━━━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━━━

AT FIRST, Kaelyn wasn't sure what to do. After all, what is one supposed to do after their heart is returned by their ex who needed it to follow through with his evil plan? She could only stare at him, eyes wide and unblinking.

He hadn't done it. He hadn't wanted to. He had chosen her. Relief, faith, it all flooded into her, warming her. It wasn't happening again.

Peter backed away from her, before looking at the scroll in his other hand in anguish, squeezing it so tightly his knuckles were white. Kaelyn said nothing, only watching his next move, head swimming with too many thoughts to possibly think about what came next.

"I can't," Peter bit out. "I can't do it again." His eyes darkened, before flicking to her. "You are all that stands between me and everything I want but I can't." Kaelyn blinked at him. "Because I want you more."

The words pierced her, cutting into her resolve and her attempt at trying not to give him a reaction to what he'd done. She swallowed thickly, mustering words amongst the bitter taste in her mouth that still hadn't faded.

"Then don't," Kaelyn said, softly.

"I can't– I'll die," Peter spat.

"Then trust me," Kaelyn said, in exasperation. "I can find a way."

"Can you?" Peter snapped. Kaelyn narrowed her eyes at him, in a warning glare to stand down and stop taking his frustration out on her. The blonde boy frowned, before stuffing the scroll into his pocket in a huff.

Kaelyn immediately felt her stance relax, seeing the immediate threat disappear out of sight. It was a visual proof that he didn't plan to do it. He had chosen her. He was continuing to choose her.

"Did you think I would do it?" he asked, suddenly.

"No."

Peter blinked at her, as if searching for a lie in the single, immediate word, before turning away, looking listlessly into the horizon. Kaelyn was still too afraid to say anything, too curious, wanting to see it all play out without her pushing.

And it wasn't a lie.

"You believe in me?" he asked, still not looking at her.

"If you want to put it like that," Kaelyn said with a shrug.

Peter turned back to her, eyes dark and mouth pulled back. "Why? Why do you care so much? It's not like you to go out of your way for someone else, not like this," he snarled, sounding frustrated by the compassion, as he finally closed the gap again between them.

Kaelyn met his gaze, calmly. "The same reason you can't rip my heart out."

The words passed silently between them, a mutual understanding, however messy or confused. Peter's face softened slightly, eyelashes tickling his cheeks as he blinked, Kaelyn watching his every move carefully.

From their proximity, she could read him–better than usual– as they simply looked at each other, silent understandings passing between them and acceptance blooming– a different kind from their time on Neverland.

"Could you really find a way?" Peter asked after a few moments of silence, voice barely a murmur.

"Well, when I was eighteen I made a pocket dimension that kept everyone on it from ageing so," Kaelyn said, casually.

Peter's brows pinched at the declaration. "How does it not corrupt you?" he asked. Kaelyn gave him a puzzled look. "You have so much power, so much potential, and yet you don't take advantage of it, not really."

"I do now more than back then," Kaelyn answered, dully, liking the conversation about as much as she did back then.

"That's not my point," Peter said.

Kaelyn sighed, annoyed. "I have always had power. I don't need to go out of my way to prove it."

"That's a different answer," he said, almost musing.

"I'm a different person from when we were kids," Kaelyn told him.

Peter regarded her, eyes scanning her face, lingering on her lips, before he pursed his own. "Truth is, I'd always envied your power," he admitted, Kaelyn arching an eyebrow at the topic change. "Even as kids... the fact you had it and didn't take advantage of it to be superior, it bothered me. It was hard to understand that some people didn't need to feel powerful to feel secure."

Kaelyn hated the observation, hated how she felt judged. "You and Rumple really are the same," she said, bitterly.

Peter didn't deny it, looking at her, almost sadly.  "If you had the choice, would you make things different?"

"If I had a choice, I never would've been born with this power in the first place."

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PETER PAN WAS FUCKED, and he knew that. Kaelyn knew that too, but she was more in denial. Maybe she had been spending too much time with the heroes who never gave up hope, or maybe she was simply too stubborn to accept defeat or how difficult the situation was. Even Kaelyn herself wasn't sure, but she would be damned if she didn't succeed now after how far she had gotten.

