A/n: Wanted to edit this but I decided to leave it for funsies LMAO. Peter not Rumple's dad AU bc it's my favey

"You believe me, don't you?" Henry asked quietly, face taunt with emotion.

I smiled at him. "Of course I do." And honestly, I really did.

-

Squaring my shoulders, I swayed between the two boys who both held different parts of my mind and heart, unsure which one I should lean more towards. "So why not just take one of us then?" I demanded.

Peter ran a hand through his hair, slightly exasperated. "Because while both of you have the hearts that truly believe, Henry's the owner of the Heart of the truest believer and while both of you can make pixie dust work, Henry's heart is just better," Pan told me bluntly.

Yes. Henry. The boy everyone wanted. The boy with the best heart. Both the mayor's and the Savior's son. The Truest Believer. I was simply his useless twin. I was good. Just not good enough. Struggling to understand how this boy's mind worked, I crossed my arms. "So why take me?" I asked again.

Here, he got defensive and... awkward. "Because you're different than Henry. While his heart is what I need, you're different. You're special, Y/n. You're great. You understand what it feels like to be me. To be not good enough. To have to use fear to matter to people. You've become quite the little bad guy in your town to get attention. You're both just as good, but Henry is everyone's favorite. He's purer. But you can hear the flute." Pan smirked as he held up the mentioned instrument.

Pain twisting my chest, I tried to deny the conclusion my brain was lining up. "So, what?" I asked. "What do you want of me?"

A moment passed as Peter's face grew soft. "Your so-called family is here to save Henry. If you want to belong to a real family, have a real home, I need Henry's heart. And frankly, I quite like you. Neverland doesn't really have a king, but it does have me. How would you like to join me? Be by my side? We'd have the same power. The same importance. The same spotlight." He offered me his hand. "You'd be powerful. Loved. Special."

He looked at me a long time and I looked at his hand. "I..." I began.

"No more shadows," Pan continued.

No more shadows...

I'd never be hidden in Henry's shadow ever again. I'd be special to someone. I'd been stuck here longer than Henry. Much longer. And I'd genuinely fallen for Pan. The thing was, had he fallen for me? Did he mean it?

No more shadows...

I'm sorry Henry. I placed my hand in Pan's. Pan smiled. "What now, Pan?" I asked. I was the only one who knew the truth about the island, but Pan had made me swear not to tell Henry, so I'd been too torn between loyalties to make a decision. Now, though, I'd accepted whatever would come next. I'd picked a side.

He pulled me close so that our faces were very close. My breath caught. "Please. Call me Peter." He kissed my nose, a huge smile on his face, and hope in his eyes. I smiled and nodded. He turned and began running through the woods, back the way we came. Back to camp.

A little hop in my step and no guilt whatsoever weighing me down, I didn't even bother to force a smile down when Peter reached over and intertwined our finger. "So what're we doing?" I asked him.

He sighed through his nose, thinking as we walked. "We've moved Henry. Emma and them cheated and put a spell on the map to find the camp. He's in more comfortable clothes so I'm going to wear his over coat and scarf. I want you to watch in the sidelines and jump in if needed. You'll be our watch out. This way, I can get them to officially admit they're not here for you. I know it bugs you and I don't want you to feel torn or hesitant in anything." He kissed my hand and I smiled, nodding.

When we got to camp, I moved to my post to watch. When I saw them moving through the forest I raced to Peter and everyone got into place. I moved behind Peter into the woods and watched everything play out. Then Peter winked at me as Emma ran up to him and turned around and I struggled to keep still and quiet as the sudden urge to laugh at Emma's face bubbled up. "Where is he?" Emma demanded desperately.

He. Not them. He.

Peter seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "He, Emma?" I heard him ask.

My mother flared. "Yes!" She yelled. "Where is my son?" I felt my chest heave. My son.

"You're mighty worried about your son," Pan noted. Emma squared her shoulders, as if proud. She was a mom and she was so proud... "But you seemed to have forgotten someone." Peter crossed his arms.

To my utter disappointment, this did not even minority clue her in. She looked at him, completely confused as to what he meant. "What?" Emma asked.

When Peter grew stiff and angry, I knew that for some reason, he really did care about me. These people didn't care a single second. They thought he was evil and twisted, and he was. But they were willing to just LEAVE me here with him. They had completely forgotten about me... "Are you going to save your son and leave your daughter?" Peter demanded of her.

Immediately she realized her mistake. "Of course not!" Emma scoffed. But she didn't sound as confident now.

Only a second's pause began before someone else spoke. "Where is Y/n?" Snow asked, stepping forward.

"Admit it," Pan sneered. "If you had to choose between them you'd chose Henry. In a heartbeat. Without hesitation. Wouldn't you, Emma?" Pan barked, getting even more angry.

Emma paused. Snow nudged her. "Of course not!" She shouted shakily.

