Wicked Summer

Chapter 6: Uma

Chapter 6: Uma

Harry ran to the other side of the cavern to Uma. He knelt down next to her and pulled her into his arms.

The rest of them watched in silence, not even sure if Uma knew that they were there.

"Is that normal?" Lonnie whispered to Jay.

"No. Not even for them, although I don't know what they do in private," Jay replied. It was strange to see them interact in this way. They were never this gentle or caring with each other in public. It made Jay think that there was more to their relationship than what he'd witnessed.

Harry then placed his hands on either side of her face and pressed his forehead against hers. Uma rested her hands on his shoulders.

"How are you here? How did you find me?" Uma asked him, not fully believing that he was actually there.

"We were all brought over to Auradon. We've been here for a few weeks now. Ben tracked you with the magic mirror and we came to find you."

"Ben?" Uma asked. She felt Harry nod against her forehead.

"He wants you to come back to Auradon with us," Harry explained.

Uma was silent for a moment. "Why should I do that? Why shouldn't you and I just stay here?"

"You wanted a better life, right? You can't stay here. This is no better than being on the Isle. You can have a better life in Auradon. I'm there, Gil's there, the crew's there. I want you to come back with me," Harry tried to persuade her.

"You do?" She looked up at him, pulling away from his face so she could look at him properly. She saw something on his face that she'd never seen before, sincerity, caring. Yes, he'd cared for her on the Isle, but not so that it left her feeling this way.

"These months without you have been hell. I want you to come back to Auradon and be my captain again. Turns out I definitely need one," he explained.

She giggled a little. "What did you do?"
"I tried to run away on my first day to find you."

Uma's eyes widened. She knew that Harry was loyal to her and she knew that he had some kind of feelings for her. But she never imagined he'd sacrifice his life in Auradon – something they've both wanted for as long as they could remember – for her.

"Okay, I'll come," she said finally.

"Really?" Harry questioned her, not really believing that she was being serious.

"Yes, I want to go."

Instead of replying to her, Harry pulled her into another hug. When he pulled away, he got up and offered his hand to Uma. She took it and stood up. They walked back to the entrance of the cabin where the others were still standing. Harry still had a hold of her hand; he probably wasn't going to let go anytime soon.

They got their first look at Uma. She was still wearing her Cotillion dress, but it was shorter and the skirt was torn in many places. Her braids were no longer up but were messy with some of them unraveling. She was barefoot; her shoes were probably abandoned a long time ago.

"Oh, look, a whole search party," Uma commented once she noticed who was all there.

"Well, let's head back to shore," Ben said, leading them all back out of the cave.

They arrived back on shore. Uma was momentarily blinded by the sunlight because she had been in the cave for so long, but she adjusted once they got on the ship. She was eager to set sail. It may not have been her ship, but she still enjoyed sailing and feeling the ocean wind.

Mal returned to the salon once she got on the ship. She was not excited about the journey back to Auradon.

Jay and Lonnie went up to the sun deck to enjoy the sun and waves since they were inside most of the time on their way there. Jay sat down on a chaise lounge and Lonnie sat between his legs and rested her back against his chest.

"Looks like they didn't really need us after all," Jay commented.

"Yeah, but it was nice to leave the school for the day and I've never been to Neverland before, so that was nice," Lonnie said. She was enjoying this time to relax with Jay. They hadn't really done anything today, but she was still exhausted.

"I love you," Jay said to her as his arms tightened around her waist.

"Mmm, I love you too," Lonnie said as she turned her head toward his face and kissed him. When she pulled away, she went back to looking out to the ocean, but then she saw something strange. She sat up which startled Jay.

"What's up?" he asked her.

"What's Mal doing?" Lonnie asked. Jay sat up so that he could see Mal on the deck below them. She was walking toward the railing, which was already uncharacteristic for her since she was seasick, but she was also walking to where Uma and Harry were. She said something to them, Uma made a hand gesture at Harry, and then he walked away from them.

"What is she doing?" Jay said, just as confused about it as Lonnie.

"What do you want?" Uma asked Mal.

"Listen, we used to be friends. I know that nothing I say will ever make up for anything I did to you, but I wanted to say that I'm sorry. There's no excuse for what I did, but I'd really like us to start over in Auradon and maybe be friends again?" Mal said to her. She was really hoping that she was coming off as sincerely and that Uma would at least forgive her.

Uma was silent, clearly thinking it over in her head.

"Look," Mal continued, "we're going to be going to the same school now, which we've never done before. It's gonna be tough, believe me, I know; I had to go through the same thing. But with how the mentor program's set up, we're going to be around each other a lot and I'd really like things to be good with us again and it'll also be easier if we aren't constantly at each other's throats."

"Well, I technically already gave up evil when I surrendered at Cotillion," Uma began, "and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss us being friends. So, I forgive you, and I guess it's not a bad idea to have more friends in this place since I'm no longer on top. I've had a lot of time to think these past few months, and it's the loneliest I've ever been. So I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I'd really like us to be friends again."

Mal started to squeal. "Okay, but we're not gonna do that," Uma said to her.

Mal promptly stopped. "Sorry, that's a thing me and Evie do. Hug?" she opened her arm questionably.

Uma looked at her like she was crazy but eventually gave in and hugged Mal.

"As long as you don't try to steal my boyfriend again," Mal said, when she pulled away.

"Oh, you can have him," Uma said laughing.

"You've already got your own anyways."

"What are you talking about?" Uma asked.

"Harry?"

"Harry is not my boyfriend," Uma defended. She couldn't believe Mal would even think that. Harry was just her friend. She had none of those feelings for him.

"Sure, Uma," Mal said. She then turned away and walked back to the salon, surprised she had lasted that long outside without throwing up. Being able to see the waves definitely didn't help her seasickness.

"Oh my god. What just happened?" Lonnie said, watching Mal walk away from Uma.

"I have no idea. Did Mal just hug Uma?" Jay wouldn't have believed it if he didn't witness it with his own eyes.

"Well, things are going to be interesting when we get back to Auradon," Lonnie concluded.

"And Mal has some explaining to do."