CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
°⋆∴☽°:۵≼

i. your heart will fly on wings !

neverland .

— THE GROUND WAS UNSTEADY BENEATH CHRISTOPHER'S FEET. Cold, wet sand sticking to his face and mucking up his trusty yellow sweater as he fell, disoriented, upon the shore of an unknown land. His vision was fuzzy, shapeless blobs dancing before his eyes in a confusing and disarming waltz. Though he didn't, for even a second, regret the actions that had brought him there.

Perhaps, however, standing firmly in his stance that Henry couldn't go anywhere without him, and saying such to a couple of rather determined kidnappers wasn't the greatest idea. As much as he didn't regret saying so, he did feel ever so slightly guilty for having left his mother behind.

Beside him, thankfully, was Henry, coughing as the wind kicked out of his lungs, and wiping at his coat to somehow will away the dirt. The young boy sprung up, his bound hands reaching out to grab Christopher's and lug him upwards, both children trying desperately to pull the other away from danger, tumbling over one another on the beach land.

The very danger they were trying to escape lunged forward and snagged the necklines of their clothes with a taunting murmur, "No, nuh-uh, slow down, kids. You got nowhere to go."

Greg and Tamara, whom Christopher didn't entirely recognize or even vaguely know, looked awfully proud of themselves, wry smirks stretched across their lips, harbouring a dark and humorous glint in their irises as they watched the boys struggle into a standing position.

"My mom's coming to get me." Henry declared, shuffling closer to Christopher with a protective bearing, pushing him back in a needlessly firm manner. "Both of them."

"Yeah? You might wanna take a look around, pal." Greg muttered, his tone entirely neutral, yet with a mocking undercurrent, "You see any clock towers? You're a long way from Storybrooke."

"Doesn't matter. My family's been to the Enchanted Forest before, and they can do it again."

A vicious howling sounded from the surrounding jungle, distracting Christopher from his attempts to understand the situation. It didn't sound like any animal he'd ever known, and he couldn't make out whatever the creature was saying. In fact, if Christopher didn't know any better- which, he did- he would have thought the noise was almost man-made.

"Well, we're not in the Enchanted Forest." Tamara spoke smugly, a sense of arrogance carved into her features. "This is Neverland."

The thoughts swirling about in Christopher's head were instantly hindered by this reveal, his eyes darting to observe their environment with a new perspective, curiously drinking in the trees, which were drenched in daunting shadows. His attention was captivated by the eerie stillness of a land once thought to be wrought with wonder and majesty. A delightful paradise.

This place seemed so distantly far from that gentle, hazy, dream-like fairytale.

Unfortunately, Christopher's distracted nature was doing him no favours, as he was suddenly brought back to the moment before him, being guided by the sleeve along a sandy path leading further into the tangled, unforgiving foliage, with Henry's fingers curled into the material of his sweater.

neverland . the jolly roger .

— THE SEA-SALT BREEZE WAS THICK AND HEAVY WITH SILENCE. The air about them was steady, and cold, as if there was some sort of electricity hanging threateningly above their heads. The world, this realm, for whatever reason, was holding its breath. The waves lapped at the ship's siding as it slowly carved its path in the dark water, driving onwards through the blanket of stars that reflected off the deep blue depths.

A certain pirate stood at the helm, his hook curled around one of the handles with a skill and precision on the water that only a ship's captain could attain, the back of his mind following every faint thwip in the sails, and every crashing wave. Though one small thought remained entirely occupied on the goal of this journey, and a boy in a yellow sweater.

"Why are you slowing down?" Regina asked, taking notice of the pirate's calm demeanour as she impatiently eyed the wheel, "Incase you didn't know, my son's life is in danger

"Not just your son." Killian responded quietly, though there was less bite in his tone than usual. Christopher's disappearance weighed on him, driving the typical cocky suaveness out of his tone. "I know. My plan is to bring us to the far side of the island, link up with the widest part of the river. Then we sail right through and take him by surprise... The irony."

Regina tilted her head at the man's light scoff, "What irony?"

"Oh, I spent more time than I care to remember trying to leave this place and to kill Rumplestiltskin," He murmured with a dry, bitter, humorous tone and sarcastic grin. "And here I am, sailing right back into its heart with him as my guest of honour."

