I stumbled through the forest in the pitch black, avoiding living things at every possible moment. I was still completely livid about the fight. He seemed to think me so weak. Worried? Yeah, and my name's John Joe. I couldn't wait to get this over with, so I could go home and just forget about it. Or maybe I'd convince myself it was all a dream. I probably would.
Even though I was trying to be at ease and confident about fighting Hook, I honestly didn't know how I was going to do it. Alright, I WAS going to be unprepared. But so what? He looked like he had SUCH a bad hangover the day before, I betted he had already forgotten about the whole thing. This made my plans stretch easier. Well, I hoped it would, seeing as I didn't HAVE any plans at that particular time.

Lights soon bloomed out of the darkness, and there was a crackling. I had reached the camp. There was no noise and no people. Looked like the party was over. Suddenly the tiredness hit me, and my legs were wobbly as I walked towards my tent I shared with Aaya.

"Hey."

I stopped and turned. Curly was sitting cross-legged on the ground just visible by the still crackling flames of the lighting bonfire, looking at me questioningly.

"Oh. Hi."

"Where've you been?"

"Oh" I swallowed. "Just out and about…getting some exercise."

"Yeah. You look tired."

"Yeah…if you don't mind, I'm just gonna go to bed. You'll see me tomorrow."

I was about to turn and Curly stood up. "Will I?"

I froze. "What?" I asked guiltily.

"I know what you're doing. You weren't gonna tell anybody then?"

"Hey! You were eavesdropping again!"

"No, Peter came back to the camp a while ago. Not too happy. I got it out of him."

"And where is he now?"

He shrugged. "Took off."

"Brilliant" , I said icily. "Now I won't have any distractions in the morning."

"You can't be serious about this?"

"Of course I am! How long more do you want me to wait? A month, perhaps? Or would you like some more time to get used to the fact that I'm NOT here for fun and games!"

Curly simply patted the ground beside him.

"I'm going to bed."

"No, you're staying here and you're going to tell me what's REALLY going on."

"Excuse me?" I wasn't a fan of being told what to do.

"You're keeping something secret."

"How would you know?"

He rolled his eyes. "I've been here for ages, Remy. You obviously haven't noticed yet that this camp has a lot of teenage Indian girls."

He had a point. I wondered if I should just let it out to him, because if I didn't, I'd soon be a nervous wreck.

I unwillingly shifted forward and sat down beside him, keeping my eyes firmly on the ground.

"Well, let it out" , Curly said expectantly. "I'm all ears."

"You won't tell anybody?" , I muttered.

"My lips are sealed."

I was nervous. I generally kept to myself sometimes, because I found it better that way. Every scary thought or dream I had, or maybe bad memories, were shoved into a big wooden chest in my head and taken to a dungeon where it was bolted and sealed. If the thought or memory was to ever return, I'd seal the chest with bolts and locks instead. And so on…but it wasn't going to work this time. Not even the strongest bolts could hold the horror.

"I…" , I began slowly. "I….had a sister. She was a teenager, a little older than Aaya. She…."

I took a deep breath.

"She started self-harming. She wasn't happy, she was depressed. Nobody in the family knew, and I found her in the kitchen a while ago. She had cut too much, and she was in hospital. And then…"

Curly took my hand. I sniffed and wiped my eyes quickly. "And then…she left the ward to go to the bathroom…and…and…they found her there."

I couldn't continue….and instead fell into a sobbing heap. The thoughts and memories of that day I'd tried so hard to block out were flowing back, filling my head with whispers and images that I could no longer control.
Curly took hold of me firmly but gently and pulled me upright. I leaned against him, covering my face with my hands. My breathing was raspy as I tried to calm myself, but it was no use.

"She killed herself!" , I sobbed loudly. "They found her in that bathroom!"

The huge pressure on my chest was gone, the tears slowly subsided and I stayed against Curly, wincing. I'd made a fool of myself.

"Sorry" , I muttered.

He pulled me into a tight hug. I was surprised but hung on, grateful for the comfort. I never guessed in a million years that I would be pouring my heart out to Curly of all people, but then again you never know what's gonna happen in the future.

"You've got nothing to apologise for" , Curly said softly.

He was so understanding, and it wasn't even that. We'd got off to a rough start, no point in denying it. But there we were, sitting at a bonfire in the middle of the night hugging.

I cleared my throat and backed away a bit. "Thanks for listening."

He smiled. "No problem."

I laughed a little. "Does this make us best buddies now?"

"The best."

"Awesome. I need a bestie."

We both laughed. It was nice, and for a while we just sat there. No mention of Hook, or Peter, or saving Neverland, or all the other billion things that I didn't want to think about. I found my eyelids drooping and gave a brief yawn.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed now."

