¥ - Lost and Found - Peter Pan (Robbie Kay) - ¥

¥ 20 - Sweet Dreams ¥

Belonging to the land of the youth made grieving that much harder for Aria. People never died on Neverland, never without reason or good intent. She had felt so powerless during those early days of pain, suffering from the knowledge that her Lost Boy would never return.

She had revived new life into the island since then, erasing the scars of battle from it's Earth. She had upgraded the campsites spread across the island, built a path with clear directions to guide people around to its sites and attractions. Pan may have had the Lost Boys, but Aria was more inclusive. She felt the sorrows of lost children as Peter did and welcomed them into her safety, taking up the new role as protector and carer.

She taught them as Pan had taught the Lost Boys, survival basics and combat training but not to fight each other, but to protect themselves for when they wanted to return home. Many had run away from abusive parents, come to a sanctuary off the streets. Neverland was a new start and the only place some of the kids ever called home, whilst for others, it was a way of getting themselves on the straight and narrow. A stage of healing before they faced the real world again.

Aria had forgiven the people of Storybrooke and had tried returning to them. She noticed that the town had gone, erased from its land with its people. When she had found it missing she was relieved to still feel Henry's dreams and the heart of the truest believer beating soundly in his chest. Knowing that Henry was alive still was a relief, she may not have been that attached to him, but knowing he had survived for Peter's sacrifice had made it a little easier to bear on her heart.

"Aria, we caught your favourite for you!" One of the girls in the group called to her from the shore. She grinned at the large fish, the same she had caught those times proving Pan wrong, showing off to the Lost Boys.

"Good job Maisie, how about you James?"

"We've got loads, just none as big as that one," James called back from further down the beach.

Aria smiled, glad they were settling in well. The older kids were teaching the younger ones and those who lived here permanently were always excited for their visitors. Aria gathered the children again and they walked back to the main camp, the same treehouse looming over it as it always had.

Chattering and laughter came from the children as they sat around the fire, talking and joking about things Aria could faintly remember from her world. She watched the flames hypnotised by their movement, is that where he had gone? To the pits of Hell?

"Aria, why aren't we allowed in the treehouse?" One of the younger children asked.

It was not common for them to ask her about it, something the older kids had picked up on rather quickly and warned the younger ones not to do. It seemed sometimes though it slipped through and their curiosity got the better of them.

"It belonged to someone dear to me," she softly spoke looking over at the door, remembering the sound of pan pipes that would drift down and mesmerise her heart entirely.

"What happened to them?" The same child asked again.

"Jack let's eat shall we?" Beth, her closest friend distracted the child, hoping it would stop his prying.

"It's okay Beth, he's just curious. How about after we've eaten I'll tell you all about it," Aria offered. The other children around the fire turned their heads at the offer, this being the first time Aria had offered to speak about Neverland and the story of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys.

"Are you sure?" Beth asked her, knowing it was something she never shared. Aria nodded.

"I think I'm ready," she reassured her friend.

"Well, don't push yourself. We'll all wait for you, you know we will. We owe it to you after all," Beth reminded her.

"All the more why I'm grateful for you being here."

After they all had eaten, nobody left the fireside, not even the younger ones who sometimes tired a little quicker than the teens in the group. With all eyes pointed towards Aria she made sure they were listening closely before telling them her story. A story about a girl much like themselves, who had run away to Neverland in hopes for a better start and found an even greater purpose in life. She told them of fairytales and her encounter with the folk from Storybrooke, that all the stories were true. She told them of pirates and the Darling children, of how she learned that the heart of Neverland was within her.

This story shocked the children, they had not known that she was the cause for the fresh fruit they ate every morning, that she was the reason mermaids stayed away from them when they swam. They realised all over again just how much Aria had saved them, struggling to process the gravity of it all.

"Of course, there is always a price for magic. Always." Aria reminded them.  One rule she made sure they would never forget.

"Peter Pan was the first Lost Boy and the island and I knew him well and for a long time. He was the only love we ever had before you children. And just when I thought I could change him, he let me down again."

"What happened?"

Aria wiped a tear from her eye, "he was killed by his son who was protecting their people, their family. I understand it was their only choice. After all, he had tricked me out of the equation so I couldn't step in to stop him."

"Do you miss him?"

Aria nodded, "not a day goes by when I don't. I haven't been inside his treehouse since that day."

The Lost Boys and Girls around the fire looked to one another searching for a solution to soothe their guardian from her sorrow. Beth stood and told them all to go to sleep and they obeyed, understanding the need for Aria to have space. Before she left, Beth held a hand on Aria's shoulder, looking at her with sympathetic eyes. "Take it easy Aria, sleep well."

Aria grinned half-heartedly in response and watched Beth go into her tent. Now outside the view of others, she let more tears fall,  watching the stars and moon above her. She was forever his, hoping that he still knew how she felt. Whilst she felt this familiar grief she made her way to the treehouse, opening the door she had barged through those many moons ago to confront him. Left on a table inside was the familiar pan pipes and she picked them up gently, turning them carefully in her hands.

She remembered how he played them, grinning and relaxed as they calmed the souls of others. She remembered the way he had played to Aria, the village girl and to Aria, the Lost Girl. Now he would never play them again.

Holding them gently to her lips, Aria blew on the pan pipes, feeling comforted by the loving sound of them as it drifted upon the ears of her new family below.

She would play them to spread the love of Peter Pan that nobody knew, the care he had for the Lost Boys under his protection. The Lost Boy within himself.

A lullaby echoed across Neverland as Aria played her tears into the sound woven by the wooden instrument. A sound that spoke words her heart could never tell him.

Je T'aime toujour.