Thanks to all the follows, favorites, and reviews! To answer your questions:
Syed: While Henry is not Rumple's grandson, he is the kid his son's entire world revolves around. Bae adores Henry, and Rumple's trying to reconcile with Baelfire. Murdering the kid that his son has basically adopted as a younger brother is a horrible way to do that. So he's going to be struggling with that in the story, it's part of his character development. Yes, Henry is the Truest Believer. Sorry, the only way Bae will be growing up is through the natural process. While it would certainly be interesting if he was a love interest of Regina's I don't think I'd be able to write that. Robin will still be her love interest. Thanks for all your great suggestions!
Catspook: I'm glad you liked the almost reunion. About Merlin: I'm going to just say I hated season five. Seriously, I figured out the first Dark One was the lost love of Merlin the first episode. Clichéd plot twists left and right. So of course I changed it. Same basic plot line, but the circumstances have changed. The reason why these circumstances have changed are a long way off (as in: when this fic finally hits season 5). The only thing I'll say is: Baelfire was in the Enchanted Forest for six months before the Curse. His life was in no way boring.
One last quick thing: this chapter takes place the same day as the last chapter. It was originally supposed to be a part of chapter six, but that was over thirty pages long without this part even having been written yet, so I decided to split it into two chapters. Only the flashbacks take place on a different day.
Of Broken Families and Shattered Souls
Chapter Eight: In Which Baelfire, Defeater of Wraiths and Magician Extraordinaire, Gets into a Territory War with Spiders… And Loses
In all his years of living on Neverland, Baelfire had never really gotten used to dodging arrows.
You'd think he would have, considering the Lost Boys' fondness for them, but no. He had always hated ducking from the sharp little projectiles, feeling them breeze past his skin. Even when he caught them, it was horrible. The shaft sliced into his skin, tearing it open from the sudden change in velocity. He had started wearing rough, homemade leather gloves, but it was hard to catch arrows when there were dozens of them whizzing around your head.
An arrow slammed into a tree as he sprinted past. This tree happened to be right next to his head. Baelfire ran faster.
He wished he could poof away. He wanted to disappear in a gust of magic and end up far, far away from Pan and his hounds of war. Unfortunately, he could feel Pan's enchantments, snaking through the ground and entangling with Neverland herself. If Baelfire used magic to transport himself away, Pan would know. He'd be able to follow him wherever he went, rendering his escape pointless. Pan couldn't, however, track him if he escaped on foot.
The only problem with that was the fact that every single Lost Boy was chasing him.
And the plan he had was really, really not his best.
Baelfire saw a break in the tree line ahead of him and ran faster to reach it. Jumping over a stray log, he broke out of the woods and made his way towards the cliff before him.
He could hear the Lost Boys behind him, clamoring and howling as they pursued him. As Baelfire neared the edge of the precipice, he did not slow his flight.
He jumped.
"Are you sure we can do this without burning down the apartment?" Henry asked, skeptical.
"Of course I am! You know, kind of," Bae reassured.
Henry shot him a look. "Do you even know how to cook?"
"I can shoot, skin, and roast a wild boar over a campfire. That has to count for something."
"When it comes to cooking spaghetti, I don't think it counts for anything."
Bailey shrugged. "It can't be that hard."
It was that hard.
The main problem was that neither of them knew how to cook. While Bailey was, apparently, accomplished at preparing wild game over an open flame, he had never had the chance to cook on an actual stove. Henry, meanwhile, hadn't been allowed to go near the kitchen range; his mother had feared he'd burn the house down.
Which meant that they had to learn through experimentation. Hopefully, they wouldn't give themselves food poisoning in the process.
It probably would have been easier to go to Granny's, Henry reflected. However, they had been in agreement that they couldn't eat hamburgers from the diner for the rest of their natural lives. They had to learn to cook for themselves.
How that led to the two of them staring up at the ceiling, Henry wasn't entirely sure.
Bae leaned over to him. "Why does the pasta sticking to the roof mean it's done?"
"Uh… I'm not sure. I saw it in a movie. I'll explain later," Henry added at Bailey's questioning look. They had slowly been finding gaps in his fake memories in the strangest of places. Bae couldn't figure out a cell phone, yet could operate a computer. He could quote Shakespeare, but couldn't remember what a movie was. Henry had taken it upon himself to fill in these gaps.
He would definitely start with teaching Bae dinosaurs. (It was important to start at the beginning, right? Prehistory was the start of it all in this realm. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that dinosaurs were really, really cool.)
Bae nodded thoughtfully. Then, he leaned over once more. "How is it supposed to get down from the ceiling?"
Henry shrugged. "Maybe it falls down?"
"I thought the entire point of tossing it up there in the first place was to see if it wouldn't fall down."
"It can't stay up there forever, can it? Either way, it's pretty safe to say the pasta is done cooking." Grabbing a rag, Henry moved the pot of (only slightly burnt) pasta off the hot stovetop.