He nodded. I rose up from the log and walked towards the tent, giving Curly a little wave. He looked worried, and sad. He was probably wondering whether he would see me again. I planned to leave early, so there was no drama, no tears. I took one last look at him and entered the tent quietly. Aaya was rolled round in her bed, her back facing me. I studied her carefully.

"I know you're awake."

"Alright, fine. But you've got some explaining to do."

She sat up and faced me with a droopy expression. She looked beat with the tiredness.

I sat on my bed. "I wonder what explaining I have to do. Could it possibly have anything with certain conversing outside?"

"Maybe."

I sighed. "How much did you hear?"

"Peter and Curly as well as you and Curly."

"So you know."

"Unfortunately, yes. It's going to be pondering my mind for the rest of the night."

"Well maybe people should just get over it" , I muttered.

"But how can you not see the stupidity in your plans? Please, Remy! We've got to plan, figure it out, and we'll see better results!"

"I can't wait any longer! This is killing me! I've got to do it SOON, or else we'll probably never get round to it and I'll be stuck here forever!"

"What's so wrong with being here?"

I groaned. "Where to begin? I'm different! I have a family back home…people who need me! You obviously know what happened since you're so brilliant at listening to conversations!"

"You don't have to yell!"

"It doesn't seem to get through to people unless I do! NOW, if you'll EXCUSE me, I need my energy for tomorrow."

I kicked off my uggs and clambered into bed, leaving a speechless Aaya watch me.

"Ridiculous" , she muttered. I heard her climb back into bed and she blew out the candle, sending the tent into a pool of darkness. Outside the bonfire soon burned out, and Curly was long gone. If you listened hard, distant snores could be heard from other tents.
I tossed and turned, unable to keep my eyes closed. Aaya started breathing heavily, so she was definitely asleep. I was then only angry at myself, for not trying to understand when Peter and Aaya refused to accept my mad plan. I knew it was mad. But there was nothing I could do about it. I had made up my mind and I needed to get back to my family. I hated the fact that I was frozen in time, never moving on. It made me feel robotic, inhuman. Like Bella Cullen from the Twilight series and all the other vampires.
I had made my reckless decision. And after making a stamp on it to three people that I know and that worry about me I knew I couldn't go back on it. For one I had too much pride to take it back. My pride stopped me from doing a lot of right things, like apologising for things that I didn't feel I was responsible. Looking back at my normal life, I found myself looking at a bitch. I was temporarily shocked and mortified. I had changed so much. Neverland had brought out a new me…a better personality. But perhaps I wasn't all the way there yet.
But there was only one way to find out if my time there had paid off. James Hook, watch out. Remy's coming, and she's going to win.

I slipped out of bed. The air was quite cold, and from the view I could see from the flaps of the tent it seemed foggy and misty. Just like the Irish weather back home…
I shivered in my ordinary clothes. For the first time I really looked at them. My blue skinny jeans had ripped in many places, and they were dirty and worn. My jumper was dirty and covered in pieces of dry mud and leaves. My hair was greasy and straggly. My eyes found clothes on the bench in the middle of the tent. They were Aaya's, an Indian dress and furry boots were left there. I hadn't noticed them last night, and vaguely wondered if she might have left them out for me while I was asleep.
I pulled off my own clothes and left them on the ground, then shrugged into Aaya's clothes. They were warm, and comfy. I also found under the dress a furry cardie that fitted me finely. Rain started to pitter patter outside, becoming heavier and heavier. I stuck my head out the flap and attacked my hair with my hands. I hoped that maybe the dirt had washed out and retreated back inside the tent. I turned to face an anxious Aaya.
I felt rude to take her clothes, but I decided to go with my assumption that she had left them out for me. She didn't seem worried about the clothes.

"I thought you wouldn't wake" , I muttered.

"Correction. I wasn't asleep."

"Oh."

"Are you going?"

I stared at the floor. "Yes."

"But-"

"No!" I lifted my head up and stared her straight in the eye. "Please don't tell me you've joined the Anti-RemyFight Society!"

I turned away from her, raking my hands through my drenched hair. I picked up my dirty clothes and tossed them under my bed.

"You can do this! Just not now! If we just wait a little longer-"

"I've spent my whole life in a waiting room" , I growled. "Now it's time to come out and take responsibility for my own destiny."

Aaya looked like she wanted to protest again, but just looked at me sadly.

"You can side with Peter if you want" , I continued. "But I'm going. Whether or not you agree with my decision, I'm going ahead with it anyway."

I glanced at the flapping tent door. I had nothing left to do. It was time to get it over with.
Without another word, I moved towards the door. I jogged out of the camp and quickly broke into a run. The rain was pouring and I flicked my hair out of my eyes, squinting as I tried to see past the raindrops. I knew the cliff was near enough, and I was right. I saw the edge and legged towards it.

Think fly, I thought. Think fly, think fly….

BAM.