Lynari Fae's POV

TW: Description of death & blood & gunfire

Nari sat silently at the port, watchfully gazing upon the Jolly Roger. It was all true; Captain Hook had returned to Neverland and kidnapped Tristan Lily as revenge. Tiger Lily, Tristan's mother, had stayed behind to lead her tribe whilst they planned to rescue him. He's going to drown him, the woman told them. I know Captain Hook, he'll stop at nothing for vengeance. It should be me out there, not my son.

Nari's hands became slick with sweat as Blaise and Ladeline were at the other entrance point. Earlier that evening, Winifred unrolled a map and started to mark their entry points and exit routes. They were waiting for Willow's signal, where the hell was she? Nari hoped the plan worked.

Suddenly, the pirate patrolling the top deck was knocked out unconscious by a soaring rock. Willow's slingshot is the signal! Nari got up from her spot, hurrying to the rope ladder, silently climbing up. It was nighttime, only a handful of crew members were awake and on deck. Winnie had boarded the Jolly Roger a few minutes ago.

Nari stayed low, discreetly maneuvering around the ship to avoid contact. The wooden floorboards groaned under her feet as she went below deck, descending into the darkness. In the shadows, she spotted Tristan tied up to a post.

With Captain Hook.

Shit! Nari immediately dropped to the ground and crawled to hide behind a barrel before neither of them could see her. Surprisingly, Nari found Winnie hiding there too. "Winnie," Nari breathed, relieved, "I'm so glad you're here. Willow gave the signal, Blaise and Ladeline are coming soon."

"Good, because we're moving into Phase Two of the plan in two minutes."

"Tristan Lily, God, you're much taller than I remembered." Captain Hook traced his hooked hand across Tristan's cheek, grazing the skin until blood dripped. Tristan didn't flinch, avoiding eye contact. Hook grinned coyly at him, eyes wide with horrible intent. "How's my son? Causing trouble for you?" Venom was laced on his tongue.

"Holton's doing okay," Tristan said, remaining level-headed. Unlike most of the Neverland kids, Tristan wasn't scared of Holton.

Captain Hook's menacing grin only grew. "You know, Tiger Lily caused such a hassle for me." He lifted Tristan's chin with the sharp hook. "I suspect you know what happens when the tide rolls in. You drown, you'll never reach the Happy Hunting Grounds."

Tristan remained unfazed. "You hate me, you hate Neverland. But if you have any sort of dignity for yourself, then you'll kill me. Not by water, but by blade. I allow it, I request it, I'd rather you look me in the eye when you take away my life."

Suddenly, there was an uproar from above. Blaise, Ladeline, and Willow were right on time. Captain Hook's head snapped around, angry as he stormed upstairs. "Shit, an attack," he muttered, racing to the deck. Once he was gone, Winnie and Nari rose from the barrels and hurried to the tied post.

"Winnie? Nari?" Tristan asked, stunned. Nari grabbed the pocket-knife that Willow had lended her, trying to cut through the thick ropes that bound Tristan to the wooden post. "No, you shouldn't have come here, it's not safe—"

"Shut up while we save you, Trist," Winnie said, working on the other side of the ropes. Finally, they snapped free, releasing Tristan. He rubbed his wrists as they ran back to the deck, facing the chaos. Holy hex, Nari thought, her eyes widening.

Pirates were ambushing them everywhere, swords and pistols up in the air. Willow was up on the crow's nest, slingshotting rocks at heads. Ladeline was running across the main deck, swinging on the occasional ropes. Blaise was caught between a sword fight with several others. "You!" Hook screamed, pointing his sword at Tristan and Winnie. Just before he charged, Nari leapt out of the way, bumping into another pirate.

She tried to cast out a spell, but her magic was failing her. "On your left!" A rock flew to the pirate's head, knocking him to the ground. Nari grabbed him and shoved him overboard, hearing the water splash below her. Willow arrived at Nari's side, shouting over the loud noise, "We need to find the pages now!" She pointed to the front of the ship. "It must be in the Captain's Cabin, we need to hurry!"

Bullet whizzed through the air as they ducked, quickly scurrying across the deck. Nari threw the door open, finding a writing desk in the middle, messy papers everywhere. "God, would it kill Captain Hook to be more organized?" She cursed under her breath, sifting through each file. Where was the Storybook of Legends? Lynari was beyond stressed, there were swords and guns being used just outside and—

"Nari—"

"Where are those damn pages—"

"Nari!" Willow pointed at Nari's wings. Nari looked in the mirror on the wall, horrified. Her fairy wings were decaying, starting to rot and crumble off on its own. One of the final stages; the body starts to decompose before disappearing forever. "What's going on with your wings...?"

