The Price of Pain

Pan slowly stirred awake, looking to the side as he tried to get a hold of his surroundings. Everything was a daze, the past few hours were all a blur. The only thing he could think about was Fox's face. He looked so haunted and broken because it was something that Fox had never seen.

Pan had worked so hard for years to try and keep the boys away from what was happening outside the camp. "I'm sorry..." Pan said under his breath as he blankly stared towards the sky, which was starting to change color. The woman turned towards Pan as she heard him speak.

She grabbed a cup, scooping water from a bucket that sat in the corner of the hut. She carefully carried the cup back over to Pan's side, sitting next to him as he downed the water. "How you feel Mun?" She spoke softly, almost like a mother speaking to their child.

Pan looked towards the woman as she pulled the cup away from his face, placing it at the end of the stone slab Pan laid upon. The room around him spun, the shape of a woman, was it Tiger Lily? She must be so angry with him or maybe she was scared because he was so close to death.

Peter looked towards his legs as he sat up, thinking for a moment. He spoke softly, whispering as if he didn't want anyone else to hear him.

"I am tired..." He paused for a moment, the woman nodded and walked off as she started to mix herbs together. Pan was tired of hiding what was going on, not just in Neverland but with himself and how he felt.

"I'm tired of fighting him Ti...I just wish it was him who you looked up to instead of me..." He swayed as he sat there, he was clearly still fighting off the poison, his eyes closed.

The woman looked towards Pan, surprised. He always smiled and cared for others but wasn't one to tell others how he felt. The woman sighed softly, placing the herbs down and walking back towards him. She held his hand and closed her eyes as she listened to him speak.

The warmth of the woman's hand felt nice, it was a different sensation from the cold slab that he sat upon. He lay on his back as the room started to spin. He sighed as he kept his eyes closed.

"I want things to go back to the way they were, before everyone wanted something from me, before Hook became Hook, before...Fox saw what he saw..." Tears flooded out of his closed eyes as he thought about the way Fox looked at him again.

The woman looked at Pan worried, who was he speaking of? She looked towards her hand as Pan tightly squeezed her hand, a pained look on his face. "Tell me more about Fox..." Pan sharply inhaled, his breath caught in his throat as the last couple of hours came flooding back.

As the morning came around Tiger Lily got ready for the new day. She did her prayers and then made her way towards the children's tent. The boys were playing together, trying to get Fox to play with them but he didn't want to.

He sat quietly and alone in a corner filled with books, one of them was opened on his lap but he wasn't reading it. He seemed too distracted with whatever he was thinking about.

He had witnessed the real horrors of what was actually going on in Neverland. The illusions Pan had spent years putting up, were now gone and Fox saw Neverland in an all-new light.

Tiger Lily walked towards the boys, seeing them playing made her smile. It reminded her of when Pan and she were kids. Though as she looked around she spotted Fox and her smile slowly faded as she noticed Fox.

One of the teachers walked over to Tiger Lily, crossing her arms as she stood next to Tiger Lily. She spoke in a quiet low tone as she continued to watch the children. "He hasn't really moved much since last night."

The teacher sighed softly and looked up towards Tiger Lily rather worried. The teacher softly placed a hand on Tiger Lily's shoulder, Ti flinched a little before relaxing and looking towards the teacher.

The teacher gave Tiger Lily a soft reassuring smile before she looked back towards Fox. "You know it reminds me of James before he left us...He was always alone but when he started bringing the boys over his face just lit up" The teacher looked towards Tiger Lily, she looked uncomfortable. The teacher looked towards Fox and sighed softly.

Tiger Lily rubbed the side of her arm, she had only spoken to James a few times in the past. She didn't really get to know him before he went rogue, which was disheartening.

She had always heard great things about him but to see what he's done. It had always saddened not only Tiger Lily but all the people of Neverland. Ti sighed softly and placed a hand on the teacher's shoulder, bowing her head as she walked towards Fox.

The kids waved at Tiger Lily excitedly as she walked past, and she waved back. Her smiled softened as she knelt down next to Fox, looking at the book he was reading. It was an old children book that her father read to her once about a black snake who threatens to destroy the Earth. The snake poisons the people's water and a young girl takes a stand to defend the water, Earth's most sacred resource.

Tiger Lily smiled and pointed to the little girl's picture in the book as she spoke to Fox. "You know, my father used to tell me I looked like this girl..." She smiled softly as Fox broke from his trance, looking down at the book and then up towards Ti.

A forced smile grew upon his face as he looked back down towards the book. "Yeah, I guess it kind of does." Tiger Lily sighed as she sat down from her squatted position.

She sat next to Fox and embraced him in a tight hug, looking down at the book with Fox. "Why don't you tell me what's on your mind..." She could feel Fox's body tense for a moment before relaxing, but he was still on edge.

Tears filled Fox's eyes to the point where the room grew blurry, he kept his head down as he softly spoke. "I'm afraid..." Tiger Lily nodded she didn't want to pry but she wanted to help him feel better. "What's frightening you?"

Fox looked up towards Tiger Lily, tears streaming down his face. He let his emotions take over as he was both confused, scared, and saddened about the events that had taken place the night before. He was quiet for a bit as he tried to calm himself down and Tiger Lily let him cry.

She understood all the emotions he must've been going through, with the illusions wearing off and him witnessing Pan getting hurt for the first time in years.

Once Fox had calmed himself down he spoke again, softer than before whispering as he leaned his head on Tiger Lily's shoulder. "I am afraid of losing Pan...I don't want to lose any of my loved ones." He sniffled, wiping his nose on his arm as he relaxed in Tiger Lily's arms.

Tiger Lily didn't know how to respond and just embraced him, rubbing his back as she let him relax. "Pan will never leave you Fox...he's always been there to help you and you can help him..."

She could tell that he hadn't slept at all the night before, so she allowed him to rest on her shoulder. Tiger Lily started to quietly hum a song her father taught her when she was little, rocking him in her arms.

He closed his eyes as he listened to her hum, it sounded like a marching song Pan sang to them. He spoke to Tiger Lily, half asleep as he relaxed in her arms. "Do you think he can teach me how to fight?" Tiger Lily smiled softly as she stopped humming.

"All you have to do is ask and he'll help you with anything..." She continued to hum as she rocked back and forth with Fox against her body. As they sat there the kids around them played as Fox slowly fell asleep. Once he was asleep, Tiger Lily brought him back to her tent and allowed him to rest.