"I'm not sure if we should trust him."
It was the first thing Harriet said, as soon as they were back on the dock. It was quite late and there were no more fishermen or merchants, not even wharf rats. Uma checked Harry's watch and noticed that it was almost midnight.
The four of them waited until they were far enough away from the Jolly Roger to talk. Frankly, they were stunned. On boarding the Jolly Roger, Uma had expected a fight with the father of her best friend. She had even expected Harry, CJ, and Harriet to start arguing, but not that. She hadn't imagined that she would come off the ship with more questions than answers, and that was how she felt.
"I don't trust him," CJ said, as if that was obvious. Actually, it was a bit. None of the isle's children trusted their parents. There would be exceptions, but the generality was that.
"I have to go back to the Tempest, but I'll stop by the Chip Shoppe tomorrow to talk," Harriet announced. "CJ, are you coming?"
The youngest Hook nodded, even she had suddenly run out of sharp answers. Harry and Uma, who hadn't said a word since getting off the ship, were left alone, watching as the boy's sisters headed toward Harriet's ship, The Red Tempest. The storm had left damp and cold, and Uma shivered a little. She realized that she was leaning in a dangerous direction, pushing the safe line of her recent concerns, when she allowed Harry to hold her to shield her a bit from the wind.
"Are you staying at the Lost Revenge?" Harry asked. Uma nodded.
"Are you?"
Harry glanced at the Jolly Roger, which was where he had been born and raised. It was always his house, but the Lost Revenge was his home.
"Me too."
He couldn't help but remember his father's piercing gaze. "These two are in danger." He didn't want to say why, or what kind of danger. The old bastard. Uma thought that he was threatening them, but he assured that he was only warning them, and that the danger was not him.
"What was it from before, Captain?" Harry asked, unable to contain himself. "You looked quite upset."
"In which of all the moments?" Uma joked, and gave him a smile that, however, did not reach her eyes. She kept walking, thoughtful as she played with her braids, and the next thing she said would have surprised Harry if he hadn't already met his weekly surprise quota. "You trust me?"
Harry didn't have to consider it for a moment. Of course he trusted Uma. He trusted her with his life.
"Yes, of course." He felt her relax under his arm, she even leaned a little closer to him.
"Have you considered our friendship is unusual?"
Harry laughed.
"It is not a secret. We both know that loyalty does not exist in this place. I wouldn't trust Harriet to save my life, and I definitely wouldn't be left unarmed in front of CJ, but I can always sleep knowing that you got my back."
Loyalty. How far was it from "love"?
"It would be a complete hassle to have to get me another First Mate," Uma said dismissively, but Harry caught the warmth beneath her tough voice. The real words. The "I will not betray you, I will not leave you alone." And that was worth more than all the treasures of the sea.
"Is that what you were worried about?" Harry's eyes searched hers. Then his voice sounded a little hurt. "Did you think I was going to leave you at his mercy?"
Uma denied.
"When we got on the ship, I was not afraid because I knew you were there." She laughed at herself. "Shit, that sounds so soft."
"There is no one around to listen, Captain. You can be as soft as you want."
Uma stopped, analyzing what Harry had just said. His words weren't mocking, he wasn't calling her weak or something like that. There was no need to defend herself against him, but her nature warned her not to open, before her mind reminded Uma who the person she was talking to was. Yes, Uma thought, suddenly sure; of course, she could be soft with Harry. His expression calmed her. She didn't miss the fact that he had called her "captain". Harry knew how much she liked being recognized, feeling powerful and strong and not like a weak shrimpy. So, this was his way of telling her that he wouldn't think less of her just for not being tough all the time.
Still, it was hard for Uma to fight her instincts, against everything they were always told they should be: cold-hearted, with no other feeling than longing of revenge in their souls.
She found it difficult to thank with words, so she reached over to kiss Harry's cheek gently. His skin was cold, but somehow it was nice. She heard him gasp her name in a very low voice, so quiet she could have imagined it, when her lips brushed his cheek. Uma breathed in his scent of rum and wood, Harry had his eyes closed and one of his hands was on her, hovering over her shoulder blade lightly, giving her a chance to refuse the touch. They had never done this. Winks, yes; words that could be easily reinterpreted, of course. A kiss was something else. But she would later justify herself by saying that the day had been unusual enough to allow themselves that indulgence.
