Thank you for the reviews, follows (wow over 300) and those who just favorite it. Last chapter was the most reviewed. I'm glad it was a popular twist, and hopefully my "mid-finale" twist is as liked.
I finally have a beta, fiend89. She's awesome for taking on the challenge of editing all chapters/story. So far ch 1-6 are edited. And so everyone knows, no one is perfect, but just in case there are still mistakes, I take full responsibility.
Enjoy!
Everyone is on the edge as they wait for the group Tinkerbell's said that will be able to help them rescue Henry. Regina walks back and forth, not able to sit down and wait. She can feel her magic bubbling at the tip of her fingers. Not only she, but also her magic was ready to wipe that grin off Pan's face.
"When are they coming?" Emma asks the fairy blonde once again. Regina wasn't helping to keep her nerves calm, going back and forth. They were wasting time. She didn't want to be too late, but Tinkerbell swears that they'll need the others help.
"Soon," Tinkerbell sighs.
"We have-" one voice being to say before being cut by another voice.
"Arrived!" Another finishes, yelling to the other's attention.
Everyone in the camp site turn their heads to the direction where there was a teenaged girl, another Native American girl, and lost boys wearing animal pieces.
Neal narrows his eyes, staring at the leader. There was something familiar about the girl…
"Took you forever, Wendy," Tinkerbell complains to the leader.
"Wendy?" Neal whispers the familiar name, but it couldn't be... He saved her from the shadow all those years ago...
"Can't just get up and walk out of the camp," Wendy points out. "Impatience will do us no good when going against Pan and the other Lost Boys."
"Wendy Darling," Neal states.
The dirty blonde teenager turns around to face Neal upon him stating her full name. Eyes narrowed, "yes?"
"It is really you?" Neal questions, not believing his eyes. This must be the effect of poppy dust that Pan did to make him sleep. Felix kept him asleep until Pan found use of him.
Wendy's eyes narrowed, studying the male, but when recognition hit her, her eyes widen. "Bael?"
Neal nods, smiling.
"What are you doing here?" Wendy asks, wrapping her arms around the older version of her longtime friend.
"I can ask you the same thing," Neal hugs her back.
"Is this the boy?" the native American asks her leader, eyeing Neal suspiciously.
Breaking apart, Wendy smiles widely. All her years being stuck on the island, Bael is all she thought about. She thinks back when they first met, how Bael sacrificed his freedom to save her family.
"This is the Bael I told you about," Wendy tells her small group of anti-pan team.
"What is he doing back if he escaped Pan's clutches?" a chubby boy wearing a bear hat, raises an eyebrow at Neal. "You know how lucky you were to find a way out?"
"Cubby has a good point," Wendy nods at the logic the chubby boy was saying. Looking back at Bael, "why did you come back?"
"To save my son," Neal answer.
"Henry is your son?" Wendy asks. Come to think of it, Bael and the boy had some similarities.
"He's ours," Neal points at Emma.
"I wouldn't call him a father," Regina snorts. "He hasn't been in his Henry's life until now."
"I didn't know Emma was pregnant," Neal snaps at the brunette.
"Would have it changed anything?" Regina goes to take a step forward, to defend Emma to Emma's ex, but Emma grasps her shoulder, stopping her.
"This isn't time," Emma tells Regina in hopes to calm the brunette. "We are wasting time, which we can use to save Henry."
Neal wanted to argue, but he knew it was a losing battle. Emma wasn't going to forgive him for leaving her, letting her take the fall for which he was at fault. There was no point for him to say if he knew she was pregnant, or if he could do the day over again, things would be different. Emma doesn't want to hear excuses.
"Lady Swan is right," Hook nods in agreement. "This is what Pan is hoping for. Us to waste time."
"If I was you, I'll watch where your eyes linger," Regina warns Neal before backing off. She's been biting her tongue when catching Neal eyeing Emma when he thinks nobody is looking. "You lost your chance."
