Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to get this posted but I had a really bad case of the flu. So here we are still in Neverland. This chapter finally unlocks some of Sarah's backstory... but boy am I ready to go back to Storybrooke. Hope you guys enjoy it. Thank you my lovelys
Sarah sat looking at the sticks in a pile in front of her. She focused her attention on getting them to light, but it wasn't long before a fireball appeared burning the sticks to dust. "Damn it," she cursed kicking the ash away.
"Do I even want to know what you're doing?" Pan chuckled approaching the teen.
"Trying to burn down the place, isn't it obvious?" Sarah snarled keeping her eyes on the mess in front of her.
"Well that is certainly a new escape tactic," he took a seat next to the girl, keeping a safe distance.
Sarah stayed silent for a few moments but Pans eyes glaring at her soon got her to cave. "Okay, Fine! I suck are you happy?!" she exclaimed getting on her feet to pace.
"I'm going to need some more information?" Pan tilted his head to the side in curiosity.
"I suck! What more is there to know? I mean sure, my sarcasm cannot be matched and I have perfected the loose curl look, but as far as magic goes, I suck," she threw her head back wishing the ground would swallow her up.
"You are the most powerful…"
"So you keep saying," Sarah interrupted. "And while that might be true, what good is it if I have no control. My magic controls me. I cant even create a simple flame without almost killing myself," She sighs slumping to the ground once more. "My mom always made it look so easy."
"Your mom had a lot longer to practice," Pan gave a sympathetic look.
"But what about in the meantime? How many people am I going to hurt while the magic consumes me," she felt tears form in her eyes but she refused to let them go. There was no way in hell she was going to let this boy see her break.
"Come on," Pan got to his feet extending out a hand. "I want to show you something."
Sarah stared at the hand for a few moments before cautiously taking it and getting to her feet. "Fine. But if it's not caffeine related I'm going to be extremely disappointed."
After finding out Neal is alive and being held hostage with Zac, Emma didn't have the energy to talk to anyone. She was finally starting to make peace with the idea that Neal was gone only to find out he was on this god forsaken island with her. And while she hated to admit it, she really missed Zac. As much of a pain as the man was to her, he had become one of her best friends over the years and the glimpses of her daughter that she saw in him was almost making Neverland bearable.
"The track lead directly into that cave," Mary Margaret points to the cave entrance. "This must be where Pan is keeping Neal and Zac.
"If the cave is some sort of prison, why aren't there any guards posted to stop us?" David questioned, not trusting it for a second.
"Because this prison doesn't require guards," Hook explained. "Echo Cave."
"You know it," Mary Margaret questioned.
"All too well," the man sighed. "I lost half my crew inside those rock walls. The only way to rescue someone from inside is to reveal a secret."
"A secret," the teacher almost scoffed. "That's all."
"Your darkest secret," Hook stared at the cave remembering all those who had faced it before and lost. "Echo cave derives its name from an old saying 'the deeper the lie, the more truth in it's echo.' The cave demands that you reveal a truth about yourself. A secret you would never admit to anyone."
"This is ridiculous," Emma had about had enough with all these children's games.
"Don't kill the messenger," Hook took a step back.
"Even if we spill our guts, how do we know Neal's still alive in there?" She wasn't ready to fall for another one of Pans tricks.
The pirate thought about it for a second before answering. "Because this is what Pan wants. He wants us to rescue him."
"Why?" David intervened.
"So that we reveal our secrets. He believes once we do, our secrets will destroy us."
"Okay what am I looking at?" Sarah stared around what looked to be a child's room, although it seemed to be destroyed. The walls were scorched, furniture was scattered around the room along with destroyed stuffed animals.
"This… was your room," Pan looked at the room with a sad smile.
"Okay, I know I'm messy but this is bad even for me," the teen walked further into the room inspecting part of her life she had no recollection of.
Pan let out a sad laugh. "It didn't always use to be like this."
"So what happened?" The girl looked back at her companion.
"You happened," the boy sighed.
"Well that was nice and descriptive thanks," the girl sighed, crouching down to pick at a baby mobile that had once been hers.
