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Astrid woke up and glanced over at the window of the treehouse to see that it was still nighttime; She stretched some and crawled out of bed, beginning to move over to the door but stopped in her tracks suddenly.

Astrid gasped in pain and lifted her shirt to reveal her left ribs and could see the veins turning black; She fixed her shirt and sighed, exiting out of the treehouse.

Peter had felt her pain and was already moving over to the ladder of the treehouse, fixing to check on her. He helped her step off the final step of the ladder and looked at her in concern. "The pain's growing even more now, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Astrid murmured as Peter wrapped an arm around her and held her to his chest in reassurance, "Will you do something for me?"

"What do you need?" Peter asked curiously.

"Undo this bonding spell that you put on the two of us," Astrid answered, "I don't want you to get hurt because of my pain..."

"Hey, don't worry about me. I'm fine-" Peter replied with a small smirk and a shrug, "I'm just more upset that someone casted one of the most impossible curses on the girl that I love."

"I don't want to worry about who did this curse..." Astrid slowly admitted, "I just want to spend my final months or however long that I have left with you and my family... Maybe this is for the best."

"Why would you say that?" Peter began, his eyebrows furrowed, "I don't want to lose you. Again."

Astrid's lip trembled, saying quietly, "I, for once, admitted something about me that I've denied multiple times. What I had realized... I'm a- a terrible person who destroys bloody everything good around me and runs from whatever happiness there is around me."

"But-"

Astrid cut him off as she continued, "It made me realize how bloody tired I am of running away from the people in my life. And it made me realize that I destroyed other people's happy endings, which isn't what I want to do..." She sighed and stepped back some.

Peter held her hands in his and stopped her by saying, "Whatever you have done in your past, I don't care because it doesn't change the way I feel about you. You don't have to run anymore. But, whatever you decide, I am with you. Always."

Astrid smiled a little and kissed him before walking away as Peter inhaled and sighed before meeting up with Felix to put their plan concerning Henry into action.

"Head to the other side of the island and deliver the supplies," Peter told Felix who slightly walked behind him.

Peter handed a bag to him once they exited the camp. Felix now stood beside him and replied, "Understood. Anything else?"

"Just be certain Henry doesn't find out what you're up to." Peter pointed out. Felix nodded and began walking away, the supplies in hand with his club thrown over his shoulder.

Peter glanced around and discreetly noticed Henry hiding nearby; He walked away, knowing that the boy was now following Felix.

Henry thought he was being sneaky and had the element of surprise on his side, trying to be like his aunt with this tactic.

***

Astrid sensed her twin sister, along with Hook and Neal, enter a dark place on the island known as Dark Hollow and she didn't like that.

She took off running and didn't stop until she emerged in the darkest part of the island, seeing the three people glance around the place cautiously.

"-Guys, we don't have time for this," Emma spoke up as the two men rushed off to retrieve the liter that had been thrown into a tree. She groaned in slight annoyance and closed the top of the coconut and heard loud roars overhead.

Emma quickly pulled her sword out and pointed it at the four shadows, Peter's shadow in lead. "We really don't have time for this! Is that Pan's shadow!?"

"Obviously!" Astrid exclaimed, announcing her presence to them as they glanced over at her, "What the bloody hell are you three doing here!?"

Neal and Hook pulled their swords out after Astrid twirled her own swords around in her hands, Hook asking, "What about the other three!?"

Before Astrid or Neal could answer him, the shadows swooped down and began attacking all of them at once. A shadow managed to pin Hook against a tree as Astrid exclaimed, "HOOK!" A second shadow did the same to Neal as the two girls exclaimed, "NEAL!"

Emma and Astrid quickly ducked in unison and shared a concerned look just as the third shadow swooped down and grabbed Emma, pinning her to another tree while making her drop the coconut candle on the ground. "EMMA!"

"The coconut-!" Emma started towards her sister as the three adults began to have their own shadows rip out of them.

Astrid slid on her knees on the ground a few feet from her and picked up the object, starting to try and light the candle inside of it with her magic. Pan's shadow noticed her and began to swoop down at her just as a flame rose inside of the coconut, the light pulling his shadow inside of the object as Astrid closed the lid on top of it.

