Once on Instagram III

Where Bluebirds Fly (Part Two)

June 19, 2018

"How, exactly, are you expecting to find Tiger Lily?" Dorothy asked. They'd already spent one night in Neverland and Dorothy really didn't want to spend another. She'd loved the story of Peter Pan as a kid, but being on a nearly abandoned island with an eternally dark sky that still felt evil was far from the Neverland Dorothy had heard stories of.

"I'm not. She'll find us."

That wasn't the answer Dorothy was hoping for, but she supposed she wouldn't be getting anything better, so she didn't ask anything else.

~

Ava sat down next to her twin quietly. Nic looked like he was deep in thought, so she didn't want to disturb him. It was a few moments before Nic seemed to realized Ava was there.

"Do you need something?"

"Can I, uh, talk to you about... something?"

"You can talk to me about anything, Ava."

"O-Okay." Ava took a deep breath. "Um, well..." The words were bouncing around in Ava's mind, but she was having trouble forcing them out. "I-- I've been kind of, I guess, questioning some things about me recently."

"Like...?"

"Uh..."

"Ava," Nic placed a hand on Ava's shoulder. "If you've discovered you're not aro ace, I'm not going to hate you or call you a faker, I promise."

"It's not that. I'm definitely aro ace."

"Okay, then what's up?"

Ava took a deep breath. "I... I don't think I'm a girl, Nic." She quickly added, "But I'm not a boy either," before Nic could say anything else. Ava sighed. "I guess I just feel like I'm in between. I'm not a boy, but I'm not really a girl either? I don't know if that makes sense."

"So..." Nic thought for a moment. "Would that make you non-binary? Or agender? Also, what pronouns do you want me to use?"

"I'm definitely non-binary, but I'm not sure I feel agender is quite right. So just non-binary. And as for pronouns... I hadn't really thought that far yet," Ava admitted. "I was more focused on the whole non-binary vs. genderqueer vs. agender thing."

"Okay. What about your name? Do you want to start going by a different name?"

"Maybe Avery?"

Nic nodded. "I like it. It's similar to your name, but more gender-neutral."

"Exactly."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"No. I... I was hoping I could wait to tell the others until after Ella got her memories back, but I don't know anymore."

"And what about Dad?"

"I probably have to tell him soon. ...You think he'll be okay with this, don't you?"

"I think he will be. And if he's not, I'm on your side, not his. I promise."

~

Dorothy didn't know how it happened. One moment, she and Tink were trudging through the seemingly endless forests of Neverland, talking about Storybrooke and the next, they were surrounded by very threatening people who were all holding deadly weapons. Dorothy and Tink both had blades pointed at their throats.

A woman who wore a headband around her head with a single feather on the back of it stepped forward. Dorothy figured it must be some sort of crown, because everyone else moved out of her way as she approached them. As soon as the woman saw Tinker Bell, her expression changed to be even more threatening, if that was possible.