Pan's Redemption

Chapter 33 ~Greed*

"Of course I do." Pan had told many lies. Some lies to people he never cared about. But even Pan has lied to the people he did care for. A flash of Rumple as a child passed through his mind before he could stop it. It nearly knocked the wind out of him.

"What's our future like?" She sighed and closed her eyes. Pan went back to braiding her hair.

"Well," he prepared himself for another lie. Something not totally impossible. He just had to find the other Truest Believer. "We live on Neverland together. We go on adventures together, fly." He took a deep breath before continuing.

"We do whatever we want. I will do whatever you want." He expected a smile. And when Wendy did not give him one, his heart sunk.

"What if I don't want to stay on Neverland?" Pan couldn't hide the shock in his face. He held the braid tighter in his hand so she could not look up at him.

She wanted to leave. Pan felt hurt. It was silly for him to think that even if she did have feelings for him, that she would grow to love the jungle. After all, Pan stole her from London. How could he expect her to stay?

"Then we can go wherever you want." The sentence was out before he could stop it. It would hurt her so much when she woke up. Pan wanted to go back in time and take it back, but it was too late. Her dazzling smile was already in place like the narcissistic Peter Pan knew it would.

"Really?" She asked. Her face was so full of hope, he wanted to go jump off a cliff. He didn't want to see the disappointment in the morning. He didn't want her dreams to shatter.

"Really."

Pan had never self-loathed himself since he let The Shadow take Rumple away from him. The only difference between the two was that with Rumple, he only saw his grief for a moment before he was transported back to the Enchanted Forest. With Wendy, he would see it for much, much longer than that.

Pan wanted the dream to last forever. He never wanted to go back to the cruel world in which he had to pay for his mistake. The amount of power Pan had used started to tire him out.

Pan clung to the dream and Wendy's perfect face before he fell asleep.

And then Wendy's nightmare took hold.

~~~~~~~~

Wendy couldn't see a thing in the jungle. She moved as soundlessly as she could, yet she felt like she was crashing through the trees. She knew she had to find it before it found her. Her only option was to take it surprise, or she would be lost forever.

"Will you really do anything to save him?" The Shadow's voice taunted her with it's chilling laugh.

"I love him." Wendy answered in a raw voice. Saying this just after declaring she hated him, it confused her.

"And why, may I ask, do you love Peter Pan? The one that stole you from your little home in London. The one that constantly destroyed all your hope on this island. Why would you love the monster chasing you?"

Wendy shivered at the memory. The Shadow had asked a good question that night. A normal person would never love someone who had hurt them. Wendy didn't even fully understand why, after hearing him talk about the new life he gave her family, she had let him kiss her. Why in that moment it was all set in stone.

Wendy remembered her answer to The Shadow. She clung to it while she walked deeper into the night. It was the only thing keeping her from returning to Pan.

"I love him because he's not a monster. I've seen the human in him. I used to think that Peter Pan could never change. That he would always remain this cold, cruel person. It wasn't until I opened my eyes and saw that the little notions he did for me were human ones. The little flash of kindness he showed me; it always had my head spinning. Your right, I shouldn't love him. He's a villain. But I do because I see the good in him."