Now that it was clear Peter would not be killing her or sacrificing or giving her up for power of any sort, more problems arose. Many problems that Peter had began to spiral over, as Kaelyn took it on much more calmly. She supposed the blonde did love his control, and Kaelyn's last-minute-thrown-together suggestions weren't popular with him as they brainstormed.

The return of Felix– who had awkwardly waited off to the side during the pair's moment– had been called back by Peter, who was likely looking for some sort of support as his annoyance at Kaelyn only grew, the brunette just rolling her eyes at him.

"You're kidding," Felix scoffed when he was invited back to the circle, eyes flicking between the very-much-alive pair, and the uncast curse.

"No," Peter said, dryly.

"How did you convince him not to?" Felix hissed, looking at Kaelyn almost accusingly.

"She didn't need to convince me," Peter defended her. "I chose."

Felix's gaze flicked between the pair, his hand tightening on his club as he sighed. "What happens now, huh? Where are we supposed to go?"

"We have to return the scroll," Kaelyn said, simply.

"Are you mad?" Felix exclaimed, as Peter's head swivelled to her in equal shock.

Kaelyn smirked at the scarred boy. "Have you met me?"

"And why would I hand myself over to them?" Peter asked, coolly.

"You're not handing yourself over. You're handing the scroll over," Kaelyn told him.

"Oh, my mistake," he deadpanned. Kaelyn shot him a look.

"We have to prove you're not an immediate threat anymore," she explained.

"And when did we decide on this plan?" Peter snipped.

"While Felix was bitching and moaning," Kaelyn chirped.

"Count me out," the aforementioned boy snapped.

"With pleasure. I'll have them send you right back to prison," Kaelyn said without missing a beat, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I didn't call you back here to be useless," Peter sighed, giving Felix a disappointed look. The boy looked offended, but for the first time, didn't drop to his knees and pledged loyalty to him.

"I'm speaking sense here," Felix snapped. "She's the one undoing everything and making it worse."

"I am trying to save your leader," Kaelyn retorted.

"And what about me?" Felix asked indignantly.

"Just stay here if you're so afraid," Kaelyn taunted.

"I am not afraid," he hissed. "I'm worried you've endangered us all when we had it all figured out."

"I can't cast the curse, Felix," Peter interjected, seeing the root of Felix's frustration.

The tall blonde looked at his leader in shock, a simple "What?" tumbling from his mouth.

"In order to cast it, I would have to sacrifice Kaelyn," Peter explained.

For a moment, Felix looked like he would volunteer to sacrifice Kaelyn.

"Well, fuck," he said instead.

"Yeah, fuck's about right," Kaelyn sighed. Felix, now on the same page as them, lapsed back into frustrated silence.

"Why should I care if they see me as a threat or not?" Peter cut in. Kaelyn looked at him, pressing her lips together at her plan.

"Because they're going to kill you. And you'll die anyway. We need time and peace for me to figure out a way to pause time on you," she said, heavily. Peter didn't say anything, just nodded reluctantly, knowing she was right.

Kaelyn turned her gaze on Felix, searching for any objection. When there was none, she sighed, "Okay. Felix, you can stay here, Peter and I will go smooth things over."

"I can't believe you're doing this," Felix muttered as they began to depart.

Kaelyn glanced over her shoulder at the two boys. "Don't get me wrong, at the slightest hint of a fight, it's fair game," she told them, the ghost of a smirk on her face.

"If you can–"

"We'll appeal for your release," Peter cut Felix off, tiredly, before turning to Kaelyn. "If this goes horribly wrong–"

"Then you can say 'I told you so' and move on with your life," Kaelyn piped. Peter blinked at her, then paled, before his eyes narrowed at the double meaning, Kaelyn pulling away with a smirk. Peter only looked down his nose at her.

"Let's go hand ourselves over, then," Peter deadpanned, as the pair began to depart from the well, Felix watching them go.

