Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants.
Chapter 13: Too Late to Apologize?
Ben sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"It's late," he glanced at the clock. It showed that it was well into the early morning. Looking around the room, he shuddered, thinking about how Mrs. Potts would have a field day scolding him if she saw the messy state of his - no, their office.
The night sky was slowly beginning the lighten, marking the dawn of the third day working on their proposal for the Council of Sidekicks. The first day had been filled with learning curves...and cutting remarks...and death threats (surprisingly not all from Uma). But at some point, they had found a tentative and delicate way to work together. Threat of being sent back to a literal hell on earth was a good motivator after all.
He glanced down at Evie who was curled up next to him, her head having fallen on his shoulder a few hours ago. Clutched loosely in her hands was a notebook filled with neatly penned proposals and counter-proposals in blue ink.
"It won't do us any good if we're all too tired to stand on our feet before the Council," he spoke softly to the only other awake occupant in the room. "We can start again later once we're all rested."
A soft snort of amusement came from the window seat that Uma had claimed as hers hours ago. (She claimed it was better than the "overstuffed couches" that the room held but Ben had his suspicions that she really just wanted a better view of the night sky.)
"Never thought I'd appreciate my mom working me like a slave all these years," she murmured, flipping through an Auradon policy book. She had been dutifully referring to it the last few days, pulling out loopholes that even Ben and Evie hadn't noticed before. (She really does have a talent for leading, he thought, feelings bittersweet as he thought of another girl from the Isle with purple hair who he believed that also applied to.)
When the sea witch looked up to see Ben's horrified face at her statement, she looked like she had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. He felt ashamed in his ignorance. Where Evie would gently guide him through his lack of knowledge, Uma didn't hold back any punches, making it clear that she wasn't here to coddle him. And he didn't want to be coddled. He wanted to learn in order to lead. People's lives depended on it.
"I'm used to running on little sleep working back to back shifts for my mom," Uma clarified.
"Oh. I see," Ben nodded, careful not to jostle Evie too much. "Still, this isn't Ursula's shoppe," he smiled reassuringly at her. "You don't have to push yourself so hard. We're going to figure out a plan to secure the Isle proclamation and hold off having the Council of Heroes called into session. I promise you."
Uma stared at him and for a moment, Ben felt like an animal on display, being appraised, seeing if he was worth investing in or needed to be put down. It was a look he was quickly realizing was how children from the Isle, or at least the ones with their parent's names behind them, sized someone up. Weak, threat, or ally. (He hoped she saw him as an ally.)
She finally closed the book that she had been reading, tossing it on the window seat next to her before getting up and walking towards where he and Evie were on the couch. She walked with the same power and confidence that she did on her ship. But it was more than just confidence that made him realize she was a leader. Past the rage and scathing retorts, he saw a girl who was forced into a position that someone so young shouldn't have been placed in. It was something he saw often when he looked in the mirror...when he looked at Mal…
Keeping his thoughts in the here and now and away from the gnawing feelings of guilt from earlier with Mal, Ben realized that Uma was now sitting on the couch opposite from him. She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, braids falling in front of her, casting shadows on her face that made her piercing gaze even more intense.
"Jonas," she firmly stated. "Bonnie. Gonzo. Desiree," she continued, listing a few more vaguely familiar names before Ben realized she was listing off members of her crew. "Gil...Harry." (Ben didn't comment on how she paused on the last name.) "Those, plus the kids I came over here with and countless others back on the Isle, are exactly why I have to keep pushing myself, your Majesty," she spat his title. "They are my people. Don't promise me or them anything if you're not damn sure you can back it up."
Ben gently shifted Evie to her other side, careful to catch her notebook before it slipped and to pillow her head comfortably. Satisfied, he crossed over to the couch she was sitting on. Though her face remained neutral, Ben could pick up on the tense set of her shoulders, the way her eyes tracked every movement he made. He made sure to give a respectable amount of distance between them when he sat down on the other end of the couch.
