Rated T for attempted rape, blood, some language, and abuse. I never thought I would live for the reviews, but here I am. They are my life blood.

Chances Lost

They're finally doing it. They're taking them all. Ben had really listened to her. Even Uma will get her chance, like Ben said. This isn't how she originally wanted it to go, but at least she kick started the movement. Auradon was taking them all. Every Isle child was being given the chance to leave. There were stipulations, but considering everything Mal did in the beginning, they couldn't exactly hold Uma's actions against her. Her and Harry's 'trials' were coming up soon. The trial was really just a chance to tell Auradon their stories, to show them they had it in them to be good. Uma didn't know if she had it in her to be good, but she would try. She had to try. For Harry, for her crew. In Auradon or not, they still needed a Captain.

Uma glanced at Harry. He was standing next to her on the stony outcrop overlooking the docks, waiting for their ride to Auradon. Their entire crew was already gone, Gil included. Most of the kids were already accepted as students at Auradon Prep. They would be the last group to be tested. She could tell Harry was nervous, though he was hiding it well. She knew him better than anyone else though, and she could see it in the way his forever twitching and shaking hands were too still. The way his trademark 'crazy' grin and eyes weren't quite true to form.

She reached out a hand and grabbed his hook lightly with one finger. He looked over at her questioningly. "Captain?"

"We'll be fine, Harry." She told him. They were alone, and she knew he would never judge her for being too 'soft'.

Her words instantly shattered the façade he was trying to keep up. "What if I don't make it? Everyone knows I'm crazy… Uma, what if they split us up?" He stared at her earnestly, truly afraid. A feeling he wished he was more unaccustomed to.

"They won't." She couldn't even think the thought.

"But I'm cra-"

"Stop it." She cut in. "You're not crazy. And I won't let them split us up, not like that. I won't leave without you. Who even knows if I'll get in?"

"You'll get in, why wouldn't you? Bore-adon would be lucky to have you. You're perfect."

Uma glanced up at him in surprise, but she shouldn't have been. She knew how deep his loyalty ran. How if they were anywhere else, they would call that loyalty by another name. He stared back at her unabashedly. He had never shied from moments like this. If anyone looked, they would see the crazy first mate obsessing over his captain. Uma knew better than that, she saw deeper.

"I've done things, Harry. You know that better than anyone."

"We've all done bad things. It's the way we were raised here."

"You know I've done more than steal and cheat and lie. But if you get approved, I want you to go." He opened his mouth to object, brow furrowed, but she cut him off. "That's an order from your captain. You will go to Auradon without me if you're chosen and I'm not."

"To find a way to break the barrier?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No Harry, to live."

The look on his face would have been comical if it hadn't been so heart wrenching. "I can't leave you, Captain. I can't live without you."

"You can and you will." He looked as if her were going to cry. There was no trace of his smile anymore.

"I can't do this without you. I can't do anything without you, Uma." He whispered.

Though her heart throbbed painfully in her chest as she looked at him, she repeated with as much anger as she could muster- "You can, and you will. The crew needs a captain, and without me, that falls to you." Then, softer, "They can help you, Harry. More than I ever could, more than anyone here can."

"What if I don't want their help?" Bitterly now.

Uma ignored him. "Come on, the boats here now. It's time."

He followed her obediently, always so obedient, as they pick their way down the rocks to where the boat was waiting. They didn't say another word to each other as the boat workers checked they had the right kids, eight in all. They didn't get the royal treatment of a limousine like the original four. There were a lot of kids to transport since Ben's new decree. They took eight with each pick up, and picked up once a week. So far only Gil's older brother's had been taken to Auradon and returned. Uma didn't want to know what they had done to be turned away. She tried not to think about how after all this was over, it would just be her and a few of the worst Isle kids left on the Isle. No Harry. The thought hurt.

She allowed herself to sit closer to Harry on the boat than she would usually, arms pressed together. He didn't say anything, but she felt him lean into her touch. The looks they gave the other kids dared them to make remarks on the closeness. It wouldn't be long now, Uma figured.

For all Auradon like to distance themselves from the Isle, they weren't all that far away, a little less than one nautical mile, although she wasn't sure how she knew that. The information came to her unbidden, and she didn't question it too much; she did have Cecaelia blood in her, after all. All too soon, she was ushered away from Harry's comfortingly warm side by one of the Auradon guards sent to retrieve them. They had largely ignored the other kids on the boat with them, and now they were sorted into separate cars for the short ride to the castle entrance. One of the guards attempted to steer Harry away from Uma and put him in a car with Sheer Khan's daughter, and Harry said a few muttered words and laughed at him while pretending to examine his hook. Harry got to ride with Uma.