Save Peter. That's what she had to do– that's what she wanted. She had already come so far, she wasn't giving up now, no matter how impossible the circumstances. And now, he was beside her. On her side? Not quite. But he was there. He had chosen her and taken one small step forwards.

But there was still something nagging her, an ugly truth she couldn't ignore.

They had been walking in silence for minutes, Kaelyn leading the way towards the main road, when she finally grew tired of it.

She turned, so she was walking backwards, carefully, and facing Peter. "You wish you could've done it," she stated. It wasn't a question, and she watched his reaction inquisitively.

"I wish things were different," he said, stiffly.

Kaelyn narrowed her eyes at him. "You mean easier."

"Yes."

It wasn't the answer she had wanted, nor the answer she dreaded, but it still left a bitter taste in her mouth as they continued on in silence.

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KAELYN DIDN'T TRUST Peter for a second. Not with her or deciding to go back and activate the curse, but with finding some other way to stay immortal. She found it very hard to believe he had given in to her seemingly so easily, despite her many protests prior, so was constantly on the lookout as they headed straight for the heroes who probably wanted to kill both of them.

She wasn't even sure what Peter could have planned, but she wasn't about to relax. And, even if the handover of the curse went well, more problems only arose afterwards. But Kaelyn couldn't think of that– she just had to get the weight of the scroll off of her chest so she could focus on more important matters such as figuring out a way to stop Peter from dying after everything.

As they neared town, Kaelyn heard them, and she knew then that Rumple hadn't been bluffing, as the car screeched to a hard stop where Peter and Kaelyn were travelling along the road that led into town.

Rumple and Emma leapt out of it, both with weapons and defences raised, eyes fixed on Peter, who remained eerily calm as Kaelyn held out a hand shimmering with indigo. Nobody moved, nobody spoke, as they stared each other down, before Emma moved her gun when Peter shifted.

"Don't," Kaelyn snarled at the heroes, as Peter removed the curse from his pocket, holding it up between two fingers.

Emma's eyes widened, focusing on it, gun lowering slightly, but Rumple remained resolute, as Peter took a single step forward and held the curse out towards them. Kaelyn watched him closely.

"This is a ruse," Rumple snapped.

"A ruse?" Emma murmured.

"Take it before I change my mind," Peter hissed, impatiently.

Emma made a move, but Rumple stopped her. "They're stalling–"

Peter threw the scroll, where it landed in the grass and rolled against Emma's boot. Rumple looked at him in shock, only for a second, before he had lunged for the blonde boy. Kaelyn was immediately between the two, gripping Rumple with magic and forcing him back, as Peter gave him a smug look over her shoulder.

"Rumple, I swear to god," Kaelyn snarled, shoving him backwards.

"Why?!" Rumple demanded, looking down at her. "Why shouldn't I kill him right now?"

"Because you owe it to me," Kaelyn snapped.

His sneer dropped, his eyes darkened, and immediately his shoulders slumped. The way he looked at her felt like a memory, as Kaelyn looked at him, harshly, knowing she had won. Years– decades, she had had that card up her sleeve, a bargaining chip she knew a man such as the Dark One could not ignore.

And now it was out, a child's betrayal pinned against an old man.

Years of memories passed between them, of trust and childhood innocence. Of the place that time stood still and the day it blossomed into existence. Of the pain that had ruptured Kaelyn's soul and poured into Neverland, of what had started everything in the first place. It passed, silently, between them, as Kaelyn's words hung in the air.

Peter watched on, curiously, while Emma still held her gun, warily, watching the situation tensely. And then Rumpelstiltskin sighed, and he stepped back.

"And that's even," he said, reluctantly.

Kaelyn just nodded, for once biting her tongue.

But before any more could be said, before the serious morality came into question of what happened next and how everything was handled, the ground shook abruptly. For just a second, as if the earth was pulled from underneath, before it ceased.

Everyone on the side of the road had frozen, bracing themselves and staying standing, as the shaking passed, as if nothing had happened. Kaelyn felt it though– the ripple in the air, the crack of power now coursing through the ground, and from Rumple's face, she knew he felt it, too.

