Jazz Club AU: New Beginnings
Dinnae ken = Don’t know
Kenned = Know (past tense)
The sound of the waves rolling across the shore and the crackling of the burning firewood made up for the silence between them. It was a dark night and awfully cold. Regardless of the shivers she felt, Uma didn’t say anything, instead she quietly shuffled herself closer to the fire. Harry noticed (he always did whenever it came to her well being). He took off his black leather jacket and placed it over her shoulders. He felt so tempted to bring her into his embrace, to feel their skins against each other, his body warming up hers. But it was already awkward between them, so he refrained from doing so.
After the kiss that they shared in the dressing room, Harry thought that some of the past tension would have been removed. Well, that didn’t seem the case. The only thing she said to him afterwards was: ‘Time to talk’ which led to them walking down to seashore. He supposed she was waiting for him to speak but he didn’t know how to start.
Uma fished her trouser pocket for a lighter before taking out a pack of cigarettes, she attempted to light one of them but her hands were too cold. The constant sound of the switch clicking made Harry smile, she could easily just demand him to light it for her but she was too stubborn to do that at the moment.
‘For fuck sake!’ Uma moaned frustratedly (finally breaking the silence), she had given up, the cigarette could wait until she was back inside. She about to put the lighter back in her pocket but paused when she saw Harry extend his hand to her. Uma looked at him disapprovingly, she didn’t want his help, she could light her own damn cigarette. However, she really needed to smoke, she needed to relax. So she gave it to him.
Harry flicked the switch and the fuse sparked a small flame. He began to play with the cigarette lighter, passing his thumb back and forth, causing a stinging sensation on the tip of his skin. (This gave Harry some sort of distraction from the current situation). He held out the lighter to Uma and she leaned in closer so the tip of the cigarette touched the flame. The aromatic smell filled the small space between them, and for a moment, Harry couldn’t help but stare at her. He suddenly noticed the small tattoo on the left side of her neck, of a hook with tentacles wrapped around it. Harry wondered when she got it, he found it unique, as if it was a symbol that represented their love (or the love that they once had).
Uma inhaled the contents of the cigarette before slowly blowing the smoke out towards Harry. It created a misty screen around him, but she could see his icy blue eyes examining her as if he was looking at something.
“When did ye start smoking?” Harry asked, still holding his gaze. Uma chuckled in annoyance, she wasn’t about to be judged (well that’s what it sounded like to her). She turned away and took a puff of smoke from her cigarette, tapping the burning ash onto the sand.
“When are you going to start talking?” Her sharp tone made Harry anxious. He began to play with the lighter again, but this time, he continuously flicked the switch on and off.
“Ah, dinnae ken where to start.” Harry said, still distracting himself with the repeated clicking sound.
“How about-” Uma snatched the lighter from his hand (she was starting to find it irritating), “you start from the beginning?”
“Right.” Harry said while twiddling his thumbs. “Erm, so, ye remember that time when I asked ye to meet in the cave?” He waited for her to answer but she took another puff from her cigarette. Maybe she didn’t know which cave he was talking about. “The one with the small pool that we used to swim in-”
“The one that you didn’t show up to when you asked me to wait for you? Yes Harry, I remember.” Uma said, still not looking at him. Harry coughed nervously, her bitterness was starting to making him sweat a little.
“So, while I was on me way to meet ye, me father was preparing his crew to set sail. He looked like he was preparing for war, he had anger and vengeance in his eyes. I’d never seen him look so thirsty for blood.” Harry paused. “It was only when I heard CJ’s and Harriet’s screams when I actually started to pay attention.” Uma turned to look at him. She noticed a strong sense of resentment in his tone, which made her worry for what she was about to hear.
“He was threatening them to come onboard the ship with him. He even had one of his crew members slap CJ and Harriet for trying to fight back.” Harry curled up his hands into a fist “Now, I didn’t know if this was another one of his drunken episodes, but I couldn’t stand back and watch. Not this time. I ran to the guy who hurt them and began pounding his head to the ground, I kept hitting him and hitting him and hitting him.” Harry began to hit his fist against the palm of his hand repeatedly as he continued to repeat the words. His palm started to get redder and redder. By the way he was going, Uma didn’t think he would stop, it was as if he was reliving this past memory all over again. Harry’s face was full of pain, his eyes were wet and for the first time, Uma didn’t know what to do. She took the cigarette out of her mouth and dug it into the sand.
