Archive of Our Own

Harry hates Mal and her group of fairy-godmothers-wannabe friends.
First of all, because Uma hates them, and if Uma has an enemy then Harry has an enemy.
Secondly, it’s so annoying that they’re acting like these well-mannered good kids. They used to be thugs like the rest of them on the Isle, then somebody in Auradon sprinkled some fairy dust on them and suddenly they’re all straight As, nice uniforms, healthy eating and sports after classes.
Lastly, they always ruin everything.
The plan was going so well. They managed to capture that dumb king and got Mal to give them the Wand. Everything perfect. Just like they had planned.
But clearly that annoying purple-headed bitch had a whole other thing in mind. Her and her stupid spell book. In a matter of seconds, the good guys got back the king and Uma found out that the Wand was actually a fake. The fight started. The pirates totally outnumbered the Auradon kids and they could have easily won, but Uma and Harry understood too late that winning the fight was never their aim. Their aim was to take the king and run like rats.
Uma is furious. She and Harry run after Maleficent’s daughter, only to find out that she has already made it on the other side of the gangway and is… throwing it into the water.
They have no way of getting to her. Harry sees a vicious smile appear of the girl’s face. He knows that smile. It is the one that used to appear on her face when they were kids and she was about to do one of her messes. It is the one that appeared on her face right before she called Uma “Shrimpy” for the first time.
She can act like a good girl all she wants. In the end, Harry thinks, she’s just like her mother. She’s just like the rest of them.
Technically, she has already won. She got what she wanted. She has no reason to pile on. But she does.
She takes her damn spell book out of her pocket, whispers a few inaudible words and runs away through the tunnel.
And then everything goes south.
Harry feels the horrible sensation of the floor moving beneath his feet. He glances down for a second and, with a shiver of terror running down his spine, he realizes that it isn’t just a sensation. The ship’s wooden floor is actually moving and collapsing under their feet.
He takes Uma’s hand and shouts: "Run!"
He starts running himself, dragging his best friend behind him. He doesn’t know where to go. He takes a look around him and sees the rest of his crew panicking, not understanding what’s going on. Someone is screaming “Earthquake!”, but Harry knows it isn’t that. They haven’t seen the look on Mal’s face. They haven’t seen her reciting something out of her spell book.
“Harry, stop!” Uma shouts, loud enough that his first mate can hear her over the screaming happening all around them.
“We stop, we’re dead. We gotta find a way off this ship, Captain” he replies while keeping on running.
Uma doesn’t listen to him. She stops and takes ahold of him, forcing him to do as she says.
“You’re right, we gotta find a way off the ship, but you’re going the wrong way” she says. “There, the ship collapses and we fall in the water” she continues, pointing at the direction Harry was running in. “There we can jump off and get to the ground.”
She’s pointing at the opposite direction. Of course, she’s right. Astern the Lost Revenge is stranded on the beach, it has been for ages now, ever since the Isle even exists. The pirates had nowhere to sail to, so the ship never moved. From there they’d have a steady ground and could jump on the sand, hopefully without breaking any bones.
“You’re right. Let’s go. Let’s call with us as many people as we can, come on!” he says.
A lot of them naturally follow Uma without even having her telling them what to do. Harry calls out on the ones that are so confused that they’re just wandering around. He notices that some people have already jumped in the water. That could also be an option, Harry thinks, but then he remembers all the stories his father told him about crocodiles and dismisses the idea with a shiver. And also, the sea today is just too rough for it to be a safe option.
They’re almost there.
Then, the floor collapses and they all fall down.

Harry is pretty sure he hit his head. He can’t explain otherwise the total blackout of the last five minutes. Or the momentarily blurry vision. Or the ringing in his left ear.
He blinks a couple of times, sitting up. He’s surprised to feel rock and not sand or water underneath him.
He squeezes his eyes, trying to concentrate better. The ringing decreases until it becomes just a soft background noise and when he opens his eyes, he manages to focus his vision.
