Aurelia found herself, yet again, alone. It was becoming more and more common recently and she was growing tired of it. All she wanted was to be at home surrounded by everyone she loved, not being a slave, or a mermaid, or butt-naked traipsing through a forest trying to find the love of her life. Maybe she would find him soon. Or not. The day was almost over, she only had two left.

Hours later she laid in a tree, shivering and crying. She'd been crying lot recently. Suddenly, she heard voices.

"Yes, we'd better get back to base" a low voice was saying "He's waiting for us, and apparently there's been news"

"News about what?" Another male voice said.

"Not sure, something about mermaid lagoon. Something's happened down there, not sure what, and he thinks it might be something to do with the girl"

"The girl? She's probably dead by now, or maybe Hook has her"

"Wouldn't he offer Peter a trade though? He knows how desperately Peter's been looking for her"

"Well, Peters our leader now, and it's his instructions to keep an eye out. And for Gods sake, don't mention anything to him that might set him off. We want him in good spirits for the feast tonight. Now lets head back" the voice was accompanied by the crunch of leaves as they began to walk away. Making an rather unwise, rash decision, Aurelia pushed her thin, aching body out of the tree, letting out a scream.

"My God, it's a girl" two faces hovered over her, dark in comparison to the blue sky.

"She's naked" the other one stated, and Aurelia wished she could roll her eyes.

"Can you please think about other things right now? It's her, Peter's girl, I think. We'd better take her back, she looks like hell"

Gee, thanks, Aurelia thought drying. She felt a long shirt being pulled over her, thankfully it covered all the necessary areas and she felt some small shrew of dignity claw its way back. She was hoisted into someone's arms, and felt the rhythmic bounce of the man walking with a long, purposeful stride.

The next hours- or minutes, Aurelia wasn't quite sure- were a blur of motion. Lot's of voices some calm, some shouting.

"Came out of nowhere"

"No clothes"

"Hook?"

"Kidnapped"

"No idea"

"Peter"

"Where is she? Bring her here" a voice commanded. "Aurelia, open your eyes. Look at me"

She did, and saw Peters stern face. She was transferred to his arms, and he held her too tightly, it hurt and she couldn't breathe.

"God, you look so skinny, you're all bones. What happened to you? Was it Hook? We'll find him, I'll kill him, I swear"

"I came back to find you" she barely managed to speak. "To save you... From the queen"

"I don't need saving, my darling. We have plenty of time to talk later. Just get your strength back"

She was taken to bed and laid down. Finally, she was safe. Maybe Peter was her true love. Maybe she would kiss him when she woke up. After she'd had a nice sleep…

Barely an hour later, a battle broke out. Aurelia leapt out of bed of the smell of fire and smoke, the sounds of screaming and shouting outside. She ran outside, and saw Peters men fighting the pirates. Without hesitation she joined the fight, throwing punches left, right and centre. Picking up a sword she put it to good use, not killing the pirates, just injuring them enough not to hurt people. Suddenly, her throat was grabbed from behind.

"Look, Captain!" a voice bellowed. Aurelia met the eyes of Hook, who was fighting three men. He brought them down immediately, storming over.

"What a stroke of luck" he said, his eyes looking up and down. "Well, look at you" he said "And your lovely legs. I'm sorry about this darling, but I think you should come with me, get away from all this violence."

Aurelia's eyes burned with betrayal. "No, Hook, I don't want to come with you. I'm with Peter, I'm fine. I want to stay with him." she said. Hook's face looked angry and bitter.

"well, I've kidnapped you twice before, so asking me nicely won't stop me now" he shrugged.

"you bastard! I saved your life! What do you want from me? Why don't you just leave me alone?" she cried, pushing him hard. He barely moved.

Suddenly, the guy behind her brought down his sword on her head, an she vaguely heard Hook shouting

"You fool, don't hurt her!" before she was knocked unconscious.

Aurelia sat up, rigid. She took in details to help her brain function. Forest. She was next to a campfire and there was no one around. She didn't even know if it was the same day. Oh God. What if two days had passed and she had no idea?

