Author's note
The world of descendants plus its characters don't belong to me, but to Melissa de la Cruz. I merely play around with them a little bit ;)
Ok so first of all I'd like to thank all the people who read and reviewed my other two stories! It was really motivating for me to read your comments ^^ Also a big thanks to all the people who simplly read them, hope you liked them.
Anyway, this story took me quite long to write because just as I got the idea for it I hurt my hand and once I could write again I realised that I didn't like the direction the story was going anymore, so I had to rethink and this is the outcome. I'd also like to apologize that I misspelled Harriet's name in my other stories, I'm a stickler for details so that really bugs me.
Also one last thing, for all the people desperately in search of some Huma after watching Descendants 2, read the third book "Rise of the Isle of the Lost", the Huma is strong in there ;P
Harry and Uma are both fifteen in this story so its before the books and the movies. Also I think Cook (the woman to whom Harry gave the stolen fish; for all the people who haven't read the book) secretly ships these two as well :P
Oh, and if you find any mistakes than take good care of them ;) On to the story! ^^
"Hey, I wanted the buttered clams!" it took all of Uma's willpower not to throw said clams into her customer's face (mainly because it was her who would have to clean the whole mess back up). 'Crazy old hag, make up your damn mind! First you say fried clams then you want buttered ones! Ugh, why do I have to do this! This is mom's tavern! Let her deal with all the nutjobs ….' With one last deep breath, Uma turned away from the frowning (and still complaining) woman and stomped back to the kitchen to pick up the next order. Cook gave her a sympathetic glance as she handed the young sea witch a tray filled with brine balls and a generous portion of dry rot. Ugh, she would never understand how people could eat at Ursula's. Not that it was Cook's fault. The resolute chef did everything in her power to turn the "ingredients" (garbage would be more correct really) that was brought over from Auradon into something that was at least edible and wouldn't kill you immediately after consuming it (most of the time), but there was only so much she could do.
Slamming the tray down in front of one of the many hungry pirates that frequented the Fish and Chips Shoppe, Uma quickly surveyed the tavern, to check if anyone or anything needed her immediate attention, before heading back to the kitchen for a short break. Hopping up on the counter next to Flotsam and Jetsam's tank, the sea witch tiredly watched Cook roll out dogfish dumplings and tending to her stew. "You look dead on your feet Uma," the normally surly red head remarked. "Gee, thanks! I always try my best to look amazing." Cook chuckled good-naturedly at the pouty remark. "I meant you look as if you could fall asleep any second, dearie." "I know what you meant, but what do you expect me to look like when mum forces me to take two night shifts in a row! Plus, the day shift as well! Wish I'd know what I did to piss her off this time, or if there even is a reason …" the young sea witch trailed off with a confused frown on her face, her anger evaporating and turning into resignation instead. "If you want, you can take a short nap, Friday nights are usually slow so I can probably handle the Shoppe on my own for a bit." Giving the red headed chef a grateful smile, Uma nonetheless shook her head, "No, that's too risky, should mum decide to make a surprise appearance and finds me sleeping then I'm in for it!" the young sea witch remarked with a shudder. Even though she'd been imprisoned on the Isle for over fifteen years now, Ursula has lost nothing of her cruelty, and no one knew that better than Uma.
"But isn't your Ma visiting her sister Morgana tonight?" Cook asked, now cleaning a few fishes. "Yes, but who knows, they might just get into one of their usual fights and before we know it she's back here and in an even worse mood. Wouldn't be the first time, really," the young sea witch grouched, watching the two electric eels slither over each other. "Hey, what do you have to do to get food in this place!" a heavy accented and slightly slurred voice hollered from the dining area of the tavern. "Breaks over." With a sigh Uma jumped of the counter, took up her note pad and headed out to resume her work. "Calm down you old sea rat, if who haven't starved yet two more minutes won't kill you and no swords in here! The sword check is by the entrance, over there! And now move it before I kick you out!" With a miffed sniff and a sneer one his sunken face the old pirate reluctantly did as he was told. 'It's going to be a long night, isn't it?' She could feel a headache coming up.
Several hours later, around midnight, Uma was at the end of her tether. She had a splitting headache and was this close to murdering one of her patrons. So, in short, just another night shift at the Fish and Chips Shoppe. "Hey missy, how about a refill," chortled one of the more inebriated pirates leering at her while gesturing unsteadily with his empty tankard. And Uma would start her little murder spree with that bastard. Snapping her pencil in half, the young sea witch was just about to storm over and make the guy wish he'd never even stepped foot in the tavern when Cook suddenly slammed a full tankard down in front of him. Ignoring the confused drunkard, the chef instead grabbed Uma's arm and quickly dragged her to the kitchen. "Take a break, now, before you do something you'll regret later on!" Cook urged. Uma could only roll her eyes at the motherly tone in her voice (not that she really knew what a caring mother sounded like, but she liked to think that it would be similar to the way Cook usually spoke to her). "Maybe we should take the risk and just close up already. It's not like there are too many customers left in here and you need sleep too, mum's been working you quite hard lately." Uma mused with an exhausted frown. Yes, her mother would flip her tentacles, but she was too tired to really care about the consequences now.
