Chapter 20
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I hope you like this chapter! Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Enjoy :)
Hanna thought the dancing was bad, but soon after that Henry began sword fighting with a boy. She tried to get him to stop, he was reluctant at first to even participate in the activity, but he did it anyways. Henry ended up beating the boy, leaving a cut on his face. Henry apologized, but Pan told him that best thing about being a lost boy was that you don't have to apologize. Hanna just watched as Henry smiled and held up his sword.
"Henry, what are you doing?" Hanna asked as Henry came over to sit with her.
"What do you mean?" Henry asked with a confused look on his face.
"Henry…first you start dancing with the lost boys around the fire and now you're hurting one of them in a sword fight and smiling about it."
"Hanna, it's not a big deal. We were just having fun," Henry said with a shrug of his shoulders. "You know, shooting that arrow was pretty fun too."
"Henry, stop!" Hanna said with worry. He was starting to have fun here and that's not a good thing. "You shot that arrow to kill Pan. You are not a killer."
Henry just looked at her, taking in everything she was saying.
"Henry listen to me," Hanna continued. She could see that he was slipping into Pan's grasp and she couldn't let that happen. "Don't forget that they're coming to get us. You're moms, my parents, even that pirate. They're here on the island. It's only a matter of time before they find us."
"They should have found us by now," Henry said as he looked down at the ground. "Pan is too powerful. How do you know they'll even be able to find us?"
"I…" Hanna started to say. She really didn't know if they would be able to find them or not. This was Pan's island. He controlled everything on it. He could keep them away forever if he wanted too. The idea that they would really come did seem impossible, but she couldn't let Henry think these thoughts that she was thinking. She had to keep him believing. She had to make sure that he had hope. "I just do Henry. Our family always finds each other, remember? They'll come. You just have to believe," Hanna said with pleading eyes as she looked over to Henry.
Hanna noticed the look on his face change. What she was saying was sinking in. "You're right. I'm sorry" he told her. " I know they're going to come. They will find us. This island makes you lose hope sometimes."
"It's okay. I know. We just have to stay focused," Hanna said as she felt someone poke her from behind. She turned to see the lost boy Henry had fought standing there.
"I don't want to fight anymore," Henry told him.
"Yeah, just leave us alone," Hanna said with a glare.
"Your family wants to talk to you. Look," he told Henry as he handed him a mirror.
Henry took the mirror and glanced down at it with a confused look on his face.
"Henry can you hear me?"
"Henry are you okay?" Regina asked from behind the glass.
"Mom!" Henry said with a smile.
Hanna's ears perked up when she heard one of the voices. It was Emma. Emma was in the mirror. "Emma!" Hanna said with excitement as she looked into the mirror with Henry. She saw Emma and Regina staring back at them. The next thing she knew her mom popped into view.
"Hanna! You're with Henry? Are you okay?" Snow asked, part worry and part relief in her voice. They had been searching for Hanna too ever since she had gone missing. She was comforted by the fact that Hanna was with Henry, but also concerned that they were both stuck with Pan.
"We're fine," the two assured their parents.
"Guys it's Operation Cobra Rescue. We're coming to get you," Emma told them. Hearing Emma say this made Henry and Hanna smile.
"Someones coming," Henry said as he looked over his shoulder.
"It's Pan, we gotta go. You guys have to hurry," Hanna told them. They needed to get here fast. Hanna didn't know how long she would be able to keep Henry out of Pan's grasp.
Henry and Hanna heard their moms tell them they love them right before smashing the mirror, so Pan didn't see it. Hanna thought that the communication with their moms couldn't have come at a better time. Henry needed to actually see them. He needed that assurance, that little bit of hope to hold on to.
Henry was asleep and Hanna was sitting against a tree, refusing to let herself go to sleep. She felt herself nod off a few times, but she snapped her head up real quick. She was determined to stay awake. The last time she had slept, she had woken up to find Henry dancing with the lost boys. She would not let that happen again. She would not sleep until Henry was safe. She heard a noise and looked up. She rolled her eyes when she saw Pan sitting down next to her. What could he possibly want, Hanna thought to herself.
"I need your help Hanna," Pan told her.
Hanna just looked at him, eyebrows raised. Like she would really help him.
Pan ignored the girl's eyebrow raise and continued to talk. "I need you to help me. We have to convince Henry to save magic."
"If you think I'm going to help you use Henry…" Hanna started to say.
"Just listen to me," Pan told her. "It's not just here. Magic is dying everywhere and Henry can bring it back. He can save it all. He can save everyone."
"I'm not helping you. My parents and sister are coming and we will get away from you," Hanna said confidently.
