Chapter Text
Auradon worked differently. Uma had to constantly remind that. They had rules and procedures. Some made sense and protected their citizens. Others were a series of bureaucracies that cooled solutions and delayed progress. She hated those last ones. And on more than one occasion, Uma had had to lock Ben up in his office for hours until things were sorted out. And although everything that was related to the Island, she took it personally, Uma never believed that she would get so involved in the life of someone other than her boys.
Orphans were quite common on the Isle of the Lost. They survived on their own or joined some big baddie's workforce until they were old enough to choose. When Uma took over her ship and crew, she took some of them under her wing. But things on the island didn’t allow sentimentality. There, she was the captain or the Queen of the Island. A leader but also a protective figure. She cared for her own but didn’t have the luxury of showing attachment or closeness to anyone. The best way to give them a chance wasn’t to transform them into an easy target for her enemies. So, the crew took care of each other. Harry, Gil, and Uma looked after the crew from different areas. That was how things worked.
Their first Christmas in Auradon was a culture shock. The joy, festivity, and abundance did her crew good. For the first time, out of danger, Uma could appreciate what Harry had always explained to her. A crew was a family. And that's what she had managed to obtain despite all the rules the island forced upon them. On the island she was a strong leader, for Auradon she was someone with a maternal and combative instinct. Uma had to remind herself that Auradon worked differently. That for them, people took care of the little ones with a more maternal or paternal sense of family. Not because it was the right thing to do.
And in one of her regular rounds around the island, in those abandoned sectors, Uma could feel a presence. Which was strange. Unless she was actively looking for someone, Uma didn't have the power to sense others. But it was as if someone else's emotions got to her. Confusion. Anxiety. Uma followed those feelings without knowing what she would find. There weren’t supposed to be people there. The island was a constant contradiction. On the one hand, it was the place where many people had lived and on the other, it was a prison. So many people had left the island without looking back, desperate to find a life that wasn’t locked up and decadent. Uma kept a log of the abandoned sectors and that was the most recent. When she arrived at Queen of Hearts’ Salon, she feared that it was someone who was locked up and forgotten by the queen. Uma entered, feeling the strongest emotions, and had to control herself so as not to transform at that moment as by instinct.
“Is there someone…?”
She didn’t finish speaking. A black kid, perhaps four years old, sat on the counter. His eyes were slanted and dark. His hair had recently been cut noticeably short, but Uma could tell that it was dark brown. The boy was clinging to the counter and was staring with incredible concentration at the floor. The emotions came from him, pulsing and intense.
“Hi…?”
Uma closed the distance between them. But the kid didn’t move. She stood in front of him and tried to get his attention, but it wasn't working. Emotions kept pouring out of him, constant, intense waves were hitting her.
“Boy?”
Nothing.
She moved her hand in front of the kid's face, but he didn’t react. And the anguish was getting to her. But Uma didn't think transforming was something that would help her with an unknown child.
So, she did the unthinkable. Uma took off her necklace and put it on the kid. The emotions stopped and the boy looked at her in surprise for a second before looking at Uma's shoes.
“Hi?”
“Hi.” He frowned “Who are you?”
Well, that was new.
“Uma, what about you?”
“Lucky Seven.” He looked around and then to the ground “My grandmother is no longer here.”
Uma looked around her.
“Your grandmother was the Queen of Hearts?”
The boy nodded and went back to his thoughts. But this time he reacted in a few minutes. Uma couldn't imagine what it must be like to have someone like that woman as a relative.
“They went back to Wonderland. I didn’t want to go. I don't like the irregular and unpredictable. So, they left me here.” He looked at her “She said someone would come for me. Is that someone you?”
Uma took him with her. She couldn't abandon him. The kid didn’t take her hand but walked very close to her until they arrived at Ben's castle. There the doctors checked him and Uma had to stay nearby, listening to him asking aloud if she was still there. Seven was relatively healthy and his level of malnutrition wasn’t critical. Other people evaluated him, asked him questions, and even used magic on him. What Seven didn’t allow was being touched and avoided any extended eye contact. Uma stood around him feeling uneasy. He really was Lucky Seven. Children like him didn’t survive on the island. Villains weren't kind to people who didn’t keep up with them. Perhaps that had been his advantage in being raised by the Queen of Hearts.
She wrote to Harry to explain where she was and what had happened. In a few minutes, her first mate appeared at her side. Uma pointed to the kid in the room in front of them, with the door open and low lights. The boy was rubbing Uma’s shell and was looking at the corner of the room while talking to the person in front of him.
“He is wearing your necklace,” Harry commented in surprise.
The kid must have heard his voice because he raised his face. Even though he was having a conversation with someone else, Seven jumped off the table and walked over to Harry.
“I like your hook.” The boy looked at the weapon and reached out to touch it.
“It's sharp,” Harry warned.
But Seven stroked the curve with his fingers and seemed satisfied as he clung to the hook. Harry looked puzzled at Uma, and she shrugged. The woman who had been interviewing Seven had to ask Harry to accompany them for the rest of the interview because Seven didn’t want to let go of his hook. Uma stood in the doorway, watching the interaction.
Lucky Seven.
But they had left him behind.
“Uma?”
She looked at Ben and crossed her arms immediately. He motioned for them to speak in another place but she refused to move. Ben pointed to the wall in front of them, where Seven could still see her, but they could chat with some degree of privacy.
