The hourglass sifted sand in a smooth constant stream but now the particles were trickling through, collecting in a huge pile in the bottom half. It had almost run its course. Henry stood before it, mesmerized and it was there Wendy found him.
"You're here," she sighed in relief as he turned. He was wet and she realised he must have swam to get across.
"I thought the Lost Boys had gotten you! My family isn't here! And I can't find the Never Bird!" he cried in desperation and Wendy smiled. She went to his side and looked up at the hourglass. For some reason it looked smaller to her.
"The Lost Boys are outside. It's okay, they answer to me now," she explained calmly when he looked stricken. Henry smiled, impressed and followed her gaze.
"It's almost run out."
"Yes. When the last grain falls magic will end and Peter will die. He said it's been here for as long as he can remember but his memory is not the most reliable…" she trailed off, looking miserably at the sand and Henry frowned at her.
"I don't understand why you're here. In the story you leave and grow up, have a family. He visits your kids and grandkids because you're the only thing he remembers."
"Maybe in another universe that's the tale but not here. My story is a very long one and as you can see we don't have time for it…" Wendy laughed quietly. "Do you know I've never read it? I couldn't make myself do it…but are you shocked that it's different?"
"No, not really. I have a book back home, a storybook about fairy tale characters and everything in it is true. It's how I knew that Storybrooke was cursed. I guess you're in there…and I guess I am too," he added with a peculiar look and Wendy felt sorry for him. It was a bizarre existence they led.
"I'm glad that we have a chance to talk Henry because there are some things I want to say." She motioned for him to follow her and they sat on some rocks with a view of the sea. The water was growing increasingly choppy. Henry stared out at the ocean hungrily.
"I hope they come soon, I want to go home."
"I know, I know you do but please just listen to me first. I won't stop you from leaving but I think it's important that you know the truth, about why you've been brought here."
"What truth?"
"About yourself. Peter told you that you own the Heart of the Truest Believer and he's twisted that fact into something that's not true. He told you that the only way to save magic was to give him your heart and the only way he could do that was if you believed in him. He can only take your heart if you offer it to him freely."
Henry listened quietly, his face set but here he started to frown. "I don't believe in him," he said and the sky outside darkened even more and lightening flickered. Wendy's heart thudded and she gripped Henry's arm.
"Then believe in me. I have spent a long time looking the other way, pretending that this was not going to happen but it is. I knew what Peter planned and I helped him because I don't want him to die, I love him…but I don't want you to be killed either. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, just know that I'm sorry and I want to tell you the truth because since you've got here you've been manipulated and mislead."
"Wait. You don't want me to be killed? He – he's gonna kill me?" he grew pale and she could see a devastating hurt and betrayal in his eyes. She put her arm around his shoulders.
"If you agree to trade hearts with him you will die because Peter's heart is cursed. I suppose if you didn't take his heart you would live but I can't say for how long. Look," she said and moved over to the hourglass again. She knelt down at the base and pulled seaweed and vines away to reveal a box that she had hidden in a crag. Henry peered over her shoulder as she opened it and he drew back. Inside was a small, dying black heart.
"What's wrong with it?"
"He saved my life and as a result was cursed," she explained softly, drawing out the thimble necklace that she had hidden in the box along with the heart. Henry looked surprised as she put the chain around her neck.
"He saved your life?"
"Yes. It's complicated but he is capable of love…he was," she corrected sadly and looked at Henry's unconvinced face.
"I found you in a cage."
"It's complicated," she replied briskly and he shrugged. Wendy gently took out the heart and Henry peered at it with a look of horrified fascination, an expression that most children have when faced with the grotesque.
"Is there a cure?"
"Yes. You," Wendy said simply and Henry blinked, looking up at her.
"Me?"
"That's why I brought you here. I have a plan, a very, very simple plan really but it relies on you. Henry with your heart anything you believe can become a reality. Peter's heart was once like yours and anything he wished for became real. Neverland is his creation, he fashioned an entire realm through the power of belief. But now his heart is withering away and so is the island…" they stared down at the feebly beating organ before Henry tore his gaze away.
"I can't create an entire world."
"Henry you have no idea how powerful you are. I know that you grew up being told that the things you believed to be real were fake, that you were crazy but you knew it was real. Look at you family, look where you come from! Magic runs through your veins."
"That's my mom, both of them. I don't have magic," his shoulders slumped.
"No but you have the ability to create it. You've spent a long time believing in others, in how special they were even if they couldn't see it in themselves. It's time for you to do the same," Wendy said and a light of acceptance started to glimmer in his eyes. Wendy gripped the small thimble in her hand and inhaled sharply. It was growing hotter. "Peter is coming, this thimble is enchanted to find him." Even though his impending arrival was a hinderance she smiled in relief. He was awake, she wasn't too late.
She took Henry's hand and pulled him to a gap in the wall behind the hourglass. A ruined stairwell lead to the back of the rock and there a massive cage stood. Henry froze, mouth falling open as the Never Bird lifted her head weakly and stared down at them. A white feather floated downwards where it burned up into ash before hitting the ground.