"I'm confused," one of the twins scratch his head.
"Long story short," Tinkerbell says dryly, "Henry is the son of the Savior, and grandson of the Dark One, but is adopted and raised by the Evil Queen, Regina."
"Makes sense," the other twins nods. "It explains what Henry was talking about when he said he has a complicated family tree."
"Now that we are on the topic of Henry," Elphaba takes control of getting everyone back on track, "what does Pan want with Henry?"
"I don't have a hundred percent exact answer, but I do have theories," Wendy offers as an answer.
"Does any of those theories answer why you are here?" Neal looks back at his old friend.
Wendy looks around to both Henry's rescue team and her team. Finally sighing, she nods. Nobody knows her true reason of being lost on the island. All her teammates just think she's home sick, to find a way out.
"I'm afraid Pan stole Henry because of me," Wendy answers, ashamed.
"What do you have to do with Pan wanting Henry?" Emma narrows her eyes dangerously at the dirty blonde haired teen.
Wendy swallows thickly when she sees some of Henry's rescue team lean forward, dangerously looking like they were about to attack her.
"I didn't mean it intentionally," Wendy defends herself, raising her hands in surrender.
"I think you best explain," Glinda tells her.
"I didn't know Pan before he became Peter Pan, but I know that something changed when he met me," Wendy beings to explain to them. "A long time ago, I went with the shadow and came to Neverland. Bael knows this. My time here on Neverland didn't last no longer than a week, but time is different here, so when I returned only a night gone by."
"At what price did you pay to be brought back?" Hook asks.
"To most, being allowed to leave the island with Pan's permission is a miracle. Especially not paying any price," Wendy tells them, looking at the fire lost in thought.
"But?" Neal pushes to know.
Wendy glances at the oldest man in the group, Rumpelstiltskin. "I heard that you should never owe a favor to the Dark One. That you'll live to regret it. The same goes to Pan. You never want to be given permissions to leave the island."
"Very true," both Hook and Tinkerbell nod, vouching to the teen's words.
"In my case, I didn't pay a price. He didn't ask anything of me, or said that I would."
"What does any of that information got to do with Pan wanting Henry?" Emma asks. All this talking around the fire was not helping them get to Henry any faster. She wants the point of the story, or a plan of action. She would care less of Pan's past.
Wendy looks straight into Emma, "what is the one of three things magic can't do? There are more, but there is only three that no matter how much magic one processes they couldn't do."
"Bring anyone from the dead, force someone to fall in love, and grant more wishes," Regina answers for Emma. When teaching Emma the basics of magic, they didn't talk about what one can't do with it.
"You can grant wishes?" Emma looks over at Regina with wide eyes.
"Only a genie can," Regina shakes her head. "And that's there number one rule. Only three wishes. No more, no less."
"Ah," Emma nods, understanding.
"Obviously, wishing for more wishes isn't on Pan's to do list. And Pan doesn't need to bring anyone back from the dead when his star dust's effect can do that for him," Tinkerbell thinks out loud. "That leads forcing someone to love him."
"Exactly," Wendy nods. "He wants me to love him."
Everyone except Wendy's anti-Pan group, gave Wendy an odd look. Rumpelstiltskin eyes almost pop out of his eye sockets. That was the last thing everyone expected to come out of Wendy's mouth.
"When he confessed his love and asked me to stay with him by his side forever on the island, I turned him down," Wendy continues to tell her story. Looking over to Neal, "I told him that I couldn't stay as a child forever, or leave my family behind. Family sticks together. And that I didn't love him, but another."
Neal's breath hitched at the confession. Though she didn't come out and said it, the look she was giving him told him so.
"Pan wasn't happy," Wendy continues on, thinking about that day when they were at Pixie Hollow, walking side by side, enjoying the beautiful day. Back then Neverland wasn't so bad. The Lost Boys had more energy, and the island didn't suck the all good out of you. This place turned to the worse when she broke Pan's heart. "He vowed that one day I'll love him."
