Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
━━━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━━━
KAELYN HAD had a home once before, a long time ago when she had been younger and weaker, unmarred by the world with soft hands and a softer heart. Sometimes the memories of that time felt like she was in someone else's body watching from above, unable to look away as she knew what would unfold, wishing she could scream at her body from the past to look behind her, to run. Could she have changed the way everything had happened? Would she have been different for it?
This place she now found herself in was no longer her home. It felt like a masquerade for it, dark and twisted, a reflection she had long ago torn herself from. Kaelyn sat feet away from the bonfire next to Henry, whose grip on her bicep was lethal, but she let it happen. The immortal teenager had been staring into the bonfire for what felt like hours, Henry staying silent and alert as Kaelyn thought over how alien Neverland now felt, how they could escape, how much everything had changed.
None of the Lost Boys bothered them, despite the looks they got, but whenever Kaelyn glanced away from the dancing flames with a warning look, they'd swiftly leave. At some point, Felix emerged from the jungle, limping and being supported by his club like a walking stick. He made eye contact with Kaelyn, who smirked and looked away first, making sure Henry was still close.
She tried not to think about how isolated they were, how impossibly far away they were from Storybrooke or even the Enchanted Forest. Henry's words did ring true, both his mothers and probably everyone in Storybrooke would be racing to find a way to get him back, but Kaelyn couldn't rely on them to escape. She had been alone on this island before.
The way she had escaped last time wouldn't work, she didn't have the connection with Neverland she had had last time in order to let herself get away. And Neal had never told her how he'd escaped, as if he didn't trust her not to eventually let Peter know or something. The bitterness of Neal's distrust was just as quickly replaced with the small pang of grief she now associated with the thought of him, and everytime she looked at his son and how similar they looked at that age.
A figure fell across them, and Kaelyn glanced up to the unfortunate sight of Peter Pan looking down at her and Henry. She felt the boy coil up beside her. "Why don't you join in?" Peter asked her.
"I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a fork," Kaelyn responded, dryly.
Peter, for a brief second, looked like he wanted to laugh. "You're both welcome here," he told them, gaze drifting to Henry. The boy watched the exchange curiously, likely remembering how their relationship had been in his book of stories.
"Then why'd you have to kidnap us?" Kaelyn asked, innocently.
Peter shrugged. "Well, sometimes we don't know what's best for us."
She got to her feet, standing over Henry as she snapped, "You have some fucking nerve." Peter blinked at her, unphased. "What do you really want?" she demanded. Peter lazily glanced at Henry, and Kaelyn clenched her jaw.
