Another game of ‘target practice’ . . . ‘Brilliant’ he thought as blood trickled down his cheek. It truly wasn’t brilliant, in fact, it was anything but. As Baelfire sat on the rugged floor of the cave that he made his home, he tore a piece of his pant leg off to use it as a bandage. Round and round the lad wrapped it around his right bicep to stop the bleeding from the newest stab wound he had acquired, He kept a mental note that he had several others that he needed to do the same too, including on his other arm, left leg, and right side. Just as he was about to tie off the first one he heard the sound of boots crunching leaves drawing more and more near to him. How was that even possible? No one knew where his cave was?
Instincts took over and suddenly Baelfire found himself fleeing further back into his cave so that he could hide in the shadows. As the person drew nearer, the boy’s baby brown eyes squinted so that he could get a better look. He was unlike any Lost One that he had seen before. He was blond like Felix, but grungier like a pirate. . .
“Wh-Who are you. . ?” He called, not moving from his current position. He was in no shape to fight, and if this person wanted to hurt him it would be far too easy. “Did Pan send you?”
‘ “You don’t have to tell me what I already know.” ( Slightly or Wendy)’
s l i g h t l y:
The brunette boy’s words caught him off guard. “What is it you think you already know?” Slightly questioned him, relieved that he might not have to be the barrier of the bad news. “I wasn’t aware you were a mind reader.”
It was always interesting how the boys around Neverland chose to deliver information. Some were blunt in their delivery and just ripped the band-aid right off; while others, chose to let the information dance in the air before harvesting it down piece-by-piece. Slightly, seemed to do the piece-by-piece one. As his words were almost sent hurling back at him in lightning speeds, Bae scrunched his brows in question. “. . . Well, now I’m not sure. I thought I knew but maybe I don’t -- and I’m no mind reader. Pan is maybe, but that’s something someone with magic would be able to do and I don't have that. By any methods.”
Baelfire was beyond conflicted at what Peter was offering him. Freedom. For anyone in Baelfire’s position, the choice was BEYOND easy-- to leave. You just take Peter’s hand and leave. Every worry, every fear, every restless night disappeared with a single world. For anyone with two eyes, it should be easy, but not for Baelfire. Because, for Baelfire, what was holding him back was the fact that he was all his Papa had left. . .
That touch, though. . . Though from callused hands, it was soft, warm, and something that Baelfire hadn’t felt in a very, very long time. It almost made his heart ACHE to feel the kind touch that reminded him so much of his mother’s before she left them all those years ago.
‘You need to spread your wings.’ Baelfire’s baby brown hues searched Peter’s forest green ones for only a moment before they lowered to the windowsill. “Spread my wings and be free?” He said the thought out loud. Because of his Papa’s stubbornness and pride, Baelfire was a prisoner but could Baelfire bring himself to be selfish enough to make the choice to leave him behind if it means freeing himself? He would be leaving EVERYTHING he’d ever known -- his Papa and his home -- for a chance to be free. . . Could he do it? “If I go with you, I can never come back here again?” Baelfire turned around to look at the rest of his room, “Not even if I wish it, it could never be? What about Papa?” the boy’s eyes softened down to his and Peter’s hands, “. . .Could he come too?”
☯ + Bae meeting Pan for the first time (these two needed more screen time together!)
There it was again, the sound of a flute Baelfire had only heard in his dreams. The sound was beautiful, as sweet as his Mother’s voice. It was calling to him, beckoning him to come to it, as if it was leading him home. To freedom…
… Freedom. Ever since his Papa had become the Dark One and his Mama had died, Baelfire didn’t know the meaning of the word. Trapped inside the four walls of his home, Baelfire could only imagine what it was like beyond that. He no longer had friends, it had been who knows how long since he’d seen sunlight since he snuck out of the house at night for brief visits to Morraine when his Papa was asleep. He’d give anything to be free instead of being his Papa’s prisoner.