Their eyes traced over the ship's deck until they caught sight of the Dark One nearer to the front, his attention fixed on the blackness of night before them, leaning on his cane, Winnie standing at his side with an uncharacteristic rigidness in her stance as they exchanged quiet words.

"It's not quite the happy ending I was hoping for..." Killian finished, his voice and expression softening just slightly as he pulled his gaze away, focusing back on the helm with a resigned stare.

"Greg Mendell said something funny to me..." Regina murmured contemplatively, in a quiet and uncharacteristically vulnerable sense, "He said I'm a villain. And that villains don't get happy endings. You believe that?"

"I hope not... Or we've wasted our lives." With an eyebrow raised, he took a breath and looked back towards the front of the ship, watching as Winnie leaned against the ledge, strands of hair falling from her messy space buns and catching in the light wind.

They fell into a silence, losing themselves in thought before Regina noticed that look- and the way the pirate's eyes kept unknowingly trailing back to one of the very people she loved most in the world. She couldn't help the narrowing of her own expression, though in the split second of camaraderie, she didn't lash out as she normally would.

"Be careful, Hook..." Regina muttered out instead, her arms wrapped around herself as she lowered her voice to a near whisper. "That's really not a good idea."

Killian sighed, his jaw shifting as he refrained from a snappy retort, looking back down at his gleaming silver hook, "So everyone seems to think."

"You'll hurt her."

"The way you've hurt her?" He returned, his eyes flickering back up to Regina, his stance and expression now set in mildly defensive anger. "If you cannot trust yourself with her, you have no right to assume anything of me. None of you have."

Regina looked taken aback by the pirate's riposte, though her features hardened into a scowl, not wanting to acknowledge its truth. "It's because I've hurt her, that I don't think you should be near her."

The steady, gentle rocking of the waves took over a heartbeat of silence as Killian's teeth clenched with a reserved sort of displeasure.

"Sooner or later, you're gonna mess up." The woman continued quietly, her own voice taking on a sort of regretful sadness despite the firm nature of her tone. "You'll mess up, and she'll forgive you, like she always does... Then you get to live with the same guilt as the rest of us, because you don't deserve to be forgiven."

neverland .

— CHRISTOPHER STOOD DILIGENTLY AT HENRY'S SIDE WITH A HEAD FULL OF CURIOUS THOUGHTS. Their wrists were bound in zip ties and looped together, their arms forced out at awkward angles so as to accommodate for now being essentially stuck to one another.

Their kidnappers were now making a signal fire, fanning the flame beneath a bundle of dry, wiry kindling so as to make contact with their 'home office'. Henry made a sarcastic, witty little comment about s'mores, which Christopher would have giggled at, if not for the situation at hand and the distinct rustling of leaves and soft, groaning winds from the surrounding foliage.

Hooded figures slinked out of the darkness, with grubby faces and sharp, handcrafted weapons in casual hold. Hand axes leaning on their shoulders, spears and javelins in a loose grip as if they were mere hiking sticks, causing Christopher to press his side further against Henry's, just to reassure himself of his friend's presence.

"Who are you?" Greg asked in a quietly defensive sense as more and more men- or rather, boys, came out of lurking.

"We're the 'home office'." One of them, with scars decorating his face, and a sort of chaotic humour in his smirk, stood forward with arms outstretched, as if to greet them. The lilt in his voice was almost mocking. "Welcome to Neverland."

Tamara seemed confused, and even slightly offended by the claim. "The home office is a bunch of teenagers?"

"They're not teenagers." Henry observed, his hand twisting within the zip ties to grab Christopher's hand as their eyes darted about, searching the woods as if more newcomers would appear from the shadows. "They're the Lost Boys."

neverland . the jolly roger .

— WINNIFRED ROBIN ALWAYS HAD A VERY CONFUSING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE DARK ONE. Rumplestiltskin was no one's friend, and that much was absolutely certain. He held grudges like an oath, and kept anger, and ravenous hatred clenched in a tight fist, placing it over his heart to offer some comfort to the cowering, beating creature. As if the blazing fire of rage would somehow keep it warm.

In a settled, comfortable silence, Winnie stood at his side at the very front of the great ship, distantly wishing he would one day let go of such a harrowing crutch.

For the first time, however, she welcomed it.

"You're quiet..." She observed gently, her voice carrying on the wind as she leaned against the siding, forearms folded atop the steady wood as she looked out into the darkness and at the ship's mass carving through the salt-scented water.

