Once A Lost Girl | Once Upon A Time Story | Peter Pan

03x05 - Return - Past

        The fall stopped--but as though I was no longer moving. There was no impact; no slowing, just stillness. I sat up, scanning the terrain around me. I rubbed my fingers in the sand. I was staring off into the water of Mermaid Lagoon. It looked exactly how I left it. I placed the pouch I'd received from Rumplestiltskin into my little satchel and set it down.

        The salty sea air was somehow more potent than I remembered. The sand was still as yellow, and the water shined emerald and the rock in the center hadn't weathered at all.

        "Like what you see?" my eyes shot to the water. "Hi." The woman before me was gorgeous and terrifying. Her eyes were sharp, and I could almost make out a ghosting of a scaly texture on her skin. It held a green twinge. There was a chunky headpiece tangled with seaweed in her hair.

        "Hi," I said. She smiled at me. Her teeth were almost normal; except for the fact that she had a few too many pointed teeth in her mouth. Her eyes pierced through my soul.

        "It's nice to finally talk to you. I'm surprised you came back--most of his... friends tend to stay away." Her voice was bright in contrast to her striking appearance. "I'm Cordessa."

        "Elyssa." My stomach tied into knots. Her stare was not a welcoming one. I took a step back.

        She came nearer to the shallows. "Wait! I just wanted to talk."

        "We don't have anything to talk about," I rushed. My hands were starting to shake. Who was this lady, and why did she insist on talking to me?

        "Maybe not now," her voice started to change. It took on this... weird tone that settled an uncomfortable feeling in my spine. My chest started to feel heavy--like it was getting hard to breathe. "But soon, we'll have so much in common. I'll teach you everything you have to know."

        "About?" I choked out.

        "About using that darkness inside of you." Her eyes flashed bright green. Her voice darkened. "All that you have to do is die."

        I dropped. My head hit the hard sand. My lungs spasmed. I tried for air. Nothing worked. I choked, I coughed up water. I scrambled to my knees. The witch was laughing. My body convulsed. Worse, I was panicking. What could I do? I need to do something. I can't die now--not like this.

        I reached my hand out, trying to focus. I had to focus. Focus. My fingers tingled. They got warm. They sparked. Water built in my lungs. My body forced it out. My arm fell. I was helpless. I was going to die. I resolved to accept my fate as I continued choking. I coughed up the last of it.

Wait.

The last of it?

        My body took in as much air as it could, which caused another choking fit on its own. My hands went to my throat in a vain attempt to soothe. I could see. I could breathe. My mouth tasted like fresh fish. Glorious. I ran a hand through my hair, which had unraveled itself in my dying fit. Someone knelt in front of me, putting a hand on my shoulder. I looked up.

        Baelfire's brown eyes met mine. He hadn't aged a day, but the golden flecks in his eyes had dulled. There was no childlike innocence in him anymore. The air around us felt cold, and yet impossibly warm. When I'd finally recovered enough, he spoke.

        "You came back," he trailed.

        "I came back," I rasped.

        "Why would..? Elyssa."

        I pulled him in for a hug. "I had to. I couldn't deal with leaving you here." He wrapped his arms around me.

        "I would have gotten out."

        "I know. I couldn't wait." I pulled away. "It's been a month."

        "Has it?" he asked. I nodded. "Come on. We have to go."

        Bae helped me up. I grabbed my bag and he led me off into the woods. 

        We moved quickly through the woods, careful to avoid anything that looked too suspiciously like Pan had been there. I stepped on my dress a few too many times for my liking. For a walking skirt, it was abysmal at allowing me to walk. I paused and snapped my fingers. Pants. Lovely, wonderful pants.

        Baelfire stopped before a familiar sight. It was the cave he'd taken me to the first time I was here. His own little escape from Pan. Both of us were glancing around, searching for even a hint of a Lost boy. No one was around. He opened the door and we went in.

        I took a short look around. What once was a mostly empty cave now looked a bit more lived in. There was a small layer of blankets in the corner. He'd been living here, but for how long? There were markings on the wall. He'd been trying to keep track of days.

        "You ran?"

        "Had to. Pan was," he paused. I glanced at him. He turned away. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. You shouldn't have come back here."

        "I wanted to make sure you were ok. We can both get away if we work together. I'm stronger now."

        Bae stopped. "You've been using magic."

        "Only because the Queen made me." I walked over to him. "I don't want to. We're going to the land without magic after this, right?"

        "But if we do this, you can't use magic. It won't work against Pan anyway."

        "It's not the magic, it's how you use it," I started, swirling my hands and summoning pretty blue light. "See? There's nothing bad about--"

        "Stop! What are you doing?" Bae pushed my hands down. "We're not using magic!"

        "What are you so afraid of?" I shouted. "I'm not the Queen, I'm not Rumplestiltskin, I'm not Peter--I'm good!" I pulled away. "I never should have thought you were different." I turned to leave.

        Bae grabbed me, "wait, wait, no." I turned to face him. "I didn't," he sighed, "I didn't mean that you were bad, just that magic is."

        "Bae, magic isn't a person."

        "I know that--"

        "Then why when you see someone who can wield it do you assume they're evil?" Silence enveloped us. I gave him another moment before continuing. "Well?"

        "Magic destroyed my family."

        I sighed, "No, Baelfire. People did."