Author's note: heya guys! I know I know I should finish some of my other stuff but I really wanted to write this so I'm writing it. I hope I kept them in character but I'm not confident with writing Felix yet and we never actually see Emma as a kid so it's hard to say how she acted.
Disclaimer: I own nada
Little seven year old Emma sat on her bed crying. It was late at night and she'd once again gotten her hoped up that she'd have a family again, only to have them crushed. Every night since she was three she'd cried herself to sleep. Her parents had given her up, then her faster parents gave her up when she was three because they had a child of their own.
She sat there staring out the window. All the other kids were asleep. Tears were clouding her vision so when she saw a shadow outside the window she assumed it was just the dim lighting. When she wiped away the tears however and saw the shadow, it looked like a boy who was floating outside. It piqued her curiosity, so quietly she walked to the window. She opened it cautiously, wondering what the shadow would do.
The shadow entered the room and flew around for several minutes while Emma stared in awe. Before her parents gave her up her favorite bedtime story was of Peter Pan. She still loves the story and has watched every different movie adaption of the story. So seeing the shadow of a boy but no boy, just like in the story of Peter Pan excited her. Maybe her dream of leaving this place and going to Neverland could be real.
It paused in front of Emma as if pondering something. What felt like hours but was really just seconds passed and the shadow extended a hand toward her. She hesitated to grab it's hand, not sure how she could touch a shadow. As soon as the shadow had her hand it flew out the window, Emma floating beside it.
They flew all night, Emma in awe of the view. When morning came they arrived at an island. The shadow dropped her to the ground from a low height. He was planning to just fly off when a blonde haired boy walked out of the trees "Ah ah ah, where do you think you're going?" he asked. The shadow paused and flew back to the ground. The boy looked at Emma on the ground "Pan wanted a boy, you idiot shadow. Not some little girl you took pity on." The shadow ducked his head in an apology. A younger boy ran out of the trees as Emma sat up and looked at her surroundings. The younger boy stopped by the blonde and said "Felix we need to get back to camp. You know Pan doesn't want us out late."
The blonde, who'd just been called Felix turned to the younger boy "I know. Just a bit of a...situation with the shadow. You head back with the other boys. I'll deal with this then head back." The boy nodded and ran back through the trees. Felix turned back to Emma and the shadow. He looked at the shadow a moment and said "You can go. Pan will deal with you." the shadow nodded then flew off. Felix looked at Emma, not sure what to do with the young girl. While he stood there debating what to do with her, she was doing her own analysis of him. He had a hood over his head which cast a shadow on his face. He had what looked like a club strapped across his back, and a rather nasty looking knife on his waist.
After what seemed, to Emma, as quite a while Felix grabbed her upper arm and shoved her down the path. As they walked Felix said "I don't know what Pan's going to do to you so keep your mouth shut unless spoken to. Though if you'd like to talk and make Pan mad be my guest, I'd quite like a show."
Emma was about to respond when she tripped on a stick. She hit the ground with a yelp. She landed on her hands and knees. Felix internally groaned and grabbed her arm to force her up. When he did so he noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks. Confused by her crying he let go of her arm, resulting in Emma falling to the ground again. He regained his composure and crouched in font of her "What's wrong little girl?" he asked, his voice nearly sounding disgusted when he said girl.
Emma sniffled repeatedly and tried to talk through the tears. At first she was excited, the story of Peter Pan was real. It had seemed a but too good to be true. Then she got here and Felix, the first person she meets starts off by complaining and telling the shadow it messed up. Once again she was somewhere she wasn't wanted. After the shadow left Felix shoves her around and orders her to keep her mouth shut. Her dream come true wasn't turning out as nicely as she'd hoped it would.
Sniffling again she wiped away her tears and looked at Felix. She swallowed and licked her lips before again trying to speak. This time she managed to speak, although it was very broken sentences. "I-I'm scared." Felix smirked at her comment but let her continue. "N-Neverland's s-supposed to be happy..." she paused and looked at the dark forest around them. "This isn't how the story looks. It it says Neverland is pretty a-and there's mermaids a-and Tinkerbell and it's a happy place for kids who run away."