They aren’t on the beach; it is too dark and cool. He looks around: with him there are Gil and two other boys from the crew. They’re all soaking wet. It takes him a few seconds to understand what might have happened: while falling from the destroyed ship, him and a few others were probably pushed by the waves into the cave near the beach.
He gets up to his feet, checking that everyone else is alright. They seem to be okay. But then Harry looks up to the entrance of the cave and feels his heart skip a beat.
The small entrance is almost completely blocked by the wreckage of the ship and some stones, too. The impact must have been so hard that some of the cliff has collapsed.
Then he hears it.
It is really low, so low that even the waves outside the cave can cover it. But it is there. A voice is calling his name, crying for help. Her voice.
“Uma?” he asks. He feels his heart beating faster and faster. “Uma, where are you? Are you okay? Guys help me find her!”
He doesn’t have to ask twice. Gil and the other boys, Mike and Lucas, start looking behind the rocks and between the wreckage. The space isn’t that large, so it is just a few seconds later that Mike calls the others.
Harry rushes to where he is, near the fallen mainmast. Under the wooden mast there’s Uma, a frightened look on her face, her eyebrows furrowed in a grimace of pain.
“Harry” she whispers. Her voice is trembling. He reaches out for her hand and holds it.
“I’m here” he says.
Gil and Lucas join them. Gil quickly scans the situation.
“She’s stuck under the mainmast, but it’s not crushing her” he says, mainly to Harry. He points a finger at the base of the mast, that is raised a few inches from Uma’s waist through some broken boards. “It could crash at any moment. We have to get her out.”
Harry nods. Gil is right. Uma got lucky that somehow the mainmast hasn’t crashed on her but has been stopped by the rest of the wreckage. But they have to hurry.
Lucas taps on Harry’s arm, to get his attention. Then, “Look at her leg” he almost whispers.
When he sees what Lucas is referring to, Harry freezes. Right above the ankle, Uma’s leg is broken, the shattered bone sticking out. She must have fallen on it.
He shakes his head. “Okay, you guys lift the mast, I take her out” he orders.
“Actually, I think it would be better if you lifted with us and Mike took her out” Gil points out. “You’re much stronger than the rest of us. It would be quicker and safer.”
Harry stops for a second. Again, Gil is right.
“Alright. Mike, get ready. Watch her leg” he warns, with a worried tone in his voice. “You guys ready?”
The others nod. On the count of three, they all lift the heavy wooden mast and, in a matter of seconds, Mike slides Uma out.
Only when he is one hundred percent certain that she is safe, he gives the order to let the mast go. He rushes by Uma’s side, placing her head on his legs.
“What do we do?” Mike asks.
Harry can feel Uma’s body trembling under his hands. He tries to reassure her by caressing her face and hair.
“I know what to do” Lucas says, stepping up. “My mom taught me”.
Harry remembers that Lucas’ mom is the healer from Captain Hook’s crew. She’s one of the few nice people on the Isle and directs the infirmary. It’s very lucky that Lucas is here. It means that Uma can receive the best care right away.
“How bad is it?” she asks. “It feels bad.”
Harry’s heart shrinks. He closes his hands in two fists to conceal his trembling.
He has known Uma his whole life and not even once he remembers hearing her complain about an injury. As long as he can remember, she was the one who rarely fell, and when she fell, she got to her feet right away, even when she scraped a knee or hit an elbow. He has never heard a single whine coming from her mouth, not a single grimace of pain on her face.
But now there she is, on the ground, unable to disguise her pain. She isn’t even trying. Harry would gladly cut off his leg and give it to her to stop her pain.
“Okay, Uma, listen to me” Lucas says, taking Gil’s spot in front of her.
She sits up, grunting. Harry tries to stop her and convince her to stay still, but he knows that when Uma decides to do something, there is no changing her mind.
“I want to see it” she says.
“I need to straighten the bone first; the we can put a splint on it to keep it still” Lucas explains. “It will hurt like hell.”
Uma nods, but Harry can read her like an open book and knows that she’s scared.
He gets closer, lightly wrapping his arms around her waist. He only now realizes that he has lost his hook in the crash, but it doesn’t seem to bother him too much, right now.
