THE TRICKSTER ━ PETER PAN

THIRTY TWO

Baelfire, ignoring the taunting nickname, squinted his eyes. "How do I know that Pan didn't send you here?" He asks.

"Believe me, Peter and I aren't exactly on good terms right now," She mumbles, looking down at the ground. She shakes her head and looks back at Baelfire, "I have some questions, questions you may have the answer to."

"Why would I help you?" The brown haired boy snaps.

"Because these questions involve your father, the Dark One." Naomi answers, immediately earning Baelfire's attention.

"What do you know about my father?" Baelfire inquired curiously.

"When you first came to the Island, you already knew Peter. How come?" She starts, avoiding Baelfire's question.

The brown haired boy shrugged, "My father told me that he was a bad person, he said that he betrayed him."

Naomi nodded, now understanding the situation, "I didn't recognize you at first," She mumbles. "But now I do, I saw you when I fell through the portal."

"I-I am sorry that I didn't help you," Baelfire stammered, feeling genuinely sorry. "I was too stricken with fear to act."

"It's alright, something good came out of it." Naomi answers with a small smile. She took a deep breath, "Uh, back to your father, what happened to him? How come you are here now?"

"He abandoned me," Baelfire answers sadly, fiddling with his fingers. "He chose power over me. I never understood why he did it, he always seemed so scared of me leaving and now-"

"There's a reason for that," Naomi cuts him off quickly. "He was so scared of you leaving because he has been left before. And once somebody abandons you, that feeling never goes away. You will always be scared to be left behind."

Baelfire noticed her quick mood change and frowned, "What would you know about that? It seemed to me that your father loves you very much."

Naomi let out a bitter laugh, "You think he loves me? Well, guess what? He abandoned me, too." She says bitterly.

"H-He abandoned you?" Baelfire stutters in disbelief. He shook his head, "No, I don't believe that. He loves you, he almost cried when telling me about you."

"Well, you can count those as fake tears because he left me behind without thinking twice," The brown haired girl muttered angrily. "Everything he does is an act, he pretends to care for you but he will hurt you. I can assure you that."

"I know," Baelfire mumbles, still quite shocked to hear that Killian left his daughter. "He gave me to Pan without a second thought." He pauses and frowns, "Why does Pan need me, exactly?"

"He doesn't. At least, not anymore." Naomi answers, shifting her position in the tree. She sighs and sits down on one of the larger branches. "We thought you were the one we were looking for but turns out we're wrong."

"Then why am I still here?" He asks, not understanding why Peter would keep him here if he was of no use. "Why can't I go back to my new family, why can't I live my life like I want to?"

"Because Peter thinks you are still of some use to him," She responds, looking at Baelfire with a bored look. She sighs, "I had so many questions I wanted to ask but now it seems like I have forgotten them all."