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AFTER THE SUN DIPPED into the ocean and was replaced by the moon, Peter returned the pair to camp. Kaelyn remained silent, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her chest after days of being crushed. Truthfully, she didn't know if it was days. She could've been in Neverland for months and she wouldn't have been able to tell. She supposed that wasn't entirely Peter's fault, but his clouded magic that messed with the perception definitely was.

Peter set her down on the balcony of the tree house, releasing her hand as she elegantly stepped down. The blonde boy followed her, just as quietly, as she came to stand in the centre of the treehouse again. She glanced at the trinkets on the windowsill, and for the first time since her arrival, acknowledged them as memories that had come and gone.

But most in particular, Kaelyn stared longingly at the precious stone, gleaming as magnificently as the day Peter had first given it to her as kids.

"Funny how all three tokens stayed with you in the end," Kaelyn finally said, breaking the silence. Peter merely glanced at her. "A cruel full circle since you got them for us." She looked at him, and though her words were harsh, her tone was neutral.

"The meaning still stands," Peter said, solemnly.

Kaelyn didn't believe him, but she was done wasting her breath on arguing with him. They'd had their talk, now she could focus. Peter's face was unreadable as she passed him, brushing past his shoulder to stand above the opening to the ladder.

"I'm getting off this island," she told him without looking at him.

In a blink, Peter was in front of her. "You can try."

Kaelyn raised her eyes to meet his, indigo on green, in a way that she never could have foreseen. They had come so far, and not in the good way she had expected when they were young. She no longer saw a stranger she had once loved, he was now simply a piece of her past she had to leave behind and accept as unattainable.

She had to keep moving forward, forget about trying to fight or fix what she had with him. It was long since done, the damage aged and sore. She had to forget about him, and focus on why she was there in the first place. Avenging Neal and saving Henry.

Kaelyn tore her gaze from his as she headed down the ladder, Peter watching her go. No one stopped her as she made her way through camp, though she received some wary eyes. She paused, briefly, to see Henry dancing and chanting. He was too far gone, Kaelyn had to seek help and purpose somewhere else.

She half-expected him to stop her as she broke the treeline of the camp, looking over her shoulder to see Peter still watching her from the balcony of the treehouse. Behind him was the tree they had just been at, and Kaelyn hardened her face in resolve. That was in the past, she had to accept it.

Turning on her heel, she broke into the jungle, not running but moving quickly. She didn't need any sort of weapon or tool to break through the foliage, instead sticking to her magic. The swell she got from Neverland was so great that any power she used was immediately replenished. She had truly forgotten how much stronger she was when her soul was complete and undivided.

Kaelyn had some ideas of where Peter could be keeping Neal, but instead she headed in the direction of Emma and the group's camp. Or at least the vaguest direction of it. The longer she spent on Neverland, the more silently in tune she became with it. Her bearings were still shit, but better.

As Kaelyn broke into a path, she had hardly a second before multiple weapons were raised at her, and she was met with the hard faces of Mary Margaret, David, Emma and Hook.

"Fuck– it's just me," Kaelyn cursed, giving the defensive group a 'really?' look, but otherwise gave little reaction or fear to the many threats pointed at her. Kaelyn didn't question too much why Regina wasn't with them, either. Once the group seemed to register she wasn't a Lost Boy, they lowered their defences.

"You're alive?" David was the first to speak.

"Oh, now don't sound so disappointed," Kaelyn huffed.

"Where's Henry?" Emma asked, immediately. Kaelyn raised her eyebrows at the sword being raised to her, pointedly looking back up at Emma who had stormed forward to press in on Kaelyn.

The brunette didn't move an inch, even with the blade dangerously close to her throat. "He's fine," she replied, firmly.

"You left him with Pan?" Emma demanded.

"Nothing happens with Henry yet," Kaelyn hissed, hating the accusatory tone in her voice like Emma didn't already know how much the girl cared for Henry.

"How can you be sure?" Mary Margaret said from behind her daughter, voice calmer.

"If Peter wanted to, he could've done whatever now," Kaelyn informed them.

"Why do you call him Peter?" Emma cut in, her blade still raised to the immortal teenager.

"You're sure returning hasn't brought back any feelings?" Hook jeered, always making things worse. Kaelyn tried to contain her eye roll as the rest of the group exchanged frantic glances.

"Feelings? What's he talking about?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Oh, they don't know?" Hook said in a mock tone.

Kaelyn merely shrugged. "Honestly? I figured you would've told them already."