"Hanna, look around. Do you see your parents? Do you see your sister? They have the map that leads directly to Henry and to you. Emma unlocked it. So, why aren't they here?"
"You're probably doing something to keep them away," Hanna said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"I can assure you I'm not," Pan told her. "If they wanted to find you they would."
Hanna tried not to let what Pan was saying get to her. He was just playing another game. Saying anything to get her to do what he wants, but part of her did wonder what was taking them so long. She felt like she had been at Pan's camp for days, and they still weren't here. Maybe they didn't want to find her. Maybe they weren't really trying. Hanna just shook her head and let those thoughts fall away. She thought back to when she talked to them…to what Emma had said in the mirror. Operation Cobra Rescue. They were coming and Hanna had to hold onto that, she had to believe in her family, that they would always find her.
"Hanna, saving magic won't kill Henry." Pan assured her.
Hanna just sat there, not answering. She would not help him.
"You're his best friend," Pan continued. "He trusts you. I need you to convince him."
"So, you're saying that if Henry doesn't save magic, then it will die?" Hanna asked as she looked over at Pan.
"Yes."
"Good! I hope it takes you with it," Hanna said as she glared at Pan. She didn't care whether there was magic or not, even though she was pretty sure that wasn't the real reason Pan wanted Henry, what did she care if it died. She was not going to help him. She wanted to make that very clear.
"Alright," Pan said with a shrug of his shoulders as he stood up. "Then I have no more use for you. You can leave if you'd like, but I doubt you'll get very far," he told her with a smirk as he walked away.
Hanna wasn't going to leave without Henry, and she knew Pan wasn't going to let Henry go anywhere. Hanna knew they were going to have to come up with a plan to get away from Pan and back to their family as soon as Henry woke up.
When Henry finally woke up, Hanna told him everything Pan had said. Henry agreed that Pan was up to something and that they needed to figure it out. The next time Pan left, Hanna and Henry followed him into the jungle.
They were surprised at how easy it was to keep track of Pan as he traveled through the jungle. He didn't even seem to notice that they were behind him. They kept a safe distance behind, so he couldn't hear them while staying close enough to not lose sight of him. Hanna had a weird feeling about all of this, but she continued on. They had to figure out what Pan was up to, so they could put a stop to it. The trouble came when Hanna and Henry got lost from each other.
Hanna was following Henry and heard a noise come from behind her. She turned around for a split second to see what it could have been, and when she turned back Henry was gone. Her first instinct was to call out for him, but she quickly stopped herself. She didn't want to do that because she was afraid that Pan might hear her. She tried to find Henry. She continued walking along the path, but she couldn't find any footprints to follow. There was no trace of him. It was like he had vanished. She looked all around her, trying to decide what to do next. She had no idea where she was or where to go. She just kept walking, hoping that she would find her way to Henry or her parents. After what felt like hours, Hanna found herself back at camp with the lost boys. That was the one place she really didn't want to go back to.
"Oh look who it is," one of the boys said when he saw Hanna walking back into the camp. It was the boy she had hit with the apple.
"Just leave me alone," Hanna said as she tried to ignore him. She was not in the mood to deal with him right now. She had just wandered through the jungle for hours and she was exhausted. She still hadn't slept, for fear of something happening to Henry.
"Were you trying to find your mommy and daddy?" he asked her in a baby voice, obviously making fun of her.
Hanna just rolled her eyes and tried to walk away.
"You know they don't want you," he said as he grabbed her arm, preventing her from going anywhere. "Parents don't really want their kids. And yours aren't any different. They don't want you."
"Just because you had crappy parents, doesn't mean all parents are like that." Hanna said as she stared him down and pulled her arm out of his grasp.
The boy just laughed. "You're parents didn't even raise you. They let you get sucked up by a curse and grow up all by yourself."
"You don't even know what you're talking about," Hanna said, but she felt her voice falter a bit. He was right.
"They don't even really want you now. You're too old," he said with a grin. He knew he was hitting a nerve.
Hanna tried not to let what the boy was saying get to her. She tried to compose herself and hold in the tears she could feel forming in her eyes. She didn't want to show any weakness to this boy. She wouldn't let him win. She looked at him ready to respond.
But before she could respond, Hanna saw Pan. Henry was following behind. She was glad that conversation was interrupted and that Henry was back. She didn't know how much more of that she could have handled. Hanna looked over at Henry, but he wouldn't make eye contact with her. Something was going on, and she and a feeling that she wasn't going to like it. Something had happened when she was separated from Henry in the jungle. Pan had gotten to him. She was proven correct when she heard Pan start to speak.
"Tonight is the night that Henry will save magic," Pan shouted enthusiastically.
