Once We are Descendants

Chapter 79: Love/Hate

"I'm guessing it didn't go well," Mal observes as the door of Mr. Gold's cabin slams shut and Harry storms away in the direction of the beach.

"I'm surprised that he's not on Uma's side. He's so spineless when it comes to her," Evie adds.

"So I'm guessing we're not getting an answer, at least not right now," Jay shrugs. "Anyone want to go back into town?"

"This whole thing was pointless," the daughter of Maleficent grumbles. "We should just trust our instincts when it comes to the portal and go from there."

The trio of friends then begins to head back in the direction of town, not giving Harry or Uma a second thought.

Despite the VKs indifference to Harry's storm off, those from Storybrooke are a little more concerned for the teen's well being. All of them knew that the son of Captain Hook was a wayward soul, a troubled teen who needed support and put him back on the right path. Emma and Killian watch their alternate son disappear along the shoreline, wondering if they should go after him and give him some comfort. Crystal is also worried about the guy's reaction but is apprehensive about approaching him due to the mixture of emotions inside of herself.

Mary Margret reaches out and puts her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Give him some time, he needs to do some thinking alone. If he doesn't come back by sundown, we'll go looking for him."

The expectant couple looks at one another with their hands interlocking. Even though he wasn't technically their son, he was their responsibility and despite the brief time he's been with them, they do feel some sort of kinship to him. They want to look after him and protect the kid. It hurt to watch any young person suffer like that. Emma could see and relate to the lost and confused expression on Harry's face, it was one she knew that she'd had for a very long time... for most of her life.

The blonde leans her head on her husband's shoulder and nods. "Okay."

Everyone from Storybrooke turns and begins to follow the kids from Auradon. Everyone that is, except Crystal.

The daughter of the Dark One stands in place, very torn over what to do. She agreed with Mary Margret that the boy needed space, but she is curious as to how everything fell apart so quickly.

She stares at her father's old cabin, wondering if she should...

What else is there to do at this point? she thought.

She heads towards the door and raises her hand to knock.

However, the back-door swings open so abruptly that the hinges creak and the frame hits the wall. An angry pirate captain glares at the girl, who in her eyes was the cause of Harry turning against her.

"What do you want?" she snarls.

"I just... I wanted..." Crystal stutters. "You know what I don't really know why I'm here."

"Then get lost!" Uma shouts. Tears are flowing down her face and she's grinding her teeth. It's taking all of her strength not to turn into an octopus and lash out at this freak. Secretly, the daughter of Ursula was afraid that this girl was as ruthless as her father. There was not a doubt in the captain's mind that this chick had dark magic and was never afraid to use it. The sheer fact that she was here, especially since she is one of the reasons Harry now hates her is just salt in the fresh wound. "You and your goodie-goodie family have ruined my life and just cost me my best friend."

"We didn't ruin your life," the older girl protests. She attempts to remain calm and not become angry. "All we asked was for the recipe for the portal potion so you kids can go home. Now, I know my dad outright threatened you, but he wouldn't really do that. My step-mom would leave him if he did... he's just... a jerk."

"Quite the understatement of the year," Uma grumbles. She wants to slam the door, but something is stopping her. She wants to hate this girl but something about her is preventing that.

"He lives up to his name," Crystal nods, knowing she's got the girl's attention. "I've called a troll, a worm, a monster... you name it, I've said it. He's not a great person or a father. You know he once tried to eat my heart?"

"What?" Uma gasps.

"Yeah. It's really complicated, but basically, he was afraid that he'd become weak by passing his magic down to his child; throw in a prophecy from an oracle and his uncontrollable desire for power and the guy wanted my heart."

"Sheesh, no wonder no one likes him. If he was going to do that disgusting thing, why do you even talk to him?"

Crystal shrugs. "They say you really can't choose your family and despite the fighting and tears, he's still my dad. It's a love/hate thing. Technically, he's the only family I have left and the last connection to my mom, but there's more to it than that. I know that he's far from perfect, but I've done some things that were awful too. It makes us more alike than we care to admit. And don't get me wrong, there are still times when I want to kill him and make him suffer, but that's the way all families are. When you've been through so much with anyone, you realize it's not worth letting the anger and hate blind you to what matters most."

Uma is silent, listening to the girl's words. There was some truth in what she said, and it gave her something to think about. She bites her lip hard, trying to fight back the tears brewing in her eyes and ponders her next move.

"You don't have to worry about my dad doing anything to you; none of us would let that happen, but I hope you at least think about helping out. A lot of kids from Auradon are homesick and while I know the Isle is less than ideal, Ben has told me the kingdom is a place for second chances."

Uma frowns, her mood immediately shifting back to anger. Crystal winces, knowing that she's screwed up and shouldn't have said that.

"I don't care about those crybabies from the perfect land of rainbows and unicorns. They got everything while the rest of us got nothing. They all got happy families while I had a mother who didn't care if I lived or died because she had a restaurant to run. I do what I want because... because..."

"Because you hate yourself and you want to be in control?" the older girl asks calmly. She understood what cephalopod was going through. In fact, it amazes her how much she and Uma were similar; they hated who they were because of their parentage, were mad at the world because they'd been given a difficult life and wanted to forge their own path because no one ever seemed to look out for them. The only differences were that Crystal had long since accepted who she was as a person, felt that her difficult life made her stronger and wiser, and while her mother had always been there for her, she still had to create her own life path and battle the demons inside herself.

"What made you hate the world so much?" Crystal inquires.

The response is the door being slammed in her face.

The daughter of Rumpelstiltskin steps off the porch coolly, not phased in the least. She knew she'd gotten into Uma's head and hopefully allowed the teen to think a few things over.

She walks towards the beach and stands at the edge of the water, gazing out at the beautiful horizon. She inhales deeply, having always loved the beach and how much it calmed her.

Her eyes then turn towards the direction where Harry had gone. While she had forged her own path in every other aspect of her life... maybe she should work on the path she'd been avoiding...

A/N: Hi everyone. I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I'm going back to work and everything. I hope that everyone is staying safe during these times. Here is a new chapter and I'm sorry it's so short but I do think it is important. Crystal is reaching out to Uma to try and help her. I do think the title of this chapter has multiple meanings and I challenge everyone to find them. Just leave a comment or review if you think you've figured them out. Please let me know what you think of this chapter.