Chapter 21

Peter said it would take me ten minutes to find Tinkerbell. But after two minutes of walking, I grew impatient. So I began to run, which led me to her in less than seven minutes.

"Hey!" I called, increasing my pace to catch up with her.

She whirled around and smiled when she saw me. "You're okay. I was worried. Did the pixie dust get you where you needed to go?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Something like that. But listen, I have more." I held out the vial.

"You stole some from Pan!?" she demanded, looking horrified. She glanced around as if expecting to get arrested or something.

"No, no, no," I assured her hurriedly. "He gave it to me."

She blinked. "Gave it to you?" she repeated disbelievingly.

I nodded. "Well, he wants you to tell me . . ." my voice trailed off awkwardly as I thought of the nicest way to phrase it. I don't think "He wants you to relive a painful memory" would exactly be nice.

She raised her eyebrows expectantly. "What?" She seemed suspicious, but also looked as though she were dying of curiosity.

"Well," I finally said. "He wants you to help me do what you did for my sister, Regina."

Her eyes widened and she took a step back. For a second I thought it was because she was going to bolt, but it was only out of surprise.

"Regina is your sister?" she asked incredulously.

"Just found out myself," I said with a shrug. "Now what is it that Peter wants me to do, exactly?"

"Are you sure that's what he wants?" she asked, looking beyond confused. "It doesn't make sense."

"It's what he said," I insisted. "What will it do?"

She stared at me oddly for several seconds before finally saying, "It leads you to your true love."

My jaw dropped. "It does what?" I grabbed her arm. "Explain."

She sighed, sounding tired. "Everyone has a true love, or soul mate. The pixie dust will lead you to him, unless of course he's not on the island."

"True love?" I repeated skeptically.

"It's real!" she said so furiously I nearly jumped out of my skin. "But your sister was too afraid to take a chance, after I broke rules for her by stealing the dust for her to meet him!"

"That's why you're not a fairy," I whispered. "Wow."

"Why in the world does Pan want you to find your true love?" she demanded.

"He said it'd finally make me believe in him," I said softly, meeting her eyes. It didn't take her long to catch on.

"I see," she whispered. "He knows it's him."

"It might not be though," I insisted fiercely. "Right?"

"Right," she said, though I knew she didn't believe it. "Loo, if it is, Amy, you'll never be happy without him."

"Women don't need men to be happy," I said through gritted teeth. "Especially men like him!"

"I don't mean it like that!" she said, her temper flaring again. "But for broken, empty people like you and your sister, love will be the only thing to save you."

"He doesn't love," I said firmly, trying to ignore how she called me and Regina "broken".

"I know that," she snapped, narrowing her eyes. "So let's find out if it's genuine or not and put an end to this debate, shall we?"

My legs were shaking badly. I didn't want to know. If my "soul mate" really was him, then I truly needed the sadistic bastard. Every argument I had about how I didn't need him, or I could get over him would be shot down. Unless it wasn't him. Then maybe, I could break free from him finally. Either way, whether I liked it or not, I had to know in order to save myself.

"Okay," I said shakily. "Show me what to do."

"It's simple, really," she said briskly. "Put the pixie dust onto your hand."

I pulled the stopper out of the vial and poured it into my hand.

"Focus all of your energy on what you want," she instructed. "Most importantly, you must believe that it will work."

I nodded and closed my eyes, concentrating hard.

'Lead me to my true love.'

I felt silly thinking those words, but I didn't doubt them either. I opened my eyes and saw that the pixie dust was glowing a bright, eerie green.

"It's working," she whispered. "Now throw it into the air. If your love is here, it will direct you to him."

I threw the dust into the air as hard as I could. Instead of falling down to the floor, it began to float high up in the sky, stretching longer and glowing brighter until it looked like a long, fluorescent snake.

"He's here," Tinkerbell said, almost apologetically. She looked at me with such pity I wanted to scream.

"You know I always got these weird vibes from Felix," I suggested in desperation.

"Amy," she began gently as I shook my head furiously. "You know in your heart your love is Pan, pixie dust or not."

I sank to the ground and buried my face in my knees. After a moment, she sat down next to me and put an comforting arm around my shoulders.

"I've never been sorry about true love before," she said. "But I feel so very sorry for you."

I shrugged and laughed without humor. "Love hurts."

She opened her mouth to respond but stopped abruptly when a nearby rustling made us both jump to our feet.

I peered into the trees and saw a familiar group heading towards us.

"Amy!?" Mary Margaret said incredulously as they got closer. It was still just her, Neal, Emma, David, and Hook. Regina and Gold were both still absent from said group, which made me wonder what the hell they've been up to.

All of them regarded me in suspicion, though they seemed genuinely relieved that I was okay.

"I am so sorry," I blurted out. "I can't believe I-I mean-I shouldn't have—" I stopped and sighed, my face flushing with humiliation. "If I could take it back, I would."

"We know," Emma said, looking sorry for me. "But we can't take you with us. It's too risky."

"I understand," I said miserably. "Really, I wouldn't trust me either."

"Is that pixie dust?" Hook questioned, pointing to the ray. Everyone glanced up at it and their eyes widened.

I shot a desperate look at Tinkerbell who stepped in immediately.

"She came to me to see if I knew what it was," she explained quickly. "It's just a trick Neverland uses to lead people to danger.

I nodded in agreement, impressed with her quick thinking.

This seemed to make sense to them so they dropped it.

"We'll still take you back to Storybrooke with us, you know, " Mary Margaret said softly.

I simply nodded. I wanted to go badly, but would it ever be possible for me? To live in a world without Peter there seemed to be somewhere between a dream and a terrible nightmare.

