Chapter 9 'Of Curses and Confessions'
Since her arrest, Lily Jacobs had complete faith that the universe was out to get her.
She had been sleeping soundly in her cozy jail cell when her teacher and fellow convict broke her out, said something about keys left under cot. They escaped into the woods and got about as far as the toll bridge when a man popped out of nowhere and captured them both. Hours later, she woke up tied to a chair in a well furnished room lined with dozens of hats.
Jefferson, the man who kidnapped them was, in a word, crazy. He yammered nonsense about magic and fairytales to Sheriff Swan, who also happened to be trapped in this lavish woodland mansion. Lily sat silently, listening to her captor ranting to the blonde about his daughter.
"Grace," he said, having Swan peer through a telescope peering into town, "But in this world she's known as Paige.
"Paige? Henry's friend?" Swan commented, trying to play along with this man's disillusions, " But she already has-"
"-Parents? I know. I am forced to watch her be raised by other people. In her mind, she has lived a good life. A stable home, a loving family- she doesn't remember that I ever was her father,"
Lily knew Jefferson was lying. He couldn't be Grace's- no, wait- Paige's father, "You're mad," she piped up from her chair,"
"I'm not," he insisted. Then he walked over to Lily, "Has Henry ever shown you his book?" The man's back was turned to Swan. The Sheriff signaled to her to keep their captor occupied while she finds a way out. Lily nodded and paid attention to the man leering at her,
"Every story in that book actually happened. Your teacher in the other room is Snow White, you're friends with Hansel and Gretel,"
Hilarious this guy was, Lily bemused. She couldn't imagine them being fairytales, but she had to keep the talk going, "Then who am I, huh?"
"You're not in the book, but I know you came from our land," The man's eyes softened, "I saw you, helped you out of a jam once."
"I don't remember meeting you before tonight, so stop making this up,"
"I see you're still wearing that," he pointed to the necklace on her neck. She had stolen it back from the evidence locker before fleeing, "Touch the stone."
"What?" She asked. Swan had sneaked out to free Miss Blanchard. To prevent the man from turning around and noticing the Sheriff's absence, she followed his orders.
"Can you sense it?" he asked, "That stone has seen too much to be in the hands of a young girl in a small town. It belongs to a warrior, a fierce princess of a tribe in a little island called Neverland. You are not Lillian Rebecca Jacobs, you are Princess Tigerlily."
"Tigerlily?" she exclaimed, bewildered, "From Peter Pan?"
"Your name has been chronicled in history, truly a legend in your own right,"
"No," Lily could only handle so much crazy, " Where's your medication? I'm going to force feed it to you until you get a better grasp at reality. I am not a story book character, I am a living, breathing, human being!"
"He's waiting for you, you know that Tigerlily? The boy in your nightmares. You need to save him, save him from his demons," Those words triggered a bomb in her brain. Suddenly her head was in an unbearable pain. Words and phrases from that hard to reach place in her mind, filled her ears.
"You traitor!"
"We thought you were with us!"
"Don't leave!"
She squirmed in her seat, throwing her head around to shake away the voices, "Just stop!"
Jefferson looked on, concerned, "You don't want to remember, do you?" He felt her forehead, "You've tried so hard to forget the past, all the pain you inflicted onto others. Why can't you accept it? Allow yourself to think of Neverland, to think of him."
Lily used all her strength to block out those voices, but one always screamed louder than the rest. The boy from her nightmare. It was his voice. What he said were the most heart wrenching things to hear though Lily could never know why.
"I thought we were in this together! Our oath!"
"How could you do this to me?"
"I love you!"
She began to cry at the last sentence, having been the most painful thing to hear, "Stop!"
"Leave her alone!" Sheriff Swan and Miss Blanchard burst through the door. Jefferson picked up the gun and pointed it at her teacher, but the woman kicked the weapon out of his hands. Then, Swan took the heavy telescope from its stand and hit the man on his head, knocking him out. Miss Blanchard untied her, "Come on, let's go."
Rufio insisted on accompanying Tigerlily to visit the Lost Boys since her punishment. He thought he could protect her from her father's wrath if he said they were heading out to "hunt" together. It was his idea, she could never ask him to do this favor but he insisted.
Word had it, the Lost Boys were to play a new game today, and she needed to be present since it would most likely be more dangerous than their usual games.
She hadn't spoken with Peter since their kiss. The boy had made himself disappear, trying to avoid her. She led Rufio to the compound, the Lost Boys already gearing up. The excitement was building though they don't know what game they were going to play. Devin was talking to Felix and Tootles when they arrived. He approached them. He didn't seem as happy to be participating. Tigerlily could only guess he shared the same distrust of Peter's new Shadow friend.
