Chapter 41: All Our Yesterdays

REGINA'S POV

Regina was not comfortable with the girl, not at all. The Charmings were idiots, they may know how to camp but they clearly did not understand people. A girl just happens to appear, on Neverland, in Dark Hollow of all places! She just happens to have been on Neverland for who knows how long. Oh, and has magic so powerful, she could take on Regina herself. Hell, probably Gold and Pan with her eyes closed.

At least she'd been complacent so far, and hadn't even flinched when Regina had conjured ropes and bound her thin wrists behind her back this morning. No way was Regina just letting her in, letting her know all about them and their plans, just like that. There were strings attached to trust, there always have been. Regina herself wasn't even completely, utterly trusted by anyone in this group—not that she cared. She just wanted her son back. And the evil Queen always got what she wanted.

Regina walked in front of the girl, trying to conceal how much she still tripped over the forest floor. This is why she had enjoyed being royalty—what she wouldn't give for a carriage or horse right now. The child walked smoothly, and so silently Regina had to refrain from looking over her shoulder to check that she was still there every few seconds. This just further proved how she couldn't be trusted.

She was the only girl they'd seen on the island besides Tinker Bell, and Pan obviously cared about her. Hook had mentioned his past encounter with her to them as they had been walking the day before. Regina now had to agree, the only time Pan had ever been really terrifying to Regina was when she'd ripped out the girl's heart. When she had hurt and threatened her. Did no one else connect the dots? Really? Love drove people insane, made them more dangerous—Regina would know. Her heart twitched and she choked on air as Daniel flashed through her mind. This girl, and Pan, couldn't be so different from her.

MARY MARGARET'S POV

Snow didn't know what to do about the strange girl, but she did feel sorry for her. Yet, she was also confusing. The girl seemed so out of place, stuck in the middle of the fight over Henry. Snow didn't blame her for not actively picking a side, it wasn't her fight and the way Pan had treated her and the way she had reacted to him…she needed to take care of herself before trying to help anyone else. Yet, Neal had told them how he, Hook, and Emma had even met the girl, and it seemed to Snow that she had picked a side, sort of.

Behind them, Emma muttered something to Hook, who must have pushed the girl forward because she was suddenly shoulder-to-shoulder with Snow.

She fit here. The girl walked smoothly and quietly, like she'd been walking and running through these trees for forever, even her clothing seemed to be the female version of the Lost Boys' clothes. Although, it also gave traces that she had once been a girl, a wealthy girl, somewhere. The rags were unmistakably a dress, bleached now but Snow could tell that they had been black once. She was barefoot, something no other person—Lost Boy or adult—did on the island. And the cloak obviously wasn't hers, it was far too big. David had said he saw Felix give it to her.

"Hey," Snow said quietly, trying to keep the curiosity out of her voice. Maybe if anyone showed the girl some genuine kindness and interest, she would give them more pieces to her story.

The girl just looked at her. "Elle," she said simply. David, only steps ahead, tilted his head back with his eyebrows furrowed. Snow was sure that she matched his expression. Something flickered in the girl's face, almost as if she was going to smile. She didn't. "My name is Elle."

Snow did smile, and her eyes slid to meet David's beautiful ones, which smiled too. Four words, but they were precious words. She was opening up already. "It's beautiful," her David commented. The girl looked back down quickly, but Snow didn't give up.

"Elle," she started, trying it out. It really was lovely. "That sounds like a princess' name." The girl's shoulder stiffened and her jaw clenched visibly. Snow swallowed, but pushed on. "Will you tell us more?"

The girl opened her mouth, but her eyebrows were furrowed. "I was cursed, by him," she jerked her chin up ahead, at Rumplestiltskin. Snow heard David sigh heavily, but both stayed quiet. Elle sounded like she had more to say. "My father was foolish and greedy, and I pay the price. I was kidnapped and locked in a tower when I was a small child, and I remained there for so many years. I was never let out, and no one spoke to me except the mistress, to make me use my magic. Not even the servants who brought me food and bath water spoke to me, or tried to help me."

"How did you end up here, then?" Snow asked, voice thin. She couldn't imagine being trapped like that. So she had been a princess, who'd grown up alone and isolated…Snow felt a pang as she thought of Emma. She hadn't subjected her own daughter to a fate much kinder.

"I don't know," Elle said slowly, still not looking at them. She didn't seem to be willing to speak, yet she was. Snow wasn't sure what compelled her to tell her story, but she wasn't going to ruin it. "I just wanted an escape so badly. He said," she stopped and choked, but kept her pace. After a moment, she continued. "He sometimes used to say that I summoned the Shadow, by magic. I didn't know I was so powerful at the time."

"And he brought you here? This was your escape," Snow whispered, vaguely aware that Emma and Hook were far behind them. The others were ahead, and didn't appear to be listening much. David was between Snow and the others.

Elle chuckled quietly, brokenly. "He brought me here, and at first I was tied to a tree and terrified." This time, a smile did tug the corners of her mouth up, and her grey blue eyes were cloudy. "And then," her voice was far away, nostalgic. "Over time, we just learned to trust each other. And love each other. They became my family, the only family I've ever truly had."

"Even him? Just like that?" David chimed in, frowning at her and stumbling slightly as he walked forward but didn't see the uneven ground. Snow bit back a giggle at her Charming's clumsiness, so un-prince-like.