"That's when he begins his search," Wendy finally gets to the point of the story everyone wanted to hear.
"Why did you return?" Neal had to know.
"To save you," Wendy says, staring into his eyes. She knew she couldn't hide the love she feels for the boy she once knew a long time ago. "It took some time, and a lot of sacrifice, but I needed to save you. It was my fault you were taken by the Shadow. Plus, he tricked my brothers into coming with him, and turned them into Lost Boys. But when I finally step foot on the island, you already escaped. So I had to change my plans. Instead I wanted to save the island and stop Pan's plans."
"I remember Pan was looking for a boy. Even had a piece of paper of what the boy looked like," Neal thinks back when he was brought on the island. Remembers how Pan didn't rest as he searched all the worlds he possibly can to find the boy.
"He's been searching for Henry," Wendy fills them all in. "When he figure that the boy will cross Rumpelstiltskin's path, he had to do whatever it took to make a deal."
"Still not answering why Pan needs Henry," Regina grows impatient. She knows of the deal between Pan and Rumpelstiltskin and didn't want to hear it again. She has a beginning, and a middle, all that left is an ending, and she's going to be creating the ending to this pathetic story.
"I am not sure what reason Pan truly wants Henry for," Wendy apologizes not knowing more. "Of the many years I been working for him, acting as a lost child, he never told anyone. Maybe Felix knows something, but otherwise we weren't allowed to ask, just do what we were told."
"The times Pan talked to Henry, he spoke in riddles," one of the twins adds.
"Not even Henry knows what Pan wants with him," the other twin finishes.
"What about those theories you said earlier," Emma wanted something. Anything. It was better than nothing.
Wendy looks between all her teammates, silently discussing among themselves. They all nod, agreeing to whatever they didn't spoke, Wendy turns her attention back to the other team. "I think Henry has the heart of the truest believer."
"Heart of the truest believer?" Emma repeats.
"Not to keep repeating the same question over and over again, but what does Henry's heart got to do with anything?" Regina sighs. She hates riddles. She just wants straight answers.
"This island is based on belief. A place where all your dreams and imagination can come alive," the other girl spoke. "With the heart of the truest believer, do you know how powerful Henry is on this island?"
"More powerful than Pan and I," Rumpelstiltskin replies. Henry can create anything with just a thought. Turn a branch into a sword if he wanted to. He can make what little pixie dust left work. It was the boy's heart that he hoped would help break the curse. And it did. Emma's love for the boy who she gave up at birth was enough to break the curse.
"With Henry's heart, I don't think there is any limit he can't reach," Glinda states.
"That's why Tootles has a plan," Wendy point at the youngest member. He's wearing a skunk's hat, and holding a notepad. The boy nods his head, showing a sketch of what would help save Henry's life.
"He doesn't talk," a twin fills them in.
"But he's the most cunning," the other twin finishes.
"They are the Twins," Wendy introduces her team. "They finish each other's sentences."
"Hadn't notice," Grumpy said underneath his breath.
"Nibs," Wendy points at the next boy, who is wearing rabbit ears. "Doesn't say much, but he's very active."
"The name is Slightly," the tallest, and most oldest looking boy, wearing the fox hat introduces himself. "And this is Cubby," motions to the chubby boy next to him, wearing bear ears.
"Aww man," Grumpy mumbles, "I was hoping to insult him."
"He doesn't get insulted," Nibs points out, having heard the dwarf. "He ain't so smart."
"But he's strong," Wendy is quick to compliment the chubby teammate.
"And lastly the other girl of the island, Tiger Lily," the said girl waves.
"If we help, is there a place back in your world for us?" Nibs asks.
"We have something better," Glinda smiles. "We have a home for you."
Storybrooke
"I think is the perfect place to set down roots," Mary Poppins comments, looking at the abandoned building.