She let out a great scream that ripped apart the silence, and sobbed, her body heaving with emotion.

"Woah, calm down, calm down" Hook said, appearing from the trees "Christ, you'll probably be heard at the Indian camp"

"You don't understand" Aurelia choked "I'm going to die"

"What? Of course you're not. I only took you for leverage against Peter, I'm not going to harm you. Sorry about the bump on the head- wasn't entirely my fault?"

"No, not you" Aurelia snapped "The sea witch"

"Myrtle?" Hook asked, his face drawn. "Wait- wait a second- did you make a deal with her? Aurelia, tell me. Oh God. That's how you got your legs back. What was the price?"

Aurelia gasped, hyperventilating.

"Oh my god, I'm going to die. I'm going to die" hook knelt beside her, eyes panicked. His warm hand on her back with slow, rubbing motions was helping. She breathed, calming down a bit.

"She said if I don't find my true love and kiss him within three days, I'd be dragged back to her, and then after a little while, she'll kill me" Aurelia said. "That's why I tried to find Peter… But now.. It might be too late"

"Peter? You think Peters your true love?" Hook laughed, and she glared at him. His face dropped.

"Peter is your true love" he said. "Explains a lot. Oh- and I dragged you away from him. Don't worry, we still have two more days" he said thoughtfully, and she looked at him with intense eyes.

"We?"

"Well, yeah" he shifted, looking uncomfortable "You saved my life, I don't like owing people. Maybe I want to be good like Peter. I don't want to be the bad guy all the time, you know. And we've been through so much together, the least I can do is try to help you"

Aurelia could barely say thank you.

As they started walking, Hook explained the war. Peter and his group had managed to get to Neverland, and had attacked the pirates thinking they had Aurelia, and then the pirates had retaliated. With other troubles such as land and male pride, the fight had continued. The plan of action was that Hook would take Aurelia back to Peter, where she would kiss him, and in turn, he would be pardoned, and there would be a truce.

They set out, walking at a brisk pace, and talking about their lives. Hook was a great story teller, and Aurelia watched as he spoke, animatedly, about his fights and bets, his eyes lit up, swinging an imaginary sword and leaping from logs as he demonstrated. In turn, Aurelia spoke calmly about her village, and then her time with Rumplestiltskin, learning about magic, and the queen. She spoke about her time in Neverland, the friends she had made in the mer castle, until Aurelia looked at the sun setting, a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry" Hook said "I promise- I give you my word- that you'll be fine. Even if I have to swim down to that bloody sea witches cave to get you, I will. I never break my word" he said, his face earnest, and Aurelia nodded. They paused for half an hour to catch their breath, and Aurelia finally built up the courage to ask about Hook's war with Rumplestiltskin.

"He had a wife, you see. Mila, her name was. I met her in a tavern, and we fell in love. But she'd left her husband and son for me. I didn't care, I was so wrapped up in love I didn't think about them. I was cruel to him, taunted him but secretly I was worried. I thought Mila wass my true love, I didn't want her husband taking her back by using their son to guilt trip her. We fought, and I won. But then he became the dark one. He got powers I couldn't imagine. I'm good in a fight, but I'm an ordinary man. He used magic against me, much like when he attacked you the other day. He tore her heart out and crushed it in front of me. He took my hand too, but Mila... Mila was gone forever" His eyes were on the floor, his whole face heavy with emotion. Aurelia almost couldn't believe it. He was decent, after all. She couldn't help but wonder if he was still in love with this Mila.

"That's why you were so upset. When he attacked me, and restrained you. It reminded you of that" Aurelia understood now. It made so much sense.

"I hate that it's not a fair fight. I've never been that... defenseless before. But not just that... Seeing you, like that, it-" he trailed off, and she didn't know whether to press him or not. She was about to, but then they stumbled into Peter's camp.

When Hook shouted out, men came from everywhere grabbing them. Peter strode forward, and Hook was gagged, his hands tied. Aurelia was released, and tried to protest, but was taken away, only seeing a bag being placed on Hook's head.