He had heard the song of the panflute before but his Papa had told him to ignore it and that he was just hearing things. This time, his Papa was asleep and Baelfire’s heart told him that if he wanted freedom for himself he’d have to follow the sweet sound of the panflute to wherever it was going to lead him. That was exactly what he did. Quietly, he crept from his bed through their living room. He grabbed his fur coat, laced up his boots, then looked back at his father. With a look of sadness at the man sleeping not too far from, he disappeared into the night toward, what he hoped, would be the start of his new beginning.
He followed the noise wherever he heard it call him, around buildings, through trees. As he drew nearer the sound grew louder. The louder it grew the warmer the feelings that it brought him became. This was the feeling his home used to give him while his mother was alive, and before his Papa had become the Dark One. It was as warm as the fire that Baelfire came upon when he finally found the source of the song he had heard. For there, standing in the glow of the fire was a boy who was taller than he, but just as lean in figure. Baby brown hues flickered with curiosity as Bae watched the figure draw near. He didn’t know who they were, but they seemed familiar…As if he was welcoming Baelfire home again after a long day.
“It’s good to see you, Laddie. I’ve been expecting you, Baelfire.”
“You’ve been expecting me …?” Baelfire questioned, scrunching his nose a little, “And-…And how do you know my name?”
“I know the names of all the lonely souls my flute draws in, Laddie.” the boy remarked. Baelfire’s eyes softened as they fell to the ground. In those soft, baby brown hues flickered the truth that the other knew all too well – the truth that Baelfire was lonely and abandoned, despite living at home with his Papa. Despite trying to do everything to keep his son happy, Baelfire was lonely and trapped and felt abandoned, not only by his mother but by his father as well. “I’m Peter. Peter Pan.” Peter smiled kindly.
“I don’t-”
“Trust me?” Peter asked with a quirk of his brow. “Why not, Baelfire?”
Baelfire swallowed the lump in his throat. He had a long list of reasons why, most of them included that his Papa had drilled it into his head that anyone beyond the four walls of their home was dangerous and out to hurt him. Seeing the sadness in Bae’s eyes Peter simply scoffed. “Your Papa told you so?”
The broken boy’s brown eyes shot up to meet the emerald green ones of the Boy King standing before him. “Yeah…He says anyone beyond our home is dangerous, that they want to hurt him. That’s why-”
“Why you don’t have any friends, Baelfire?” Slowly, Peter began circling Baelfire like a predator watching its prey. Bae’s gaze faded and all he could hear was the sound of Peter’s voice slithering in one ear and out the other. “My pipe attracts a very specific crowd, Baelfire. Only those who are lost can hear its tune…” The Piper stopped his paces directly in front of Bae who’s gaze instantly rose up again,
“…Are you lost, Baelfire?” Before he could have time to answer, Peter continued walking and Baelfire was left to stand in his own thoughts. The real question should have been, did Baelfire remember the last time he felt like his world made sense to him? The answer to that question was far longer than Bae could even date back to. Before his father banned him from going outside or having friends, before he made him promise to never talk to anyone without his permission or go outside… Before a lot of things.
“Do you see them, Bae?” Peter asked, gesturing to the boys dancing around the fire. Having fun. Fun. Oh, how Baelfire longed to play again and experience what it was like to be carefree, for once. “Those boys are lost. Abandoned. Lonely. Whatever words you choose are up to you. Do you see how happy they are, Baelfire? You could be happy too, just like them.”
“How?”
“Those boys come home with me every night to Neverland. A place where you can be anything you want to be, play any game you wish to play, be free! You could do everything you ever wanted and more, Bae…” Peter stretched his hand out palm up to the boy as his smile from before returned, “… All you have to do is come with me.”
As much as Baelfire wanted to take that hand and go away to a place far from the Enchanted Forest, Baelfire could hear his Papa’s voice screaming in his ear that this was dangerous and that he shouldn’t go. He could feel it deep in his gut. Any moment now his Papa would come and tell him that he had to go home. “I-…I can’t…” the boy said, turning his back to the other as his sad eyes found the ground again. It felt like he was being torn to pieces. Freedom and happiness was just in his grasp and yet … He knew that the right thing wasn’t to go with the Piper. “…Papa would never allow it…”
Peter straightened his posture as his licked his bottom lip slowly in thought. “I see. Your Papa isn’t here, Baelfire. He’s a coward who didn’t want to come with me when he had the chance… You’re here, Bae, with the others that my pipe has summoned and if you’re so worried about this, how about a deal?”
