Chapter 13:
Baelfire continued avoiding Leadora. She tried to talk to him, to get through to him that she was sorry. It was no use. Killian tried talking to him, thinking that it might help. It made things worse. Leadora would go to talk to him and he'd just yell through the door, "GO AWAY! Your boyfriend already tried to get me to talk to you! I'm NEVER talking to you again, Lea, NEVER!"
She didn't even reply. She walked away, with her head down, tears forming in her eyes. Killian tried to comfort her, but there wasn't much he could do. Leadora felt as if she had failed the one person who was always there for her. Almost all her life, she had lived knowing that Baelfire would be there for her and she would be there for him. She was there for him when their father started killing people. He was there for her when she felt alone. She remembered crying to him that none of the boys would ever want to court her because they were all too scared of Papa. He laughed at her, "Are you sure they aren't scared of you?" He always made her laugh when she was sad. She always calmed him down when he was ready to snap. It was how they worked. It seemed to Leadora that was gone now. She would probably never know Baelfire like that again. It was her own fault, but she wished that she could go back in time and make everything right.
One afternoon, Leadora was sitting on the deck, reading when she saw them boarding the ship. It was the lost boy that she saw when she was brought to the island, and he was leading a small army onto the ship. It was made up of boys, children. They couldn't have known what they were doing. They were all so young. Has Pan brainwashed this many children? She asked herself in disbelief.
"Felix," Killian said coldly, "What the hell are you doing on my ship?"
"Nice to see you too, Captain," he replied sarcastically, "You have something or someone rather, that belongs to Pan. He isn't happy, Captain, and you know what happens when Pan isn't happy."
"What does he want?"
"The boy," he answered, "Rumpelstiltskin's son."
"No!" Leadora shouted at the boy that stood before her, "You are not going to take him!"
"I will do whatever Pan says to do, which reminds me, you're supposed to be dead," Felix glared at Leadora as Killian stepped, protectively, between them, "However, Pan did not send me to ensure your death. He sent me to retrieve the Dark One's son."
Baelfire heard Leadora shouting and decided to see what was going on, up on the deck. When he arrived, the boys started to surround him. Leadora looked over at him, knowing that using magic would make him even angrier at her. She didn't care. She raised her hands with her palms facing Baelfire. She saw him shake his head, trying to tell her to stop. She ignored him. She closed her eyes and concentrated on nothing else but protecting her brother. When she opened her eyes she saw a purple force field had formed around him.
All of a sudden, she felt arms being forced down to her sides. The force field began to disappear. She turned her head to see who was behind her, who was restraining her. It was Felix. He let go of her hands and as she started to raise her arms again, he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her closer to him with one hand, the other clamped something black around her wrist.
"Pan might not have sent me here to kill you," he whispered in her ear, "but if you try to prevent me from completing what I was sent here to do, I will kill you." He pushed her forward and she fell on her knees. She looked at Felix and back at Baelfire, who was being dragged to the side of the boat. She raised her hands slightly, so that Felix couldn't see. She tried to make something, anything happen to save her brother. Nothing happened. She tried again. Still, nothing happened. Just then, Leadora realized what was happening, looked down at her wrist and saw the black cuff on it. She tried to pry it off, but it didn't work.
Felix laughed, "Captain, you can remove that from her once we're gone."
Leadora looked over at Baelfire he was being forced over the side of the ship into a rowboat. Felix jumped into the little boat, and they left. Leadora ran over to the side.
"Killian," she yelled, "You have to stop them! Stop them!"
"I can't Leadora. I'm sorry."
"STOP THEM! You can't let them take Bae! We have to stop them!"
"LEADORA!" he shouted back, "We can't. Pan will come back here and kill us himself."
He took the black cuff off of her arm and it disappeared in his hand. She collapsed in his arms and began sobbing, uncontrollably. "It's my fault. It's my fault. It's my fault!" she cried over and over again.
"It's not your fault, love," Killian replied, "Pan takes what he wants and no one has ever been able to stop him."
"Has anyone ever tried?"
"Yes, and they've all wound up dead. Leadora, I'm not even sure your father could have stopped him."
"I should've been able to save Baelfire."
"No. Lea, if you had saved him, you'd be dead right now. I couldn't live with myself knowing that I couldn't save you."
He took her in his arms and kissed her again. This time he knew why he did it, and she knew too. They were in love, and so it should have stayed. Fate, however, had other plans. They wouldn't know for a while, but something was about to change. They wouldn't always be together on The Jolly Roger. That would be too easy. Leadora's luck just wouldn't allow for it.