Everything had gone to plan: Pan finally had the Heart of the Truest Believer. The rest of the chess pieces could fall and he wouldn't even have to worry, because he was immortal, unbeatable, all-powerful - but that was his gravest mistake.

Flying over across Neverland, he knew where he had to go: his thinking tree. He'd have to organise what would happen next and the first thing would be to remove the adults from his land. They couldn't defeat him now. As he came closer to his destination, he saw something - something not quite right, something that didn't fit into the scene. Narrowing his eyes, he brought himself down onto the ground early and unsheathed his dagger, trekking towards the premises slowly. He saw a glimmer of brown hair and a name came to his mind, forcing him to pause in his tracks for a sudden moment.

Serena was of no use to him anymore. But that's what he tried to tell himself. It has to be her. Only she knows about the tree. To his surprise, Pan found himself holding his breath subconsciously as he took steady steps. When he breached through the forest and into the small, open space, the dagger in his hand dropped and ironically, it felt as time had truly and most completely...stopped.

Pan felt this overwhelming sense of emotion, something he hadn't expected. He was so sure the pirate wouldn't go through with his plan, that he could take the heart and Serena would still be safe. But right in front of him, placed before his tree with a note slit between her fingers, was the girl he learned to love...cold dead.

The breath in his throat caught as he stumbled backwards in surprise, not knowing how to feel.

Wrong: he knew exactly what to feel but he refused to believe it. No, she...she was just a piece, it doesn't matter, I have the... but he couldn't even finish convincing himself. He made the grave mistake of looking into her empty eyes before everything came crashing down onto him. The lies, the regrets - oh the regrets of every decision he had made. Without another thought, he ran forward and skidded onto his knees, quickly and sloppily scooping her body into his arms.

"No, no, no," he said, a sudden panic hitting into his body like an ocean wave. His breath escaped his mouth shakily, her head leaning back like an abandoned doll. Mimicking his breathing, his hand had the shakes as well as he brought it against her cold cheek...when it used to be so warm, so full of live and brightness. A strange choking sound left his mouth as he forced his eyes closed, clutching onto her body. The memories - every single one that he had of her hit him at a speed so unexpected, he wondered if he would ever open his eyes again. His chest ached more than every missed arrow, every poison. She can't be gone, he tried telling himself and while his eyes remained squinted shut, he could feel them stinging with the inevitable tears of realisation. I never got the chance to love her right, and just with those words, he started to sob, breaking down without a care in the world that someone could come up behind him and strike him down. He had lost the one person who treasured him, who he had loved but never admitted to her nor himself. And as those tears fell, he could fell them burning like the flames of hell, reminding him of where she would be now. The Underworld. A place worse than death and his darling Serena was there...because of him.

Clenching his jaw, he flung his head back and yelled in agony, hoping it would relieve some of the pain...but it didn't. If anything, it opened the wound further.

Pan slowly opened his eyes, red and stained with tears, they stared up at the night sky. His heaving breathing rocked his body back and forth very slightly, his bottom lip dropped and cracked. He felt empty, his mind going deathly quiet.

The sound of crickets could be heard, morphed with the gentle sound of the breeze. And he stayed in that position, allowing the tears to roll as he merely stared into the dark oblivion above with Serena in his arms.

She was gone, dead. And he took her love for granted.

And most of all, he regretted never returning the simple phrase she had managed to say almost every single day to remind him of the ultimate pain.

"I love you," he said aloud to the empty air, looking back down and stroking her cheek. And he couldn't stop himself from saying it again, his chest closing in with heartache.

"I love you." Pan gently laid Serena back down onto the ground and softly positioned her hands like a resting princess. He closed his eyes and held out his palm, believing in a single wish. When he felt the thorns appear, his fingers enclosed around them and pierced into his flesh just as his eyes reopened. Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he placed the white rose within her fingers, his own blood tainting the thorns and her own white skin. Pan got to his feet and stared at the scene for a moment, his teeth clenching.

Killian, Emma - everyone would pay for the death of his queen.