Chapter 45: Think Lovely Thoughts/Save Henry
After showing Henry Skull Rock, Pan took him back to camp and continued the charade with Wendy. Once Henry said that he wanted to save magic and that he believed, Pan smirked and went to the middle of the camp.
"My brothers!" He got their attention by getting on top of a stump. "Tonight, the dream of Neverland will awaken from its slumber. Tonight, the heart of the truest believer shall fulfill its destiny, and with it our destiny. Tonight, Henry saves magic!"
The boys cheered, and a couple dared to ask about their friend.
"With magic saved, Spitfire can heal and come back to us then?"
Pan scowled for a second before masking his face again and agreeing with a smile.
"Who is Spitfire?" Asked Henry, looking around at the boys celebrating.
"Your aunt." Said Felix from behind him. "Rose Red came to Neverland with your family."
"Yes, she stayed with us for two years right after the curse in the Enchanted Forest took effect." Said Pan, joining them. "There was a misunderstanding during her parting of the island, and we got in a bit of a skirmish. She is recuperating, but once the magic is back she will recover just like the rest of the island."
"She was in Neverland for those two years?" Said Henry incredulously.
Some of the boys approached to tell Henry about Rose's time in Neverland. Pan watched them and knew that he needed to make up a lie about Rose not coming back.
The adults had reunited and Regina told them about their plan. Neal told everyone about the prophecy, and they turned to Gold with their weapons drawn. Gold argued that he just wanted to save Henry.
"Without me, you will fail. I'm the most powerful amongst us." He told them.
"For what we saw, that title goes to Rose." Said Emma, not lowering her sword.
"Right now, Rose is the biggest threat on the island." Said Regina with a sigh and turned to Mary-Margaret. "Remember what happened on her first adventure?"
She nodded with a frown, she remembered her sister coming back and telling them what had happened. How scared they had been for her. She didn't want her sister to be in danger anymore, she didn't want her to have to face such perils just to find who she is. After some reassurance, she told them that she was fine and that she needed to do it, so they left the matter alone. But she still caught glimpses of pain, fear and emptiness in her sister's eyes when she thought no one was looking.
"This time it could be way worse." Continued Regina, seeing the woman's expression. "Her powers are feeding of Neverland's magic. If she loses control even for a second, she will destroy the island and everyone on it."
After a moment of contemplation, they decided to continue, they now had a new goal to accomplish. Before they started on their way, Neal took Pandora's Box from Gold, saying that he couldn't trust him with Henry.
On their way to Pan's camp, Emma was discussing with Hook David's poisoning. Gold heard them and told them how he could help in exchange for a favor. Neal interceded and forced him to do it because it was the right thing.
"Fine, I'll do as you ask. But you read Henry's book, Emma. You know how little I demanded out of your parents deals. Maybe you should think about the reason." He turned to his son. "I wouldn't have asked for much. She would have had my head for it."
He continued on his way, while Neal turned to Emma.
"It's Rose." She said with a sigh. "He truly loves her and tends to bend his own rules for her. He did request fairly small prices for the deals he made with Snow White and Prince Charming."
Neal looked to where his father had disappeared in surprise. He knew that his father and Rose had a relationship, and he wasn't too keen about it. But he didn't realize that it was so deep that he would change his ways, even if just a bit.
They reached the camp and found Wendy. After some convincing, she told them about Pan's true plan.
"What about Rose?" Asked Mary-Maragret. "My sister, Rose Red."
"Spitfire." Said Hook, seeing the confused look on Wendy's face.
"Oh, she." Wendy frowned. "She will die too. Pan told me that she was too dangerous. He wanted to use her to keep the magic alive until he had Henry's heart, but something went wrong. He said he is keeping her in the brink of death until he is immortal. Then he will kill her and take her powers as his own."
Everyone was concerned about that, and when Wendy told them that she kept Rose in the same place where he was going to take Henry's heart, they knew they had to act fast.
Emma told David and Mary-Margaret about the antidote Gold could make, but that they needed the water from Deadman's Peak.
They decided to split up. Gold, Neal, Regina and Emma would save Henry and Rose, Mary-Margaret and David to retrieve the water and Hook and Tink would stay at camp and keep an eye on the boys and Wendy.
It was time to take down Pan.
While Regina and Emma were trying to block the moon, so they could go inside the cave, Gold was about to face Pan. Gold wasn't up for a conversation and asked directly about Henry.
"Oh, you mean my great-grandson? You still haven't told the others who I really am? Not even your own son." He scoffed. "Does Spitfire know? She didn't seem to like me from the start."
"She knows who you are, because I tell her everything. As for the others, there is no need. You are nothing but a coward to me."
They continued to argue, until Gold tried to activate the box and Pan revealed that it was a fake.
While Regina looked over Henry, Emma and Neal confronted Pan. Emma was determined to cut out Henry's heart from his chest.