Hook, Neal, and Emma fell to the ground with grunts as they sat up slowly, panting and all breathing heavily now. Neal asked the teenager curiously, catching his breath still, "How did you do that?"

"Peter." Astrid murmured as Neal inquired, "He's teaching you magic?"

"A lifetime ago." Astrid sighed and tossed the magical coconut over to Neal who caught it effortlessly and helped her to her feet also.

"Excellent work, AJ," Hook spoke up as Astrid made a silly face at him and walked through the woods as the other three followed after her.

"Thanks for coming through as always, Astrid," Emma commented, stepping beside the girl who shrugged and replied, "My sister needed me." Emma smiled a little and nodded slightly.

Neal then stopped Emma and spoke up, "Hey, hey, hey, I'm sorry. I know I screwed up-"

"Yes, you did. You both did." Emma agreed, nodding over at Hook also, "If it weren't for Astrid, we almost lost our shot at trapping the shadow because you two were fighting over a lighter."

Astrid sat down on top of a large boulder Indian-style beside Hook as she glanced over at him once he corrected her sister, "It wasn't the lighter that we were fighting over, love." Astrid glanced down a bit at the ground with slightly wide eyes, awkward as she listened in on their love triangle.

"Okay, let me be very clear about something," Emma sighed, "If I had to choose someone... I choose Henry. He's the only love I have room for in my life." She turned on her heels and walked in the direction towards Tinkerbell's camp where Snow and David was meeting them.

Neal followed second as Astrid threw a slightly concerned glance the pirate's way as he shrugged and helped her off of the rock, both of them following after the other two.

It was silent the rest of the way and took about fifteen minutes to get to their destination, Astrid hearing the ex-fairy tell her parents, "-Capture Pan's shadow? Yeah, I'm not lifting a finger until I see some proof that you've actually succeeded."

That's when the four entered the small clearing as Neal announced themselves first, breathlessly, "Hey." He held up the tied coconut and showed the three others, "Here's all the proof you need." He glanced over at the ex-fairy and added, "It's been a long time, Tink."

"Bae?" Tinkerbell smiled, starting, "Is it really you?" Then she frowned and smacked him in his chest hard as he held his chest lightly in his hand, a confused expression on his face. "That's for abandoning Astrid on this island by herself."

Neal glanced over at the said teenager who shrugged with an innocent grin on her face as she told them, "Hey, I told her everything."

Tinkerbell nodded and wrapped a friendly arm around the girl's shoulders, saying, "I got you, A."

"Thanks, Tink." Astrid smiled and nodded.

"We did it," Hook spoke up in slight impatience and looked at the fairy, "Are you finally ready to do your part, Tink?"

The said fairy dropped her arm, glanced at the sealed coconut in Neal's hand before glancing up at the teenager in between her and the pirate as she looked over at him also. "Yes." She let out, "Yes, I am."

Astrid stepped back from the relieved group and leaned against a tree behind her, folding her arms across her chest in thought. She actually didn't want to leave Neverland and Peter and the Lost Boys, but she also didn't want to leave her newfound family either-- especially since she's dying.

"Astrid?" David noticed his daughter's quiet behavior and looked over at her as did the others, "Kid, you coming?"

Astrid looked back at the trail her and Emma, Neal, and Hook just walked on and glanced back at her parents and the others with a meek smile, saying, "No, you guys go ahead."

"Come on, Astrid. We need you." Emma spoke up while stepping back over to her, "Being in Dark Hollow, it made me realize that we're not a family without you. Don't go back to him just yet, okay? You saved us again. Please stay by our sides for now."

A brief silence fell over the group as they waited for the teenager to say something as she sighed and finally answered, "Okay."

Snow and David grinned as Snow wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders, the three of them following Tinkerbell past her treehouse as Hook followed after them. Emma, however, was stopped by Neal who added on to what she told them earlier.

Astrid shrugged and felt a numbness creep along her right arm, like it had fell asleep or something, and let out another sigh.

Choices for her was fixing to have to be made-- and she just wanted it all to end already.

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