It was the longest day of Uma's life, and she believed that she would end up killing someone if they didn't stop asking her questions. She knew it was natural; everyone in Auradon wanted to know what had happened and why, exactly, Ursula's daughter had appeared on shore with Captain Hook's dying son and three ships in tow.

Uma refused to speak, refused to stay alone in that room where everything screamed vulnerability, starting with the fact that she was lying on a bed, so they allowed her to always have two of her crew people next to her.

It was fun, she had to admit, watching these Auradon people feel intimidated. Harry would enjoy the sight, she thought… and her heart clenched in pain. He was recovering from the surgery, at least that was what all the people she threatened for information had told her, with the exception of Gil, who she had asked as kindly as possible and who had been with Harry moments ago. Now CJ and Harriet were in their brother's room… they hadn't seen Uma, not once.

Auradon was an alien place, unknown, Uma could not prevent anxiety creeping up her muscles.

The hours of waiting were endless, but at some point, in the night, a group of nurses opened the door to her room, carrying a stretcher, and Uma jumped when she saw him, her heart wanting to go out of her throat, and the memories of the feeling of him so loose in her arms, unconscious, all crowded into her mind in a moment. Uma leaned forward, close to him, and accidentally pulled the little tubes and cables around her and close to her. She heard a rumble and felt a sharp pain in her arm, but it didn't matter. Not when Harry was there, really, alive.

God, he was alive.

"Wait!" Gil yelled, but he didn't try to get Uma back to bed. A nurse did, and Uma showed her teeth. The woman stepped back and looked at her colleagues, but no one dared to approach.

Harry's bright blue eyes looked at her, alive, real, a little out of himself, and he made an evil grin. He raised a hand to greet her, but he dropped it again, still too exhausted.

"You are bleeding, love. Should I hook someone?"

The words sounded a bit slurred, but Uma felt all the relief in the world fill every pore, every vein. And she realized that he was right. A trickle of blood ran down her forearm. Uma shook her hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Nothing compared to you, Hook.".

"In fact, he refuses to take the medicine," explained one of the nurses. "He said we could be poisoning him, so we think he doesn't know what the medicine is, and he demanded to be brought here".

Uma saw Harry's lips curl slightly, suppressing a smile, and he tried to put on an innocent expression. And Uma shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"Harry knows what medicine is, he's not stupid," she replied, her voice all made of sharp edges. And she heard Gil snort something like "he is" behind her, Bonny giggled, and Harry smirked. "He's too smart for his own good".

The nurse looked at Harry, understanding the ruse, and said nothing. It seemed that she was at a loss for words. So, Uma decided to stop making the poor woman suffer, at least for the moment, just for her to get away and leave them alone.

"Harry".

"Yes, Captain?" He asked, all innocence.

"Take your medicine".

Harry sighed as dramatically as he could, considering the circumstances, and took the glass the nurse handed him. At first, he choked a bit, with the horrible taste and not knowing how to take the pills, but Uma explained it to him and blackmailed a male nurse by letting him arrange her cables and tubes in exchange for putting Harry as close as possible to her.

So close that she could hook her little finger with Harry's fingers when only Gil, Bonny, Harry and Uma were left in the room.

Uma's body almost vibrated at the touch, and she flinched. Harry's breathing was regular, rhythmic, and he fell asleep again almost immediately. Uma looked at him for a long, long time, silent, thoughtful. She felt like the calm sea. And Gil and Bonny played dice in the corner of the room, not daring to disturb them.

They were off the isle now, free. And Harry would recover, Uma knew he was strong, a raging storm, the most powerful hurricane. She always trusted him, no matter what. She was grateful beyond anything.

Uma had fallen asleep when CJ and Harriet arrived, and the older Hook wasn't surprised to see that she had had a possessive hand on Harry's arm, so she exhaled and shook her head.

Her feelings squeezed into her mind. She wanted to scream, vent a bit, but it wouldn't have made sense. What she wanted to tell Uma, she wanted to tell her when she was aware. CJ, next to her, snorted in her usual rude gesture. However, Harriet had seen her cry when they believed Harry had died, when they left Uma behind in the cave. Harriet had even held her, for the first time in her life.

"Disgusting," CJ complained, hiding the relief in her voice.

Gil and Bonny had just left the room, leaving Harry's sisters alone with their brother and Uma, even though Gil had viewed Harriet suspiciously and she did not blame him; after all, it was she who had offered the dagger to Harry. It had been she who, even though Gil did not know, had waited the whole time for Uma to sacrifice herself.

