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    IT HURT WHEN Kaelyn woke up. It always did after she manipulated her soul. And she supposed she hadn't altered it in so many years, either. Taking on Neverland's energy was definitely up there with the top ten stupidest things the immortal teenager had ever done in her very long life, but she told herself it had been for the right reasons.

    As consciousness returned to her and pain began to replace the numbness in her body, she was hit with a swell of panic. Henry. The brunette forced herself awake, moving before she had registered where she was, wincing as she hit her head on something. Blinking rapidly, the world came into focus, and Kaelyn realised she was against a tree, under a haphazardly-made shelter.

    "Have you calmed down now?"

    Kaelyn looked to her side from where she was sitting, seeing Peter crouched there, the canopy casting intricate shadows on his face. Kaelyn just blinked at him, refusing to answer. It was quiet outside, which told her she wasn't in the camp or anywhere nearby, and had been teleported away.

    Peter shuffled closer to her, Kaelyn watching his every move. In his lap was a wooden bowl filled with water and a pale cloth. The brunette watched, quietly, as he wet the cloth and reached towards her face. Instinctively, her hand snapped out to grab his wrist, albeit weakly, inches from her face.

    "At least let me clean you up," Peter sighed.

    And Kaelyn let him, releasing his hand, as he silently and gently rubbed the cloth against her chin where blood had dripped and dried. She watched his eyes the entire time, never leaving her face as he worked. He looked so focused, so intent, and not once met her eyes.

    In that moment she could almost pretend as if nothing had happened, that it was a regular interaction and his intentions were completely pure. Kaelyn resisted the urge to tremble as he reached her lips, gently wiping at the blood that had collected around them from her nose.

    "Where's Henry?" Kaelyn finally asked, throat dry.

    "All part of the plan," Peter responded, eyes finally flicking to hers. Kaelyn nodded slightly, as the boy continued to clean her face. After a few minutes, he was done, the cloth and water rusty with her blood, which he set aside. "How're you feeling?" he asked when she remained quiet.

    "Dead," she replied, bluntly.

    "It was a good effort," he commended her. Kaelyn just shook her head. "I took care of your ribs, as well." Kaelyn had wondered why she hadn't felt the cracked bones when she woke. "I already chewed Felix out for it, he's very sorry."

    "What're you going to do, Peter?" Kaelyn asked, abruptly.

    He paused, before saying, "I can't control you, I can't fight you and I can't hurt you."

    Kaelyn arched a brow. "But?"

    Peter shrugged. "What do you want?"

    "I want to save Henry and leave," she said, without much thought.

    "What do you want of me?"

    Kaelyn regarded him, tilting her head slightly. Did he want her to want something from him? Was there an answer he was gunning for? Was there a right answer to his question?

    "I wanted you to be different," she admitted, which was definitely not the answer he had been looking for. "But you were the worst of them all." Peter's shoulders shifted, as he looked at the ground. "You can't give me either of those, can you?" she added, more to get the point across to him than actually get an answer.

    "No," he said, firmly.

    "So, what can you give me?" Kaelyn murmured.

    "Nothing you deserve," Peter admitted. Her heart stung a bit.

    Kaelyn sighed, leaning back against the tree, hands in her lap. "The truth is... I still don't trust that any of this is genuine. That you saved my life, fixed my ribs, talk to me like old times and touch me... I just can't trust that you're not doing it for an ulterior motive."

    Peter lifted his eyes to her, frowning. "My only motive is to earn your trust back."

    "Why?" Kaelyn scoffed. "Why do you care so much? You're Peter Pan. An angel of death in some cultures. Supposed to be unable to love... and yet here you are chasing after me."

    "I care about you," he told her.

    "Why? I'm not a great person these days," Kaelyn said, bitterly.

    "Because to me you'll always be that girl I tried to steal from who beat me at my own game," he said. Kaelyn felt her throat tighten at the memory, and she involuntarily glanced down at her middle finger, which held the ring they had juggled all those years ago.

    "That was a long time ago," she finally said.

    "Doesn't matter."

    Kaelyn furrowed her brows. "You could still love me, even like this?"

    "I'm not exactly an angel, either," Peter scoffed, eyebrows twitching.

    "Answer my question," she said, bluntly.

    Peter's face went serious. "Yes."

    "Yes, what?" she pushed.

    "Yes, I could still love you, even like this."

