princess ~ h. hook

II: letters

The TV flickered to life and caught Harry's attention immediately. He strained his eyes, scanning the screen carefully in hopes of getting just a glimpse of his princess.  Of her ebony curls that framed her face. Of her pinkish cheeks and her warm brown eyes that reminded him sand dunes. Of her.

Alas, Quin Hearts did not appear in the small frame any more than she usually did. Harry had noticed that she'd started hiding from the cameras, keeping out of the prying eyes of the public.  He admired her for it.  There were plenty of VK's who would do anything to be in the spotlight.

"Hey, stop watching the TV for your little girlfriend and gimme a hand over here." Uma snapped suddenly in front of his face, shaking him from his daze.

"She's not my girlfriend." He mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

"Not your girlfriend, eh?" Uma set both trays of food she was holding down on the counter beside her and leaned towards Harry, "Yeah right."

"We've been through this, Uma," Harry sighed, exasperated, "Quin doesn't want anything to do with me—with us anymore."

"Even if that is true, I'm sure she's having a hard time forgetting you." Uma winked reassuringly and picked up her trays again, walking off. 

Harry buried his head in his hands and sighed.

"When I return, I'll come find you. I promise."

Those were the last words he'd heard from Quintessa before she left for Auradon. His hope for her return dwindled with each passing day.  She seemed happy in Auradon with her preppy friends.  But some yearning in his heart still kept him believing that she would come back to him, just like she'd promised.

The sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon. Harry walked silently through the streets with a paper and pen clutched in his hand.  The crowds of people thinned as the night went on but Harry kept walking. 

Finally, he came across the familiar spot.  Every evening he'd visit her rock with a piece of paper and he'd write her a letter.  The letters would never leave the Isle, not with the barrier up, but he had to do something to cope with her absence or he'd go insane.  Quintessa Hearts had a chokehold on him even when she wasn't there.

When she'd first left Harry had tried to draw.  He wasn't great at it.  The pictures never turned out as beautiful and realistic as when Quin drew them.  So he'd resorted to writing.  That was something he could do—more or less.

He set down his hook in the dirt beside the rock and began to scribble down anything that came to his mind. By the time the stars began to twinkle in the sky his paper was covered in illegible scrawl.

Harry stared out at the sea and at Auradon where lights still glittered across the land. 

In a moment of temper, he got to his feet, crumpled up his letter into a little ball and threw it hard against the barrier.  The paper ball fell down into the dirt and Harry sunk back down onto the rock.

He loved the Isle, honestly, but it wasn't the same without Quin there.  Even if the two didn't talk every day, Harry still cherished every moment he had with her.  He was glad he did because now she was gone.

The barrier sparkled before him, unaffected by the paper ball that now sat on the ground collecting dirt.  Harry wanted to scream. He felt so helpless stuck on the Isle and it was killing him. Never before had he any problems with his home until Quin left.

Sometimes he wished he'd never grown so fond of her. Other times he was glad he did. It was a constant debate in Harry's busy head that wouldn't go away.

All he could do was keep dreaming of the day Quin would return and put his mind at ease.