Rumple stepped forward, as if charging for her, and Peter finally intervened, putting an arm in front and forcing Kaelyn behind his frame, going chest-to-chest with his former brother.

"Are you doing this?" Rumple spat, looking accusingly at the both of them.

"Are you serious? We're standing right in front of you!" Kaelyn shrilled, exasperated.

"Then who just activated the curse?" The Dark One snarled.

"Neither of us could use a heart– think," Peter hissed.

"That doesn't make sense," Emma said, frantically, the scroll now gripped in her hand. But no one questioned it further, knowing the most likely pair wasn't capable of it. It gave Kaelyn some pride, to know she had proven them all right.

"Felix?" Kaelyn suggested with a shrug, looking at Peter. They had left him right by the well intended to cast the curse.

"And what does Felix have here that he loves?" Rumple asked.

"You have a better theory?" Kaelyn snapped in defence.

"The Shadow," Peter said suddenly. Everyone looked at him.

"Could it do that?" Kaelyn asked, in horrified disbelief.

"The Shadow... it's an entity all its own. A manifestation of my power that took on my worst characteristics," Peter explained, briefly, eyes unfocused. Kaelyn watched him, carefully, trying to gauge if this had been his new plan. A loophole around a problem she had caused.

"Like you have any good ones," Emma mused. Peter ignored the jab, merely scoffing at it.

"How would it know how to cast the curse?" Rumple said, stepping up to Peter.

"It's my Shadow. We see the same thing," the blonde boy responded.

"Can you stop it?" Emma asked, lips pulled into a frown.

Peter shook his head. "It won't listen to me if it's decided to go this off-track." He sounded like a disappointed parent talking about his child. But then he turned to Kaelyn, meeting her eyes, and she knew he hadn't planned it.

"It doesn't have a heart. It can't care for or love anything," Kaelyn pointed out, ignoring the feeling in her chest.

"Well, then it can't cast the curse," Rumple said, simply.

"But what if that is the loophole?" Peter continued, eyes moving to a small beam of green energy flaring up into the clouds, visible from where he and Kaelyn had recently been. Everyone stared at it in silent panic, knowing their theory wasn't just a theory anymore.

"A curse cast by someone without a heart would be disastrous," Rumple mumbled, as he turned back from the curse's magic.

"How disastrous?" Emma asked, desperately.

Rumple swallowed thickly, giving Peter and Kaelyn a wary look. "We shouldn't wait to find out." His eyes glanced down at the curse between Emma's fingers. "We have to get to Regina."

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THE REALITY of the curse still being a threat– of Kaelyn losing all her memories and agency again to be trapped by some power hungry entity, and her subsequent panic over it, was ultimately overshadowed by the incredibly awkward car trip back into town.

It was an odd cast, the damned Saviour with an 'I can fix it' complex, the Dark One himself, his former brother who was a dictator over an island of child soldiers, and his ex-girlfriend who was arguably worse– all crammed into one car.

Thankfully, it didn't last long, as they arrived in town, sprinting towards the clock tower. The curse had begun to thicken in the air, and Kaelyn knew anyone with any sort of magical inclination would be able to feel it. It was a horribly powerful thing, it seemed, and it felt even worse than when she had first felt it.

The day of the first curse was something Kaelyn avoided thinking about. The inescapable power, the helplessness, the inability for her to fight back. She remembered it barrelling towards her, not knowing what was about to happen– and then she had woken up with an extra twenty-eight years of mundaneness and an extra 'T' in her name.

She refused to let that happen again, to be so trapped, and if it was going to be even more twisted because of the Shadow, then Kaelyn was going to stop it.

"Just get it to Regina, right?" Kaelyn said as they ran.

"Yes, if she's awake," Emma panted.

"She's still out?" Kaelyn said, voice rising an octave.

"After what you did to her?" Rumple snapped back as they arrived on the scene. Mary Margaret had stayed with Regina, crouched beside her, with David standing over them. The pair sent Kaelyn and Peter almost disgusted looks– or as close to disgusted as such pure people could give.