A twig snapped from behind the group and my eyes focused to see the Lost Boy, Rufio, aiming his bow at Emma's back.

"No!" I shrieked as he released the arrow.

I shoved her out of the way and the arrow struck me in the chest.

Third Person P.O.V

Mary Margaret whipped out her own arrow immediately and shot the Lost Boy in the arm. He fell to the ground with a painful cry.

"Amy?!" Emma scrambled over to the wounded girl who lied on the ground, wide-eyed and gasping for air. Everyone gathered around her. Tinkerbell looked on the verge of tears as she pulled Amy's cape of of her so that they could examine the wound better.

"You saved my life," Emma whispered her eyes wide with horror.

Hook squatted down next to Amy and used his hook to slice through her shirt like butter before pulling out the arrow from her chest as gently as he could, though she still cried out in pain. Her chest was dark purple, plain to see that it was growing steadily worse.

"Dreamshade," Killian confirmed. "It just missed her heart."

"Don't you have the water with you, David?" Mary Margaret asked her husband.

He shook his head, looking numb. "I left it behind by accident a while ago," he whispered. "I was planning on going back for it later." He looked at Hook. "Is there still time to get her to the spring?"

"Not enough time," Hook said, shaking his head. "It only scratched you on the side, but this is too close to her heart. She'll be dead before we can reach it or the water you left behind."

"No!" Emma cried. She pulled the girl onto her lap and held her, glaring down at her. "You stay with us, okay!?"

All Amy did was stare at her, her breaths coming out in quick, little gasps. Her face was twisted with pain.

"There has to be something we can do," Neal insisted, looking around as if the answer would walk out from behind a tree.

Suddenly, the entire group, except for Emma and Amy, was thrown back in the air, deep into the forest. As if by a powerful force.

Emma looked around desperately, clutching Amy, before her eyes landed on Peter Pan and Felix.

"Give her to me," Peter snarled, his face twisted and dark. The green pixie dust that had been in the air was surrounding him, making him glow. Felix walked by his side, waving his club around threateningly.

"What are you going to do?" Emma demanded, tears streaming down her face.

"Peter," Amy whispered. There was a weak smile on her face as he glowed from the pixie dust.

Only she seemed to see it.

She tried to reach for him but Emma only held onto her tighter.

Felix grabbed the blonde by her hair and yanked her head back harshly, making her grip on Amy loosen. Peter wrenched Emma's hands aside and scooped Amy up.

"It hurts," she whimpered. He could see she was trying not to cry.

"I know," he whispered. "I'll make the pain stop., I promise."

Felix kicked Emma in the head, who had tried to fight back in the head and she fell to the ground and did not move anymore. He dug through Emma's bag until he found a canteen, which he attached to Peter's belt.

"Finish Rufio off," Peter said darkly to Felix. "He's out of chances."

Felix nodded obediently and began walking to where Rufio still lay. He whistled merrily, twirling his club around as if he were a child on his way to beat a pinata.

Peter caught a glimpse of the group running towards him, as if to stop him, before he disappeared.

Peter and Amy reappeared on Deadman's Peak, right next to the entrance to a spring. Peter set Amy down gently against the rocky cliff wall and dashed into the small, hidden entrance. He took the canteen and filled it with the water before running back to Amy. He got on his knees and cradled her in his arms

"Drink this," he urged, putting the canteen to her mouth.

She clamped her mouth shut and shook her head.

"What are you doing?" he demand furiously. "This will heal you!"

She coughed, a bit of blood spraying out. "Not until you tell me." She winced in pain. "I need to know that I have something to live for."

"Of course you do, you stupid girl!" If she weren't already dying, he would have strangled her. "Now drink the fucking water before I shove the whole canteen down your throat."

"Tell me first," she pleaded, her eyes starting to flicker shut.

"Tell you what?" he asked viciously, shaking her until her eyes opened again. "What?"

She stared at him, begging him to understand what she wanted. He stared back angrily, trying to figure it out.

Then it hit him.

"The magic works both ways, Amy," he said with a chuckle. "I thought you'd have realized that."

"I need to hear it," she mumbled, her eyes closing.

"Fine you want me to say it? I'll say it." He spoke harshly, shaking in rage. "I'm a monster, Amy. The only life I've ever cared about is my own. I will stop at nothing to be powerful and live forever. I'm selfish and cruel and you can't ever change me."

Amy's eyes had opened and she gazed at him, waiting for him to continue.

"But I have a weakness for you," he said, his voice low. "I made a deal with your mother to abandon you just so I could one day keep you all to myself. Because no one will ever be able to take care of you like me and no one is allowed to have you. Only me."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the amethyst stone and her eyes widened. Her breaths were coming out quicker and raspier, but she seemed to focus on him more than ever.

He continued, growing more enraged if possible. "But the deal with Cora backfired on me because she erased your memories and you forgot me. For years I waited to keep my promise to you and bring you to Neverland because I knew that one day you would be mine, only mine. You're in Neverland, because I love you."

Peter shoved the gem back into his pocket roughly and brought the canteen back to her mouth. "Now, drink! For me."

Without hesitation, she took in her mouth and began to drink. He held it to her and moved his other hand to her head, stroking her hair.

"There you go," he said softly as she gulped it down.

Finally, he was satisfied that she had enough and took the canteen away.

They both looked down at her bare chest, her shirt barely clinging on in tatters at this point. Slowly the poisonous wound began to disappear, her breathing beginning to steadily grow stronger and clearer until it vanished completely, leaving only a scar in its place.

AN: Next update should be tomorrow night! Feedback appreciated, etc etc. Love you guys so much!