Glancing up at Bae, he sighed. "What is it?"
Bailey looked up from the sauce he was stirring. "What do you mean?"
Henry rolled his eyes. "You've been acting weird all night. Spill."
"I talked to your mom today. She, uh, is a bit more serious about changing than I thought. She wants me to teach her light magic."
A brilliant, beaming smile fixed itself on Henry's face. He knew his mom could do it! "What did you tell her?"
"I told her to come over at seven to practice- whoa!" Bae stumbled backwards as Henry launched himself at the mage and tackled him in a hug. "Careful, kid! Hot stove here!"
Henry blushed. "Sorry. It's just… You're really going to help her?"
Bae looked at him in trepidation. "Yeah but… Don't get your hopes up, Henry. Sometimes… Sometimes people let us down. I don't want to see you get hurt."
Henry shook his head stubbornly. "My mom won't let me down. I believe in her."
Bae looked at him sadly. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He sighed and turned back to the saucepan.
A knock sounded at the door. "I'll get it!" Henry said, excited. Could it be his mom? It wasn't seven yet, but she could be early, right?
"Oh. Hi, Archie," Henry said, somewhat disappointed. "What are you doing here?"
The psychiatrist looked at Henry fondly. "I said I would be giving you both random checkups to make sure everything was alright. Can I come in?"
Dr Hopper glanced around the living room searchingly, seemingly checking for any signs of ill treatment. "Hello, Bailey. What is it you boys are cooking?"
"Spaghetti," Henry chimed in. "Want some?"
The conscience shook his head. "I didn't know you two knew how to cook,"
"Neither did we," muttered Bae as he turned around to grab some plates.
Hopper seemed to sense something was amiss. "Is everything alright? You both seem upset."
Henry smiled as he shook his head. "Everything's great. My mom wants to learn light magic. Bae doesn't think she can do it yet, that's all."
"I see," he mused, his gravely tone searching. "So Bailey, you don't think that it's a good idea for Regina to learn light magic?"
The boy sighed. "I didn't say that. It's more of a matter on whether she can do it. This is going to be a lot harder than everyone thinks it will be. I just don't want to set ourselves up for disappointment, that's all."
After that, Henry tuned out the conversation as it turned to Bae's school work with Miss Nolan. Henry hadn't expected Bae to be optimistic about their chances. He tended to be a lot more jaded than Henry on many subjects. But that didn't matter. He'd believe when he saw how hard his mom would work at it, Henry knew it.
"Are you sure there are candles in here?" Bae yelled from upstairs. "This storage closet seems to only have spiders and old mops."
"I'm pretty sure that's where Miss Blanchard kept them," Henry yelled back. "I'll try down here."
The closer it got to seven o'clock, the more excited Henry became. In preparation for the lesson, Bailey had asked if they had any candles. He wasn't all that sure, but apparently they couldn't be magicked into existence. When he had asked, Bae had said something complicated and warlocky about different layers of magical interference influencing the outcome of the lesson, and Henry had resigned himself to having to learn the theoretical side of magic if he ever stood any chance of figuring out what Bailey was saying.
Henry walked into the kitchen and began tugging open cabinet doors in search of candles. Where had his grandma kept them? He was fairly certain she had bought quite a bit on Miner's Day; they couldn't all be gone by now. Alarmed, Henry slammed the door shut when he heard a shout (scream) from upstairs. "Are you okay?"
"I think I may have started a territory war with some incredibly vicious spiders!"
Henry snorted and tried to hold in a laugh. Bailey, who possessed nerves of steel when it came to rampaging magic users and armed bandits, was apparently being terrorized by the spiders living in his grandma's closet. "Do you need me to come protect you?" he teased.
Bae was not amused. "These things are crazy! They could be poisonous! I could be in mortal danger right now!"
Openly laughing now, Henry walked back into the kitchen. On his way towards the cabinets, he bumped into table, knocking off Bae's pack from its perch. He bent to pick it up, only to pause. What did Bae even keep in this thing? He told himself it was none of his business, and that he should just put it back and respect his friend's privacy, but it was hard. Bailey was so secretive about everything! He couldn't help but be curious.
Henry admonished himself as he picked up the coarse leather bag. Bae had done nothing but help him; he shouldn't be thinking about snooping through his things. But, as he turned over the bag, he paused. The tie keeping the top closed had come loose, and the cover was slightly askew. If the bag was already open, and Henry just so happened to see what was inside, that wasn't his fault, was it?And besides, Bae hadn't exactly forbidden Henry from looking in his bag. He had even shown him some of the contents. Surely, he wouldn't care if Henry saw a glimpse of what was on top, would he? Biting his lip, Henry glanced over his shoulder at the stairs. Bae wasn't there; he was probably still locked in combat with ferocious arachnids. Before he could stop himself, he flipped open the pack.
