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ONCE UPON A TIME in a book of fairytales, and a land of mystics and magic, Kaelyn had met her true love and found peace, she had helped those in need and used her magic to prevent anyone from experiencing the suffering she had. She had been a symbol and a leader, and when Henry Mills had first read about her, he could scarcely believe it was the same clueless girl who had babysat him for as long as he could remember.

As it turned out, KAELYN hated remembering. After the infamous curse was broken, she hated remembering a life she had never wanted in the first place, and maybe she was one of the few who had wished for their quaint Storybrooke life to continue as it had been, so she could keep believing she was the eighteen-year-old Katelyn who never seemed to age or graduate high school. Some cruel joke that was.

The fairytales had gotten it wrong. Instead, she was barely liked by the inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest (though she didn't really like many of them, either) and instead carried the title of a dangerous sorcerer who cared for no one and had no goal in life except using her terrifyingly strong abilities to cause trouble for others and tormenting the Evil Queen's guards. She supposed it was well-deserved, but she had enjoyed people not looking at her like she'd break their neck any second just because they were standing within five feet of her, even if she was fully capable of such feats.

However, the one person she may have warmed up to, and who didn't treat her like a bomb waiting to explode, was Henry Mills himself, who couldn't seem to be able to separate the story-version of her and the harsh reality. And of course he just so happened to be at the centre of this whole mess, and the most wanted by someone rooted deeply in Kaelyn's past. When Henry is kidnapped and thrown through a portal, Kaelyn isn't far behind, though she may have preferred to kiss her moral compass goodbye for once in her life when she finds herself in a place she never wanted to visit again.

Neverland.

And, with it, came the boy-who-never-grew-up, who had stolen a lot more than Kaelyn's heart once upon a time.

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KAELYN

portrayed by

DANIELLE CAMPBELL

with . . .

robbie kay as peter pan
levi miller as young!peter/malcolm
teagan croft as young!kaelyn
wyatt oleff as young!rumplestiltskin
parker croft as felix
the once upon a time cast as their respective characters

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disclaimer. i do not own or claim ownership of once upon a time or any dialogue, characters or story lines you may recognise. i do, however, own kaelyn and any dialogue, story lines and other characters associated with her/that you do not recognise.

I do not write smut. Do not ask or expect anything past brief descriptions before/after the act.

before reading. this book is a standalone, and follows s3 neverland arc only of ouat. the first few chapters are the last episodes of s2 to build up kaelyn's place in the world however. i have made AU changes to peter pan and rumpelstiltskin's back story; the overall plot of ouat doesn't change and the ending is still the same. flashback chapters are present in this book for kaelyn's character.

warnings. violence, mild blood and gore, strong language, so much angst you don't even understand, sexual references, canon gets disregarded and dismembered, mentions of potentially triggering themes such as sexual abuse, mental illnesses, death, etc.

[ 2024 ] winter speaks! this book is my messy child that got me through lockdowns and the roughest parts of my teen years. when i first published this story a lot of the ideas were from when i was younger, think 13 - 15, and even when edited when i was 18, some of the plot is still reflective of that age but at the end of the day, it achieves what i set out to do. i've written much better characters and books since, but this one holds a special place in my heart as the first (and currently only) book i've ever completed or to reach a 100k+ milestone. at the time of editing this note, this book has just hit 200k and i am 20, almost two years older than when i wrote the final chapter

to anyone who reads this, thank you! at one point this fic was my pride and joy, and though i am not apart of this fandom anymore, kaelyn and her story are still very near and dear to me. please stay kind in the comments and enjoy my teenhood in a book <3

[ original note ]

i love exploring dark complex characters like ouat's pan so here we are. kaelyn is my bitter baby who is debatably as twisted as her boyfriend and she's gonna be so fucking fun to write. this story doesn't necessarily have a good ending or a super affectionate relationship, but i adore the story it tells and what i managed to write out of a show i didn't like all that much for a character who i think deserved more. 

peter is sometimes ooc as a warning, and kaelyn as a character isn't meant to be likeable 100% of the time. just be aware of that going on (:

anyway without further ado, i hope everyone enjoys this angstfest, kaelyn's character and sticks around!