"Is that a phoenix?! Cool!"
"Are you pure of heart? Have you ever taken a life?" Wendy asked, making him face her. Henry shook his head, shocked at her question. "I had to ask, I'm surrounded by murderous boys."
"What do I have to do?" he asked as Wendy pushed him towards the cage. In the distance she could hear crowing and knew that Peter was approaching with his own gang of boys. Just as it had been years ago in London it appeared their loyalty was now split between Peter and Wendy. At least she hoped the boys with her would stay loyal. She peered over the edge and saw her personal guard still standing below, the waves crashing around them. Their arrows were drawn and ready.
"Save his heart," she turned and offered him it but Henry shook his head.
"What?" he blinked, staring at the heart as if it would infect him.
"I've been here for a long time, thinking of ways to save him and everyone here and it all comes down to you. Peter thinks you were born to save him and I think he was right but not in the way he wants. I knew that one day Peter would be too weak to lead and that I'd have my chance and it's now. I'm risking everything on this plan but it's only possible if you break the curse over his heart."
"I - I don't know how! My mom, she's the curse breaker, she's the saviour not me!"
"Listen to me! Peter thinks that he can take your heart and carry on like normal but I was told that he would be cursed worse than ever. I don't know what exactly will happen but I don't think any of us will escape it," she thought back to the desolation of Fantasia and the lone ruler floating all alone and suppressed a shudder. "It's imperative that you don't give him your heart but you have the power to save his Henry."
"Why?" he asked simply and Wendy straightened. The boy had the heart of the Truest Believer but that did not mean the owner had to be kind. Peter never had been and Henry Mills was raised by Regina Mills, the Evil Queen and now it showed. Wendy smiled in the face of it.
"It's true you could let him die and take his place but are you prepared for that fate? Peter has been here for centuries, for almost five hundred years. He's forgotten how long he's been here because he's had to. Can you imagine being alone, being eleven years old and convinced that you and only you could save magic? Of course you can because you're living it. Peter was tricked, he was stuck on this island by a person who would have you stay here for an eternity if she could."
"What are you talking about?" he demanded as rain began to splash down around them. Waves crashed against the rocks and their hair whipped around in the wind that was growing stronger. Soon the waves would wash over the rock and cast them into the sea.
"The Blue Fairy. She's the reason Peter is here, she's the reason everyone was cursed and sent to Storybrooke, she's the reason your mother was raised an orphan and so much more. Do you understand? Peter was cursed but before that she was using him to produce magic, maybe even to feed off it to live as long as she has but she knew he would die and you would be his replacement. I think she wants you here forever. You think Peter is your enemy, as Regina and Rumpelstiltskin, but they're just puppets who don't know they've got strings."
Henry's eyes stared out of a pale, appalled face and he had never looked so young. "I – I don't want to be here forever! I want to go home…" he cried out and Wendy nodded, gripping his shoulders. He narrowed his eyes at her, half convinced and she could not blame him. The Blue Fairy had fooled everyone. "If what you're saying is true the Blue Fairy is back in Storybrooke. She's never done anything, she's a nun. Why would she do any of that?"
"I'm not sure but there must be a reason. All this stretches back well beyond us. She's like a spider in the centre of a web she's created."
Henry tilted his head, thoughtful. "My mom, Regina, suspected that her magic was fading."
"I imagine it is and now you know why. Please Henry, please help me. Save Peter and then you and your family can go home. Don't let history repeat itself," she begged and after a long tense pause he nodded.
"I'll try."
"Thank you. You're a very brave boy Henry, you really are. If you succeed I'll place you in there until your family arrives," she motioned to the cage as the rain started to pour down around them and the wind picked up into a gale. "The Never Bird kills anything with an impure heart but you'll be safe in there…Peter may still get to you." Even with his heart restored she could not predict what Peter would do. He was dangerous, cured or not.
"Then what?"
"Henry will you give me your heart?" she asked quietly, holding her breath and Henry tilted his head in confusion.
"Do you want to use it?"
"No, I can't even if I wanted to. I want us to trade hearts. I'll give you my heart and we'll store yours in the cage with the Never Bird. That way Peter can't get it."
"You - you's do that for me?"
"Yes," was all she would say but she meant it.
"But if he's heartless can't he get in? Or send someone else?"
"It's possible but like I said I've been planning for this day for a long time. I hope by the time he arrives here getting your heart will be pointless. Restore him to what he once was and no one has to die," she urged and closed his hands gently around the black heart. "If you don't we're doomed."
Henry worried at his lip, staring between her and the heart in his hands and then closed his eyes. Wendy stepped back, lacing her fingers together and for the first time in a century prayed, bringing her clasped hands up to her lips. The boy, his brown hair plastered to his head, concentrated hard until his face relaxed and a half smile played over his lips as belief and his unwavering heart took over. Neverland was made for and by a child but that child was long gone and in his increasing withdrawal it slumbered. Now it knew the touch of a new playmate and welcomed it.