"When you first came we had no idea what was happening," Pan sat on the arm of a chair. "It was just an ordinary day and the next thing we know there is a baby crying in the middle of the camp. I went up to you first and picked you up and you soon settled down. You seemed to like me," he gave a small smile.
"Yeah well I was young and naïve," Sarah remarked.
"We had no idea what to do. I mean, we were just kids ourselves, but I had a feeling you had been sent to us for a reason. That somehow you belonged," he stared off in the distance almost as if he was seeing the scene unfold in front of him. "So we put this room together for you and just like that you were one of us."
"What no foster system on this island," Sarah stood up from her position on the floor.
"We really tried our best," Pan looked at the girl with sad eyes.
"So what happened? How did I end up in New York?" Sarah had never got the boy to open up this much before.
"Magic," Pan stated like it was simple. "Your magic got stronger with every passing today and none of us had any idea how to control it. Control you."
"So I was a menace then and a menace now… perfect," she stared at the ground.
"You were… spirited," Pan smiled.
"That's how my teachers described me as well," Sarah gave a small laugh. "So how did the story end?"
Pan paused a dark look going over his face. "I tried my best to help you learn your magic, but it was no use. One day I came back to Camp to find your room destroyed. The boys said you had gone crazy. Your magic had just exploded out of you. I asked where you were and they just went quiet. After a few strict words they finally told me… they sent you away."
"How? The lost boys don't have any magic," Sarah was sick of adding to the list of the people who just throw her away.
"The dark one," Pan said simply.
Sarah took a step back. "Gold?"
"Who?" the boy questioned.
"Rumpelstiltskin," the teen snapped.
"Yeah him," Pan sighed. "He was on the island looking for his son and the lost boys managed to convince him to take you away."
"All this time," Sarah took a glance around the room. "He knew and he never said anything," she thought about it for second. "How come I didn't have my powers growing up if I had them here?"
"Rumple cursed you when he took you away. I guess when the curse broke in Storybrooke your curse broke too," Pan saw the pain eat the girl alive.
"Who the hell does he think he is!" The girl felt her magic flow through her and her eyes darken.
"The point is," Pan stood walking over to the girl. "Your home now. And there is nothing that can stop you."
The group entered the cave to see two cages hanging in the distance. "Emma!" Neal called grasping at the bars of his cage.
"Thank God!" Zac chimed in. "I thought I was going to die here without never catching up on the bachelor."
Emma smiled, happy to see the man still had his sense of humour. "It must be a hundred feet across," Mary Margaret interrupted her thoughts.
"Even if we fashioned some sort of rope, there's nothing to attach it to. No way to swing over," David added.
"So what do we do?" Emma was getting desperate.
"I told you what needs to be done," Hook stated like it was obvious. "Consider this the moment of truth, literally. Now… who wants to kick things off," the man was taking too much enjoyment out of the situation.
"So, what? Someone tells their secret and they sprout wings?" Emma questioned.
"I don't know the particulars, only what I'm told," the pirate explained.
"Well, how do you know it'll work," David asked making Hook sigh.
"There's only one way to find out," Hook glanced at Neal before turning back to the group. "I kissed Emma."
Emma rolled her eyes while David looked like he was ready to fight the man. "I didn't need to know that," Zac grumbled. "And don't you think Neal is having a rough enough day," Zac nodded to the man in the cage next to him who stayed quiet.
"I already told Mary Margaret, so technically it's not a secret. But it was just a kiss. How's that your darkest secret?" Emma raised an eyebrow at the pirate.
"It's what the kiss exposed," Hook sighed. "My secret is, I never thought I'd be capable of letting go of my first love… of my Milah… to believe that I could find someone else that is, until I met you," Hook looked at a shocked Emma while David took another step towards him.
"Me next," Snow quickly interrupted to stop her husband killing the pirate. "Ever since the curse broke, since we found each other, since we found Emma," she turned to her daughter. "And all of that happiness, there is something I haven't wanted to admit. Our daughter is a beautiful, smart, amazing woman whom I love very much, and whom I could not be more proud. But she's all grown up. And…" her voice began to break. "As much as I want to pretend I'm okay with that, I'm not. We missed it, David, what we have with her is unique, but it's not what I wanted. We were cheated out of everything… her first step, her first word, her first smile. We missed it all."
