Take Me to Neverland || OUAT

Enchanted Endings

"Say 'hi' to Mom for me, would you?" I continued, "I-I miss her too. And don't forget Leo, Thomas, Evelyn, Colette and Madeline. They were a bunch of rascals... but do you remember when Thomas knocked over the fountain and blamed it on the cat? The poor thing was terrified." A small laugh escaped my lips as a heartfelt grin overtook it. "But that doesn't make me love them any less."

I kept chatting comfortably like as if he was still present before me, listening and nodding to every word I had to say. If he was really here though, we'd stop for a quick coffee on Franklin Avenue, or even feed the seagulls by the docks. We'd walk hand in hand into weird antique shops and make fun of me for wanting scented candles. Why, out of all the people on earth, why did it have to be him that left me first?

My pondering was cut short when a red maple leaf drifted down from above and landed daintily on his grave. Glancing up, I noticed that it was the last of its kind until next spring. Only the bare bark of the tree remained.

The birds from prior fluffed their wings and ended their last note in perfect pitch. They have finally decided that it was time to leave and one by one, they hopped off the branch in preparation for their next big adventure. It wasn't until the last sparrow spread its wings and flew away when my mind found its trail of thought once more.

Now, I was alone.

I looked back to my father, who I could imagine, be smiling right now. The warmth of his grin could radiate and fill an entire room just like a fireplace. He was everything that I wanted to be, everything that I strived for.

Everything that I must leave behind.

"This might be one of my last times coming here," I murmured just loud enough for him to hear. He stood there, silent and modest, as my voice pierced through the silence like a blade through silk. "There's a place," I began, "so whimsical and so magical that those who visited ceased to grow up. That paradise that hid so many dark secrets clouded my thoughts of reality."

So there I sat, telling tales about Neverland. About the Lost Boys. About Peter. I laughed and smiled, and even at times, cried, as I told my father about Felix and his strange obsession with trees, and Owen, and how much he reminded me of Thomas. I told him about the time I defeated Captain Hook, and of the time I made friends with a man who's identity was confused with a wolf.

The stories continued on until the last sliver of sunset. By then, it had grown late and I was running out of time.

"In Neverland, they became my family. And in Neverland, I found love. But that doesn't mean that I would forget about you, mom, or Evelyn, Madeline, Thomas, Leo and Colette. I would always cherish the time that we had, always. Never forget that," I smiled as I stood up, running my fingers across his gravestone one last time. The bouquet that I had brought from earlier was tucked underneath my arm to maintain warmth, but now in the final moments that I had, I diligently placed it out of my embrace and laid it on the chilled grass against the headstone in which I have engraved into memory.

"I'm not saying goodbye," I paused with a tiny smile, digging my hands deeper into my pockets. "But I will say see you soon."

My feet haltingly turned in my soles before I stopped briefly, taking one last glimpse over my shoulder at the lone grave and flowers. The contrast between the snow white lilies and the darkened headstone was astonishingly remarkable--maybe even beautiful if one stared long enough to care. But instead of feeling sadness and regret, I felt content.

I felt content because I knew that "soon" wasn't forever, and that "forever" was just a philosophy.

A philosophy that only existed in one place that I called actually called home.