entitled; starlight
summary; Many have told the story of the fabled Peter Pan and his adventures in Never Never Land; that wondrous, magical place where children could traipse and trek without a single worry in the world. Without fears - a world so carefree and wonderful no one would ever think to leave it. Except one.
rating; t (may change in later chapters)
disclaimer; i don't own any of the characters from once upon a time, or the book/movie peter pan.
word count; 2,273
notes; and here it is~ the long-awaited first chapter for my peter pan au, starlight. there was so much editing done to this, and it's nowhere near as long as i'd originally intended the first chapter to be, but i don't want to load too much into things. i want this to flow perfectly because it is my baby and i want it to be the best writing i've done for all my cs shippers. it's unbeta'd so any mistakes are mine. feel free to point them out.
dedicated to; tara. if you're reading this, you're wonderful, i love you and this is entirely for you~
i. it begins
.
Many have told the story of the fabled Peter Pan and his adventures in Never Never Land - that wondrous, magical place where children could traipse and trek without a single worry in the world. Without fears - a world so carefree and wonderful no one would ever think to leave it.
But reality is a far crueler thing, for as lovely as it was, Neverland was a dangerous place, and none ever had the courage to take leave with the intention of never returning.
Except one.
However, Fate has a way of making us do things we'd never imagined we would do.
Such is the Fate of a one Emma Swan, who holds the very heart of Neverland in her hands, even after 17 years of memories long since erased.
.
"Henry!"
The young boy jumped at the sound of his mother's voice, quickly putting all the little trinkets he'd been looking at back in the shoe box she did well to keep hidden. Once he'd gotten everything in the shoe box, he tried to stuff it back under the loose floorboard before she could see what he'd been doing.
Unfortunately for him, Emma was a lot quicker than he was, "Kid, how many times do I have to tell you not to go through my things?"
She gave an exasperated sigh, arms folding over her chest as she looked down at him, waiting for an explanation for this particular insistence with scavenging through her childhood things.
"There's something in there that I saw the last time," Henry explained, reaching for the box once more, finding it pointless to try putting it back now that he'd been discovered, "Something that might be able to help us with Operation Cobra."
Emma's brows rose. "Is that so?" She was walking towards him now, but he was focused on the items inside the box. "What could I possibly have in there that could help us?"
He kept silent for a good while, the sound of shuffling and metal on metal the only thing filling the room until he found what he was looking for. "Yes, I got it!"
She watched as Henry pulled out her tattered old hardcover of Peter Pan and an old silver necklace that was tucked inside the front cover, successfully keeping it from falling completely shut.
"It was that hard to find possibly the only book in a whole mess of trinkets?" Emma teased, reaching for it.
"No, not the book. Though it might help jog your memories." Henry explained, keeping it from her and pulling the old necklace out. "I was actually talking about this."
When Emma reached for the necklace, Henry didn't pull away. Instead he let the thin chain slip from his fingers, dropping it into the palm of her hands. When the metal of the pendant his her hands, though, she nearly let it slip straight on to the floor; it was ice cold against her skin. Almost like it'd been locked in a freezer all this time and not stuffed in a shoe box.
While her initial instinct was to let it fall to the floor, something compelled her to wrap her fingers around the flat, circular pendant.
It wasn't anything particularly special; it was nothing but silver, perhaps a little bigger than a silver dollar with what was meant to be a skull and crossbones outlined by black paint. The only difference was in place of the crossbones, there were two swords. On the back, it was mostly silver, and engraved on the flat surface was what looked like a piece of a map.
Emma couldn't, for the life of her, remember where she got the trinket, but she vaguely remembered having a particularly unhealthy attachment to it when she was younger.
"I haven't seen this in ages." She mumbled, eyeing Henry warily. "But I don't see how this could help us with Operation Cobra. It's just an old pirate-" the strangest sensation pulsed throughout her entire body the moment the word left her lips, leaving her almost breathless, but she did her best to ignore it and continued speaking, "-necklace. Something I've had since I was a kid."
If Henry had noticed her slight choke up, he didn't mention it. "Do you remember how you got it?"
"It was a long time ago…" Emma mumbled, fingering the pendant's thin chain as she avoided his gaze.
"You don't remember because it was given to you in Neverland." Henry said, expression dead serious.
"Neverland?" Emma repeated, finding it difficult not to laugh, "So now Neverland's real, too."
"It's always been real." Henry responded, not seeming the slightest bit offended by the tone of her voice. "You've been there before, but you just can't remember. You see, a normal person's memories of Neverland leave them as they grow older, but a part of them always believes in it."
Emma's brows shot up, "And I'm not normal?"
"You were the first person to leave Neverland because you knew you needed to grow up. You were supposed to remember it all. I think you would have remembered it if my mom hadn't done the curse." He answered with a sigh.
"Are you trying to tell me I'm Wendy in your book?" Emma asked, a skeptical expression on her face.
"It's a really complicated story." he mused, reaching for her tattered copy of Peter Pan and handing it to her, "But I think that necklace might be really important for Operation Cobra."
"You keep saying that but you haven't told me how, or why." Emma pointed out, curling her fingers around the book and pulling it towards her.
Henry simply shrugged and uttered the words she'd been hearing a little too much since she'd arrived in Storybrooke, "You're not ready."
A small, disbelieving laugh left her lips, "Of course not." Book and necklace in hand, Emma pushed herself to her feet. "Alright, put that away. We're gonna be late getting you back to your mom and I don't need to give her any more reasons to hate me than she already does."
Frowning, Henry closed the shoebox and carefully put it away before letting Emma lead him out of the room. "You'll think about it, though, won't you? Read the book, too? To see if it helps?"