    Kaelyn almost wished that he had said something else. Something that would make it so much easier for her. She almost wished he hated her, that he gave her no reason to feel warmth in her stomach, or longing for his arms.

    "Could you?" Peter asked, barely a whisper.

    Kaelyn swallowed thickly, dreading the question. "If you weren't trying to hurt someone I cared about... I think this reunion would've been very different."

    "That's fair," he murmured.

    "I also think we're very different people now," Kaelyn continued. "You love a version of me that no longer exists."

    "I could fall in love with you no matter what," he said in a beat.

    "Stop saying shit like that when I'm trying to say that this will never work," Kaelyn snapped, exasperated. Peter just blinked at her. "Besides, you don't mean it."

    Peter gave her a look of mock offence. "Don't I?"

    Kaelyn shook her head with a joyless smile. "You don't know me anymore."

    "I could."

    "Would you want me to get to know you now?"

    "Touché."

    Kaelyn still sat on the ground, Peter so close their knees were pressed against each other, as they regarded each other. Maybe not in a new light, maybe not in the same way as they used, simply as they were. Two very old people with a lot of issues and memories.

    It had never been about hating him. She could forgive him, she was just scared to. And forgiving him would be enabling every evil thing he still had planned, for Henry and the main world. She could not forgive him as he was now, as he had become.

    "I'm tired of this fucking game," Kaelyn said, softly after minutes of silence. "This back and forth, trying to prove a point, juggling Henry, everything. You say sorry, I don't believe you and get mad, we fight and then don't get anywhere," Kaelyn elaborated, before sighing out her nose. "When does it stop?"

    "It can stop now," he told her.

    "You don't mean that," Kaelyn snipped.

    "I do," Peter said, voice raising a bit, frustrated he wasn't being believed.

    "Prove it," Kaelyn said, bluntly. Peter backed off, eyes leaving hers, as Kaelyn felt the words bitter on her tongue. They were heavy, collecting in her throat like the need to cry. "Peter," she spoke again, and at his name he snapped to her attention. "I need you to let me go."

    Peter went quiet, before repeating, "Let you go?" in a tone that made it sound like it was a foreign idea.

    "Or let me... let you go," she said, voice heavy as the words that left her lips. "This isn't a matter of sorry, or time, anymore. It's a matter of us being too far gone and having different goals."

    And though Peter's eyebrows angled, Kaelyn knew he knew she was right, as he admitted, "I don't want to make an enemy of you."

    "Do you have a choice?"

    "No."

    Kaelyn tilted her head towards him. "I know you're about to enact your plan for Henry, I know what you're about to do will make me hate you even more, I know that it'll just start the cycle again."

    "I don't have a choice," Peter told her. "I wish things were different."

    "So, this is it?" Kaelyn would've laughed if the situation wasn't so bittersweet.

    "Apparently."

    How had they ended up here? How the fuck had they ended up here? She could only fester over the thought, bitter and twisted as their history. A question that had kept her up for years after she had left, and cut into her every now and then when she let her mind wander too much.

    It could've been comical, in a dark, twisted sort of way, if it didn't make Kaelyn so sad. Because, truthfully, it did. To have to accept Peter as someone she no longer knew, and would never know again, was sad. For there had been a time in her life she had never been able to even imagine a life without him.

    Yet, here they were. Preparing to cut ties in the name of one boy that had placed them on different sides, and neither would step down for the other, and they both knew that.

    Kaelyn pressed her forehead to his cheek, leaning forward into him as they sat opposite each other, feeling him also lean into her. They stayed like that, in silence, the slightest bit of physical contact holding.

    She sighed and pulled away, pressing her lips against his cheek, lingering there before leaning back.

    "I knew you still cared," Peter chuckled.

    "Fuck off," Kaelyn scoffed, biting her lip to stop from smiling. She met his eyes again, their interactions feeling so horribly normal, as her face fell again. "I wish so many things were different," she said, softly.

    Peter sighed, reaching a hand forward and tucking her hair behind her ear. "In another life," he murmured. And though he looked defeated, as seemingly the only thing Peter Pan had ever failed at was one girl, there was a sense of peace there. One that Kaelyn shared.

    Acceptance.

    Acceptance that this was it.

    "I need to go now," he murmured, leaning away from her.

    Kaelyn nodded once. "I know you do."

    Peter got to his feet and turned away. Energy having slowly returned over their conversation, Kaelyn also stood up, legs stronger now, as she followed him outside of the makeshift shelter. And she stood and watched as he glanced over his shoulder at her, before he had blipped away.