As Hanna heard the lost boys cheer all around her, she tried to process what Pan had just said. Henry was going to save magic, willingly, tonight…tonight? No, that can't happen. Hanna knew she couldn't let it happen.
"Henry! No! You can't do this," Hanna exclaimed as she ran over to him. She had to talk some sense into him. He couldn't do this. What had happened? What had Pan said to convince him to go through with it?
"Hanna this is something I have to do," Henry told her as he began to leave with Pan.
"You can't, they're coming remember? Emma, Regina, my mom and dad…they'll be here soon. Please don't go with him," Hanna begged.
"I have to Hanna."
"Henry!" Hanna yelled as she followed him.
"Hanna just stay here. Everything will be fine," he assured her.
Hanna was shocked at Henry's new stance on things. The last time she saw him he was against Pan and convinced that he was up to something. What could have changed his mind? She watched him start back into the jungle with Pan and she tried to follow, but the lost boys held her back. Preventing her from going after them.
"Get off of me," she yelled. "Let me go!" She struggled against their hold with all of the strength she could muster, but they were stronger than she was and there was more of them.
"Let her go. They're far enough away by now. She won't be able to find them," Hanna heard one of the boys say after a few minutes.
Hanna felt the boys loosen their grasp and she looked desperately into the jungle where Pan and Henry had just disappeared. The boys were right, they were long gone and there was no way she would be able to find them. She started to panic. She didn't know what to do, but she did know one thing though. If she didn't stop this, something bad was going to happen to Henry. She had to find Emma and her parents. They will know what to do. They'll be able to help. They'll find a way to stop Pan and save Henry. She knew it was probably a long shot, but she made her way back into the jungle to try and find them. No lost boys tried to stop her this time.
Hanna started into the jungle, trying to follow the path that was laid out in front of her. She thought about trying to follow the path Pan and Henry had taken, but there were no footprints for her to follow. She just walked on, hoping to find her mom, dad, Emma, Regina…anybody. She'd even be thrilled to find that stupid pirate. She just wanted to find anybody that would help her.
Hanna didn't know how long she had been wondering in these Neverland jungles. The path always looked the same. The trees were tall and scary looking. There were roots coming up out of the ground and there were bushes all around. She looked up and the sky still looked the same as when they arrived…it was dark. It was always dark here. Hanna continued to walk in what she thought was a straight path. She was sure she wasn't walking in circles. Or was she? She really didn't know. Hanna became really confused when she came through the next set of trees to find herself at the camp again. She didn't know if she was actually walking in circles or if the jungle was just playing tricks on her. She hated it here. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. She wanted to just cry, but she pulled herself together and turned right around and walked into the jungle once more, being very careful this time to stay on a straight path.
There were a lot of strange noises coming from the trees of the jungle. They scared Hanna at first, but she eventually got use to them. Unfortunately, the noises weren't loud enough to drown out her own thoughts that were entering her head. She couldn't help but think about what Pan and that lost boy had said to her. Did her parents really want to find her? They had the map, so why haven't they come yet. Emma revealed it days ago by accepting the fact that she was an orphan, maybe that was something Hanna needed to accept too. She was an orphan. She always has been and maybe always will be. Maybe she would never have a real family like she always wanted. Did her parents really even want her? Why would they? Did they really want the burden of having her? That boy was right, she was too old. She wasn't a baby anymore. Surely her parents would rather have a child they could raise from an infant. One they could see achieve all of those milestones. Why would they want a daughter who in just a few years would be a teenager? Who wants to deal with all of those moody teenage years. At least with Emma all of that stuff was behind them and they could have a good relationship with her. Hanna knew she would just be an inconvenience. An obligation that they really didn't want to deal with. They didn't want her. If they did, they wouldn't make it so hard to find them or would have found her by now. Hanna continued to think all of these awful thoughts as she stumbled through the jungle.
Hanna completely lost it when she came through the trees and saw the camp again. Now she was sure the jungle was playing tricks on her. Pan was right, when he said she probably wouldn't get very far. He was keeping her here. He wouldn't let her find her way to her family. She just wanted to find her mom and dad and go home, even if they didn't really want her. She just wanted off of this stupid island. She collapsed to the ground and sobbed. The lost boys didn't even bother to pay any attention to her. She would never get out of here. She would never get to go home and have Granny's grilled cheese and hot chocolate. She would never get to sleep in her own bed and secretly snuggle with her baby blanket again. Hanna just gave up and let her eyes close, Henry wasn't here to protect anymore anyways. She succumbed to the sleep, still convinced that her parents didn't want her and thinking that she would forever be stuck here in Neverland with Pan and those awful boys.
