Hearts Fall Unnexpectedly

Chapter Eleven: 'Ello, Brother

While the girls stand on one edge of the ship, the two boys stand not so far away, trying to listen in on everything without being too overbearing, but they also have their own thoughts in mind.

"'Ello, little brother."

Royal's fist clenches at the older boy's words. The two have never gotten along, but it's not for anything one boy did. It's their father. Captain James Hook. The man is almost as much of a man whore as Gaston, but he's less fertile, meaning less kids running around calling him "papa." He's not one to complain. Though, when his first lover came to him claiming she was pregnant, he was overjoyed at having an heir to the Jolly Roger, but when his secret affair with the Queen of Hearts was brought to light by her pregnancy, he shunned his second born and any born after him. Although most still know that Royal is his son. The Queen isn't too fond of being called a liar.

Royal, as a little boy, used to try endless times to try and get his father to talk to him, but many of those times would just run into Harry. When Royal finally figured out who the older boy was, he was furious.

"You're who..?"

"I'm the Cap'n son, who are you?"

Royal's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, "N-No you can't be because I'm his son!"

Harry laughs. He doubles over and continues to laugh in the poor boy's face, thinking this was a silly joke. After a few moments, he realized that the prince was not laughing, but rather crying and he haulted his movements.

"W-Wait, what?" Harry mumbles out. "H-How? No, I'm his only son.. no this can't be possible."

The six year old scoffs at the seven year old, "How do you think I feel? Why were you good enough? Why not me? Why did I get left?"

Harry stands there, unmoving. He's not sure what to say or how to react to the heartbroken boy. He thought he was his father's one and only heir and he looked up to the man like no other. He thought that there was no greater man on this island or any other, like most children do of their dads, but after hearing this, his view has started to change a little. He thinks about what if that had been him. Harry goes to take a step toward the upset boy before he jumps away in shock as Royal's face changes into a red, angry expression.

"I hope you and your father lose your heads!"

Royal storms away and now Harry is the angry one, "I hope you get eaten by a croc!"

"Hello, Harry."

"So," Harry starts, trying to antagonize his sibling a little, "you and Pani, eh?"

Royal glares at his older brother, and the boy breaks out into a rambunctious, insane giggling fit.

~~~

"So," Uma says, turning toward her only female friend, "you and Hearts, huh?"

Pan shrugs with a smile on her face before the sea-witch turns back toward the king. Ben stares at the two for a moment, trying to keep his eyes only on the teal haired girl.

"I get that you don't deserve this."

Uma laughs loudly before her face changes into one of anger, "This island is a prison thanks to your father. And don't pretend to look out for me," Uma says, leaning forward, "no one's looking out for me."

Pan scoffs, "We gotta look out for our own."

Ben ignores the green-haired girl and keeps his focus on Uma, "So this isn't your mom's plan? Isn't that her necklace?"

Uma laughs bitterly, Pan joining in as she thinks about her own mother, neither one of them has a very good one, "My mom doesn't care about me, well, not unless she needs someone for the night shift."

"Ouch."

"She doesn't need your pity," Pan snarks, "neither of us do."

Ben chuckles, "No, you certainly don't. You two are very resourceful. I don't see you guys tied up."

Both Pan and Uma chuckle fakely. Behind them, Royal and Harry watch with peeved expressions. They have to almost physically restrain themselves to keep them from going over and hurting the king for flirting with their women.

Uma smirks at Pan before stepping closer to Ben, "Okay, let's trash talk Mal."

"I'd rather talk about you."

"Funny and a gentleman," Pan says sarcastically, "it's what roped me in."

"I can see why."

"Right?" Pan says with a sarcastic smile toward her friend.

"Well," Uma says with a fake pout, "I really hope we don't have to feed you to the fishes."

"Oh, you don't," Ben says, "set me free and we can go back together. All three of us."

Both Pan and Uma laugh incredulously and the green haired girl steps closer. Ben looks her up and down, shocked at just how different she really is now. Her green hair glows a bright, vibrant color which contrasts with her fair skin, that has gotten more tanned since joining the pirate crew, and lavender eyes that still shine just as brightly as the day they did coming into Auradon, except maybe even brighter.

She wears an emerald green top that has a small heart cutout on the chest, which makes Ben's own heart clench at that being a tribute to Royal. Little bows rest on the midsection of the shirt, making it attenuate her waist more.

On top of her shirt, is a matching emerald leather jacket that she currently has unzipped to show off her top. The hem of the jacket goes just below the top of her leather jeans, which hug her curves tightly.

The girl tops it off with knee high, lace up combat boots, making her look like the pirate she is even more. Ben's throat clenches as he thinks about how much of a stark difference there is between this current outfit and the ones she wore back in Auradon that he loved so much. The green dress for Family Day, for example.

Pan scoffs at Ben's request to be let go, "Please, I'm never going back there. I left my boys once, I'm not doing it again."

"What do you mean?" Ben asks, confused. "I thought your dad took them all to Neverland?"

Pan laughs bitterly, "Yeah, only the ones old enough to fend for themselves. He left all of the other boys, my boys, stranded with no one there to raise them. Baelfire.."

Pan takes a deep breath to calm herself as she notices her voice getting increasingly louder. Royal, also noticing, comes back over and stands with her as she continues, "Bae got so sick that he almost died. They had no access to any of the important supplies in the huts because Da.." she cut herself off, "Peter, put everything only within reach of himself and the older boys."

Ben tries to focus on her words, but his eyes don't leave Royal's, who glares right back at him. Royal remembers every word that Pan told him the other day about what Ben did to her, to their relationship, and it's taking every fiber of his being to not snap the king's neck right there. Ben feels similarly. He might not have chosen Pan, but he doesn't like seeing her with anyone else.

"Why are you so much more dressed up than anyone else?"

Royal smirks at Ben's question and slowly stalks his way over to the tied up boy, "Hm, well, I'm Royal Hearts, son of the Queen of Hearts. AKA the prince of Wonderland. AKA your much better replacement."