Set Your Sails...to Neverland || Peter Pan, OUAT

Chapter 17 - Breakthrough

~ Davina

Every day we get closer to finding some way to get me back to Neverland, and every night, my dreams twist and turn into horrifying images. Nightmares, of Pan's shadow swooping through Storybrooke, taking innocent and helpless children by manipulating their sleeping state. It's always the same. Pan's voice is clear, his orders bellowing across Storybrooke as his Shadows swoop over the town, the children held firmly in their clutches and disappearing into the sky. And I am always stuck, frozen in place, my arms and legs bound by chains or vines or rope, I can never tell, to the ground beneath. Pan smiles his twisted smirk, and then grabs me, pulling me through an abyss of stars and lights, until we arrive on Neverland and I am trapped there, forever.

Over and over again I wake up with a trace of sweat on my hairline and I'm panting, my heart racing. When I can no longer return to sleep, I study at the map of realms. I may have announced that I was sent to retrieve the map, but I never revealed that it's in my possession. It's easier to see the glittering borders in the dead of night, how they glow and shimmer. What could Pan want with it? Has he just become geographically challenged and needs help orienting himself in the world? Or is there something more that I just can't see?

As I sit and study the map, the moon high and shining through the gap between the curtains, I notice that the border of Neverland suddenly dims dramatically. Instead, Storybrooke's border grows brighter. 

And with every night I sit and learn the map, the details of every outline of the realms, where rivers flow and land ends, Neverland's border only becomes duller. But, no matter how much stronger the magic in Storybrooke grows, or how much closer I get to finally getting rid of Pan...I can't shake the pit in my stomach that is telling me something unexpected, something awful, is coming to Storybrooke.

- - -

Regina and I have been researching different ways to get me back to Neverland in one piece but the most successful ways are by the Mad Hatter's hat, or by a magic bean. Magic that we don't have access to. The other problem is, the hat is damaged beyond repair and the magic beans are a whole different issue. When we are at our wits end with the research, I look after Henry until Emma takes over, and then I go to work. The same thing every day, if we're not interrupted by something or someone appearing out of nowhere and disrupting the peace.

Today is one of those oddly quiet days. I arrive at the shop on the docks, the summer sun shining through the windows, illuminating all of the fishing equipment. After placing my personal belongings in the staff room, I tie my hair up and change into my wetsuit, pulling it up to my waist. I have to clean the engines of the boats today and take them out of the bay. I find one of the other staff members who will make sure the engine is switched off under the water while I clean it. I check my schedule to see which boats I have to maintain today, only to discover that it's almost all of them. I sigh. Well, there's no point in standing around and only prolonging the process. 

I meet my colleague at the first boat on the dock, and he helps me into the rest of the gear. I drop down into the water, get acclimatised with breathing through the snorkel. I see the bag with all of my cleaning gear lowered into the water, which I take before swimming forward to clean the propeller and underside of the boat. Between each boat, I indicate to my colleague that I'm moving on so he can keep me safe. While the flippers make this easier, being under a boat with such a powerful mechanism is terrifying. I cautiously move around each propeller and each blade and each hull, and sooner than I think, I'm finished. I climb up onto the deck of the final boat, remove my diving gear, and the staff member, whose name has completely left my memory, helps me take off the oxygen tanks.

"Thank you..." I begin, pausing for him to fill in.

"Eric," he answers, suppressing a laugh as I fail to hide my forgetfulness.