But they were the least of her concerns, as Henry barrelled towards her. "Kaelyn!" The immortal teenager let out an 'oof' sound as the boy collided into her with a hug. "You're okay!" he exclaimed.

"God, I'm glad to see you, properly," Kaelyn sighed, returning the hug. She hadn't seen Henry as Henry since he had been a lifeless corpse on Skull Rock. Henry pulled away, looking to Peter, who looked pale at the sight of the boy.

"I knew you weren't that evil," he remarked, lightly, causing Peter's brows to pinch.

"No, no way," Mary Margaret said, standing defiantly as she looked at Peter.

"How could you agree to this?" David added, looking between Emma and Rumple almost in disappointment.

"Trust me, we have bigger problems," Emma said, sounding like a scolded child.

"He tried to kill Henry," Mary Margaret protested. "He's the reason all of this is happening."

"Pipe down, we have a much bigger problem."

The way Mary Margaret looked at Peter when he raised his voice was one she recognised– the way she looked at Kaelyn during her worst moments. One of fear.

"Pan's right," Emma sighed.

"A truly horrific sentence," Rumple said, rolling his eyes. "But the curse has been activated."

"How?" Mary Margaret snapped, after looking between Peter and Kaelyn.

"How is not the problem, but if we don't stop it, then we don't know what the effects will be," Rumple explained, voice solemn.

David pulled Mary Margaret closer. "Can we stop this?"

"She can," Rumple said, looking at Regina curled up on the concrete.

"Wake her up," Mary Margaret said, firmly, eyes focusing on Kaelyn.

"I actually didn't do anything this time. She just passed out," the immortal teenager said with a shrug.

"I don't believe you," Mary Margaret snapped.

Kaelyn grinned at the uncharacteristic hostility. "Oh, you do not like me after that, do you?"

"Regina!"

Emma's call alerted everyone else to the fact that Regina had woken, eyes fluttering open as she stiffly sat up. The brunette blinked at the blonde, saying her name, before getting to her feet.

"Told you," Kaelyn said, side-eyeing Mary Margaret.

"What happened? You okay?" Emma asked.

Regina had a far away look on her face as Emma and Henry smothered her. She blinked, eyes blank. "Yes, I'm fine. I just..."

"What is it? What happened when you touched it?" Mary Margaret asked frantically.

The look Regina gave Henry unnerved Kaelyn. "I saw what needed to be done."

"Mom, are you going to be okay?" Henry asked nervously.

Regina sighed, placing a hand on Henry's face. "The important thing is you will be." She fixed her eye on Emma, holding out a hand. The blonde handed over the scroll, and then Regina looked to Kaelyn and Peter. "This isn't your curse." It wasn't a question, but Kaelyn still shook her head.

From the edge of town, a commotion suddenly erupted, and everyone turned to see a wall of green smoke thundering towards them from over the hill. Kaelyn felt panic flare in her chest– God she hoped Regina was capable of stopping this.

From the corner, Neal and Hook appeared, sprinting towards them. "It's here!" Neal cried as he arrived on scene. "It's..." he trailed off when he saw Kaelyn, alive and well, staring him down in a way that told him that she knew what he was thinking. "You," Neal murmured, eyes flicking to Peter.

"Well, look at that. The demon has a heart," Hook mused.

"You can all stop sounding so disappointed," Kaelyn sighed dramatically. "There's a lot more concerning shit going on right now."

Neal clenched his jaw, before saying, "It's coming from all sides. There's no escape." Henry made a small sound and moved to hug his father, who looked equally relieved to see him in his real body.

"It's not too late. We can still stop it, right? Regina?" David said, raising his voice when the Evil Queen didn't respond. Regina had gone very still, staring at the scroll in the palm of her hand.

She snapped to attention. "Yes," she said, softly. "Yes."

The wind had started to pick up as the curse approached, and Kaelyn had begun to feel it, the impending threat, the panic of being unable to stop something already in motion. She didn't want to forget or become a slave again, be trapped– or whatever other horrible thing the Shadow had in mind.

