Prologue: The promise is made.

Warning: A bit OOC with pretty much everyone, and especially Pan. Dark stuff in the next chapter, along with the full warning.

The night was dark and rather frigid, two sets of footprints left in the moist jungle floor. One deeper, made by inexperienced, childish feet. Another by a boy, frozen forever in the age of seventeen. The frozen boy's name was Peter Pan.

Usually Pan's prints were light, quiet, like those jungle cats that the Lost Boys run from, or occasionally fall prey to. It also didn't help that today was going to be the day he had waited five hundred years for... the reason he was chosen. He spared a glance at the little boy walking behind him. The boy's name was Henry, and it suddenly pained Pan to steal such a young boy's life just to fuel his own.

He had no other choice, though. It was the reason he had been plucked out of his home in England and dumped in Neverland. He had to find the heart of the Truest Believer, to save his life, and all the lives on the island he had grown to love.

It was unlike Pan to attach himself to anyone; it wasn't the way that he had been brought up. He had once tried to get close to a girl named Wendy several decades ago, and look where that had gotten them. Peter Pan was still Peter Pan, and Wendy now spent the majority of her rather permanent stay in Neverland inside of a bamboo cage, suspended by thick ropes that held her several feet off of the ground.

"There's a price, isn't there?" Henry suddenly spoke up, shattering the uneasy silence and startling the immortal teenager. Pan mentally kicked himself for getting distracted. Focus!

"Yes… Magic always comes with a price; you know that already. Saving magic has an even bigger one, however," he replied. His tone was soft, desperately trying to hide the bitterness that had crept into his voice.

"What is it?"

Pan took a deep breath, and for the first time in God knew how long, he spoke the full truth. "The price? Well, that would be your life. If you're willing to give up your heart, that is." The kicking didn't stop.

"Would I die?" Pan was quite surprised at the calm tone of Henry's voice, too. He really hoped his constant masking of emotions hadn't been affecting Henry during his time on the island. Baelfire and that Emma Swan girl would have been devastated if their son grew up to be like him and, of course, his grandfather. Well... If he grew up at all.

"Not immediately. You would be asleep at first. Then, slowly, your life would fade away. You probably wouldn't feel a thing." They kept on walking, one in front, one behind, a foot apart. Pan fought against a grimace that threatened to form on his face, not looking back at the small boy with the determined footsteps.

"It's too bad, then. I would've liked to say goodbye. My family must've gotten to the island by now. Still, a promise is a promise." His words finally cracked as soft crystal tears began to fall, one by one, adding to the moisture on the always damp jungle floor. But despite his reaction, they kept on walking.

Then, Pan stopped abruptly, causing Henry to crash into him and catching his arm before he fell into the dirt. In a surprising turn of events, Pan wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and pulled him into an embrace. Henry stiffened, but slowly relaxed. Pan placed his head on Henry's deep brown locks and held him tight.

"Let it out, Henry," he whispered. "Let it all out." Henry obeyed, letting out all of the fears, the frustrations, and the pent up emotions that he had been bottling up since he first came to Neverland, letting them run down his cheeks in hot, salty tears.

Pan had no idea what the Hell he was doing. Or why he was doing it, for that matter. He thought his heart had hardened beyond repair after the Wendy fiasco. It had been years, years, since he had held someone out of sheer compassion, and it had been even longer since he'd been held for the same reason.

The pitiful tears demolished the walls that guarded the immortal's heart, penetrating his soul. He wanted nothing more than to stop those tears and the reason behind it. He could do it, he knew, but he lacked something to fight for. Pan had never realized how selfish he truly was before that moment.

"Do you trust me, Henry?" Pan asked out of nowhere. Henry paused for several moments, and then finally nodded.

Carefully prying the boy away from his chest, Peter Pan bent down, going to the same level as Henry. He remembered seeing this act when he was visiting the other world from time to time. "I solemnly swear that I will not let you die for me, or anyone else as long as Neverland still stands. I will not let any harm befall you as long as I can prevent it." As Pan spoke, Henry merely continued to stare at him with wide eyes.

"I've seen knights pledge their loyalties to their lord on my trips 'outside'. They always give their superior a token to signify their oath." He smiled sadly and reached into his pocket, his fingers gently gripping a small, cold object. He pulled it out, holding it tightly as he spoke again. "Here... take this. This will be a symbol of my promise to you, Henry. And, most importantly, it will represent my will to not break it." The immortal teenager handed the object to the mortal boy, pressing it into his palm.

It was a pendant, made by someone with a lot of free time on their hands. An intricate Greenleaf was carved into a yellow stone, threaded with a piece of thin red chain and a couple of black beads. "It was my mother's," Pan carefully said, as though he had to think deeply before saying each word. And honestly... he was doing exactly that. "Before Neverland. I... don't remember much of anything before, so this is the only thing I have left to remind me that I wasn't always 'Peter Pan'." He thought for a moment before continuing, his next words somehow holding the tone of everything he was feeling. "She made an oath to me, too, giving me that to promise it." He paused, green eyes wistful as he let the information sink in. "Keep it safe, Henry."

Henry seemed to be frozen in shock, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened. There was silence as he tried to form words. "Do you really promise?" he choked out, grasping at the fragile thread of hope dangling in front of his eyes.

Pan actually smirked at this and began to push Henry along the path which lead to the small docks and, eventually, Skull Rock. He chuckled. "I may not always be the most well-behaved boy in the universe, but I always keep my promises. Especially ones of that magnitude." For some reason, Henry couldn't help but believe him, even managing to laugh along. Never once did he loosen his grip on the pendent that was clasped tightly in his hand, save for when he finally slipped the delicate crimson chain over his head, letting it dangle freely from his neck for several seconds. Once he knew that it was truly there, though, he couldn't help but place his hand over the yellow pendent itself, pressing it against his chest.

"No matter the cost," Pan barely breathed, his quiet addition all but silent. He knew full well the price he would have to pay for that promise, the punishment for disobedience, and... well, and quite a lot of other ones that he simply refused to think about. After all, he knew fully well what He was capable of. Pan smirked ever so slightly, the determination burning in his emerald eyes.

No matter the cost.

A/N: Is it just me or is the promise thing too formal? If it is, then blame everything on the Lord of the Rings fanfictions I have read lately. Disclaimers: See author's profile.

I am still on with the Big-Three ways of writing. Prologue, Actual story and Epilogue. What do you think? Too much? I think this is one of the stories that could come easily.

Updates will be soon. I think.