Harriet wasn't sure what love was. She never felt it, she was never able to want to give everything for someone, except in the Tempest, when they fled forever from the Isle of the Lost, and she saw everything collapse...

She had wanted to give something important in exchange for Harry and Uma. She didn't reason about it; it was something she just felt. And she was terrified of the force with which it hit her, like a hurricane, like Uma when she emerged in her marine form with Harriet's brother clinging to her by a tentacle.

"It's disgusting," Harriet agreed, just to go along with CJ and stop her thoughts.

"Humiliating," her sister continued, tapping a vase on a small table. The thing fell and broke. CJ didn't seem the least bit regretful.

The sound made Uma squirm in her sleep, but she didn't wake up. CJ sat cheekily on one of the chairs and stretched out her legs.

"So, are you going to Neverland with our father?"

She seemed to want to tease her, and she succeeded. Harriet did not want to think about the long argument she had had with her father when they met. He did not explain to them how it was that he had obtained a wooden leg in such a short time, but he told them that he was leaving. He said they could accompany him, with the Red Tempest...

And Harriet wasn't sure to what extent she was willing to follow him. Her blood called her to Neverland and she had a thirst for adventure, but something over the past few days made her falter a bit, wondering if she was a pirate because she wanted to be or just because she was supposed to be what a Hook was supposed to be. She was not as daring as Uma, she did not have the madness of her brother, although she did not doubt her strength.

She wanted to find herself, to test herself. Earn a name and a badge, like Uma and Harry, be Harriet.

But she also wanted to see where her family came from. Imagine the feats that her father would tell them, sometimes, when they were children, before all the bitterness of the Isle reached them and the death of their mother overshadowed every corner of the Jolly Roger.

"I don't know," she confessed. "You'll go?"

CJ coldly shook her head.

"Auradon has a lot to be looted," she said. And Harriet knew that she was really serious. CJ was a flamboyant pirate. She never had a crew, she felt better alone, but treasures were calling her and she couldn't resist the urge for adrenaline and adventure, which seemed to be one of the Hook's weaknesses.

Harriet was… happy, even if she hated to admit it, that Harry and Uma were still here. Though the feeling terrified her, so unfamiliar. So addictive. And Harriet wanted to know what else her heart was capable of. If there was more of that sweet pain, if there was more.

"Mal isn't going to like this," Evie warned, glaring at Ben, who tried not to flinch from her gaze.

And Ben knew it. He knew it very well, but he had to follow his heart. It didn't matter how much they told him that he would be wrong. If Ben was sure of anything, it was that he always tried to be fair. So, it seemed like the most logical option for him, the most functional for everyone. King Triton had said that he would cause the Isle of the Lost to emerge again, and there were many disagreements among the council. Some wanted the conditions under which the villains had been exiled to remain the same: behind a magical barrier, with only what Auradon sent them to survive.

Ben, after having been there, after having seen Uma and her pirates, children who had had to grow up too fast, with looks full of mistrust… he couldn't. He couldn't do this to them. It was not fair.

"It's the best," he said, reaffirming his proposal. Evie was his advisor because she had offered to help him with this. She understood the needs of the isle's children and thought clearly and firmly in times of stress. She was the best support Ben could have, which is why he cared so much about her opinion. "From what I have seen, I know that the people of the Isle will not accept anyone else as their leader. The Royal Crown of Auradon means nothing to them".

Evie wanted to deny it, to say it wasn't true, that he could always try to assert himself as the rightful king. But she couldn't. She also knew it, that for these people Ben had no authority... nor Mal. For many, unfortunately, Mal was the girl who had betrayed them and left them forgotten. Evie thought it was unfair, because it wasn't Mal's decision whether they stayed on the Isle or not.

She had to admit that it didn't matter how she viewed things, what mattered was keeping the situation under control. Make the islanders stay calm. Some kind of emergency camp had been set up at the Auradon Prep facility to accommodate so many people while it was decided what to do, and there were many disgruntled Auradonians, including Chad and Audrey. They had to solve this as soon as possible.

So yeah, it was the best option they had.

"I know," she said, and Ben smiled happily. A smile that lit up his eyes.

"Thank you for supporting me, Evie," he said sincerely.

She laughed gracefully. Sometimes, it was very difficult to forget that Evie was a princess.

"You will need it," she told him.

And Ben knew it was true. The Isle of the Lost would be brought from the bottom of the sea by the power of King Triton, and Uma, Ursula's daughter, would be officially named as the queen. She was the leader those people would respect, the one they needed. There would be other conditions, Ben promised himself, better conditions. Liberty. Food.

But Ben knew it wouldn't be easy to do.