“Harry” She spoke softly as she slowly put her hand in between his reddened palm and fist. He stopped moving as she placed her hand on his, he entwined his fingers around hers. Her touch brought him back to reality as his breath went back to a steady pace.
“Until… he stopped moving.” Harry swallowed. “I thought my father would be angry at me for killing one of his crew members but instead he applauded me. He said I showed authority for the first time in my life.”
“I should have been happy, getting a compliment from my father is a rare thing, I’d be lucky if he even noticed me at all. However, it just made me even more pissed!” Unconsciously, he squeezed Uma’s hand, hard, causing her to wince at the sudden pain. He immediately took her hand and kissed it. “I’m so sorry, I get ahead of meself sometimes.” He said while rubbing her hand, Uma gave him a reassuring smile.
“To cut to the chase, me father forced me to come along with him on this escapade of his, he felt it was time to rewrite his legacy” Harry rolled his eyes. “We ended up looting small ships at first, the fights were intense and the loot was enough for the crew to be content with. However, me father wasn’t, he wanted something bigger. Grander.” Harry looked at Uma, his eyes showing fear. “And two years later… he got his wish.”
“His wish?” Uma said confused.
“We came across a ship called the ‘Enchantress’ and you don’t want to be anywhere near this ship or else that’s the end of ye and yer crew.”
“I don’t understand. Is the ship bewitched or something?” Uma asked
“It’s not the ship that ye need to worry about. It’s the waters that it sails on.” Harry’s heart began to beat a bit faster, Uma could feel his palm getting sweaty, he stared out towards the ocean. “It was terrible, Uma.” His voice trembled “When we came in contact with the Enchantress, we started to hear these beautiful voices. Ugh, I should have kenned then but the voices reminded me of ye.” He looked at her. “I lost meself in the song that they sang, it brought me back to the first time I saw ye in the Jazz club.” The memory brought a smile to Uma’s face, even when they were apart, he still thought about her.
“When I realized it wasn’t ye and opened me eyes, all I saw was chaos.” Harry paused. “Suddenly, the weather was vicious and we were unable to control the ship. That’s when I realized it was the work of the sirens.”
“They took the men one by one. Seducing them to come into the water and then dragging them down to the bottom of the ocean.” Harry’s voice was like a whisper now, Uma had to lean in close just to hear him clearly. “Those of us that regained control of ourselves tried to set up the sails and steer the ship around. The storm was strong but our will was stronger and we managed to slowly make our escape. Uma held onto his hand tightly, this was good news.
“But then…” Harry paused for a few seconds, his breath started to become uneven. “I saw Harriet go overboard.” Uma’s eyes grew big, she was shocked, how could it get this bad. Harry’s body started to tremble, his eyes pouring out streams of tears. “Uma, I tried. I tried to save her! I tried everything! I tried to grab her hand but it was too late. She’s gone, Uma!” Uma put her free hand over his shoulder and leaned him into her. She gently rocked side to side while softly rubbing his hand that was in hers. Harry began to cry loudly, all the tears that he felt that night, he let loose. He felt so much comfort to be held in her arms again.
Has Harry weeped, Uma hummed a peaceful melody, which caused him to fall asleep slowly in her arms. She felt so stupid and selfish. Selfish, that she was so focused on her suffering that she didn’t think twice about anything else. But that was all in the past now, Harry had suffered more than she did. Now it was time for her to be there for him.
Editor’s Note: Sorry for the very long chapter guys! I was having such difficulty writing this chapter because I didn’t know how to express certain things. Hopefully, I have done a good job and once again thank you for the support! Love you guys! Thank you @rav3nb1ack for your help! And credit to the owners of the 1st, 3rd and 5th gif.
