Disclaimer: I don't own Descendants.

Warnings: So far, violence and trauma.

The day Ben sent for the rest of the villain kids from the Isle of the Lost, was the last day anyone ever left alive—and not nearly enough of them had made it off.

War broke out in the streets as the villains tried to make their final break for freedom. The Auradon guards did everything they could to hold them back and give the kids a chance to escape, but they weren't prepared—they hadn't expected it. They also hadn't expected that when the villains realized they weren't going to be able to escape, they started cutting down their own children, bitter fury deciding that if they could not be free, none of them could.

Harry had wanted to leave as soon as they had sights on the barge sent by Auradon. They had papers to leave, Ben had kept his word. But Uma wouldn't leave the rest of the crew behind. He had smiled at that, mad with delight that they would have to fight instead of flee.

The ocean churned as a storm set in, rain spilling out over the docks and waves sloshing up on either side. They were making their way to the barge, fighting their way there as it prepared to set out. Uma yelled at Harry and Gil to keep moving. They'd swim for it if they had to. They were leaving today, they weren't going to be left behind. And Harry believed her because her word had always been law—because she was the only truth he'd ever known, the only family, the only love.

Harry reached the end of the dock, where it dropped down into angry waves and rocks. Jay and Ben leaned over the side of the barge to offer their arm, yelling for him to jump. He put away his sword and grabbed Gil, shoving him toward the arms of the other kids. "Uma!" he called back.

"Here!" she said as he pushed Gil up. Jay and Ben grabbed hold of him, hoisting him up and to safety.

"Come on!" Jay shouted when he returned, practically half over the edge of the ship and grabbing hold of Harry's jacket.

Harry turned away from him. He wouldn't leave before Uma.

She kicked one of the adults off the dock and ran those last steps to him. The dock was crowding, packed with all the villains that wanted to make it off this island by any means.

Harry reached for her, hands on her waist. He was going to turn and lift her up to Jay. He was going to jump to follow and trust that the rest of the kids would make sure they made it over the side of the ship. He was going to—

She was in his arms and then her body lurched forward into his and pain ripped through his chest. His arms curled around her and he stared past her, at Hook himself, his own father, and the sword he'd buried in her back. It had gone all the way through Uma, the point stabbing into Harry's chest. She spasmed against him when the old pirate pulled the sword out and let loose a bellowing laugh. If he couldn't be free, neither could they.

There was screaming on the barge behind him, but he couldn't look. They were never going to make it.

Uma pulled back just enough to look up at him. She spasmed, choking on her own blood but forcing a smile—the saddest smile he'd ever seen. And then she shoved him hard. He fell back, shocked, expecting to hit the waves and be sucked down and rolled against the jagged rocks, but instead his back hit the side of the barge and hands grabbed at his jacket and his arms, lifting him up. He was crying then, watching her sink to her knees on the edge of the dock, blood gushing from her chest and bubbling up from her lips.

The barge was drifting away.

Harry reached for her madly. He heard the worst, hoarse scream before realizing it was him. He was screaming. He was kicking at everyone holding on to him and trying to get back to the dock—back to the water—back to the island and his death just so long as it would be with her.

She watched him until her smile faded and her expression dimmed, gaze losing focus.

Hook stepped up behind her, glaring furiously at his son before finally kicking Uma in the back and shoving her off the dock and into the crashing waves. She didn't come back up. Harry watched until they were so far that the island became a distant shape. He watched until he finally lost consciousness and his grip on the railing.

He woke with a start, four years later, and still haunted by the day he lost her. He'd spent almost a year being bumped back and forth between a hospital and a psyche ward before his friends finally dragged him back into the world.

He sat up in bed, his room dark and rain pattering the windows. The nightmares were usually worse during storms. Harry got up, peeling off his sweat-soaked shirt and tossing it into the hamper on the way to the door. He didn't bother flipping on the lights, padding through his dark apartment to the kitchen. He opened the cupboard, pulled out the rum and uncapped it.

His phone rang on the table, lighting up the room.

Harry frowned at the timing, still holding the cold glass bottle in hand. He walked over to look down at the screen. Ben. He wrinkled his nose but tapped the green button, answering on speakerphone.

"Do you know what time it is?" Harry demanded, as though Ben had woken him up. He took a long drink of the rum.

"I've sent a car to pick you up and bring you to the castle."

"I'm not in Agrabah anymore so you can tell your—" Someone buzzed his loft apartment. Harry put the bottle down and went to the security system near the door. He tapped the screen and a camera view of the Auradon guards appeared, standing at his door, holding an umbrella with the royal seal printed on it. "How did you know I was back?"

"I always know where you are and you can't expect to come into my city without me knowing…" Ben pointed out but didn't sound as smug as usual.

"What's wrong? Is Mal okay?" Harry asked, trying to imagine what would have his friend this unsettled and calling him at four in the morning.

"You need to get in the car."

"Ben—" Harry snapped, nerves prickling up his back when he saw Jay on the camera at his door, buzzing again. Jay was Ben's general now, he didn't run errands. "What the hell?" He almost laughed. "Am I being arrested?"

