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The barrier could control the magic of the gods themselves, but not something as strong as the Soulmates. And yet, because love was such a controversial and dangerous thing, some villains dedicated their entire lives to keep their descendants away from true love. But other villains knew that the odds of someone's soulmate being on the other side of the barrier were the most likely, so they didn't worry about it.
Uma, on the other hand, thought differently.
Her mother had explained how the soulmates worked. True love. Everyone regardless of specie had one. And she had noticed something very important that she had to wait to confirm. Something vital and with strategic utility. Pleasant was her surprise when the older descendants reached adolescence and many of them began to show signs that their soulmates were on the other side of the barrier. Uma had felt lucky. Because the barrier had its days counted. And so, it was when princes, warriors, princesses, and nobles protested for their soulmates. King Adam couldn’t refuse their demands. What would happen if his son had his soulmate on the Island. No one could take a chance. The kingdoms under King Adam’s control demanded that the descendants of the villains be extracted from the Island immediately. Because it wasn’t fair for true love to be separated.
So, Uma was free when she was eleven years old. Her mother was trapped on the Island and she followed Harriet off the Island, along with Harry, CJ, and Gil. The older descendants, those who were already sixteen, ran to meet their soulmates. Each with their call sign that could guide them to their destiny. Because love was complicated and its signals were difficult to decipher. But the most important thing was that True Love had saved them.
"What will they do with us?" Gil asked.
She pressed his hand. The twins had abandoned Gil the second they were released. Harry was carrying CJ, who kept crying and calling for their father. Harriet maintained composure, guiding the descendants of the port. Although she wasn't much older than them. But the oldest of the Hook siblings was a leader.
“They will put us in a safe place. And they won't separate us.” Harriet replied coldly "I won’t allow it."
And for a while, she complied. Everyone went to a shelter and stayed together. But within a few months, the people of Auradon began to take everyone. One by one. They began to adopt them.
Harriet was fierce and dangerous, refusing to be separated from whom she was protecting. Mainly her siblings. And despite being just a girl, she made herself heard. The other children refused to go to other kingdoms. But eventually, everyone was taken to new homes, with the promise that they would see each other every day at their new school. Everyone would stay in the same kingdom.
The Hook siblings went with the admiral of the Naval. Gil was received by King Adam and Queen Belle, as a sign of goodwill and change for a better future. Although surely Prince Ben had had a lot to do.
Uma went with Mama Odie and her daughter Opal. In a house inside a tree. Uma wanted to hate living there, but it was very difficult when everything was so familiar and at the same time so different. Mama Odie taught her to use her magic and to cook. Although most of the time the woman spent outside the home. But she and Opal became friends. Opal's recklessness and her mystery only made her more pleasing to her eyes. Besides, every day she could see her boys. In a short time, Freddie and Celia joined them. Opal explained to them that Mama Odie always adopted powerful witches to guide them on the right track.
“She neglected her daughter and she became dangerous. Her grandson became an enemy. But she never talks about it.” Opal explained on one occasion.
Uma was grateful that it wasn’t a conventional home. It wasn’t a house where someone wanted to play like a happy family. Mama Odie was a tutor who respected the fact that they lived on the Island and had past there.
Time passed and she got used to sharing her room. New witches joined them. Mama Odie taught them all equally, but each one had her ability. Uma found that her life was pleasant. And Mama Odie noticed the first characteristic of her soulmate.
One afternoon, while Uma trained in her transformed form, one of her tentacles was cut with a bottle at the bottom of the sea. When Uma left the sea and transformed back to a human, she saw the cut on her thigh. Mama Odie tried to cure her, but only the bleeding stopped. The scar didn't disappear. For Uma that was normal. Her body was a path of scratches and scars. But Mama Odie laughed with melancholy.
"My little girl, the only person who can erase those scars will be your soulmate."
Uma touched her new scar with intrigue. She looked at the woman and from there to her arms full of marks.
"It doesn't matter, my body is a map of my victories." She declared "Can we go back to training?"
