Once A Lost Girl | Once Upon A Time Story | Peter Pan

03x08 - Skull Rock - Present

        Very reluctantly, Regina let me tag along. She and Emma were watching Rumple and I carefully as Neal rowed us to Skull rock. We were lucky the water wasn't as violent as it's known to be. Water still makes me nervous, but anything for Henry. 

        That sounds sarcastic. It's not! Sure. 

        Neal's rowing slowed, and we "docked" for lack of better term. The group stepped onto the hard stone floor of Skull Rock's mouth. Seeing it up close was definitely jarring. Somehow the carved and weathered detail was much more uncanny than it was from far away. 

        "Those are Henry's shoes. Wendy was right. They're here," Emma said. I looked at the boy's size 7 tennis shoes. Pan planted them here--he knew Wendy would spill.

        Emma walked toward the entrance, making it to the first stair and then being blasted backwards. She caught herself, regaining her footing. Regina and I exchanged a glance; a protection spell. Neal steadied Emma, asking if she was okay.

        "I think so. What was that?" She asked.

        "Pan cast a protection spell," Gold answered, stepping up to it, just observing, not daring to go beyond it.

        "There must be a way to break it," Regina said. She looked to me. I only shrugged. "You clearly know him the best."

        "Doesn't mean he hid a key under the mat of his protection spell for me to find." I countered. She rolled her eyes. Bitch. 

        Gold took a breath, and pushed his foot through the barrier. It didn't push back, instead letting him through completely unharmed. Emma's brow furrowed, Neal paused, Regina folded her arms pensively and I just watched--all of us waiting for an explanation. He turned to face us.

       "The spell is designed to keep anyone who casts a shadow from entering," Gold explained, "and I don't have one--and Pan knows it. This isn't about keeping you out; it's about drawing me in. He knows I won't give up the chance to finish what I came to do."

        Neal looked over his father in shock, "You were telling the truth about ripping off your shadow. You really did come here to save Henry."

        "I gave you my trust with that box." the Dark One gestured to Pandora's box. "Now I need you to give it back." 

        Neal extended his hand, going to hand over the box. Regina swiped it instead, looking Gold right in his eyes. 

        "You better come through, Gold," she seethed, "or I'll make whatever Pan has planned for you look like child's play. You understand me?"

        Gold took the box, "a simple 'good luck' would have sufficed."

       Off he went up the stairs where we couldn't follow. I sat on a chunk of limestone, shutting my eyes tight. The throbbing in my head got louder, my shoulders impossibly tense. We're always three steps behind. We need to get ahead somehow.

        "So, what are we supposed to do now?" Regina sighed. Neal placed a hand on my shoulder, silently asking if I was alright. I nodded.

        "What about the spell my father used to rip off his shadow?" Neal suggested.

        "You think if I knew how to do that I wouldn't have done it already?" Regina was about to set off. Her hands were shaking, breath slightly labored from holding in anger. It was tempting to try and make her calm down, but I'd only make it worse. Not like a yelling match is good for Henry or my headache.

        "The moon," Emma trailed. We all looked at each other, and then back to Emma. Her eyes were trained on the sky, soft determination on her face. She'd connected dots, her mind turning. "The moon is what causes our shadows, right? What if there was a way to block it out using magic?"