When Harry returns to the ship, accompanied by Gil, there is little activity. It's a bit late and the crew is resting, just chatting to each other, Jonas is laying in his hammock, playing with one of his own braids to kill time.
"Where's Uma?" He asks, and Desiree and Gonzo look away from their dice game. Desiree shrugs.
"She hasn't come up since you left. I think she's in her cabin".
Harry nods in appreciation, though something inside him stirs. Uma doesn't like to be calm, she has too much energy and she likes to walk with her strong and bold steps on the deck. Even when she wants to get Nerea to sleep, she prefers to lull her to the vivid sound of the docks. Harry tries to calm down, telling himself that maybe she just fell asleep (it's been a bit tiring lately), but something in his instinct tells him that there is something wrong.
Gil pats him on the back. He is the only one who knows, besides Harry, about the problems Uma is having feeding Nerea. And Harry knows, Gil is worried about them. Worried about Uma.
"You should go see her," he tells Harry, suddenly serious. He points to a bouquet of dried herbs that he carries in his hand. "I'll go to prepare this for her".
"Fine," Harry replies, and strides down to the lower deck, in the direction of the captain's cabin. Gil, on the other hand, goes to the kitchen. With a couple of meters to go to the room, Harry's heart stops beating; he hears a cry, not just one but two, mixed, entangled one in the other, and he doesn't know how he gets there, he doesn't know how it is that he suddenly finds himself next to them.
Uma is no longer in bed, but up, walking around the cabin while she bounces Nerea a little. And she is crying, not as a little tear of rage, but as desperate crying, irrepressible like the sea, which increases when she sees him enter.
"I can´t make her stop crying," she tells him, but Harry makes no move to take the baby because he sees the way Uma holds her, the possessive grip that screams for miles that she just wants to protect her, that she's desperate for protecting her. "And I can't feed her, Harry. I just…"
"It's okay. Just takes a deep breath, okay? Uma, look at me," Harry holds her face, a little soft so she doesn't withdraw into herself, a little harsh because he knows Uma needs firmness. She connects her big brown eyes, the long soaked lashes, with Harry's blue eyes, "Take a deep breath. Just like you taught me to do, remember?"
Uma blinks once, twice, and then slowly nods. Harry feels her inhale deeply, then she holds the air for a few seconds and exhales again; she repeats this process a few times, looking at Harry in every moment.
When she feels calmer, more centered, she immediately looks at Nerea, who has stopped crying in her arms and is even somewhat sleepy, leaning towards Uma in search of warmth.
"She feels you," Harry tells her, and it's true. Nerea and Uma have a very particular connection, the kind that makes Uma wake up at night shortly before Nerea starts crying, uncomfortable, or the kind that makes them both fall asleep in perfect stillness at times, the breaths rhythmic; at times they even (and this scares Harry deeply) they seem to be mad at him at the same time. "Nerea loves you, Uma. That is not going to change because of something you cannot control".
"But she's hungry, and I can't give her anything," Uma says, and Harry understands why this bothers her so much. It's not just the fact that she can't feed her daughter (which Harry honestly believes would drive any mother absolutely crazy) but part of her own story. Uma was always a source of food for her people, she provided food for the crew, even if it was food from Ursula's fish and chips shop. For a long time, it was the only way she could say "I love you, I care about you." So, she feels out of place. Unstable.
"Gil did some research," Harry begins, unsure. He doesn't want to give Uma false hope, but maybe this will help her relax a little. "We went to Madam Mim's house and managed to find some kind of tea that should help you with this. Gil is preparing it right now".
"A tea?" She asks. "Wait. Does Madam Mim know...?"
Another cruel part of this? Now that Uma has resumed her position on the docks, she cannot let anyone know about any weaknesses. Anyone could use it against her. Even one of the options they have, asking Harriet for a favor, is risky.
"No," Harry assures her. "Gil looked up the information in one of those old plant books that she has. We are not sure we have stolen the correct plants, but it is the best we have".
Uma nods, calmer now, and then accommodates Nerea on her chest, pulling her closer to kiss her on the forehead. The baby fidgets a bit, her little feet kicking impatiently, but after a moment she snuggles back up.
"Do we still have rice?" She asks Harry.
"A bit, I think".
