A/N: Hope you enjoyed the episode and thank you very much for your lovely responses. I now present to you part 2 :)
Chapter 2:
"The Lost can be Found"
He had surprised himself the following night when despite his initial hesitation he'd returned to the orphanage. Then again it was the wisest thing to do and Peter Pan was all about wisdom. The girl quite possibly knew something that could help him and he wasn't taking any chances with that. Knowledge could be engrained in someone without their permission, perhaps simply introducing her to the world of magic would trigger a revelation or an answer or even a long forgotten story that could help him. It was for this reason and this reason alone that he paid her another visit.
As soon as he let himself in his eyes went straight to where she lay huddled, thin sheets wrapped around her. She was studying him, eyes squinting to catch a glimpse in the dark. "I knew you would be back."
"You were expecting me?"
Nodding she pulled the sheets tighter to herself. "We weren't finished yet, were we? With all of our stories, I mean."
"No, I don't suppose we were." He took a seat by her feet which seemed unusually cold. The blankets were itchier than they were warm so it was no surprise that she was shivering. "You should really wear something warmer you know, a jacket maybe."
Emma frowned. "I don't have a jacket. I used to but it didn't fit so I gave it to one of the younger girls. It-It doesn't matter anyway. I don't need a jacket. I'm not cold."
Peter couldn't help but smile at her conviction. She was obviously freezing. He looked to the window that he'd left open once again and with the magic he still possessed in this land, shut it.
"You didn't have to do that." Her grateful sigh as soft as it was told him everything she was too stubborn to say.
"I guess I was a little cold," he shrugged.
She smiled briefly before narrowing her eyes at him. "What else can you do with your magic?"
It was the question he'd been waiting for. Peter smirked at her, "Everything. With magic you can do everything and no one can ever stop you." He paused for dramatic effect. She was obviously interested, he didn't need to hook her, he needed to reel her in. "My pipe is magic as well, you know."
Emma nodded. "It did sound magical. When you play it almost feels like the melody is carrying me away to some distant place."
That was what he had gathered from the accounts of the Lost Boys. Once they gave in to the music it possessed them but at the same time gave them more freedom than they had ever even imagined. "It's enchanted so only children who feel...lost or lonely can hear it." He watched her carefully but she wouldn't return his gaze, choosing to fix her eyes on the window instead.
"I'm not lonely, you know. I have friends," she whispered at last. "One time when Edna wasn't looking Russell gave me his slice of cheese after I punched Todd Henderson at school. He was my friend, wasn't he? You can't be lonely if you have friends."
"Emma-"
"I don't want you to feel sorry for me." Her voice was harsh and she finally met his eyes. She looked like she would punch him any second if he wasn't careful.
"I didn't mean anything by it, just stating the facts."
"Well, don't. I get enough of that from the other girls in my class. Just because I live here doesn't mean-"
"Emma," he rolled his eyes. "Stop being so dramatic, I don't have them either. Friends, I mean...parents too for that matter. I don't need them, nor do you. All they do is hold us back."
"But you have the Lost Boys."
He'd been careful enough about revealing the true nature of his relationship with the Lost Boys but Emma held onto every detail he let slip about them and already she knew too much. It seemed like the more she found out the more curious she became. If there was one thing Emma Swan was good at it was asking questions and figuring out exactly how many of his answers were the truth. It was better to simply dodge those questions.
He concentrated on a spot in the centre of the room instead and before long there were green flames leaping up, about chest high. The small room glowed with the dancing green light making shadows flicker across Emma's delighted face. "It's beautiful," she murmured, "but won't the others wake up?"
"I've taken care of them. They won't wake till dawn."
The flames took the shape of a large green serpent, rising proudly up to the ceiling and flicking its tongue out in greeting. Given that he hadn't done that in years he was quite proud of it. Emma wasn't watching though. She'd fixed him with that narrow eyed look that meant she was either suspicious or annoyed. "You didn't... hurt them, did you?"
The serpent let out a hiss and the sound of crackling flames filled the room. "Relax Emma, they're asleep, that's all. If anything I probably helped them. Most of them have nightmares, you know, at least now they'll be dreaming of Neverland."
That was enough for her. She turned back to the flames, laughing delightedly as the serpent changed shape once again into a dragon this time. It let out a jet of golden flames, brilliant against its emerald body and turned its head to Emma. "She's beautiful," breathed Emma, staring up at the creature.
"Do you want to hear about the time I slew a dragon?"
Of course she did. She settled back down in her bed and watched him expectantly even as the dragon retreated back into the flames. "Tell me."
Once again they talked and time seemed to be against them. Midnight became the early hours of the morning and when Peter's voice grew hoarse they sat back in silence to watch the lightening sky.
"Peter?"
"Hmm?"
"I didn't really know if you were coming back." Peter watched as she looked down to her hands. They were tracing patterns on the mattress. "I actually didn't even know if you were real. I thought I'd imagined you."
"How do you know that you're not imagining me now?"
"I don't."
"And you never will. You could wake up one day in a comfortable house, warm and happy with your family around you. You could be a Princess for all you know and find yourself waking up in a castle," he smiled, "or this could be it, you could be awake right now and this could be all you will ever get. Either way, you are going to have to live, right? You might as well make it fun."
