Hey everybody,
a new chapter just for you! Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Once upon a Time, just the crazy ideas in my head that I incorporated into this story!
Chapter 44
Aura's POV:
While I sobbed into my pillow, muffling the cries, I heard the sound of something heavy being dropped. Looking up in shock, I saw three Lost Boys stand at the other end of the cave, the dark chasm separating us. What were they doing here with a cage? My eyes locked with the tallest Lost One's, and for a second my heart stood still.
Felix.
It seemed as if it had only been a couple hours since our last encounter; when he had promised to get us safely off the island. How fast had he managed to come up with a plan, and have other Lost Boys agree to help him?
He quickly spun around and whispered something to his companions, leaving me confused. Didn't he recognize me? Had he forgotten who I was? Stepping out of the bed, I began to wave my hands in the air, hoping to get his attention.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and a stone bridge magically appeared, creating a path; connecting us. Felix rushed over, the Lost Boys close on his heels as they carried the cage.
Without hesitation, he embraced me in a tight hug, spinning me around. Tears threatened to roll down his cheeks, but he was smiling; something uncommon for the otherwise unfeeling boy.
'Aura, I thought...' He gently cupped my face, as if I was a porcelain doll, so fragile; as if I was going to vanish in thin air.
'I'm here, Felix. I waited for you. You said you would come back, and you did. I didn't expect you to come up with a plan so soon...' Brushing the single tear that escaped from his eyes, I pulled him down so our foreheads were touching.
'Soon? It's been a hundred years! I...'
Immediately, I detached myself from the hug. 'What?!'
He sighed and for a long time, there was silence, but I waited patiently for an explanation. Giving the other Boys a stern look, they put the crate standing near my bed and went outside, leaving us.
'Felix, I couldn't have been locked up a hundred years. Maybe a week or two, but not a century in this cave. You...' I began mumbling, not believing his words.
Wasn't history repeating itself? He had come to me the last time, telling me Pan didn't love me; and I was foolish and stupid for not believing him. He had been telling the truth last time, why would he lie now? One thought kept nagging me in the back of my mind, and that's when an anger that was bubbling just below surface exploded.
'You never came back for me! You...promised! How could you? You were supposed to keep me safe! Instead you left me here! For a hundred years! A hundred years, Felix!' I wanted to hit him; already raising my hand, but when he slumped to the ground, his head in his hands, I dropped down and put my arms around him.
This was exactly what he had done when we were children. This is what had brought him to Neverland; made him lost. I knew the guilt was eating him inside, so of course my outburst would've hurt him deeply.
He began to explain himself. 'Pan made me forget. He somehow suppressed every memory I had of you. I...'
'It's okay, brother. You did come back to me after all. What's important is that we are together.' Gently patting his head in a loving matter, I calmed him down.
'Together,' he repeated.
We stayed in the embrace, finally united as siblings after a hundred years.
He continued talking. 'Everyone forgot about you. Even Pan. And if we want to escape, we have to keep it that way.'
'What about those two Lost Boys that came with you?'
'I will have to deal with them later,' Felix replied darkly.
'So you know how we're going to get off the island?' A sense of hope filled me, an image of my brother and me walking hand in hand, free, came to my mind.
'Well, no one gets off the island without Pan's permission. But he has a shadow even he can't control. Maybe if we catch it, it can take us back to the Enchanted Forest.'
A shadow? What had happened while I was locked up?
My brother sensed that there were plenty of questions on the tip of my tongue, so he briefly explained. 'One day, this shadow was just there. Always does Pan's bidding. They are connected somehow, I am not quite sure.'
'And what about the crate?' I motioned to the cage, as suddenly it began to move. Someone was inside.
'Pan has been working on a plan that involved you and now the Heart of the Truest Believer. He brought people to the island and is playing games with them. In there is a former Lost Boy, goes by the name Neal. Pan ordered he stay here.'
'So what do you propose we do?' I could already sense Felix's plan meant for me to stay here while he got to do all the action.
Last time he had told me to stay hadn't ended well. The least I could do was help speed the progress of our plan to freedom. But the dismissive look of an older, protective brother told me otherwise.
'I promise, this time things will be different. We will get of this island together, soon. First thing I catch the shadow, I will come back for you. You know, for a hundred years, I never heard Pan's music. You must really love your big brother.' He cupped my face with his big hands, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead as a silent goodbye before he disappeared through the opening.
As he left, the stone bridge crumbled and fell down into the dark void.
'So Felix is your brother? Huh, who would've thought?' The voice coming from crate made of long bamboo sticks startled me, I had totally forgot it was there.
