CHAPTER TWO:
Above the Clouds
"Running 'round pretending life's a play;
it doesn't make the darkness go away."
It had been some days after the ball, when Charming lightly pushed on the huge doors to the chamber he shared with his wife, Snow White, and silently slid inside. The room was expectedly quiet, and a welcoming feeling of peace permeated the atmosphere as he carefully tiptoed to the two-sized bed. No light illuminated the wooden path he walked down, but occasionally, a thin scrap of moonlight would peak through the dark clouds that cloaked the night sky; thus allowing the prince to sneak a glance at his surroundings and quickly move sideways to avoid hitting one of the many pieces of furniture in the room. Nevertheless, not even the brightest of lights would have prevented this from happening, and a hissed curse escaped his lips when his tight collided with the sharp corner of a table.
Before he could do something else, the sound of his wife moving beneath the sheets of the bed caused him to freeze. He stood there, one leg slightly lifted in the air, eyes wide as he silently prayed for Snow to be still asleep. However, his balance proved to be worse than his sneaking aptitudes. He swayed on his foot, and his hands automatically looked for support in the closest thing at reach, which happened to be the blue curtains that hung at both sides of the closed window. Soon enough, Charming found himself slipping ungraciously before finally falling on his butt.
"Charming?" The soft, sleepy voice of Snow broke the already-shattered-silence.
He groaned; both because he had woken up his wife, and also due to the waves of pain coming from his hindquarters. As he stood from the floor, he mumbled a small, sheepish greeting. Fortunately, Snow decided to spare him the torment and lit the candle placed on the bedside table.
"I wasn't expecting you until morning," she confessed, a suspicious frown settled on her pale features. One of her hands ran through the long, raven locks of her hair as she yawned and tried to rub the sleep away from her watery eyes. "Did everything go as expected?"
Charming glanced at her from the corner of his eye as he changed, his rotten clothes soon replaced by the soft fabric of his night ones. He seemed to think for a moment, refusing to look at Snow and letting out a barely audible sigh, before he turned towards her and walked over to the huge bed.
"Yes, of course," he smiled tightly, but winced when the disapproving stare of his wife fell upon him. Knowing she wasn't buying his lie, the prince heaved a defeated sigh. "I did request his advice."
Snow's brown gaze followed him as he sat down next to her and leaned his back against the header of the bed.
"And?" she pressed. "Is there something we can do to stop Regina's curse?" When Charming hesitated, the woman narrowed her eyes; she finally understood why her husband seemed to be so reluctant to answer her questions, beating around the bush instead of jumping straight to the point as he usually did. "Charming, what have you done?"
"I asked for advice; that much I can assure you of!" the man insisted, but Snow merely arched an eyebrow. "You heard the prophecy, Snow; I could not ignore that."
A gasp escaped her lips, and the way her face contorted into an expression of utter rage reminded him of the day they met, so many months ago. Her eyes hardened as she glared at him, her pink lips pursed into an unamused frown.
"Please, tell me that you haven't gone to that cruel being for advice on Emery," she spoke lowly, her voice filled with anger and indignation.
"I can't," Charming sighed, only causing Snow's frown to deepen. "How can you expect me to find something to reverse the curse when a dark prophecy threatens to destroy everything we've built?"
"Dark prophecy or not, she is still a child!" Snow whispered sharply; the rational part of her mind warned her not to wake the entire palace, yet she couldn't stop her voice from growing louder. "She has a long path waiting for her; we don't know where it will lead her."
"Which is why I haven't done anything yet," the man interrupted, casting a pointed look at her. "But the possibilities of her turning e-"
"She won't," Snow stopped him from speaking the word; she had always dreaded it, and hearing it referred to Emery felt like a punch in her stomach. "We won't let her."
Her voice came out as a whisper, but the determination it held was almost palpable. Snow White was a strong woman, and the fact that she kept having faith after facing so many dangers and threats brought a smile to his lips.
"We will show her the beauty of light," she assured, allowing her lips to stretch into an encouraging smile as well. "She shall not know darkness."
"Something shall drag her to the awaiting darkness, thus bringing forth an age of desolation," he quoted the words of the feared prophecy. "I'm afraid it's not in our hands, Snow."
The smile on her lips disappeared and a discontent expression appeared on her face.
"When we decided to take her in, to make her part of our family, we swore upon our lives that we would never give up on her; that no matter what, we would do whatever was necessary to help her through any hurdle," she said, determined not to let him win the argument. "And that is what we'll do. No prophecy is going to decide our destiny; we shall write our own future."
-#-
Meanwhile, some floors away from the royal couple's room, a very different scene was taking place. Laughter exploded within the four walls as Emery frowned in annoyance, her brown eyes hard and arms crossed over her chest. After failing to make him uncomfortable under her glare, she drifted her attention to the clothes covering her body.
"You've done it this time, Peter Pan," she growled, which only earned her more amused chuckles from the boy before her. Momentarily ignoring him, she glared holes into the brown dress she wore. It was so long that her bare toes were completely hidden from sight, and she feared that, were she to take a step forward, she would trip over the tight fabric. "I look like a bloody tree!"
