Chapter Status: Edited.
In the room only stands a few people, Regina, Henry, Anna, Sandy, Chloe, and June. Everyone else is at home, still recovering from the drama that had only stopped a few days previous. Of course, Tahlia is also in the room, in her coma, the heart monitor is not connected to her, for the first time ever, but only because her heart is not in her body.
"Can I have some time alone?" Henry requests softly.
Everyone nods in understanding, and does not hesitate to leave. He sits down, staying quiet for a moment before sighing.
"I'm sorry for overreacting back in Neverland... It's stupid, I just... I just don't want to lose you."
He takes a hold of her hand and looks at her face, gently brushing some hair away from her closed eyes.
"I know you can hear me, I just... I just don't know what to do. Mum kissed my forehead and I woke up, I kiss you and... nothing. Is it that you don't love me as much as you did? Or is it something totally unrelated? All I know is that I love you, and I'm not going to give up on you until you wake up," he leans forehead and gently kisses her forehead.
Unlike Henry wishes, she does not move, and he sighs, knowing that true love's kiss is not going to wake her up this time. He groans and stands up, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Tahlia, please, if you can hear me, wake up, we need you... I need you."
Tahlia's eyes flutter open and she sits up, stretching and yawning. In her dreams, everything that they say around her body comes to her mind, and so she knows exactly what Henry had said to her. She steps out of her tent, all of the boys are already awake, and instantly, Fletcher walks over to her and holds out some meat.
"Want some?" he asks with a bright smile on his face.
She shakes her heads, "no thanks Fletch, but do you happen to know where Jamie is?" she questions.
He smiles wider and nods, dropping the meat and plate onto the floor.
"He's with some of the older boys making weapons, apparently a big wave of animals are coming our way, perfect time for hunting before the winter hits," he explains. "Jamie! Tahlia wants to talk to you!" he suddenly shouts as they reach a group of teenage boys not much younger than Tahlia.
She recognises all of their faces, but only a few names come to mind. Jake, Thomas, and Lee are the first she can think of, she knows one of them is fairly new, he came after her drama here last year, so she never got to meet him properly, much less learn his name. Jamie stands up, and the pair of them walk closer to the forest, out of earshot.
"What's up?" he asks, wiping his hands on his trousers to get rid of the dirt on his hands.
"They need me, Jamie, true loves kiss won't wake me up," she tells him softly.
He frowns, "trues love kiss? But that stops all curses, doesn't it?"
"It's supposed to, but apparently a kiss isn't strong enough. Last time the only reason I woke up was because I was put in that labyrinth," she says.
"Well, actually, about that labyrinth," he scratches the back of his neck, making Tahlia raise an eyebrow quizzically. "When they put the potion in you, it didn't send you there, Peter did."
"What? That makes no sense," she frowns.
"Well, turns out that the potion wasn't the thing that woke you up. The reason you woke up last time was because of something more powerful than a kiss or a potion, something that showed love more than anything else," he states.
"What was the point in sending me to the labyrinth then? Why couldn't I have just stayed here?" she asks.
"Peter said it was because the labyrinth is where everyone goes once they've been hit with frostbite. He didn't know why you didn't go there first, but you needed to be there for your body to rest. When you wake up you're going to be exhausted because Neverland is so emotionally draining when you're here in a dream," he explains.
"So, you're saying that someone did something for me in order for me to have woken up last time?" she asks, and he nods.
She thinks for a moment, and then she remembers.
"Henry, Henry was there when I woke up last time, he might know what to do. I need to get in contact with them," she says hurriedly.
"I'll go find Pan, maybe he can send a message to Storybrooke, I hope you're right about this one," Jamie says before running off.
In Storybrooke, Sandy, Henry, Anna, Chloe, and Regina sit in the waiting room, tired and hungry. They have been trying to come up with ideas all day.
"Maybe it's something you're supposed to say or the way you say it?" Chloe suggests.
"Is that even possible?" Anna asks before yawning.
"Yeah, it's in plenty of folklore, people confessing something to someone who is in a coma or under a curse and the person wakes up or is cured," she explains.
"You're really smart, but I don't think so," Sandy frowns before leaning back in her chair.
"Maybe we need to make an anti-spell or something?" Henry suggests.
Regina shakes her head, "anti-spells don't exist in Narnia, which is probably why it's near impossible to find the cure," she says quietly, more to herself than anyone else.
"You woke me up, and Tahlia woke up last time, there has to be something that we all had in common," Henry states.
"I've been reading about Narnia and there isn't much to go on, but a few books say that the sorcerers can pick the cure. But they also say, although it's near impossible, that it may not have a cure at all," Chloe says, looking up from her book.
"What do you mean there might not be a cure? I woke up!" Henry snaps.
