Catherine's POV
"Don't you think it's a little late in the game for that?" I hear Peter question.
"Not necessarily. You see Pan, I have a certain friend tho has been dying to see her," Hook replies, a smirk in his voice.
I think about all the people I know who would "be dying to see me," but none of the ones that come to mind have any connection to Hook as far as I know.
"And who, pray tell, is this new friend of yours?" Peter voices my question.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Hook counters, chuckling.
The whole clearing quiets and I silently peak through the tent flap. There is an eerie mist shrouding the entire camp, and I strain to make out who the figure entering the clearing is. Ethan is peering over my shoulder, also trying to see who the new visitor is.
When her face finally becomes fully visible, I gasp in shock.
"What the..? It can't be," Ethan whispers behind me, but I know that what we are seeing is real. There, now standing next to Hook, is the one person I hoped I would never have to lay eyes on again. Mother.
Even though my first instinct is to flee, I remain still so I don't attract any unwanted attention. Mainly Mother's.
"Morgana," Peter says coldly. "Isn't this a surprise?"
"Hopefully not too much of one, Peter Pan," she replies in a silky voice, and I can practically see the glare Peter shoots her way.
"What is it you want, Morgana?" he asks.
"Why, isn't obvious? I'm here for my children. To remove them from this godforsaken place and bring them back home where they belong," she answers innocently.
"If they really were so important to you, wouldn't you have already tried to retrieve them before now?" Peter scoffs.
"Well how do you expect me to take on one of the most powerful beings in all the realms by myself?" she returns, again with feigned innocence.
I silently snort unbelievingly at this. She herself is one of the most powerful beings in all the realms and could easily take on Pan alone if she had truly wanted to.
Peter catches her lie as well and states, "Please love, flattery will get you no where. Besides, even I'll admit that you could easily take me on. Why are you really here?"
Her false smile immediately disappears and a stony look replaces it. "You should know exactly why I'm here," she spits out. "And you know what I want. You brought Cathy here for a reason, Pan, and I am going to see to it that you fail."
"And what makes you think that I brought her here for a certain purpose?"
"Oh Peter, you and I both know that you never do anything without a specific reason for doing it. Otherwise you find it a waste of your time."
"What if I had just brought her back because I missed her?"
"Once again, I know your history with my daughter and how she wiped any memory of herself from your mind, so I know that can't be true," she says and then repeats, "I know that you brought her here for a special purpose and I won't let you go through with it."
"Well, you should know that I am not letting you have her without a fight," he retorts.
"I'm so glad you feel that way, Peter. Otherwise I would have brought him here for nothing," she says gesturing to Hook who is now holding a small wooden box, grinning deviously. I recognize the box from somewhere, but struggle to remember where I'd seen it before.
As I continue to ponder over the origin of the box, Peter scoffs laughingly, "Who? Hook? You really need to rethink who you've brought along with you, because he is no threat to me."
"Oh no, I wasn't talking about Hook," Mother replies, gingerly taking the box from the captain. "I was referring to my most trusted servant. Maybe you've met him. If I'm correct, Cathy has been having nightmares about him for the past few days."
I can feel the color drain from my face as she says the last sentence. Peter looks skeptically at her and crosses his arms in front of him. Mother grins devilishly from where she stands and before Peter has a chance to question as to what is in the mysterious box, she opens the lid and a huge, black figure rises from within. It's Pitch, my mother's shadow demon.
The creature lowers itself next to its mistress, waiting patiently for her orders. Peter gets into a defensive stance, ready to ward off any attacks. She gives the shadow a slight nod and it lunges forward. It has the appearance and quickness of a snake striking and Peter isn't prepared for it. He's sent flying across the clearing, but is miraculously able to land on his feet.
His face twists into a look of fury and I know that he is now out for blood. A fireball appears in his hand and he launches it at the demon. Just as it is about to come into contact with the creature, it disappears by sinking into the Earth.
Peter stiffens and remains poised at the ready. The shadow then rises up from the ground directly behind Peter. It grows larger and larger and is about to attack Peter from behind.
I can hear Mother laughing maliciously from the other end of the clearing, and before I even know what I'm doing, I dash from the tent. Ethan tries to grab my wrist and pull me back, but he's too late. I'm already too far out of his reach.
Peter sees me and his eyes grow large. "What the heck are you doing?" he screams at me.
I don't pay any attention to him because the shadow has taken the distraction I have provided as an opportunity to strike. Just as it is about to engulf Peter, I transport myself to the spot directly in between them.
Almost as if someone else is controlling me, I raise my hands, palms out, and fix my eyes to the spot on the shadow where its heart would be if it had one. I take a deep breath, focus on that one spot, and right when the darkness is about to engulf me entirely, a bright white light shoots from my hands.
The shadow shrieks, an unearthly sound that causes my blood to run cold, and then flees back into the box from where it originally came.
I'm breathing heavily from the exertion and stare down at my hands in disbelief. I slowly turn to face everyone else and see that they are all staring at me as well. The pirates look at me with fear, the Lost Boys with respect, my brother with surprise, and my mother with anger. The last person I look at is Peter and I can see the mixed emotions of shock and pride in his face.
I give him a small reassuring smile, then turn to face my mother and the pirates. "That was a warning to you all. If any of you dare to set foot here again, you will wish you hadn't," I warn in a loud enough voice for all to hear me.
Mother continues to stare me down and as the rest of the pirates release their captives and turn to leave she says, "And I shall now warn you that this is not the last you'll see of me, Cathy. Until we meet again, daughter." She then turns on her heel and disappears into the forest.
