break through the barrier," he told them. "The dock is burning". 

Uma frowned, looking at Harry, who looked back at her, concerned. The wood on the dock was old, like all the wood on the isle, and when it was not damp, it could be lit very easily. A ship was also an easy target for fire, and even when Harry had always found it fascinating... his father's ship was there. Harriet's. And also their own home. 

 Uma made the decision in a second, firm and capable. 

"Find Desiree, take the children to Ursula’s shop," she did not mean that the fire could not reach there, but Uma could not allow herself to have distractions if she thought to save the Lost Revenge. "The crew, is everyone awake now?" 

 Gil affirmed as they walked down the hall. Once they were out on deck, Harry and Uma saw that Gil was right. The dock was burning under the caresses of the high flames, and there were some pirates trying to pour buckets of water on the fire. However, it advanced, mocking, and Uma had a memory in her mind, that of the flames of Mal turned into a dragon. She felt her veins burn, and she clung to Harry, to his clothes, with her fingers clenched. She knew this was not Mal's doing, but it seemed to be destroying what she loved most just as the Queen of Auradon had destroyed any chance for the isle.  

"Harry," Uma called in a firm voice. "Cloth. Do we have enough?" 

He understood what Uma meant as soon as she spoke the words. It was an old story that Captain Hook himself had told in one of his Accelerated Piracy classes at Serpent Prep. An anecdote of pirates. But it was the only thing Uma could think of. She couldn't leave her home unprotected. 

Harry assessed the situation, cold and calculating. His eyes, now without a trace of sleep, lifted to the ship's sails. 

"Not enough. It was used to make some of the children's hammocks. But there is another option”. 

Uma followed his gaze, stroking the sails on the mainmast, the foremast... her heart sank. 

 "I'll take it". 

Harry looked at her, some understanding on his face. There was no cloth on the Isle to replace the canopy if it were ruined, but he also understood that Uma was more concerned about losing the Lost Revenge altogether. Either way, they would never need the sails anymore. They would never sail again. 

To make that decision was to accept once and for all their destiny of perpetual, stagnant castaways. 

Uma nodded confidently. And Harry didn't hesitate. If she had already made a decision, it would be made. 

"Jonas!" He yelled. "Bring your best knife!" 

Jonas and Harry climbed onto the mast while Uma helped Gil and Desiree evacuate the children. Bonny and Gonzo, on the captain's orders, lowered buckets tied to a rope to fill them with water. Their metal struck the wood of the ship, but the sound was drowned out by sudden screams of pain that filled the dock and overshadowed the chaos of pirates and sailors. Whoever had tried to break through the barrier must have been violently pushed back, setting the fire and being knocked unconscious, until then. 

Uma immersed herself in the sound of the screaming, her heart pounding in her chest, so aching she felt she couldn't breathe, trying to avoid hearing Harry and Jonas's knives ripping through the fabric as she watched Desiree and Gil go away from the ship, with the scared and stoic children next to them. 

Pieces of the wood from the pier gave way. They fell with a roar into the water, ripping the early morning. 

Uma climbed up and pulled another rope attached to a bucket, pulling to carry water up to the deck. 

"Captain," Bonny said breathlessly, "what are we supposed to be doing?" 

Uma answered without taking her eyes off the water, calming down when she saw the blackness of the distant sea. Ungraspable sea. Unreachable sea that lived within her and to which, however, she could never return. 

"We are going to soak the ship," she replied. "Only in this way will we prevent the fire from reaching the wood". 

Bonny and Gonzo looked at each other, not saying a word, and Uma hoped they hadn't detected the slight tremor in her voice. 

The first sail fell to the deck with a crash. Uma took it without hesitation, without stopping to feel the smooth texture of the fabric, which had, at least once, stopped the impossible wind, to propel them beyond the earth. She spread the cloth over the deck, took one of the buckets of water, and tossed it on top of it, soaking it. She followed the same procedure, aided by Bonny and Gonzo, and then Harry and Jonas as they came down, pouring bucket after bucket of salty sea, and then spreading the cloth over the deck, the bowsprit, the rudder, tossing it over the gunwale to cover the sides of the Revenge, until the ship looked like some kind of giant wet paper. 

