Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been updating this too often, school has been brutal! I hope you enjoy!
Oh, and PLEASE review! They've kinda been lacking lately… BUT, Thank you everyone who does! They meant the world to me! :D
Disclaimer: I own my characters.
I squeezed. My heart emanated a bright red glow, a stabbing pain creating in my chest, but refused to crush. I squeezed again. The same results as before.
"What the hell?" I whispered in a slight grunt, my strength being exerted on trying to crush my own heart.
"Aqua?" I heard the horrified voice of Belle behind me.
"What the bloody hell are you trying to do dearie?" I heard the impish voice of Rumplestiltskin say.
I whipped around to see equally as horrified faces.
"I just wanted the pain to end. Now, why won't this work?" I asked, trying to crush my heart again, the stabbing feeling in my chest returned, but my heart remained intact.
"Put your heart back, and I'll explain everything." Rumple said calmly, Belle looking ready to cry in hysterics and pull her hair out from stress.
I was like a daughter to her. To want to kill myself was like telling her she failed at protecting me. With that thought, I sighed and put my heart back.
They sighed in relief before entering my room. Belle sat on my right side, taking my hands in hers while Rumple sat on my left.
"You have a special heart. One that can turn people good, make their own corrupted hearts become new again. Your heart can heal people, and a power like that has to be protected. Your heart protects itself, it's impossible to crush." Rumple said gravely.
"Impossible?" I questioned.
"You could throw it in a wood chipper and it'd come out whole dearie." Rumple said, helping me to lighten the mood somewhat.
"Your heart," Belle continued, "is commonly known as Titan Cor, or the Titanium Heart."
"But, you mustn't let your heart corrupt. If it corrupts, it isn't able to fix itself, and your gift is destroyed." Rumple said.
I stayed silent, zoning out somewhat. I didn't know what to think, but I knew what I had to do. I couldn't let my heart corrupt.
"Thank you for the information." I said, still looking down.
Rumple and Belle got up to leave.
"Sleep darling, you look tired." Belle said, tucking me in like a mother would, shutting off my light, and closing the door behind Rumple and herself.
I fell into a deep sleep, eventually finding myself in Neverland.
Peter's POV
An hour ago
I was researching intently into the blood magic shield, needing to know what the riddle to break it meant.
I was growing tired by the minute, deciding to check up on Aqua before I went to sleep.
I conjured up her picture, smiling slightly seeing her on her bed. My smile turned into a grimace of horror as she ripped her heart out, and squeezed it.
My concentration broke, causing the picture to fade as I sunk to my knees.
"That's it. She- she's…" I whispered, unable to bring myself to say the word I'd been dreading since she was stolen from me.
"Dead." I said, so softly I couldn't even hear myself over the buzzing ringing in my head, the numbing pain that rippled from my heart causing me to clutch my chest in agony. Tears began streaming down my face.
I lost the two people that meant the most to me in life; my child, and the girl I wanted to spend an eternity with.
A hiccup sound escaped my body, my lungs screaming in pain from my lack of breathing. I supposed I forgot how to.
I thought of my child, my beloved child. I had been thinking of middle names for him or her.
If it were a girl, I'd name her Lucile after my mother, who had cared immensely for me before she perished giving birth to my stillborn sister Marie.
If it were a boy, I'd name him Felix, after my loyal best friend who had always been like a brother to me.
But now, I'd never get to meet him or her, and it broke my heart. Then, seeing an image of Aqua's limp, broken body shattered it completely into a million shards.
"Peter?" I heard the soft voice of Aqua. I looked up to see her standing there.
"No. You're dead, you're not here." I said, wincing away from her outstretched hand.
"No, I'm not dead. I have something called the Titanium heart, which means my heart can't be crushed."
"Stop lying. Please." I whimpered like a helpless child. I had just lost everything important to me, couldn't I have a break?
"I'm not lying." She said, pulling me into a very real kiss, when we pulled away, I looked into her emerald green eyes that were shining with tears.
"Aqua." I whispered, taking her face in my hands.
"Hi Peter." She said, a lone tear leaking out of the corner of her eye.
I embraced her eagerly, happy to have the love of my life and my child back.
Aqua's POV
Arrival to Neverland
I heard crying coming from Peter's tent, which shocked me. I approached the tent wearily, stepping inside, roughly a few feet from where Peter was.
The sight terrified me; Peter was in the fetal position on the floor, crying in a way that broke my heart.
"Peter?" I asked softly, seeing his untrusting eyes look up at me.
"No, you're dead, you're not here." He said, glaring at me.
'He doesn't think I'm real.' I thought. I had to prove it to him.
"No, I'm not dead. I have something called the Titanium heart, which means my heart can't be crushed." I said, hoping he'd believe me.
"Stop lying. Please." He whimpered, causing me to fight back tears as my heart shattered. He didn't believe me, but I wasn't giving up yet.
"I'm not lying." I said in a trusting voice, pulling him into a passionate kiss, putting my heart and soul into it.
We pulled away, gazing into each other's eyes lovingly.
"Aqua." He whispered, causing a soft smile to appear on my lips. He believed me.
"Hi Peter." I said, not knowing what else to say.
He hugged me as if he'd never let go; not that I'd want him to.
We stayed in each other's embrace for a while, before he looked at me.
"Lucile or Felix." He said, causing me to become incredibly confused.