"It's fine, we need to focus on the pages, which must be here somewhere—"

"Are you dying?" Willow blurted out.

This could not be worse timing. "I mean, fairies are such a fickle affair to deal with, and... You know what, this isn't important right now!" Victoriously, Nari found the lost Storybook pages, tied neatly in a bundle. She smiled, holding it up. "Good, now we get the hell out of here."

"Wait!" Willow yanked on her hand, stopping her from getting to the door. "You're vanishing, like Violet," she said quickly, almost as if she was selling a pitch to her. "You're not doing anything about it?"

Really, Nari wasn't, she accepted her fate. If Vanya wasn't going to sign, Nari couldn't force her to, plus Ana and Daphne weren't Royals either, the Cinderella fairytale wasn't happening any time soon. The Fairy Godmother would cease to exist. "If I disappear, that's my own problem to deal with."

"But it's your life!" Willow protested, throwing her hands in the air. "You're just going to give that easily? You're not going to fight for it? Nari, you have so many people in your life that love you! If you just go poof poof, then what? You can't just die!"

Nari didn't want this discussion right now, not when their friends were outside trying to ambush Hook's crew. "I'll figure it out, you don't need to worry about me," she amended, strolling out of the Captain's Cabin. Surprisingly, they were winning. Blaise and Ladeline rounded up most of the pirates, tying them to the post.

"We're never doing that again," Blaise muttered, sheathing his sword.

"I love pirate mutiny!" Ladeline exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight. "Oh my Grimm, you've got the pages!"

Nari held them up. "We're ready to go back home."

Tristan glanced around, narrowing his eyes. "Wait, where's Hook?" Every crew member but him was tied up to the post. Suddenly, a shadowed figure emerged, but it was too late to warn Tristan.

The blade pierced through his chest before being pulled back. Nari was frozen in place as the blood oozed, dripping down like a river. Tristan collapsed as screams rose to her ears. It felt surreal, it felt like a dream. But it wasn't, it was reality, even in Neverland. She couldn't move, so she watched as the others gathered around Tristan, frantically discussing what to do. Willow let out a sob, and it hurt Nari more than she realized because she hadn't seen Willow cry before.

Captain held the bloodied sword, locking eyes with Nari. Then he grinned, letting out a hollow laugh. I will fucking kill you, James Hook. Nari never wanted to hurt someone more than ever in her life. But she was too stuck in the moment to chase after him as he fled the scene. That sick bastard. Nari joined the others on the ground, seeing Tristan up close. His eyes were whitening, the blood falling from the corners of his mouth, his hands shaky.

"T-There must be a way we can save him," Ladeline reasoned.

Blaise shook his head, grimacing. "Death is permanent."

"He's still alive, we can help him! W-We have to do something!" Winnie's voice was cracking as she grappled for his hand. She had a worn smile, her eyes glossy with unshed tears. Suddenly, Willow's words sank in the back of Nari's mind. "We're going to find he-help for you, Tristan, okay? Just hold on a bit longer and—"

"I'm dying, you can't change that," Tristan said blankly, blinking. He was still in shock, Nari assumed. She couldn't possibly imagine what was going on in his head. God, it was awful watching him bleed out on the ground and accept his fate. His face contorted in pain as he tried to smile. "It's okay, Winnie."

"No, it's not okay. Y-You're dying and bleeding out on the floor, for Grimm's sake, this is awful and—"

"Just think of the Happy Hunting Grounds. I'll be okay," he murmured, his words wavering. Winnie grappled for his hand, biting back her tongue to avoid saying the wrong thing. His eyes were hazy and his chest was rising and falling unevenly. Until it didn't. He went limp, his hands stilled. Nari stood up, turning away from his corpse. She didn't want to see it, she didn't want to see life go out in his eyes.

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Winifred Darling's POV

Today was a somber day, but also the day of their eventual return back to Ever After High. The sun had just set, leaving Neverland in darkness. Winnie's hands gripped around the Jolly Roger's steering wheel as they left the dock, set out on the water. She had never manned a ship before, but it did come to her with ease for some reason.

Winnie leaned against the wheel, listening to the lapsing waves. She wasn't in the mood to talk to the others, they were asleep in the cabins below, she needed time alone. Winnie had never really thought of death in itself before, but it hurt every time to think about it now that Tristan was gone. No, he was truly gone and she'd never see him again. His body was left with his family for them to grieve properly.

Winnie wanted to change the ending to the story, she could have done something. She was so close to him at that moment, she could have spotted Captain Hook earlier and moved Tristan out of the way. Guilt? Regret? You name it. Her heart pained with a dull ache each day, Winnie wished for a miracle that was never going to happen.