And then, only then, as they waited on deck with their hearts filled with uncertainty, watching the shore burn, watching Hook's crew, and Harriet's, do the same with their ships, trying to guard their homes, that Uma would allowed herself to pull Harry by the arm, lead him to a secluded corner, and he gazed at her with such devotion... She tugged at him, touching his hipbones again, staring at her ship stripped of sails, a wooden frame only. And then she bit her lip, full of fury, and Harry hid her in his chest as Uma screamed with all her might, and her screams never reached the wind.  

Chapter Text

It was the wee hours of the early morning when the threat of fire became less of a concern, and the night chill was beginning to dissipate, giving way to the humid and dense heat, and Uma and Harry arrived at Ursula's shop, exhausted, almost broken. Harry did not detach himself from his place on Uma's back for a moment, expectant, flustered, running his fingers through the strands of his hair so hard that some of the hair began to fall off. Uma took his hand to calm his anxiety, a gesture that lasted seconds.

There was so much movement on the dock, all full of wounded pirates and fishermen, broken ships and broken wood, and the smell of firewood, and a bit of burned meat stuck to everyone's nostrils, amid the pained screams that rose from where the fire had started. The smell got into Ursula's fish and chips shop when they opened the door, and then Uma stood for a moment, staring at the chaos.

The children were scared, hungry, and tired, and Desiree was doing her best to take care of all of them. Then, Uma saw something in her hand, moving up her forearm, a long, enveloping bruise, which made Uma feel, for a moment, that her anger would finally finish her off. She had never been afraid of drowning, she always knew that water could not kill her, and yet the suffocation that provoked the anger of seeing a marked tentacle on Desiree's forearm was enough for Uma to fear, for the first time, that she would not be able to breathe again.

She heard Harry breathe out, and they shared a look. Sinking into the blue eyes of her first mate was enough for Uma to hold back a little, just enough to calmly walk up to the pirate from her, take her arm to examine her, and find the strength and coldness to ask questions.

"What happened?"

Desiree didn't try to lie, or say it wasn't worth it. She knew Uma, she knew that dangerous gleam in her eyes, the way her heavy gaze fell on her marks, immovable and impossible to evade.

“Ursula was not very happy with the idea of us coming here. But I've already taken care of that, Captain. Sorry, I think I cut off the tip of one of your mother's tentacles".

Desiree seemed to be waiting for Uma's explosion, although she knew it wouldn't exactly be fury at her for defending herself against her. And yet the tiredness and pain of the uncertainty of what would happen to her ship, her home and her people, were too much. Uma laughed, it was at first, almost a whispered laugh, although it grew louder, erratic, until she couldn't take it anymore and doubled over with laughter, with a stomachache, and Harry suspected that at any moment she would start crying.

He motioned for Desiree to watch the children for a moment, as he guided his captain into the kitchen, away from the gaze, holding her against himself as she laughed. They barely made it through the wooden doors when, indeed, Uma collapsed against Harry's chest.

And she stayed there, laughing without joy, full of pain, until the tears came, and Harry felt her fingernails burrow into his neck, right where she was resting her hand to keep from falling.

He lulled her against himself, feeling his bones ache to see her like this. Uma was so exhausted that Harry was surprised that she was able to stand up. It wasn't that he thought she was weak, or that she couldn't handle this. Harry knew that Uma was capable of holding the sea and the land on her shoulders. She had done it for years. But this sentence of death and loss was more than anyone would want to be able to bear.

"Come on, Captain, cry all you need to do," he murmured through her hair. The smell of salt between her tufts of sea treasure invaded Harry's nostrils, and he had to wrinkle his nose and close his eyes for a moment to avoid falling apart as well. In truth, he had believed that he would never see her again, that he would never smell her, or feel her again. Harry had come to believe that he had lost Uma in the waves beyond the island's shore, and he had felt powerless like a drowning pirate.