"I don't think you have it in you." He said, picking up the box and playing with it. "Rumplestiltskin didn't."
He told me how he had trapped Gold in the box and that no one could hurt him. Emma cut him with her sword, but Pan did even flinch. Then, part of the cave exploded and Pan was blasted away.
"Why don't you let me try then?" Said Rose coming out of the alcove she was trapped in panting. "I would love to rip you apart limb, from limb."
He got up and glared at Rose.
"There's nothing you can do now. Soon, I will be more powerful than you could ever imagine."
With that he left, and the others approached Regina and Henry.
"Someone will have to fill me in on what happened." Said Rose still out of breath.
While Regina placed a preservation spell on Henry, Neal and Emma told Rose everything that had happened after she disappeared. They decided to meet with the others at camp. While they recapped what happened to the rest, Tinkerbell was looking over Rose.
"With the amount of dreamshade you have on your system, you should be dead." She said with a frown.
"It's my magic." She said with a tired chuckle. "It's cleansing the poison out of my body."
She signaled to the red glow over her wound, and Tink nodded.
"At least, like this, my magic won't burst out uncontrolled. It's focused on keeping me alive."
Mary-Margaret hugged her sister carefully.
"I'm just glad that you are back and okay." She said with tears in her eyes.
"You made us wait quite a while, Rosie." Said David, joining the hug.
"You know how much I like to make an entrance." She said, hugging them back.
They got back to the topic at hand. Locating Pan. They didn't have much time and with him flying, he could be anywhere. Regina was getting impatient and approached Felix with murderous intent. When he just smirked and refused to answer, Regina got ready to rip out his heart.
"Don't you dare." Said Rose with a glare, holding her arm. "You harm them, and I will kill you."
Regina was shocked at the truth he could feel in the woman's voice. Before things got out of hand, Emma intervened, saying that they were going to give them what they wanted. A mother.
"You weren't hurt during my fight with Pan, right?" Said Rose, turning to Felix and checking if he was okay.
He noticed how she was breathing heavily and sweating, and saw the glow of her magic in the place where Pan's dagger had hit her.
"It looks like I'm better than you." He said with a smirk that turned to a frown. "Are you okay?"
Rose saw that Emma was about to give a speech, so she turned to him with a smile.
"Don't worry about me." She said, ruffling his hair.
While Emma was starting to win some of the boys, Felix was trying to keep control of the situation, but was failing as more boys started to cooperate.
"Felix." Said Rose, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Boys, what did Pan tell you about what happened that day?"
Rose Red was thinking hard about what to do. With Rufio gone and Felix promise to help the boys that wanted to leave, she needed to think very carefully about how to proceed. She couldn't let anyone else die.
"What are we gonna do, Spitfire?" Asked Bae with a frown.
"I don't know." She said with a sigh. "We can go back to the original plan. Not after what the pirates did to Rufio. We need a new plan."
After some brainstorming, they weren't getting anywhere.
"You need a way to stop Pan from preventing you to leave." Said a voice from behind them.
They turned and saw Tinkerbell there. She sat with them and told them how she also wanted to leave and wanted to team up with them.
"Squid ink." Said Rose suddenly. "It should be able to restrain even Pan, right?"
"Yes." Agreed Tinkerbell. "But do you know how to extract it?"
"No idea." Said Rose with a shrug and a smile. "But we have to try."
Once they reached the lake, Tink gave Rose a shell, saying that it should be enough to call a giant squid. The redhead blew it and after a while the giant squid appeared.
"You are a magical creature, so in some degree you understand me, right?" Said Rose with a raised eyebrow.
The squid let out a growl and Rose frowned.
"Well, that was rude."
"You can speak with animal?" Asked Bae in wonder.
"No, but my sister can understand birds." She explained. "When it comes to magical creatures, I can sort of understand the big picture of what they are saying from their sound."
"Okay. We need to get out of this island, and to do that we need some of your ink. Would you give us some?" She asked the Squid hopefully.
It let out another growl and Rose glared at it.
"Maybe a good reason would be to show that you are a decent being and not a condescending jerk."
Tink and Bae looked at Rose in surprise. And Rose explained how the squid was being arrogant and not helping them because they were inferior. That started an argument between Rose and the squid that had the other two trying to hold back a laugh not o anger the princess, that was already getting aggravated by the squid.
"Yes, leave!" She said to the squid that was starting to submerge. "Leave before I turn you into calamari, you pompous piece of sh-shomething."
She corrected the last part with a side look to Bae. They heard a laugh from further down the lake, and turned to see a mermaid watching the exchange.
"Did you seriously think that you could get a giant squid to give up their ink willingly?" She said, still laughing.
Rose, who was still irritated, was about to snap at the mermaid, when the fairy stopped her.
"If you saw what happened, you know what we need. Right? Would you help us?" She asked her.
"I don't' see how I can help you." Said the mermaid with disinterest. "We don't harm other sea creatures, so I won't help you get the ink."