They exiled the remaining Jolly Roger's crew, but Captain Hook was never found after he fled the boat. Wendy Darling, he had called her when the attack occurred on the deck.

"You're Wendy's daughter."

"What's it to you?" Winnie said, the sword's handle becoming sweaty in her palms. They were circling each other in a stance, almost daring the other to strike first.

"You don't remember. She doesn't either, I suppose."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked sharply, an uneasy feeling swelling in her stomach. She was good friends with Captain Hook's son, Holton, but she always knew his dad was an asshole. Now, Hook was laughing at her, echoing. "Stop it!" she spluttered, growing more and more anxious. "What's that supposed to mean?" she repeated. His laughter only made her scared, it terrified her.

Then she saw it. She saw how the rigidness in both of their noses matched, their pale skin, the similar face structure, and everything in between. Winnie never knew her father; a drunken bastard, sure, but Captain Hook? Winnie didn't know how to process it, because that opened so many invisible doors. That meant she and Holton were related—half-siblings?—and Hook was her absent father.

But that didn't change the hatred in Winnie's heart for Captain Hook, her father who killed her best friend. The boy she loved. Whoa, loved? Winnie wondered, her fingers loosening on the steering wheel. Where had that come from? Tristan was her best friend, one of the people she cared for most, so maybe she was more scared than she'd admit. She never fared well with romantic interests, and falling in love with her best friend was definitely not a good idea. What if he didn't feel the same? She would have ruined their relationship and Tristan would never talk to her again.

Though, Winnie guessed she would never know now.

There were grains of regret deep in Winnie, mostly because she never got to confess to him. Things could have panned out differently. If only you could have told him, she thought to herself miserably.

A deep pit of sadness pooled in her stomach and she didn't know how to describe it. For once, she didn't know how to handle loss. She had seen losses before, but never like this, it really did put perspective on it all. Her head spun with the words what if floating around, as if it would change anything. Winnie was tired and worn-out, she wanted to disappear for a bit. Of course, she'd never do that, but she felt like it. Dissolving, slowly, bit by bit.

So Winnie let the Jolly Roger drift for a bit, watching the clouds shift away. She wondered if Tristan was in the Happy Hunting Grounds, surrounded by nature and trying to talk to a chipmunk. She couldn't help but smile fondly, because that's just how Tristan was. Even in death, he was peaceful.

And perhaps, in her dreams, it would stay like that too.

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Winifred and Tristan had hiked up to the tallest hill near the Lost Boys' haven in Neverland. They were both younger, around ten-years-old by then. It was nice to get away since they had just spent the day looking after their friends—ensuring that Willow and Scout didn't prank anyone, trying to make Violet and Frederick get along.

They were the oldest of the Neverland kids, so they obviously had to be the responsible ones in these scenarios. "We're just babysitters," Winnie told him, the back of her head on her hands as they laid on the grassy hill. Facing up to see the stars was her favourite part of Neverland. "I mean, we're always looking after them! I mean, Gigi did try to drown us today so..."

Tristan shook his head, laughing softly. "You know, we're all kind of a big Neverland family. Like, obviously not in a gross way, since I'm sure Violet and Freddie have big fat crushes on each other, but in a nice way."

"Yes, because clarifying it makes it so much better," Winnie teased.

"I mean it in a blood family way."

"Huh, I never thought about it that way."

"You and I are the oldest out of the six, so I guess we would be the mom and dad. Not in a gross way though." Again, this was when neither of them knew what human anatomy was. "It's because we're best friends, that makes sense, right?"

"It's Neverland, nothing has to make sense!"

Tristan shrugged. He was always relaxed, he didn't really ever worry about anything. "Do you think we'll still be friends when we grow up? I know it's Neverland, but I think we'll have to grow up eventually."

Winnie sat up, surprised he'd even ask that. They had known each other since birth, Winnie couldn't trade their friendship for anything. "Of course! What kind of question is that, Tristan? I mean, you can also visit me in London too. We'll be the type of friends that grow up super old, even when we're grandpas and grandmas. Oh! And we'll adopt a hunting dog and maybe even a cat. I'll be your best friend forever, Tristan. I swear it."

"Promise, Darling?"

"Promise, Lily."

A/N: So Tristan is the first one to die, this is getting more fun and ironically sadder for me. I feel like Winnie would be the type of girl to regret not confessing to her crush, but I took that to the extreme. So who knows, perhaps this is a sign to do something about your love life before it's too late *wink wink*.

rip winnie's romance arc, 2024.

NOT TO MENTION THAT NESSA BARRETT'S NEW ALBUM JUST DROPPED LIKE OMG???