In these days when Uma has not been able to feed Nerea with her own milk, they have had to resort to making a kind of rice drink that resembles breast milk enough. Nerea doesn't like it very much, but she drinks it out of hunger. When they get to the kitchen, where Gil is preparing the tea, Harry reaches for a rickety bag and hands it to Uma. She gives him Nerea and begins to separate the usable grains from the ones that are too dry or bad.
"This is ready," Gil announces, pouring the contents into an old mug. Then he puts the steaming liquid in front of her. Uma looks at him gratefully, but before they can say anything, Gil's gaze is caught by Nerea and his eyes light up.
"Give her to me," he asks Harry. So, Harry does it. He and Uma are possessive to death. Few people outside the ship have been able to carry their daughter (Mal tried to do it once, and Uma made up an excuse to avoid it. For some reason, she didn't feel safe about that); but when it comes to the crew, there is no problem. When it's Gil, Uma doesn't have any worries. It's like she's his niece and he adore her.
"Do you think she has tentacles, like Uma?" He asks suddenly, all truly innocence, and Uma lets out a genuine laugh. It's the first time she's laughed in days, and it feels good.
"Sure she does. She is identical to her mother", says Harry.
Mother.
The word, for some strange reason Uma doesn't understand, warms her chest. It is as if a strange yet familiar energy arises from her. Uma never had a good relationship with her mother, not even a connection beyond her heritage, but this instinct seems to have always been there.
She finishes separating the rice grains and leaves them boiling over the stove for a moment. Then she takes the cup of tea Gil made and brings it to her lips. The liquid warms her throat, relaxes her, and although Uma has always been very reserved when it comes to putting her hopes in something or someone, she can't help but think that this could work. They have been cured before with Madam Mim's herbs; Auradon never sent too many drugs and there was definitely not a great variety, so the people on the Isle learned not to get sick or to treat themselves with potions and herbs.
"Uma!" Jonas's voice calls her from the upper deck, loud and deep. And all three direct their attention there. Then some footsteps are heard coming down the wooden ladder, and Jonas is heard closer, clearer. "It's Ben and Mal, they want to talk to you".
Uma sighs, Harry snorts, and Gil seems to have decided that Nerea is more interesting than anything else.
"Tell them to come down," Uma orders, and hears Jonas' footsteps upstairs again.
Harry stands up, walks up behind Uma and caresses her shoulders with his firm hands. He knows how to touch her, exactly how much pressure to put on her with his fingers, and he senses that Uma needs to relax, so he tries to ease the tension from her. She lets out a sigh and seeks his gaze to give him a brief, grateful smile.
At that moment, there are footsteps coming from the hallway, but Harry stays there, instead, because even though it's Ben and Mal and theoretically there is nothing to fear, nothing to protect Uma from, this loyalty, this fierce need to support her, it slides from the marrow of his bones to the outside.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Mal's angry voice asks, and Ben appears behind her a moment later, looking a bit lost. The isle has made him feel bad, it is evident in the pallor of his face and in the way in which there are dark spots under his eyes; besides, he looks distracted.
Uma feels Harry tense up, so she puts a hand on his fingers, which are still touching her shoulders, to calm him down. The feel of her fingers against Harry's skin, a sensation as well known as it is wonderful, makes Uma feel calm. She knows that it will never matter that Mal and Uma have made up, Harry will never trust Mal. She raises an eyebrow at Maleficent's daughter.
"Hello?" She asks, her voice full of sarcasm. Because honestly, she doesn't know what the heck Mal is talking about.
Ben is the one who answers the unspoken question.
"The whole dock business," he says, "we just found out".
Gil lets out a wry laugh.
"The goblins are losing their touch, then".
And at that moment, Nerea wakes up, uncomfortable by the almost unknown voice, and Harry frowns when she starts crying. Uma holds out her arms for Gil to give Nerea to her.
"Great, you've woken her up, Mal", the heat of her daughter against her arms, between them, close to her chest, where she belongs... for a moment, Uma can't think beyond Nerea, completely stunned by how beautiful she is. And when she talks again, it's in a low voice, like a secret that she just shares with Nerea and Harry. "Easy, starfish. It's fine, it's fine. Here I am, sleep now".
