Chapter 11

                                    

                                          
Harry POV
                          
I've never hated sailing this much before. Usually when someone mentioned sailing I would be up and on my way to the ship before they could even finish their sentence, but now I wished the tide would just speed up and drift us to Auradon at the speed of light. Gil was at the wheel, keeping her steady and downwind to reach maximum speed. I couldn't care less about captaining my ship that moment. The limp body in my arms kept me prisoner and I just couldn't get myself that far to lie her down on my bed and let her rest peacefully. Even though I barely survived myself, diving after Terry into the icy water, I never felt more alive. Yet my heart was dead.
                          
Her friends were down deck, all crying or just staring ahead of them in shock. Ben, Mal and the VKs were guarding Uma in the cell below. I should've killed her when I had that chance. I stared at Terry's pale face. She looked just like a porcelain doll, as cold as one too. She had no color left in her, her skin was white as snow, her hair faded to a light yellow like dead grass in the winter and all the light was drowned from her wings. She was dead. Seven simple words killed my fairy, my Terry. And I didn't even get to hold her in my arms after she woke up in the cave. I chose to get my revenge instead.
                          
Two trails of salty wetness rolled over my cheeks and I quickly wiped it off, but it kept coming. I was crying and I couldn't do anything to stop it. Truth was, I wouldn't do anything to stop myself from crying. Terry was worth every tear and every sign of weakness I was showing while pulling her closer to me. After every horrible, villainous, evil thing I've ever done, she was there for me. She believed in me, believed that I could be good. She became my reason to stay in Auradon. I loved her and now she's gone.
                          
"I'm so sorry, Terry." I whispered through my runny nose and watering eyes, "I was selfish, so caught up in revenge that I didn't think about you. I dropped my guard and Uma killed you. I was on time, yet I was too late. When the limo came to pick us up on the Isle to take us to Auradon, I was also late. I didn't want to go, I didn't want to become someone I wasn't. I had plans to get myself expelled. I figured them all out. Most of them were pranks, but the real tie breaker was to use you to get my hook back and to get me sent back to the Isle. I was going to reveal our heist and that would've gotten you in trouble as well. But then I got to know you. You were annoyingly satisfying to look at. I was attracted to the color of your wings when light reflected off of them. Your eyes are my favorite shade of blue and I've always wondered if your lips would taste like cherries or strawberries. When you laughed, it reminded me of bells and jingles, a little bit like Christmas. We don't celebrate holidays on the Isle, but I could imagine how it must feel when you're in the same room as I. There are so much things I still wanted to ask you. Like on a proper date, how it feels to fly, what pollen punch tastes like... The only question that actually matters is if you want to be mine. I had dreams about you, sparkles. I dreamt of taking you sailing with me, teaching you how to captain a ship, kissing you passionately in the crow's nest. I wanted to make you my first mate and name my new ship after you."
                          
I swallowed a few times to regain control and tucked her hair behind her ears, stroking her ice cold cheek and letting my thumb graze over her pale lips. Why was I telling her all this now when it was clearly too late? And the whole time I was blaming myself for what happened to her. What would her parents say? Yet again a Hook has ruined our happily ever after! That's why bringing kids from the Isle of the Lost was never a good idea!
                          
I carefully lied her down on my bed and spooned her closer to me, making sure she was comfortable in my arms. Not that she was aware of it anyway... I snuggled my head into the crook of her neck, smelling the faint scent of cotton candy that didn't wash off when she fell into the water. I listened for any sign of life inside of her but found none. So I closed my eyes and hoped to drift to sleep as well, maybe dream about her. While trying to doze off, I murmured the words that she used to live by.