Peter Pan Imagines (Once Upon a Time)

Coming Back (Part 1)

Peter Pan is running again. He's sprinting as fast as he can, tearing past the trees and stones of Neverland as if they were nothing to him at all. He's run like this before, during games like Cat and Mouse or Hide and Seek with the other Lost Boys, but this is different. For once, he's not the one in power. For once, he is afraid.

Peter reaches out with his magic, but he can't sense anything out of the ordinary. This, for some reason, fills his chest with an even deeper terror, so he starts to run even faster. Then, at last, he stumbles into a clearing and sees it- a storm of dark, almost indigo magic, and nothing else. There's a scream that makes Peter's heart freeze in his chest, and then there is nothing at all.

Peter wakes up with a jolt, eyes flying open. He sits up in his bed, trying to calm the erratic beating of his heart. He's breathing heavily like he truly has been running this entire time, but Peter knows the truth- this is just the latest of a series of nightmares. They all begin and end the same way, with him running as fast as he can just to discover that something or someone is gone.

The worst part is that scream at the end. Peter knows that scream, even if he's never heard the voice sound that terrified before. Peter can only watch the days pass by and wonder what the nightmares mean, why they keep haunting him whenever he closes his eyes.

The sound of movement comes from beside him, and Peter glances over to see Y/N L/N standing on the opposite side of the room, a blanket draped like a cloak around her as she looks out the window. She turns back to him as if she can sense him looking at her, but her brow knits when she notices his irregular breathing.

"Did you have that dream again?" Peter nods, rubbing a hand over his face as if to lift the fog from his mind. "The same thing. I run, I see that magic, you scream, and I can't find you. I don't know what it means." Y/N walks back over to the bed, sitting down next to him with her legs crossed.

"I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out. Aren't you Peter Pan, the one who knows everything about what goes on in this island? If your dreams happen here, you'll know. Easy as that." Peter chuckles wryly. Despite Y/N's best wishes, they both know the truth. Whatever these nightmares predict, it won't be easy, not at all. Even in a dream, Peter's never felt that level of sheer terror anywhere else.

He glances over at Y/N. "Maybe. By the way, I'm not sure I liked your tone when you said I'm the Peter Pan who knows everything on this island. Do I detect resentment of my magic?" Y/N rolls her eyes, although she's grinning. "Not of your magic, just you. Do you remember when I first showed up on the island and you wouldn't stop talking about how you were the King of Neverland and I could never do anything like escape without you knowing?"

Peter grins. "Vaguely." It's been so long since Y/N first showed up that he's almost forgotten what it was like back then. He used to wonder why she was there, what got into his shadow's head to think that bringing a Lost Girl to Neverland would ever be a good idea. How wrong he was to doubt her.

All the same, that period of time has been rather fun. He'd toyed with Y/N at first, trying to figure out what made her tick until he realized that she was doing the same with him. He almost misses it in a way, the constant warfare, the way each fight was paired with the knowledge that any insult was never truly real.

Then he looks back over at Y/N, smiling at him as the sun comes up, and he realizes that he'd never really want to change this, not at all. Peter gets up, grabbing a fresh shirt in a shade of green not all that dissimilar from Y/N's, and walks over to the window. It looks like it'll be a nice day, he's brought it about himself.

The sun is bright when they walk outside Peter's hut. He taps Y/N's hand absentmindedly as they go. "Can you check on the Lost Boys? I want to make sure they're up in time." Y/N nods, then hesitates, noticing the way Peter still seems to walk with a wariness in his step. "It'll be alright, you know. I'll be alright." Peter nods, trying to shake his worries from his head. "I know. See you in a few minutes."