She didn't stop laughing as she cried, and Harry felt the stabbing pain her nails were causing on the skin of his neck, but he didn't pull away. In a way, his injuries told him this was real, not one of the dreams he used to have while he was lost for hours (sometimes days) locked in her cabin. And it was a pain that he was pleased to receive. Uma could engulf him in the same way the foam drags the sand off the shore into the depths of the sea, and Harry would be more than happy about that.

So, she did something that Harry didn't anticipate. She clung to the lapels of his coat, her fingers closed around the leather with the same force as the cordage of a ship, and there was no escape, no option, when she crashed him into the wall, she took with both hands (certain, strong) his face, fingers on the line of his jaw, and she began to kiss him.

Harry wouldn't have wanted to escape, even if it had been an option. He would have dived further into Uma, tied himself to the anchor to be unable to rise to the surface. He felt Uma's teeth biting into him, her small body like a prison on him, all shades of turquoise and gold, a treasure of wood and gold devoid of mirages.

Uma was imposing, and Harry wasn't scared. She demanded that he hold her weight, carry her, his firm hands holding her thighs, a lightning suspended in the sky before falling and setting the sea ablaze. And her body, like a mollusk attached to him, impossible to separate.

He never believed that he could have her like this. He never even believed she wanted him that way, and the kisses made his skin feel like a jellyfish had stung him, sending the same lightning bolt through his skin, terribly sore, terribly longing.

He couldn't help it, he didn't know when he fell, nor did he feel the pain of the floor hitting his muscles, the only thing Harry knew was that he tried to keep Uma from feeling the pain. And if she did, she didn't bother. She attacked his neck hungrily, taking it, demanding it.

"Darling," Harry groaned, out of breath, for no reason, maybe lifeless itself.

Uma pulled away. This time, Harry felt pain where her lips had been a second before. She was looking at him, unashamed, her lips red, swollen, and her brown gaze as heavy as ever, defiant.

"I want to have you," she said.

“You always have me, darling. I belong to you".

There was no other truth than that. Because the life and the will of the pirates belong to the sea, and to the captains and the queens, and Uma was that and more.

Harry attacked her lips, completely sure that reality was no longer reality, because everything in the world had become her warmth and her hands demanding him, him, him and no one else. Uma loved and wanted him, she…

Things were different since she had returned. She was no longer hiding behind her harshness, maybe she was so tired, maybe she sensed, like Harry, that time was running out. The waves of the immense sea were running out, and they no longer had the wind to push their ship beyond the dock.

Ursula could come at any moment, more furious than ever, but Uma was not afraid. It didn't matter if they were discovered, it would just have been the affirmation of something everyone knew, that had been implicit in the way Harry and Uma had been best friends, in the way they named each other captain and first mate, in everything.

"Take me upstairs," Uma said, and it was not a request, nor a desperate maiden's plea. It was a captain's command to a sailor, harsh, seductive without meaning to, and something in her voice fueled Harry's desire. Even after so long, Uma was still so sensual, and this time he wouldn't have to hold back. He could be hers, he could have her.

"Yes, Captain," he replied, kissing the curve of her jaw, her cinnamon neck, so soft. He heard her moan as well, an incredible sound made by him, by the way he was stroking her, and then, (fingers in his hair, legs around his waist like tentacles, without letting go of her grip), Harry held her by the thighs and got up to go upstairs.

Ursula could never go up there, so the small room had been one of Uma's favorite hiding places, even with the plank wooden floors and peeling paint on the walls, when she was younger, before having Lost Revenge, before spending a few nights sleeping in Harry's room at the Jolly Roger, when her mother had kicked her out of the house, Uma had hung old fishing nets on the walls that she had painted turquoise, with shells hanging like little treasures. It had been so long since she had seen this place, it seemed as if she could return to another life.

But she couldn't focus too much on the details, because the familiar shape, run over a thousand times in his memory, from Harry's mouth, ran down her neck to her collarbones, as desperate and dying as a fish fighting to return to the sea. He did not leave her on the bed to impose the weight of his body on her, but lay down and allowed Uma to spread over him like a blue cloak, uncoiling, wide.