Hook chuckled. "But this is much more fun."

"Killing you could also be fun," Kaelyn snipped, taking a menacing step forward, eyebrows lowered.

"Hey!" Emma stepped back in, forcing the pair apart as Hook had drifted closer. The blonde woman placed herself between the two, before looking at Kaelyn suspiciously. "What does he mean by feelings?"

"Kaelyn here used to run Neverland with Pan," Hook announced dramatically. Kaelyn gave no reaction to the reveal, as the group gave varying responses of shock and distrust.

"You worked with him?" David asked, in an unimpressed tone akin to a father scolding a child, which always had a habit of pissing Kaelyn off.

"Think she did a bit more than just work with him," Hook teased, and Kaelyn hated that she felt the urge to laugh despite the situation.

"Honestly, don't you ever pay attention to the stories Henry read?" she chose to say instead, looking at Emma condescendingly. "Admittedly, this one's a bit more twisted than some kid's stories," she added, casually.

"You had a reputation before the Enchanted Forest?" Emma said in disbelief.

"Don't sound so surprised," Kaelyn sighed. "You should know me better by now."

"Look, we can't trust you then," David said, reasonable as ever.

Kaelyn clenched her jaw. They were right of course, but she needed them to trust her to a degree in order to find Neal and figure out a way to save Henry. And as much as she loved pissing them off, that wasn't the play, and she needed them temporarily for their mutual goal.

"You know I left, right? Peter and I hate each other, not that it's any of your business," Kaelyn told them, making sure her tone changed to sound more vulnerable.

"And how do we know you aren't trapping us for your boyfriend right now?" Hook asked.

"Because you know how much I care about Henry and Neal," Kaelyn retorted. "That's why I'm here in the first place, after all."

The blade almost immediately left Kaelyn's vicinity, as Emma's face softened. "Neal's alive?" she murmured. Kaelyn looked at her warily, spotting the advantage.

"Yes, saw him with my own two eyes," Kaelyn replied, hoping they wouldn't question how she'd let him get away.

"We're tracking him right now," Mary Margaret said, coming to her daughter's side as if two seconds ago they hadn't had a sword raised to Kaelyn. "We had our doubts but..." the former Snow White trailed off, looking cautiously at Emma.

"Are you sure?" Emma said, softly, eyes solely on Kaelyn.

"Yes, it was him," Kaelyn told her.

"Seems like a pretty effective trap," Hook interjected, and Kaelyn narrowed her eyes, turning her aggressive attention to him.

"Please, I'm not that cruel to lie about something like this."

"I wouldn't put it past you," Hook sneered.

"Cry me a river," Kaelyn spat back.

"You're not making a convincing case for us to trust you," David admitted, and Kaelyn rolled her eyes as the conversation regressed.

"Just trust that I care about Henry and Neal," she said, tiredly.

Emma shook her head, resolve apparently returned. "You're not that predictable."

"Look at you learning," Kaelyn cooed, earning a bitter glare from the blonde woman. "For the record, I don't trust any of you either," Kaelyn added, waving a hand to gesture to the group as a whole. She didn't miss how they all flinched in their own way when she raised her hand.

Good, they were still afraid of her.

"Do you have any idea where Pan could be keeping Neal?" Emma asked, ignoring Kaelyn's antagonistic remarks.

"I haven't been here in like sixty, maybe eighty years," Kaelyn said with a shrug. "Shit's changed."

Mary Margaret frowned. "Thought you ran the place?"

Kaelyn hated the shame she felt. "Yeah, that was then," she bit back.

"Well, look who just became useless," Emma mused.

Kaelyn gave her a wicked smirk to hide any sort of offence to the remark. "I love how much you try to hurt my feelings."

"Guess I just want to see if you're really that much of a cold-hearted bitch," Emma said, equally as unreadable.

"Look at us," Kaelyn said with a playful tilt of her head. "It's only been five minutes and you're already back at my throat."

"Stop it, both of you," Mary Margaret snapped, taking a step forward as the tension between Emma and Kaelyn increased by the second.

Kaelyn didn't spare a glance at her, instead keeping her eyes on Emma. "That's for you, she's not my mum," she taunted.

"Stop talking before you make me do something I'll regret," Emma threatened.

Kaelyn let out a jarring laugh that cut into the jungle air. "Was that a threat?" Emma couldn't hide her faltering look at the brunette's indifference as Kaelyn lowered her eyes again. "You don't scare me," she said, voice lower.