    As the sky darkened, Kaelyn began to make her way back to camp, terrified for what she would find, and even more afraid of how she and Peter would be the next time she saw him.

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    KAELYN BURST INTO the camp, not even hiding her desperation. Almost immediately, weapons were directed to her, and before Kaelyn could so much as scoff for Felix, Emma had stormed forward, sword lifted to her throat.

    "Where the hell have you been?" she demanded.

    "Don't shoot the fucking messenger," Kaelyn hissed as she entered camp, casually stepping around the blonde woman, who looked perturbed at her threat being so easily ignored.

    It appeared that Henry's rescue party had already arrived, all the lost boys peacefully asleep on the ground, and just about every member of the Saviour's group present, all looking at Kaelyn with mixed looks of wariness and confusion. As Kaelyn scanned the ground, she noted that none of the fallen boys were Henry. And, of course, Peter was nowhere to be seen either.

    Kaelyn tried not to show her panic too much as she scanned the camp, knowing they were probably too late now.

    "Where is Henry?" Regina snapped.

    Kaelyn glanced at her, having not seen her since Storybrooke had almost gone under, which felt ages away. "Well, clearly not here," the immortal teenager said, simply.

    "Stop playing games," Emma interjected, sword still clutched tightly in her hands.

    "Oh, but she can't. She's in relations with Pan, it's only natural," Rumple mused.

    Kaelyn turned to him with an eyebrow arched. "Same way it's only natural you'll find a way to betray us."

    "Now, now dearie, I'm not the enemy here," he tsked.

    "Oh, but you're always mine," Kaelyn said, lowly. "And Henry's. Are we not all aware he's planning to kill him?" she announced to the others around her.

    "We've sorted this out," Mary Margaret sighed, though she sounded reluctant about the idea.

    "Sure," Kaelyn scoffed, shooting Rumple such a spiteful look it was amazing he didn't catch fire then and there.

    "I think it's time you told us what really happened between you," Neal interjected, the first time he had spoken to Kaelyn since she had stormed off. "And Pan."

    "No offence, but I think we have bigger problems at hand than your father's many past mistakes," Kaelyn retorted, only being half-honest. As much as she would have loved to expose Rumple as the timeless traitor he was to the people so blindly trusting him, they didn't have the time to gossip and fight.

    "For once, I agree with the witch," Rumple sighed.

    "Oh, god, I must be doing something wrong then," Kaelyn said mockingly.

    "I didn't believe you had really returned," someone spoke up. Kaelyn finally acknowledged the former fairy in the camp, shooting her a grin that didn't reach her eyes.

    "Hey, Tink," she greeted. "Unfortunately, I have."

    "Wait so you have no idea where Henry went?" Regina interrupted, sounding exasperated.

    "I think the panic on my face pretty clearly communicates absolutely not," Kaelyn said matter-of-factly, which only seemed to piss the heroes off, many rolling their eyes, but Neal stepped up to her.

    "You had one job– one job and you couldn't even do that," he scolded. "Keep track of Henry, don't do anything, that was all. Instead, you lost my son and sent out a whole power beacon last night," he continued, voice raising as he got into her face.

    Kaelyn blinked at Neal, eyes cold and unwavering as she didn't even flinch from his proximity, hiding the way her heart constricted at his hostility towards her. Around them, the others had gone very stiff; none of them had ever approached her in such a way and gotten away with it.

    "Henry was already gone when I got back from spilling my guts to save you," she told him, sharply.

    "Yeah, which only happened because you couldn't beat Pan the first time," Neal told her outright, and Kaelyn felt her magic pulse. He blamed her for being captured? "I had a plan–"

    Anger lanced through her system. "Well, you see there's the issue that I didn't know what your plan was, because you and your crusade of justice didn't trust me enough," she spat. "I couldn't let you know, or go looking for you, so stop talking to me like I'm a damn child and shut the fuck up and help me save your son."

    Neal blinked, looking caught off guard by her venom, as if he had expected her to go soft on him. If only he knew that she wasn't his father– their relationship did not sway her behaviour. She wasn't that weak. She didn't make exceptions for anyone but Henry. And Peter, but that was between her and the trees.

    "Help!" came a feminine voice, stopping any potential reply from Neal. Kaelyn furrowed her brows, as Emma sprinted from camp, Neal and Rumple following. Kaelyn watched them leave, unmoving, bitter about her friend's feelings towards her.

