The clear, bright blue sky is just how Ben remembered it. Diaphanous, heartbreakingly simple, and although his heart settles and the pressure in his mind is finally giving way, there is something that does not feel right, something that screams in his throat, unable to get out completely, stuck, hiding in himself.
Even when the sky fills his eyes, his mind can only think of this isle that stretches on the horizon. Nor can he avoid comparing it with the image in his memories, that of a distant spot without sun or days or light. The putrid air cloud isn't as dense now as it was years ago, but the Isle of the Lost weighs on Ben's heart perhaps more than ever.
He cannot avoid, although he wants to, try to make out the dock, the ships in the distance. He knows that the knot would be undone if he could see at this moment a ship with lofty sails and a fearsome captain approaching in the distance, because then it would mean that Uma realized in time that the barrier had been opened, and that would mean that she would find the way to get them all out, and that Ben didn't fail.
It would mean that he hasn't lost Harry's friendship, or Gil's, that he could laugh with Evie again.
"From here we can help them more," Mal tells him. She's standing on the balcony next to him, her eyes glued to the sky. She is different, so distant from the Mal that Ben knew. He knows they all are. Everything seems alien to him, the palace, the view from this side of the sea, the stars in the sky.
She smiles at him, an inviting and loving gesture, and Ben tries, he really tries, to find his own smile to give it to her. In the end, he manages to do it half.
"I'm worried. They will think we abandoned them. The Isle needs hope".
Mal wraps her arm around his waist, and Ben pulls her closer to himself.
"It's not like that. They know we're going to try, they trust us, Ben. Now, you must rest. And eat well. It's been a long couple of months".
She lets go, back into the room. And Ben hesitates for a second, still looking at the Island, but in the end, he knows that Mal is right. Only then can they help people, only by changing things from the outside. And he is hopeful that everything will be resolved sooner than expected. This problem is all a huge misunderstanding that got out of hand.
So, in the end, he follows Mal to bed. He walks away from the window, determined to rest so he can face the council tomorrow. He is so used now to the hard bed that they used to have when they lived in the old castle of Maleficent, that this new, soft bed is even a little uncomfortable.
"It's good to be back home," Mal sighs, moving closer to him to snuggle and sleep. She is exhausted, so tired that she falls asleep in an instant. Ben covers her with the blanket, knowing it's the first night in a long time that they won't be wet cold. However, even though he tries, he cannot sleep. Not when he doesn't know if this is still his real home.
It is late and the wind, which passes between the hundreds of ropes of the ships moored at the dock, sings plaintively as it stirs everything with its surly force. Uma is aware that it crashes on her back, that it makes her braids dance like tentacles in an invisible sea, a little wild, hitting the Revenge, irate, but the wind reminds her of the sea and the storms and it is good to feel it again for one time.
Wild things should never be chained. Neither the rough sea nor the fire of the ships in the middle of the finite night, and Uma knows, neither the restlessness and the rage in her belly.
"That Ben and Mal can negotiate should be a good thing, right?" Gil asks, coming to her side, looking in the same direction as her, towards the distant spot on the horizon, filled with lights.
Uma looks away, deciding to focus on what is happening here, on her ship. She turns her back on Auradon in the distance, and she searches the deck for what matters most to her. Harry is sitting on one of the barrels, cooing to Nerea as he talks to Gonzo. The two pirates are so young, and Uma is not only worried about Harry becoming his own father, just an old, trapped, pirate, unable to go out to sea, but about Gonzo, and Jonas, Bonny, Gil, Des... all of them. She promised them freedom, when they were even younger. She now wonders if she will ever be able to fulfill that promise again.
"I hope so," she answers, finally. There is something in her heart that calms her when she looks at Harry, although that doesn't mean he turns off her verve. She has never felt tamed by him. Harry makes the vehemence of her waves multiply with the glow of his marine powder. "I no longer trust Mal. I don't know what her intentions are. But I trust Ben. I just hope I'm not wrong".
"Half of the Isle believes that they fled, never to return. The other half blindly believes in Mal," exhales Gil.
Uma knows. Since it became clear that she and Mal's association was breaking down, people assumed they should take a side again, as things were before going to Auradon. Suddenly, she hears phrases like "Uma's territory" or "Mal's followers" again.
Gil seems too distracted, upset, so different from the happy and naive Gil she was used to seeing. He plays with one end of the rope, and does not look into her eyes. Uma frowns. She has been so immersed in constant fighting, feeding the crew, taking care of Nerea, getting used to living on the Isle of the Lost again, that she has not paid much attention to Gil, even though he has given everything to be loyal to her.
"Are you fine, mate?" She asks. She knows that things have been so hard for him too. "Do you know anything about Jay?"
