When she was younger, she always hated being alone with him. Not for the usual reasons people hated to find themselves alone with Harry Hook. No, fear was never something the daughter of Ursula subscribed to. And beyond that, she knew he would never hurt her- even in the beginning she knew.
The reason she always hated being alone with him ran much deeper than the crazy look in his eyes and the gleam of his hook. She first noticed it when she was thirteen years old. They had been running together, partners in crime, for four years already.
"Happy birthday Uma."
Uma glanced up in surprise; usually nobody could sneak up on her. Harry was standing in the door to the kitchen, staring down at his feet. Leave it to him to find her at her lowest, distracted and moping.
"What are you doing here Harry? You know mom will kill you if she catches you picking the lock" Uma went back scrubbing the dishes in her mom's fish and chip shop, ignoring the 'happy birthday'.
"I wanted to bring you something." Harry replied, hopping onto the counter behind her, swinging his legs.
"Well I'm a little busy at the moment." Uma couldn't help but snap. She was exhausted. Her mom had other employees, but seeing as Uma was the only one she didn't have to compensate for the work, she worked Uma like a dog. The shop had closed at 10pm, over three hours ago now, but the villains, villain kids, and sidekicks could make quite the mess, and Uma was still trying to get it clean enough for opening.
"I can wait." Was his only reply. Uma rolled her eyes as she heard him hop down and walk towards her. That boy couldn't sit still to save his life. Her eyebrows shot up though as he plunged his hands into the sink water next to hers, invading her personal space.
"Wha-?" She leaned away as his right side pressed against her left.
"Can't have ye doing this all on your own, now can we?"
She glared at him. "I do this alone every night."
He glanced at her through the corner of his eye. "Not anymore ye don't. And in any case, it's your birthday as of…" He glances at the clock, "an hour and 13 minutes ago. I'm late."
She heard the apology in his voice, although he never said the words. Nobody apologized on the isle. It was a sign of weakness.
"I didn't expect you at all. It's not like we celebrate birthday's here anyways." She shrugged and went back to washing dishes alongside him. The warmth of his shoulder against hers felt nice, although she would never admit it.
"Well seeing as ye actually know when your birthday is, I figure we should start." Harry replied as he placed a dripping plate on the drying rack above the sink.
It was true, not many villain kids knew when their birthdays were. Their parents didn't care when they were born, so why would they bother to remember the date? Let alone tell their kids. They only reason anyone knew what a birthday party was was from Auradon shows. Uma only found out last year when her mother told her 'You're thirteen as of today, and so I want you to start taking the night shift at the shop.' Not exactly a party like the Aurdon kids. Uma had told Harry a few days later. She had never expected him to remember.
Uma didn't reply. They worked in silence for another 30 minutes, cleaning every dish and tray in the place. Uma had already mopped up blood from an earlier fight between a son of Narissa and a daughter of Shan Yu, swept the entire place, wiped the counters, and cleaned Flotsam and and Jetsam's tank. Finally, she was done.
She walked towards the door to see Harry out and lock the door behind him. She opened the door and turned to look at him, only to realize he was on the other side of the room, making himself comfortable at the piano bench. Narrowing her eyes she slammed the door, (but not too hard, the last thing she needed was to wake her mom) and stomped over to him. Hands on her hips, she stood over him and opened her mouth with every intention of telling him off for keeping her up later than she needed to be, but the words died in her throat as she got the first proper look at his face all night.
His left eye was bruised and swollen, and he had a cut across his left cheek stretching from his cheekbone and through his top lip.
"Harry! What happened?" She asked hurriedly.
His eyes widened, then he flashed her his trademark grin. "I got ye somethin."
"Later." She told him firmly. "You can give it to me after you tell me what happened."
He turned his face away from her, gazing down at the keys and playing a couple of notes with his hook. "I remind him too much of him."
He didn't have to tell her who either 'him' was. She knew the first was referring to his dad, Captain Hook, the second to Peter Pan. She plopped down next to him on the bench, and uncharacteristically gently, turned his face towards her own. She studied the cut on his cheek while he avoided her gaze. It was shallow. Probably dodged, but not fast enough. Obviously from the Captain's hook. Almost all villain kids took a hit or two from their parents in their lifetimes. Uma herself hadn't lived with Ursula her whole life and remained completely unscathed. But it wasn't often it went this far. "It needs cleaned." She told him.
He pulled his face from her hand to stare back at the keys. "Can I give ye yer present now?"
He sounded so miserable in that moment, Uma didn't think she could have refused him anything. Giving in, she nodded. He visibly brightened, sitting up straighter and reaching into a bag she hadn't noticed before sitting next to the piano bench. What he brought out, she almost couldn't believe.
"It's a peach!" Harry exclaimed happily.
She snatched it out of his hand, making sure not to squeeze it too hard. "Where did you get this?" She almost yelled it at him in excitement.
Harry grinned, clearly pleased with himself. "I nicked it off one of the Auradon delivery guys. They really should know better than to have stuff like this on them when they come here. Look, I got you something else too."