"What?" I asked, wanting him to elaborate.
"Our child's middle name; if it's a girl, Lucile, after my mother. If it's a boy, Felix, after the most loyal friend I have." He said.
"They're perfect." I said as he pulled me into a kiss. "Now," He said, the smile leaving his face, "why the hell did you attempt to murder yourself?" He asked, staring into my eyes sternly.
"I wasn't thinking. I was miserable, and I wanted the pain to end. If I could never be free, could never see you again, what was the point in living?" I said, summing up my feelings into three short sentences to the best of my ability.
"Please, never do that to me again. I need you in my life, please never leave me. We can see each other in your dreams, and for now, that's all we need." He said, his upset tone startling me. The Peter I knew was cocky and arrogant, not a scared little boy. But I realized, my heart wanted someone to feel as lost and scared as I did, so someone would comfort me as I did them. I guess Peter was the victim of my Titanium Heart. But, I decided to keep this realization to myself. For now.
"Okay. I promise I'll never leave you. We'll always be with each other, until the end." I said with finality.
"Until the end." He agreed, sealing it with a kiss.
My body started fading.
"I'm waking up." I said sadly, frowning.
"Don't worry, I'll see you soon." Peter whispered in my ear, before reaching in his pocket. "Take this, remember me by it." He said.
I gasped, it was beautiful. It was a silver ring, with a leaf design creeping around its perimeter. The leaves met in the center, circling a small white diamond.
"It's beautiful." I gasped, completely speechless. "Thank you." I said as he kissed me one last time before reality consumed me.
I awoke with a start, glancing around wildly. I saw Henry, standing right next to my bed.
"Morning! I brought you some water." Henry said, a creepy cheerful tone in his voice.
"Thanks." I said, hesitantly taking the glass.
I took a big swallow, nearly couching the liquid up.
"No offence, but this tastes awful!" I exclaimed, coughing and nearly gaging. The substance burned my throat.
"I'm sorry." He said, his eyes staring at the ground, unable to meet my gaze.
"Henry, what did you do?" I asked, worry coursing through me; I was utterly terrified of the boy who was being controlled.
"I can't tell you, but if you tell anyone, my threat still stands." He said, looking up at me angrily.
My eyes widened as I gasped. His mood spurts were terrifying to say the least, despite it not being the real Henry. This Henry was a puppet; one with a hidden puppet master.
"I won't tell a soul." I said, looking up at him fearfully.
"Good." He said with an unusual, unfitting smirk.
Within seconds, his face snapped into usual, happy Henry, and he left my new room.
'What the bloody hell did that bastard do?' I thought, glaring at nothing in particular.
I got dressed in a white laced tunic, that flowed out at the bottom a little, and regular skinny jeans that had a few rips in it. To complete the outfit, I wore black flats that had bows on the toes, and my gorgeous ring Peter gave me.
'I'll never take it off.' I vowed.
I walked downstairs, seeing Snow and Emma there.
"Good morning." I said, greeting them without hostility.
"Good morning Aqua." Snow said cheerfully.
"Morning." Emma said.
"Hey, can I go for a walk? I promise I'll be back in ten minutes, and I'll keep my phone on." I bargained.
"Uh, I don't know…" Emma trailed off.
"Please?" I begged.
"C'mon Emma, she'll only be gone ten minutes." Snow said, defending me.
"Fine, but ten minutes, and ten only. I'll be timing you." Emma said sternly.
"Thank you!" I exclaimed, walking out the door.
I had been out for a total of three minutes, before I literally ran into someone.
"Ouch." I said, being knocked to the ground. I looked at the person who I had also bumped into, seeing them on the ground as well. She looked at me, and we both gasped in surprise, in too much shock to move.
"Anna?" I asked, my eyes watering seeing her.
"Aqua?" She asked, eyes watering too.
Annabeth, or "Anna" as most people called her, was my best friend when I was a child. Before my father was murdered, before I was sent away to the world without magic. I was so glad to see her, we were the best of friends as I recalled.
"You- you're alive." I said, a tear leaking from my eye.
"As are you." She said, her expression matching mine.
"We need to catch up! Please, come back to my house with me." I said, wanting to reconnect with my long lost friend.
"Sure!" She said. My best friend had grown up, just as I had. She would be seventeen as of a few months ago I recalled. I was glad I could at least have some people of my past who wouldn't bring pain.
We chatted all the way back to Emma's house, filling each other in on what happened after we parted ways.
We walked into the house, introducing Anna to Emma and Snow.
"We knew each other long ago as children, before The Evil Queen's curse and the Dark Queen's rule." Anna said, smiling gracefully at Snow and Emma.
'So my mother is known as the Dark Queen.' I thought, envious of Anna's grace. But, then again, she had much more practice at being proper. She prided herself in the fact, always acting lady-like. I, on the other hand, was the wild tomboy who would rather get dirty than practice walking with books on my head. After all, it was only walking; there was no need to practice something so trivial.
After a while of talking, Anna had to leave. But, before she did, we exchanged phone numbers, so we could talk more.
After Anna left, I traveled to my room, my thoughts floating. Anna may have been lady-like and proper, but deep down inside; she was just as lost as I was. I knew that Anna would've loved to go to Neverland with me. After all, we both had wanted our own adventure when we were children.
I fell asleep on those thoughts, but tonight was much different than usual. Tonight was the night Neverland eluded me.