Happy Easter guys!
So it seems to be 2 am and I've just finished this haha. I'm sorry for taking like three weeks to write this! I was confusing myself with timelines and such but I kinda just disregarded all of that.
This the final chapter and it's extra long, yayyy
I hope you like it :)
"It all seems to be going well, Felix," Pan murmured and Felix tossed his club in the air, clumsily catching it. "I hope you're not growing too attached to her."
Felix let the club clatter to the floor after another toss and looked at Pan. "I'm not."
"Good," Pan smirked, a mixture of pride and happiness running through him.
"Why?"
"We can't have my plans depending on your affections for her."
"What, and you think I'd put you in jeopardy, for this girl?" Felix scoffed.
"Of course not," Pan said smoothly.
Felix could already see the wedge of doubt that Sapphire had driven between Pan and himself. He couldn't, no, wouldn't, let that grow any further.
"Which leads me to the point that we have to move to step two. It's time to shake things up." Pan's signature smirk had now returned to his face.
For weeks, Sapphire spent time getting to know Killian, and honestly she couldn't be happier.
But still he kept going on and on about Rumplestiltskin, and his revenge, and although Sapphire was growing closer to her father, she was also being equally pushed away by this thirst for vengeance.
Even small inputs that related to Rumplestiltskin got on her nerves.
One evening, Sapphire was talking to her father about Tiana and Naveen and it was obvious Killian was getting uncomfortable, even quite jealous of the loving way she spoke of them.
"One time, when I was around four…"
Suddenly, Killian broke off her sentence by standing up abruptly.
"I'm tired of hearing about Tiara and Navin -"
"Tiana and Naveen," Sapphire corrected irritably.
"I missed your entire childhood, thanks to the crocodile! Thanks to bloody Rumplestiltskin." He slammed his fist on the desk. "He will pay for this. I will wear his scaled skin as a cape, I will -"
"Enough!" Sapphire yelled and stood up, this was the last straw. "I don't care what he has done to you! Stop living in the past! I'm here now, we can have a future together! I can't stand this anymore – you know what, I'm leaving."
"No, no – Maria- wait,"
"My name is Sapphire," Sapphire hissed.
"I'm sorry, Sapphire. Please, we can have a future, a life! If only you give me a chance."
"A chance? This was your chance. I know, I know, it wasn't your fault that I was taken from you, but move on!"
"I lost my wife and child that day! Do you not understand what this is like for me? I don't even know who you are, but I know this, you're definitely not my child!"
"And you're not my father either! I'll go back to my real parents, Ti -"
"Tiana and Naveen, I get it!" Killian spat and Sapphire spun around and left the room.
Why could he not drag himself out of the past? Vengeance was a terrible black hole which Killian had obviously fallen into, and she didn't know whether he could forget about the past until his thirst for revenge was quenched.
He was frustratingly always under her skin, and she couldn't take it anymore.
Soon, she felt sand underfoot, and was trekking into the jungle, barely remembering the journey from the ship to here.
Seething, she stormed back to the campsite.
Since she had been spending so much time with Killian and his ship (usually sleeping there, too), her tent had been disassembled.
For a moment she stood and thought. She could ask Pan to magic her up a tent, and she could even try do it herself with Neverland's magic, but why would she do that, when she could just stay in a tree house?
"Felix," she whispered, pulling herself fully through the trapdoor. "Felix are you awake?"
"It's not even late," his voice cut through the darkness.
"Huh, maybe for you," Sapphire replied. "Can I sleep here tonight?"
"What happened to the ship? And no, by the way."
"Let's not talk about it,"
"Yes, let's not. So, if you don't mind leaving." Felix said, obviously annoyed.
"Aw, I bet if it was light, I would have interrupted you with your hand down your pants."
"Ha ha." He replied dryly.
"Well, if you're not sleeping, what are you doing?"
"Thinking."
"You don't seem the type," Sapphire pondered. She couldn't really imagine Felix lying in the dark, thinking about the wonders of the world.