“Relax, lean onto me and squeeze my hands as hard as you need” he whispers to her ear. He notices that the others turn their faces away to give them a little privacy, but he doesn’t care much. He doesn’t need to conceal his soft spot for Uma.
Harry feels Uma’s breathing slowing down as she releases the pressure on every part of her body and leans into his chest.
“Yes, like that. I’ll hold you” he says again. “Here, take my hands” he continues, opening his palms. Uma hold his hands, crossing her arms them around her own waist.
“W-what’s my name?” she asks, her voice trembling and barely audible.
He rests his chin on her shoulder, lightly brushing his cheek against hers.
“Uma” he whispers. “Uma, Uma, Uma, Uma” he goes on, knowing that hearing him say her name calms her down, gives her strength and confidence.
She nods.
“Okay, let’s do this” she says, her voice steadier this time.
Lucas, Gil and Mike come closer.
“I’ve never done it myself, Uma” Lucas clarifies. “I’m sorry. It could take me a couple of tries, or maybe I should do it slower but all in one go…”
“Just do it” Harry interrupts. Uma tightens her grip on his hands.
Lucas nods. He places his hands right below the fracture. Then, a second later, everything is washed away by Uma’s scream.
Harry has heard Uma scream before. Her screams were usually of rage, frustration or sometimes even joy.
He has never heard her scream of pain. And right now, with her head buried in his chest and her hands squeezing his so tight that he thinks she might break all of his fingers, now more than ever he wishes he’d never heard it and he will never have to hear it again.
It goes on for seconds that feel like hours; Lucas must be having some difficulties because the process is longer than it should be. Harry knows absolutely nothing of treatments and medicine but he does know that his Uma shouldn’t be suffering for so long.
“Okay, okay, it’s done” Lucas exclaims at some point; Uma’s screams finally fade into a lower moaning and Harry feels all of her strength wearing down while she loosens her hold of his hands.
Harry believes Lucas is now giving Gil and Mike some direction on gathering materials to bandage Uma’s leg, but all his attentions is on the girl leaning on his chest.
“Shh” he whispers gently, caressing her hands with his thumbs and lightly brushing the bridge of his nose against her cheek. “It’s over. It’s all over, you’re gonna be fine” he adds, and places a delicate kiss on her cheekbone and one on her temple. She’s stills shaking a little bit from the shock, but at least she’s not crying anymore.
Gil has found a board from the ship wreckage that is the perfect size to splint Uma’s leg. Harry gives the others his coat, telling them to rip the ends of it to make a bandage.
When it’s done, Lucas, Gil and Mike start climbing the pile of wreckage and rocks to find a way out and draw the attention of the rest of the crew, so that they can help them dig their way out.
“Maybe I should go help them” Harry says. “Do you want to lie down?”
Uma tightens her grip of his hands. “No. I’m afraid I’m gonna pass out if I lie down” she answers, her voice still a bit hoarse from all the screaming. “Can you please just stay here with me?”
Harry hesitates. He thinks the others need his help digging in the wreckage, but at the same time he could never leave Uma, surely not now that she has explicitly asked him to stay. He looks at Gil who, to Harry’s surprise, is looking back at them.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got this” Gil says, not even needing his friend to ask him anything. “Stay with her.”
Harry thanks him with a nod, then adjust his legs so that Uma can sit more comfortably between them.
“Of course I'm staying” he replies to Uma’s request. “I won't leave leave you.”
She slightly moves on his chest, sliding a bit on the right so that she can look up at his face. She frowns and brings a hand up to Harry’s left temple.
“You’re hurt” she says, touching what Harry now realizes is a wound on the side of his forehead.
He remembers that he hit his head during the fall, but he’s been so focused on Uma that he completely forgot that. Anyways, it doesn’t seem so bad. His hearing is fine and so is his sight. He just has a minor headache, now that he thinks about it, but it’s nothing serious.
He gently takes Uma’s hand away from his temple and brings it to his lips.
“It’s nothing” he reassures her. He looks right into her brown eyes and places a kiss on her hand. “What’s important is that you’re okay.”
