After Ever After

Ultimately Wrong Ultimatum

Harry and I sat on the deck of the speedboat in peaceful silence until the sky turned to the warm colors of dawn. I dozed off a few times throughout the night, but I still felt like I got no sleep. Harry had offered to take me anywhere, and I made up my mind on where I wanted to go.

"Take me back to Auradon," I mumbled, and part of me wanted to gag. However, I was ready to suppress that part. I made the conscious decision for myself that I wanted a better life than Ursula. I wanted to live in Auradon.

Harry nodded and slowly stood up, leaving the blanket with me. He walked back to his chair, and I rolled onto my side. I felt fatigue tugging on my eyelids, and despite the rumble of the engine I managed to sleep the whole trip back to the dock.

When we arrived at the dock, Harry gently shook me awake, and as I sat myself up in a daze, he said, "We're back. Ready to stand?" I nodded and made an attempt to get on my feet, but as soon as I did, my ankle stung with pain. I winced, and Harry noticed. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I hurt my ankle," I groaned in annoyance. "Must've happened when I slipped off the boat." Harry nodded in understanding and turned around so his back was facing me.

"Grab on," he smirked.

After a moment of hesitation, I threw my arms over his shoulders and locked my hands together. With incredible strength, he stood straight up and pulled me up with him. He put his hook back in his belt, grabbed my knees to help support me, and walked off the boat. I was hit with a wave of nostalgia because when we were kids, I used to make him carry me piggyback for no reason other than I simply felt like it. I would literally make him run laps around my mother's shop with me on his back just because I thought it was entertaining. He never really minded either; he was fine doing whatever I said back then. Things were probably different in the present.

He'd already tied the boat to the dock, but there was one other thing he was forgetting, "What about your picnic thing?" I mumbled into his shoulder.

He looked at his almost untouched picnic setup and shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Ben can use it for him and Mal or something," he said as he walked further off the boat. We were just about to reach his motorcycle when we were suddenly surrounded by well-built men and women in Auradon security uniforms. Harry's shoulders tensed, and his grip on me tightened slightly.

"This is alpha squad to HQ," One of the guys–probably a the leader of the group–said into a com device on his wrist. "We found the missing VKs. I'm bringing 'em in." The guy looked at Harry and commanded, "Drop your weapons!"

Harry slowly raised one hand so the officers could see it, obediently pulled his hook from his belt, and placed it on the ground with care. Another officer picked up the hook, and Harry looked back to the first. "Alrighty, my turn for demands," he bragged. "Bring us to King Ben."

"You? Sure," the officer replied with fake smile before looking around Harry at me. "But she's going back to her room, maybe a prison cell if we're lucky." Harry set his jaw. Despite what the guy said, Harry didn't set me down. After a moment of neither of them stepping down, the officer reached towards his holster for his taser. "Have it your way, kid," he said, but a small voice cut him off.

"Wait! Wait just a minute!" a familiar-sounding man said from the officer's wrist. The officer paused and held his com device to his ear. "Bring them to my office," the voice commanded.

The officer glared at Harry, and he and I returned the glare triumphantly in spades. He grumbled into his com device, "Roger that, Your Majesty.

As King Ben ordered, Harry and I were taken to Beast's Castle where the King did his official business. Harry managed to get one of the guards to get him a first aid kit so he could wrap my ankle. While he did so delicately, I once again thought back to when I was much younger on the Isle. I had slipped on the docks and tried to cushion my fall with my arm, but I ended up dislocating my shoulder. There's no doctor on the Isle, so my mom popped it back into place–which hurt like hell–and told me to suck it up and keep working. I had a lingering pain in my shoulder for several weeks to follow.

When we arrived at the castle, Harry got out the car and immediately crouched down for me to get on his back again. I ignored him and stood on my own two feet. I was putting almost all of my weight on my good ankle, and walking was still a huge pain, but I was not going to show anymore weakness. Harry looked at me with a worried expression, but I bit my lip through the stinging and walked past him.

We were led through the castle to a small office where the King himself was pacing the room. Behind his desk was a window that took up most of the wall, and the morning sun lit up the room. Ben noticed us walk in and gestured toward two chairs in front of his desk. "Good Morning! Sit, please," he offered politely before turning to the men who escorted Harry and me. "Guards, wait outside."

Harry and I sat in the chairs as requested, and the guards eventually left as told. When it was just the three of us, Ben sat in his chair and turned off his usual light-hearted optimistic exterior. He looked serious and cold cut; this was the King of Auradon.

"Let's review, "Ben began, all-business. "Stealing of your repossessed hook, assaulting a guard, aiding a criminal in escape, destruction of kingdom-owned security equipment, hacking into the security guard schedule, breaking into a restricted space, and theft of the Royal Speedboat." He was looking at Harry the whole time he was listing the charges, and it finally occurred to me how big of a mess Harry was in. Yes, Harry. I barely did anything. The only part I had in all of this was being the criminal he aided.

"All of that happened, yes." Harry said monotonously, unafraid of the confession. Ben folded his hands over his desk.

"By admitting to these crimes," Ben told him, concern in his hazel eyes. "You're subject to time in Auradon prison, and all chances of you making it into the Auradon Armed Forces vanish."

For a moment, Harry looked utterly crestfallen. He had just spent our boat ride explaining to me how going into the Navy was his new life goal. He replaced our old life of evil with that one honor in mind, and it was getting taken away right before his eyes.

"Unless," Ben said, breaking the uneasy silence. He turned towards me this time. "You confess that you used magic on him to make him commit those crimes. In which case, I would have no choice but to send you back to the Isle of the Lost."

I clenched my teeth together and averted my gaze from the King. We all sat in silence. You could slice the tension with a cutlass. I avoided making eye contact with Harry, but out of my peripheral vision I could see see him looking right at me, still bearing a heartbroken expression. I just decided I wanted to give Auradon a chance, and now Ben's ultimatum made wanting to stay difficult. Stay and ruin Harry's new dream, or leave Auradon behind. A few hours ago, the choice would have been obvious, but it's as I mentioned before. I hate how quickly people can change.

"Those are your options," Ben said before standing from his chair and walking towards the door. I'll give you a few minutes."

As soon as the door clicked shut, both Harry and I jumped up from or chairs and told each other the same thing in equally desperate tones.

"You can't confess!"