    No one said anything to her, in the minutes that passed before the others returned. Kaelyn paled as she recognised the girl with them, who had been wrapped in a blanket and was being comforted by Neal.

    "Everyone, this is Wendy," Neal said as he sat the girl down. "She's a friend."

    "Where did you find her?" Regina asked, suspiciously.

    "Pan was keeping her in a cage," Emma said, firmly.

    "That's horrible," Mary Margaret whispered.

    Wendy's eyes had fixed on Kaelyn. "You," she said, quietly.

    "Did you do something to her?" Emma immediately accused.

    "No!" Wendy said, quickly, before Kaelyn could make a sharp remark. The girl smiled at Kaelyn, like they were old friends. "Oh, she's lovely! When I came to Neverland, she took such good care of me, and made fireworks out of her magic and never stopped smiling. It was like I had a sister for a day!"

    Everyone looked at Kaelyn oddly, as if they were hearing about a completely different person. Kaelyn, meanwhile, felt like she was hearing about a stranger she had once known.

    "I... always did wonder why you never came to visit me," Wendy added, more solemnly. "I figured he just never told you."

    "You'd be right," Kaelyn said, trying to sound as unemotional as possible. "First time hearing about this, actually."

    "I don't believe that for a second," Emma snipped.

    Kaelyn furrowed her brows. "You think I'm cruel enough to let a girl be locked in a cage for decades?"

    "I thought you said you ran the place, how would this just go unnoticed then?" David interjected.

    Kaelyn sighed, heavily, not exactly wanting to make herself look pathetic in front of them, but their lack of faith was really getting in the way. "Because my psychotic ex-boyfriend is a power hungry control freak who went behind my back."

    "It checks," Hook admitted, with a shrug. Kaelyn hardly had ever imagined Hook being the one to defend her.

    Neal just sighed at the dispute, kneeling down beside Wendy. "Hey, Wendy," he said softly, "since you've been here have you seen my son? His name's Henry."

    "You have a son?" Wendy asked with a small smile.

    "Yeah, Pan needs him for something," Neal told her.

    "Has he said anything?" Emma pressed.

    "No, I'm sorry," Wendy said, quickly. Too quickly. Kaelyn narrowed her eyes.

    "She's lying," Rumple interjected, immediately. Everyone looked at him, warily, before the man stepped forward, sword raised. "Where is he?"

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell are you doing?" David said, quickly, moving to stop him. Neal, too, got up to make a wall between Wendy and his father.

    "I've carried enough lies in my life to recognise their burden," Rumple hissed. "She knows where Henry is."

    Neal relented, turning to Wendy. "Is that true?"

    "You don't understand," the girl said.

    "You're helping Pan?" Mary Margaret asked.

    "He's keeping John and Michael alive, only if I do as he says," Wendy said, eyes watery.

    "Trust me, whatever he's promised, he will go back on his word," Rumple warned, Kaelyn's face falling at the words.

    "And why should I trust a man who abandoned his own son?" Wendy retorted, surprisingly fiery.

    "Don't trust him," Kaelyn told her, "trust me." The small girl looked to the older one, who simply sighed, and had to pretend like a whole clearing wasn't watching her. "The only thing Peter Pan is good at is lying."

    "Your brothers trusted a woman named Belle," Regina added. "They helped her get this box, so we can defeat Pan."

    Kaelyn tried not to look too confused at the new information. They had had contact with Storybrooke? They had a plan to defeat Peter?

    "They're okay?" Wendy breathed.

    "For now. And only if we succeed," Rumple told her.

    "Wendy, we will save John and Michael, I swear to god. But right now, I really need your help. Please," Neal pleaded with her.

    Wendy averted his gaze, taking a deep breath. "Pan told Henry that... he needs his heart to save magic. But it's a lie. He needs it to save himself."

    "What do you mean?" Hook asked.

    "Pan's dying," Wendy admitted. "He needs the heart of the truest believer to absorb all the magic in Neverland. And once he does, he will be immortal, all-powerful."

    "And what happens to Henry?" Mary Margaret asked, cautiously.

    "Well, it's a trade. When Pan lives, Henry will die."

    "Son of a bitch," Kaelyn sighed as Peter's plan finally fell into place.

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i have nothing to say about this chapter tbh

comments and votes are always appreciated! see you next week <33