"The type to think?" he drawled.
Sapphire sighed. "I'm tired."
"Then go back to the ship, or ask Pan for a tent, or a tree house of your own."
"I'd rather stay with you." This blatant remark hung in the silence for a few moments before Sapphire spoke again. "Stop fighting me, Felix. I know you feel something for me."
More silence.
"Where are you, it's dark in here."
There was a loud thump from one of the corners, not in the general direction of his hammock.
"Was that an invitation?" Sapphire chuckled and felt her way slowly towards the noise.
"Don't push it," he warned and then hissed.
"Sorry, sorry," she stepped carefully around what must have been his leg. A hand grasped her arm and pulled her down to sit beside Felix.
"So you don't break my legs," Felix muttered.
"Sure, sure…" she shifted carefully to be at his side and they sat there together.
A few minutes later Felix felt her head lower itself onto his shoulder.
"Sapphire?" he asked, but it was apparent she was asleep. He glanced at her, but couldn't make out much of her face in the darkness.
Felix looked away, resuming his thoughts.
"Hook,"
Killian jumped, sloshing rum over his desk. He cursed loudly and glared at Pan.
"What? I'd appreciate it if you didn't just appear like that. It's very unnerving."
"My sincerest apologies," Pan said sarcastically and then approached Killian, and placed both of his hands on the desk in a threatening manner. "I just wanted to have a chat. A little heart to heart."
Hook picked up his goblet and drank deeply. "Aye?"
"I heard you and Maria – no, it's Sapphire now, isn't it? Well anyway, I heard you and her had an argument. Over Rumplestiltskin. How tragic."
"What do you want, Pan?"
"I want to let you in on a secret, and don't ask me how I know it. Consider listening and trusting me payment for one of your many, many debts you owe me."
"What is it?"
"I just wanted to tell you," Pan glowered. "That those beans that took Sapphire away all those years ago? They were planted there. By Rumplestiltskin, for revenge."
Killian stood up abruptly, jolting the desk. "What?" He roared, the liquid in the glass had spilt everywhere.
Pan raised an eyebrow and took his palms off the desk before the rum could get to them. It was a victorious motion.
Years earlier, Killian had spent a lot of time working for and in the company of Pan, and now as he struggled to see whether Pan was lying, he knew that Pan was telling the truth, or at least partly.
"Revenge?" Killian seethed. "He got his revenge when he killed Milah and took my hand!"
Ever since that night, Killian had wondered about those beans, as he could never remember taking them, nor placing them there, but he had come to accept that one of his crew must have been hiding them, or hoarding the more valuable treasures.
He'd always thought it was just a terrible coincidence. Killian should've known better than to believe in coincidences.
"And I saw Sapphire minutes earlier. She was in a terrible state, saying things like she wished to never see you again." Pan whispered, having moved around the desk to be on Killian's side. "How does that make you feel?"
It made Killian feel something he'd only felt that fateful night, when everything he held dearest to him had been ripped away unmercifully. All because of the crocodile. A rage swept over him, making his body shake and his mind devoid of any sympathy or rational thought, and then that was followed by a wave of emptiness that filled his entire being.
"Listen carefully. Set sail as soon as possible, to the Enchanted Forest. Find a woman named Belle, she's locked in the Evil Queen's castle. She's Rumplestiltskin's one true love. I'm sure you'll find your way from there."
Pan disappeared after that, and Killian picked up his empty glass and threw it against the wall, causing it to shatter.
The door opened. "Are you alright, captain?" It was Smee.
"I'm fine. Tell the crew to cast off at first light. We're leaving Neverland."
Smee nodded and shut the door behind him, glancing only quickly at the shards of glass littering the floor.
Killian's hand closed around a small bean that now lay on the desk.
Later, he would leave Neverland. Then, he would find and kill the crocodile.
"Hook has left." Pan stated simply, and leant against a tree.
"Already?" Felix looked at him, surprised.
Pan smirked. "You forget what people thirsty for vengeance are like, Felix."