"What are you saying?" David gave his wife a curious look.
"When we get off this island and get back to Storybrooke, I want another go at it. I want to have another baby," with that the floor began to shake extending the bridge to the two captives.
"Nothing in this world would make me happier," David smiled. "And I know with all my heart that you would make an amazing mother. But it can never happen… at least not with me."
"What do you mean?" A confused Mary Margaret asked.
"When Hook and I went to search for the sextant, he was really taking me to find a cure," David looked away ashamed.
"A cure for what?" Mary Margaret was struggling to keep up.
"Dreamshade," the man sighed.
Mary Margaret scanned back through her memory before remembering what happened. "The lost boys, the arrow… you pushed me out the way."
"I wasn't fast enough," David finally admitted. "I was hit. Hook was able to find a cure but it comes at a price. I can't leave Neverland. If I do, I'll die," before anymore could be said the bridge finally made it to Neal.
Trying to ignore her fathers confession, Emma withdrew her sword before carefully making her way across. "You okay?" She asked the man, scanning his body for any injuries.
"Yeah. But Sarah…" Neal began.
"I… It's okay. We're going to take care of her. Just need to get you out first," Emma tried her best to break through the cage but to no avail.
"Emma!" Neal yelled, stopping her in her tracks. "You know that's not how this works. It's okay. You can tell me anything.
Emma paused not knowing how to say what she needed to. "When I heard you might be here, and that you might still be alive, I knew I should be happy, but I wasn't," Emma saw Neal's disappoint but knew she had to continue. "I was terrified. I didn't understand why until now. From the moment I saw you in New York, in the instant you stepped back into my life, I knew. I knew I'd never stopped loving you. And before I even had a chance to take a breath I… I lost you once more, and all that pain that I had pushed down for all those years, it just came… rushing back, and I… I didn't know if I could go through it again. I love you. I probably always will. But my secret… its that I was hoping that this was a trick. I was hoping you were dead… because it would be easier for me to put you behind me than to face all the pain that we went through all over again." With that the bars dissolved allowing Emma to collapse into Neal's arms.
"Hate to interrupt this lovely Oprah moment but… what about me!" Zac screamed from his cage.
Emma looked over to see no bridge had formed to the man. "What's happening?" Emma turned to Hook. "We all said our secrets why cant we get to him?"
"We can only save one," Hook explains sadly.
"Because we wouldn't have been able to save either one of them if you knew that," the pirate snapped back.
"I'm having some serious prison flashbacks," Zac grumbled. He turned to look at Emma who was beginning to panic. "Emma… it's okay."
"How is this okay?" she was trying her best to keep it together, but she couldn't.
"You need to go," he said softly.
"Not without you," Emma said adamantly.
"Someone has to go save our kid," he gave a sad smile. "And once you have her I know Sarah will work out how to save me."
"Emma, we need to go," Neal gently put a hand on the blondes shoulder.
"I am so sorry," she whispered.
"You finally get rid of me," Zac tried to joke but Emma did not see the funny side.
"You're my best friend," she sobbed.
"And your mine," he looked at the blonde and new it might be the last time. "Thank you for everything. And when you finally get back to our daughter… tell her that her dad loves her. And that he is so sorry for all the times he let her down."
"She knows that," Emma insisted. "But I'll tell her," With that they made there way out the cave. Emma glanced back once more at her partner in crime. "I love you," she whispered into the dark before he was gone.
Meanwhile, not knowing her fathers fate, Sarah had returned to the clearing feeling more lost and found at the same time than she ever thought possible. She finally had the answers she wanted but found she only had more anger than she did before. Turns out the only one who cared enough to try and keep her and understand her magic was the same teen holding her hostage. She turned to a pile of sticks on the ground thinking about the anger that consumed her. Taking a steady breath a small flame appeared lighting the sticks in a gentle fire. The teen smiled with black eyes. Things were about to get interesting.
Will Zac be rescued? You will soon find out. Let me know what you guys think.