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

Words Unsaid

            Pouring a drop onto the roped key, Anne watched as it glowed and lifted up from her hand and began drifting toward a passageway through the darkening trees. Anne was the first one after it, the gang following her and Pan watched from the back. He stared from the clearing they were leaving, contemplating what to do next. He couldn't help being curious about how she managed to have the key, and wondered what she had experienced in her sleep. At one point, he attempted to tap into her dreams, but couldn't find anything. Her body was vacant, her spirit wandering someplace far from Pan's reach, was the keeper's only explanation.

At last, just then, he decided to follow them. He plotted when to seize a chance to talk to Anne about a few things. He couldn't let her leave without having just one more chance to prove his worth. Of course, he knew where he kept her heart, and once they'd get there, that would be when he would get her alone. It felt like an eternity the farther the group would venture through the forest, their anxiety mounting. The majority were anticipating Pan to try and pull something, and it was torturous as time drew on. He kept to himself in the back, warily, yet focused on the quest. He plotted all ways it could go, knowing the shadow children were still out there.

They were so close to the point it scared Pan for two reasons. He feared that once they met the end of the road with this roped key, Anne would get what she wanted and that would be the end of it. The second thing he feared remained the children he had so barbarically betrayed. He wanted to believe they couldn't do anything, but Anwen had proved that they obviously knew more than she told him. He should've known not to trust her so easily. But he was desperate, and now, not only his fate, but the others' fates were on the line.

He had fallen in love, something he swore so much to never do again before Anne. The mistakes he made when he did, were gradually backfiring on him and he was beginning to think that he had lost all chances to prove his worth, that he'd go down with what he built for centuries upon centuries. He was losing control; his old self would have lost it, but not this one. The restraints he had placed on Anne's freedom almost led her to her demise, the way his restraints on Lydia led her to hers. He almost lost his second chance, and he mentally trained himself into believing that the best way by this point, was to let Anne go, give her whatever she desired, as long as she lived.

Descending up an incline, Anne began recognizing the trail. She dared to think they were almost there, if she truly recognized this trail. Then at last, they emerged onto an old, familiar campsite. Anne's predictions had been right, then watched as the key landed atop a rock. Her stomach sank and her eyes fought tears. This had been the place she shared her first kiss with Pan, the place, she had broken all his rules, the place she broke her own.

Memories were rushing back to her, from the first time and first night she was in Neverland, that Pan gazed at her so intently, so passionately, when Pan saved her from Rumple and Regina, led her to that lake where they swam so raw with each other, ready to give everything, to when they had kissed so many times to numb the world out, to when Pan had emotionally stripped down to her and told her he loved her--then at last to the moment she admitted her feelings for Pan in the echo caves.

She sank to her knees in defeat, her head swirling with questions. Her conscience told her, her heart belonged to Felix, but Pan had physically placed her heart where they had first fallen for each other. Of course, he would do something like this, he hadn't said anything or stopped her because he wanted to play with her feelings, he wanted her to believe that her heart truly belonged to him, were her thoughts. That was when rage overtook her, guilt, hatred, love, everything; it was all drowning her. Once again, Pan had attempted to control her, and this time she was through with it. Her mind was made up.