The tension was shared, it seemed, as everyone else had gone pale, clinging to their loved ones, as everything swirled around Regina, who looked frighteningly reluctant to make the choice.

Kaelyn stiffened as she felt something tighten around her hand, and a moment later realised it was Peter's. She didn't look at him, didn't want to draw attention to it, but she squeezed it back, as if it were a lifeline in the situation. Just hours ago saving his life had been her biggest concern– now it was about hers and Henry's, too.

"There's a price," Rumple murmured.

Emma looked at him in horror, before turning back to Regina. "What is it? What's our price?"

Regina finally looked up at them. "It's not our price. It's mine."

"What're you talking about?" Emma demanded.

"It's what I felt when I... first held it. I have to say goodbye to the thing I love most," Regina told them.

Emma turned to Henry, who moved forward to his two mothers, as the blonde realised. "Henry?"

"I can never see him again. I have no choice. I have to undo what I started," Regina continued.

"The curse that brought us to Storybrooke?" Mary Margaret realised.

"That created Storybrooke. It doesn't belong here, and neither do any of us," Regina explained.

"Breaking the curse destroys the town," David caught on.

"It'll disappear," Kaelyn realised, a heavy feeling in her chest. The others turned to her, as Regina nodded at the declaration. "Send everyone back, as if it never existed."

"I have to remove magic from any realm it doesn't belong in. Return everything home," Regina added. And then she gave Kaelyn a look, as she, too, realised what had to be done to protect Henry and herself from losing all her memories again.

"Wait, you'll go back to the Enchanted Forest?" Emma said, unsurely.

"All of us. Except Henry. He will stay here because... he was born here," Regina confirmed.

Emma's eyes widened. "Alone?"

Regina shook her head. "No, you will take him. Because you're the Saviour. And you were created to break the curse. And once again, you can escape it."

Emma's face mirrored much of what Kaelyn felt in that moment, as her hand dropped from Peter's and she moved away, feeling her heart thumping in her chest, her throat tightening and her hands shaking.

Regina's words played over and over, as she tried to think of ways that they were wrong, that it didn't mean what she thought. But she knew that wasn't the case. Life was not that kind, and she would lose, as she always seemed too. Peter was looking at her, but even he could tell he needed to stay away.

Henry, it seemed, could not read that, as he stepped up to her. "You're the best babysitter ever," he said, before hugging her tightly. Kaelyn paled, realising through the rest of her inner turmoil, that this would be the last time she'd ever hold the kid, as she returned to the embrace.

Over a decade watching over him, regardless of what memories she held, regardless of how he saw her, or what stories he had heard or seen. She had been his babysitter, a protector in a sense. She had leapt through portals to save him, and she knew she'd do it all again if she had to. Whatever her damaged moral compass said, Henry had been someone.

"Thanks, kid," Kaelyn sighed into his hair, before pulling away. She patted his shoulder, doing a great job at hiding the pain she was feeling. "Good luck out there," she told him. He was alive, and he was safe. That was all that mattered, and Kaely could go on knowing she had also been someone to him.

"I've got his back," Emma said. Kaelyn looked at her, noticing she had been crying in the time the brunette had turned away. She regarded the Saviour– a representative of the title in every sense. Kaelyn would never see her again.

"I know you do," Kaelyn said, passively.

"I'll see you later," Henry said, firmly, drawing Kaelyn's attention back to him.

She gave him her best grin despite everything. "Of course you will."

"Emma, you have to go," Regina interrupted. The blonde woman pulled Henry close, nodding once, and Kaelyn felt the warmth dissipate as he moved away. And then Regina turned to Kaelyn, with Peter shadowing her, and gave her a sympathetic look, one that made Kaelyn's stomach turn. "I'll... leave you to say your goodbyes," Regina sighed.

Kaelyn nodded, as everyone began to depart and prepare, and the immortal teenager began to feel her resolve shake, as the thunder of the curse began to grow louder and she was left alone with Peter. Rumple had looked at her as he left– and she knew that he knew.