Emma met her eyes. "You don't think I will?"

"Oh, no, I don't underestimate you," Kaelyn said with a shake of her head. "It's just... I'm me." She chuckled a bit and shrugged. "If you really tried to hurt me I could overpower you before you could even touch me."

"You're all talk," Emma insisted.

"You've got it twisted," Kaelyn responded, voice lacking any of the lightness it had moments ago. "When you're the most powerful you don't need to waste time going around telling everyone. You just wait to prove it." She moved closer to Emma, feeling a smug sense of success when the blonde took a single step back. Kaelyn looked up at her through half-lidded eyes. "Do you want to make me prove it, Saviour?"

No one, wisely, intervened between the two women, as Emma pulled away, earning a triumphant smirk from Kaelyn.

"I want you to prove you're on our side," Emma told her, sounding exasperated.

"I'm not on anyone's side," Kaelyn said, dully, at Emma's attempt to uncover her moral compass.

Emma only looked at her, in that judgemental but simultaneously horrified and frustrated and disappointed way only she could. Kaelyn got the feeling Emma seemed to think the immortal teenager was someone she could fix, or relate to, or something similar, and that the more she tried to talk it out with her that Kaelyn would join their side or whatever.

As it would turn out, Emma knew next to nothing about the girl in front of her or what made her tick, and Kaelyn viciously told herself she never would.

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KAELYN KNEW PETER WAS watching them as they moved, following Neal's tracks through the jungle. It was clearly planted evidence, and it seemed everybody knew that and was okay with the idea of playing into the boy's game if there was a chance to get Neal back. Kaelyn agreed to a degree, but she knew it wasn't going to be that easy.

After their little spat, Emma had volunteered Kaelyn to go at the front of the group to avoid her stabbing anyone in the back. Kaelyn had brightly told her if she wanted to stab them in the back she could do it no matter which way she was facing. Maybe she did talk too much about how powerful she was.

Mary Margaret, ever the saint, stayed in front, holding a lantern and tracking Neal, apparently trusting Kaelyn not to do anything. That and she was the best tracker amongst them. Kaelyn was vividly aware of David's glare shooting into her back at all times, almost daring her to make a move.

Kaelyn would play along with their rules as long as she needed to, as they cleared a path through the foliage in silence. Mary Margaret at some point, stopped abruptly, and Kaelyn barely managed to avoid running into her back.

"The tracks lead directly into that cave," she said, and Kaelyn stepped out from behind her to see the hole in the jungle in front of them. Everyone else filed in to see what they were looking at. "This must be where Pan is keeping Neal."

"If the cave is some sort of prison why aren't there any guards posted to stop us?" David questioned, hand on his sword at his belt.

Kaelyn swallowed thickly as recognition set in. She felt Hook's eyes on her but refused to look at him as she realised what was about to happen.

"Because this prison doesn't require guards," Hook spoke up, stepping forward as Kaelyn hung back. The pirate let out a sigh. "Echo cave."

"You know it?" Mary Margaret asked.

"All too well." Hook turned back to the group. "I lost half my crew inside those rock walls. The only way to rescue someone from inside is to reveal a secret."

Mary Margaret raised her eyebrows. "A secret? That's all?" She said it like it was the simplest thing.

"Your darkest secret," Hook said, solemnly. "Echo Cave derives its name from an old saying, 'the deeper the lie, the more truth in its echo.' The cave demands that you reveal a truth about yourself. A secret you would never admit to anyone."

"This is ridiculous," Emma snapped.

"Don't kill the messenger, love," Hook said, lightly.

"Even if we spill our guts, how do we know Neal's still alive in there?" Emma pointed out, though her tone was surprisingly defensive.

Hook sighed again. "Because this is what Pan wants. He wants us to rescue him."

"He's right," Kaelyn chimed in. "Peter hopes our secrets will destroy us and any chance of being a team enough to rescue Henry."

Emma tilted her head to the immortal teenager, who had been unusually quiet during Hook's explanation. The blonde narrowed her eyes. "Did you know about this?" she asked, accusingly.

"Of course she did, she made them," Hook scoffed.

"Sometimes it's okay to shut up, you know?" Kaelyn hissed.

"You what?" Emma exclaimed.

"I thought they would've been destroyed when I..." Kaelyn trailed off, before clearing her throat. "It's very strong magic but I thought it would've faded by now," she finished, voice stronger.

"Why would you make something like this?" Mary Margaret sounded horrified.