"Tigerlily, you okay?" He asked, referring to when she ran off a few days back.
"I am fine," She tried to search for Peter in the cackle of boys, but found no sign of the leader.
"Who's this?" Fox came over, the rest of the boys following. Their attention was on her trihawked companion,
"This is Rufio, a friend," She said. On the way over, she decided not to introduce him as her betrothed. She wasn't ready to tell them yet. She couldn't imagine their reactions if she did.
The older ones eyed the native warily. The boys were protective of Tigerlily and were aware of how her tribe treats her. Since the only other person she considered to be a friend was Moon-Eye, the boys were immediately judging him.
Was he a spy for Hook? Had he come to learn their secrets? If only they knew how much of a sensitive guy Rufio really was, behind his animal bone chest plate and his intimidating haircut.
The Bog Dweller didn't say anything, he would greet them if he knew how. He settled for a "Wingapo."
"Gesundheit," Devin joked, causing the Lost Boys to laugh. He shook Rufio's hand, "Welcome to the belly of the beast, man."
Rufio didn't understand his words, but he took it positively. The Lost Boys surrounded their new friend, clapping his back and complimenting his choice of armor. He fit in quite nicely with them, Tigerlily noticed, and in only a few minutes too.
Then out of nowhere, a spearhead whizzed by. The Lost Boys ducked but it wasn't intended for them. It struck Rufio in the chest, sending him to the ground. Tigerlily didn't waste a second rushing to him.
A laugh sounded. All of them turned around to see Peter with his arms crossed, pleased with himself. Sure enough, Ombra was trailing behind, not quite attached to the boy's body but still tied down nonetheless.
"Peter!" Tigerlily screeched, "Why did you do that?"
"We all have our own ways of welcoming guests, princess," he rebuffed, "It was a good shot, don't you think?"
"You killed him, Pan!" Devin was on Tigerlily's side, some of the Lost Boys murmuring in agreement.
"Have I?" Tigerlily frowned but took a second look at Rufio, who raised himself back up. His hands were closed against his chest. Uncurling his fingers it revealed the spearhead resting on his palms. Rufio had caught it in time. The Lost Boys breathed a sigh of relief, some of them having the nerve to laugh.
"Don't take it so hard," Peter switched tongues, "I wanted you to prove your worth. Like I have with everyone here," No apologies. No warning. No regrets. That was how Peter lived. How cruel it was, in her opinion. And it had gotten worse with Ombra lingering around. He offered his hand to Rufio and he pulled the boy to his feet. Rufio was shaking, scared out of his wits at the dark boy in front of him.
Tigerlily was about to take him back to the village, seeing that his plan was failing. But then Peter rested a hand on his shoulder, inviting him to look at his eyes. They beheld some sort of persuasion more effective than magic. Rufio's breaths eased into regular patterns at the sight of them.
"Peter Pan,"
"Rufio," Rufio shook off his nerves and looked around, "What are we playing?"
"Ah, thatta lad," Handing him a sword, Peter raised an eyebrow whilst giving him an assuring smile, "Welcome aboard."
Lily and Paige fell onto Lily's bed, bouncing up and down on the springy mattress happily. Katherine had been recently found which meant neither Lily nor Miss Blanchard murdered her and it was all a setup. She was curious on who would do such a thing but put that thought away for now. The Tailors had picked her up from the station and threw a mini party for the wrongly accused girl.
The party ended when Lily and Paige went upstairs to get ready for bed. They were now in their pajamas and were talking about what happened whilst she was in jail. Apparently, movie nights had been postponed until she returned, not wanting her to miss out on the 'Back to the Future' trilogy.
"So, how about you and Henry?" Lily asked.
Paige pretended not to know what she was talking about, "What about me and Henry?"
"God, Paige! Even I can see it. You two like each other,"
"No, we don't," she denied, already throwing her legs over the bed to escape the subject.
"Oh really? If that's the case, I'll just tell Suzy Anders that Henry's free. She'd always found him to be cute but wasn't sure if you guys were together," Lily sighed dramatically, "Good news for Suzy then."
Paige spun around, "What? Since when?"
The panicked expression on her face was comical, Lily had to stifle a laugh. She shook her head, "I'm messing with you. No offense, but not many girls are lining up at Mill's door,"
Paige's jaw dropped and began whacking her with a pillow, "Don,'t. Scare. Me. Like. That," she said through each hit.
"But that proves it. You got jealous and therefore," she pried the pillow from her hands, "you like him."