"Uma-"
"Don't," she cut him off, reaching for Evie's notebook. She glanced briefly at it before starting to add her own notes in sharp slanted print.
Ben frowned. "Don't what?"
"Don't pretend like this is anything other than a mutually beneficial business deal, Beastie Boy," she flipped some loose braids over her shoulder. "We're not friends."
"Maybe not yet," Ben agreed, slowly reaching over to close the notebook in her hands. "But that doesn't mean we couldn't one day be friends."
Uma snatched her hands away, immediately sneezing into her arm. "Sorry, I'm allergic to bullshit," she smiled sweetly at him.
Not to be put off, Ben only grinned. "One day," he vowed.
"One day you'll be sorely disappointed," Uma rolled her eyes. "You know, I don't get you and your goody boy vibe. Don't you ever want to be...wicked?"
Ben let out a soft chuckle. "I haven't made myself out to be anything other than what you've seen."
She snorted, crossing her arms. "Which is why I don't get you. Other than maybe your silly little hero pride, what do you have at stake? I've read everything in the damn policy book. You have nothing to lose. Your little girlfriend won't be sent back now that she's engaged to be engaged to you, whatever that means. So why go through this hassle?"
"Because though I do care greatly for Mal," Ben said, reaching out to take her hand again, smiling slightly when she didn't immediately tug it away. "I can also care about you and Evie and everyone else on the Isle. You are all my people too," he said giving her hand a soft squeeze before she pulled her hands away as though she had been burned. He gave her a disappointed smile. "And in that way, I do have everything to lose."
He got up and walked towards his window, where the haunting shape of the Isle could be seen in the distance.
"I can never make up for what my parents, for what the heroes who were supposed to protect and not harm, indirectly did to you by putting your parents on the Isle," Ben said turning around to face Uma. "But I can make sure that it doesn't continue."
Uma glanced at him. "I really wish I could believe that…" Her expression turned hard suddenly before getting up and walking towards the door. "But I'm not holding my breath. At least not for you to save us," she scoffed before walking out and leaving.
Ben sighed, trying to ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach that despite his optimism, something not good was about to happen.
WLTF
Three days.
Three days of that nosy Jay following him around more than his own shadow. (Harry really had to resist the urge of sticking him with his hook, never mind that it wouldn't do anything to the bastard.)
Three days of proper Auradon princes and princesses hurling hissed insults and veiled threats under their breaths as he walked past; heroes shoving him in the hall attempting to provoke him to do something that would get him sent back to the Isle or worst.
Three days without Uma.
Oh Davy Jones, his mind felt jumbled. He wondered where the hell the rum was in this place. (Damn Jonas. The idiot had thought it was funny to refill another lad's flask with sea sludge. Where was the loyalty?)
"You're zoning out again," Gil whispered, bringing him out of his thoughts and back to their Basic Chivalry class.
Rolling his eyes, Harry picked up one of the millions of teeny-tiny spoons placed before him, inspecting it disinterestedly. "Sorry Gilly-boy but I really can't bring meself to care about which itty-bitty spoon to use when," he drawled leaning back in his chair. "They'll all work the same when yer trying to pop a man's eye out."
As Gil recounted some trivial crap that he was probably incorrectly repeating from the teacher, Harry caught for the umpteenth time a raven haired girl glancing over her shoulder back at them. Harry just calmly made a rude gesture that made her frown, turning back in her seat with a harumph. (Seven seas, he knew he and Gil made a pretty picture but have some discretion, lass!)
The class continued on at a glacial pace. Harry wondered why he had been given an indefinite amount of detention for what happened with Ben when the classes alone were enough of a punishment. It also didn't help that it constantly felt like everyone's eyes were on him, just waiting for him to screw up and give the Council of Has-Beens a reason to send him back to the Isle.