How about a deal? The dreaded words he had heard time and time again from his Papa… Still, Bae had learned well enough how those words work and made the choice to turn back around and face Peter again. “A deal?”
“I’ll propose the same thing to him, if he comes…” Which, Peter knew he would. “… You stay and play with the others. Have fun, enjoy yourself like we both know you want to do, Laddie. He can ask you himself if you’d rather stay with me and go back to Neverland, or, if you choose him and will go back home.”
“I-”
“You don’t have to tell me now, Laddie. I’m not the one who needs to know the answer. That’s how you’ll know if he really trusts you and if he truly cares for you like he says he does.-” Baelfire stood there solemn as he let Peter’s words sink into his heart. All his Papa has to do is ask and that will prove everything… Just one question. That’s all it would take. “-For now…Hold out your hand, Bae.” As instructed, the boy held his hand out. With a wave of his hand, Peter made a mask appear in Bae’s grip– one like the others were wearing. “… Go play, have fun. Enjoy your time with the others like you have been wanting to for way too long.”
Baelfire stood there looking at the mask. His heart was telling him to give it back. If he had the choice to go home or stay with the Piper, Bae would make the choice to go home. Even if it wasn’t perfect, he knew that his Papa would be distraught if he lost him. He knew that he cared and that, though it wasn’t going according to plan, his Papa was trying. Regardless… The idea of playing carelessly for ages to come did sound appealing to him. He could have friends, see the world beyond the walls of his home. Be free. . . With a smile, Baelfire tied the mask around his bush of curls and ran toward the fire where the other lost ones were playing. Within moments, Bae was making friends and fitting in while Peter was back to playing his pipes once again.
Time passed rapidly as Baelfire played with the other boys. It felt like he had gotten his childhood back again. For the last almost seven years, Baelfire had been told that he couldn’t go outside, that he couldn’t make friends, that he couldn’t meet people or leave his home. For years he had longed to see the world and had only been allowed to draw about what he imagined it to be like since he was not allowed to look outside through the windows. All those years watching the others in his village playing games and having fun seemed like a distant memory while he played with his new friends.
“You can’t even recognize him can you, Rumple?”
“How can I when he’s wearing a mask?”
“Well he’s wearing a mask, but that’s not the reason-” Peter started, gesturing to Bae who was dancing amongst the others. “-Look at him, playing with the other boys, out in the world. He’s happy, Rumple. That’s why you don’t recognize him.”
While Baelfire was playing amongst the boys, he felt a pair of hands grip him by the shoulders then his mask was pulled from his face. It was his Papa. As he stood there, out of breath Baelfire couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His Papa was here, he really had come. Bae couldn’t believe it.
“Bae? Baelfire, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Why are you here?” Bae’s eyes searched his father’s equally brown ones as confusion filled his own.
“I know you think I don’t care about you, Son,” Rumple pleaded, “But I do, and I’m here to prove it.”
Baelfire took a small step back from his Papa but kept his gaze locked on his father’s. “How?” He asked, almost unsure of if he wanted to hear the answer his Papa was about to give him.
“Go ahead, Rumple.” Peter said from behind the pair as he watched the discussion unfold in front of him. There was a moment of stillness as Rumple calculated his next move and Baelfire watched him make his choice. He knew what Peter was asking of him, he knew of the deal. Was his father going to go through with it?
“Papa, what are you doing?” The boy asked as his father moved him between him and Peter all too quick for Bae to make an escape away back over to Peter. He had desperately hoped that his Papa would do what Peter asked, but he should have known that Peter was right …
… His Papa was a coward.
“I’m protecting you.” Then in the same way that Pan had made the mask appear, Rumple made him and Baelfire disappear in a haze of smoke. This smoke brought Baelfire home and with this journey backward, let his freedom slip through the cracks.