"Ugh, Lily," she said, " I think I might. He's funny and much nicer than any other boy I've ever met, well apart from Nic of course. We like much of the same things and I...I can't help but think of him alot. But…"
"But what?"
"I don't know. Sometimes his nose is always in that storybook. I bet he finished it a while back, but he keeps reading it. I swear, he pays more attention to that book than he does to what's around him,"
Lily could see where Paige was coming from, but she hadn't totally dismissed Henry's side of this, "Don't blame him. When I finally learned how to read, it was amazing how a story just plays in my head. And as I get further and further with books, I don't see the words on the pages anymore. I see a new world, some place far away from this miserable town. He reads those fairytales because he wants a happy ending,"
"Paige, give him time," With all this talk about Henry and his book, her thoughts drifted back to the insane man living in a mansion all by himself, the one who babbled on about the same things Henry had.
Lily paused before saying with uncertainty, "Grace?"
Paige responded almost immediately, "Yeah?"
"Um. I mean, Paige," she quickly fixed. It was weird how she automatically responded to that name, "Do you happen to know a man named Jefferson? Lives outside Storybrooke?"
"Hm...no," Her foster sister crinkled her nose, "Why?"
"Nothing," Lily waved off, pulling the covers close to her face. She feigned a yawn, "You know what, we should go to sleep now. Go on,"
"Oh, okay. Goodnight, Lily," Paige switched off the lights before heading out, leaving Lily to fall asleep.
In her dream, Lily was walking on main street. Nobody else was there, apart from a lone figure standing in front of the clock tower. She was compelled to walk towards the person, eventually coming to a distance where she was only an arm's width away.
She tapped the shoulder and the stranger spun around.
"You!" she exclaimed, retreating backwards. Staring back at her was a lanky boy, dressed in strange green clothes. He beheld rakish looking features, his eyes bright green and impassive. It was the boy from her nightmares,"Who are you? Why have you been in my dreams?"
The boy's shoulders sagged and sadness plagued his features, "You really don't remember do you?" She stared blankly at him, which was as good as any verbal response, "Of course that curse just had to hit."
"You too?" Great, just like Jefferson, a wacko, "There is no curse!"
"Tigerlily, I need to be careful. I conserved enough magic to contact you through my subconscious- something Ombra hadn't taken over quite yet," Ombra, that name rang a bell somehow. But magic? Lily looked around her and saw the image of the town was flickering like a TV with bad cable. If what he said was true, then that meant he didn't have much time in talking to her,
"I'm here to warn you," She allowed him to take a step closer to her, "Once the curse breaks, you must not return to Neverland."
"I don't know what you're talking about,"
"You will soon and when you do, don't try to find a way to save me. That will only lead you to your doom," Then boldly, he cupped her face, "I can't lose you."
She put her hand ontop of his, trying to place where she had felt his touch. It soothed her. She looked up to see the boy had tears coming down his face, "Tigerlily, I'm sorry."
"Lily! Lily! Wake up!" Paige's frantic voice pulled Lily out of her dream state. As she rose, she touched her cheek. It was warm, as the boy did in fact had placed his hand there. She shook her head before turning to Paige who sat on her bed with a worried look on her face.
"Paige, what is it?"
"It's Henry!"
Lily exhaled loudly, showing her annoyance. She checked the clock . It was 4 AM, "It's a bit too early for boy talk right now, Paige-"
"No, not that! He's in the hospital!"
This got her attention, "What happened?"
"Some form of food poisoning. Lily, it doesn't look good."
"What are we waiting for? We have to go!" She threw off the covers and began slipping on her boots. Paige wasn't as eager to get going as Lily thought she would be. She was unsure.
"But my parents, they won't let us,"
"A little rebellion wouldn't hurt," Lily didn't know where that came from, but she was a firm believer in this principle, "Come on. It's okay to disobey them because we have a good reason."
Paige nodded, grabbing her coat, ""Henry's worth it. Now let's go,"
The name of the game was hide and seek. One boy counts while the others hide, then when boy finishes counting he searches for them- easy enough? How about adding multiple seekers, blades, and arrows into the rules? Peter had concocted another twisted game yet again, putting his own spin to the beloved children's game. If seekers spot a limb sticking out underneath a brush, he had the honor of chopping off said limb. If a hider makes a peep, seekers sow his lips shut. And failure to find a hiding spot, seekers were allowed to take shots at the lagger with arrows. And to top it off...
"Let's turn off the lights," Peter clouded the skies, changing it from day to night with his magic, "The glare from the sun gets too distracting. Don't you think?" he muttered to Ombra, who nodded silently along.