Uma slid into the backseat after Harry, sliding right into his side. With no one around except the driver, she could do as she pleased. He automatically slid his arm around her side, as if they did this all the time. She could almost let herself imagine living here with him, being allowed to do this kind of stuff all the time, and she ached with longing before she stuffed it down. She should never let herself think like that. Harry tried to speak once, but she hushed him, knowing him well enough to know the only thing he would want to do at the moment is convince her to let him come back to the Isle with her if she didn't make the cut. She just wanted to enjoy this time with him, so rare and precious.

The eight kids were led into the castle without much fanfare. Originally, the villain kids coming to Auradon were a big deal. Now, however, after nearly four months and over a hundred Isle kids, it wasn't such an excitement for the Auradon dwellers. The Auradon Prep students weren't allowed to go near the newcomers either. Who knew the vicious ways untested Isle kids could corrupt the Prep kids. Uma rolled her eyes at the thought. She would never try to take down Auradon now. Not with so many of the little kids that Harry and her had pseudo adopted over the years being so happy at this dumb school. She could never ruin that for them. They had always been able to provide them with a place to stay to get away from their parents, but they had never been able to provide them a warm bed to sleep in apart from the hammocks below decks, and they had definitely never been able to provide warm meals every day to fill their hungry stomachs. No, Auradon was the best place for them.

Entering the castle hall, they had only a moment to take in the huge staircase and the AP banners hanging from the balcony ("a balcony, indoors!" Uma heard one of the other kids gasp) before being escorted down a hall to their immediate right. All eight kids were led to a waiting room of sorts, to be individually tested. Uma had no idea how this test was meant to work. Did she just have to answer some questions on a paper? She could do that… It would be easy enough to lie. That would explain why Gaston's twins got sent home. She doubted they could read.

A kid Uma barely recognized as Dr. Facilier's girl was the first to pass through the arched doorway in front of them. The huge wooden door slamming behind him seemingly of it's own volition. Not fifteen minutes later she came back out. She looked a little like she was in shock, and she sat on the other side of the room without a sound. It didn't take Uma long to realize they were doing this in alphabetical order Facilier, Frollo, Hades, The Hearts sisters, and Hiss. Hook would be after that. Considering that Uma had no last name, she assumed she would be going last. Of course she would. They waited as patiently as could be expected while the testing continued.

When the older Heart sister finally came out, Harry lost his patience. Uma was surprised he had lasted so long. He stood up and paced for a minute before focusing his gaze on Freddie Facilier. He smiled his most charming smile, and Uma couldn't help the small smile that graced her own face at the sight. Harry walked- no, he prowled, really- over to Freddie.

"Freddie!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, as if they had ever said more than ten words to each other in their entire lives.

Uma noticed Freddie looked more than a little apprehensive at Harry's approach. She sat back and watched the show.

"So, Freddie," Harry said, sitting next to her and throwing his left arm around the girl's shoulders- bringing his hook dangerously close to Freddie's neck. "What's it like in there?"

Despite knowing it was a fear tactic, Uma felt a sudden rush of jealousy watching Harry with his arm around another girl. Pushing down the growl that wanted to rise in her throat, she forced herself to focus on what they were saying.

"The-they told me not to tell you guys about it." Freddie stammered out, craning her neck to keep her eye on the hook.

Harry gently grabbed Facilier's chin with his right hand and pulled her head around to face him. With her face inches from Harry's bright blue eyes, lined with coal black liner, Uma could swear she saw the girl stop breathing for a minute. She tried to tell herself it was purely out of fear.

"Come on, who's gonna hear?" Harry persuaded.

Freddie's eyes did a mad dart around the room, though her chin was still caught in Harry's grip. "She h-hooked me up to this th-thing… She called it a lie detector. Then she asked me some questions."

"What kind of questions, Freddie?" Harry asked her slowly, deliberately, as if the boy were had a hearing problem.

"A-about life on the Isle." She swallowed hard. "What kind of crimes I had committed there."

"And did you try and lie?" Harry wanted to know.

Freddie nodded slightly, too scared of the hook brushing her neck to move more than that. "I tried to tell her I never stole nothin' in my life"

Harry waited a beat. "And?" He asked impatiently.

"It wouldn't let me lie! It-it's magic!" Freddie told him.

Harry tapped the feather sticking out of Freddie's hat and sent it swaying before sending the girl a flirty wink and striding back to Uma, falling into the seat beside her with more grace than any pirate had any right to have. He slung a leg over the arm of his chair and leaned into Uma. Usually she would have pushed him off, touching her in front of so many people. But today was different. Today might be their last day. He crossed his arms and pouted, though he would deny it vehemently if she ever pointed it out.