"Needs a lot of work," Bert states, seeing the condition the building is in.
"Nothing magic can fix," Mary Poppins waves dismissively. "It'll be the perfect place for all the children."
"When do you expect the children?"
"Not sure, but it's better to be safe than sorry," Mary Poppins responded, turning her head to look at the other nanny. "Would you like to do the honor, Nanny McPhee?"
"When did you get here, Nanny McPhee?" Bert didn't hear the woman come behind them.
"I did knock," Nanny McPhee taps her cane.
"Of course you did," Bert smiles, and nods.
"What do you think of the building, my dear friend?"
"Leave it to me," Nanny McPhee tells her, and with that said, she taps her cane two times. Magic surrounds the abandoned building, and starts to fix itself, replacing the broken windows with new windows. The entire building is restored to what it was before.
"Perfect," Mary Poppins nods in approval.
"I should do a bit of magic," Bert comments.
"A bit of magic?" both nannies lift a questionable eyebrow at the man.
"Give it a bit of life," Bert tells them, smiling big. "We can't have it looking like a cage."
"We can't have them gallivanting in there like kangaroos, can we?" Mary Poppins says more to herself than to the other two. "Alright Bert, give it a bit of your touch."
"It won't look as amazing as the Royal Academy, but it'll be better than a finger in the eye," Bert tells them before heading inside the building. He had great plans. He'll have to get his hands dirty, but he didn't care. He felt passion in what he's about to do.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Mary Poppins tells him. He hasn't changed a bit, and that thought put a smile on her face.
"What this place will need is Nanny McPhee," Nanny McPhee states with a nod of her head.
"And this place shall have Nanny McPhee," Mary Poppins smiles at their dear friend.
"With a touch of old fashion by the perfect Mary Poppins?"
"But of course!"
"Supercalifragiliscexpialidocious," Nanny McPhee says dryly.
"Now you are learning," Mary Poppins nods courtly and follows Bert inside to tidy building.
Neverland
"Alright, Toothles, tells us the plan," Wendy orders Toothles to break it down to everyone. Tootles just passes his sketch book to her with the page open to the plan. She takes a second to copy what he drawn on the ground, so everyone can see, and studies the little notes in the side.
"To get up to Dead Man's Peak, you'll have to climb up," Wendy circles the area that represent Pan's campsite. "And it's not easy. Once you are up there, Lost Boys will be waiting. Pan orders them to fight if anyone comes for the boy, Henry."
"We warn Henry to keep a level head when Pan talks to him," Tiger Lily assures the family that Henry knows that Pan wants something from him, and to let it jump over his head. "But Pan is running out of time and will use force if he has to."
"Is there any other way to the mountain?" Emma asks. She didn't want to waste energy or the time to climb the steep mountain.
Wendy shakes her head, "unless you magic yourself up there."
"I don't know the landscape," Regina dismisses the idea of teleporting up there. "I can get up stuck between rocks.
"I can always fly up there," Elphaba points at her broom.
"We can get up there by bubble," Glinda adds another choice to get up there.
"Then its settle how we will get up there," Emma nods, liking how they were able to come up another solution.
"How many Lost Boys will be waiting for us?" Charming asks, wanting to know the odds they will be going to against them. He wasn't too worried. They have four magic users, it gives them an advantage. And everyone that aren't magical beings are well versed in how to defend themselves.
Wendy and her group silently discuss the number of Lost Boys Pan controls. Over time, one loses count in how many come to the island.
"A lot," Cubby answers. "Many boys are lost."
"We can work with that," Charming says, sure they can handle whatever as many Lost Boys that wait for them.
"Any surprises we should know before risking going up there blindly," Regina questions. "I don't like surprises. I find them threatening," Regina states, side glancing at Rumpelstiltskin.
"Besides Nightshade, and star dust, I don't think there are surprises," Tiger Lily thinks back to the weapons Lost Boys carry.