The seekers, were a mix of the older and younger boys which balanced the teams in terms of skill. Rufio, Pockets, Fox, Thud, and the twins were some of the boys who made up this group. Tigerlily was left to hide along with Devin, Felix, Tootles, and the most surprising candidate- Peter.
The hiders were given five minutes and Tigerlily knew what she had to do in order to protect the boys. She just had to make sure the boys were well hidden so they wouldn't get hurt.
"Ready, set, go!" Thud yelled and the hiders spread out. Tigerlily followed the twins, who already called dibs in a hollow tree. She went to help them hide when she felt a gruff hand latching onto her shoulder, veering her away from the other hiders.
"Don't. Do. That," It was Felix. He seethed with emotion Tigerlily never knew he had, "You're going to get everyone in trouble! If Pan finds out you cheated, getting seeked would be the least of your problems."
"He is a hider. It would not matter to him," Tigerlily retorted.
"Yeah, but he's still our leader and we must obey his every order,"
She crossed her arms patiently, "I don't have to."
"You're one of us, Tigerlily. We all belong to Pan," His face came close to hers, "Now hide." he commanded before jogging off.
A bell sounded in the distance. Two minutes passed and she was the only one who hadn't sought out a hiding place. So, she sprinted in the direction of the river, remembering a secret underground cellar that runs along Pixie Hollow, where the fairies kept the dust. It would have been well guarded with the magic shortage, but there was an abandoned sector close to the riverbank. She arrived at the river and dug around until she hit a wooden hatch.
She shimmied inside and landed in a small room, about two and a half persons wide. This was meant to be a big storage room for the dust, but what was big to a fairy was small to a human. There was a doorway leading into the other sectors, only separated by a curtain of Spanish moss. She curled up beside the door, tucking her knees close to her face. Her time was up.
She must have been waiting for forever when she heard footsteps above her. Her breath hitched. The hatch was thrown open, letting the moonlight seep through the dark cellar. The figure, instead of yelling out "I found her!", he hopped inside and took a space across Tigerlily.
"Tight squeeze," he muttered, "But I think we fit nicely," It was Peter. She could spot the smugness.
"Find your own hiding place," she hissed at the Lost Boy.
"But it's so cozy," he was far too amused in this position, his feet layered on hers, forced to face her.
Tigerlily sighed. She didn't need this right now. The boy responsible for this horrible game was huddled right across from her, "Quiet. You don't want the Lost Boys to find us. Kinda kills our chances of winning," he shushed.
They sat there in silence. She couldn't tell what Peter was feeling, from the dim light coming from behind the moss, there was no way to see his face clearly.
"Tigerlily," He was never this softspoken, there was admiration in his tone, "I guess this a better time than any to talk about...what happened." He was uncomfortable already being scrunched up against the wall, but he wanted to get this over with. Tigerlily recognized the true motive behind this game. It was orchestrated just for him to talk to her alone. He knew her well enough to take the abandoned cellar.
"I try to forget," he admitted, which hurt Tigerlily a little, "I thought it was a mistake because you're my friend. And it was wrong, but I couldn't get it out of my head. I don't know why I kissed you, but I know I'm glad that I did."
Her throat went dry and her heart was beating out of its natural rhythm. Tigerlily didn't know why and didn't think her body was capable of doing this, "Y-You are?" she stuttered. She never stuttered.
"Half a millenia, Tigerlily," He took her hand in his and suddenly a small, yellow light irradiated from behind the moss curtain Must be the pixie dust glowing, waiting to be collected by the fairies. It was low but just enough to illuminate Peter's face. "I knew you were special the moment I saw you. I've watched you before I got caught in that infernal net, watched you in your village. So brave, so strong, and so alone,"
He paused, shocking himself for confessing centuries of feelings in under a minute.
"In a time when I thought I lost everything, I met you. The best decision I've ever made was asking you to be my partner in crime. Without you, I wouldn't be sitting here, with my heart beating so rapidly that I think it might combust," he laughed to appease the heavy topic, "What I'm trying to say is, if we were to kiss again...I would like that very much."
The light diminished when Tigerlily neared Peter, coming in centimeters away from his face. Possessed by bravery that hadn't been there before, she whispered silvery, "My best decision was saying yes." She closed the gap between them with another kiss. The same feelings flowed through the course of her being, the spark of bliss. Peter's hand cupped her cheek as he pulled her to his side of the tiny cellar. The need for her to be close overwhelmed him and Tigerlily sensed this as this intimate session progressed. She didn't want any space between her and him either, but there was something holding her back, something keeping them apart.