Uma looked at him for a moment, so familiar and wonderful, so certain. Harry was always a landlocked pirate. He had lived imagining the fury of the storms, the relentlessness of the eroding foam, the rush of the waves, dying in his terrible longing for freedom.

But Harry was lucky. He was the only one who could know something of that sea, that dangerous stillness and impatience, and it had been a wonderful life with her. Harry knew that he was dying, that he was a clock whose hands reached the last seconds, the last tick tock, announcing nothingness, and he would have given any of those seconds, all, even those he did not have, to be able to see Uma free one more time.

She belonged to the sea, not here, not in the dust and ruin. If only he had been able to negotiate, the lives of any of them in exchange for her freedom...

"Harry," she called him. And she seemed to read his thoughts, maybe she saw everything in his eyes, maybe Harry was as transparent to Uma as the most crystalline waters of the ocean. He should be frightened by the degree of understanding she had about him, because he had never had a more exposed heart. And yet there it was, throbbing, pulsing red-hot for her. Uma looked at him with a mixture of malice and love. "Free me".

One more day, one more night, or a second, even an instant, that they could have spent together out there, in the cool wind, if only they had been allowed to sail, drown in the sea salt of the water, feel carried away by the waves, Harry would have given anything in that moment for it.

Uma had one leg on either side of Harry's hips, and she traced the outline of his ribs and hips with her fingers. She looked distraught when she touched the sharp edges of his bones, so hurt. Harry had noticed it too, the way he'd been feeling more tired, slower and weaker lately. He had been leaving some of his food in Uma's rations without her noticing.

"Come here, love," he murmured, half sitting up so he could remove her clothes. Uma was not ashamed, as haughty as she was, nor did she try to hide or cover herself, but she showed herself to him as proud as a sail catching the wind. She was so impatient, one of the things Harry loved most about her. She tugged at his pierced shirt until his chest was bare, slipped his pants and underwear, and admired him as if she had just found the brightest treasure in the sea.

Harry laughed a little, almost drunkenly. They had never been so close, not even on nights when they clung to each other because otherwise they couldn't breathe. Uma's long, flowing blue locks fell down her back, following the curve of her waist, down to her hips. Her skin was all the color of wood, and something very rare that he had only tasted once in his life and that was called cacao; her breasts, small but proud, seemed to seek him out. Harry raised a hand, ravenous fingers running over the softness of her belly, her slim waist, until he reached for one of her nipples.

He gasped, and Uma raised her hand to cover Harry's and hold it in place. He squeezed a little, feeling the texture, the smoothness, and then he pressed his mouth to it, wet and hungry. Maybe the fire on the dock hadn't killed him, but this one could, he thought. Or maybe he just felt it, the undeniable certainty, because Harry was sure he had stopped thinking the moment Uma removed her clothes.

She squeezed the strands of his hair, tugging him a bit, but the pain didn't reach Harry's senses. He felt the heat from Uma's core, throbbing so close to his own. And then she claimed him, as demanding as ever, and took him in one hand, willing to guide him to the place where he belonged to, inside her, devoured by her.

Uma was slippery, warm, not even the pain of the unknown stopped her. The insides of her seized him in a second, and Harry no longer thought he was going to die. He knew that his heart had stopped for a moment, that all the blood in his veins had filled with salt and sea, but it was nothing compared to the sensation he had when she began to move, rhythmic, completely primitive, a wave crashing into the shore and taking everything she wanted.

"God, Harry", feeling Uma whine his name, desperate for him, undone, made the vertigo in Harry's belly unbearable. It was painful, even every touch of skin, even the slightest caresses, and he wanted, more than anything, for everything to finish and never end at the same time.

He couldn't say anything other tan her name. Uma, Uma. Like a prayer, absolutely sacred. Harry was throbbing, broken, with a trembling, panting Uma on him, taking him fully, holding her in his arms, and she sought his mouth, drinking from him.

Time then lost all meaning. And death and life could have been the same thing, so Harry was not afraid of anything. Nor from the cutting edge of hunger, or the suffocation of thirst. The last seconds of the morning also faded, and when Uma fell apart, pulsing around him, Harry could only see blue everywhere. Turquoise without limits, without end, free and wild.