"Because it was the least cruel way to keep someone contained," Kaelyn retorted, which was true, but she knew no one in front of her would believe it.

"Least cruel my ass," Emma sneered. "You were probably Pan's slave, same as all the Lost Boys, did whatever he told you."

Kaelyn felt anger lance through her system at the blonde's clueless words, and indigo energy crackled at her fingertips. "I don't have to explain myself to you or why everything you just said is wrong," Kaelyn snipped, though her eyes were narrowed dangerously.

"It's the consequences of your own actions–"

"Spare me the moral lecture and prattling," Kaelyn groaned, cutting off Mary Margaret as usual. "Let's get this over with."

Refusing to break face, the brunette girl led the way, descending the rough steps of the cave. Hook followed her first, followed by the others. Kaelyn traced the walls lightly with her fingers as she moved, feeling the strong hum of her old magic beneath her. She winced as they crossed the threshold of escaping, feeling the power lock them in.

She knew none of the others would feel it the way she did, so kept her cool as they came out to the cavern. Deep underground the hollowed out space was vast, and Kaelyn looked across the massive gap to the one piece of rock in the centre where Neal was in a golden cage.

The man registered their presence and looked up, eyes widening.

"Neal," Emma breathed.

"It must be a hundred feet across," Mary Margaret observed.

"Even if we fashioned some sort of rope, there's nothing to attach it to. No way to swing over," David thought aloud.

"Can't you do some magic?" Emma said desperately, looking to Kaelyn who was the closest to the edge of the cavern.

"No, I was just planning on standing here," Kaelyn said, brightly. Emma's jaw clenched. "Don't you think if I could we wouldn't have a problem right now? There's a barrier on the walls. Magic from a time when I was much stronger."

Emma's face slackened. "You used to be stronger?"

"Strong enough my current power is basically blocked in here right now," Kaelyn admitted with a shrug. "Scared yet?"

Emma just turned away. "So, what do we do?"

"I told you what needs to be done. Consider this the moment of truth, literally." Hook dramatically turned to the group. "Now, who wants to kick things off?"

"So, what? Someone tells their secret and they sprout wings?" Emma snipped, and Kaelyn scoffed.

"I don't know the particulars, only what I've been told," Hook admitted.

"Then, how do you know it'll work?" David asked, doubtfully. Hook took a deep breath and turned to look at Neal, ignoring the doubt of his comrades.

"It'll work," Kaelyn said, defensively.

Emma shot her a look. "Because your word's so reliable."

Kaelyn just shook her head, not even having the energy for a response, looking back to Hook who was still looking straight ahead to Neal.

"There's only one way to find out, I suppose," the pirate said, quietly. He sighed again before quickly turning back to the group before he lost his nerve. "I kissed Emma," he confessed.

"You did what?" David exclaimed and Kaelyn let out a short laugh that she disguised as a cough into her arm, as Emma rolled her eyes.

"David, now is not the time," Mary Margaret said, tightly.

"I already told Mary Margaret, so technically it's not a secret," Emma told Hook. "And it was just a kiss. How's that your darkest secret?"

"It's what the kiss exposed. My secret is, I never thought I'd be capable of letting go of my first love, of my Milah, to believe that I could find someone else. That is, until I met you."

Kaelyn looked between the two in surprise, before the ground shifted. A large chunk of rock had sprouted from the side of the platform Neal was on, forming a quarter of a bridge to reach him.

"Sprouting wings, huh?" Kaelyn said, snidely, to Emma, but the blonde was too busy ogling Hook.

David cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Mary Margaret–"

"No, no, no. Me next," she interjected. "Ever since the curse broke, since we found each other, since we found Emma, in all of that happiness there is something I haven't wanted to admit. Our daughter is a beautiful, smart, amazing woman whom I love very much, and of whom I could not be more proud. But she's all grown up. And as much as I want to pretend I'm okay with that I'm not. We missed it, David. What we have with her is unique, but it's not what I wanted. We were cheated out of everything; her first, her first word, her first smile. We missed it all."

"What are you saying?" David murmured.

"When we get off this island and get back to Storybrooke, I want another go at it," Mary Margaret said, strongly. "I want to have another baby."

And with that truth, the ground shook again and the second part of the bridge extended towards them.

Kaelyn looked back to the couple to make a joke out of unprotected acts, but she paused when she saw the surprisingly bleak look on David's face. "Nothing in this world would make me happier," he said, slowly. "And I know with all my heart that you would make an amazing mother. But it can never happen, at least not with me."