All those left in camp stare at me incredulously, but before any of them can ask questions, I transport myself to Hangman's Tree.
I remember it being a favorite spot of Peter's and I know that if he knows I've come here, he'll follow. I just really need to talk with him alone for a while without any chance of interruption. He appears before me a few seconds later and I feel relieved to see that he's alright.
I move to sit on the bear-skin bed in the corner of the room, and he remains where he is leaning against the wall.
"I know that we both have questions that need answers to, but first I want to make one thing absolutely clear," I begin. "I have no idea what happened back there so before you ask, just know that I don't have an answer."
He only nods to me in understanding. After a long silence, he then asks, "Do you think she's the reason you've been having all the nightmares?"
"I don't. I do think that something or someone close to her caused them, though," I answer honestly.
He nods again. "Can you think of anyone who could have come into contact-" he begins, but cuts himself off. "Lance."
"What?" I ask, confused.
"It was Lance," he repeats. "He's the one who caused you to have the bad dreams."
"Okay, Peter. I get that you were jealous of that kiss and all, but I thought that we had let it go," I state.
"No no. Just listen to me a sec. There's this special powder called Dreamshade, made from mixing nightshade berries and dream dust, or pixie dust as it's most commonly referred to. It's one of those substances that, if a person comes into contact with it, causes them to relive their most horrible and fearful memories. Lance was the only one who came into contact with you before the the first incident on Blind Man's Bluff, correct? So that means it had to have been him!" he explains. "Was there anything on his clothes or his hands maybe that felt kind of grainy?"
I sit and think for a moment. "Now that you mention it, his lips did feel a bit grainy. But how did the powder not affect him if he was also in direct contact with it?" I ask.
"Once it has been used on you, you become immune to it and it can't affect you ever again. That's why people don't use it as often. It's just too unpredictable as to whether or not it will work," he clarifies and I nod in understanding.
"Well that explains that, but I do have one other question for you," I say.
"Alright, shoot," he says.
"My mother said that you brought me here for a reason. I've been wondering this for a while, but why did you bring me back?" I ask.
He sighs and looks away from me guiltily. "I brought you here so that you could perform the Shift," he replies quietly. Peter then goes on to explain how the Shift works and how every hundred years, he has to find someone new to come and perform it.
"Why is it so important that the Shift occurs?" I question.
"Because if it doesn't, the island will be destroyed and everyone living here will die," he explains.
"Why don't you just perform it yourself?"
"As the Shift approaches, my powers begin to weaken and it will eventually kill me if its not performed in time," he reveals and I feel my eyes widen in shock. "But like all magic, it comes at a price."
"And what is that price?" I ask hesitantly.
After a long pause, he reluctantly answers, "The spell requires a heart powerful enough to withstand the tests of time, which means that it must be removed from the person performing the spell and more often than not, it results in their death. Otherwise they are bound to the island for eternity."
I take in a sharp breath and close my eyes. "I normally don't tell people the whole truth because they would more than likely back out and I couldn't have that happen," he whispers.
"Then why did you tell me?" I ask and am surprised at how strong my voice sounds.
"Because," he says, voice low. "I wanted you to know what would happen to you if I was still crazy enough to make you go through with it."
My eyes snap open. "What do you mean 'if you were crazy enough to make me go through with it?'" I ask incredulously.
"I mean that I'm not forcing - no, correction - letting you go through with it. I am not letting you go through with it. It's too dangerous and if you died because of something I made you do, I could never live with myself. And if I die because of that, so be it," he states.
"No!" I shout and go to his side. "I'm not going to let you die," I whisper, wrapping my arms around him.
"Well, I'm not letting you perform the Shift," he whispers back.
"Can't we all just leave the island together before the Shift? How much time do we have left anyway?"
"About a day. And I could take you and the Lost Boys off the island, but my soul is bound to the island, meaning that no matter where I go, if the island dies, I die too," he explains.
I clutch him a little tighter. "We'll just have to find another way then," I say and kiss him softly. "I will not give up on you so easily, Peter Pan."
At that, Peter kisses me soundly on the mouth and lifts me off the ground. He lays me gently on the bed and lies next to me. I have my arms wrapped around his neck and I keep trying to pull him closer. His hands caress my hips as he kisses me hungrily.
I don't know exactly how long we stay like that, but after a while I place my hand on his chest and gently push him back. "We should head back," I whisper.
"Why should we? The boys can take care of themselves," he states with a slight look of annoyance on his face.
"It's not the boys I'm worried about," I reply. When he raises his eyebrows at me , I say, "I'm worried about Ethan."
He frowns at this, asking, "Curly? Isn't he technically one of the boys? Besides, why should he care what happens between us?"
"Because he's my brother and tends to worry over nothing," I explain.
We continue this back and forth banter for a while, until he finally gives in.
"Sheesh. I can't win with you can I?" he asks, giving me a peck on the tip of my nose.
"No, you can't," I tease and kiss his lips tantalizingly slow.
"Now I really won't let you leave," he states and tries to kiss me again, but I dodge him and put my finger to his lips.
"Later, okay?"
He sighs and then grudgingly nods. I rise from the bed and hold out my hand to him. He stands as well and accepts my outstretched palm.
With fingers intertwined, we return to camp where we proceed to celebrate our victory over Mother, Hook, and the pirates with a bonfire and music. Peter even agrees to play his pipe and I sing along for a while.
When the night is up, we all turn in and I find myself once again drifting off to sleep in Peter's arms, praying that tonight's dreams will be of us and the time we shared in Hangman's Tree.