The Lost Girl (once upon a time Peter Pan fanfic)

19 - Shadow

Emma P.O.V

I looked out off the back of the ship to see Neverland grow further and further away. The fact that we'd managed to save both Henry and Anna, and kill Pan was amazing. Henry came to stand beside me, and I pulled him in for a hug.

"I missed you kid" I proclaimed, "honestly, there was a time in which I thought I'd never see you again."

"I missed you too, mom. Don't worry, I never stopped believing in you. You're the savior - you'll always save the people you love" he smiled, before pausing. "Did that girl - Anna, I think you said - really help to save me?"

"If it wasn't for her, I'm not sure we would've found you. She made Pan indecisive on whether or not he would actually take your heart." 

"Really? How?"

I sighed heavily before replying, "The poor girl fell for his game - she thought he loved her, so she fell in love with him."

"But that doesn't make sense. If he didn't love her, then why did he reconsider taking my heart?"

"Henry, Pan loves to play with people's minds. This whole affair was just a game to him, and he wanted nothing more than to be the best player. In a way, that was his downfall - he became so invested in making us all think that he loved Anna that he forgot what he actually wanted to do. That's how Anna helped, but it broke her heart doing so."

"I guess I should go and thank her" he said, beginning to turn away. I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Maybe now's not the best time. She's not the most... understanding of people. She's very short-tempered."

"Is that why Hook has a black eye?"

I chuckled quietly, before stopping myself. It wasn't funny that Anna was hurting. "Yeah, but Hook let her. I don't think she realizes that yet though."

He smiled, and turned to face the ocean surrounding us. The waves were calm as they gently splashed against the side of the ship, and the dark blue blended beautifully with the pale sky above.

All of a sudden Hook burst out of the cabin, followed by Snow. He looked angry.

"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly, "Is it Anna?"

"The lass wants to turn back and save Pan. Why can't she understand that he's a threat!" He exclaimed, slamming his hook into the mast.

Snow interrupted "You have to understand that she was in love! Love makes you lose all sense of logic and do the craziest of things."

"This is the boy that tried to kill Henry! She's completely out of line!" he shouted.

"I know that, and I'm not suggesting that we actually do what she says, but we have to be sympathetic!"

"What are you yelling about now?" Regina said, walking over to Hook. Snow calmly explained to her what had happened, while I moved towards Hook.

"I see," Regina muttered, "well there's really no need to be angry when she can't do anything about it. Just let her be a moody teenager and sulk. More importantly, where's Henry? I haven't properly spoken to my son since he was taken."

"He's here-" I started, but stopped as I realized he'd wandered off. Sighing, I replied "He must have gone to see Anna. He wanted to earlier but I told him to wait."

"Why is it that I'm always the last to speak to my son?" Regina sighed, "I've missed him so much."

"I know, Regina, I know." I said sympathetically, "We all have."

Henry P.O.V

I'd managed to slip away from mom while Hook was ranting. I know she told me to avoid Anna at the moment, but I haven't even spoken to her yet. It just feels like the right thing to do - I had to thank her for saving my life. So, with that, I slowly reached forwards to open the door.

Sat on the bed was the girl whom I'd only ever seen while she was a crying, screaming mess, so to see her calmly stare off into space. Her eyes had a sense of sadness trapped inside them, but she didn't seem angry. As I shut the door behind me, she turned to look at me.

"Henry, right?" she uttered quietly, "I'm Anna."

"Hi Anna. I just wanted to thank you for helping my mom to rescue me. She told me about-"

"About how Peter 'played' me, and that he didn't really love me? Yeah, that's all bullshit. Peter may have been the devil in disguise, but I know one thing for sure - that boy was in love with me."

"How do you know?"

"Believe me, I know." Her voice sounded confident, but her eyes told a different story. "Anyway, I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, I was just curious."

"I thought you'd know it all by now anyway. Didn't the lost boys talk about Peter a lot?"

"Not really - the one's that did would never talk to me, so I didn't hear about many things."

"Wow... I would've thought that the son of Snow White's daughter, and the adopted son of the evil queen would be smarter" she smiled, but the sadness still didn't leave her face. I chuckled for a second, but then we were left in awkward silence.

"So... is it really true that you want to go back and save Pan?"

"He didn't deserve to die, Henry. He was a bad person, but he didn't deserve to die."

"He was going to kill me..."

She sighed, and turned her back. "I wouldn't expect you to understand, you're just a kid."

"You're only a couple years older than me. If I'm a kid, then so are you."

"Go back up to your happy family, Henry. Don't waste time trying to convince me that I'm wrong. I know I am, but it's not going to change my mind." And with that, I knew I wasn't going to get another word out of her.

"Well... thanks again - for saving me."

"I didn't do shit, kid."

So I turned around I left her alone in her room. It was only a few minutes later that I realized that that was a huge mistake...

Anna P.O.V

Henry was a sweet kid, and I felt guilty for being so mean to him, but I still hadn't changed my mind about going back for Peter. He was all I had left. I'd considered every option; swimming back to Neverland, threatening the group, stealing the ship. All had huge flaws and would never work. I had no idea what to do.

As I slumped down against the wall, I felt a chill down the back of my neck. The sensation was so familiar, but I couldn't quite place where I recognized it from.

It was then that I noticed the shadowy, black figure slowly appear in my room, reaching out it's ghostly hand...

I'm coming Peter. I won't let you die.