And then she walked away. Harry didn't say anything, and neither did Uma. Not even when they got to the ship and parted ways to go to their respective cabins.
Harriet thought she might have been cursed with the worst crew in the world; but that's what all the captains of a ship thought, right? Some of her earliest childhood memories were precisely of her father complaining about how incompetent his crew was. The first words she learned: filthy cockroach. It was natural. It had always been that way.
But now, she really needed them to work. This was not about cleaning floors or polishing the wood, this was important. Perhaps the first important thing she would do in her pirate life. And maybe the last one too. Stealing, claiming territory, bartering, and getting the best supplies at sword point was not the true life of a pirate, and that she knew very well. As a child she had longed to set sail, explore, shout true orders, even lose herself in an old tavern in some unknown port. She longed to feel the sweat on her skin after a hard day's work, and the mysterious wind from the ocean on her face.
CJ and Harriet believed, at first, that was why Harry was so attracted to Uma. When they met her, they knew the whole thing about the shrimps and Maleficent's daughter very well. She had been small even then, but Harry gazed adoringly at her braids of the color of the ocean. And beneath the smell that Mal had left her forever, if you paid attention, her true scent was like the sea salt that is breathed in the cleanest parts of the island's coast. Uma was, in all her right, a true daughter of the Sea Witch.
Pirates are drawn to the sea, and Harry is a pirate. That was always their explanation, the natural logic of the world, as when saying that the moon belongs to the night and the stars to the sky. Now Harriet wasn't so sure; because Uma had chosen to be like him, like his family. A captain. If Harriet had to be honest with herself: a Pirate Queen. This was how they had started calling Uma in some parts of the city, even if she didn't know it yet.
How big is this? Harriet wondered. Something in the way her father acted, something in his words, told her that this was not just a treasure hunt. Not a street fight. Harry and Uma were in real danger, although the magnanimous Captain Hook hadn't wanted to tell them more. Now, even if Harry didn't know it, Harriet really did care about him. She was his older sister, and she wasn't going to let something happen to him. Even if it made her weak.
So here she was, praying that her useless crew did something right for once. At least they didn't ask why she wanted them to collect as many references as they could about the beginnings of the Isle. If her father wasn't going to release more information, she would get it on her own.
Harriet sensed that time was running out.
This was one of the days when few people frequented the Chip Shoppe, and Uma couldn't be more grateful. She was in no mood to deal with nonsense. The only people who were in Ursula's at the time were her crew members. Uma was going to deny it to death, but she really liked that they were there. They yelled a lot, they laughed out loud, they splashed food everywhere and their jokes weren't the best, but Uma would have said she was fond of them, if fondness weren't totally out of place.
She took advantage of the fact that neither her mother nor Cook were in sight to slip a few pieces of fried fish (one of the few truly edible foods in the tavern) extra onto Desiree's tray. She was the newest member of her crew, and she was almost as skinny as Uma. Her mother had seven children and she was under the protection of the Evil Queen, in her territory, so once Desiree joined the Lost Revenge, they left her on her own. Uma knew well what it was like to feel alone.
Fortunately, it was a feeling that was now more distant every day. Because she had these guys, whom she called lazy rats, but who were trying to impress her anyway. Because she had Gil.
Because she had Harry.
Uma glanced at her first mate, who was in one of his favorite places in the Chip Shoppe, the organ bench. He was playing single notes and humming a song full of swear words that they learned in school when they were just kids. When he played, he straightened his back and the muscles of his shoulder blades, so used to shrinking because he liked to lean closer to Uma, were slightly marked. His back looked strong, his hook dangling from one of the many hoops he had on the hips of his jeans.
The sound of someone pushing open the folding doors made Uma look away. Harriet was leaving her cutlass at the sword check, as was her first mate, Sammy Smee. Harry stood up and jumped from the makeshift stage to meet his sister. Uma sighed and got up too.
"Hey," Harriet greeted, sullen as always. "I have some news."
Sammy looked a bit self-conscious, but he followed Harriet closely and sat next to her at one of the tables.
"Can I get you something?" Uma asked, raising an eyebrow.
Harriet nodded.
"One pint for me and one for Sammy."
