After Ever After

Long Time, No See

"Hey Uma," the Harry Hook imposter said with a small wave and a crooked smile. "It's been a while." I stood up from my chair, but I didn't move. I just looked at him. Ben looked at Harry, and the latter gave him a nod, signaling him to leave. The King left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving me with the stranger.

I slowly approached him, taking in his appearance. His tricorn hat and red leather coat were gone. Instead, he wore jeans and a white t-shirt under a red hooded jacket with the Auradon Prep emblem above where his heart was. When I was right in front of him, I inspected his face. It was clean of guyliner, and he seemed to be patiently gauging my reaction. He clearly wasn't afraid of me.

I grabbed his chin and moved his head side to side to see it from all angles. He had the same sharp jawline as the Harry I knew.

I let go of his face and punched him hard in the shoulder; he didn't even budge. It even hurt my hand a little. He had Harry's structure.

I took both of his wrists in my hands and looked at his own. They were empty. He sighed woefully, for he knew what I was looking for. "They confiscated my hook," he divulged with the faintest trace of regret. "Weapons aren't allowed in school."

I went back to my earlier conclusion and declared, "You're not Harry Hook."

"I am Harry Hook," he insisted in the same accent that belonged to my old friend. I turned around and walked back to my desk.

"I'm part sea witch," I stated. "You idiot Auradon kids think I don't know a shape-changing spell when I see one."

"Well, your spell intuition is wrong this time," he said a-matter-of-factly. He was slowly walking towards me, not once breaking eye contact. His eyes were even the same shade of sea blue. "C'mon Uma, you're my Captain, and I'm your First Mate."

I grimaced at the fabrication before me. Anyone could figure out he was my second-in-command and use that fact to try and gain my trust. I was still unconvinced, but then he added, "First date if you're lucky."

That small detail did it for me. A little over a year ago, right after he became my first mate, he said that exact line to me. Once he quoted himself from back when we were on the Isle, I had to accept that the abomination before me was in fact Harry Hook. My glare softened, and my expression was riddled with confusion. There was barely anything left of the Isle's resident Bad Boy. In a whisper, I asked, "What did they do to you?"

"They opened my eyes, Uma," he whispered back. As he went on, his voice increased in volume but kept its soft nature. "When you live a life of evil, your options are narrowed. What you do has to benefit you and bring misery to others–"

"And that's a bad thing?!" I asked rhetorically. The answer was obvious to me, but he clearly didn't think the same way anymore.

"There's so much more on the other side," he said. "Frankly, I don't want to end up like my dad, and I know you can be greater than your mother."

A hot anger started to grow inside me. It wasn't that he was bashing on our parents, but he was implying that I wasn't greater than Ursula yet. Did Ursula get off the Isle on her own? No! Did she kidnap the king of Auradon? No! Did she do anything relatively impressive at age 17? No!

I shielded my eyes with the edge of my hat and clenched my fists. Harry reached out to touch my shoulder, but I quickly swatted it away. "Leave," I demanded. "I'm done listening to you."

He opened his mouth but closed it and sighed, thinking better to stay silent than to say whatever he had in mind. He took two steps back, turned around, and crossed the room towards the door. As he left, he added, "See ya later, Captain." The door shut, and I was alone.

Without a second thought, I grabbed the closest wooden chair to me and hurled it across the room with a frustrated shout. When it contacted the wall, it fell to the floor with a pathetic thud. My breathing was heavy, and my shoulders were heaving up and down.

They had taken everything from me.