Really, there wasn't all that much that Henry could see. He caught sight of a few rocks, strange powders, and a shell. There was nothing that interesting or informative. He was about to close it again when he saw a flash of gold. Curious, he pushed aside some of the objects and pulled out the culprit. It was a piece of leather, embroidered with gold thread. Henry wasn't even all that sure what it was for. Frowning, he looked closer at the inscription. In small, flowing script it read:
Hero of Neverland
A
That raised more questions than answers. Had Bae been in Neverland all those years? What did it mean "hero"of Neverland? What was A? Was A a person? Was Bailey A? Henry was so preoccupied with the scrap of leather, he didn't notice Bae descending the stairs. He did, however, notice when the boy began to speak.
"I hope you appreciate the life-threatening lengths I am going to for this lesson, Henry. I'm pretty sure those spiders have sworn revenge," Bae said, wiping the cobwebs off the candle. He glanced up just in time to see Henry spin around, hiding the material behind his back. "What's going on?" he asked suspiciously.
"Nothing," Henry said quickly. "Where'd you find the candles?"
"In the cabinet. What's behind your back?"
"It's nothing!"
Bae gave Henry the look. The you're-not-getting-away-with-this-but-nice-try look. "Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean to snoop in your bag. It fell over and I couldn't resist."
Bae snorted. "I gathered that from my open pack. Find anything interesting?"
Henry repentantly held out the leather strap. "Did you live in Neverland all those years? Is that why you never aged? Bae?" Henry stared at the boy, worried. At the appearance of the scrap he had stiffened and gone chalk white. With a slightly shaking hand, Bae reached out and took the leather piece from Henry. Heavily, he sat down at the table, staring at the deceptively innocent object.
"Oh," he said in a strangled voice. He cleared his throat and repeated, "Oh. I, uh, was not expecting to see that."
Henry looked at Bae in trepidation. Nothing had ever gotten this big of a reaction from the boy. He had always had a calm facade on, sculpted from years of practice. What was so important about a scrap piece that it warranted that kind of reaction? "Who was A?"
Bae's head snapped up so fast Henry was surprised he didn't get whiplash. "What?"
He gestured helplessly towards the material. "It's signed A. Did you know A on Neverland?"
"I never said I was in Neverland."
"But it says Neverland on the piece of leather. What else could it mean? Are you Peter Pan? Is that why you're using your curse name?"
Bailey's entire countenance went stiff. "Henry…. I know you don't know any better, but please, never, ever compare me to that demon again. I am nothing like Peter Pan," he said, spitting out the name like a curse.
"I… I don't understand… I thought Peter Pan was a hero."
"No," Bae said, an urgent fire in his eyes. "Whatever you've heard about him is wrong. Peter Pan is the most vile creature that ever stepped foot on Neverland. I spent hundreds of years fighting him."
"He was a villain? So… You were a hero there. That's why A put it on the leather."
Bae slumped in his seat, staring at the material and looking so, so broken. "There is no such thing as heroes on Neverland," he whispered. "He was wrong about me. I was no hero."
"But…" Henry trailed off, unsure of what to say. Bae was a hero, he knew it. He knew it the same way he had known that the Curse was real, that they would get his family back, and that his mom could change. Henry believed it was true.
Abruptly, Bae stood up, swiping at his eyes. He had been crying, Henry realized. He had made Bae cry. He could have never even imagined Bae crying! The boy always seemed so put together, so sure. "I should go finish preparing for your mom's lesson," he choked out. "She'll be here soon."
Then, he spun on his heel and walked away, clutching that small, innocent piece of leather.
Even with the oxygen deprivation, Baelfire could realize that this was not his finest moment.
He had hit his head on the way down. It was spinning and likely bleeding, inhibiting any ability he may have to perform a life-saving spell. Because not only was he concussed, he was also stuck underwater. His pant leg had caught on something in the murky depths, preventing him from surfacing.
I need air, his mind screamed.
Bae thrashed in the water, not caring about just what he may be attracting.
His vision blurred.
Baelfire saw a flash of red, and there was a tug on his leg.
Then, nothing.
Bae tried to keep his hands from shaking as he walked away. He told himself that he was overreacting, that it was just a stupid scrap of leather and it shouldn't bother him this much. That he was only scaring Henry and he needed to get a handle on himself now.
Only, he couldn't.
Because it wasn't nothing. It wasn't a stupid scrap of leather. It was his most prized possession, the only thing he had left from…
No. Stop. For the sake of his sanity, he couldn't go there.
Baelfire set the candle up on the table; Regina would be here soon. Despite Henry's insistence, he didn't have high hopes for this lesson. Honestly, all he anticipated was a few hours of subtle (or not so subtle) barbs and snarky comebacks before leaving to do the final enchanting of the mirror. Still, he had to at least try, for Henry.