Peter merely grinned.
"And that's the point, little bush!" He placed a hand over her head and ruffled the green leaves that decorated its top.
"I'm not little anymore, Peter," Emery deadpanned, staring blankly at him. "Nor am I short."
And, honestly, it was true; her nose reached to touch his chin. Truthfully, it was curious –not to say shocking– how she had grown up so much in that short amount of time. Peter could still remember the first time they met, and he wouldn't have thought about her –ironically– appreciable physical transformation had she not mentioned it.
Peter stared with wide eyes at the girl in front of him as she grinned down at him. As her small frame floated the air, he found himself unable to utter a word, his mouth agape. Emery could see the emotions fighting in his green eyes and was pleased to catch a glimpse of eagerness hiding behind the sea of confusion and stupor. And, just because she loved to show off, she twirled in circles, smile always on. As soon as his shock faded, Peter watched in amazement as she flew towards the bluest sky before falling backwards and coming to a stop.
Her short, brown hair swayed to the soft breeze of the morning as she –once again– grinned down at him, a set of white teeth almost shinning upon the long shadows provided by the tree on whose branch she sat. Her caramel eyes sparkled in mischief, and amused mock were drawn on her dirty features.
"Come on, Peter! If someone as short as me is able to climb a tree, you won't have a problem," she encouraged in a mocking voice, her legs daggling over the edge of the branch as she gripped onto it with shocking causality.
As Peter gave her a long, unimpressed stare, he answered, "Someone as tiny as you wouldn't have been able to had they tried to actually climb a tree, little bush."
"What's with that nickname?" Emery frowned, displeased. "I do not approve it."
A satisfied grin formed on his face at her discomfort. "Good, I'll call you that from now on."
The girl pouted, her lips pursed into a disappointed expression, before she rolled her eyes and flew to the ground. "You are no fun." Then, she smirked. "Don't you want to join me?" Her mischievous voice pierced the silence, loud and full of life. "All you need is faith, trust and…"
Peter was caught off guard when the girl suddenly rushed to him, hands behind her back. However, before he could react and take a step back, Emery pulled something from her pocket and blew it in his face. As he coughed loudly and tried to get the dust away from his nose, her amused laugh echoed all around him.
"What was that?!" he demanded to know after he finally recovered, his eyes glaring at her as she rolled over in the air.
Emery turned towards him and winked playfully, before saying, "A little bit of pixie dust."
Chuckles brought him back to present day, sneaking through his most beloved memories like a ray of sunlight. Had he not feel his bones being oppressed by tight clothes, Peter Pan would have thought it to be part of his thoughts, memories of the same girl, only different in age from the one standing before him. Her eyes seemed to shine under the tenuous light provided by the couple of brown candles resting on the bedside table, and her lips were stretched into an amused grin as occasional chuckles slipped out.
His features flustered considerably when he sneaked a glance at the tall mirror at his left.
"Was the crown necessary?" he groaned, torn between annoyed and amused.
"Of course, you are the princess of Neverland," Emery teased with a smirk. However, a frown crept up to her face when the boy remained quiet, seemingly frozen in his spot as he stared at her with slight wide eyes. "What?"
But the boy waved away her questioning stare and began to imitate Snow White's dancing movements, tiptoeing around the room and swirling wildly so fast he tripped over the end of the pink dress and fell flat on his face.
As both teens resumed their teasing, Tinkerbell frowned. From her spot sitting on the bedside table, she had been silently observing the interactions between the two and, as the vigilant fairy she had grown to become over the years living in Neverland, she hadn't missed the look of hesitation in the boy's gaze.
And, just by that expression, Tinkerbell was certain she would've to have a serious conversation with the king of Neverland.
-#-
The next morning, the unexpected happened.
Dark green trees rushed by as the carriage strolled down the path of fallen leaves, heading who-knew-where. Silence prevailed inside, looming over their heads like a thick wave of awkwardness and was only interrupted by the frequent, exasperated sighs coming from the girl. Leaning her chin on the palm of her hand, Emery stared boringly out of the small window, a blank expression in her eyes.
"Is there a reason why you've decided to take me with you on this beautiful day?" she asked in a drawl as she leaned back on her seat to cast a glance at the woman in front of her.
Snow White smiled.
"It has been long since the last time we had fun outside the castle," she spoke softly, and Emery couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Well, this is certainly enjoyable; I'm having the time of my life."
Snow frowned, unamused, before calling out for the coachman to stop the carriage. A look of utter bewilderment crossed the girl's features as her eyebrows shot up, before her lips stretched into a pleased smile as she quickly followed the woman out.
Standing in front of Snow White, her eyes sparkling with excitement, Emery nodded in approbation.
"Now, this is another story," she commented as the woman mounted one of the two horses that were carrying the carriage.
Evidently pleased with herself after managing to break Emery's stony façade, Snow White smirked and said, "Are you going to stand there all day?" before galloping away.
As the sound of her carefree laugh reached her ears, Snow was unable to hide her contentment.
She shall not know darkness.
Little did she know, she was leading Emery straight to it.