"So what are you going to do now? Just wait until his return with the heart of the truest believer?"
"No, something has changed. The seers say that he will not be the one to bring the boy."
"He won't? Does that mean…"
Pan looked Felix in the eye, trying to hold back a smirk. "Yes. He needn't return to Neverland, so we don't need Sapphire anymore."
There was a small noise from the trees and Felix snapped his head to the noise, Pan raised an eyebrow. "It's probably just an animal."
But it wasn't an animal, it was Sapphire. She cursed herself in her mind for making a noise, and then she backed away slowly, and started to run when she was out of earshot.
They don't need her anymore? What was that supposed to mean?
She stopped to catch her breath. And if Pan didn't need her anymore, for whatever reason she was needed in the first place, then that spelled bad news. Sapphire dreaded to think what Pan did to people once they became useless.
Sapphire remembered when Pan had asked her to stay, to be convinced to stay by Felix. And hearing what he had just said 'something has changed. He won't be the one to bring the boy.' What boy? And by 'he', Sapphire assumed they meant Killian, her father. But if nothing had changed, she would still be needed, so she would be left on this island until whatever Pan wanted her to do was done.
He never planned on giving her a choice.
Her mind worked at a million miles per hour, faster than her legs which pounded on the dirt furiously.
Why would Mama Odie give her a bean to somewhere so dangerous, somewhere where Pan had wanted her to be? Unless… unless she was for some reason working alongside Pan. No, that idea was ridiculous. For years, even before she was born, Tiana and Naveen trusted her utterly, and therefore so did Sapphire, so why would she do something like this? Surely she knew that her being here would be dangerous.
And then it hit her. Pan had probably been controlling her in some way. She stopped in her tracks. All of this must've been a setup.
For minutes she stood and thought, before she heard a noise and she turned around.
"You! I bet you were in on this too!" Sapphire yelled at Felix, shoving him backwards.
"What are you talking about?" He replied coolly.
"What am I talking about? You and Pan! Plotting, every moment, aren't you? How many other Lost Boys were in on it?" She raged and went to hit him, but Felix caught her wrist and wrenched it sideways.
Sapphire yelped and looked at Felix in the eye. Felix turned away quickly.
"Well, it doesn't matter, I'm leaving." With one last emotion filled, fleeting glance, Sapphire turned away. Felix laughed.
"No, you're not." He said and grabbed both of her arms, twisting them around her back so she couldn't move unless she wanted to break something.
"Felix, what are you doing?" she gasped, narrowing her eyes. "Let me go!"
"Even if I were to let you go, how would you do it? No one leaves this island without Pan's permission."
"I can't stay! I don't know what Pan is going to do to me now I'm not needed! Felix, let me go, please. I thought we had something." Sapphire met his cold eyes, pleading.
"Well, you thought wrong." He replied evenly and started dragging her backwards.
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Sapphire sighed. "Really, I am sorry."
And then she lashed out, swiftly kicking him in the groin so he dropped to his knees. As he began to rise, Sapphire landed a kick to his chin, rattling his brain and knocking him out.
She looked down at him, a little sad but overall happy. It would give her enough time to get away but not to do any permanent damage to Felix.
As she ran, she wondered – how would she escape Neverland? Was it a matter of Pan not letting anyone have the means to escape, or was it that it was literally impossible, like there was some kind of barrier?
Barrier or not, Sapphire would have to take the risk.
A name came up in her thoughts: Tinkerbell. Killian and some of the young boys had mentioned her. She was an ex-fairy, maybe she would help.
It wasn't a good idea, running wildly through Neverland with no clue where she was, or no guide. So Sapphire stopped and said in a normal voice. "Tinkerbell?"
In a normal place, this wouldn't be able to be heard by anyone but those in the vicinity of Sapphire, but over the time she had spent here, Sapphire had learnt that sometimes, the trees like to pick up secrets and voices and carry them around the island. Hopefully Tinkerbell would hear her.
