The Lost Realm (Once Upon a Time/Peter Pan)

Chapter 17

I half run-half walk along the trail to the outside of the island. I'm not exactly sure which part of the beach Peter meant, but I'm sure he'll find me.

Finally the thick greenery thins out, and the dirt is replaced by soft, white sand.

My heart speeds up as I spot Peter down by the water, watching the sunset. I'm tempted to run to him, like in the cheesy romance movies, but I settle for a half jog. Once I approach him I burst into a full sprint, then tackle him. Or attempt to anyway. He knew I was coming and soon he has me over his shoulders, spinning me around. I scream, partially from happiness, partially from surprise. Then we both fall into the sand.

"Well hello to you too," he laughs hovering above me. He kisses me on the forehead and pulls me up. We start to walk along the beach.

I begin to admire the ocean when I question pops into my mind.

"Are there mermaids here?" I ask him. He nods.

"And are they in love with you?" I continue, smiling.

He nods and I laugh.

"Whoa I better watch out, fierce competition."

"Nah I prefer my women to be tailless."

We both laugh and continued along the shore.

"So what's so important that you couldn't tell me it earlier?" I ask.

"Eh you know...just....stuff..." He replies looking forward, "You know you look beautiful?"

I blush.

"C'mon stop stalling. Just tell me before I start building a sandcastle and you lose your chance. I take my sand castling very seriously." I tease.

"Okay okay, let's go sit down over there though."

We sit in the sand a little bit away from the water and watch the horizon. I may not understand how a star has a sunset, but it is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

"So," he begins,"we've been talking for a while now, as you probably already know-"

"No I'm sitting on the beach with a stranger," I interject.

"Wow what is it with you and your sisters, you know interrupting people is rude especially with sarcasm. I mean you're like the sass queen-"

"Just get to it," I demand, laughing.

"Anyways, over the time we've spent together I've become really fond of you and umm I guess what I'm trying to say is.... I love you."

My heart skips. My body freezes.

He just said he loved me. This wasn't too fast was it? I mean I've seen couples say that to each other after a day. No something about this was right. After all I felt the same way.

"I love you too." I reply. A goofy smile appearing on both of our lips.

"Can I kiss you?" He asks blushing.

Once again I panic. Due to my lack of boyfriends, believe it or not I haven't had my first kiss yet. I always knew I'd have to get to it sooner or later, after all I'd never thought of it as a big deal. Up until right now. Then again right now everything thing was perfect. Right now I was happy. Right now was unlike the past. Right now was now, and never in my life had a right now been more infinite.

"Yes," I say.

When I get back to my room it is nighttime, and almost everyone is asleep. Peter and I had walked along the beach talking for a while. That was one of my favorite things about our relationship, we could talk for hours about anything.

I notice my room light is still on and I mentally prepare myself for the interrogation that is about to occur.

I turn the knob and walk into my room, my sisters are on the beds eating pizza and watching a brand new (Sylvia made) tv. They turn and stare at me.

"Don't think that missing dress didn't tip us off! Give us the details young lady," Sam demands, motioning for me to sit on the bed.

I tell them about everything. Their faces in shock when I finish.

"You had your first kiss!!!!" Ana screams jumping on the bed, causing some of the pizza to fly. I chuckle and blush.

"We need to celebrate!" Sam announces, "we are doing something we have yet to do on this island. We are going swimming!"

"At night?" Ana questions,"that doesn't seen very safe..."

"Eh we'll be good, but we aren't inviting any boys! We haven't hung out in so long. Alright Sylv make us some suits." Sam commands and soon we are all dressed in swimsuits and coverups, ready for the ocean.

"C'mon!!!" We all yell at Ana. Us three were already in, but she was taking her time.

"Yah yah." She replies and soon she is swimming next to us.

It really was perfect out. The water was warm, and the moonlight gave everything a majestic aura. Not only that, but there were millions of stars overhead. The whole scene was almost too beautiful to be real.

All of a sudden Sam gets dragged underwater, then Sylvia. Next thing I knew two arms are wrapped around me.

"Peter is mine," I girly voice sneers in my ear. A mermaid.

I elbow her and she loses her grip. I start to swim towards shore but she drags me back, pulling me farther and farther out to sea. I thrash until I'm free of her grip. I spot my other sisters not so distant from me, but land was off in the distance. Finally I manage to knock my mermaid out and I start to swim. That's when I see a large boat close to me.

"Thank you Sylvia." I mumble under my heavy breaths and I start toward the ship. A part of me wonders why she didn't make a smaller boat. All of a sudden I see hair floating to my left. Sylvia. I grab her and pull her along with me.

I look back to see Sam and Ana swimming closely behind.

"One of them knocked her out," Ana yells over the waves. I acknowledge her and keep swimming toward the ship.

Once near the vessel we spy a ladder and pull ourselves up. After that we sprawl out across the deck, all exhausted and out of breath.

We crowd around Sylvia to make sure she's okay.

"She's breathing," I say, relief washing through my body.

That's when I look up to see Sam and Ana's faves filled with fear, their eyes focused on something behind me. I slowly turn around to see a full ship crew, glaring down at us.

A man breaks through the crowd. He looks to be in his early twenties. He is dressed in leather, and has dark hair and masculine features. Not very hard on the eyes.

He stares down at us. A mix of anger and confusion on his face. That's when I notice one of his hands is missing, having been replaced by a silver object. Recognition surges through my body.

Captain Hook.