Uma stared at him in wonder as he pulled out another gift from his bag. A book. And from the looks of it, a completely intact one. Most books they got from Auradon were ripped and dirtied; trash to the Auradonians. Harry answered her question before she could voice it.
"I actually bought this one. One of the Tremaine twin's got ahold of it somehow. I got it from her about six months ago and saved it for ye."
She took the book from him, setting the peach on top of the piano.
"It's about pirates." Harry told her softly, although Uma had already gathered as much from the beautiful drawing on the front of a pirate ship crashing through waves on the ocean.
Ignoring the fluttering in her stomach, she leaned into his side further, prompting him to place an arm around her middle. "What did this cost you?" Uma wanted to know.
"Nothing that wasn't well worth it." He responded. They were almost whispering now, although Uma couldn't tell you why.
"Thank you, Harry." And Uma did another thing so much unlike her. She leaned up and kissed his cheek gently. She could see his eyes widen and his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard, but he didn't say anything. She secretly hoped he felt the same type of stomach swoop as she had, a blush rising to her face and neck.
"Wanna read it with me?" She asked him.
Harry cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, I can't uhm…" He trailed off dejectedly, not wanting to voice the thoughts.
Uma could have smacked herself for her stupidity. A lot of the isle kids couldn't read well. Most of them knew their letters and could recognize some of the more common words, but as school wasn't required and they didn't use books anyways, it wasn't uncommon for kid's to never learn to read. Uma was one of the lucky ones, her mom had Cook teach her to read when she was young so Uma could handle the deliveries and books for the chip shop on her own. She made a split second decision, "Come on, I'll teach you."
He turned to face her fully, eyes wide and shocked.
"But only if you let me clean the cut first."
Even that couldn't deter him, and he nodded happily. If Uma had known how happy it would make him, she would have offered a long time ago.
And that's how they found themselves sitting on the floor in her bedroom, leaning against the bed with a plate full sliced peaches, Harry with one knee up to support the book, the other straight ahead, Uma with both legs bent underneath her, leaning in to help him through the book. Harry's face had been cleaned of blood and the cut washed with water and a clean cloth. They didn't have a lot of supplies here on the isle. The reading was slow going, and Uma had to fight to keep a level head at times, but overall Harry was doing remarkably well. His mother had taught him the sounds each letter makes when he was young, before she died. Most of it came flooding back to him as they worked. The only real frustration was how she wanted to read the story at lightning speed, to find out what happened to the Captain and his crew in the story. After a few chapters, it was almost three in the morning and she finally decided to call it quits.
Harry didn't look thrilled, but obediently put the book down and stood. Uma stood as well, and it was then she noticed the position they were in. Standing so close to each other, in the middle of her bedroom in the middle of the night… She took a step back, trying to ignore the fact that she wanted to step forward instead.
She turned on her heel and lead the way downstairs again. "I always wanted to be a pirate" she told him.
"I know." He responded. Because of course he did. He knew everything about her. "And if ye want it, you'll have it some day. You'll be the Captain." He said it as if he truly believed it.
"You don't want to be Captain?" She questioned. After all, he carried that hook of his everywhere and almost always had it on. Clearly he wanted to be like his father.
He shook his head. "I'd make a shite Captain. They only thing I want to do is follow ye anywhere. Captains are meant to lead."
Uma was getting quite sick of the swooping feeling in her stomach, and pressing a hand against her belly as if to physically halt the sensation, she turned to him. "Then you'll be my first mate." She said firmly. And that's when she saw it. It was forbidden on the isle, she never even learned what it was until she was seven and saw it on the television her mom loved so much… But there it was staring at her straight in the face, shining from Harry's eyes. And it terrified her. Opening the door, she waved him out. "Goodnight, Harry."
"G'night Captain."
It was since that night she decided never to be alone with him again. And for the mot part it worked, for a long while. They finished reading the book in her mother's shop or on the deck of his father's ship, when Hook himself was elsewhere. They acquired a ship and started gathering a crew that she surrounded herself with almost constantly. Harry was still her right hand man, her first mate, her best friend, even. But Uma made sure to be alone with him as little as possible. That was made even easier when Gil, an old friend, decided to join her crew. He fit right in and was with them nearly all the time. Harry's eyes got wilder, his grin wider. He was more liberal with the use of his hook. Uma saw this. She knew he was unhinged. But who on the isle wasn't at least a little unhinged? Still, it was starting to worry her. She rarely saw the true Harry anymore, the one under the crazy. And she hated the whispers about him when people thought they couldn't hear. Even from her own crew, though they learned a harsh lesson from her on that point. She avoided, he was crazy, people stayed silent on the matter.