Baelfire was well aware that there was once upon a time that he wouldn't have needed Henry as incentive to help Regina give up dark magic; he would have done it automatically, glad someone was trying to change.
But that was before. Before his father had dropped him down a hole to another realm, shattering Baelfire's young, innocent heart. Before he had spent six months on the streets of London, fleeing from workhouses and learning just how immoral and vile people could be. Before he found a family, one that he loved and who loved him, only to loose them to magic. Before he found Hook, and thought that maybe he had lost his family only to gain a new one, but instead was sold to ensure the pirate captain's safety. Before hundreds of years of being hunted by some of the most ruthless people he had ever met. Before escaping, only to be trapped for twenty eight years in a mental asylum.
Before Baelfire had lost all faith in Happily Ever After.
And now there was Henry. Good, kind Henry who still believed in things like heroes and happy endings. Who believed in him.
It was a recipe for disaster if Bae ever saw one.
Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to him. What happened once Henry's family got back? What happened when he was no longer reliant on Bae, and realized that Baelfire was just a broken little Lost Boy, one that he'd be so much better off far, far away from? That for all his heroics, Bae was just shattered glass in the vague shape of a boy, and there was no possible way to even find the pieces, let alone put him back together again, so he shouldn't waste his time trying? That he needed to get far, far away from him, because Baelfire's luck was like a poison, one that spewed over absolutely everything he loved and killed it as painfully as possible?
A knock sounded at the door, and Bae went to answer it, trying to smother the fears churning in his stomach like acid. Regina was standing there, looking all for the world like she would much rather be doing anything else but this. Then, Henry's delighted, "Mom!" sounded behind him, and her face lit up, and for a moment, Bae could almost see a spinner turned Dark One, one that had once loved his son more than anything else in the world. He buried down the memories in the dark place in his mind that he kept all the things that hurt too much to think about before turning towards Henry. The boy was staring at his mother, looking excited and happy and so, so hopeful, so much more hopeful than Baelfire could even dream of being anymore. And suddenly, he came to a bittersweet revelation.
They would find Henry's family. They would get them back from the Enchanted Forest, and then the Charmings could protect him. Henry would grow up safe and loved, and he would never loose that amazing kindness that Bae hadn't even realized existed until it was staring at him in the face in the form of a stubborn eleven year old that was really too brave for his own good. Henry would have the family that he deserved.
And as for Baelfire? He could go back to being alone.
After all, alone was what he was good at.
Alone was safe.
And alone was all he could ever be.
When Baelfire woke up, he was in a cave.
This revelation caused much confusion to him originally. Namely, he was confused about the fact that he was not dead at the bottom of Mermaid Cove.
Then, he saw the mermaid, and became even more confused.
As a rule, the mermaids were allied with Pan. Baelfire had heard tales of a time before Pan, when Neverland was frequented by kind merpeople who brought tales of faraway lands and undersea castles to the children, but that time was long gone. Now, there was a colony of vicious, shrewish mermaids that took delight in drowning people who got too close. And they were more than happy to ally with Pan, as long as he allowed them to ruthlessly kill anyone stupid enough to get within arms reach.
But there was a mermaid in the cave with him. One that had seemed to save him instead of drown him.
So, either Baelfire had hit his head harder than he thought, or someone had left the "Evil Sea Harpy Club."
At first, Bae didn't say anything; he just looked at her. She was undeniably pretty, with her dark red hair and kind hazel eyes, but after spending hundreds of years on an island entirely populated by boys (and, recently, Tinkerbell, but she was more likely to stab you than anything else) Baelfire wasn't entirely certain what to do with that information. So instead he ignored it, and began to assess her threat level. She was sitting in the edge of a small pool of water that encompassed the opening of the cave. She wouldn't be able to get very far on land with that tail, so as long as he stayed out of arm's reach she wouldn't be able to do much to him. However, it was the underwater entrance to the cave, so if she was hostile he wouldn't be able to leave without a fight. Awkwardly, he cleared his throat. "Hello."
She said absolutely nothing, just stared at him. Slowly, she pointed a hand to her throat and shook her head.
She couldn't speak.
Well, that would make it a lot harder for him to figure out her motives behind rescuing him, but Baelfire was nothing if not flexible. "I suppose this is the best time to thank you for saving my life. I'd ask you your name, but that would be pretty useless, considering. So… Does your name start with an A?"
After slowly working his way through the alphabet, Baelfire came to discover that her name was Ariel. Unfortunately, that was all he knew about her.
He needed information, darn it!