She was pushed into a bed, and forced to drink a bitter type of tea which made her cough, splutter and feel dizzy.

"This will put you to sleep" Peter said. He laid out some clothes for her- not very appropriate ones- a white dress that would surely get dirty.

"No… can't sleep… have to tell you… only no time" Aurelia said, gasping.

"It's all fine, don't worry Aurelia, you are safe"

"There's no time" Aurelia said "Hook… innocent. Trying to help me"

Peter frowned. "He's obviously threatened you, or brainwashed you. Never mind. Tomorrow night he will be beheaded, and we can go home. Or stay here, whatever" Peter kept chatting away as Aurelia violently tried to escape.

She couldn't let Hook die. She needed to be saved so she could save him.

She kicked Peter, hard, running out of the tent. he was chasing her and the weird tea went right to her head. Hook wass being tied to a tree, his hands behind his back, and she tried to get to him. After what he'd just revealed to her about being defenceless, she couldn't leave him like that. It was her fault. The drugs crashed through her system and she stumbled, hands grabbing at her from behind. If she passed out, time would run out. She wouldn't be able to save Hook.

"Kiss me" she said, her voice full of desperation. Peter looked at her curiously, and bent down without questioning her.

He kissed her. It was fine, pleasant, but even in her drugged state it felt wrong. Aurelia broke it off. Nothing had changed. She kissed him again, for good measure, but she knew this wasn't her true love kiss. It wasn't Peter.

Killian couldn't help but stare. It tore him apart, seeing the two embraced. He couldn't tell whether it worked or not, but Peter was certainly enoying it. His disgusting hands were around her beautiful body- her hip, then her waist- tangling in her hair. She broke it off, and Killian couldn't breathe. Then she kissed him again. It had worked. It must've. Why would she kiss him twice? He was ashamed of the pain burning through his body, and tore his eyes away.

Aurelia looked over to Hook, to try and signal that it wasn't Peter. Then who was it? What if she didn't have a true love?
Peter placed her back into the bed, kissing her forehead, but after he left she ran up, forcing her fingers down her throat. It had already entered her system, bt she needed to be as alert as possible. She threw up most of the potion, and just managed to get to the bed before collapsing.

Aurelia drifted unwillingly off to sleep, full of dark nightmares.

When she woke up, the sun was streaming in through the west window. Good. She still had time. But not much. She got up, hurriedly brushing her teeth in the little makeshift bathroom and getting dressed quickly- she had no other option but to wear the white dress. When she was dressed she ran outside.

There were boys milling around, and she noticed a large crowd at the top of the hill. All the pirates were bound by ropes around a large tree. She looked, but couldn't see Hook anywhere. At the bottom of the hill the sea pooled round.

She looked for Peter. She had to save Hook first, that was her priority. Finding true loves kiss would have to wait till later. The sun began sinking, the sky a blue streaked with pink and purple. It was beautiful. At the very top of the hill was a tree trunk that had been chopped into a block.

Peter was standing there, with green trousers and no top on. He had red war streaks across his cheeks.

The crowd grew bigger. The Indian tribe were led by a beautiful woman- Tiger Lily, Aurelia presumed, and stood to watch. Her face was angry. Mer gathered at he sea edge, and Aurelia saw familiar faces. She wanted to talk to them but she was fixated on the sight before her.

"The day has come" he began "For all this war and destruction to end. I am the leader of the lost boys, and I am taking action"

A roar emerged from the lost boys.

"You are ending it with death?" A man from the Indian camp said. He had a large, yellow robe on with tribal markings, and an old, weathered face. "I do not believe this is good, Peter. The pirates have proved themselves worthy to live here"

"It is the only way" Peter said, his face hard. "Death and bloodshed is necessary to show people who this land belongs to"

"Oh, and is that you, I suppose?" one mer said. It was Varro. "Neverland belongs to all of us. And though we mer don't usually meddle in human lives, we are not supportive of this. A gir- a woman changed some of our thoughts. But she is lost to us. I thought she might be here. Her name- we know it as Ariel- you may know her as Aurelia"

Peter's face narrowed. "Aurelia is not here. But I know she would support me in this. This is our battle" Peter said, pointing to the lost boys

"But it is not ours" Varro said "We will stay and watch, but know that we do not agree with what you are doing, Peter"

"This ceremony is to end the pirates life, not reunite with old friends" he held his hand up. He looked different, colder.