Felix couldn't help but chuckle. "You ought to be scared little girl. Neverland isn't a nice place. The mermaids try to drown little girls like you, and Tinkerbell? She'll sooner try to kill you than be your friend."
Emma gave him a confused look as the tears slowly dried on her face. "B-but in the cartoon Tinkerbell's Peter's friend. She wouldn't hurt anyone cause he wouldn't let her."
He scoffed and stood up "Listen little girl, whatever you think you know is wrong." he said. He then pulled her to her feet and pushed her down the path. "Now move."
After hours of walking they arrived at a camp. Felix lead her through it, taking her strait to Pan. Emma felt out of place, Never land was supposed to be a place where run aways and orphans could feel wanted. Instead Emma felt even more alone. Being surrounded by boys, on an island that was nothing like the story, made Emma feel so lost.
They arrived at a tent that was above the camp on a hill. Felix knocked on the stick that kept the front of the tent up. A voice from inside spoke "What?"
Felix glared at Emma "The shadow returned early this morning."
A boy poked his head out of the tent. He had short, brown hair and looked about fourteen. At first he looked excited but when his gaze landed on Emma his face fell. "What's she doing here? The shadow was supposed to be bringing boys."
Felix turned his gaze to the boy "The shadow-your shadow messed up."
When Emma heard the shadow was the boy's she looked at him excitedly. "The shadow is yours? That means you're Peter Pan!"
He smirked at her "So you've heard of me?"
Emma nodded "Yeah! My favorite story-"
"Don't listen to her." Felix cut in. "The story she knows is wrong."
Peter glared at Felix "Alright, I won't listen to her. You will. The shadow isn't and idiot, it chose to bring her here for a reason. Find out that reason." he ordered before withdrawing into the tent.
Felix glared at Emma again. He grabbed her arm and shoved her away from Peter's tent. They passed a boy who was just lounging under a lean to tent. Felix paused in front of him and ordered the boy to set up a small lean to tent near his. The boy looked at Emma in confusion but stood and ran off, not questioning Felix's order. Emma looked up at Felix after the boy ran off "Is the tent for me?" Felix glanced at Emma as he began walking again with her in tow. He nodded to her but didn't say anything. "Why do you want my tent close to yours?"
"Pan made you my responsibility. That means you have to be with me all the time. I can't let you wander around and mess up everything you touch." he explained, annoyed by the fact that he had to babysit a little girl.
Emma frowned at him "I don't break everything I touch!" she objected, trying to yank her arm away from Felix. Her attempt to pull away only made Felix tighten his grip on her arm. He leaned down so he was whispering in her ear. "Listen little girl, Pan put me in charge of you. He wants you alive but that doesn't mean to have to be happily living. If you don't behave I'll have your tent taken down." He threatened before standing strait again.
For a minute Emma was silent as Felix lead her to a campfire. He roughly shoved her to the ground before ordering one of the boys to gather more firewood and sitting on a fallen tree. Emma looked at him and said "Take down my tent and I'll sleep in your tent."
Felix growled slightly "You think you're so smart don't you?"
Emma grabbed a twig and drew in the dirt. "I am so smart."
He glared at her for a moment before looking at the fire. "Why did the shadow bring you here?" he asked, tired of her attitude.
Emma shrugged "I dunno. I was just in bed with Peter's shadow came to the window."
Felix thought over everything he knew about Emma. She had a home, the shadow found her and she knew Pan and Tinkerbell as if they were from a bedtime story. "How do you know about Pan and Tinkerbell?" he asked.
"My mommy and daddy read me the story before bed whenever I asked." she said, still drawing in the dirt.
"So to you this was just a story?" Felix asked, glancing at a small group of boys making their way towards the fire.
Emma nodded "Yeah, but I always believed it was real. I just didn't expect a meanie like you to be in charge."
Felix laughed "I'm not in charge. Pan is in charge, I just happen to be his second in command."
Emma looked up from her drawing with a confused look. "But in the movie there wasn't anyone named Felix. Peter's best friends was Tink and Rufio."