“You’re gonna regret not taking my deal, Rumple!” Peter barked as the pair disappeared into the cloud of smoke away from his Lost Ones and back into their cottage.
Despite that he was now home, Baelfire felt tears welt up in his eyes. All he wanted was his Papa to ask him a question, just the one question that Peter had told him to! Surely, it could not have been that hard? Baelfire had made his choice while he was playing with the Lost Ones and he wanted his Papa and Peter to hear it! If only he had asked…If only…
“Don’t touch me! Get away!” Bae cried as he pushed himself out of his father’s hands and stepped back into their living room.
“It’s alright now, Bae, you’re safe!” Rumple said as he tried to calm his clearly upset boy.
“Safe? I was never in any danger! The Piper was my friend!”
“He may have wanted you to believe that, but you have to believe me, he was going to hurt you.” He said as he turned his back to his son to make his way back through their home.
“Why? Who is he?” Baelfire asked as he approached his father once again. His tone had shifted from sad and confused to, now, fiery like the flames that had burned near him only moments ago. “Another person that you abuse with your power?”
Rumple slowly strode away from his son, trying to think about how he wanted to go about telling his son the story of how he and Peter Pan know one another. He chose a decorated story of the truth while Baelfire listened intently with open ears.
“His name is Peter Pan. I’ve known him since I was a boy. Growing up, we were incredibly close…”
“So you’re saying he’s immortal too?”
“…He wasn’t always. He went to a place called Neverland. He betrayed me, Bae. He can’t be trusted. ”
The longer Baelfire listened to his father’s story, the more his expression melted from anger and morphed into an expression of heartbreak. Peter can’t be trusted, no adult beyond these walls can be trusted…He should have known. Even the person who was promising everything he had ever wanted in the last handful of years…Was also going to hurt him, according to his Papa.
“… What happened?”
“All that matters is that he fooled me for a long time before I’d seen his true nature. He grew angry and more repulsive than you should ever be exposed to!” He warned, pointing his finger in Bae’s direction who, at this point had made his way across the room and turned his back on his father. He was done. Completely and utterly done. Could he have one bit of happiness in his life? Ever again? All he had left was Morraine and thanks to his Papa, he wasn’t even allowed to see her because she could hurt him or was dangerous. Well, enough was enough.
“He can’t be any worse than you…” Baelfire hissed.
“I had to protect you, Bae.” the lad turned back around to face his father, “I didn’t have a choice!”
“Stop lying, because I know that you did!” Bae growled as he stormed up close to his father again. His emotions had reached a point even he didn’t quite understand. He was hurt. He was betrayed. He was… Lost. “I know about the deal Pan offered you! He said all you had to do was ask me if I wanted to come home!”
“He told you…”
“He said that way I’d know if you really trust me, if you really cared…”
“No please, Bae…” Rumple begged as his son stepped away with tears making their way beyond his thick eyelashes.
“You didn’t need to! I would have chosen to come home, I would have chosen you! …If only you asked” the last part of Baelfire’s sentence slipped past his lips in a tone that could only be described as defeated. “…Maybe we could have found a way to be a family again.”
“We can be…” Rumple started, but Baelfire was already running out the front door of their home with tears streaming down his face. “Bae…” he called after his son, “Bae!”
“Every single day?” Bae asked with a quirk of his brow. “Truly? You wish every day I was like everyone else?” He asked the question as if the answer shocked him to hear. Maybe it did because part of Bae wished the leader of the Lost Ones would tell him that he was fine just how he was. So much for wishful thinking. “I’m glad I can entertain you.” The small brunet hissed, rolling his eyes as he folded his arms firmly across his chest. “Perhaps I survived my first week, and every week after that, because I have better survival instincts than you predicted? Maybe that pirate taught me a thing or two about Neverland and how to live on it?” Or, maybe, Bae just wanted to keep his head above water long enough that he could get off this bloody island alive.
“You ALWAYS say that, Pan! You always say that things aren’t that easy. Things truly CAN be that easy, if you allow them to be so. By you making them not that easy, you’re making them even more difficult for yourself and everyone around you. What is the [ [ h a r m ] ] in letting things truly be THAT easy?”