Wendy inhaled a breath and held it.
A brilliant burst of golden light erupted out from the heart in Henry's hands and exploded outwards like a star going super nova. Wendy dropped to the ground, shielding her eyes as the ripple of light expanded out from Skull Rock and through the entire island. Near to the shore, in the shadows of the jungle, Peter swayed against Felix and fell to his knees.
"Did it work?!"
Wendy jumped up with a smile but a doubt growing in her heart. She had envisioned the clouds burning away and the island arced by blue skies but the clouds rolled just as darkly overhead and the rain continued to pour. She moved to Henry and peered down at his cupped hands. The blackened, rotting heart was now gone and in its place was a heart that pulsed with a fiery red light. In the gloom it looked like Henry had a small sun glowing in his fist. Feeling weak with relief and triumph Wendy was about to scream in happiness when she realised what was making Henry frown.
"Is – is it meant to look like that?"
"No, no it's not," she whispered sadly. Though Peter's heart now shone like sunlight in the centre was a tiny speck of darkness. "I suppose not even magic can remove a sin."
"I'm sorry," Henry whispered as Wendy took Peter's heart back. She stared at him in surprise and laughed.
"Don't be! You did it! As much as it was possible to. I didn't even know if it would work and I had so much riding on it but I believed," she said and felt a great weight lifting off her as the Jolly Roger suddenly sailed into view. The Lost Boys below aimed at the ship but did not fire, waiting for Wendy's word. Henry waved at the ship is frantic joy before turning to Wendy.
"Did I do it? Did I save magic?" he stared around the rock in panic as the island started to tremor and Wendy looked at the Never Bird in confusion.
"I don't understand. I thought saving Peter would restore the island too. It should be fine," she said weakly as the Never Bird stood feebly up on her perch. A great cascade of feathers floated to the ground and combusted into flames.
"Henry!" a voice bellowed and Wendy turned to see Peter standing on the shore. He was leaning on Felix but she thought he looked healthier. Or maybe that was what she wanted to see.
"Peter! He did it! He saved your heart!" she lifted it into the air where it shone like a star and in a blink he was standing before her. He swayed on his feet, arms thrown out for balance as if the feat had cost him something. The sky was now a brownish black, like drying blood. Henry backed up against the cage as the Never Bird stirred, making a strange sound that made the hair rise on Wendy's arms.
"What are you talking about?"
"It's shining Peter! Look," she offered it to him and after a pause he took it tentatively. For a fleeting moment hope shone in his eyes but then he saw the speck of corruption at the centre and his face settled into a passive mask.
"It's still cursed."
"I know but if you come back to London it will be kept at bay like it could have been years ago! You won't be cured but it won't spread any further!" she urged him but he gazed at her through hooded dead eyes. He lifted his hand and his heart rolled off his fingertips to the ground like it was no more than spoiled fruit.
"What use is it to me when his pure heart is right there?" he asked as Wendy quickly snatched up his discarded heart and cradled it to her chest. Peter looked upwards as thunder boomed and lightening flashed.
"Peter please! Your arrogance will be your undoing!"
He looked down with a smile. "This is what you've been planning? I thought you'd try to stop me even if it meant the end of Neverland but I see your true intentions now. Your attempt was admirable but in the end futile. Look around you bird, has it made any difference? Maybe after all this time my heart had nothing to do with it. It's a lost cause but his is not," he moved towards Henry but Wendy stepped in front of him, shielding the younger boy.
"You know you can't take it from him without his permission."
"Oh I know, so I'll just have to do something to hurry up that agreement," he said cheerfully and Wendy grew cold at the malice in his eyes. Usually they danced with joy but now the games were over. She backed away until Henry was pushed against the cage door.
"Peter, what's wrong with you?! All I've ever dreamed of was undoing the curse and then we could change this place for the better! If you take his heart you'll be beyond saving, I know it," she offered her hand to him, gazing at him with a jittery tenderness. "Go, come away with me."
"Go? I'm so close to winning but my time is running out! The sand in the hourglass is still falling, I can feel it. I'm sorry, I know you meant well, but I've waited too long for this to give up now. Get out of my way."
"Henry get in the cage! Now!" Wendy yelled and Henry did not need to be told twice. He wrenched the gate open and the great fire bird started to flap its wings, leaving a trail of flames in her wake. Wendy was about to follow him in when a hand wrapped around her arm and pulled her around.
"Did it ever occur to you dearie that maybe this playground wasn't meant to be saved?" The Dark One asked in a cheerful tone and then plunged his hand into her chest and ripped out her heart.
a.n:
Rumple don't play around...
So that's Wendy's plan. It's pretty obvious and simple really but I didn't want to over complicate it. Having said that don't underestimate Wendy, she's crafty ;)
Thanks so much for the supportive feedback about updating, it takes a pressure off. More to come soon!