Uma smiles – and that smile warms Harry’s heart –, snuggles her face against the hollow between his shoulder and neck and leans forward to kiss his jawline.
“I love you” she says, out of the blue.
Harry was not expecting that. He could be misunderstanding. She could mean it not the way he understood it – and the way he means it, because it’s been a while now that Harry has accepted the fact that he’s completely, undoubtedly in love with Uma –, she could mean it as a friend, as an almost-brother, as her first mate. But deep down Harry knows the truth. Knows that there’s no other way to mean it. He stumbles on his words, trying to say something, and the only thing that comes out of his mouth are the most natural words that he can ever imagine telling her.
“And I love you.”
During the hours that Harry spends sitting on the ground of the cave, with the sound of the waves lulling him and the girl the he loves and that he holds in his arms, something inside of him changes. He realizes what’s really important. Everything that seemed a top priority until a couple of hours back – taking revenge on Mal and her friends, stealing the Wand, destroying Auradon – now seems so futile and ridiculous. Now the very important thing is Uma’s braids brushing against his shoulders, her hands holding his, her lips on his skin and his lips on her skin.
Harry has come to peace with the fact that, despite what his father thinks, he does know love, but he never though that he could ever display it in such a way, he never wished to let her know how he feels, he never wondered how it would feel to have his lips on hers. But now he does. He feels the urge to kiss her everywhere, to tell her how much he loves her, how he fell in love with her, the future that he imagines with her.
He glances at the bandage on her leg, then at the crew members working to get them out.
Now’s not the time. But soon it will be.

“I would knock, but there’s no door.”
Uma looks up and sees Harry standing up next to the curtains that mark her space in the infirmary. He has his hat in his hands and a smirk on his face.
“You would always be welcome, even with a door” she replies, sitting up on the bed.
“Hey, don’t do that!” he exclaims, rushing by her side to help her. “At least wait for me to help you.”
She’s about to tell him that she doesn’t need any help, but the feeling of his muscled arms around her is so good that instead she says nothing. It’s been just a few hours since they finally managed to get out of the cave and she has missed feeling him close.
When Gil, Lucas and Mike on the inside and some other guys from the crew on the outside managed to dig a safe passage through the wreckage, Harry categorically refused to let anyone else but him carry Uma to the infirmary, even though he was injured himself. She had said nothing and just laid her head on his shoulder, holding on his neck with both hands. But right before getting to the infirmary, she had ordered him to have someone check out his injury.
“I see you got yourself checked out” Uma says, pointing at the patch on his wound.
Harry walks away for a second, but just to close the curtains and give them some privacy.
“My captain gives me orders and I obey” he replies with a wink and comes sitting on Uma’s bed, by her side.
She lifts her hand to lightly touch his bandage, but mostly she uses that as an excuse to caress his messy hair.
“How are you feeling?” she asks. She guesses he’s alright, since he cared to fix his smudged eyeliner and now wears a subtle shadow around his lashes, just to emphasize his light blue eyes.
“I should ask you that” he replies. Then he sees the eloquent look on Uma’s face and answers seriously. “I’m fine. I just hit my head. Haven’t done it in a while, but I grew up hitting my head on floors and rocks and chandeliers, so I’ll be just fine.”
She nods and then something shiny in Harry’s hands catches her eyes.
“Hey, is that…?”
Before she can finish her question, Harry shouts something that sounds like “Hell yeah!” and shows her his hook.
“I thought you lost it!”
“I thought it too, but Paul found it on the deck – well, on the pile of garbage that once was the deck – and gave it back to me!”
Uma smiles, her heart melting at the sight of those icy eyes shining with happiness, and wraps her pinky finger around Harry’s hook, as they always do.
He twirls one of Uma’s braids around his finger, calming down but still with a smile on his mouth and eyes.
“Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something” he says. “If you’re feeling okay and you’re not too tired, of course” he adds, right away.
Uma’s heart could explode right now. He’s always so tender and caring with her. How could she have not noticed that until now? How could she have taken that for granted?