Everything would be under control. It wasn't about her not wanting a soulmate. Only it wasn't really important. And for the moment, her soulmate proved to be an obstacle.
Until she turned sixteen and dreamed of her soulmate. She woke up in the middle of the night and contained a cry of frustration as not to wake the others. But Opal was at her side immediately.
"Calm…"
Uma pushed her slightly. Because of her dream had been as intense as she thought, Opal had heard it. That was the problem of living with someone able to read the mind. Or, at least, the strongest thoughts.
"My soulmate was singing a happy birthday song." She whispered, searching for her cell phone.
It was midnight. The beginning of her birthday. And her soulmate knew her, they knew who she was. But their connection was difficult. Although in the dream she had known exactly who they were and recognized their voice, Uma could no longer do it. She remembered hearing their voice in the past, but couldn't tell who they were.
“Don't worry so much. This is part of the connections between soulmates.” Opal tried to calm her with a confidential giggle "They are there to drive you crazy."
“Hush." Uma growled, dropping into her bed. "I'll move out of the bedroom tomorrow."
"I know who is." Opal whispered against her ear.
But Uma didn't look at her, because she knew the girl. To her damn luck, she knew Opal very well.
“And you won't tell me. Because I don't need to know who they are, because eventually, I will know their identity, right?” Uma turned her face to see the girl's intense eyes.
"Oh, Uma, you know me so well."
"I hate you."
"No, you don't." Opal returned to her bed "You know that I know that very well."
"I move tomorrow." Uma swore, turning in her bed.
Besides, she didn't want Opal to hear the voice of her soulmate. Because she was sure of something, it was an incredibly attractive voice.
"I heard you." Opal commented with fun.
"I hate you."
The next morning, she met her boys. They took her on a sailboat so close to the Island of the Lost that she could distinguish the port.
"Now they get the descendants out since they are babies." Harry commented at her side when they stopped.
"Well, I think in some cases, those babies are being done a favor." Uma commented and sat on the stern, putting her bare feet in the sea.
Gil also went to her other side and hugged her against his chest. Now he wore the colors of royalty. Although he wasn’t a prince. Not quite. But Gil was being raised as one. Harry wore blue, like Naval officers, but he still wore his scarlet jackets. Upon leaving the Island, he had obtained the sea and carried it with him.
Uma thought her new life included magic. Now she could make potions, transform, make contracts and visit kingdoms under the sea. She was not Ursula's daughter. But Mama Odie's apprentice. And, most of the time, she was Uma. A good student, captain of the club of debate and supported the inclusion of magic classes in the academic schedule.
Harry stroked her hand, the place where a star-shaped scar occupied most of it.
"Second star to the right..." Harry whispered.
"...and straight on till morning." Uma completed without looking away from his thumb and the way he touched her.
Gil stroked her hair in small spirals. She relaxed among her boys, looking towards her past. They were safe. They were protected.
"Gil...?" She looked up "Do you have any sign of your soulmate?"
He had turned sixteen last month. The castle had thrown a great party for him. The Queen loved Gil as if he were her son.
"Yes." He removed a leather bracelet and let them look at his wrist.
Uma noticed a tattoo there. Camelot Heights. And a date.
"That must be the day you will meet your Soulmate." Harry touched his friend's tattoo, imprisoning Uma between them. "Does that mean you don't know this person?"
“Maybe it's an important date. Gil could already meet his soulmate.” Uma looked at the boy "Anything else?"
Gil nodded and lifted his hair. At the height of his neck was a strand of dark hair.
"Fascinating." Uma touched the lock.
It even felt different. It was like touching someone else's hair. So that was Gil's soulmate's hair color. And in two months they would be together.
"And you?" Uma looked at Harry with interest.
He smiled dangerously and leaned in her direction.
"Would you be jealous, darling?"
Uma pushed him, laughing. That didn't matter. What she felt eventually had nothing to do with true love. That was the way things were in their world. Predestined and irreversible. Catastrophic if they fought against it.
"I dreamed of my soulmate." She replied, looking at the boy's intense blue eyes.
