So before I dive into the next chapter, I wanna apologize for the long delay. As usual, real life got in the way and I'm sorry. I have to give a special shout out to PrueAndyForever. Her review of the last chapter was by far one of the sweetest reviews I've ever received. I'm glad there are fic writers out there who truly enjoy and understand what it means to tackle hard subjects. I truly appreciate the review, and I love that pen name; do I sense a fellow Charmed fan? Lol. Anywho, I'm not posting that long list of disclaimers anymore, I'm only forewarning when a chapter has heavy subject matter. This chapter is basically a filler chapter; we've got one final chapter after this before we leave Neverland. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews, and if you get bored, I've got a slew of one-shots that I'm going to be posting in "The New Definition of Love: One Shots" series just in case you can't wait any longer for an update on this fic. Also, I'm doing a re-write of season 5 called "Darkness", feel free to check that one out as well!

Enjoy!

Xx

Storybrooke-1 Week Earlier

Crossing realms was an easy task for a mermaid; they were magical creatures who lived underwater. They didn't need magic beans, ruby slippers and other objects; as long as there was some sort of pond, lake, or ocean their journey would be easy. Ariel's head bobbed above the surface; the lights from the sun were blinding, so blinding that she had to shield her eyes. From the distance she could make out the tiny town of Storybrooke; it was exactly like Regina had said. Reaching into the pouch around her waist, she pulled out the magical bracelet and placed it on her arm. The water was shallow enough that she could stand, and on shaky legs, she made her way towards the shore.

Grumpy and the other dwarf's were having lunch out near the pier when they noticed a figure emerge from the water. Immediately, the dwarfs ran down to the shore to get a better look.

"Hi, my name's Ariel; I was hoping you all could tell me where I could find someone named…Belle?" The dwarves stood with their mouths ajar; they couldn't believe it, standing in front of them was a mermaid, a mermaid with legs at that!

Neverland: Present

"What do you mean Pan's on to us?" Regina asked as she and the others stood near the water's edge.

"Storybrooke's not as safe as you thought it would be; there are people in your town who've been working for Pan," Ariel said as Regina sighed.

"Someone in town is working for Pan? Great, this is exactly what we need; where did you leave them?" Regina asked.

"I left them tied up in Rumpelstiltskin's shop with Belle," Ariel said as a faint smile appeared on Rumple's face.

"Belle will know what to do with them," Rumple murmured.

"So what do we do now?" Emma asked, looking to Regina for answers.

"You said you had a plan, tell us what it is," Regina sighed heavily before she and Gold exchanged glances.

"Like Regina said, we had a plan, and that plan was to trap Pan in this box, but now that he knows what we're up to, we need a different strategy." Gold said.

"Which is?" Charming asked

"You need bait," Tinkerbell said as everyone turned to look at her.

"She's right; if anyone knows this island its Tinkerbell and me," Hook said.

"Alright pirate, what do you two suggest?" Gold asked.

"Regina, you need to go into the camp and pretend that you're gonna do what Pan asked," Hook said as Robin shook his head.

"Are you all mad? You want to send her in there to Pan after-" Regina placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from talking.

"Robin, I'll be fine; Henry's my son and I'd be willing to do anything for him," There was a look in Regina's eyes that begged Robin to trust her.

"Alright just…be careful," Robin murmured as Regina nodded.

"Robin's right, after what Pan made her go through in those dreams…Regina, are you sure you can handle it?"

"I handled my mother for years, survived being Rumple's student, was trapped in a curse for 28 years and was electrocution for 2 whole days before we got here. I'm sure I can handle Peter Pan." Regina said as Emma nodded.

"You might be able to, but we still need a well thought out plan that convinces Pan that this is serious," Tinkerbell said.

"And just how do we do that?" David asked as Regina looked around at everyone.

"Pan wants me to turn into the Evil Queen; that's the only way he can get what he needs. If he wants the Queen then, I'll just have to bring her out to play for a while." Regina said with a smile as Rumple snorted.

"Something you wanna say Gold?" Regina raised an eyebrow at the imp who merely shook his head.

"I've known Peter Pan for quite some time and he's far from stupid. If I'm right, he's been watching you, watching all of us and will be able to tell that you aren't the queen, not anymore." Rumple said, staring at Regina before he continued.

"You haven't been the Evil Queen for quite some time dearie; having your boy has made you go soft. Sure, you aligned with your mother to try and destroy everyone but, you've changed. Love has made you lose your edge; Pan won't buy into your act for one second. And if you should try and pretend, he'll put you to the test and make you prove it; and we both know you're not willing to do whatever it takes," Regina's nostrils flared in anger as she listened to Rumpelstiltskin's words.

"I think you're forgetting who I am; I'm the same woman who cast a curse and destroyed an entire population. I'm also the same woman who poisoned Snow White, I'm also the very same person who was able to fool you into believing that Belle was dead when she was really locked away in an asylum for 28 years. I ripped out my own father's heart to cast that curse and betrayed my only friend, turned her into a dragon and kept her locked away underneath the town library. I came here, against my will to get my son back, so don't you dare try and tell me I won't do whatever it takes. You created me Gold, you know who I am; don't think for one second that the Evil Queen's gone anywhere," Regina snarled as Rumple stood there, unmoved and unfazed by her words.

"If you're still the Evil Queen, rip out his heart," Rumple said; his eyes never left Regina's, though his hand pointed towards Robin Hood.