To be perfectly honest, he didn't mind being sent back to the Isle. At least he knew how things went there. He had made his own name there. Harry Hook. If he went back, he would be Harry Hook, first mate to...well, to no one. Because he knew that Uma would fight and rage and storm before she was forced back there as a prisoner. (And he would fight and rage and storm to not be taken from her side…)
He must have zoned out again because Gil nearly found one of the many forks stabbed into his head when he grabbed Harry's shoulder.
"You know the bell just rang, right?" he pointed out, not looking at all fazed with the sharp tines so close to his eye.
Harry glanced around noticing that most of the other students had already left. The few students that remained, one of them being the Auradonian girl that Mal and her gang had brought along when they kidnapped the king, seemed to hang back, watching them distrustfully. (Damn sidekick girls . . .)
He was getting tired of people staring at him and worst of all, that annoying claustrophobic feeling was back, so Harry grabbed Gil by the vest and pushed past Sword Girl and into the hall.
"Bye Lonnie," Gil called out over his shoulder.
"How the hell can you remember the name of a girl you only met once but you can't remember your own Captain's name half the time?" Harry growled irritatedly, letting go of Gil.
"You're really grumpy today," Gil pointed out. "Are you still sad you haven't seen Uma? She did send that note that saying she'd be busy for a few days."
"Are ye daf? I'm not-" Harry suddenly stopped seeing a flash of teal and hoping it would be a certain sea witch. When he actually saw what caught his eye, he wished his bloody hook wasn't spelled to do no harm. Someone needed to be hooked.
Hanging high above in the main hall by its neck was a crudely made teal effigy that was undoubtedly supposed to be his Captain. It looked like someone had taken the top half of a doll (not even a doll with the proper skin tone), dyed its hair a messy seaweed-blue color, and sewn it to the bottom half of a octopus plushie. Tied around its neck was a large sign that said "Go Back to the Isle, Sea Bitch!" in sloppy uneven writing.
Students around him whispered, some looking sick, others looking indifferent, others trying to hide snickers between deceiving looks of pity. (Fucking vipers. All of them. They were all lucky he didn't have a sword in his hand . . .)
"I told Ben multiple times that bringing such a large group of villain kids over at once was a bad idea," Harry heard a pompous looking blonde boy exclaim to a group of young royals and nobles who stood around him, nodding. Harry had seen the boy around a bit, had noticed how he always seemed to get upset when Gil got anywhere near that uppity princess Gil had a few of his classes with.
"Um, Harry?" Gil looked unsure as Harry silently crept closer to the group. It was too late though. Harry's blood was already boiling.
"Hush, Gilly," Harry growled. "Let a pirate do what a pirate's gotta do."
"But does he listen to me? Of course not," the blonde continued. "You know, I should have gotten a chance to prove that I could be the High King of Auradon. Mother says I would look adorable in a long kingly robe," he grinned, arrogantly tossing his perfectly styled blonde curls.
"Uh...Chad?" one of the boys near him began, noticing Harry's approach, though he was completely ignored.
"Also, I would never let some sea witch's daughter over here after what she did during Cotillion. I don't know who put up that doll and sign," he winked cheekily to the boy next to him, unaware of how his companions were no longer responding to him but looking at something (or someone) over his shoulder, "but they have the right idea!"
"They do, do they?" Harry grinned widely, slinging an arm around Chad's shoulder and turning him to face the hanging doll.
The pirate let out a little giggle when Chad let out a high-pitched squeak, his shoulders trembling. Everyone around them took a step back, unsure of what this pirate would do when he was already in hot water.
"Ye know, I'm still learning all the customs and what not of this place and obviously there are some cultural differences anywhere one goes, but…" he trailed off, tutting. He pointed at the poorly made doll with one hand, the other using his hook to tilt a now quietly begging Chad's chin up to look at it. "That, on or off the Isle is a threat. And I don't take threats, especially about me Captain, lightly."