Her musings were interrupted by a slight commotion coming from the entrance of the tavern. She could hear several of her patrons' alarmed gasps and resisted the urge to bang her head on the nearest flat surface. 'Great, what now? As if this night isn't bad enough already!' With an annoyed look on her face Uma was just about to scream for whoever entered the tavern just now to leave again, that they were closing for the night, when she stepped into the dining area and froze on the spot. Standing at the entrance to the Fish and Chips Shoppe, drenched from head to toe because of the storm that was ragging on outside since earlier on in the evening, was none other than Harry Hook, his head slightly lowered and his wet bangs shielding his eyes from view. But the reason why Uma's heart stopped beating wasn't because of the admittedly appealing sight of his clothes sticking to him (in all the right places, her brain added lewdly), no. But rather because she could she a darker substance slowly dripping down from his left leg, mixing with the rain water that slowly but steadily formed a decent sized puddle beneath his feet.
For one more moment, Uma just stood there, shell shocked before taking a hesitant step towards her best friend. "Harry, what-" that was all she got out, as suddenly all strength seemed to leave him. He wobbled once before his knees gave out from underneath him and he landed face first on the floor, unconscious. The young sea witch was at his side in seconds, turning him over and checking his pulse. She only noticed distantly that Cook ushered all the patrons from the Shoppe. Satisfied that his heart was still beating (even though his pulse was weaker than she'd have liked), Uma quickly looked him over searching for the source of all the blood (it had to come from somewhere, right, unless it wasn't his). Just as Cook joined her at Harry's side, the young sea witch finally found what she was looking for. A few white stripes of cloth (was that his tank top?) were sloppily wrapped around his left upper thigh and held in place with his belt (that idiot couldn't even dress his own wounds properly). Blood was slowly but steadily seeping through the back of the makeshift dressing.
Carefully turning the young pirate back onto his front, Uma undid the belt and slowly peeled the bloodied cloth stripes away. Her blood ran cold as the removal of the last stripe revealed a long gash on the back of his thigh that was deep, slightly inflamed and bleeding heavily again, now that the dressing was gone. "That doesn't look good. What did that boy get into this time?" Cook mused with a worried frown. "I don't know, he should have been here hours ago. I simply figured he'd ditched me but-" "Ha, don't make me laugh, Uma! As if Harry would ever willingly stay away from you! He likes you a little too much for that," Cook surmised with a fond smirk on her face. "Don't be stupid, he doesn't like me, not like that! And neither do I!" the young sea witch quickly defended (and valiantly tried to will the blush from her cheeks). Cook just chuckled and gave Uma's hand that was slowly (and unconsciously) combing through his hair a pointed look. "Oh, just help me safe this moron from bleeding to death!" With one last quiet chuckle Cook helped Uma carry their patient to the kitchen and laying him on one of the tables, after clearing it of any residual leftovers or cooking equipment.
"First, we need to remove his clothes, otherwise they will just get in the way when we stitch him up." Quickly the two women stripped him of his red coat (he really used his tank top as a dressing), his black pants, and his boots, leaving him in only his boxers. Uma tried not to stare, she really did but it wasn't every day that she had the chance to see Harry practically naked (and what a glorious sight it was). If one overlooked the gaping wound on his thigh. It was the bang the water filled pot made as Cook placed it hurriedly on the table beside the pirate's still body, that returned her to the situation at hand. Picking up a relatively clean (as clean as anything could be on the Isle of the Lost) rag and wetting it slightly, the young sea witch busied herself with wiping all the blood and dirt from the immediate area around the gash, while the red headed chef quickly searched through her cupboards.
"What are you looking for?" "The first aid kit. Your Ma did leave it in here somewhere, didn't she?" "Yeah, I think it's underneath the sink, she put it there after burning her hand last month." Unearthing the first aid kit from beneath a few rags, Cook returned to Uma's side after grabbing one of the candles that were stashed in the kitchen in case of a power outage (not really uncommon on the Isle). "Ok, now we'll just have to stitch him up and dress the wound properly and he should be as good as new. Hopefully he'll stay unconscious for this, but just in case bring me one of the wooden spoons, we'll put it between his teeth so he won't accidentally bite his tongue of." While Uma hurried to find a clean spoon, Cook lit the candle and held the needle she'd taken from the kit into the flame for a few seconds, just long enough to make sure that all the bacteria on it were gone (no need to give the boy blood poisoning after all). The young sea witch returned and carefully put the spoon between Harry's teeth, secretly glad that he was still passed out.
After stitching him up (Uma thanked every god and goddess she could think of that Harry had remained unconscious for the whole ordeal) and redressing the wound, Cook and Uma tiredly sunk into two chairs they'd pulled up to the table. "Do you think he's going to be okay?" she hated how small and unsure her voice sounded in this moment, but the thought of losing Harry overshadowed everything else. "Well, he did lose a lot of blood, but he's tough he'll be okay, don't worry." The young sea witch gave Cook a grateful smile and turned her eyes back to her best friend. 'Idiot, don't scare me like that!' However, there was still one tiny problem, "What am I supposed to do now? He can't stay on this table forever and if mum finds him here then…" Cook was just about to answer when a groan suddenly drew both women's attention to the young pirate laying on the table. Dazed eyes slowly blinked open but focused once they found Uma. "Hey …" Harry greeted with a weak smile. "You're an idiot Harry, you know that?" "Yes, you keep telling me," at that Uma answered his smile with one of her own. Unnoticed by either of the two, Cook quickly but quietly crept out of the kitchen and left the Fish and Chips Shoppe. She knew when they needed to be alone.