"Make sure we don't get hit by either," Wendy warns. "Either fate will be unpleasant."
"Let's kick some arrogant teenager asses," Grumpy declares, his ax ready in his hands.
"I was born ready," Emma says, her sword ready also.
XxxxxX
Peter Pan went straight to Henry, not wanting to waste any more time than he already wasted. While he has the others busy, their minds off rescuing and saving Henry, it'll take time to do what he originally planned. Time for games is over.
"He won't easily give it to you," the Shadow reminds him, hovering in the air, following him.
"I'll have his heart before the others get their act together," Pan says determinedly.
"You are running out of time," the Shadow warns him what he is soon about to lose. Peter Pan already sacrificed so much to get this far, if he isn't capable, he'll lose more than pixie dust.
"Don't worry so much," Pan tells the Shadow. "If he doesn't give it willingly, I'll just have to rip it out of his chest," Pan says darkly, before stopping behind Henry.
"Come with me," Pan asks innocently to Henry, who just lifts his head and stares into his eyes. Whatever he is about to tell the boy will have to be convincing. This was his only chance to get the boy to go willing. He must get the boy to believe him, or none of it will work.
"Go where?"
"Where dreams are born, and time is never planned," Pan tells him.
"You still never told me what you want me for," Henry point out to him, not moving from where he sat.
"If you come with me, I can prove and explain what I need from you for," Pan tells him. He can sense the others are getting their act together and getting ready to come for the boy. "Once you help me, I'll let you free."
Henry eyes narrow, studying the teenager that stands over him. He can't sense a lie, but his gut was telling him that it was some kind of trap or trick. But his curiosity was winning him over. The warning before Wendy, Tiger Lily and some others sneaked away, they told him to keep a level head, and not to fall for any Pan's riddles. Finally thinking it over, he nods. How bad can it be after the kind treatment Pan given him since being on the island?
"Off we go then," Peter Pan smiles, leading the boy away from the campsite. Catching Felix's eyes, he nods, silently commanding him before disappearing into the forest, heading to the shore.
"We need to talk," Grumpy steps in front of Regina's view of Rumpelstiltskin and Neal, who were standing close. Rumpelstiltskin was talking about something to his son, but Neal wasn't paying attention. Neal was stealing glances between Emma and Wendy.
Regina raises an eyebrow, "when a woman say those words, they aren't for pleasant conversation. But a man says them, it never is intelligent."
Grumpy dryly looks at the brunette at the insult.
"What is it?" Regina sighs.
"Can we talk privately?" Grumpy motions with his head over to far corner of the campsite where nobody would be able to eavesdrop.
Regina nods, and follows the dwarf over the corner.
"I want you to hold this," Grumpy hands over his ax.
She takes the ax into her hands, staring at the tool and Grumpy in confusion. Instead of a verbal response, Grumpy points at the end of the handle, which "Regina" had appear. She stares at the ax handle in confusion, not understanding what Grumpy was getting at.
"The ax never lies," Grumpy says with no explanation what he was meaning. He takes back the ax, pointing out how "Regina" disappears, and "Grumpy" appears. "You aren't a monster. You are just Regina, and this ax proved it."
Regina opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. Grumpy puts the ax back into her hands, and she watches in amazement as her name appears on the handle. She looks at Grumpy, silently asking for an answer to her unasked question.
"I just thought it wasn't fair we discuss everything else but what you confess in the cave," Grumpy shrugs, not seeing a big deal.
"Thank you," Regina smiles softly, returning the ax once again to the dwarf.
"Once upon a time I was Dreamy," Grumpy reveals something he never told anyone, not even Snow. "Blue Fairy broke my heart when she convinced Nova that our love is forbidden and nothing good will come out of it."
Regina feels her magic and blood boil at the mention of Blue. She wasn't the only person who she stepped in the way and ruin lives.