Tinkerbell then tried to convince the mermaid to help them get out of Neverland instead. After all, everyone knew that mermaids could travel between realms. She wasn't too inclined to help. But then Rose remembered something.
"Ariel." She said, catching the mermaid's attention. "She told me that you liked to be entertained. That show with the squid made you laugh. So, how about helping us and see what other amusing things we can do?"
At that, the mermaid left, and the others sighed in the defeat. They were going to start thinking about what to do next, when the mermaid reappeared with someone else.
"Ariel! I thought you were with Eric." Said Rose with a smile, but frowned when the other redhead tries to speak but couldn't. "What happened to your voice?"
The other mermaid explained what happened, and Rose grabbed Ariel's hands in hers.
"I promise, Ariel. Once I'm back in the Enchanted Forest, I'll make sure that Regina returns your voice."
Ariel gave her a small smile and nodded. The other mermaid sighed and agreed to help them get out of Neverland. The plan had been laid out, they would bring the boys that wanted to leave to Mermaid Lagoon, so the mermaids could take them to the Enchanted Forest. Leaving behind only Rose and the fastest mermaid, so she could hold back Pan and make a quick escape. They informed the boys, and they were getting ready to leave, but nothing happens in Neverland without Pan's knowledge.
Tinkerbell saw Pan overhear some of the boys and noticed his rage before he disappeared. She quickly went to find Rose, who was at the lagoon talking with the mermaid doing some final preparations. On the way, she found Bae and told him what she had seen. He agreed to go search Pan, so they could make some time, but it wasn't enough. Pan dismissed Bae and charged straight to Rose.
"Spitfire! You really thought that you would get away with this?" He said in fury. "The Lost Boys belong in Neverland. What are they gonna do out there? Are you going to take care of them? Don't make me laugh."
"I'm going to give them something that you can't." She said with a glare. "A future."
"No, you won't." He said doing the memory spell.
At that, the mermaids reacted and took Rose Red away from Neverland.
Silence covered the camp.
"I will tell you my side of the story, and then you can decide if you want to help us and leave, or stay."
"If you had agreed to starting fresh, I would have kept your dear princess in here, so at least you could be together. Now you will be trapped and she will die."
He waved his hand above the box, and it activated, sucking Gold inside. He reunited with Henry and placed the box right in front where Rose was trapped, still battling the poison.
He convinced Henry to give him his heart, but just when he had ripped it out, Neal, Emma and Regina arrived. They tried to stop Henry, but he ultimately gave his heart to Pan, causing a ripple of magic to go off all over the island. He dropped to the ground with his parents around him.
The group decided to split up. Rose wanted to go after Pan, but the others refused. Pan was intent on killing her, and she was recovering with her magic still uncontrolled. She didn't like it, but agreed reluctantly, when the Lost Boys asked her to stay with them.
They got all of them on the Jolly Roger and waited for them to return with Henry's heart and the box. She sat down next to Felix. The only one left that still trusted Pan.
"I know that your trust in Pan is unyielding. But what he did was wrong. He kept here the boys that wanted to leave." She put her hand in his. "Where we are going, the boys will still be lost. It will take time for them to adjust, and they will need someone to guide them. I know that you can do it. You've been doing it forever. I know that no one will have their best interest at heat more than you. Be a better leader than Pan was. I believe in you."
She said, kissing his temple and getting up to check on the others. He looked at her back with a frown, but said nothing.
They got Gold out of the box, and he was having a moment with Bae while the Charmings were having their own. But the moments were interrupted when both Gold and Rose stood to attention and informed them that Pan was on the ship. Gold went to trap him in the box, while the others held Rose back.
Once they came back, they started to get ready to part. Once again, Rose wanted to help Regina, but was told to stay put and rest. She glared at them and told them that they wouldn't get away with that for long. Instead, she helped Mary-Margaret direct the Lost Boys around the ship. They started flying back to Storybrooke, and that was the moment Gold approached Rose to finally talk to her.
She was leaning on the railing with a frown on her face, still bothered with everyone not letting her do anything.
"My firebird." He said with a smile when she turned to look at him. "You are finally back."
She smiled and they hugged.
"I'm back. Did you miss me Sparkles?" She said with tears in her eyes.
"More than life itself." He said with a chuckle, leaning down to kiss her.
"How are you feeling?" He said, putting a hand over her still glowing wound.
"Much better." She put a hand over his. "I calculate that once we get back to Storybrooke, I'll be as good as new."
She noticed the box in his pocket and frowned.
"Are you sure he is trapped?"
"Yes, darling. He won't bother us anymore." He said, kissing her forehead.
"I can still hear him. Loudly"
He tried to reassure her, but she was still feeling uneasy. She turned and saw Henry speaking with Felix. When she saw that the latter accepted the food offered, she knew something was up. Felix hadn't accepted food even from her. The others might have let their guard down, but she knew this wasn't over. Pan always had a trick up his sleeve.