"For a boy who refuses to be a grownup you know a lot about everything," Emma told him, but when she smiled he knew that she understood.
"What can I say? Eternity is an awfully long time. Wisdom comes with age and I've seen enough of the world to pick up a few things on the way... what was that you said they called me in your land? The boy who never grew up? Ridiculous name, really. They should just call me the boy who never stopped living."
Emma laughed. "I'll let them know. Maybe they'll make another movie."
He laughed but as he took in the stirring bodies in the beds around them the humor faded. "Emma?"
"Hmm?"
"I have to leave now."
There was no horrified expression, only one of peace. She didn't beg him to take her away to Neverland this time and he was more than alright with that. Sure, it was a little suspicious but he had also found himself beginning to consider the idea and that was just dangerous.
He watched as she smiled and simply said, "Okay, see you later Peter."
It became a habit, one that he didn't even try to suppress. If he had eternity he figured he may as well enjoy some of the perks, there would be plenty more time to work. Most nights they spent in the orphanage but sometimes he would bring along pixie dust and invite Emma to fly with him. It got to the point where even Felix noticed and being the oldest of the boys he'd apparently felt duty bound to comment.
"Are you visiting her again, tonight?" he'd asked, hood obscuring his face in that way that made the younger boys shrink away.
Peter had tried not to sound defensive. "She is the strongest lead we have."
"You know some of the boys are beginning to wonder... they've been asking questions."
"Need I remind you, Felix," he'd said slowly, "that this is none of your business. It is your job to deal with them. Squash any doubt in their minds and make them believe in our cause again."
"I understand. I just thought it might be more... effective if the shadow dealt with her, that's all." Peter's anger must have been evident because the boy had quickly backed away looking terrified as he apologized pathetically.
"You have orders, Felix. There will be no more talk of this, do you understand?" Felix had nodded and scrambled away and that had been it. He was free to roam between the lands as he pleased and he was free to visit Emma at nightfall.
She had taken to reading to him stories about the Enchanted Forest and even Wonderland. It was incredible how much the people in this world knew about magic and yet from what he had gathered they seemed to hate it. He'd heard about the purges and those dark times when those even suspected of attempting witchcraft had been burnt on pyres. Then there were those who refused to so much as accept that magic existed. Their race was divided and it confused him to no end.
"Why do your people hate magic so much?" he asked Emma one night as they were both perched on her window sill. She'd told him that she'd always wanted to sit there but was afraid of falling. He'd given her some pixie dust to put her mind at ease and it had soon become her favourite spot.
"What do you mean? I don't hate magic."
"Not you, I mean the grownups. They refuse to believe in it and when they do they seek to destroy it."
Emma laughed. "Don't worry about them. I expect that once you grow up you need to control everything. You need everything to make sense and well... a dragon made of green flames doesn't really make that much sense, does it?"
"I beg to differ."
"Well that's because you're from Neverland. We don't have dragons here, they're just in fantasy books and movies. Sometimes you need to see something to believe in it."
"You believed in me before you met me."
"I'm not a grownup."
"I hope you'll never be."
Emma shook her head. "I know I have to someday but when I grow up I'm not going to be like them. I'll always believe."
For some reason, or perhaps simply because he really wanted it to be true, he believed her.
"So why do they hate us?"
"I expect it's because they don't understand it so they're scared. They hate people like me too, you know, just because we don't have parents to keep us in line or teach us to behave. They're scared that somehow we'll go insane and pass it on like a disease. They're scared because it's too hard to accept that we're human just like them. I suppose that's why they have the institution as well."
"Your people don't sound very nice."
"They're not-" Emma broke off, suddenly looking a little scared herself. "Actually, there's something that I've been meaning to tell you..." Peter waited for her to continue. She'd speak up in her own time. "These people came in here earlier looking for a young girl about my age to adopt and well, they're coming back in a couple of days to take me home with them."
He didn't know what to say. "Does this... please you?"
"No," she cried, wobbling dangerously as she faced him. "No I am not. This might not be the best place to live but I've been to one of those homes before. All they want is for you to fit into their version of a family and they try to change you until you do and it just never works. I don't want to change for them."
"Maybe it'll be different this time."
"It won't."
Peter sighed. "Can't you say no?"
"Edna would kill me."
"Well, what if you fly away with me instead? We can return to Neverland together." It slipped out before he could really stop himself. Emma turned to him, studying him from under her lashes. Maybe she'd say no. She hadn't asked him to take her away since that first meeting.
"Would you really do that for me?"
"You can be the first Lost Girl. There are no rules in Neverland, remember? There's nothing stopping you."
She threw her arms around him with such force that they both toppled out. The rush of cool air did him some good but he frantically reached for his pouch of pixie dust anyway. It would be a pity if they both fell to their deaths. In retrospect he probably wouldn't have died anyway- another perk of the immortality thing. She clung to him and laughed as they floated back up to the window. "Thank you, Peter, for everything."
"Be ready at midnight tomorrow." She nodded and smiled, hugging him again more delicately this time.
He tried to smile with her but he found there was a niggling feeling of dread settling in his stomach. It was Felix and those stupid doubts that he'd planted. Taking Emma back to Neverland would only make it easier to concentrate on his quest. Really, he would be doing them both a favour.
A/N: Hope you liked it. One more chapter to go! As always feedback appreciated.
