The Games - A PP OUAT Fanfiction

Eighteen.

"There's always been groups of people who never could see eye-to-eye. I always thought that if they ever had the chance to sit down and talk face-to-face they might realize they got a lot in common."

~Chris LeDoux, This Cowboy's Hat.

I couldn't wake up. I was in a room, and it was on fire, and I couldn't force myself to wake up. I was stuck, and I was very afraid. The only clear and rational thought that went through my head was that I was glad I could spend my last minutes alive with someone close to me.

Someone, please, help me!

****

Pan woke up to see Kasey was as pale as a ghost and barely breathing. He began to panic as he knew exactly what it meant. She was still nestled in his arms, her expression a mix between pain and peace, and her body limp. It hurt him to look at her. He wished with all of his remaining heart that there was something he could do, but he wasn't allowed to. He knew that if he did, this subconscious world would disappear and everyone would die, including himself. He could live with himself dying, even though it was a scary thought, but the scarier thought was that his Kasey would die.

He sighed and kissed her forehead before untangling himself from her fragile body and climbing slowly off her mattress. He crouched beside her, forcing himself to be strong as he looked down at her pale face. He stroked it and admired it as he thought.

Kasey wasn't a pretty girl. She just never had been, and she knew it. But she used that to her advantage, and that's what he loved most about her as she slowly grew up. She didn't care that she wasn't pretty, she didn't care who liked her and who didn't. She cared about the present, not the past or the future. She cared about the now, and how it affected the future.

She never wore very much make up. Just eye shadow, eye liner, and a bit of mascara. She hated concealer, foundation, and blush. And lip gloss, since it tasted gross and she had to constantly re-apply it when it always rubbed off. Her natural look was much prettier, though. At least, that's what he always thought. He liked staring at her while she was asleep and had a beautifully peaceful look on her face, no matter how crazy her hair was. Her jaw was pointy, her nose stuck out a little too much, and she had a bit of an under bite, but he thought it made her look even more beautiful.

And her hair. It was black as a starless sky and straighter than straight, but he loved it when it was spread all over her shoulders. It reached just under her shoulder blades and if it was ever curled, the curls would disappear overnight. Pan chuckled to himself as he thought about that. One time she had gone to the mall (her least favorite place to go in the entire universe) with her mom a few days before her fourteenth birthday and a hair stylist gave a her a free styling. The man was at least late twenties and was Middle-Eastern, and Pan got super jealous when he kept calling her "Princess".

She isn't a princess, he had thought, she's a queen.

He had curled her hair with a straightener. She was fascinated and begged her mom for one. He gave her a red one, since red was her favorite color, and bought her a product to keep her hair healthy with his own money. Pan was jealous that a man like that could make her that happy, so he stole the man's phone. It wasn't very nice, but he sure did enjoy doing it. He chuckled again at that memory.

Pan moved Kasey's body so that she was on her back and her face was pointed straight up. He pulled the furs over her and made sure she was covered neck-to-toe before once again kissing her forehead and disappearing. The tent remained empty for a moment before Edith walked in with Kasey's plate. Seeing the condition Kasey was in, the plate went crashing into the dirt and she ran to her side, checking for a pulse.