"You weren't directly hit by the spell itself, so it doesn't apply to you," Chloe hisses.
Suddenly, a green shimmering light appears in front of them, glitching before Peter's face comes into frame.
"Peter, what do you want?" Regina growls, standing up.
"I can't hold this for long because of Tahlia's dream state, but she needs to speak to you."
Tahlia suddenly walks into frame, and everyone stands up, looking at her in shock.
"Henry!" she says quickly, "Henry, listen to me, turns out that the labyrinth and the potion didn't wake me up, it was you. I don't know what you did, but you did something," Tahlia says hurriedly.
"I woke you up? But how?" Henry asks.
"I'm not sure, but you were there, try to remember every little detail of what happened before I woke up."
As expected, the projection starts to shimmer, and Peter mumbles, "I can't hold it or much longer."
"You'll know what to do Henry, I believe in you."
The frame then shimmers harshly, making the group look away as the light disappears.
"She's been in a coma too many times for me to remember what any of you did to wake her up," Regina sighs, sitting back down.
Chloe frowns, trying to remember any details that she had heard from when Tahlia woke up last time. A chill fills the room, and Izzy enters, wearing a long white dress, her silver eyes sparkling.
"I think I may be able to assist you all," she says softly before walking into Tahlia's room.
"How?" Regina asks suspiciously.
"I promised Anna I would help keep her alive, and although I can't stop the spell, I can prevent it. I know a lot about my mother and Jack's powers, I think I am able to neutralise it long enough for you to figure out how to save her," she explains softly.
"Do you have any ideas on what we can do to save her?" Anna asks desperately.
Izzy sighs, "I'm afraid I do not, all I know is that true loves kiss is not nearly powerful enough to save her. My mother and Jack wanted her dead this time, that's the only reason both Tahlia and Anna survived last time, they weren't finished with them yet," she explains.
"Why do you want to help us? Tahlia did kill your mother," Chloe points out.
Izzy smiles slightly, a smile that, despite her cold powers, seemed to light up the room.
"Tahlia tried to save my mother, but even I knew that my mother and Jack's death would be the only way to save not only your realm but every other realm as well. And frankly, Tahlia is the only person who can get me back to my kingdom," Izzy says, laughing lightly.
She steps forward, looking down at Tahlia's pale face and frowns before placing her hand on her forehead.
"She's cold," Izzy comments lightly.
A rush of blue light covers Tahlia, and the colour instantly comes back to her.
"Done, you have a few weeks now, but I cannot do much more," Izzy frowns, turning around to face the group.
"Thank you," Anna smiles.
Izzy smiles in return before walking towards the doorway.
"Wait!" Sandy says quickly, making Izzy turns to look at her, "is there anything we can do to repay you?"
"Nothing that you haven't already done... But when Tahlia wakes up, tell her to come find me, she'll know where I am," Izzy smiles.
Sandy nods, a smile on her face, "will do," she says before Izzy disappears, leaving them to figure out how on earth they are going to save Tahlia.
Two days later, after a long night and hardly any sleep, Sandy is awakened by a phone call. She groans, but answers it anyway.
"Hello?" she asks, not having bothered to see who was calling.
"Sandy? Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you..."
She immediately sits up, a strange look on her face, "Aaron?"
"Yeah... sorry, but I was just wondering, if you want to, you know, catch up for coffee or something today? I know we didn't end on the best of terms, but with Tahlia in a coma and everything, I thought that maybe we could help each other out?" he stutters, but Sandy does not need to think.
"Sure, when and where?" she asks, suddenly feeling quite awake.
"I was thinking Granny's at 10, but since you sound tired, maybe we can meet up at 1?" he suggests.
Sandy nods, despite him not being able to see her.
"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," she smiles.
"Oh, um, cool, I'll uh, see you then I guess," he stammers, making Sandy smile wider.
"I'll see you then," she replies before hanging up.
A large smile takes over her face and she falls back onto her pillow, struggling not to shout in joy. Despite their rocky past, Sandy never quite got over Aaron, and she understands why he was going to do what he was going to do. And although she does not expect a relationship to rekindle, she hopes for a friendship, and hopefully the cure to Tahlia's curse.
And almost immediately, Sandy falls back asleep, praying she will wake up before 1.
A/N:
Yay! Aaron and Sandy are back, holla!
QOTD: do you ship them?
AOTD: hell yeh boi mah otp. not certain if they'll get back together or if it'll just be a friendship, but ya never know
Anyway, I need to go to sleep, outside of this book I am dead to the world.
This is dedicated to @Booklover170104 for being really active lately, so thank you so much !!!
as always, i love you guys soooo much, thank you for 100+ votes and 1.1k reads, you're amazing, I'll probably see you tomorrow! x
~ chloe x
Word Count: 1901.