The Cheshire Cat (A OUAT love story)

Chapter Three-Neverland

A/N: Peter's theme songs.

One year later

Sunlight filtered through the curtains, outlining the girl on the bed with gold, as if she was more than a swirling vortex of darkness and evil. Though she seemed fast asleep, her ears were pricked to listen to the angry voices that were arguing on the ground floor of the cottage. One she recognised as Rumplestiltskin's, the other was unfamiliar. Her whole being was focused entirely on figuring out who the intruder was, the voices in her head silent for once. After a while, her eyelids opened, revealing hauntingly tragic grey eyes that grew cold and hard by the time she'd got out of bed. Her bare feet made no noise as she padded carefully down the stairs, hoping not to disturb the argument.

"What did I tell you about getting a cat?" A boy's voice hissed, definitely not Baelfire's, and the girl shifted her form to a black and white cat.

"She's not just a cat, she's special!" Rumplestiltskin replied angrily. The subject of the conversation pawed open the door and sauntered into the kitchen as if she owned the place. Not one of the arguers noticed her, so she watched the intruder with narrowed grey eyes. He looked to be about seventeen, with broad shoulders, unruly brown hair and green eyes. He wore a brown belt, a dark green tunic and trousers, and a brown wrist band. The seventeen year old sneered at her companion when his sentence was finished.

"Thought you'd grown past that, laddie," he countered harshly, raising one eyebrow. "Besides, cats are high maintenance." The cat sniffed, instantly gaining their attention, though her eyes never left the boy.

"Rumple's right," she stated simply, leaping onto the nearest chair in order to lie down. "And I believe you're getting confused with dogs." The boy's eyes widened, shadows dancing in the green depths. Then his composure returned to him, and he continued the argument, summoning a smirk to his face.

"A magic cat? What price did you pay for this one?"

"She was a stray," Rumplestiltskin replied, calmer now that he knew Cheshire was there. "You might have no feelings and would have left her on the streets, but I couldn't just let her starve." The intruder grinned wickedly.

"Aw, does ickle Wumple need a fwiend?" he questioned with a baby voice. Cheshire snarled, lashing out at the boy with her claw, and actually managed to draw blood.

"You're a real charmer, aren't you?" She growled sarcastically, getting to her paws and fluffing her fur up so she looked at least twice her size. The intruder would have laughed at her, had it not been for the strange human intelligence that gleamed within the deep grey pools that reflected the anger he held inside him. Instead, he looked at her like there was something in her that was worth looking at. Like there was something he recognised in those wise, ancient eyes.