"What did the Evil Queen mean by that?" Peter asked snidely once the others departed, moving so he was facing Kaelyn, his tone suggesting it was some joke or something unimportant.

"Regina is undoing all the magic that doesn't belong and sending us back to the Enchanted Forest. And Neverland counts as that," she finally told him.

Peter's humour fell from his face. "What does that mean?"

Kaelyn almost choked on the words. "Neverland will get erased."

"What?"

She couldn't look at him. She couldn't do it, as the explanation tumbled from her mouth. "It doesn't belong. It's an anomaly in space and time that technically isn't where it should be. All the energy will be sucked from it and returned to me. Whatever hook you had that connected you to it and your youth will disappear." Peter's face had shifted as she spoke, before Kaelyn finally looked at him, raising her eyes to meet his. "You'll die."

The green cloud was growing closer and closer to enveloping them, Kaelyn knowing it was inevitable now, as Peter processed the words. She couldn't read him, not now, because there was too much. Too much horror, too much concern, the panic of not being able to control it. She had never seen him so emotional– not in ages.

She removed something from her pocket, staring at the gleaming stone, before handing it to Peter, who closed her fingers over it and pushed it back towards her. Kaelyn shook her head, trying to push it back into his grasp.

"Take it," Kaelyn hissed, shoving the purple stone into his hand as she grappled with it.

"No, I want you to have it–"

"No," she snarled, but she squeezed her eyes shut to hide their watering. Peter silently opened his fingers, accepting the stone amidst her desperation, as Kaelyn refused to look at him. She couldn't bring herself to.

She slumped, face resting against his shoulder as she felt him grip the stone. He moved, a hand caressing her face and moving her chin to look up at him. And she did, she drank in his features, as if she had seen him for the first time, but knew this was the last time.

From his sharp eyebrows, to the arc of his cheekbones, the shadows the light cast upon his features, the way his eyes gleamed in a way so unique to him, the way his lips curved. She had never stopped thinking he was beautiful, never forgotten what he looked like. He was a part of her– for better or worse, and always would be.

That was the harsh truth. Through all her years of hating him, and being separated, he had never really left her. And she knew that even in death, he wouldn't either.

"If it helps much, I don't want to die either. I've done everything ever to avoid this," Peter said, lightly, brushing her cheek with his thumb.

Kaelyn scoffed through the building in her throat and eyes. "Sort of ironic, isn't it?"

"A bit," Peter jeered, but then his face fell. "I deserve it," he said.

Kaelyn blinked at him. "What?"

"I'd be able to live if I'd never... betrayed you," he got out.

Kaelyn felt her heart sting.

"Well, we also wouldn't be in this position, either," she pointed out instead, not wanting to have such a conversation now.

"I deserve this," Peter continued, as if he hadn't heard her.

Kaelyn frowned at him. "Aren't you scared?" she asked, seriously.

"A bit," he admitted, swallowing thickly. He met her eyes, giving her a weak smile. "But to die would be an awfully big adventure."

Kaelyn could hear the curse now, feel its heavy, magical presence racing towards them, time slipping through her fingers. If she had only had more time, she could've done it. She could've saved him. They had been so close to their happy ending she had spent sleepless nights imagining a second chance at one with him.

But she just nodded, biting the inside of her cheek, as she, too, accepted there was nothing left to do, no time left to figure anything out.

"In another life, then," she echoed.

And they embraced, Kaelyn clinging to his body, digging her fingers into his shirt. She felt his arms around her, pulling her close, one hand on the back of her head. They held each other, so many unsaid words between them, so much left to do, so many unhealed wounds and touches left to share.

She held onto him for the final time, as the curse rolled over them, and Kaelyn felt everything at once, and then nothing at all.

━━━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━━━

had au the fuck out of this episode hi the canon of ouat doesn't matter to me at all

me vs keeping peter in character will always be a losing battle i'm so sorry

so much happened in this chapter i can't wait to see everyone's reactions

and, 100k words later and with that, this is complete!