Uma ran a hand through his hair, and he turned his head into her touch, positively purring under her hand. Her throat felt tight. "The wink was a little much." she told him.

She regretted it as soon as the words passed her lips, as he craned his head backwards to look at her upside down, beaming at her from ear to ear.

"Jealous?" He asked her elatedly.

She rolled her eyes, but didn't stop petting his hair. He reminded her of a cat, the way he purred and turned his head into her hand, and she realized maybe she didn't regret the comment much at all.

During Harry's interrogation of Facilier, the younger Heart sister had joined them again and Hiss had gone in. Now the door opened once again and one of the guards motioned Harry forward as Hiss took a seat. "Hook." He monotoned.

Harry glowered at the man, but reluctantly stood and made his way over when Uma nudged him off her arm.

She hadn't realized how much his presence was calming her before, but as the door swung shut behind his lanky figure, her chest felt immediately tighter and she had to fight to breathe normally. The wait was agonizing, seeming to crawl by and take hours, whereas the other kids' tests had seemed to take minutes. She was upset there wasn't a clock in the room for her to watch the time, though she knew the ticking would have driven her more insane in this moment than it ever could a Hook.

Finally, finally, he came back out. She stood immediately to enter the room. He turned as if to say something to her as she passed him, but she ignored him and kept walking. If she spoke to him now, she might cry. Uma didn't do tears. She could feed his eyes on her as the door swung shut behind her.

"Hello, Uma dear." The fairy godmother was inside at a big glossy wooden table. On the table was a golden bracelet, nothing else. "Have a seat, please." She waved her hand towards the seat opposite her. Uma sat.

Fairy Godmother quickly explained what was to happen. She was to put on the golden bracelet that would induce the truth from her. Wearing it, Uma would no longer be able to lie. Then Fairy Godmother would ask her questions about her life on the Isle to see if she was fit to live on Auradon and attend Auradon Prep. The idea was a scary one to Uma, who had learned to lie from a young age. Not just to get what she wanted but to keep herself safe. She slid the bracelet onto her wrist anyways. There were scarier things in life than telling the truth for a few minutes.

"What is your name?" Fairy Godmother asked her.

"Uma." Uma answered her, brow furrowed. What kind of question was that? They knew that already.

"How old are you?"

"17." Uma told her without hesitation. She wondered how Harry answered the question. He knew he was around her age, but he didn't know when he was born.

"Who are your parents?"

"Ursula."

"And your father?" Fairy Godmother was writing stuff down on a clipboard. Uma tried to lean forward and see what was being written about her, but Fairy Godmother pulled it out of her view.

Uma sat back, giving up on reading it. "I didn't know him. Mom told me one time that he was a sailor. That's all I know."

"Have you ever lied?"

Uma almost scoffed at that. What kind of question was that? She's a villains kid raised on the Isle. They had all lied. "Yes."

"Mhm…" Fairy Godmother made a tick on her paper. "Have you ever stolen anything?"

"Everyone on the Isle steals." Uma told her, rolling her eyes.

"That's not what I asked, dearie."

"Yes. I've stolen."

"What have you stolen?" She pried.

"Food, blankets, swords, supplies for the ship, clothes, weapons, bandages and other first aid supplies," Uma wanted to stop after food and blankets, but she couldn't. The bracelet felt hot against her skin, and she felt compelled to keep talking, to keep naming things she had stolen. She wanted to explain that she had children to feed and clothe, that most of the time when she stole, it was for them. She couldn't stop herself from continuing. "Alcohol," for cleaning wounds, "silk," for stitching them. But she couldn't bring herself to say these things, only the items she had stolen. Finally, her list ran dry.

Fairy Godmother was staring at her with her eyebrow raised. "You've given your… first mate, is it? A run for his money."

Uma couldn't help the feeling of pride in her first mate that rose up for a moment before squashing it down. It wasn't good that he had to confess everything he had stolen. He had stolen as much or more than she had. She opened her mouth to finally try and explain the thefts, but Fairy Godmother beat her to it.

"Have you ever cheated?"

Uma wanted to ask 'at what?' but she didn't figure it mattered, and in any case she was answering the question before she had much chance to think about it. "Yes."

"Have you ever physically harmed someone?"

"Yes." Uma was starting to feel ill, and tried to struggle against the affects of the bracelet, knowing what was coming up.

"It's easier if you don't struggle, Uma." She noticed Fairy Godmother had used her name this time instead of calling her 'dear.' Not pleased with my answers, Fairy Godmother? Uma thought bitterly.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" Fairy Godmother asked.

Uma fought against it as hard as she could, but the bracelet felt like it was burning her, squeezing her wrist, and the word was bubbling out of her despite her efforts.

"Yes."