"Come on!" Pan exclaims excitedly as he pulls Rose by the arm. "Where are we going?" She asks between laughs as the couple runs to an abandoned stable. "In there,"Pan says as he slows down, walking inside. Two white horses trot confidently up to them. Rose stares in amazement.
Pan smirks,"Rose, you'll be riding Celeste. I'll be riding Jane. They're identical twins. I found them here... So I cared for them." Rose hugs Pan, "You're amazing. No one has told you that for a long time, I can see the loneliness in your eyes. You're not alone anymore. You have me." He wraps an arm around her small shoulders,"And you have me."
She smiles. As he lets go, Rose runs to Celeste. "Okay, let's go!" She exclaims excitedly. Pan helps her up, then gets onto Jane with ease. "Ladies, you know where to take us!" He exclaims to the horses. They ride off into the moon light.
* * *
Amelia rests her tired head against Hook's pillow. He wraps his strong right arm around her insecure body. She closes her eyes, allowing her unsure self to let go of some fear as Hook secures her.
* * *
"We're here!" Pan yells over the sound of galloping as the horses approach a humble lagoon guarded by rocks. As he helps Rose off of her horse, she studies the place. The way the moonlight shines off the water makes the lagoon seem magical.
"Welcome to The Mermaid Lagoon. While the sea witches are away due to the summer, we get this place to ourselves," Pan says as he carries her to a nearby rock. "Why are they gone during summer?" Rose inquires as Pan sets her down. "People are more vulnerable when freezing to death," Pan looks to the lagoon.
"Up for a midnight swim?" He smirks. Rose nods excitedly, then stops sadly, "Don't have a suit." Pan looks at her Lost Boy clothes, "What's wrong with that?" She laughs, "Absolutely nothing." He smiles at her,"That's what I thought." Before jumping in, Pan tugs on the back of his shirt. As it slowly lifts up, Rose sees his abdominal muscles. Pan pulls off his shirt, throwing it to the side as he jumps in.
A large splash corrupts as the young man throws himself into the moonlit water. "Wait for me!" Rose yells as Pan comes up from the water. Rose runs full speed into the water. As her whole body is covered at least five feet with water, her legs stick together. Rose turns around in panic. She pulls her head above water, screaming in panic. "Ah!" Rose yells as Pan swims quickly over to her. "What's wrong?!" He yells as he pulls her to a nearby large rock. "My legs! I can't separate them!" She exclaims in panic.
As Pan helps her sit up, a fish tail is exposed in place of her legs. Golden sparkles surround her body as her skinny, white stomach is exposed. Many scales cover her top. They come to the top of her chest, and end three inches from her belly button. The brazier matches her tail. They are both light pink, outlined with a darker pink, outlined with a hot pink, outlined with a lavender, outlined in a dark purple. "You're a mermaid," Pan whispers in shock. "Pan? I'm scared!" Rose exclaims while crying in terror. "It's okay. You're half human. You won't kill. It's 50% my fault for kissing you and bringing you to the lagoon under a full moon. But the other half of fault belongs to someone who has injected their blood into yours. Impossible,"
Pan sits beside her as water drips from his hair down his face. "Wait," Rose continues more cheerfully as a dear memory of Amelia slips into her mind,"Amy, my best friend. We did this whole blood brothers thing the week after we met when I took her in." "Amy? Could her full name by any chance be... Amelia?" Pan asks with a lifted spirit. "Yeah. How'd you know?" She says as she begins to admire her fin. "What does she look like? What's her story?" He sits up, shaking her shoulders with excitement. "Well, she was abandoned in a red wooden wheel barrow along the woods in Storybrooke, Maine... Where we live. Here's the locket she gave me. It's a replica of her's. Amy had a brother named Peter. Wherever he is, he has one just like this one," Rose opens a locket charm on her decorative bracelet.
Pan pulls out his flute. On the end of the silver wind instrument is a hook with a keychain on it. He opens the rustic metallic charm, revealing an identical locket. "You're Peter?" Rose asks in shock.
