A/N: Ergh. I'm so terrible. I start writing, and then I get distracted by reading other fanfics.

Like, I legitly read a Dramione fic for the first time in three years. Rest assured, it reinstated my faith in the ship after leaving it because I was reading too many terrible fanfictions. I'm back on the boat.

Guest: Thanks so much for your support! Here's the next update! xx

Enjoy, my lovelies! xx

Flattering

Evie and Sarah were examining Xenia and Lily's work as they made beds and hung up curtains around the room. Tara and Kala were lighting candles as they walked around the room, making the room a little more homely for them. It was nice to think that they both, finally, had a home.

"Thank you, Evie," Tara said, hesitant, before throwing her arms around Evie. The girl who looked about ten, held onto her tightly. And Evie wrapped her arms around her shoulders in return, a smile upon her face. "Thank you for taking us away from her."

"You'll always be safe here," Evie promised, as Kala glanced at her sister and Evie locked in an embrace. Kala walked over slowly and Evie offered an arm to her. That seemed to be all the encouragement she needed because the next second, her arms were wrapped around her and they were hugging.

"The other girls call you 'mom'."

Evie was surprised as Kala spoke from the folds of her skirt. Leaning down to face the two sisters she said gently, "Yes they do. But you don't have to if you don't want to."

Kala was looking at her wide eyed even though Tara was still wary. Kala wanted to trust Evie more than anything but Tara wasn't so sure.

"I want to," Kala said softly, "I want to stay here."

"And you Tara?"

"I want to." But she was still hesitant.

"Then this is your home now," Evie confirmed with a wide grin. "And don't be afraid to come to me for anything that might be wrong. Okay?"

"Okay," Tara nodded with a small smile growing at the corner of her lips. Maybe, they would be okay here. Maybe they could be safe.

"Okay," Kala repeated after her older sister, but adding on the end, "Mom."

xxx

Four Years Ago

When Evie awoke the next morning, it was to persistent knocking upon her door, quickly followed by the warning, "Evelyn Rose Asteri. If you do not open this door I will call my mother and have the guards cut it down."

"I'm coming, Emma," Evie groaned, throwing off her quilt and realising that she was still in her clothes from the night before. And they were slightly more dirty than when she had put them on.

Of course, rolling down that hillside hadn't assisted with her cleanliness.

Evie smiled when she realised that it wasn't just a dream. That her and Pan had actually rolled down that hillside in reckless abandon, their search for Neverland's treasure almost the furthest thing from her mind. It didn't particularly matter. Because when the sun began to rise, Pan had given her a soft goodbye kiss and sent her away with a single touch to her necklace.

Evie looked down at the charm around her neck then with a vacant curiosity. It was Killian who had given it to her…did he know?

"EVIE!"

"I'm here, I'm here!" She ran towards the door as fast as she could, hoping that Emma wouldn't notice the clothing she was wearing. But with that girl's perceptibility, it was inevitable that Evie would be spilling her guts within ten minutes.

"Finally," Emma sighed dramatically, walking past Evie and into the room where she collapsed onto her bed. "The tournament starts in an hour and Snow wants you to eat before we have to go and sit for an entire day in hard backed wooden thrones.

"Uh uh," Evie crooked her finger with a smile playing at her lips. "You get the wooden throne. I get cushions and a shielded view of your posterior."

"I hate you," Emma glared at her friend.

"And I hate you too," Evie said with a nod. "Righteo. What am I wearing then?"

"Something flattering. Fortunately at this tournament, we get young knights."

"I will remind you again, I sit in the back."

"And I will remind you, dear Evie, that they don't go for the plain ones, they go for the exotic ones." Emma made a point of outlining Evie's curves with her hands from a distance whilst Evie stared back at her incredulously. Emma, with her golden blonde curls and emerald eyes was far from plain. "And this tournament is partially your birthday present."

"Yes!" Evie said mockingly. "Just what I've always wanted! Men shoving sticks into each other until someone gets trampled by their own horse."

"You're so cynical, Evie," Emma rolled her eyes. "Prince Phillip's going to be there. And I know how much you used to make eyes at him."

"Yeah, before I caught him groping my lady's maid in the storage closet. I was twelve, Emma. Like that even counts as a crush."

Emma coughed, clearly having not known that bit of information before Evie just told her.

"Right, well, I'm sure there'll be, erm, others."

"Let's just pick me out a dress and work it from there, okay?"

"Fine," Emma sighed. "Wear the blue one with the gold embroidery."

"But I –"

"Today is the day for cleavage, Evie," Emma said, lying back on the bed and sounding almost bored. "I haven't got that particular luxury yet."

"You aren't going to be married off at the age of sixteen either," Evie grumbled, low enough so that Emma couldn't hear. Walking behind her dressing screen, she poured herself a bowl of water and began to wash out the mud that had dirtied her skin as she peeled her dirty clothes from her body. Regretfully, she pulled on her corset, breathing in her last full breath for the next twelve hours. After slipping her dress on, she began to brush out her hair, rounding the dressing screen as Emma said:

"What, pray tell, is this?"

Emma was sitting on the edge of Evie's bed facing her bedside table with a letter in her hand. Evie noticed a blue rose sitting on the wood and may or may not have let out an incriminating gasp.

"You were too beautiful to let go, and yet I know that daylight must take you home. But if you should want to return, simply touch the star, and you will be beside me. I hope I will see you tonight. I should very much like to kiss you again."

"Emma…" Evie tried to say something, but she had nothing to say.

"Well, this explains the dirtied clothing. You sure it was just kissing?"

"EMMA!"

"What?" the Princess said with a smirk, "I read."

"But you…I…"

"Okay, okay," she said, seeing Evie's stuttering. "So who is he? Hang that. How did you manage to sneak out last night – actually, you know what, save it for later. I'm going to need something to distract me from the boredom of jousting. Be out in five otherwise mother's going to come and tell you off again."

Five minutes later, Evie was in the kitchens. It was past breakfast and she didn't want to bother the maids with coming up to the dining hall and serving her, so she grabbed some fruit off the servants pile and made to walk out.

When she ran into a weary eyed and dishevelled squire by the name of Killian Jones.

His mouth fell open when he saw her, and a brief amount of relief crossed his face before he took in the perfectly clean and well kept state of her and it turned to anger. He grabbed her by the arm and pushed her into a storage closet where they could talk more privately.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Evie?!" Killian's eyes were wild as the door shut behind them. "Do you have any idea how scared I was last night? What could have happened to someone like you? I… Fuck, Evie. Where did you go?"

"I…I went home," she lied, breathlessly, a little frightened by Killian's anger and language. She knew that it was common amongst the servants but since she only hung with Killian and no one else, she'd had no reason to hear it…

"You didn't see fit to tell me? To give me any recognition that I'm a human being who might actually worry about you?"

Evie couldn't answer Killian. His words were all truth. She'd run off with Pan for one amazing night without even thinking of the consequences. All she could do was look up at him apologetically and sincerely. But it wasn't enough. The quiet rage quelled but the hurt remained.

"Evelyn!" Snow was calling from the stairwell. Evie left Killian in the storage closet and exited quickly and alone. "Oh, there you are. Emma said she saw you running down here." She was smiling for a moment before her brow furrowed. "Come upstairs quickly, I need to do something with your hair."

And as she sat in front of the Queen's stool in her quarters, Snow braided her brown waves in an intricate swirl around her head. If only for that moment, Evie did feel like a princess. But every time she thought of Killian or Peter, those thoughts faded from her mind.

And she knew that she desperately didn't want to be a princess anymore.