"ENOUGH. Bring the pirate out. I am going to end this now"

They brought Hook out, with his hands tied with rope, beaten and bruised. He still had a lazy smile.

"All of you turned up, just for me?" he said "I'm chuffed. Cheers or the turnout, mate."

"Silence" peter said, petulantly.

They forced Hook onto his knees, but he looked around for her face.

"I don't care if you kill me- but Aurelia- she only has one day, you MUST save her" He said earnestly.

"She is not your concern" Peter hissed, forcing Hook's head on the block.

"Save her?" Varro asked.

"She made a deal with the sea witch" Kai explained.

Aurelia stood, frozen. She couldn't move. She was scared. None of them had seen her. She wanted to run away.

She forced herself to pull herself together, but couldn't.

She looked at Hook. He still looked handsome, despite being kidnapped and tortured. And he cared about her. He didn't care about his own death, but wanted to stick to his promise to help her.

Suddenly, everything changed. The world seemed to shift into place, an epiphany hit Aurelia.

It was him. She was in love with Killian Jones. The pirate Hook had stolen her heart. She was so amazed by this revelation that she didn't notice Peter raise his sword above Hook's head.

She looked up, and began running, pushing people out of her way. When she was within feet of them she screamed out "NO!" and leapt, flying in-between Peter and Hook, falling in front of him, shielding him with her body.

"Aurelia?" Peter asked.

"You can't do this" she said fiercely.

"Get out of the way. You have no idea what you're doing, Aurelia."

The sun sunk lower, her time running out fast.

"Darling, I think it's best if you just let this happen" Hook said. She turned, placing her hands on his face.

"I'm not going to let you die. I love you" she said, looking straight into his eyes. He stared at her.

"WHAT?" Peter roared, pushing her to the side. She fell, her head hitting a rock, and Kai yelled out in fury as Tiger lily ran, taking Peter out.

Mer were throwing spears from the water and a pirate had been set free, letting the other lose, and war breaking out.

"STOP" Aurelia roared, with all her heart, and lungs, and soul.

Everyone stopped. Silence spread, so much so that you could hear a pin drop.

"You need to stop fighting. You're right, bloodshed will not solve anything. You need to learn to live in peace with each other in Neverland. Peter, you can't kill Hook. I've known you for many years now, and I know there is still good in you. Pirates- I understand that it's in your nature to rebel and fight, but not at the cost of losing your own men. Mer people" she looked at them "I love you all. I'm sorry I had to lie, but there was no other way. You showed me a different world, and I hope I've opened your eyes to the good natures of humanity. But this cannot go on. I've been through a lot, and I'm tired, and I refuse to fight any longer. We are all people, in the same world, and there is enough pain and bloodshed without us adding to it."

"The girl is wise" the chief said, and soon people began to cheer and clap. Aurelia looked over at Killian, who was untying his ropes. He smiled at her, and began walking to her. The cheering continued as the sun went down.

Aurelia felt a sharp pain, like someone had grabbed her heart and yanked it out. She fell on her knees.

"Aurelia?" Hook ran to her, grabbing as she gave a scream of pain. Everyone was silent.

"Its too late. I'm going to die- she's coming for me" Aurelia whispered.

"no, no, no, I'm not going to let that happen. Aurelia, love, don't leave me, I love you" he whispered, his face so innocent and vulnerable that Aurelia gave a half smile.

He bent down, pressing his lips to hers, and kissed her, softly and gently with an underlying passion and desperation that almost frightened her. It was perfect. It felt like she had finally found a piece of herself that she never knew she was missing. All th stars seemed to align and choirs sung as they clung to each other.

"Aureliaaaaaaa" came a shrill voice, laughing.

It was her. Myrtle was back.

Everybody screamed.