Guilt crept through her at the desperation she heard in his voice; the last thing she wanted to do was encourage the kid in this ridiculousness, but it was pretty damn hard when it seemed like she was one of the few people he trusted enough to talk to - his only other friends were Mary-Margaret and Archie.
Sighing softly, Emma gave him a light pat on the back and nodded, "I'll try and see if something stirs any memories." She told him, "Though, I have a question for you."
He beamed, "What is it?"
"How can I be Wendy if you said I'm the kid of Snow White and Prince Charming?" She asked, genuinely curious as to what his answer would be.
"I've read enough of the book to figure out that a lot of the stories kind of… Overlap." He told her, "Look at Ruby; along with being Little Red Riding Hood, I'm pretty sure she's Rose Red, Snow White's sister."
Emma's brows shot up at this, "You think Ruby and Mary-Margaret are sisters?"
"I'm about 80% sure." He replied, giving a small shrug, "There's still a few things I haven't quite figured out yet."
Emma laughed, "Alright kid, let's get you home."
.
Captain Killian "Hook" Jones was furious; by now, every member of his crew knew the telltale signs and did their best to stay out of his way, and avoid his wrath. Unfortunately for them, this was not one of the times avoidance would be of any help to them.
"Smee, have you anything?" he asked the shorter man, itching for any sign from Cora that might tell him he could get on with killing his crocodile; the twenty-eighth year was finally upon them but there had been no word from the witch yet and he was growing impatient.
"N-nothing yet, Cap'n." His first mate stuttered out, drawing an irritated sigh from the Captain.
"Very well then." He seethed, "Tell the men we're taking a little detour."
The shorter man's brows shot up and he stared at his Captain for a brief moment before nodding fervently. "Y-yes, Cap'n."
The portly man turned and quickly scampered off.
'Three… Two… One.'
Smee appeared at his side again, red-faced and slightly out of breath, "Ah, w-where to, Cap'n?"
Hook opened his mouth, ready to tell the man they'd be heading in the direction he'd last known Cora's whereabouts to be when he felt it; a surge of energy ran through him. It was something so powerful that he stumbled upon turning to face Mr. Smee.
"Something wrong, Cap'n?" the man asked, brows furrowing.
He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, which surprised him all on its own. The last time he'd felt the all too familiar tug of energy was when he'd been a boy - a time he'd done quite well to push into the farthest part of his mind.
"We'll be heading in the direction of a treasure, Mr. Smee." He finally answered, pushing past the stout man and making his way up to the main deck.
Normally, he'd trust his men to commandeer the ship, but he couldn't with this. He needed to lead her in the direction of that pulse of energy. The thing was, however, that he was certain it wasn't in this land, meaning using up the last of his ship's magic in getting there and coming back.
"C-cap'n..?" Smee uttered, trailing behind him and sounding more than a little breathless.
"We're in for a marvelous adventure Mr. Smee." Hook called back, a smirk slowly working its way onto his lips. "Get ready to set sail!"
Cheers erupted from the crew, reminding him that his men had been just as frustrated as he during these past twenty-eight years, and the possibility of a new adventure meant more to them than he could comprehend.
"Where to, Cap'n?" Called one of his men.
His brows furrowed the slightest bit as the strange, unknown name flashed across his mind as if by magic. Turning to face him, Hook grinned and uttered the single word as he steered his ship, "Storybrooke."
.
Emma had managed to get Henry back home before Regina could have any reason to want to rip her head off and she was now on her way back home. She'd said goodbye to Henry with some hesitation, knowing how he viewed Regina, even if it wasn't entirely accurate. Regina loved Henry, she could see that much, but knowing that Henry viewed her as this 'Evil Queen' had to mean that something was up, right? It was the only reason she'd actually stuck around.
The only reason she was currently roommate to Mary-Margaret instead of sleeping comfortably in her apartment back in Boston.
Parking the car right outside the apartment, Emma sighed and shut off the engine. She hadn't the slightest clue what it was she was doing here. She'd decided to stay because she wanted to make sure that Henry was getting his best chance here, but where did she get off thinking she could decide whether or not life with Regina Mills was his best chance?
"Damn it, Emma, you don't belong here…" She muttered, resting her forehead against the steering wheel.
She wasn't sure how long she was there, feeling sorry for herself when she turned her head to the side and saw her copy of Peter Pan sitting in the passenger seat. Emma had to snort at the feeling of déjà vu that hit her upon seeing it sitting there, much like Henry's storybook had been on the night she'd almost driven into that wolf, that apparently had never been there.
Reaching over, she picked the book up and held it gingerly in her hands, growing incredibly nostalgic. Flipping it open, she pulled out the necklace and looked at it for a moment, almost as if she was trying to will herself to remember who it was that had given it to her before she undid the small clasp and put it on.
Once the pendant hit the smooth skin of her chest, Emma was pretty damn positive she felt that pulse again, only this time it was fainter. Closing the book, she pulled the keys out of the ignition and made her way out of her car, locking it up before heading up to Mary-Margaret's apartment.
It was bugging her a lot more than she was letting on, but she wanted to be as calm as possible just in case Mary-Margaret had gotten home while she was out. When she scoured the apartment and found it empty, however, Emma ran up to her room and allowed herself a mini freak out.
'What the hell is going on?' she thought to herself, fingers gripping the book in her hands so tightly her knuckles turned white.
In that moment, she barely had time to react as her window flew open, bringing about a large gust of wind that sent her hair flying across her face when she tried to turn and find out what it was that had opened the window. Her grip on the book tightened and she reached up with one hand to brush some of her hair out of her face, but all she managed to see was the silver curve of a hook in the moonlight before the world went black.
[tbc.]