At least Mal has the decency to look regretful, though it may be an effect of the hard look Uma throws at her.
"I'm sorry," says Mal, a little downplaying the matter. "The thing is, did you really have to make those men drown?"
"You were the ones who asked me to take control of the Isle," Uma responds, scathing.
Mal gasps.
"Not like this!"
"You know what would have happened if Uma had let them go," Harry answers harshly. And it's a bit of an accusation, because Mal should know. She wasn't always an Auradon queen, but she pretends to think that she was. She knows it, that on the Isle you do what you have to do to survive.
Ben clears his throat, a little uncomfortable.
"I'm sure there could be another solution," he begins, and is at the same time a plea of multiple meanings.
First of all, Ben would like to believe that this cold and heinous cruelty is not the only solution. That they are not condemned to it. On the other hand, he seems to ask Uma to act differently. But, even when the foam is soft and the water is life-giving, even when the breeze is a caress and chant and lightness of vastness, the sea is unstoppable in its anger if it tries to protect its own.
"No, there wasn't," says Uma, her voice firm. She doesn't seem furious, which is, somehow, more unsettling. It is as if she is full of immovable decision. "I have people to protect. By this time, Gil was able to get them. But it could be Desiree, or Gonzo, Harry, Bonny. Any of us. They brought weapons and tried to catch us off guard. And I have a three-month-old baby whom I will not leave alone on the Isle".
Because it is a possibility that everyone knows exists, but they have not allowed themselves to think about it too much. If Uma had let someone steal from her ship, if she had given in, even a little, and people would have believed that they could steal from her, that Uma would not defend herself...
They need to know that the years in Auradon haven't softened her, and that even though Harry and she are parents now, that won't stop them from being fierce. Now, there will also be those who seek her protection.
That seems to completely disarm Ben, and it hurts Uma a bit to see him so broken. It's as if all the goodness in his eyes has been hidden, which is so completely different than he is.
For a moment, everyone feels the tension of the silent struggle that Uma and Mal have, and in the end, Mal looks away and snorts, opens her mouth to speak, but before any sound can come out of her throat, they hear a commotion on the deck that makes everyone on alert. Harry strengthens his position next to Uma, this time in front of her and Nerea, and Gil holds the knife that is in his belt.
Uma hears Jonas's voice: "Hey, you can't come in like that!"
"This is important," says Evie's voice from above. So, everyone gathered in the kitchen runs upstairs, where Evie is on the deck. Mal rushes to her side and Uma raise an eyebrow, wondering why there is a meeting on her ship that she was not notified of, but she immediately turns her attention to Nerea, who begins to wake up again.
Evie seems different too. Uma hasn't seen her much since they returned to the Isle; she knows she was taking care of Dizzy because she got sick, and then maybe there just wasn't too much time. However, now that she looks at her, she notices that she looks a bit aged, as if the years have fallen on her. Maybe they all look like this.
"Uma," Evie says, moving toward her. "We have to talk, it's really important".
"What's going on?"
Evie looks around her on the ship, at the crew, and then at Uma and Harry, trying to decide how she will say her next words, because it's not easy. However, she knows that she has to warn them because, friends or not, she can't just do nothing.
"A moment ago, at the market, I was buying some things to take care of Dizzy," she begins, licking her lips, a little nervous. Not the confident Evie. "And I heard someone… I couldn't see them, there were too many people, but there were some people, and they were talking about a plan. They said something about "catching two big fish with one hook," I think it's about you. And I think someone wants to harm you".
So, with the words, Uma stiffens, her heart pounding in her ears, and Harry's eyes start to roam restlessly, fierce and alert, everywhere. Looking for a possible danger, trying to verify that everything is in order. Uma squeezes Nerea to her chest, as if she wants to put her inside her, hide her, feeling dizzy.
The Isle seems colder than usual, and the stench from the docks makes Uma nauseous. But it may be because of that, or because she hasn't eaten well for days; it may be because of the worry of not being able to feed her daughter, and the fact that now it seems that someone wants to harm her family, the only thing she knows is that she is falling, and she wants to scream that someone, please, whoever, hold Nerea so that she does not fall with her. And maybe Gil does, or maybe it's Ben, or Desiree; the only thing Uma knows, in the end, is that Harry is the one holding her while everything goes black.