"What happened? I thought you wanted to be here by noon, but instead you turn up half-dead at midnight." she was trying her hardest not to show him how worried she really was but she needed to know what had happened (so that she could go and personally kill whoever was responsible for Harry's injuries). "Sorry 'bout that. Dad wanted us to practice sword fighting and Harriet landed a lucky hit. I tried to come here afterwards but my leg was killing me and I think I fell asleep in an ally somewhere…" "You fell asleep in an ally!? Did you want to die!?" Harry winced at her shrill voice that was laced with disbelieve at his utter stupidity. "I didn't do it on purpose! I was exhausted and only wanted to rest my eyes for five minutes and when I woke up again it was pitch black and raining. Believe me I was shocked too!" Shaking her head Uma could only once again thank every god and goddess out there that her Harry was alright, more or less.
Pained grunts quickly brought her attention back to her best friend who was trying (and failing) to get off the table. "What do you think you are doing?" "Trying to get off this table so I can leave? Your mum will kill me, and you, if she finds me bleeding all over her kitchen!" "Forget her, you can't leave with your leg like that! Besides, your clothes are wet and you've destroyed your tank top. If I let you leave now you'll just get yourself killed somehow and then I'd have wasted my time trying to keep you alive. So, you're not leaving!" she said with a finality to her voice that made Harry stop his continuous attempt to get off the table. "What should I do then?" Before she could think about her next words too long, Uma quickly blurted out her solution to their situation, "The way I see it, there is only one thing you can do. You'll stay here tonight." "But then your mum will still-" "In my room. She never goes there and you need a soft place where you can lie down."
For a few minutes, the kitchen was completely silent. Harry was too busy gawking at her and Uma was once again trying not to blush. They'd never really shared a bed before, mainly because that would probably involve snuggling and any form of affection was frowned upon in this place (also their parents weren't the most agreeable people in the world and they would be dead if found in such a compromising position). On top of that, it was also a matter of trust, something that was not given easily (not that it should be given in the first place, according to their parents) on the Isle. "Sooo, we'll share your bed?" feeling her blush intensify, Uma quickly turned her head and gave an annoyed huff before retorting, "Well, seeing as it is my bed and I refuse to sleep on the floor, I guess we will. Got a problem with that!"
At the faint chuckle she received as an answer, the young sea witch quickly turned her head back to Harry and gave him her best glare. How dare he laugh at her! "Are you asking me to sleep with you?" Her mind came to a screeching halt at his brazen question. 'Has he lost his mind!? He's half-dead, he-' before she could work herself up even more she noticed the mischievous glint in his tired eyes. He was teasing her. Playing their usual game of question-and-rejection. "In your dreams Hook," she answered with a slight huff, but the tone of her voice showed him that she'd understood. "Damn, how do you know what I dream about?" at this Uma couldn't help but laugh (while trying her best to ignore the swarm of butterflies in her stomach) and Harry answered it with a weak chuckle of his own. "Come on, let's get you upstairs before mum returns."
It took them longer than anticipated to get Harry off the table and up the stairs but luckily Ursula was still nowhere to be seen and hopefully Flotsam and Jetsam won't blab to her about the whole thing (maybe if she bribed them with their favourite food?). After helping him flop down on her bed, Uma quickly hurried downstairs again and picked up his clothes. They could dry overnight, hanging over the backrest of the chair in her room. Making sure that there were no traces left of her best friend (except for the blood, but she'd just say a brawl broke out or something), she returned to her room, to find Harry sprawled out on her bed fast asleep. "Great, and where am I supposed to fit now? Come on Harry, move a bit!" she groused nudging him half-heartedly (she couldn't bring herself to shake him to hard though, she didn't want to hurt). Giving up Uma snatched up her pyjamas (a baggy shirt and equally baggy pants) and hurried to the bathroom to get changed and to brush her teeth.
When she returned to her room she only hesitated for a few more seconds before simply climbing on the bed and snuggling into his side (if he asked she'd just say that he took up too much space and that was the only way for her to get comfortable). That excuse would also justify her head on his chest and the arm she wrapped around his waist. Molding herself to his side, the young sea witch gave a contented sigh before looking up at his sleeping face. Contemplating his features for a moment, Uma gave his right cheek a quick goodnight kiss before resting her head on his chest once again and drifting off to sleep with a small smile on her lips. Unbeknownst to her though, Harry wasn't actually asleep yet and she completely missed the answering smile that bloomed on his face and the way his arm pulled her a little closer to his body.
Thank you for reading my story. If you liked it please leave a comment! Have a wonderful day (or night)! ^^