Harry looked at her with some alarm and remained static, waiting.
"What?" She took his chin "Did you expect me to tell you more?"
Uma didn’t wait for his response and jumped off the sailboat. Immediately she transformed, looking at her boys.
"How about a race?" She asked, with a wide smile.
Harry laughed wickedly.
"If we win, will you tell me what you dreamed?"
She shrugged and began swimming back. Uma heard the boy curse. But she never said it would be a fair race. While she swam, she could hear her soulmate again. They were singing. And again, she had the feeling of knowing who they were, but her brain was cloudy, refusing to give her that information. Uma thought about stopping, but it was certain that that would not be the first or the last time she heard their voices sing. They liked to sing. And the lyrics didn't tell her much either. It was just a song, about stars and galaxies.
Uma told herself that the faster she resigned herself to having a sporadic music station in her mind, the faster she could live in peace. At that time, it was more important to win. So, she submerged and swam harder, passing through the huge rocks under the sea that protected the port of Auradon against high tides. She slipped through the small space so she wasn’t having to rise to the surface. But she felt a cut on her shoulder. Another scar. She didn't think much about it and kept swimming until she reached the starting point.
She became human again and cast a spell to close the long cut. Another scratch. But she had won and that was the important thing. Uma waited for her boys to arrive, but to her surprise, when the sailboat appeared, there was only Harry. He descended with some degree of frustration and dropped to her side, on the sand.
"What happened?"
“One of my tutor's ships intercepted us. The Queen needed Gil urgently. Something about a new coat. So, I wasted valuable time.” Harry growled in frustration.
"You are dramatic."
"I'm not." Harry sat down quickly “Today is your birthday. This is important. Gil and I had planned other things."
Uma shrugged and looked at the sea.
"It's been a good day." She whispered.
"It could be better."
"We can still do everything you planned another day. My birthday can be celebrated for days if you wish." She joked.
"Tell me about your soulmate." Harry begged "Anything?"
"Why are you interested?"
"Just tell me, darling." Harry stopped and looked at her shoulder "Another scar."
"My competitive spirit is dangerous." She shrugged "Mama Odie says that my scars will disappear when my soulmate takes care of-"
She held her breath when Harry leaned down and licked her scar. Uma shivered and bit her lower lip so she couldn’t let a single sound out of her mouth. But she contained a curse when she saw the scar disappear.
"Did you hear me sing you happy birthday?" Harry asked against her shoulder.
"You…"
He nodded and brushed his cheek against her shoulder. So happy with himself. And in peace.
"How…?"
“After my last birthday, I heard you sing in my mind. I didn't know it was you, of course. But that night, at my birthday party, when you sang for me, I heard you in my mind. ” Harry kissed her shoulder "Besides, I always wanted it to be you."
She covered her mouth. But Harry took her hand and kissed her star-shaped scar, making it disappear. He gave her his shark smile.
“But you don't have scars like me. You have always healed very quickly. ” Uma muttered.
“You make me a lucky man. The effect you have on me is that your closeness makes me stronger. I am better when we are together. More agile, more resistant, more powerful.” Harry distributed small kisses on her fingers, among the small scars she had for cooking and they never got erased “And I can heal you. Forever."
She laughed loudly and Harry quickly joined her. In a blink, he laid her on the sand and settled over her body. He gave her enough space not to make her feel uncomfortable, but he held her there as he often did when they trained.
"I have a long task in front of me."
He touched the scar on her lower lip and then slipped his index finger into the small hot oil burns she had on her collarbone and part of her neckline. Tiny and imperceptible from when she tried to make Mama Odie's fried chicken recipe and almost set the tree on fire. Uma put her hands around his neck and brought him close to her face. He looked at her and for a moment he softened his gaze.
"Darling, aren't you disappointed?"
She denied. Something told her that with or without indications of soulmates. Inside or outside the Island, they would have had that same end.
"It's good that now I have my room or tonight I would traumatize Opal." She exposed her neck "Because you have a long task to do."
Harry laughed discreetly, leaning over her lips. One scar at a time. One kiss at a time.