I leaped forward, seeing Pan stand up in bewilderment on the other side of the fire; the white rose fell to the ground, being splattered with dirt. Weaving myself through the dancing children, my wild eyes scanned for the boy again, a weird sense pulsing through my veins.

This adrenaline filled me, pushing me to go faster and quicker with every move, with every breath that I took.

And then I found the boy, taking his shoulders in my grasp.

Just as shocked as me, his beady eyes stared back at me and the other children had paused to witness what was going on.

"You," I said softly, my hands now moving and taking hold of his face. I couldn't control any of it – something...was pulling me to this child. And as I looked into their eyes, I sensed familiarity. Pan's son.

"It's connected to you," I said again and just as the words escaped my lips, Felix grabbed me from behind and pulled me away from the child. I heard Pan anxiously repeat, "everything's fine, nothing to see here!" as Felix dragged me away from the campfire. I let him, my eyes glazed and staring at the child as I got further and further away.

When we were covered by the trees and enclosed my darkness, Pan joined us, yelling, "what the hell was that?"

"It's –"

Pan grabbed my shoulders, a wildness in his eyes. "What was –?"

"HIM!" I yelled back in his face, not bothering to pull away from his grasp. "I don't know whether it's him or...I DON'T KNOW!"

"WHAT DON'T YOU KNOW?"

"The heart of the truest believer is connected to your SON!" I screamed, finally stepping back and pulling away, his hands falling lifelessly to his side. "I...I could tell. I felt it."

Pan gulped, his eyes lost and unable to be read as he looked at anything but me.

But then my hand started to shake, my right hand.

"What the –?" Felix said from behind and I looked down, watching it shiver and twitch.

"Draw...a drawing – give me parchment, now!"

Without any hesitation, Pan whipped out...

It was the paper that I had found in my chest, but it was no longer ripped at all.

He placed it down on the ground and gave me an inked feather. As soon as my hand took hold of it, I closed my eyes and began to draw. I didn't know what or whom I was drawing, but it was quick and out of my control.

When I was finished, I looked down to see a picture of a boy. Not Pan's son – a different boy.

Pan snatched it and examined it, mumbling, "he must be –"

"Your son's future son," I said.

"Or great-grandson," Felix said and I just sighed, gulping down the lump in my throat.

"I...I'm sorry for what I did at the fire," I mumbled and Pan's gaze snapped upwards from the parchment to meet mine, bewildered; I blinked away the tears. "I couldn't control it and out of all places, I led you to your son and –"

I was cut off by arms wrapping around me, an embrace so tight that I closed my eyes, releasing a breath of air in relief. Comfort and, out of all people, from Pan.

Hugging him back, I dug my face into his neck. His smell was something I didn't expect to like but it was sweet and reminded me of Neverland: the oak trees, the ocean and salt, the blooming flowers – he was them all.

When he pulled away, I died a little inside.

"Don't apologise," he said softly, taking a deep breath through his nose and clenching his jaw. "We've got what we need, now let's go."

I dropped my gaze, feeling pathetic that I opened my heart just for a second in that hug because clearly it meant nothing to him.

I simply nodded and followed the boys back to the boat with only one regret:

The white rose I had left behind.

+++

We reached Neverland without saying another word. As soon as the boat breached the shore, I hopped out and began walking away from them.

"Serena –" It was Felix, but he was cut off by Pan saying, "leave her."

Yes, leave me.

I felt stupid and most of all, pretty pathetic. I didn't want to deal with my thoughts alone so instead, I walked around Neverland's shore, wondering if I could find a ship – or anything of the pirate I had met earlier on.

My feet just kept on walking on the sand and it felt like hours of me just walking around the island's diameter; the sound of the waves was the only thing calming me at that time.

I wondered how long I would stay sane on this island, with all the twists and turns, the unexpected and the mystery of my pure existence still hidden from my knowledge.

My stomach grumbled and with a sigh, I raised my head to see...some sort of cove, the water being darker in-colour. The rocks surrounding the cove were covered in moss and I felt a change in atmosphere, as this place alone was different entirely.

I walked faster towards it, now standing completely exposed before this shelter...and that's when a head appeared not too far away from me in the water.

Gasping, I took a quick step back, keeping my balance as I saw the girl stare at me emotionlessly.

"I haven't seen you before," she said, her voice as sweet as honey and spine-chillingly smoothing. "There are no girls on the island."

"And you're not a girl?" I asked, a tad cockily as I cautiously stepped further towards the water. The girl chuckled, her voice momentarily wavering my eyes sleepily. I could listen to the calmness of her voice all day.

"No, we mermaids have an exception," she said, slowly swimming towards me now. "What's your name?"

I rolled back my lips, half of me wanting to answer and the other half wanting to turn on my heels and run...but alas, I gave in to the peacefulness of her tone.

"Serena."

"What a lovely name," the girl said, right before me now. I knew why the colour was darker: the depth was deeper, allowing for her to swim. And if I took another step, I would fall.

And most likely drown. "Swim with me."

Her hands reached up and I could barely think straight – there was this...this urge to jump, to follow. But I hesitated. "Won't you swim with me?"

There was magic in her voice – even I could tell, but I was struggling to fight against it. What harm is there in swimming with a mermaid?

I reached out and just as my hands were about to enclose around the mermaid's, arms wrapped around my torso and pulled me back. The person moved in front of me, holding up their arms protectively.

Only by seeing their back, I knew it was Pan, and suddenly the trance that I was in snapped and deceased; the mermaid hissed.

"Know your place, fish," he sneered and my chest tightened with worry, my lips chapped.

"But Peter, we just want to play," the mermaid sweetly said, but even I knew the magic would work on Pan.

"Find another toy to drown," and with that, he turned and grabbed my wrist, pulling me away from the beach. "What the hell were you doing?"

I knew he was going to start this.

"Walking! I didn't expect to get caught under some fish's spell!" I yelled back, fed up with him and myself. Was our trip to the town purely in my imagination?

"You could have died!"

"And why would you care?" I yelled back and I saw pain flash in his eyes. "Because as I recall, you tried to kill me without any –"

"I'M SORRY!"

The loudness and anger in is voice made me jump on the spot, my breaths quivering. My eyes were locked on his glassy ones, wide with so much certainty that I felt instant regret. His own breaths were beginning to slow down, his chest rising and falling every time, visually showing me the tension release from his body.

Neither of us spoke...and I remembered the white rose and what it signified.

I approached him cautiously, careful to not make any sudden moves. When I was standing right in front of him, I looked up to meet his eyes that were tainted with sorrow.

I could see the emptiness and loneliness in his eyes, the pain that held captive in his mind, in his black heart.

With no memories, I had no life to look back on, no history to tell me from right or wrong.

But he wasn't wrong. And I remember looking into his eyes for the first time and seeing such beauty in his darkness.

"I forgive you," I said softly. Three words. I didn't need to say anything else.

ThenI turned on my heels and headed back to camp.