This seemed to piss Pan off even more. It was actually kind of nice, to see someone get as angry as I felt about this whole thing. "Admit it, Emma. You don't care for her. None of you do. Charming oh so loves to teach Henry sword practice. You would cut off your hand for the boy, Emma. Even Hook. It may have started as a way to get close to the blonde Savior but you've truly come to care for the boy. Rumplestilskin even decided to kill himself to save Henry. But no one - not one of you - gives one care to his twin sister!"

Everyone looked at each other, trying to find the lie in his words that didn't exist. From the beginning, I had always been the forgotten one. Anti-social, not as grand or adventurous or fun. Quiet and obedient and angry. I had never forgiven Emma for leaving me and Henry behind. And I was brought to Storybrooke same as Emma was, via Henry. Regina separated us, preferring to split us up than to keep me. "Of course I care for her," Emma argued weakly. She looked like a guilty girl caught with her hand in the cookie jar, getting punished.

Anger melted away into resigned irritation and I smiled to myself. Peter loved me. Forget everyone else. "You didn't even ask where she was! 'Where is he?' Really, Emma? I thought I was pretty bad but you really take the medal. You abandon them both at birth then, when you return, you don't even bother. The daughter. The one who is exactly like you. You're all ridiculous. You all abandon each other. It goes all the way back..." Peter scoffed. "Neal took a brief interest in her. The girl. When you pushed him away he found her. But even he got so obsessed with winning Emma back that Y/n no longer became important..."

Oh. Okay. That stung. I sat in my spot, holding myself. Emma's eyes watered. "That's not true!" She stepped forward. "Neal loved her so much!"

There was confidence in her tone. Surety. It made me hurt more to know that my dad DID love me. Just in time for him to die, I realized that he loved me. "But do you?" Pan asked. "Y/n and Henry are on opposite sides of the island. I've poisoned them both. You only have time to save one. Whichever you save I can have their heart so I don't care about the other. Tell me, Emma. Which are you going to chose? That map will lead you to Henry..." He held up a second map. "This one will lead you to Y/n. You can only save one. Trade that map for Y/n's and go save her, or take that map and leave now."

Emma froze, immediately caught between two people's lives. Which would she save? Which would she chose? I knew Pan was bluffing. They didn't. "We need to save Henry," Regina spoke up. "He has more impact on everyone."

Emma pursed her lips. "You're not really considering this?!" Snow exclaimed.

The way that Snow looked horrified and frozen, I knew that SHE might have some space in her heart for me as well. She had space in her heart for humans in general. It was not a choice in her mind between me and Henry, but between two people who both deserved equal right to a life they are allowed to live. "Snow, I don't think we have a choice," Charming spoke up. My care for the pair withered with that. No. Not them either.

"Who do you chose, Emma?" Pan asked, pushing her. "You'll lose both if you don't hurry."

Emma's hand tightened on Henry's map. "Let's go," she said firmly. Her eyes hardened and the group began to leave.

My heart broke. "Don't bother!" I yelled. Everyone spun around as I stepped up next to Pan. Emma's eyes went a mile wide. She looked so guilty as she immediately realized what was going on. Pan let the map bottom half fall so that Emma could see it was nothing but empty parchment. My eyes watered as I looked at her and she looked back at me with horrible pain in her eyes. "Good luck finding Henry," I chocked out, my voice breaking.

My mother scrambled to me up with something to say. Anything. "Y/n-" Emma began.

Interrupting her, I exploded. "ALL OF YOU!" I screamed hysterically. "I HOPE ALL OF YOU DIE!" Then my eyes fell on Snow. "Except you, Snow... I think you cared, at least a little bit..." I sniffed as tears began falling down my cheeks. Emma looked broken.

The boy next to me moved closer, discarding the empty 'map'. "I told you, Y/n," Pan sighed. "Only I truly care about you. Will you join me?" Pan held out his hand for a second time that day.

My decision long since made, I looked at Emma long and good. She didn't even bother shaking her head. She knew that I would choose Peter. She knew she lost her right to fight for me when she chose to let me die. "Forget you, Emma," I snarled. She flinched. For the first time ever, I hadn't called her mom. Even when I'd been too angry to make a proper relationship with her, I'd still respected her right as my mother. The right she'd given up. Again.

I grabbed Pan's hand and we disappeared in a billow of purple smoke. The second we reappeared in the camp, far enough from everyone else, I collapsed. Peter caught me, holding me tightly against him and hurting his face in my hair as I shook and lost it against him. I turned my face, hiding it in his chest. I couldn't breathe as well I'd wish, but his warmth and touch were comforting and I needed as much as both I could get. "She didn't- she- I-" I stuttered.

"I know," Pan shushed, playing with my hair. I closed my eyes, letting him calm me. "I'm here. I'll always be here. For you and you only."

I smiled. Who needed blood when I had a family like this? Everything else would be worth it. I wasn't a Swan anymore. I was a Lost Girl. And that's all I needed to be.