Then, he had a vague memory of a mute maid, one that had been his only companion until his father cut her down without hesitation. While Honora had lived, Baelfire had always quietly bemoaned her lack of speech. Some days, he would have given anything to have someone give a kind word to him, one that wasn't accompanied by the insane giggle that belied the madness of its owner. However, just because she couldn't speak didn't mean she couldn't communicate. Slowly, they had built together a crude language constructed of gestures and facial expressions. Maybe, if she had lived and Bae had stayed, they could have built something better, something elegant and flowing, something that was a language in its own right. They were both willing to put in the effort, after all. Bae was reveling in the fact that someone would actually acknowledge his existence with something other than fear (even though there was still some of that with her, it wasn't nearly as prevalent), and Honora was just glad that someone was trying to actually communicate with her, instead of acting inconvenienced by her disability, as if it was her fault she couldn't speak.
Honora was gone; she had been dead for years. But Ariel was here, and she needed to speak.
Slowly, they managed to establish a basic vocabulary, even if most of their conversation was still pantomimed actions and exaggerated gestures. Then, Ariel shot him an inquisitive glance and mimed a figure jumping with her fingers.
"Why did I jump?" Bae guessed. At her confirmation, he responded, "You generally flee when people are shooting at you."
Another questioning look, then she drew her arms apart, echoing the position of someone shooting a bow.
"Why were they shooting at me? The Lost Boys and I don't get along that well."
Ariel glared at him, then gave him the this-is-difficult-enough-so-stop-dodging-the-bloody-question look. Baelfire yielded. It's not like she could tell anyone, and even if she could, Pan definitely knew what he had stolen. Grabbing his bag, he pulled out the object he risked his life for.
Ariel looked distinctly unimpressed. She was clearly thinking, A coconut?!
A smile barely touched the corners of the wizard's lips. "This one's special."
Henry was very excited to see his first real magic lesson. A few days ago, Henry had been forging his way through life, desperately trying to break the curse and make his birth mother believe in magic, and now, he was sitting at a table watching his insane asylum escapee best friend, who also happened to be a centuries old warlock, teach his ex-Evil Queen adoptive mother light magic before they went out to enchant mirrors so that they could rescue his fairytale family from the Enchanted Forest. How cool was that?
"Okay, Lesson One: Lighting the candle," Bae began. The boy didn't show any outward signs of what had happened earlier, and that worried Henry. He was hurting, so why was he trying so hard to hide it? Henry was his friend; he could help him! Still, he was afraid to bring up the subject again. Who knew how Bailey would react to another reminder of that leather strip?
"I already know how to light a candle," his mother broke in, waving her hand lazily, setting the wick alight. "I'm not exactly a novice at this."
"You know how to light a candle with dark magic. When it comes to light magic, you are very much a novice. However, this is a good opening for the first theoretical lesson. Henry," he said, turning towards the boy, "do you know the difference between light and dark magic?"
"The spells you use?" he guessed.
"Good try, but no. Magic is powered off of emotion; that's why dark magic is so damaging to the user. Dark magic needs things like hate, envy, and anger to work, and in doing so, it forces the user to dwell on those emotions. Light magic is the more positive scale of the emotional spectrum. It still demands a price, but it doesn't force the caster to focus on things that make them upset. The downside, however, is that on average it is less powerful than dark magic. While True Love is the most powerful of magicks of them all, idle happiness doesn't really match up against burning hate. It's one thing to have a lot of magical potential, it's another to actually be able to use it. The power of the spell corresponds directly with the intensity of the emotion. So if you really want to be a strong light magic user, you have to have something important to power it. Now, how do you tell if a spell was powered by light magic or dark magic?"
For a moment, Henry thought. Then, "The color? Your magic is a different color than my mom's."
Bae smiled. "That was actually the next theoretical lesson. Color is unique to the caster; it's got nothing to do with light or dark magic. Regina's magic is purple, and mine is gold, but that's just a characteristic of our individual magic. No, you can tell the type of magic used by the Echo it gives. Echoes are kind of like emotional residue. You can feel ghosts of the emotions used to power the spells if you focus."
Henry frowned, and concentrated on the tiny flame that his mother had conjured. Slowly, he became aware of faint impressions of… anger… pain… hate…
"What does your magic feel like?" Henry asked, looking at Bailey curiously.
Bae raised an eyebrow but complied, blowing out the candle before lighting it anew. The small fire sent out tiny waves of happiness, almost laughter, but something else too… It was tinged with sadness, almost bittersweet. Wistful.
"Right then," Bailey said, clearing his throat. "Back to practical." He turned towards Regina, who had watched the entire exchange with pained, desperate looks toward her son. "Try to light the candle with a positive emotion."
Henry had started the lesson out hopeful, but that quickly dwindled as the session wore on. His mother just glared at the candle at first, then softened her expression when she realized Henry was staring at her expectantly. However, she quickly became frustrated with the lack of results, and several times her anger spilled over, lighting a flame that radiated frustration. After the fourteenth time this happened (and yes, Henry had been counting), she slammed her hand on the table and snapped, "It's not working!"
Bae snorted. "I could tell."