Mr Gold didn't react for a good few moments, hand resting readily on his cane as he, too, watched the shadows of the surrounding blue ocean with a sort of vague melancholy that befriended her own, before finally murmuring out a response.

"You're angry." He returned.

Winnie looked over at him through her gold-rimmed glasses, noting the hints of unexpected softness in his features as he returned her stare with a humoured, perceptive light, mixed with a certain sadness that he always seemed to harbour when speaking to her.

When she didn't respond, he continued. "I've seen it enough times, dearie. I know how your fire burns... Makes me wonder if I should keep my distance."

For as well as she knew him, the Dark One always seemed to know her, too. He recognized the tenseness in her shoulders, the tightness of her jaw, the hardened eyes that usually held such sweetness in their dark, kind depths. He had known the girl for years- certainly longer than she had known him. These things- and the weariness beneath it all... these things, he understood.

"I'm alright." Winnie assured under her breath with a quiet, huffed sigh, turning her attention back to the ocean, and the leaden, infinite beyond. "... Why are you quiet?"

The man seemed to nod almost imperceptibly at her topic change, and the unusual temper of her voice, his own expression shifting to clutch that fury-filled fist tighter to his chest as he indulged the force of her direction, "I'm thinking."

"You're always thinking..." She muttered out in response, pushing her glasses further upon her nose and fiddling with her fingertips in a nervous fashion, her mind a jumble of thoughts with an accompanying no-nonsense demeanour. "Out with it."

"I'm thinking that I just lost my son. Again." Rumplestiltskin responded with a mute bite in his own voice as he sidled up next to the woman and settled back against the siding, looking upon the other passengers of the ship. The tension, and argumentative natures of each of them, coming apart at the seams. "And I'm thinking that your son won't be far behind if we pay any mind to them..."

Winnie spared a glance over her shoulder, noting the same things he did. Specifically, the tight stretch of silence that had settled in like a looming storm cloud, threatening to drench them in a torrent of discourse. She couldn't help but listen to that waking beast within. A tug in her gut- a pebble of doubt in the usually calmed and collected waters. They were at war with one another, and horribly underprepared. Her son was in danger.

"So what are you going to do about it?" She asked, almost critically, of the man, keeping her voice quiet.

If the Dark One had known her less, he might have been surprised. Winnie certainly knew him, too, after all. So, instead of lying in some attempt to spare feelings, he sighed, clenching his jaw.

"This devil we face isn't exactly a favourable character." He defined with a dismissive gesture of his hand, tilting his head as he glared out into the unknown. "Especially not one to be defeated by... goodwill. That is why I'm going alone."

Initially, Winnie was silent, only offering a simple nod and a light sniff in response, thumbing at her nose. Eventually, however, she looked over at him with a firmer stare just beyond her rounded glasses.

"Then go." The woman murmured, as if it were command, rather than encouragement. "You've been acting so strange as of late- and I know all your faces, all your masks- you believe you owe me some sort of debt..."

Rumplestiltskin's expression shifted to one of barely disguised surprise- which was uncharacteristic of such a powerful man, but then, the woman before him was acting unusually herself.

"Go, and bring my son back to me." Winnie stated, leaving no room for protest as her hand clutched the strap of her canvas bag in a hard, determined fashion. "But don't expect me to wait for you."

A strange relationship, indeed. Built upon one very solid fact that, every so often, they just might happen to agree with one another.

author's note

woah guess who's out of hibernation? let's hope it lasts lol sorry this chapter took AGES, I have a lot of plot for Neverland but there's so much just- nonsense show plot I have to kinda skip around through which is why Christopher's pov is so rushed 😭 i'm trying here guys

anywayyy it's been foreverrr let me know what you guys have been up to, i'd love to check in ! and let me know what you think of Winnie's anger arc, there's gonna be a lot of exploration of it in the next little while

other than that, there's now a graphics chapter back at the beginning of the book, I'm still kinda playing with it to figure out a better layout but it's a fun little learning process- go there to see a video edit by the wonderfully talented -happyhaunt ! It was supposed to be a Thankmas reward but I am horrible at keeping track of these things sometimes! So so late, but nevertheless very cool, go show them some love!!

anywayy I love you all so much thank you for sticking around! I'm hoping to be a lot more present on here soon so keep an eye out (: 💕