After a couple of minutes, someone came through the jungle, a woman that must've been Tinkerbell.
"Are you Tinkerbell?"
"Yes. What do you want?" Tinkerbell grumbled.
"I want help. A way to get off the island."
"Say that was actually possible, why would I help you?" Tinkerbell folded her arms.
"Didn't you used to be a fairy? Don't fairies help people?"
"Used to be, being the key words here."
"Please, if you can't help, then I'll have to do this by myself. I need to get away from here, I don't want to know what Pan has in store for me."
"You're running from Pan?" Tinkerbell laughed a bit and Sapphire narrowed her eyes.
"Well I won't be for long if he catches me!"
"He's already caught you. You're on his island," Tinkerbell paused, but then she conceded. It was hard for her to break a lifetime's habits of helping others.
Tinkerbell turned away and Sapphire followed her.
As they walked, Felix's face reverberated through her mind, focusing on his cold, unforgiving eyes, and she felt her stomach and heart wrench.
If she was leaving, she would have to forget about him, whatever it took.
Sapphire was almost at the beach. She could hear the waves crashing against rocks, when Pan appeared in front of her, giving her a fright.
"Jesus!" she yelled, and then panicked.
"I'm glad you think of me that way," Pan smirked at her and folded his arms, pointedly blocking her path.
"Would you excuse me?" Sapphire asked politely, struggling to get the words out evenly.
"And where would you be going?" he asked, staring her down uncomfortably.
"I was going to the toilet," she said quickly. "So if you wouldn't mind."
"Really? With this?" Suddenly the pouch of pixie dust Tinkerbell had given her was in his hand.
"Give it back!" Sapphire yelled childishly and Pan raised his eyebrows. "It's – it's my bag of feminine hygiene products…"
Pan tossed the pouch back after a moment's hesitation. He smiled, and both of them knew she was lying.
Sapphire went to turn to the right, detouring until she was sure Pan was gone, but he caught her arm, causing her to stop. She shivered and pulled away; she could almost feel the dark, electric current of power in his fingertips.
In that moment, when their eyes met, she knew there truly was no escaping Neverland, not completely, and especially not without his permission.
She swallowed thickly, looking into those dark, seemingly soulless and empty eyes, she thought about Wendy.
"Do you love Wendy?" Sapphire asked bluntly.
He stepped back, surprised. But a cool smile quickly smothered any real show of emotion. "Why do you ask?"
"I mean, what could she possibly give you? Except... oh." For some reason, Sapphire felt protective of this younger girl, who had been taken under the influence of someone so evil. It could only turn out badly for her.
"She gives me things I'm not about to share with you. But sex? No. She's only, what? 14? What do you take me for, Sapphire," he chuckled darkly. "I have others for that."
His voice sent shivers up her spine and she stepped away to increase the distance between them.
She blinked for a moment, wondering if she'd done the right thing before when she was at Tinkerbell's.
"She deserves better than you, Peter Pan." Sapphire stated and turned away, leaving him standing there.
Sooner as oppose to later, he would find out what she'd done. Sooner, rather than later, she wanted to escape this island.
Watching her back disappear through his jungle, Pan decided that it would be later rather than sooner that he'd capture her.
Sapphire felt the waves lap at her feet, and butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Whatever happened next would change her life forever.
Taking a deep breath, she shook the remaining pixie dust into her palm, which she then shook over herself.
Once she felt her feet rise, she gasped in a mixture of relief and delight. Unsteadily, she rose above the sea and quickly away from the island.
She wondered what'd be like when she could no longer see the outline of Neverland in the horizon, what'd be like when she got home to her family and friends, to regale them with the stories they'd probably never believe the half of.
But deep down she knew it was never going to work. It was a long shot and a vain attempt to escape Pan.
With any luck, Tinkerbell would still be hiding Wendy until the optimal moment.
An arrow soared through the sky and she swerved out of the way. She was barely any distance away from Neverland.
Another arrow came, but this time, it embedded itself in her leg, causing her to go tumbling down towards the depths of the ocean.