Henry shot him a look. He was supposed to be teaching her, not letting loose snarky comments that only served to frustrate her further! She was trying! Bae, suitably chastised, spoke again. "You're trying too hard, Regina. You're lighting a candle, not a bonfire; you don't need the same level of power that you use to make fireballs. Don't try for some big, important emotion just yet. Instead, just try and find a memory that makes you happy. Have you ever had any fun pastimes? Hobbies? Anything that made you the slightest bit happy?"
His mom glared at the wizard, before biting out, "Horseback riding."
"You know how to horseback ride?" Henry cut in, excited. "That's so cool! Did you learn in the Enchanted Forest? Did you have your own horse?"
"I had a steed, Rocinante, ever since I was a child; he was amazing. When I was your age, I loved horseback riding more than anything else." Tentatively, Regina continued. "You know, Henry… I could teach you. How to horseback ride, that is. After all, you are a prince, and princes should know how to ride. It… It could be something we do together."
Henry thought for a long moment before answering. He wanted to do things with her again. He missed Chocolate Pancake Saturdays, Marvel movie marathons, and all those other things that his mother had done with him just because she loved him. Still… He couldn't forget all the bad things that happened, also. He couldn't forget the trips to the psychiatrist, the arguments, and all the secret whispered prayers at night that he had never told anyone about.
(Please, please, please don't let me be crazy. I can't be crazy, I know I'm not crazy…)
(...Then why does everyone say I am?)
He couldn't forget the loneliness of it all.
But wasn't she trying to change? Didn't this lesson prove it? How could she change if he didn't at least give her an incentive to? Could Henry do it? Could he let her back into his life? Slowly, he came to a decision.
He missed his mom.
Henry shot her a tentative smile. "I'd like that." And his mom smiled back, so relieved and happy and hopeful.
Then, Bailey spoke again.
"We should get going. We need to enchant the mirrors soon."
Henry looked back, frowning. "Do we have time? We still have to finish the lesson."
Bae gave him a small smile, both happy and melancholy, and simply said, "The lesson's over," before he got up and left the table.
And then Henry saw the candle.
A small flame was flickering on the wick, and Henry knew that his mother had put it there. And it was burning with emotion, sending out small rays of something that was most definitely not dark.
Hope.
Baelfire got somewhat used to seeing Ariel over the next few months. They weren't friends; Bae didn't (couldn't) have friends anymore. Friends betrayed you and hurt you and died. He and Ariel were… associates. They spoke to one another for the sole sake of survival (or at least that's what he kept telling himself).
Their language improved with time. They practiced whenever they could, though that wasn't often. On Neverland, Baelfire was a dangerous frien - associate to have. If Ariel was seen with him, she could be punished by Pan.
Bae soon learned that Ariel was completely unsuited for Neverland life. While she was stubborn and brave, she was just too pure for the island. She refused to join the other mermaids' psychotic festivities, but she also refused to leave. To the other merpeople, that made her an interloper, someone to be driven out. The only thing that seemed to make her fit in the realm was that she was lost. From what Baelfire could tell, she had stumbled upon the realm after fleeing from heartbreak. Some evil queen had stolen her chance at True Love, and Ariel had managed to swim to Neverland in the anguish of the aftermath. And now, she wouldn't go back to her realm. At first, Bae had been furious when she said that. He would give anything to have her ability to travel between realms. Anything to be able to escape. And she could, but wouldn't because she thought there was nothing left for her in the outside world. Eventually though, they had agreed to disagree; they had enough enemies already without hating each other. They helped each other out in any way that they could. Ariel taught Bae how to harvest squid ink and gave him a conch shell to call her with; Baelfire healed any wounds she received and made her protection charms against the other mermaids.
The first time he used magic in front of her, Ariel had panicked. She had started widely gesturing and splashing at him, and it took her almost ten minutes to calm down. Even then, she was too excited to clearly communicate with him. Half an hour after Baelfire had healed the wound on her arm that caused the outburst, he finally found out why she was so enthusiastic. She was not born a mute. Instead, her voice had been magically silenced.
And she wanted Baelfire to free her from the curse.
He had tried; oh Gods had he tried. Spells, potions, poultices, everything, and nothing had worked. Eventually, he had managed to figure out why. Her voice hadn't been silenced; it had been stolen. Only the person that had taken it in the first place could return it to her, and, based on Ariel's descriptions of the witch, that wasn't likely.
Ariel had been heartbroken. Enough so that she renewed her vows not to move away from the island, despite the risks.
And as for Baelfire…. Well, he hadn't stopped trying to leave. He had been planning for centuries, after all. And now, now he was close.
And that was precisely what was troubling him.
Getting close meant that he had to finally make the decision that he had been putting off since he had found that coconut. He needed to decide his destination.
It was strange that a lesson from Captain Ho- the Pirate was so instrumental in his escape. While he was certain he would have been able to discover the information on his own, it would have taken him years to figure it out in the accuracy required for the task. In fact, Baelfire was sure that his escape would have been put off by at least a decade if it wasn't for the man.
