From Your Tower ➛ OUAT

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Running was so strange to Rapunzel.

This has only been the third time she had ran in a actual open field. The younger version of herself would used to find amusement in running around and giggling up and down the stairs of her tower.

It came natural to her. Some things did come natural to her, like running, drawing, writing, and the one that feared her most: fighting.

The more she thought of it the more she realized Hook's men must have been training for years, maybe more. She should of no way been able to win against fourteen of them, especially when she never even touched a battle knife before that in her life.

It was like she blacked out- like someone else had taken over.

"Peter?!" She screamed out into the night. She was aware that this was more than a bad idea, for the mysterious person on this island plus Hook's mysterious plan; but at that moment she couldn't care less. "Peter where are you?!"

"He's not here." The familiar voice brought chills to her spine. Rapunzel couldn't bring herself to turn around. "Look at me, Rapunzel."

She breathed in a shaky breath, the tears already pooling in her eyes, threatening leave. But she refused to let them out. She refused to let this person win the pleasure of affecting her. So she forced herself to turn around slowly and look at the face in front of her.

"Mother."

❧

Peter's eyes opened once he heard the water around him.

He was secretly thanking everything that he was not on Hook's ship, but the mermaid lagoon on the rock in the middle of all of it. The mermaids were swimming in a circle around him happily.

"He's awake!" One yelled seductively, many of them then gathering around him.

"What happened?" He asks, looking down at his wet clothes.

"You jumped." One whispers secretively.

"I saved you!" Another gloats.

"I... Jumped?" He didn't remember that at all. Was it his shadow self? And if it was; why would it try to kill himself?

He closed his eyes and forced himself into Felix's brain. When Peter opened his eyes, he sees what Felix is and feels what he is feeling. He was in the woods looking around frantically. Felix's head was as usual hidden with the cloak to hide all of the abuses he had lived through- which is why he is so willing to be loyal to Peter. He knows any life with Peter is better than the life he had to endure with his abusive step-father.

"Rapunzel?" Felix calls out. "Come on, where are you?"

Peter tears himself out of the picture, trying again for Rapunzel, but no luck of course.

Then he tried Hook.

"That son of a gun," Hook whispers to himself, trying to get out of the hold the rope has on her. "She's clever I have to give her that. It shows where her daughter got it from." The pressure eased from his body then as he let the rope fall from his body to the floor. "But not clever enough."

The picture fades away from Peter then, back to the mermaids looking at him in interest.

It made sense then. It was Madame Gothel who came onto this island. Rapunzel's mother.

The woman who will try to take Rapunzel away from him.

Would that be so bad? The voice asks. You'll save her from herself. From Neverland. From you.

"No." Peter whispers to himself and all the mermaids look at him confused. "I need you girls to do me a favor."

They all nod eagerly, willing to do anything for him. He was thankful for this.

"I need you to scope out around Hook's ship. Make sure he doesn't have Rapunzel."

All of the girl's eyes burned with envy for the girl who is taking their Peter from them.

"Please." Peter begged. "I would be so, so grateful if you do this for me."

The girl's eyes then went back to happiness.

"Of course, Peter!" One yells happily, and they begin to swim off right away.

"Wait, Ariel." He stops her, and she turns around and looks at him with a bright smile. She's his favorite mermaid, though he would never say that. So pure to everything. "Do me a favor, love?"

"Of course!"

Nice touch. The voice snorts in his head.

"Shut it!" He yells, and the red-haired mermaid looks at him with wide eyes. "Oh, no! Not you. Just I... Nevermind." She nods confused still so he tries to recover himself. "I need you to come with me to help Rapunzel."

Her eyes didn't burn with envy like the rest of them would, she just smiled wide at the thought of being able to use feet. Peter would do this with her every once in a while: Tinkerbell, him, and Ariel.

He needed a easy get away for Rapunzel, and if it came down to it: Ariel may have to swim her away.

"Tinkerbell." He whispers, and it's only seconds later that she appears next to them in her fairy form. He nods his head to Ariel who is now fully crawled out of the water and sitting on the sand, her blue tail flopped out in front of her.

Tinkerbell nods in understanding, then flies over to Ariel's tail, letting all of the excess fairy dust to fall on the tail, it transforming to a pair of feet in seconds. The red hair wiggles her toes, on-looking them in wonder.

"I'll never get used to this." She laughs, using Peter's shoulder and hand to stand up and keep her balance.

"Tink, I need you as well. Human size preferably."

Tinkerbell grows before both of their eyes then, making herself as tall as Ariel. Tink giggles at Ariel's suprised face.

"I'll never get used to that, either." Ariel laughs.

Tink smiles for a second then looks to Peter. "Is it R?"

Peter nods. "Her mother's came to get her."

Tinkerbell, the only other person who knows the story of Rapunzel's mother, widens her eyes in shock and her mouth opens slightly. "That's not good."

"Yeah."

"Do you know where she is?"

Peter silently scolds himself. "Uh... No."

"Well," Tinkerbell breaths in. "Luckily for you, I do."