As Uma went to the kitchen to fill the jars, she saw Harry sit across from his sister and they started talking. The noise the crew made was enough that Uma couldn't hear anything, so she hurried over.
"Well, what is it?"
Harriet was tense, Uma realized.
"I had my people look for information about the early years of the Isle, and I think we found something. Sammy spoke to old Yen Sid. He was there when Maleficent cast the curse."
Sammy nodded, taking that as his signal to speak.
"He said he reported what happened to Auradon but they either didn't believe him, or they just didn't care. He also said that, thanks to the pieces that the villains gave to Maleficent, the spell was very powerful. He doesn't think there's anything that can break it." Sammy said, avoiding looking at Uma. She knew he felt intimidated in her presence.
Harry frowned.
"So there is a curse, great thing. But we still don't know if what dad said about the treasure is true, even though we have a map. "
Harriet took a long drink from her pint of beer. She seemed to be gathering courage for the next thing she had to say.
"It's true, Harry. I went into the Jolly Roger in the morning, Dad was asleep, and I managed to snoop a bit in the trunk that he keeps in his study under the tables. I found this." She took a small package out of her coat, put it on the table and Harry took it and untied the string that had been holding it. Inside was a dagger that they remembered very well. Harry's mother used to wear it strapped to her hip always. Attached to the dagger by another thinner and shorter rope, there was a paper folded in four. Harry unfolded it and put it on the table for all to see.
It was a normal sheet, a little yellow and dirty, a little torn, but you could clearly read what was written, exactly with Harry's mother's handwriting in the center.
This is the last piece of treasure.
"So, what kind of curse are we facing? I mean, what is supposed to happen if it doesn't break? Are we going to fall asleep? That was Maleficent's style," Uma said, making a sneer. Of course, it had to be that fairy's fault that they were all more screwed up than they were supposed to be.
Harriet's first mate opened his mouth to say something, but the girl talked before him. She seemed confident, and yet Uma had the feeling that she was hiding something.
"We don't know," she said, "but I know one thing. If that treasure is tied to our family, I will look for it. Mother thought that one of us would find it and that's why she sang the song for us. It must be important."
Harry and Uma looked at each other, having a silent conversation. Uma had longed to know what mystery was behind Harry's mother's song. She had dreamed of it for years; and she was thirsty for adventure. Also, according to Harry's father, the two of them were in danger, although they didn't know why. Will you follow me? Asked Uma with her eyes. And Harry's eyes, as clean and clear as ever, gave her the answer in a second. Always.
"Then we will sail in two days."
Harriet raised an eyebrow.
"The Red Tempest is ready, but the Lost Revenge cannot set sail in the condition she is in."
Uma composed a mischievous smile that made Harry trip over his own breath, she was holding the shell necklace between her fingers.
"Leave that to me."
Uma wasn't going to admit it, but actually she was just bragging about her necklace when she claimed she could fix Lost Revenge. The truth was, she didn't have the slightest idea how to use her magic. She hadn't tried to use it since the moment she sang the song on the Jolly Roger, and she didn't think it was like Fairy Godmother magic (besides, she wasn't going to say bibbidi bobbidi boo even in death). Now, standing on the deck of the Lost Revenge while her crew went about their daily tasks, Uma didn't know if her plan was going to fail.
She tried to think, to bring back to her chest the feeling she had the only times she did magic, the day she almost won the trident and on the Jolly Roger. Uma imagined that this magic was going to the outside of her, that it enveloped her ship and glued each piece of wood, each splinter, she closed her eyes...
Nothing.
Uma growled loudly. If only she hadn't grown up on this rotten Island, if she had grown up in the sea, being what she was destined to be… she forced herself to calm her rage.
If she hadn't grown up on the Island, she might not have met Harry, Gil, and their crew. She wouldn't have minded not knowing Mal, but her boys were another story. Uma frowned at the thought. Since when was she so soft?
But she couldn't help it. She saw her crew, trying so hard, even not knowing that they would possibly sail again, wanting to impress her anyway, and she just thought how unfair it was that they couldn't go anywhere. Uma wanted freedom for herself, but she also wanted freedom for them.
Did that make her weak?