From the corner of his eye, Harry could see Jay trying to shoulder his way through the crowd of onlookers. Looked like the goody-goody former thief was about to give him a lecture. He needed to make this quick. Harry was about to send this Chad bastard back to his mother in a matchbox when the smell of the sea and a small peach blur pushed him off the other boy before a slapping noise was heard.
The slap had been so loud Harry was left feeling slightly delayed when the accompanying pain wasn't felt. It only took a second to realize that he hadn't been slapped.
Chad had.
By the girl who was constantly staring at him during Basic Chivalry.
"Take that horrible thing down this instant!" she demanded, scowling up at the prince who was easily a head taller than her.
"You just hit me!" Chad cried holding his red cheek.
"And I'll do it again if you don't take that thing down now!" she pointed to the doll. "Do you not know you're insulting a member of Atlantica's royal family with that?"
Harry raised a brow at that. So she was one of Atlantica's merfolk was she? He supposed that explained the staring. All the old pirates on the Isle always said the merfolk could smell out a sailor. But what was all this talk about insulting the royal family? Wait...oh Davy Jones he hoped this wasn't one of Triton's numerous grandchildren.
"Oh please!" Chad sneered down at her. "Anyone from the Isle is not a member of a royal family. They're all just a bunch of hooligans and villains," he snapped pointing at Harry, "like him that shouldn't be allowed the same luxury as us normal students! They should all just be sent back right this instant!"
The girl looked like she was ready to slap Chad all over again as Harry snarled, "Oh, I'll show you who's a hooligan you son of a-"
A commotion was heard and all three turned just in time to see Dizzy push through the crowd, look up at the doll and the sign before looking back at Chad.
"Chad? You think I'm bad?" she asked, tears already in her voice and eyes before she ran off, an older brown-haired bespectacled boy throwing Chad a glare before rushing after the young accessory designer, calling after her.
"Wait!" Chad called out. "Dizzy! I- I of course didn't mean you! Dizzy!" He turned angrily towards the mermaid. "Oh! Look what you've done! Now she won't do my hair tonight!" he stomped his foot petulantly.
"Oh, Princey-boy," Harry sneered, pushing himself into the boy's personal space again. "Your hair is about to be the least of your problems," he laughed, making Chad go pale once again.
"This show has gone on for far too long now. Make it quick, bring the doll down."
Harry turned around just in time to see the doll drop from where it hung before Jay snatched it up from the air and handed it into the waiting hands of the purple lizard herself. (Seven seas. This day was NOT getting any better.) She looked at it before turning a cool glare at everyone standing around watching.
"Don't you all have somewhere else to be?" she smiled sweetly. That seemed to be enough to get everyone moving, but in the hustle and bustle of things, Chad, to Harry's displeasure, managed to slip by.
Harry would just have to find him later.
"Here," he turned back towards Mal, who was holding out the doll towards the mermaid. "I hope your kingdom accepts mine and surely the King's apology for the insult, Princess Melody."
Ah, so that was her name, Harry thought.
Melody took the doll gently in her hand, looking grateful. "Thank you but I'm not the one who is owed the apology." She glanced at Harry and Mal's face scrunched up in a way that would have had Harry laughing if he wasn't already so tightly wound up.
"Give me that," Harry impatiently snatched the doll from Melody's hands before pushing past them back to Gil.
He ignored the way Princess Mermaid called after him, ignored the lingering stares that followed as Gil trailed behind him. "Fucking royals," he muttered, still furious that he couldn't get his hands around that damn Chad's neck.
"Did someone steal his eyeliner again?" a familiar voice asked. A certain voice that Harry had been longing to hear for three days now.
"Uma!" Gil exclaimed happily, picking up the small girl and bringing her into a bone crushing hug.
Harry watched the exchange from a distance, partly jealous of Gil hugging his Captain and partly unsure if she would allow a hug from him.