“If it’s ship-rebuilding or revenge crap, please don’t, I can’t handle that right now” she finds herself saying. She has never thought she would say something like “revenge crap”, since revenge is one of the only things VKs are taught on the Isle, but here she is. She doesn’t want to hear it. If she gets back at Mal then Mal will want revenge again and it’s going to become a never-ending circle. She broke a leg today. Next time someone she cares about could be in more serious danger, like Gil. Or Harry. The slightest thought of Harry getting hurt because of her makes her want to throw up.
“No, no, it’s not that” Harry clarifies, distracting Uma from her thoughts. “It’s still something serious, though, I mean, not too serious and it’s not a bad thing, or at least not for me, I don’t really know how you might take it…”
She lets go of his hook and places a hand on his. “Harry” she says, and he stops rambling. Their eyes meet. “Just tell me, alright?”
He nods, takes a couple of deep breaths and starts.
“All that’s happened today made me realize that I care a lot about you. And I’m sure that’s nothing new, you already knew that. But it’s kind of different. You see, when I saw how much you were suffering and screaming and shaking, I felt like I would cut my leg off just to give it to you if that would stop your pain. I don’t know where I’m going with this, I really should have thought it earlier. What I mean is that… That kind of care, of dedication… It’s not something that I feel for everyone. As a matter of fact, it’s not something that I feel for anyone but you. And I don’t know much of what I’m about to say, but I think it’s safe to say that it’s not something that people feel for their friends or captains.”
He makes a pause and Uma thinks that she probably has never heard him talk for so long at once. And that she loves the sound of his voice, that Scottish accent that he got from growing up with his father and the Jolly Roger's crew and that he cannot brush away no matter how hard he tries.
Uma thinks, once again, that she just loves him. She has said that to him earlier, numbed by the pain and the scent of Harry’s skin. She was terrified that he wouldn’t have understood it or that he would have just ignored it. But he actually said it back, even though Uma wasn’t one hundred percent sure that he meant it the way she meant it.
Even though, judging from this little speech…
“Okay, what I’ve been trying to say is that… Uma, I love you. And I know that you said it earlier and that I said it back, but I wanted to make sure that you knew how I mean it. I mean that… I’m in love with you.”
Uma has a thousand things to say but instead she just smiles. A big, shiny smile. She sees the doubts on Harry’s face disappear completely.
“I’m in love with you and I don’t care about being wicked and getting revenge and trying not to anger our parents” Uma says.
“YES!” Harry exclaims. “That’s exactly what I was going to say!”
They both burst out laughing and Uma thinks about how much time they’ve wasted dancing around their feelings.
But no, she tells herself. The didn’t waste any time. They just took their time to build their feelings little by little, to come to know this thing called love that no one ever taught them about.
Harry slides closer to Uma. His fingers start lightly stroking her neck and jaw and cheek, while hers follow the curves on his arms.
“It took me so long to realize hat what matters most is right here in front of me” she whispers.
“So… you won’t punch me in the face if I kiss you?” he carefully asks.
Uma smirks. “I will punch you in the face if you don’t kiss me” she corrects him.
Now there’s a smirk on his face, too. His fingers slide down to her chin, lightly pushing upwards so that her lips are closer to his. He teases her a little, brushing his nose against hers, but she doesn’t mind it. She’s surprised to find out that she has wanted a moment like this for some time now, and that she actually likes the game that he’s playing, she likes tasting him a little bit at a time. He lowers his lips and kiss the skin just above her cupid's bow, then goes down on the chin and the a little up, kissing the corner of her mouth.
She can’t hold back a little smile and decides to play along. She lightly touches his chin with her lips, then goes up, letting her lips touch his for a split second - and she can feel a crooked smile appear on his mouth-, then goes to place a kiss on the tip of his nose and then goes down again, taking his lower lip between her teeth and pulling it a little.
They both laugh. Then it’s not really clear if it’s Harry who kisses Uma or if it’s Uma who kisses Harry. It doesn’t matter, either.
What matters is that they’re happy, truly, maybe for the first time in their lives.
What matters most is that, even though it took them a while, they got to know love and that now they get to explore it together.
What matters most is them, now, together.