"Yes," the girl's clear, yet still soft, voice snapped Snow's attention back to her. Elle's face was blank, neutral. Calm. Calm, and definite. Whatever had happened, whatever Pan had ever done, this child was sure of her trust, of her family. Or what once was.

"He came here one day," her eyes narrowed forward at Gold again. "I ran, and jumped off a cliff to escape, to keep the boys safe. He flew down and caught me, and made him go away."

"You trust him because he saved you?" David asked, doubt thinly veiled in his voice. Snow mirrored him. One rescue didn't guarantee trust—funny, she was the one who had taught David that.

"I trusted him for many reasons." Snow didn't miss it. Elle didn't trust him now, and, oddly, Snow felt sadness. "He exiled me, because he did not trust me as I trusted him. I don't think he has ever trusted anyone very much," she trailed off, frowning slowly and clenching her jaw. Snow wanted her to keep talking, but it was clearly getting difficult. Was this what had happened to make her no longer on his side? He'd exiled her? And for what?

"Why?" David asked, breathy voice barely above a murmur. A shadow of a smirk played on the girl's mouth.

"As I said, he doesn't trust," she said simply. None of them spoke for a few minutes. Snow wasn't sure how to make her keep going, and she didn't want to push. "He let me return after a few months," she added after a while.

"That's good, that means he was trusting you," Snow offered, trying to be helpful. The girl's blank expression didn't change.

"What happened then? Why are you separated now?" David prodded when she didn't elaborate. Snow held her breath, he was being way too forward! Elle's expression hardened and her voice was clipped and hard as steel.

"He forced me to use my magic when I did not wish to, and used one of my brothers to do it." Her pace didn't change, her voice and face matched. But Snow didn't dare say another word, and neither did David, and that was the last thing Snow heard Elle say for a long time. The silence was heavy, but her David reached back and wove his fingers with hers, giving her something to lighten it. The girl's story did make Snow realize just how lucky she was to have David, her Charming, still. They'd been through so much, even had times when they didn't trust each other, but both had always been brave enough and loved each other enough to overcome anything. Snow felt so sad for the child, for losing her love—no matter who that love was. For the first—and probably last—time since arriving in Neverland, Snow felt pity for Pan.

RUMPLESTILTSKIN'S POV

Her father hadn't died, he'd gone on. Lived his life. And Rumplestiltskin hated it. At the time, he hadn't much cared if the man really had died from Rapunzel's name, it had just been interesting—and rather fun, as his old self had thought—to rile her up and see her magic, raw with emotion. But then…then the third child had been born, had grown. The stupid man had been a terrible king and his kingdom had fallen, and he'd struck a deal again. The same deal, really, Rumplestiltskin almost chuckled at his sheer stupidity. Then Rumplestiltskin had wished the silly girl's made-up curse had worked.

Maybe Rumplestiltskin couldn't kill the man, couldn't really get back at him. Belle, his Belle, would never forgive him. But Belle didn't know about Rapunzel…and the man himself did. Perhaps he had never mentioned her, but he would remember. It would hurt him, and Belle would never know.

Rumplestiltskin smothered a grin and glanced to the side through his hair, but no one was watching him amble through the godforsaken trees. Murmuring under his breath, he summoned all his dark power, all his negative emotions, all his memories of the life without his son and being abandoned and hated, and aimed the invisible magic slithering from his lips, through the air and the others, and coiling around her body. He didn't look back, the imbeciles would the movement.

She noticed it. He felt her magic swell up to meet his, felt the blade of the sharpest sword begin to trace patterns and turn his once-powerful curse into a pretty paper snowflake. Then it stopped, her aura all but disappeared. Rapunzel was letting him. Rumplestiltskin almost forgot himself and looked back at her, but at the last second jerked his neck.

Forget her unusualness, ignore the curiousness. He'd gotten what he wanted, and he felt the curse settle in past her shield and root itself in her. Silly child. He bit back an impish giggle. Regina didn't trust her either, but Regina didn't have the guts to take matters into her own hands, not completely. Rumplestiltskin did. Rapunzel's magic was draining, so slowly no one—not even the cursed child herself—would notice.

Oh, of course Rumplestiltskin couldn't just take her magic away. It had been given to her since birth, and he had been foolish and given her far too much. Its roots were with hers, it grew as she did, it was far too much a part of her for anyone to take away. But he could suppress it, so much that she couldn't access it so it might as well be gone. If she was working for Pan, she was of little use to him now.

Belle wouldn't forgive him.

ELLE'S POV

"We're here," the fairy—Tinker Bell—spoke up some time later. Elle had a feeling she knew what she was talking about. The air, the auras…it had all suddenly changed. But she recognized it, she knew this place like the back of her hand. "Pan's perimeter."

The grown-ups stopped, gathered, and started discussing plans to infiltrate. Elle still wasn't entirely sure, she wasn't really listening. She guessed they were trying to get the boy back. Elle almost scoffed. She could feel Pan's magic, saturating and drowning this part of the island. Along with the faint auras of each Lost Boy, Felix's slightly stronger one, even that of the Shadow. Biting her lip, she choked on emotion, saw her hair brighten out of the corners of her eyes. Her magic wanted to rise up and…and what? Defend herself from all the things that weren't threatening her at the moment. Join with the rest of the auras. It felt like a puzzle, and she didn't like how close she was to completing it. It was the memories. Her life here, with her brothers. She missed it, and it was drawing her in.