This worked for her for a time. But she also saw the pain. He understood what she was doing. Not at first, but the more she pushed him away, walked away from him or called others over, the stronger the look got. He tried to hide it; valiantly he tried to hide it. But he could never hide anything from Uma. He still showed up with cuts and bruise when his dad had too much to drink or just decided he looked too much like Peter Pan. She knew they were worse where she couldn't see. Caught glimpses sometimes through the tears on his shirt. Sometimes she sent other crew members to patch him up. Sometimes he let them. The times he didn't, she did it herself on the deck and in full view of everyone. She never sent another girl to patch him up. She tried not to think about her own reasoning behind that one.
One day he showed up hunched over in obvious pain. He snapped at everyone who got close, even Gil.
"Harry, I only want to help!" Gil cried. "Are you okay?"
Harry threw his head back in laughter, "Okay? I'm fantastic! I'm bloody wonderful!"
Gil backed up a step as Desiree came forward. Uma almost growled as she watched Desiree reach out towards Harry's arm.
"Harry." The other girl tried to placate him, but Harry took a mad swing at the girl with his hook. Uma tried not to feel pleased. After all, Desiree was part of her crew too.
"Don't touch me!" He screamed at her. "Nobody touch me!" His eyes were wild; his smile was back on his face as soon as he was done yelling.
Uma stepped forward. "Harry." She said firmly.
He spun in her direction, looking for all the world like he was ready to murder someone with his hook. She stepped forward. "Harry," she said again, calmly. "What happened?"
Chuckling maniacally, he muttered, "What do you care?" and turned to walk away. He had never walked away from her before.
"Harry!" She yelled angrily. He stopped walking but didn't turn around. "Come here." He didn't move. She could see his hands shaking; they did that a lot lately. "That's an order."
Slowly he turned and walked towards her. The smile was gone from his face now. Crewmembers backed away from him as he walked, trying to pretend as if they hadn't been watching the entire time. Uma turned on her heel as he approached and walked to the Captain's quarters. Her quarters. She could hear him following, not that she doubted he would. Crazy? Yes. But also loyal and obedient to a fault.
Walking into her room she told him. "Shut the door." He did. "Sit down." He did that too, falling onto her bed and staring at her. Too shocked to be smiling, though his hands were shaking and he was still twitching. Always twitching. "Take off your coat." He tried to peel it off, but she could see the pain it was causing him. She sat next to him on the bed, and gently, gently took the hook from him. He reluctantly parted with it, even now trusting her like he trusts no other. Even after she abandoned him. Again gently, she helped him out of his coat, dropping it on the bed. She could see the blood now, seeping through the back of his shirt. She helped him out of that too, and tried to ignore the heat that rose to her face. This wasn't the time to be thinking of him like that.
Uma inhaled sharply through her nose, staring at his back in horror. It looked like he had been whipped, though she knew it was more likely a hook like his own than a whip. Quickly she grabbed some antiseptic one of her crew had stolen a while back and some clean bandages. She tried to work fast, wanting to cause him as little pain as possible. Despite her efforts, she knew it hurt him. She watched his shaking hands grab ahold of her blankets and squeeze. He sat stiller than she had ever seen.
After what felt like hours, she could finally say "Done."
His body almost collapsed, exhausted as he was. He bent over almost double, and when she pushed him to lie down, he did so with barely a confused glance. She laid his head on her lap and stroked his hair back.
"It hurts." He whispered to her.
"I know, Harry. I'm sorry." The pain in her chest seeing him like this was almost unbearable. She wanted to kill Hook, he had gone too far this time. But there would be time for that later.
"My chest. My head. They hurt, Uma. All the time." He sobbed. For the first time since she had known him, he let tears fall. His arms came around her waist and held on while she stroked his head and held him as best she could. "I miss ye, Uma."
Her own tears fell at this admission. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to abandon you."
He didn't respond. They cried together for another few minutes before he fell into a deep sleep. She climbed out from underneath him, setting his head on her pillow. Then she kicked off her boots and climbed onto the bed between him and the wall, ducking under his arm and laying her head as gently as she could on his chest.
"I'll never leave you again." She whispered.
After that day, his shakes weren't as bad. He wasn't completely healthy, he wasn't cured of all insanity. But he was better than before. She saw more of the old Harry she had grown up terrorizing the isle with. When she was younger, she always hated being alone with him. Not for the usual reasons people hated to find themselves alone with Harry Hook. No, fear was never something the daughter of Ursula subscribed to. And beyond that, she knew he would never hurt her- even in the beginning she knew. The reason she didn't want to be alone with him was because she saw the love, and couldn't handle it then. Didn't want to believe she felt it too. But despite what their parents had to say, despite what everyone on the isle said, love wasn't a terrible thing. Perhaps the Auradonians had it right… It was a powerful, healing thing. As long as they were on the isle, they couldn't express that love the way they wanted. But now she made it a point to be alone with him. He slept in her cabin every night, beside her, sometimes touching, never inappropriate, never pushing. She dismissed the rest of her crew when he came to help her with end of the night chores at the chip shop. She relished the small touches and looks, and made sure to return them tenfold. One day they would leave this place. They would take Auradon, they would get revenge, and they would express their love for all to see.