Mary Margaret looked at him with wide eyes. "What do you mean?"

A single tear trailed down David's cheek. "When Hook and I went to search for the sextant, he was really taking me to find a cure."

Mary Margaret swallowed thickly. "A cure for what?"

"Dreamshade."

Kaelyn felt her stomach twist at the very word.

"The lost boys, the arrow, you pushed me out of the way–"

"I wasn't fast enough. I was hit. Hook was able to find a cure, but it comes at a price. I can't leave Neverland. If I do, I'll die."

The ground abruptly shook again, and the bridge extended again. Now there was only a small portion left, and eyes soon began to flick between Emma and Kaelyn as the remainders.

"It's pretty close now, maybe we can jump," Emma suggested, sounding hesitant.

"And what about the cage?" Kaelyn pointed out. "That's not how it works."

"So you go," Emma said.

Kaelyn arched an eyebrow. "No."

"You have to, he's your friend," Emma hissed.

"Yeah but I'm a shit person who wants to avoid spilling my guts. You're the Saviour who just watched all your allies expose themselves. Bit unfair to try and avoid doing the same yourself, don't you think?" Kaelyn pushed. Emma unsheathed her sword again, and Kaelyn felt smug at getting the predicted rise out of her.

"Emma!" Neal called across the gap. The blonde woman paused in advancing on Kaelyn, who only looked at the blade with bored eyes. Emma stared harshly at Kaelyn as everyone's eyes were on the pair who had yet to spill their secrets, and Kaelyn's manipulative words dug into the woman's conscience.

"Fine," she said, voice shaky as she sheathed her sword again. She sighed and turned to look directly at Neal, Kaelyn watching her intently. "When I heard you might be here, and that you might still be alive, I knew I should be happy, but I wasn't. I was terrified. I didn't understand why until now. From the moment I saw you in New York, the instant you stepped back in my life, I knew... I knew I'd never stopped loving you. And before I even had a chance to take a breath I lost you once more and that pain I had pushed down for all those years just came rushing back. And I didn't know if I could go through it again. I love you. I probably always will. But my secret is that I was hoping that it was a trick. I was hoping you were dead because it would be easier for me to put you behind me than to face all the pain that we went through all over again."

The ground shook once more at the confession as the bridge completed itself, and Emma brushed everything aside and moved forward, unsheathing her sword. She sniffed as she tried to cut at Neal's cage, but it was unbreakable. The man attempted to talk to her, but she kept dismissing him and hastily trying to free him with shaky hands.

Slowly, everyone's heads turned to Kaelyn. She met Neal's eyes across the gap, Emma desperately staring at her to help push the final step of freeing their friend.

"Please," Emma murmured.

Kaelyn's mouth had turned dry, knowing she had to be vulnerable in front of the people in front of her to save one of the few people she cared about. She sighed and looked at her feet.

"Uh... I created Neverland and am the rightful ruler of it," she started off. She received many confused glances, but it didn't work, Neal remained locked behind unbreakable bars. Kaelyn clenched her fist at the rejected confession. "Son of a bitch," she hissed under her breath.

A few more moments passed of apprehensive silence, Kaelyn fully aware if she didn't say something dark and deep enough they would all inevitably die in the cave and it wouldn't matter if Neal was rescued or not and Henry would become a part of Peter's plan and it would all be for nothing.

All for nothing.

"I'm still in love with Peter Pan," she announced.

With bated breath, nothing happened.

"Kinda glad that one's not true," Neal mused.

"Or someone else just knows it already," Hook pointed out, giving Kaelyn a side glance.

"It's the fact you even thought that could be a possibility," David said.

Kaelyn fixed her glare on him. "It's a possibility you could also shut up."

"Maybe you're not being sentimental enough," Emma spoke up.

"Excuse me?" Kaelyn rounded on Emma so viciously the blonde took a step back, as Kaelyn moved towards her across the gap on the bridge. She came to stand in front of the taller woman, but still held all the power in the dynamic. "I'm sorry, am I not sentimental enough for you Swan? Hmm?" Emma failed to produce any words. "No, go on, I wanna know," Kaelyn snapped. "I am here exposing myself, gaining nothing but saving my friend, so go on."

"What she means is... you may view sentimentality as... weakness," Mary Margaret intervened, but she blanched at Kaelyn's face over her shoulder. "Not that–"

"Weakness?" Kaelyn seethed. "My entire life people have tried to use me, to use my power for themselves. It wasn't until the person I trusted most tried to that I put my foot down and I decided no one would ever use my power for themselves again. I am not someone's tool to exact their means, I am not weak enough to be used or manipulated, not anymore."