Irritated, she shook off all thoughts. Gil was singing on the lookout tower, screaming would be the best word, but the sound carried up to the deck, even with all the noise from the dock. Harry came and went, making sure everyone was doing their job well, and threatening with the hook if anyone didn't seem to be working hard enough. Uma couldn't think clearly with all that noise.
Then she had an idea.
She had sung at the Jolly Roger when the storm responded to her magic. Maybe...? A song could be like a spell, right? Also, even if it didn't work, no one would notice. She decided to give it a try.
She climbed up some of the ropes to get a better view of her ship, wedged the heel of her boots and held on tight. She remembered a song that spoke about a pirate ship that sailed cutting the waters like the edge of a sword. And when she started singing, she tried to make her voice sound just as charming as it did on the Jolly Roger. The seashell necklace shone brightly on her neck.
Just as Harry had thought, as soon as Uma started singing the crew stopped doing their chores, Gil nearly fell off the lookout, and Harry himself froze. At the dock, the fishermen stopped looking at the water, the thieves stopped for a moment, the merchants stopped watching their merchandise, and the crews of other boats stopped working. It was as if she had put them all under a spell, and when the ship began to creak violently, the splintered wood reverting to useful wood, the mast snapping into place, the broken ropes reattaching, Harry knew that Uma actually might be putting the world under a spell. Just like the storm bending down to hear her song. And then he saw her hands come loose from the ropes she was holding on, her eyes closed, and Harry ran to catch her when she fell, unconscious. He adjusted her light body into his arms.
"What the hell just happened?" Bonny asked. The others seemed to be asking the same question, because they were all looking at Harry hoping that he would give some explanations. Gil was coming down from the lookout tower, asking Harry if Uma was okay. He looked at her, she seemed calm, and her body was loose; she was definitely fainted.
"Our Captain fixed the Lost Revenge," Harry replied, his voice sounded full of pride and he couldn't keep his eyes from lighting up as he looked at the girl in his arms. Hell, he always knew she was so much more. He wondered in amazement how was he worthy of hold her in his arms. "Now go back to work."
Bonny nodded.
"Is Uma okay? What just happened?" Gil asked, concerned. Little by little, the activities of the dock returned to normal.
"Let's take her to her cabin, I guess she just has to rest. She used magic to fix the Lost Revenge."
Gil seemed to understand nothing.
"Magic? Isn't there supposed to be no magic on the Isle?"
So Harry proceeded to tell him about the most recent events, most notably the discovery that Uma was able to use a part of her magic within the barrier. They still weren't sure how it all worked, why it worked, but Harry sensed that she had tried too hard to fix her ship.
After Gil had calmed down, Harry sent him to the Chip Shoppe to get provisions for a trip; he already knew where Uma's hiding place was, so he wouldn't have to come up with something unforeseen.
The grayish light filtering through the captain's cabin window told Harry that it must be mid-afternoon, and the sounds outside seemed to diminish as well. He glanced around, once again enjoying being in a place where the presence of his Uma could be found everywhere.
Uma was lying on her bed and Harry had taken off her hat and boots; then he lay down next to her. He didn't really know how to be careful, but he tried when he moved her pillow, so she was comfortable. Her skin looked soft and smooth; her expression was relaxed. Uma's chest rose and fell in a steady breath and Harry thought that he rarely could see her like this, so calm. Uma was always moving, yelling, ordering, planning, fighting. It wasn't that Harry didn't like this stillness; in fact, it was nice. Different. Even the sea must be calm from time to time.
He couldn't help but remember that night, so many years ago, when they were just children. The night his mother sang the song and Uma snuggled into him; a silent plea from a girl who longed for affection. And Harry never thought to make fun of that, because Uma was alone, and he wanted to wipe the shame out of her eyes.
Harry couldn't help it, he moved closer to Uma, inhaling deeply to take in the salty scent of her braids. He couldn't help but think of how beautiful she looked up there as she sang, her haughty expression, quite a powerful captain, and her ship had bowed to her will, just like the sea. As the world should. He leaned a little closer, brushing his lips over Uma's braids, all his senses invaded with turquoise, her scent, hers. And Harry wanted to sink deeper, wanted to let himself be carried away by that tide, let her do whatever she wanted with him. Because Harry was hers.
And then he stopped.
He always knew, he realized. But now he couldn't deny it.
He was in love with Uma.
Why wasn't he scared?