The Shadow's Keeper ~OUAT Peter Panfiction (Book 2)

Safe and Sound

Peter raised a concentrated fire from the dug up pit, his ice pools melting to its warmth. Felix crowed at the vast moonlight before he broadly grinned at the wild, flourishing bonfire.

Anne then met Peter's eyes through the flaring, smoking orange between them. And for a moment, it was like they were back in a glitter of the past. The lost girl's breath hitching in realization as she delved into her memories, picking out the one when it was her first night on the island. She remembered how she was gazed at like a wonder to be explored; Pan's plethora of starlight with uncovered constellations.

The old enchantment fluttered from her thoughts when Peter disappeared through the smoke. Feeling her heart jump into her throat, she felt a warm, familiar hand slip onto her shoulder. At the same time, her stomach knotted as another hand smoothed around the side of her neck, beneath her hair. Quivering from the light pleasure she had felt, Anne's eyes closed to concentrate on a breathy, knee-weakening voice.

"Now...I've never seen you dance, but feel free to show me," Pan spoke lowly, his lips hovering next to Anne's ear.

Arrestingly bittersweet as his touch was, when it left her skin, Anne found herself breathless and slightly alarmed that she could have possibly made Pan think she had given him brief control over her body. And standing there, the fear nagged at her that perhaps she had.

Felix's voice roused from some feet behind her, but he wasn't talking to her. "Pan! You know what I like." The Beastly sister then curiously turned around to the scene of Felix pointing the opened mouth part of a glass black bottle at her, before he took a big swig.

Her eyes widened in alarm and she snatched the bottle away. "What the hell, Felix!"

Watching as the lost boy threw up his hands, he surrendered. "It's just rum!"

Anne's eyes widened some more. "What?! Pennysalt?!"

Felix eyed her suddenly clueless.

"Yes, pennysalt," Peter sighed, taking the bottle from her. Anne watched as he took a swig himself, his eyes never leaving hers. She narrowed her gaze to make sure he swallowed. He then offered it to her.

Someplace in her mind focused on Henry. She could remember what they talked about: penny salt, the ongoing fight for control over the substance, between Neverland pirates and mermaids. She could also remember that it was harmful, and while she wanted to resist, her fingertips tingled for adventure, and for a minute, no one was telling her how to choose and what to choose. This moment was hers and she wasn't about to disappoint herself.

The liquid was rushing down her throat by now, the bottle in her grip. Her head swirled and her blood pulsed for more. She closed her eyes and drank down more, faster and faster until her senses were almost entirely numb.

Peter had taken the bottle back, astonished. Her eyes shot open and the sight of Pan seemed to duplicate and tilt.

"Did she drink it all?!" Felix panicked, snatching the bottled from Pan. His words distant to Anne's ears, her vision continued to distort and she stumbled back toward the fire. Screaming when she fell, a pair of arms curled around her lower back before she could hit the flames and she was pulled away. Flying into Pan's chest, her hands had gripped the cloth of his shirt. Breathing heavily, her arms had tensed and her eyes had widened. When she realized she had been saved, her head tilted back and her line of vision found a kaleidoscope of Pan's features.

Mesmerized, Anne forgot all about how she had almost fallen into the fire and she laid a hand onto his cheek, caressing his face. "You're so...beautiful," she breathed carefully, through her slightly drunken haze. Beginning to furrow her brows at a perplexed expression on Pan's face, she was surprised when he pulled his arm out from behind her.