Despite how uncomfortably tight the hug must have been, she allowed the boy a few seconds longer than she would usually give before complaining about not being able to breathe. Gil sheepishly let her go, turning to Harry expecting to see the pirate happy to see their captain. Instead, both Captain and First Mate were staring over each other's shoulders, avoiding eye contact. An awkward silence fell over all three of them.
After a while, Uma proved why she was captain and broke the silence. "Hey Gil. I've been wandering around for most of the morning and missed lunch. Get me something to eat, will you?"
Looking unsure as he looked between the two, Gil nodded before running off to get some food.
As soon as he was gone, Uma turned around and started walking in another direction. "Come on," she said over her shoulder. "There's a lake nearby. We should...talk."
Despite the awkward air around them, Harry did what he always did.
He followed her.
When they reached the lake, Uma sat down on a large rock near the water and removed her boots before sticking her feet in. Harry watched her, taking her all in like it had been years since he last saw her and not just three days.
"I was afraid that the next time I'd see ye you would be wearing a poofy ball gown," he murmured, not knowing what else to say.
Uma rolled her eyes. "Believe me, Princess Blueberry is trying." Harry noticed how there was little actual scorn in her voice and the expression on her face was more similar to one she usually wore after Gil said something stupid but amusing. An expression she only really wore when talking about a member of their crew. "What's that?"
So caught up in observing her, it took a moment for Harry to realize she meant the doll that was poking out of his pocket. He pulled it out, as if he almost forgotten how it had gotten in his pocket in the first place.
"Oh, uh...Some Auradon snob put it up," he explained as Uma reached out to grab it, examining it critically before chucking it into the lake. "Some Chad kid."
"Cinderella's son," Uma nodded, as if she had already heard about the boy. "Not a lot in the brains department," she smirked, as if thinking of a joke she had been told earlier. A slight pang of jealousy went through his chest at not being able understanding the reference. Another silence fell between them.
Harry adjusted his grip on his hook. This wasn't like them. Silences were either purposeful or intense with unsaid words that the other always understood...always felt. They weren't like this. How did things go belly up in less than a week of stepping onto Auradon's shores?
"How are the others?" Uma broke the silence as she wiggled her toes in the water.
Harry swallowed around the lump in his throat, ignored the way he felt sweat trickled down the back of his neck. "Gil and Diego are looking out for them."
Stopping her light splashing in the water, Uma looked up, a confused frown set deep on her face. He knew that looking after the others when Uma was gone was his responsibility. Not Gil's. Not Diego's. (You couldn't even be a captain and now look at ya! His father's scathing tone whispered in his mind. Can't even be a first mate!)
"And you?" she raised a brow questioningly. "How've you been holding up?"
Harry managed a snort. He looked down at the water and saw a small fish swim around his boot. He briefly wondered if the fish realized just how much smaller it was compared to the rest of the lake. If it ever just wanted to give up when the currents were just too strong...
"Look," Uma sighed standing up. "Let's cut to the crap. The other night, in your room," she took a deep sigh. "I'm sor-"
"No," Harry shook his head, cutting her off. "Pirates don't apologize. Remember?"
He watched as she fought with herself, feeling somewhat comforted that he could still read the worry in how she played with the ends of her braids.
"A good captain would never intend to harm her first mate," she said softly, looking down at her braids before looking up at him. "You know that right, First Mate?"
He snorted, a growing grin played on his lips. "Hm," he said thoughtfully, patting his sides dramatically. "Well what do ye know? No harmed first mate here. Though," he winked cheekily, "if you want to check the package yerself, ye only have to ask, Captain."
She laughed, the sound so beautiful and bright that it made him feel like the richest man in the world. Though dark thoughts still played at the back of his head, Uma was his compass that directed him away from it.
"Gods, you're a sap," she chuckled.
"Your sap, darling," Harry said, grin turning soft as he brought her hand up to his lips. "I'll never be like one of them Auradon princes and I dunno if I can even learn to be good like the others from the Anti-Hero club. I'll never be yer knight in shining armor because ye can slay yer own dragons."
"Definitely working on it," Uma hummed.
