The Belladonna

Chapter 25

"A genius can lose their mind." -Bella

Harry's POV:

It felt strange. Something must be wrong with me. As much as I miss Ed right now, I'm actually...happy? 

Why am I happy after such a tragedy happened? Is it because I had to be? Or is it just because Bella has been with me the entire time and is making it that much easier to cope?

I blinked a few times, coming out of my thoughts and looked ahead. The waves were lapping at the bottom of the ship, pushing us forward as we headed towards the island. The sea has a new beauty to me now, something I never appreciated before.

"Now who's looking at the sea?" 

I turned at the teasing voice, seeing Bella smiling at me as she joins me at the railing, leaning against it and looking out at the sea, her short hair resting against the back of her neck. I found myself smiling at her comment and nodded.

"I guess so." I say and she giggles. "That's good though." she says and I raise an eyebrow at her. "Good?" I ask and she nods, turning to look at me with a small smile.

"It means you've decided to keep going. You needed something to help you press on, so why not let it be something you love? And I know you love the sea." she says, looking back out at the water and I continue to stare at her, halfway between disbelief and amazement. 

How was I so lucky to end up with her being my wife?

"It wasn't the sea." I say and she looks at me confused. "Huh?" she asks and I bring my hand up, moving her hair out of her eyes and she blinks a few times, trying to understand my statement. 

I smiled and kissed her forehead, looking into her beautiful blue eyes. "It was you." I say and her eyes widen a little before a smile comes to her face. "Me?" she asks and I nod.

"You're the one who kept me going. And as for why I'm looking at the sea? It's because you love the sea so much. I never fully understood the beauty of it until now, and since I do, I've come to love it. It was all you." I say truthfully and a smile came to her face and for a moment I thought tears formed in her eyes but she blinked them away.

Bella gave me a hug, using both arms and I hugged her back, not realizing how much of a difference it was for her to use both arms in a hug instead of just one. I missed these hugs so much and I didn't notice it until now.

"I love you Bella." I whisper and she nods into my chest. "I love you too Harry." she murmurs and I smile, resting my head on top of hers, not letting this moment slip away. I never wanted to forget how I felt right now: the love, the amazement, the bond between us...everything.

It felt like ages until we finally broke apart, Bella smiling like an angel as she looked up at me and I cupped her cheeks, giving her a kiss before letting her go. 

"We still have a bit until we get to the island." I say and she nods her head, suddenly getting a little nervous as she shuffled her feet together. "Umm..." she mutters and I raise an eyebrow. "What?" I ask and she gives me a sheepish smile.

"My left arm is almost useless since I haven't been able to do anything with it for weeks. Do you think you could help me do strengthening exercises and all that to get my strength back? I'll need my arm." she says and I laugh.

"Were you nervous to ask me to help you?" I ask while I laugh and she pouts, looking away from me as her cheeks get red, and it makes me laugh even more. "Well I could always do it by myself." she grumbles, sulking away and I reach out quickly, grabbing her right arm and pulling her back to me, wrapping my arms around her.

"No. I'll help you." I murmur and she nods her head and it makes me grin, knowing that her face was still red because of this. "Okay." she breathes out and I let her go, taking her by the hand and leading her away from the railing and towards the upper deck. 

Shayla was talking to Louis and Niall up there whenever we got up the steps, and immediately Shayla and Bella exchanged smiles with one another. "Bella!" Shayla calls, excusing herself from Louis and Niall to come over towards us. To my surprise Shayla gives her a hug and Bella hugs her back, giggling as she did.

"I didn't think you'd ever come out this morning." Shayla teases and Bella shrugs. "I decided to get going." she says and both of them laugh. I look from them to Louis and Niall but they both just shrug, obviously not knowing why there was a difference in the way they were exchanging with one another today.

"Did we miss something?" I ask and Shayla smirks at me, her hands on her hips. "Even if you did, do you really think I'd tell you?" she jokes, winking at me and I give her a small glare. I turn to Bella and she just smiles at me. 

"Sworn to secrecy." she says and my mouth drops open. "I'm your husband! There should be no secrets between us." I say in a whiny tone and both of them laugh. "Well Styles, she promised me. And you should know how big I am on secrets." she says and understanding washed over me. They must've had a heart to heart last night.

"Understood." I say and she smiles. "Good. I don't have to spell it out for you this time." she taunts and I playfully punch her arm, seeing as she laughs, turns to Bella to wink before walking back over to Louis and Niall, continuing their own conversation.

"Now, let's get you training." I say and she nods, both of us going towards the back of the deck. "Can you pick that up?" I ask, pointing to rope and she gives me a dirty look. "I'm not that weak." she scowls and I smirk, chuckling to myself as she sassily picks up the rope and dangles it in front of me.

"Okay okay, point proven." I say laughing and she grins, putting the rope down before going to pick up one of the buckets filled with water. She began to pick it up but let out a hiss of pain, nearly dropping the bucket and I jumped forward, grabbing it to steady her. She slowly set it down and looked at her arm with a pained expression.

"This is going to be a long road to recovery." she grumbles and I let out a sigh. "Well, it was a very intense wound. It'll take time to heal." I say and she huffs. "I don't have forever though." she mutters and I smile. 

"Here." I say, drawing my sword and holding it out to her. "Can you at least hold this in your hand?" I ask and she looks at the sword determined, reaching out with her left hand and grasping it. I let go of the sword and she held it tighter, her face getting white from effort and I saw beads of sweat begin to form on her forehead.

"Here, let me grab it." I say worriedly but she shakes her head. "No." she says fiercely and I pause, seeing her determination and stubbornness to get this down. The sword was shaking in her hand but she slowly began to move it around, pointing it up before she let it go, the sword clattering on the ground as she let out a long breath, holding her arm to her side.

"Are you okay?" I ask, disregarding my sword on the ground and going to Bella, seeing her give me a grim smile. "I'm pathetic." she says and I shake my head. "No you aren't. You did a lot better than you think." I say and she laughs.

"Thanks." she says, slowly rotating her arm and letting out a breathy sigh. "I only lifted a bucket and a sword and I'm probably going to be sore tomorrow." she says and I chuckle. "Do you want to keep going? We can take it bit by bit." I say, not wanting to push her limits, but she shakes her head at me, giving me a smile that reminded me just how strong she really was. Moments like these always amazed me, seeing her get stronger every single day, even when she didn't realize it.

"No. Let's go again."

Here you go! This update is a bit on the happier side haha! I know it isn't as long and I apologize, but there's a bunch that's going to be happening, so it's good just to get this here haha. Please let me know what you guys think about the chapter!!