Ben sighed on the other end of the line. "We found her."

Harry held his breath, vision swaying. He turned and actually looked at his phone glowing on the table, like Ben could see him through it. "Who?" Why did he always think of her first? No. Stop it.

"Harry…"

"Who?"

"Uma."

Harry stared at the tablet in his hands, at the pictures of her. Not the teen he'd known. Not the girl he'd grown up following.

"We have to sedate her," Jay explained, voice tight. They were sitting in the back of the car together, barreling through the city toward the royal infirmary. He had already said it, but he was saying it again now that his friend was staring at the photo of her laid on a hospital bed. She looked thin, cheekbones and collarbones jutting out. He couldn't tell if her eyes were bruised or if it was just exhaustion. The rags of her sweater hung on her with gaping holes flashing more skin, bruises, ribs, and scars he didn't remember from a part of her life he hadn't been there for.

He closed his eyes for a second, remembering her on the dock. Blood had been rolling from that wound, from her lips, and her expression had gone slack before Hook kicked her into the furious ocean. He had been sure she was dead, sure that that was the emptiness he felt in his soul when he woke in Auradon.

A part of him wanted to rejoice, to cry and laugh with relief that she was alive, but the rest of him was choking on the betrayal he had committed. He had left her on that island, all alone, to face the fury of all their worst nightmares.

"We've been sneaking onto the island to scout it out and try to get a handle on it again—Ben's new initiative, you know. The first time Carlos saw her, he thought she was a ghost…"

Harry looked up, tears in his eyes. "The first time?"

Jay nodded stiffly. "Two days ago. But we didn't know if he was mistaken. We were looking for her since and when I found her…"

"What?"

"She pretended not to know me. She ran. I might have lost her if she weren't such a mess. We had to sedate her to get her off the island and the doctors thought it best to keep her under until they could get her patched up."

"How bad is she?" Harry whispered. She was alive. However she was, it was better than dead, wasn't it?

"She'll live," Jay said, as though thinking the same thing.

The car drove through the castle gates and through the grounds, around the main building and to the infirmary around the back. As soon as it pulled up, Harry was out of the car. He and Jay practically jogged to the doors. Panic was rising in his chest at the idea of being this close to her, of seeing her again. They were halfway down the dim hallway when the alarms went off.

They exchanged glances before Jay sprinted down the hall and swung around the corner, Harry on his heels. A trail of wounded guards and shouting nurses led them to toward the nearest exit. She was making a run for it. More guards were coming at the sound of the alarms.

They bolting out the doors and onto the grassy yard, rain pelting down on them.

Harry's heart leaped up into his throat when he spotted her, a shadow darting away.

He forgot Jay and the guards. He ran after her, faster than any of them. She was making her way to the cliffs. Not again.

"Uma!" Harry screamed.

The figure jerked to a stop and he slowed, walking closer and closer, afraid to spook her. She turned slowly under the rain and he almost sobbed. It really was her. She stared back at him and he froze. For one electric second, he was whole again. The world was right. That moment that had ended his life was changed. He could almost pretend he had never let go of her—that she hadn't been able to shove him away—that he'd somehow pulled her with him and they'd both been saved. She wasn't dead. She wasn't gone. He wasn't alone.

He saw it all reflected in her eyes—the same dream, the same soul-deep relief.

And then it was gone, pushed back by the four years that had separated them. He could feel her pulling away even before she took a step back. He saw the heartache in her eyes and felt his own breaking in his chest. He reached for her and she shook her head a little, an apology. Her chest heaved a little sob. Some of that rain running down her cheeks had been tears.

She was turning away again and he was about to call out, about to run after her. He wouldn't lose her this time. If she made it to the cliffs, if she went over the edge into the dark waters, he would follow this time.

A gunshot made them both flinch and she fell. Harry's vision blurred at the edges, the royal guards rushing in to restrain her now that she was sedated again, moving sluggishly on the grass, trying to crawl away from them.

Harry shot forward, jerking one guard back by the collar and kicking a second. Logic screamed for him to stop—a part of him understanding that they were going to bring her back into the hospital for care—but the rest of him wouldn't listen. He punched a man in the face and finally fell onto his knees in the grass over her, turning her onto her back. She was gulping at air, still trying to cling to consciousness. He touched her cheek, shaking his head at her fear. "I won't let anyone hurt you. I won't leave you," he swore and winced when he did, remembering having said the words before in their youth. He'd failed to keep that promise then, why would she trust it now?

Uma smiled softly up at him, the way she had when she fell to her knees on the dock and he was being pulled to safety—like the story had ended and he was the only one that didn't realize it. Like she wasn't angry at him for living when she'd died—for failing to keep his word. How could she still look at him like that?

She finally passed out, but he wouldn't let anyone else carry her, scooping her up into his arms and standing. She was too light and too cold. He held her against his chest and walked back to the infirmary, nurses and doctors standing in the rain waiting to guide them back in.