"Aye. Only a matter of time," Harry nodded with a smirk before frowning. "But Uma, I'll only cause more problems here for ye and the rest of the crew if I stay by your side."
Uma snorted, removing her hand from his grip only to tightly interlace her fingers with his.
"When did we ever have any issues with causing problems?" she smirked, squeezing his hand and he couldn't help but to smirk back at her.
WLTF
Fairy Godmother sighed as she looked outside her office window. Below she could see the grounds of Auradon Prep, students going to and from their classes and activities as always, unaware of the magic that swirled lazily around them. The potential for such great (and terrifying) change that each of them had.
Over the past three days security had been tripled and the press were currently being held off at the gates of the school. For now, things were relatively calm in Auradon.
Or so it appeared...
Her gaze turned further out, across the water. Though she couldn't see it from her office, she felt that was where the shift was coming from.
Neverland.
"I don't understand," she murmured softly, before turning back to the school therapist who was sitting on the other side of her desk with a cup of tea (two sugars and a squeeze of lemon). "It shouldn't - It shouldn't be like this."
"It shouldn't," Mickey said taking a sip of his tea, making a slight face at it but drinking it anyway. She knew he didn't actually like tea, but she supposed some habits, after doing them for so long, were hard to get rid of. (Her hands always twitched, eager to go into the long sweeping wand movements every time she saw a student, pure of heart, down on their luck.) "But when ya think about it, the magic that Neverland naturally emits hasn't been what it should be since...well, hm...oh, that's right, for the last twenty years," he said pointedly.
Fairy Godmother sat herself gracefully down in her chair though the look she gave the man across from her was more than enough to show her displeasure.
This was a conversation that he just wouldn't let go.
"King Adam, the Council of Heroes, and I did what was necessary," she responded coolly.
"Mildread," Mickey sighed, finishing up his tea and placing the cup gently on the desk between them. "Ya merely put a bandaid on a broken dam." He got up smoothly, adjusting his ever-present pristine white gloves and ignoring the deep frown the headmistress wore. "But if I know anything," he mused, "magic will always find its own way to fix things. Unfortunately, it doesn't always take into account the consequences of the methods in doing so."
"Magic was what got us into this situation to begin with and you will do well to remember that, Mortimer."
As soon as the name was out of her mouth, Fairy Godmother froze, fear plainly clear on her face. The room seemed to darken slightly despite the sun's light streaming through the window. Air tense, Mickey managed to give a friendly smile (though deep, deep, deep in his eyes, Fairy Godmother could see the power she had unintentionally provoked).
"No need for that look Mildread," Mickey said kindly, though his eyes glimmered with a strange light. "Though please, I think everyone would prefer if I stick with being called 'Mickey'."
"R-right. Apologies," the woman nodded. "Uh, how are things going with the Hook boy?"
The room seemed to return back to normal, the tension immediately leaving and Mickey gave her a small grin. "After our first session, he hasn't been coming."
"What! It's part of his schedule! King Ben requested it," she fussed, before frowning. "What did you two talk about?"
"Aw, Fairy Godmother," Mickey said, his grin turning into one that within the last few months Fairy Godmother had began to associate with her students from the Isle. "You know my lips are sealed. But don't worry. He'll be back."
Happy New Year friends!
Major thanks to my lovely, awesome, wonderful, inspiring beta, elphaba_swan (on AO3) for this chapter. They really helped me out of a big writer's block with this chapter and deserves all the thanks for this story even being updated.
As always, thank you to everyone who has read, favorited, subscribed, left a review, etc. for this story. Though I know the updates haven't been as frequent as they first were when I started, you all motivate me to see this story finished. So thanks to you all as well.
Thank you all so much for your patience. If you have time, please comment. I love knowing what you all think. Also, check out my Tumblr page (edream93) for prompt writings, my "We'll Light the Fuse" playlist and dreamcast boards and/or to just say hello!
Until next time!