I Trusted You (Peter Pan)

Chapter 7

Spotting Felix who had slunk to another part of camp, Cassandra paced towards him.

"Don't you think that's sharp enough?" She said as she sat beside him, nodding to the stick he was sharpening with his blade.

"It's never sharp enough. You know that." The boy droned, though his expression lightened marginally at her voice.

"Touché. What's been going on?"

"Incidents revolving around whom would you like to know about?" Felix did not glance away from his hands that kept at work.

"Certainly not anyone from Storybrooke. I swear I could strangle those Charmings." She uttered. "No, I want to hear about you lot. About the camp."

"Everyone seems to have gotten over the excitement of our new member. Well, not everyone. Some are still a little... envious, shall we say?"

"Let me guess, Devin?" At the quirk of the boy's lips, Cassandra smiled. "Knew it. Self-absorbed git." Their conversation continued to flow and Cassandra revelled in the ease of it. Although Felix was a boy of few words, she didn't mind. For what he did say was more significant, worthier of listening to, than any other old drivel from those who could not keep their mouths shut. There came a point when they settled into a calm silence. Consequently, the worries she had locked away had an opening and lapped at her mind like a tide rolling onto the shore.

"Do you think he'll forgive me?" The question hung heavily in the air.

"For what?" The ignorance in his question was blatantly false. She scoffed.

"Don't play dumb. At Echo Cave. Peter was listening. He heard my secret. Just now, he tried to act as if it was okay. But I could tell, he feels a rift."

"I don't know what your secret is. Pan didn't say." He was quiet for a moment and Cassandra began to think he was finished. As she opened her mouth, he resumed talking as if there had been no pause. "Let me ask you, is your secret something you chose to happen? Something you could have prevented?"

Pondering this for a moment, Cassandra shook her head. Her darkest secret was entwined with her heart. Emotions. She could not change how she felt, despite how much she wished she could.

"Then what you confessed, was not an act or event. It was a trait of yourself. If Pan divulged with you a confession of his own, something embedded within his entire nature... how accepting would you be?" Although his question was rhetorical, Cassandra couldn't help but feel that he wanted an answer. The curious glint in his eye suggested the question was deeper than it appeared.

She did not respond however, and Felix turned back to the work in his hands. Their conversation was over. Both enveloped in thoughts of their own. Felix's question rang in her ears.

If the tables were turned, how would she react? Not much was required to figure out an answer. This had already occurred but rather than Peter directly confessing, she worked it out for herself. Nonetheless, she knew her answer. In spite of the pain it caused, she had forgiven him. Feeling fury towards him and blocking him out, seeking revenge and telling him lies- it caused more anguish than he had bestowed upon her. She could only hope his perception would be similar.

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It had been easier to adjust to the bustling streets than Cassandra presumed. It was just like the old days. Weaving through webs of traps in the woods. If traps moved of course. And if you walked into one, triggering it off, all you had to do was curse or shove back. Still, it took skill to swim against the flow of people, to reach the door to the cafe she was now settled in.