"Kaelyn–" Emma started, paling at the sorceress' rant.

"No, let her finish," Mary Margaret hissed.

Kaelyn knew she should've stopped talking, but her anger at the way the others viewed her when she was trying to help had built up for too long and finally reached a tipping point, fuelling her bitter mouth.

"I am not weak because I avoid attachments and connections. It protects me and keeps me strong. If that makes me sound like a cliché then so fucking be it. It's how I've survived and the only way I've stayed untouched for so long."

"I've come to expect the worst of people. So, why bother bonding when they'll probably fuck you over later? A couple centuries and people die on you anyway. You can't afford to be worrying about other people when they're going to die on you sooner or later. I don't go out of my way to hurt people, and I don't go out of my way to help, either. Whatever you may assume of me. Centuries of living and you think my first concern isn't going to be preserving myself? I know better than that."

"And fear? Fear is all I have. I don't have admiration; I don't have people in awe of my power. I only have fear, and people bending to my will because they're afraid of what I'll do to them if they don't. I tried, I tried to be the good guy, to do the right thing and use my magic to help people, not to hurt. But I was only ever seen as a danger, or a means to an end, and as it turned out, the only way to stop that was to use my power in ways I never wanted, to take back my own agency. So, fine. Let it be fear."

Kaelyn sucked in a breath amidst her vent. "Henry and Neal were the only two people to look at me as a person in years. Not a ticking time bomb, not a weapon, and certainly not a threat."

"People have tried," Emma interjected, surprisingly not flinching when Kaelyn fixed her gaze on her. "Ruby has, I have, Snow has. You just push everyone away cause you think you're better than everyone."

Kaelyn grinned, but there was no joy behind it, shaking her head twice. "You tried because you thought we were the same. You saw me as someone to be fixed, someone lost and capable of being guided back to the light side after a couple of acts of service and inspirational speeches. You may be the Saviour but you're not saving me that easily."

Her voice went low again. "I'm all the things people say about me and maybe that just makes it worse. I could snap your neck just with a thought, or stop your heart, slit your throat, just because you've pissed me off at the wrong time. Time has shown me being good doesn't pay off, and that going out of your way to care about others is only good for softening you."

And then she laughed, a maniacal and bitter sound that cut through the stale cave air. Because she knew he was listening right now, she fucking knew he was. Listening to their secrets, hanging onto their every word. He knew she would've found them and ended up where she was. He knew. He knew everything. He always did.

"The last time I trusted someone?" she yelled at the ceiling of the cave, not caring for the way the others looked at her like she was crazy. "It ripped my soul in half and then I had to piece it back together." She looked back to Emma, who had gone very still. "You think this is what I wanted from life? From the world? You actually think when I was a child my goal was to be known as Kaelyn the Killer?" Her voice had risen as she focused her words on Emma, who looked like she was genuinely expected to answer the questions.

And then Kaelyn slumped back, almost in defeat. "No. I was forced to be this way, I was taught to. I survived by becoming this way."

"Nothing made you this way except yourself," Emma spoke. "Maybe if you'd realised that sooner you'd be more like me."

"Go fuck yourself, Swan," Kaelyn spat, feeling so much distaste and disrespect for the woman in that moment. "You and I aren't even on the same page, and we never will be. And for the record, the last thing I want in life is to be like you."

As Kaelyn turned away, she heard the horrible sound of the cave accepting her answer and Neal breaking free of his restraints.

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i missed writing cheeky(bitchy) kaelyn

this was one of the chapters i was most excited to write so i hope it didn't disappoint! was very long and dialogue heavy but important for kaelyn's character

i know the dynamic between kaelyn and peter is a little up and down right now, but i figure kaelyn was going through denial since she arrived on neverland and resisting him, then hit anger, and is currently in the third stage of grief: bargaining. postponing facing the new reality that peter is gone and coping by being cold. they've had their talk and now it's back to priorities. if that makes sense?

also i am aware that throughout this book peter is a little ooc, but i genuinely just credit it to the fact the pair have such history, and peter also knows kaelyn isn't easy enough to be pawn in his game

also this book has received a wave of new support since i last updated a dreadfully long time ago, so welcome to any new readers! this is my favourite book to write for and it means a lot to see people actually enjoy it.