“We don’t know who is his mother, but his father was Jack, the descendant of Queen of Hearts.” Ben explained, “Also, Seven is four years old.”
“He died before the barrier fell... I think he was nineteen at the time.” Uma looked at Seven, staring at Harry's hook as he answered in detail some questions that Uma couldn't hear. “That means they kept Seven away from anyone other than family.” She looked at Ben “I'll take care of him.”
Ben looked at her with a degree of surprise, but Uma invaded his personal space and tilted her face.
“I've always taken care of others.”
“This isn’t like acquiring a new member of your crew. This is a little kid.” Ben tried to explain, “He doesn't need a captain. Seven needs a family.”
“A crew is a family.” Uma clenched her fists “Or what is the other solution? An orphanage?” She looked at Seven and dared to ask “On the island children like him don’t survive. And here?”
“Someone could adopt him.” Ben answered with some hesitation “It’s not always easy. But what he needs is his parents.”
Seven kept stroking her necklace. The boy looked up when Harry said something to the person who was interviewing Seven. The pirate smiled, in that deadly and menacing way. Seven imitated his smile immediately and kept it on his lips as he looked back at Harry’s hook.
Uma remembered the feeling of emptiness she had experienced the previous Christmas. The idea that had haunted her mind to mentor other children and expand her crew. Or do whatever Auradon considered necessary to give others a chance. To extend the crew, the family she and Harry had created. Uma stroked her skull ring, exactly like the one Harry wore. They were pirates. They didn't need to do things the way Auradon understood. The important thing was to follow their instincts. And hers now screamed that the child was theirs.
“What about his grandmother?” Uma asked harshly.
“No one considers her to be suitable to raise a child. And technically she handed him over to the system by leaving him.” Ben replied, “An orphanage or foster home could be a lot for him. He has already gone through too many changes.”
Uma smiled because it was obvious that Ben already knew the decision she was going to make. The interview ended and she looked at Harry. He was watching Seven and hearing him list hair dyes that he must have heard at his grandmother's business. When Harry looked at her, he nodded. The boy took a couple of minutes to finish his list and approached Uma. He only released Harry's hook to stand remarkably close to her braided hair. She took a deep breath.
“You can touch it. Just be careful.”
The kid nodded and carefully touched the end of one of her braids. Apparently, that also satisfied him because he played with her hair on the palm of his hand as if it were a brush.
“Lucky Seven.” Uma started “How about you come with Harry and me?”
“Like have you as mom and dad?” He asked directly “Because my grandmother told me that someone would come and give me new parents. Is that you?”
“If that is what you want,” Harry responded by crossing his arms.
Uma felt a twisting in her chest as she noticed that her first mate was trying to hide the fact that he was getting defensive. He didn't want to be rejected. Harry, like her, had already made up his mind that Seven was theirs. But the possibility of being rejected wasn’t pleasant.
“Will I be able to braid your hair?” Seven asked Uma even though he wasn't looking at her.
Uma looked at Ben and gestured for him to bring whatever they needed to take Seven home.
“I will teach you.” She warned, “But yes.”
“Where do you live?” Seven asked playing with her braids again.
Only Gil and Harry were allowed to touch her hair. Only Harry could be this close to her hair. But Uma was finding it difficult to refuse Seven and the fascination that showed in his focused eyes on every little thing he did.
“At the port.” Harry replied, “On a ship. And in the winter here.”
Seven looked at them quickly and nodded. That was good, he liked ships. And castles. That was good.
“In Auradon?” Seven asked.
“Yes,” Uma replied, wondering where all this was going.
“So, will I see the snow? I have never seen it. But I saw the snow on TV once. And it was Auradon. Outside of this castle.”
“At Christmas, it usually snows.” Ben replied with a friendly smile “And there are many things you can do with it. There are also festivities. And how you will spend time in the castle when winter comes, we can teach you many things.”
Seven frowned and nodded. Maybe Ben's response wasn't specific or maybe it had been more than the kid asked.
“We can try.” Uma offered “Do you agree? Do you want to come with us?”
Seven nodded.
“I want to see the snow and maybe the festivities.” He responded. Seven grabbed onto Harry's hook and nodded again, possibly coming to terms with himself.
“Ben will do everything in his power and more so that we get out of here with everything in order and you can go with us.” Uma looked at the king. “I won’t allow this to be a time consuming and tedious procedure like other things.”
Ben smiled.
“As your majesty orders. I'll take care of everything.” He made one goodbye gesture towards Seven and quickly withdrew.
“He is cute when he’s useful,” Harry commented.
“So today he will have to be super-cute,” Uma stated without taking her eyes off Seven. “Have you tried ice cream, kid?”
“No.” Seven made a gesture with his mouth.
“It’s like snow but with flavors,” Harry explained. “Uma likes coconut. And it's white, so it looks like snow. We can go for ice cream later.”
“Okay, dad.”
Uma swore that Harry winced a bit in excitement upon hearing that.
Christmas was still a few months away. But it was already decided. Seven was theirs. And if he wanted to see snow or enjoy Christmas, Uma already knew she had a mission. And from the way Harry was staring at the kid, she knew that between stumbles and mistakes, they would give their all for him.
Never in her life had Uma claimed someone like hers so quickly. But Seven had been lost and Uma had found him. Now he was theirs.