Felix xlenched his hands into fists, biting his tongue. The boys had reached the fire, one of them stopped by Emma and whispered "A word to the wise, don't talk about Rufio."
Emma watched him as he walked over to the other boys, who were throwing knives at trees. She crawled over to sit by Felix's feet, worried about the knives. Noticing that when she moved she messed up the bottom of her drawing she frowned at it. "Hey Felix." she spoke, turning her head to look at him. Felix kept his eyes on the fire, ignoring Emma. When he didn't respond she poked his leg.
He sighed and looked down at her "What?" he asked, his anger from hearing Rufio's name evident in his voice.
Emma pointed at the drawing in the dirt "I drew Peter, from the story."
"Why would I care what you draw in the dirt?" he snapped, still not bothering to look at her.
Emma frowned and looked at the ground "You said you're responsible for me, like a big brother." she paused and looked at Felix for a moment before looking away. "But a brother would be nicer than you."
Felix looked down at her, his anger turning to confusion. "You think I'm your brother, little girl?"
Emma looked over to the other boys who were rough housing. "No, I said like a brother. They're brothers." She said, pointing to the boys. "You're just a mean grown up."
Felix grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him "The story you know is wrong but you know enough to know there are no grown ups here, am I am not growing up. That's why I came here."
Emma pulled her face away "Hook's a grown up!"
He put his hand over her mouth "Not so loudly you dumb little girl." he hissed at her.
Emma shoved his hand away from her mouth. She kept her voice down when she spoke "I'm not a little girl.
Felix smirked at her "Yes you are. You're a little, bratty, pain in my neck, good for nothing girl."
Emma hit his leg, although it didn't phase him. "You're worse than the kids back home. They just ignored me." she said, turning away from him to hid the tears that were falling from her eyes again.
Ignoring her tears he asked "What kids back home?"
Emma attempted to throw a twig into the fire but it landed short of the fire. "The kids at the orphanage. They all act like I don't exist."
Felix grabbed her chin again, but not as roughly as before. "You said you had parents." he said sternly. "What do you mean orphanage?"
Emma looked up at him "My mommy and daddy gave me away when I was three."
He pulled away "You're an orphan?" he asked. Emma nodded at him. "That may be why the shadow brought you here." he muttered to himself. "If she's an orphan then maybe the shadow latched onto that?" Felix looked at the darkening sky and stood up. "Come on little girl. I've got a few things to do before night completely sets in." Emma stood up and followed him as he walked off. Just before they exited the clearing Emma turned back to see the boy who'd warned her not to talk about Rufio giving her a smile. As she followed Felix that one smile gave her hope that Neverland wasn't as bad as it looked.
It was a while before Felix was done with his jobs. They were all routine things he had to do, check food, make sure no one is missing, etc. Emma was a bit bored, since Felix ignored her as long as she didn't talk. She was glad though, that he wasn't pushing her around anymore.
After that they spent a while by the fire again. Felix joined the boys in their games, while Emma sat away from them all. Emma was drawing in the dirt again while watching the boys play. Emma wasn't really sure how long they were out there, as time in Neverland stops. Seeing the boys having fun together gave Emma hope. Hope that Neverland wasn't too bad after all.
After hours of them playing by the fire Felix walked over to Emma "Come on little girl, time for bed."
Emma stood up and followed him to two tents on the edge of camp. One was a lean to tent and slightly smaller than the other. The larger one looked more like Pan's tent. The front and back ends supported by wooden sticks and the corners weighted to the ground with rocks. Felix pointed at the lean to "That's yours. Hope you're not afraid of the dark." he said before ducking into his tent.
Emma walked over to her lean to tent. She laid down under the cover of it and curled into a ball. Now that she was away from the fire, the chill of the night was getting to her. She debated asking Felix for a blanket but figured he wouldn't care enough to give her one. Overall her first day in Neverland hadn't been what she'd expected. She was treated badly at first and later ignored, much like back home. But maybe, with a little time they'd include her. Just maybe this could become a home. Who knows? Maybe Felix will start liking Emma.