Chapter Text

When they were even younger, Harry had thought of Uma as being like the sea, with her shifting temperament and deep, booming voice, it always seemed that in her he could catch a glimpse of that horizon that had been denied for them. Now, however, Harry was certain that the sea fully inhabited Uma's body. He could smell it, there, buried in the loose strands of her hair, of the endless waves, blue, full of little treasures, a shell, a loose piece of sea glass, in different directions like ocean currents meeting each other.

He would never know what lay beyond the surrounding waves of the Isle and Auradon, but he imagined it to be something like Uma, so deep that it could be terrifying to others, so powerful that it could devour him in one breath. The sea could engulf the world, every bit of land and greenery, and Harry honestly hoped she would.

“Why don't you unleash your fury, love?” he asked.

They were still in Uma's room. It was dark outside, though it was always dark, so even so, he wouldn't have been able to figure out what time or what day it was.

She stretched out in his arms, the cinnamon skin of her waist almost glowing. Skin against skin, Harry unconsciously undulated his hips, moved by a kind of pleasurable pain, something like desire and longing and wanting to die too.

"Because I'm not the Uma you found outside the Isle anymore, Harry. The barrier doesn't allow magic to work, remember?"

“But you still are. You have always been, Uma, darling. So powerful".

So worthy. She didn't even try to cover her body, or hide in Harry's arms. She was proud, far from any shame, languid, her hands restless, exploring. Her fingers, though slender and feminine, calloused and rough from washing dishes in her mother's shop, raked Harry's skin greedily. Open palms touching his thighs, his hips, and he couldn't help but moan, strangely melodious sounds. Uma was pleased by the way he squirmed under her.

Kisses had always been a rare thing on the Island, too valuable, too quick because they could never afford to let their guard down, to let themselves be exposed. Now Harry was sure that if anyone walked through that door, Uma would laugh like the sea that laughs at the smallness of the world.

For some reason, Harry never thought that she failed. Never in all the years of fights and fights with Mal, or with the other gangs on the Isle. Not when she went away from the yacht, not even when their freedom was taken from them and sent back there.

It was natural for Uma to be tired, worn out, but she never felt the need to maintain a front for Harry. She was never afraid to express it and for him to stop seeing her like that, like a queen. The statement he had just made was only the truth.

“Because the people of the island don't deserve that either,” she finally answered, “I couldn't fail again. I couldn't give them hope to take it away later".

On the Isle there was nothing but ruffians and villains. No one was exempt from a crime, not even themselves, but Uma knew the children didn't deserve it. How many had been forced to live like filthy rats, to be thieves, extortionists, to carry knives under their clothes? The Isle of the Lost was a horrible place, to be sure, but it was Uma's home.

She was so sure of it. Even with her hunger and regret at dragging Harry and Gil back here, she didn't regret coming.

Harry would never tell her that she had a heart of gold. Uma wasn't a hero like the people in Auradon, but she was fair. And he knew that she knew it. There was no need to flatter her like that. Instead, Harry knew that he wanted to adore her for the rest of his life.

Uma straddled his hips again, seeking his warmth inside her, majestic, and Harry offered his body to her. She could take anything she wanted, absolutely anything. Mark him. Accept him as an offering, hide him like a treasure. She could throw him into the sea as he submerged himself in her loose, fluttering hair, a hair of eternal waves, of cannons and gunpowder and salty shrimp.

She was focused. She had her eyes closed, one hand resting on Harry's chest, her fingers a little stiff, like a mollusk clinging to him; there was something in her expression… Uma wasn't just taking pleasure, Harry knew. She was making sure that he enjoyed too.

The truth? Harry was dying every second. He was a death row inmate. Leaving every last breath on her skin, he was drunk between the desire to live and the desire to let go forever.

Her hips undulated in an endless succession of waves, imprisoning him like a sinking ship, and Harry was sure that at any moment -perhaps the next gasp, the next groan- Uma would break and turn the sea.

