HOOKED ↝ DESCENDANTS

[20]

In the past week since Mal brought down the barrier separating the Isle of the Lost from the rest of Auradon, it was safe to say things had been at least a little chaotic, if not completely life altering.

Following the migration of VKs into Auradon without a place to call home, Auradon Prep re-opened its dormitories for the summer, aside from those who had already been staying there for summer school, such as Audrey, or for other festivities, as Rosalie had initially been before deciding to extend her stay. She was officially overseeing life in the dorms, as the newcomers began to transition into their new community, as well as helping Uma's initiative to begin cleanup on the Isle of the Lost, to make it more inhabitable for those who decided to stay.

Despite the promise that Rosalie and Harry no longer had to be separated by the barrier, she'd hardly seen him the past week, as he'd spent every day helping to oversee the Isle cleanup, and while she'd come to help as often as she could, her current job helping with the newcomers left her little time to actually make it over to the Isle. However, they'd always found time to have dinner together at the end of the day, even if Harry hadn't made it back from the Isle until late, Rosalie insisting on a new place in Auradon City each night, to help get him acclimated to his new home.

Rosalie pulled open the curtains keeping the sunlight from her bedroom, letting the light stream in and basking in the warm glow. Today was the first day she'd had off from her oversights, and she'd taken full advantage of the fact, allowing herself to sleep in until mid-morning for the first time in she couldn't even remember when.

A knock at the door pulled her from her state of reverie, and she crossed to the door, pulling it open to reveal Harry standing on the other side. He gave her a smile as she stepped aside to let him in, where he instantly took a seat on the edge of her bed.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he said, taking in her pajamas, a matching tshirt and shorts donning a pattern of flowers on them, matching the lanterns the kingdom of Corona set off every year for her mother's birthday, as well as Rosalie's too. "I see somebody got a late start."

"Yeah, yeah," she waved off his comment with a sly smirk. "What's up?"

"Well, since you and I both had the day off, I wanted to take you somewhere." he explained as she quickly ducked behind the dressing screen that stood in front of her closet, pulling off her pajamas and changing into a denim skirt and light purple top.

"Sure," she said, reappearing from behind the screen and reaching for her hairbrush and mascara, in her quick attempt to get ready. "Where are we going?"

"Well," he said nervously. "I thought I'd bring you back with me to the Isle. Not where we've been cleaning up, exactly, but I thought I'd show you where I grew up."

Rosalie quickly turned, catching the boy's eye as she studied him curiously. He hadn't said much about his childhood since the time they'd spent sitting together outside Audrey's bedroom, nor had he wanted to talk much about his past since they'd all been granted access back to the Isle, instead throwing himself into the reparation work as a distraction.

"You really want me to see it?" she asked, and he nodded simply in response.

"If you'd like." he said.

Rosalie nodded, taking his hand in hers as she grabbed her backpack, slinging it over her shoulders. "Let's do this."

                        

                   

                         

                   

                              

So far, Rosalie's trips to the Isle of the Lost hadn't been very substantial, as she'd only spent the one time at the marina during the VKs fight with the Pirates for Ben's life, or the couple trips she'd managed to make out for reparations, though she hadn't gotten much further in than picking up litter in the row of shops and restaurants, where the volunteers had been served lunch from Hades's Souvlaki by Pain and Panic, the shop being delivered fresh ingredients for the customers for the first time since their opening twenty years before. However, the small glimpses could never have prepared Rosalie for the devastation that was waiting for her the further she and Harry ventured into the Isle of the Lost.

The scary stories she'd been told before bedtime as a child was nothing compared to the filth that covered the ground, or the rotting stench that seemed to follow them wherever they went, the roar of the moped engines sounding in their ears. However, while Rosalie surveyed the territory with a look of horror, Harry's gaze was almost reminiscent, as he passed through his childhood home.

Harry signaled to Rosalie to stop up ahead as they reached the wharf, the two of them pulling their bikes over to the side and killing the engines. Harry grabbed her hand as they hopped off the bikes, leading her around the very place that had made up his entire childhood.

"Well, here we are." he announced as they began to walk down by the docks, a number of pirates from Captain Hook's old crew still lingering around to fish, some of them even having sailed the ships loitering in the bay out on the open water, now that the barrier was down. "Sorry it's not the most glamorous, but it's home."

Harry pointed then to a stretch of sand near the edge of the docks, made up a small cluster of tents, where she could only guess was where Hook's crew still lived, as well as a few other of the Isle natives. In particular, he gestured to a red tent near the center, watching it with a look of familiarity.

"That there was ours." Harry explained bleakly. "That's where Harriet, CJ, and I grew up."

As he spoke, Rosalie could feel her heart begin to shatter into a million pieces. While Rosalie had spent her days being raised in a castle, with a bed that sometimes felt just a little too soft at night, Harry and his sisters had grown up in a tent by the docks, where they'd been left to their own devices to try and survive.

No wonder he'd become the scary, dangerous Pirate he was when they'd first met.

"You don't have to be that again." Rosalie said adamantly, her voice beginning to crack as tears filled her eyes, and Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "You and your sisters. This isn't who you have to be anymore."

"I don't want to be that guy anymore." Harry said honestly. "I don't want to terrorize others just for the chance of reaping a spare coin or two. I want to be a better man, one who can actually provide for my sisters, I don't know, maybe get a place for us in Auradon so we don't have to stay in the dorms forever. A man you deserve. If they'll let me be him, that is."

"Of course they will." she promised him. "Like Ben said, this is the age of moving forward, of being who we want to be. If that's who you want to be, Harry, then you have that choice."

"Promise me one thing." he said.

"Anything." 

"Promise me I won't go back to my old ways." he said. "Do whatever you have to do, yell at me, knock some sense into me with a frying pan, whatever. Just don't let me hit rock bottom again."

Rosalie answered without hesitation. "I promise."