Oh crap, was the last thought she had before the sedative in the arrow made her lose consciousness.
"She's just a girl, Felix. She can be shot with an arrow," Pan had encouraged him before he'd shot any arrows. But both of them knew that worrying he would miss wasn't the reason he didn't want to shoot. "I'll catch her." Pan reassured him.
"I know," Felix nodded and drew the arrow back. The first one missed, but the second landed successfully in her leg.
"Good job." Pan nodded approvingly, and then with a twist of his hand, in the distance, Sapphire's limp body stopped falling and returned to them.
They lay her body out on the sand and Pan knelt down beside her as Felix stood up on the other side.
He hadn't seen Pan do this many times before, but he knew the basics: wipe their memory, replace them with fake memories, send them someplace else, and then they're stuck the way they are for how many years of their age, until they reach their birthday and move on.
For Sapphire, she would be stuck the way she was for about seventeen years, Felix guessed. Then she would start aging again, and be able to build a real life with real memories.
"Don't worry, Felix. I'm in a good mood, and I'm giving her mostly good memories. We wouldn't want her needing to return to Neverland."
Felix knew that Pan was probably giving her good memories, or perhaps just saying so for his benefit. They both knew that they rarely got anyone over 17 coming to Neverland.
Pan glanced up. "It's done."
"Good." Felix replied and Pan looked back down, waving his hand over her body so it slowly disappeared to a new place.
For a moment they both just stood there, thinking along the same lines. It had all gone to plan. Sapphire was gone, and without any lasting damage or trouble. Pan would still get what he wanted so badly, and Felix… well, Felix was irrelevant, expendable.
But then Wendy Darling appeared through the trees, just ahead of them. Felix looked at Pan, but he knew that Pan wasn't expecting her company.
The two eternal teenagers stood on the sand as the younger girl approached them. Neither of them made a move when Wendy stood before them, shivering. They both knew something was off.
Her seemingly empty eyes flicked between them, before landing on Felix. "Um, excuse me. Sorry to be a bother, but could you tell me where I am?" Her eyes were wide and panicked, wondering how she could possibly be on a beach.
Pan's eyes widened and Felix looked at him, worried about what his next action might be.
"Yes. You're in Neverland." Pan said in a tight voice.
The previously clear sky suddenly turned grey and thundery like Peter Pan's face, and it began to rain and thunder furiously.
"Felix, how about you go and make our guest feel at home. And get her some warm clothes too." He added in second thought, and then turned away, fist clenched, and marched into the jungle.
By the tone of his voice, Felix doubted Pan meant anything other than a cage for Wendy, and Felix felt a little pity for her.
"Follow me," Felix said to the shivering girl and led her the way back towards camp.
For her own sake, Felix hoped that Sapphire would never find a way back onto Neverland.
Saffron's head spun as she sat up and pushed herself against the wall. What on Earth was happening? Was this a dream?
She blinked and looked around, before pinching herself. "Definitely real…" she murmured quietly to herself.
Pan, Felix and Tinkerbell came into focus, leaning over her.
"Is she alright?" Tinkerbell and Felix asked in unison and then glared at each other.
"No, I am most definitely not fine. I just fell off a freaking cliff!"
"You jumped, actually." Felix corrected her.
"Details, details…" Saffron screwed her eyes shut again, no matter how hard she tried to act normal on the outside, she couldn't hide the inner turmoil. Two lives fought for places to slot their memories, and it felt like her brain just wasn't big enough.
As the fake memories of Saffron's childhood fully trickled away, she was almost fully Sapphire, except for the time she had spent here in Neverland as Saffron.
It still hurt her head an awful lot, as two opposing personalities battled for dominance.
Her eyes zoned in especially on Pan first, and the Saffron part of her body jerked backwards awkwardly.
After another few silent moments, Saffron smiled a little, trying to redeem herself. "Hey guys, long time no see! Or is it, really? I mean, I kind of did see you both before. But does before really count? Like, I guess -"
She stopped blabbering when Felix and Pan stood up at the same time and walked to opposite sides of the room, both for completely different reasons, Saffron suspected.