"All my dreams were destroyed," Grumpy continues to talk. He wasn't much for talking about his feelings, but it felt good to talk to someone who understands to feel what he feels. "A broken heart can change someone. I know better than anyone when your personality and thinking changes.
"It is never too late," Regina tells him, staring into his eyes.
"Nova wouldn't go against Blue's orders," Grumpy shakes his head. He never made Nova go against everything she knows. All her heart was into being a fairy, and it would hurt him more to break her heart. He may be grumpy, but he isn't that heartless.
"Why would someone who is all about love, is against it so much?" Regina questions, not sure anyone knew the answer but Blue herself.
"Supposedly it distracts us from doing our job," Grumpy shrugs, not sure of the answer himself. "Besides," Grumpy sighs. "I don't think she loves me anymore."
"Nobody can't un-love someone," Regina tells him. "No matter what my mother did to me, I still lovesd her. After everything, I couldn't find myself to hate her, no matter how hard I try. Nova still loves you, and hasn't stop loving you."
"Yeah," Grumpy just shrugs, doubt still lingers in his mind.
"When we get back, you should talk to her," Regina tells him. She was no love expert. Loving her came at a price. One got his heart ripped out and another had her wings ripped off. She never gave it another try, though that's all she wanted. So, when Henry grew on her, and Emma forced her way pass her walls, it made both heart breaks worth it.
Grumpy shrugs, having reached his limit of talking about feelings and all things sappy. It was time to kick an arrogant teenager's ass. He wants to put the boys in their place, and give them their first punishment for breaking rules.
"All I want to do is kick some ass."
Regina looks over to see Tinkerbell talking to the others about a tactic. She will never regret the short time, the affair, she and the former fairy had together. She learned that loving her came at a price, and there will always be someone who doesn't approve. Her mother didn't approve of Daniel, had his heart ripped out and crushed into dust. Blue didn't approve Tinkerbell helping her and had her wings ripped off. She wonders what price Emma is going to pay for loving her and standing by her side.
Her face flashes in pain when she thought about Henry. Henry accepted her, and loves her. Is this the price to for him to pay for doing so? When he first was put in her arms, she didn't know what she was getting herself into. She didn't have a good role model, but she knew she didn't want to be compare to her mother. So instead she tried to be like her father, Henry Senior. Kind, caring, and do the best she can. She vowed to support him and to make him happy. She never thought Henry would wiggle into her cold, empty heart, but he did. And when he did, there was no stopping her from loving him.
She never did stop loving him. Even through the time he hated her, and wanted nothing to do with her. She still loved him. He can cut her out of his life, and she'll still will see him as her son, and protect him. She'll do whatever it takes and sacrifice anything.
"We'll save him," Emma assures Regina, squeezing her hand, walking into the private conversation Grumpy and her lover were having. When she notices Regina wasn't by her side, or anywhere near, her eyes went to searching the campsite. First thing she notice was the protective arms wrapped around her waist and went straight to comfort her.
"Rumpelstiltskin said he wasn't powerful enough to take down Pan, how are we going to stop Pan?" Regina's doubts come to the surface. She wants to believe she can tear anyone without regret, but she wasn't unrealistic. She isn't the most powerful villain, or being. There will always be someone more powerful.
"Believe that a mother's love is stronger than her dark heart," Glinda says behind them, her wand ready to lift everyone by bubble up the mountain. "Everyone is beatable. This is no Mary Sue story."
"She's right. Everyone bleeds," Elphaba steps beside her lover. "If he can bleed, that means we can kill him."
"It may take an extra hard kick, but we'll take him down," Grumpy promises.
"We have to believe we can do this," Emma says to Regina. "Henry is counting on us."
"You are right," Regina nods, feeling confident once again. "We will save Henry, and finally go home."
"That's the spirit," Glinda claps happily.
Please review. I accept/appreciate them all. Ideas, characters (there is list on my bio), comments, concerns, thoughts, etc. I do pm back to some.