After all, he had been the one who had taught Bae how to navigate by the stars.
The concept was relatively simple. To leave Neverland, Baelfire needed to fly and he needed Pan's Shadow to do it. However, the Shadow needed to know where to go; that was where the stars came in. It was the perfect map, a perfect way to give it ironclad instructions on what realm to take him to. All he had to do was carve the constellation pattern of the realm he wished to travel to into the top half of the coconut shell. That was why he had risked his life for a specific coconut; the ones that grew on the south side of the island grew in the least magically rich area, ensuring it was effectively a blank slate when it came to magical interference (though the fact that Pan had probably burst a blood vessel when he couldn't figure out why Bae had run straight by his camp for a glorified fruit was a bonus). He could enchant it without worrying about residue of the island's magic altering his course (it would be horrible if managed to escape, only for the Shadow to get confused and bring him straight back to Neverland). Therefore, when he trapped the Shadow in its cage, the destination would be magically imprinted on it, and would be forced to take the former Lost Boy directly there.
Theoretically.
And now, he was forced to finally answer the question: Where would he go when he escaped?
Logically, he knew the Enchanted Forest was a better idea. Pan would never suspect that Bae had returned to a place that housed so many bad memories, and even if he did, Bae could use magic there to escape. Besides, the idea of spending the rest of his life pretending that magic and Neverland wasn't real was vile to him; he had gone through too much to just pretend it had never happened.
But… the Darlings could be still be in the Land Without Magic.
It was his secret hope, one that he had never dared to voice aloud. What if when he left, he would arrive back the morning after he had disappeared from the Darling residence? After all, Wendy had spent days here and was back a few hours later. Could he be so lucky that you always returned a few hours after you left?
In his experience, luck didn't exist; at least not for him. But if they were there, Baelfire knew that he would go back to them, no matter how difficult it would be living in that realm. Because he still remembered Wendy's hugs, Mrs. Darling's affectionate smiles, Mr. Darling's gruff fondness, and the way John and Michael would follow him everywhere, convinced he was the most amazing older brother in all the realms. Frankly, he missed them. And if he had them in his life, maybe he could cope. Maybe he could hide his scars and tuck away all the memories, and just go on with his life. Maybe he could do it, pretend that magic was nothing but a fable. But if they weren't still there, then there was nothing left for him in that realm.
He needed to know.
The water before him parted, allowing long red hair and a beautiful face to come bubbling up to the surface. Ariel grinned at him, but that quickly disappeared when she saw the look on his face. Quickly, she raised her hands and signed, What's wrong?
Baelfire took a deep breath. "I need a favor…"
The enchanting had gone smoothly, in Baelfire's opinion. They had gotten to a grassy field before the moon reached its zenith, and had the mirrors in place before Bae needed to cast the spells. The runes had faded into the twin looking glasses without trouble, signifying the enchantment as set.
"So… Now what?" Henry asked. "How are we supposed to get these to my family?"
Regina looked at Bae. "I believe that you said that you'd handle that little detail," she said with a raised eyebrow.
He nodded in acknowledgement. "True. But it would be a lot easier if I could get something from you."
Regina frowned. "What?"
"A voice."
The wizard had refused to elucidate as they traveled through town, just led the procession to the dock. Then, he knelt down by the water and and pulled a conch shell from his bag. Raising it to his lips, his whispered a name. Then, he stared expectantly at the water.
Regina soon tired of waiting. "Well?" she demanded.
Bae simply raised his hand and kept watching. The water's surface rippled and broke, and a long mane of red hair rose from the depths. Ariel grinned up at him. Baelfire, she exuberantly signed. Rapidly, she began throwing signs together, all of which basically equated to you crazy * $#!% , you actually did it!
Baelfire grinned back. He had missed her. "Hey Ariel," he laughed. Telling her about his escape plans had been a risk, he knew that. Still, he had needed to give her some explanation for his crazy request all those years ago, and she had deserved the truth. Of course, she hadn't been too hopeful about his chances of success.
When Pan had said that nobody left Neverland without his permission, that was because nobody left without his permission. It was literally unheard of. So his little escape had been both legendary for him, and embarrassing for Pan. It also meant that Ariel had been realistic about his chances of actually getting off, which were technically negligible, but Baelfire had stopped paying attention to that little detail over four hundred years ago.
"Her?" Regina spluttered.
Ariel wheeled around, staring furiously at the former regent before spinning back to Baelfire. What are you doing with her?
"Calm down," Bae reassured before turning towards Regina. "I believe you have something that belongs to Ariel."
"Why should I give it back to her?"
"It's her voice!"
"The shrimp deserved it! She ruined my revenge and stabbed me in the neck with a fork!"