She took his face in her hands, a goddess of life and death, oceanic source of existence and chaos. Her brown eyes caught him, pleased to hear him and see him dissolving like restless fire. So cheeky.

Harry would love to be in her arms until the last second.

Uma was not surprised to realize that it was almost afternoon when they finally made it down from the room to the shop. The crew was gathered at the usual table, and there were even a couple of customers. Gil and Celia had been waiting tables, Cook hadn't left her place in the kitchen. However, the place was almost full. The children who were now sheltering there were reunited with the crew as well, making the lack of space notorious.

“Uma,” Cook growled. “There's a tray of food for you and your boy in the kitchen. The others have already eaten”.

She nodded. Harry crept into the kitchen, hungry, and Uma was about to follow him until she heard Bonny's voice call out to her.

"Captain," she said, "can we talk?"

"Of course".

Jonas and Bonny approached her, he looked at the children out of the corner of his eye. Gonzo and Desiree were also alert, vigilant.

“What's wrong?” she asked, quickly and a little impatiently.

Bonny ran her fingers through her short hair nervously.

“We have some more children, captain. They came of their own free will. They were kicked out of their houses."

Uma felt her fury stir inside her like a tsunami. She wasn't going to catch it, she didn't want to hold back anymore. She bit her lower lip as she thought. More mouths to feed, which meant depriving  her crew of what little rations remained. It meant less time. It meant that Harry's hip bones, and his cheekbones and collarbones would stick out more and more.

Uma was not a selfless heroine like the princesses of Auradon; her family, her pirates whom she had given a name and home would always be her priority. As selfish as she was, she wasn't willing to sacrifice Harry, Gil, any of them. She was greedy with her treasures.

But he couldn't kick them out.

Those children had also been humiliated, they were so young, some of them didn't even understand what was happening. They did not know why the air was thick with pain and rage and why Auradon's shipments were no longer arriving.

"Let them stay," she said at last, looking at Bonny seriously. "Jonas, make sure they have a place to sleep tonight".

He nodded.

"Bonny," called Uma, before they left. "However, we can no longer admit anyone else".

She nodded seriously. Jonas tightened one hand on his belt in a nervous gesture. They were all crazy, they weren't innocent, they had spent much of their lives on the corners of the dock, quietly growing stronger, a little more ready to steal, loot or whatever it took. Maybe that was why they couldn't pretend it didn't hurt to see all these frightened children, left to drown in the middle of the immensity. Because in them they could see themselves.

Uma would never regret choosing these pirates as a family.

Once she entered the kitchen, between the crackling sound of overheated oil bubbling in the fryer and the thick smell of fish, Uma found Harry looking everywhere.

"I can't find that tray Cook talks about," he growled hungrily. He wanted to hide it, really, to hide a bit of that gnawing hunger that ran through his body all the time.

Uma touched her fingertips to the hickeys she had left on his neck, proud in a strange way. Harry closed his eyes for a moment as he felt the touch.

"It must be around here".

Cook used to keep the trays well hidden. She didn't like to risk someone coming through the back room and stealing a little of this or a little of that.

Gil walked into the kitchen, carrying a stack of dirty dishes. He set them carelessly in the sink while Uma searched through the cans and boxes for the tray.

“The dock is a mess. There were ships that couldn't be saved from the fire,” he commented, drawing Harry's attention. Uma stopped listening to the conversation, focused on finding the food. Finally, she climbed onto a small bench so she could see on the higher shelves of the musty old cupboard. There it was, a small piece of fried fish, potatoes, two miserable pieces of crab, and a piece of bread a few days old.

How were they going to manage? There was no way. As much as they delayed the imminent, at some point they would be left without food, without water, without anything.

Uma wanted to scream. She should listen to Harry, just unleash all her fury, the world would finally see that a goddess should never be imprisoned. How much dignity there really was on this island that everyone refused to see...

She was going to show them. She didn't know how, she didn't know if she had time. But she was going to need her first mate with her. Her Harry. Forever. She took the tray and took out two plates from the crockery. She divided the portions in half, and put a little more on Harry's plate.

Uma wasn´t willing to sacrifice him.