Kneeling down so I could see the person's eyes, I began to talk. 'So what did you do to make Pan lock you in the Echo Caves, Lost One?'
Peter's POV:
'You know it's not possible to see the future in a place where time stands still.' I startled Rumplestiltskin who was moving his hands in the air, trying to perform some magic.
Time in Neverland never quite stood still, it simply moved slower than in other places; but as long as Rumple fell for the lie, everything would work perfectly.
'I may not see the future here, but I can make one happen.'
'Oh, was that a threat? And here I made you your favourite breakfast. Your favorite: eggs in a basket. Thought you could use it, you look a little down in the dumps.' Chuckling, I motioned to the food I had made appear.
'I'm fine,' he dismissed, avoiding looking me in the eye.
'Sure you are, Rumple. You lost your son Baelfire, again. And Henry is unnatainable, because...well...because you'd have to go through me. And we both know you can't, I'm too powerful. You still like the egg runny?' As I picked up the bread, I recalled how many times I had made this exact breakfast for my little brother when we were younger.
Seeing him step away, I took a bite. 'Well, if you won't eat them, then I will. I am just trying to point out the silver lining in your cloudy life.'
'That by killing you, all our troubles end?'
'We both know that's not going to happen. Because the only way for that to happen is if you die, too. You can go, and leave the island.' I tried to sound sincere, then I noticed I didn't have to act: I was actually partially concerned for his welfare.
I didn't want to hurt my brother, not really, I had already caused him so much pain. By giving him passage off the island, I would spare him and he could live his life.
'And abandon my son? And Henry? I don't think so.'
'Even if you did save them, which you won't, what would be the point? They'll never forgive you for the horrible things you've done.'
'You don't know that.' Rumple snarled, why was he making this so difficult?
Taking a step closer, I looked him straight in the eyes. 'Have you forgiven our father?'
I remembered all the pain and anguish we had suffered in our childhood; growing up without a mother's love; the many times I had stepped between my father and Rumple, protecting him, but receiving countless beatings. Nobody could forgive such a heartless monster. Rumple must've been thinking the same, since he had a sad look on his face.
'You see my point. Back to your silver lining. You have a nice girl waiting back for you in Storybrooke; Belle, is it? Stop this foolishness and go back to her. Make a new start. She looks fertile, maybe a new child. You and I both know that's the only future for you, assuming you want to live. Enjoy the eggs.' I really hoped Rumple would reconsider and leave. This one time I could really save him.
Ordering my shadow to play the part of Belle and transport him back to Storybrooke if he accepted, I headed to a secluded cove near the beach. Something made me want to go there.
By now, Emma and her group; if they were smart enough, would've found my clue and made their way to the Echo Caves, where Neal was. It was so easy to distract them, throw them off track from their quest for Henry. Except now I wouldn't have to give them more distractions, it would be their darkest secrets that would distract and destroy them.
Stepping onto the sand, I triggered a new memory.
Today, I was going to tell her. I had prepared a picnic for the girl with the golden hair. Only she could evoke this feeling, something I had never felt before, and it stirred in me for quite some time. She thawed the ice that had enveloped my heart. In the morning, when our kiss had almost led to something more, I wanted to blurt out those three simple words. But in doing so, I would seal my own fate, my doom. I would grow up, and all those years I had cheated fate would catch up with me. My wrinkling skin would turn to ash, my suddenly frail body, to dust. Each dark thought, each terror, would age my body. And those wasted years, they would come back and kill me.
It hadn't been part of the plan to fall in love with her, only make her fall for me so I could use her heart. I was conflicted. What if I didn't say it aloud, never admitted it, would that feeling stay inside of me and slowly wither? Holding the single white lily I had picked for the girl with viridian green eyes, I thought about how the symbol of the lily secretly proclaimed love. Maybe she would see the hidden meaning.
'Hey,' she whispered to me.
Startled, I turned around. 'Aura?'
The girl with the golden hair and the viridian green eyes. Suddenly, all memories of Aura came back to me, as if some kind of force had been suppressing them all this time. That girl was still stuck in the Echo Caves! A new life inside of me took over control, and I was running towards the Caves. When I got there, moving through the rock walls, I came to that clearing. The clearing where I had left her.
But she wasn't there anymore.
So...yeah...I particularly love this ending...sorry for leaving you with a cliffhanger...*coughs* not really...:)
I'm am right now heading off and about to get into the car...which means plenty of time to write more chapters :)
Reviews are always appreciated!
Love you all,
aureaborealis