A fork? Bae wondered momentarily before refocusing on the problem at hand. "Regina," he reasoned. "You're trying to change, remember? That means you have to return the voices that you stole. And actually, that also counts for the hearts in your Vault, but we'll figure that out later. Besides, this will be a lot easier if Ariel can actually speak."
Regina shot him a disdainful look, but melted at the puppy dog eyes Henry was shooting her and flicked her wrist. Slowly, Ariel started to laugh. She glanced up at Bae, excited, and tried to pull him into a hug. Unfortunately, they overbalanced and the boy was dragged into the water. Bae crashed into the ocean, a rush of water pounding through his ears, before he struggled to the surface again. The sound of Henry's laughter met him, and he mock glared at the mermaid in front of him. "Thanks for that."
Unrepentant, Ariel laughed as she pulled him into a hug. "You actually pulled it off!" she laughed. "You escaped! Without dying!"
Bae gave a small, bittersweet smile. "That's more than most can say, I guess. Still hanging around the old haunt, Ariel?"
Her smile disappeared. "I wasn't ready to move on to anywhere else." She shot a nervous glance at the pair still on the dock before she continued. "He… was furious when you got off. You embarrassed Him. If He catches you…"
"I knew better than anyone what would happen if He found me again," Bae answered quietly. "It didn't change my decision." Slowly, Bae swam back to the dock and pulled himself up, wiping water off of his face.
"Why did you call me?" Ariel asked.
"Two reasons: I met Regina and was hoping she'd give you your voice back, and I need a favor."
The two had a long history of asking each other for favors. She needed help with the other mermaids, he needed information about another realm, whatever. They had an unspoken agreement to help with the other's request, within reason.
"What is it?"
"We need someone in the Enchanted Forest to get ahold of this mirror; her name is Emma."
"How will I find her?"
Bae reached into his bag and pulled out a scarf he pilfered from Emma's room, a small vial, and a nondescript. "When you get to the Enchanted Forest, put on the bracelet; it should give you legs. Theoretically speaking. Then, pour the potion on the scarf and get ready to run. Actually, just make sure to hang onto the scarf. You don't have all that much experience on legs, and that thing is going to travel fast."
Ariel nodded. "Anything else?"
Henry spoke up. "Can you tell my mom that Henry loves her? And that he didn't stop until Operation: Cobra was complete, and he won't give up on Operation: Tiger Shark either?"
The mermaid turned to swim away, before Bae stopped her. "Ariel… You said that you didn't have anything left in the other realms, and that's why you had to stay there. A Curse took us all from the Enchanted Forest; odds are, your Prince Eric is here. So if you wanted to try for Happily Ever After again…. Well, at least the neighbors aren't insane here. Probably."
Then, Ariel was gone, leaving nothing but a splash in her wake.
He should be used to this by now.
After all, his long, long life had been punctuated by loss since the day his mother had "died." The fact that someone he hadn't seen in centuries was dead shouldn't be enough to bring him to tears.
Ariel had come back. She had been gone for several days, traveling to the Land Without Magic at his request, to find out how much time had passed. And when she had come back, it was with tales of buildings taller than he remembered and ships that puffed smoke and strange metal carriages that Baelfire in no way remembered from his time in London. Baelfire didn't recognize a single thing from what she had described, and if it had been anyone else he would have thought they had traveled to the wrong realm.
It was undeniable now: Time had moved on without him.
Baelfire had waited until he was in the sanctity of his hideout before he let himself break down. At first, he hadn't been sure why he was crying. Wendy and the rest of the Darlings had probably lived long, happy lives (without him). Wasn't that why he had sacrificed himself? So that they could be spared from the pain he had suffered? Hadn't he known that there was a very real possibility that he would never see them again the moment he grabbed the Shadow's icy cold hand?
But in the end, none of that mattered. Because before now he could pretend they were still alive. He could pretend that he would see his family again. And now, he knew that he never would. He had lost them, forever. And so Baelfire cried.
Because damn it, they were worth his tears.
Baelfire knew that eventually he would stop crying. Eventually, his sorrow would dry up and join the dull throb of pain that had followed him everywhere for years. Then, he would go back to planning. He would carve the path to the Enchanted Forest into the coconut and he'd escape. But not now.
Now, he cried for his family.
I'm back! Two days early, in fact! As you can probably guess, I was not hit by a goat. Yay, for both me and the goat. I'm just going to go ahead and call this chapter eight, even though it's technically chapter seven, because it would make uploading this less confusing.
So, if you guys haven't figured it out yet, Baelfire is seriously screwed up. Like, the mental scarring of a POW. There is a reason for that (other than the obvious). It has been hinted to several times, with the leather, the scars, ect. I'm going to have an entire flashback chapter devoted to that later in the fic. It will explain the main thing that happened in Neverland to make him so different than he was the last time we saw young Baelfire in the show. Prepare yourselves for serious angst.
The plot should pick up from here. Until next time!