Gil denies.
"No one has seen him in weeks".
From what Uma knows, he didn't even tell Mal where he was going. According to what she heard, one day just no one could find him, although Carlos assured everyone that he was fine. He didn't say more. He had hardly spoken since they were all locked up, and Jane had to stay in Auradon.
Uma does not try to give Gil words of encouragement, because she knows that there is not a single one that is capable of calming the uncertainty. However, Gil sighs and finally looks at her.
"Uma, there is something I want to tell you", he begins, unsure, and makes her tense completely, prepared, defensive.
As Gil doesn't say more, Uma urges him in an impatient and somewhat harsh voice.
"What´s that?"
He hesitates again for a second, then exhales.
"It's about the seeds. I planted some a while ago, when you asked me to. There should be some growth already, they should have sprouted or something, but there is nothing. The land here has no nutrients, it is sterile".
She feels her body loosen. She always knows that she can trust Gil, but it is a reaction that her body cannot avoid. For so many years she was called shrimpy, for so many years she was humiliated and despised and she was so lonely... only with Harry it is natural to trust, although she knows that Gil can be trusted with anything. Although she knows that his loyalty is only for her.
The soil. For some reason, Uma isn't surprised, so she lets out a bitter laugh, clutching the string with furious fingers, the leather of her gloves against the cold damp rope.
"Everything here is sterile, Gil," she replies, "I shouldn't have made you waste those seeds".
Gil softly denies, with a puzzled expression.
"It should not be like that. The pollution cloud was what made the earth barren, remember? But it was part of the improvements that were made a few years ago. The air was not supposed to be so harmful anymore".
The sea is calm, expectant, like a black abyss streaked with silver reflections in front of them. Uma hears its fury, and the entire dock complaining, every plank, every glass bottle, every last drop of rum, too impatient in the quiet. Eager for movement, with a throbbing pain for freedom.
Gil is right. The soil is not the best, but it should not be completely useless. So why is it?
"What's wrong?" Carlos asks, and Evie can't help the subtle smile that spreads across her mouth, almost imperceptible, because no one smiles on the Isle of the Lost. Nobody loves. Only the pirate queen on the ship, who dares to kiss and hide her treasures, so haughty, but Uma has always been the exception to many of the island's rules, Evie supposes.
It's so good to see Carlos. It's so good to hear his voice. She can't help it; she pulls him by the sleeve and hugs him. Her brother.
"Whoa, is everything in order?"
She blinks a few times so she can keep her composure again. They are near the dock, in an alley full of peepers, and she has to be able to behave.
"Yes. I am so sorry. I suppose the news of Mal and Ben affected me".
Carlos nods. He's back to being an alert pup, his back painfully tense, his shoulders up, the way he stands, searching the floor so firmly.
"She did not come to say goodbye," he confirms.
"I know. It was very fast, they had to leave immediately, before someone in Auradon changed their mind".
There is silence for a moment, as they both try to discern how much danger is in front of them. If they should risk going further from their respective homes. This place is the closest, but it is also a limit. The people on this side of the Isle are convinced that Mal is a traitor, that she never did any good for the island, and that she should no longer be called queen.
The funny thing is… Evie thinks it wasn't Uma's people who started these rumors. She has been listening to them for months, even before being sent back, and she wants to find out how anyone could think that. She is sure, everything Ben and Mal did was for the welfare of the Isle of the Lost. That was the main problem, wasn't it? That the Royal Council believed that the kings were neglecting their priority, Auradon.
That is why they are all here.
"Everything is so strange. Honestly, I don't know what to think about anything".
Evie understands him. They, more than anyone, were so used to feeling safe in Auradon. She feels like they have lost everything. And they understand each other very well, because there is not a single moment when it does not hurt like the lack of oxygen, having lost Jane and Doug.
Maybe that's why she likes hanging out near the dock, when she can. Maybe she is a masochist. There's something about looking at Harry and Uma, and the way they look at each other even when all is lost.
Evie had never noticed it before, but she knows they always looked at each other like this. Even before Auradon and the love of broken glass edges and the sun overhead.
There is something even more yearning about the way they see Nerea. Evie never believed that there could be such dignity and desperate strength in an expression.
However, this is something that no one knows. Not Carlos, not even Mal. A tight knot in her voice reminds her that she has never kept things from Mal before.
"Do you think they are okay?"
Jane. Doug.
Themselves.
"I don't know, Evie. But I hope so".
And although the same anguish of always expands through her chest, now there is also a little hope. She knows that with Mal and Ben off the Isle, it's a matter of time before they can see them again. Before being able to go back to being Evie and Carlos.