He deepened the kiss, throwing in passion this time around which Tigerlily gladly accepted. They poured centuries of emotion into it, blocking out the rest of the world. He took hold of her wrists so he could place her hands around his neck, but once touching her bad wrist, Tigerlily abruptly pulled away when she felt the sharp pain. She was quickly brought out of her euphoria.
She was now cradled in Peter's arms, his chin resting on her head. They laid there with only the sound of their breathing keeping them in check, "They must not find us," she said, thinking about her father, Rufio's father, the tribe- they mustn't discover what transpired in here or in the clearing. If anything were to sprout from these forbidden kisses, it will not end well. This would be tragic for both her and Peter.
"I think we can hold out in here for a while," Peter guessed, for he thought of only the game. He didn't know the consequences he and Tigerlily would have to face if her people was relaxed with just her here. It made her feel she was all he ever needed. All that could change with a few words. He pecked Tigerlily on the forehead, "What's wrong?"
It was best if he didn't know. It was best to take part in Peter's favorite game, one he was most skilled at: she was going to pretend.
Lily enveloped her foster sister in the most comforting embrace she could give. Paige shuddered and sobbed into her shirt, shattered from the news she received. Tears were threatening to spill from Lily's own eyes but she wouldn't allow them to. She needed to be the glue that held the pieces of her broken sister. Nic and Ava were present too, both grieving. They all shared the melancholy of losing someone close to them.
Lily had the nerve to peer through the thin window, looking into the hospital room. Henry, their beloved hot cocoa lover and storyteller, lay motionless on the cot. Wires snaked from his body and into medical contraptions that shouldn't be associated with a boy so young. She peeled her eyes away from the monitor, already knowing from the horrible drone that he was gone from them.
They had sneaked out and picked up Nic and Ava on the way to the hospital. It had been in the middle of the night but the four didn't care. They all rushed to the hospital and waited the night to make sure their friend was going to be okay.
They took turns visiting him. Although unconscious, they had spoke to him as if he was awake. They were present when Miss Blanchard dropped by and began reading out of Henry's storybook. In the middle of her favorite story, Snow White, that was when the machines started going off, his heartbeats spiking drastically. Dr. Whale and the medical staff burst in and told them to leave while they tried to fix it.
But they couldn't.
Now it was morning, and Dr. Whale had broke the news to all of them: He didn't make it. Henry didn't deserve this fate. Lily had learned to like him throughout the course of their obliged friendship, like him well enough to miss him. She was just getting used to the little guy, now she never had the chance to tell him.
Lily held Paige and rocked her back and forth, trying to sooth her while Henry's mothers went inside to say their final goodbyes. She felt a sense of deja- vu as she held this way, as if they were in this position before. Then a vision struck her, her mind created a new surrounding for her. She wasn't in a sterilized hospital but in a wooden cabin. Scanning herself and Paige, she saw them wearing different clothes- her wearing a simple green cloak whilst Paige donned a flowery red cloak. A purple smoke tumbled outside the window, closing in on them.
"It's coming," she whispered, causing her friends to stare at her.
She snapped out of it. What was that? Then Lily had the impulse to break the embrace and turn Paige around so she could see Henry for the last time. She beckoned Nic and Ava to edge themselves closer to watch Sheriff Swan near Henry's bed. Anticipation filled the air, though no one knew exactly why. As if they were waiting for this moment, longing for this.
The blonde woman leaned over the bed, whispered something to Henry, then kissed him softly on the forehead. A ring of rainbow light rippled through the room, the hospital, the entire town of Storybrooke, followed by a great wind that had the kids grip onto each other. Henry's eyes opened, waking up from his death slumber.
Something woke inside of Lily, thoughts of tonight's hunt and what time to fetch the firewood crossed her mind. Her ears were on and alert and her fingers flew straight to her right hip, hoping to find her trusty axe hanging in place, then to her neck where her necklace rested. Eyes widening, letting out a sigh of relief, she turned to Paige- err Grace. The girl gave her an electric smile, filled with surprise and joy.
The curse was broken.
A/N: Whew! Done!
Okay, next chapter we will get to see an interaction between Rumplestiltskin and Tigerlily at his shop which will reveal more about Tigerlily's secret power and Rumple's relation to Peter Pan. (Which is not father-son!) I'd say that in about a few chapters, we'll get to see what made Tigerlily leave Neverland. Just note, that she will be going on the Save Henry rescue mission, but not in a way you'd expect.
Thank you so much for reading! Only 35 more days until the hiatus is over. We've been strong Oncers, just hold out for another month!
*~Phoebee~*