Regina gulped as she glanced back at Robin; maybe Gold was right, maybe she wasn't cut out for this. Maybe she wasn't the Evil Queen anymore? No, he wasn't right; she needed to do whatever it took to get Henry back, and if that meant ripping out Robin's heart then dammit she'd do it. Slowly, she made her way over to Robin whose eyes reflected something similar to her own; fear. She knew that there was some sort of connection between the two of them. How could she not after the amazing kiss they'd just shared? Still, she needed to do this, to prove to Gold and everyone else that she could do it, that she could still be just as evil and just as ruthless.

"This is going to hurt," Regina whispered to Robin who nodded.

"Are you giving your victim's warnings now? The Evil Queen I knew-"Rumple began as Regina plunged her hand into Robin's chest, effectively pulling out his heart. Regina stared at the beating organ in wonder; while it wasn't as dark as her own, there were still shades of darkness. He hadn't been kidding when he said that the darkness resided within him as well. Regina looked at Rumple, still holding the pulsing organ in her hands as she ignored the pain that she felt within her own heart.

"Well?" She asked as Rumple stared at her, neither one of them blinking.

"Squeeze it; squeeze it until he's near the brink of death," Rumple commanded.

Immediately, there was a gasp of outrage at Rumple's command, but instead, Regina held up a hand and froze them all in place. She kept her eyes on Rumple and Rumple only; she needed to do this. She swallowed audibly as she willed her hand to stop shaking as she held up Robin's heart and began to squeeze. She forced the muscles in her face to remain relaxed as Robin's screams filled the forest air around them. She pushed back tears as she heard Robin's body fall to the ground beside her. Her eyes were on Rumple and Rumple alone; she needed to prove to him that she could do this.

Rumple, however, stood unmoving as he watched her squeeze the heart looking unconvinced and unamused. Still, Regina stood her ground and continued to squeeze, despite the way she could feel her own heart constricting. She felt her hand twitch when Robin's breathing became more labored; he was nearing death and she knew it, could feel it. Rumple kept his eyes focused on her, waiting to see if she would break, to see if she would stop. She could only hope that Robin would forgive her, that is if he even survived this. His heart was beginning to slow, only a few faint beats per second in her hand.

"Stop," Rumple finally commanded as her hand dropped with relief, though she made sure not to let Robin's heart fall to the ground.

"Put his heart back in his chest," Regina didn't need to be told twice. She immediately rushed to Robin's side, cradling his head in her lap as she quietly reassured him that he would be alright. His eyes were glassy, but he still managed to look at her with hope. She carefully pressed the organ back into his chest and waited for that telltale sign of breathing or for his color to change back to its normal rosy pink color.

But it didn't.

"What's happening? Why isn't he-"

"You nearly crushed it into ash; he's still dying Regina…now save him," Regina's eyes went wide at Rumple's command. She'd never done this before; when she crushed hearts they usually turned into ash and she thought nothing of it. She'd never had to save a victim from the brink of death.

"How!?" Rumple smirked.

"Figure it out; he's only got a few moments left to live," Regina glared at Rumple before looking down at Robin.

Fuck, how was she supposed to fix this? And what the hell was the point of this little exercise?!

"Tick tock dearie, tick tock; I'd hate for young Roland to be an orphan all because the Evil Queen killed his father," Regina paused as she looked up at Rumple, who suddenly morphed into Peter Pan.

"You, but where's-"

"Rumple? He's in here," Pan said as Pandora's Box appeared in his hands.

"But-"

"Did you really think that I'd just let you all get away so easily?" Pan laughed as he moved closer to Regina, a sinister grin on his face.

"I tried to warn you not to cross me, but you did. Now, someone has to pay the price and it looks like its going to be your little soulmate," Pan whispered in her ear as Regina looked up at him completely shocked.

"Oh yes, I know all about that and many other things as well…but that's beside the point. Your time is running out Regina," Pan said as she looked down at Robin.

How in the hell was she supposed to save him? Rumple had always told her that you couldn't bring people back from the dead…but Robin wasn't exactly dead, yet. Taking a deep breath, Regina held her hands out over his chest, calling forth her magic to save Robin. It didn't seem to be working; she closed her eyes, focusing hard on her magic but still, nothing worked.

Robin was going to die.

"No, no, no, no; it wasn't supposed to end like this," Regina whispered, still cradling Robin's body in her arms as Pan stood over her and laughed.

"I told you, Peter Pan never fails…unfortunately for you, I'm gonna have to take Henry's heart by force," Pan said as Regina looked at him in horror.

"Oh yes, Henry's heart still belongs to me, seeing as it was promised to me a long time ago," There was something in the way that Pan said those words that sent a chill down Regina's spine.

"What do you mean you were promised Henry's heart a long time ago?" Pan circled her, laughing slowly, menacingly as he spoke.

"Oh, that's right; Rumple never told you, he never told any of you about how we know one another. Well, I'll enlighten you; Rumple and I are brothers. When our parents abandoned us and we ended up here, I couldn't stay because I was too old. There was one way I could; I had to absorb all of the magic of the island. It cursed the island but I became youthful…that is until the magic started wearing away. The only way for me to stay this way is to obtain the heart of the truest believer; a heart that I later learned would come through my baby brother's lineage. Of course, you know that your son Henry holds that heart, and I'm going to get it, one way or another. Like I said, Regina, you can help me willingly or I can force you to help me. So, what's it going to be Regina? Watch Robin and your son die, or give me Henry's heart and I'll show you how to save Robin?"

Chapter 10 to follow…

Yes, yes I know; not what you were expecting huh? Neither was I but when I started writing, I felt a plot twist coming and, I went with it. We only have one more chapter after this one before we leave Neverland and head into part II. I can't say what's going to happen in the next chapter or when I'll be posted because again, real life and stuff. I do know that everyone will leave Neverland alive and in one piece…as to whether or not everyone survives the rest of the story well, you'll just have to keep reading, won't you?

Xx