"Seems like they're both getting a little sexually frustrated, huh?" she laughed quietly to Tinkerbell, who smiled a little grimly in return.
But then all of a sudden, she was being pinned to the wall by Pan's magic. It felt like her throat was being crushed, and it was all she could do to breathe and make useless choking noises.
"Yes, does before really count? I mean, I was a bit unfair, wasn't I? Torturing poor Saffron for something she didn't even do! But now, it's Sapphire, too. I still haven't punished her, have I?" He hissed at her and then let her collapse on the floor, sucking in breath.
"Hey, I am Saffron too, you know," she coughed. "I still have those memories. No need to relive them." Unconsciously, she touched the corner of her mouth.
"How about we make some new ones?" Pan's eyes gleamed. With her old memroies back, she could remember what his eyes looked like before. Now, they seemed even colder. Lifeless, possibly even more unforgiving. Had she done this? Had she turned a monster into the devil himself?
Saffron's eyes flicked first to Tinkerbell, who was looking away awkwardly and then to Felix. Her eyes almost seemed to scream 'don't do this to me again', but he wouldn't meet them.
Even after everything, when Felix deliberately turned his head away from Saffron, it felt like something inside her died.
"Sounds fun! But we should probably take it outside, we wouldn't want to mess up all of Tinkerbell's stuff. Oh, and do you plan on letting me live this time, or not?"
Pan smirked. "Not likely."
"Would you mind letting me say goodbye then?" Saffron put on a fake pout face and Pan snorted.
"Sure," he said, before disappearing from the tree house.
Saffron went to stand in front of Felix, but first she looked at Tinkerbell and they gave each other a small smile of understanding. Then Tinkerbell exited the tree house and it was just the two of them.
Saffron took both of his hands and opened her mouth, but no words came out.
"There's nothing I can do, Pan's made up his mind." Felix said, looking away. Saffron brought her hand to his cheek and moved his head so he faced her again.
But Saffron didn't want to talk about Pan, not now, when she had so little time left.
"Whatever we had," she spoke softly. "I don't know what it was, but it wasn't love. Maybe it was me, forcing emotions from you that you didn't have. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything."
Now would be the time they would hug, if they knew how. But they both just stood there in silence.
A tear even found its way out of her eye and rolled down her cheek. Now would be the time he would wipe it away and say something, anything. But it fell down until it hit the ground.
"Can I kiss you now?" Saffron asked quietly.
"Go ahead," Felix said in monotone and then their lips met.
It was nothing like the kisses they'd shared so long ago. Both of their eyes were open, as if they couldn't find the will to close and miss out on seeing each other. Their lips moved slowly, almost sweetly.
It was ironic how what should've been their first kiss ended up to be their last.
Then they broke apart and without another word, she turned away and headed towards the trapdoor.
Felix willed himself to do something. To move, to stop her, or to say something. But it would all be useless anyway. There was nothing he could do.
Instead, he sat down in the corner of the tree house and took out a small knife and rock from his cloak and began sharpening the knife.
Saffron felt her feet touch the moist ground and she looked at Pan. She jutted out her chin confidently.
Pan glanced up at the tree house, wondering about Felix and how he would feel about hearing her screams. But then he remembered that he didn't really care too much about how Felix would feel.
"Let's get this over with," she sighed, feeling like her whole entire existence had been leading up to this moment.
Saffron took in a breath of preparation, and now she was ready.
So that's it, I hope you liked it! I might write a small epilogue thing but probably not. Sorry if this is bad, but i'm terrible at writing endings (especially happy ones).
If you have any questions, just leave a review, or pm me.
Also, I want to leave a little shout out to Captain Bitcherica, for constant reviews and support!
I might get around to writing an actual Panfic (I won't trick you into reading a Felix one like I did this time haha oops), so watch out for that if you want.
Thank you and remember to review :)