Enchanted

Chapter Nine
The Princess and the Outlaw

Peter’s last words to me that night rang out in my mind, My Grandpa said that to my grandmother when they first met. Peter had no way of knowing those words. The moment he said them, it was like I knew. Whatever this was, whatever was happening between us was meant to happen. I was falling in love and I knew this love was going to be dangerous and most likely rejected by the town’s people. Most of all my parents and mentor. But knowing these things didn’t change that nagging need I had to see him, to be near him and talk to him endlessly like we use to.

“Krissi? Did you read the book I gave you?”
I jumped coming back to my senses, Rumple stood in front of me looking slightly annoyed with his arms crossed. I smiled at him.

“Yes sir, I did”.
I took the book from my bag looking at him as I held it out to him.
“I’m kind of freaking out over using lighting but I’m sure I’ll get over that fear at some point”.
Rumple took the book back from be and sighed shaking his head.
“I’m not giving you these to scare you, you need to be aware of the dangers in using your magic. What it could cost you if something goes wrong. What it could cost someone else if it goes wrong”.
I nodded folding my hands in my lap. Rumple handed me a jar with water inside. He looked at me holding it out to me.

“This is your homework, change the color of this water. Then we will work on controlling and summoning the element, I also want you to clear your mind of whatever it is that has you distracted”.

I blushed embarrassed looking down at the jar of water.
“I’m sorry, I’ll clear my mind”.
I looked at him as he turned back to the books behind him. I stood hugging the jar to my chest.
“Rumple, can I ask you something?”
He looked back at me.
“What is it you need?”
I looked down at the jar of water giving a light sigh.
“How do you know when you’re in love?”

Rumple smiled shaking his head.
“Shouldn’t you have this conversation with you parents?”
I laughed lightly.
“Right, mom will get the camera and want details and dad will but a price on the guy’s head”.
Rumple smirked.
“You’ve got a point, well I’m no expert on loving someone. Other than my son and Belle I’ve never really experienced love”.
I frowned at him worriedly.

“What about your parents?”
Rumple’s eyes narrowed.
“My parents abandoned me, they didn’t know anything about love. I suppose if you’re truly falling in love with someone, they become your every thought, you want nothing more than to be with that person and make them happy. Sometimes that means having to change your thinking, it isn’t easy for people like me to become selfless, but I’ve been lucky enough to fall in love with a woman willing to stand by me during the change no matter what it costs. Belle is better and loving then I am. Everything I’ve learned about love comes from her”.

I smiled at him, Rumple looked towards the front of the store.
“I was a monster, she loved me anyway. I suppose that is true love, loving someone in spite of their past, in spite of what they’ve done”.
He looked to me placing his hand on my shoulder.

“Becoming a better person for the one you love. I think that’s what gave me the strength to love”.
I smiled at him, things had worked out so well for him and Belle in the end. They were expecting a child together and were married. Maybe I was being a little hard on Peter because of these intuitive feelings about his past. If he truly loved me none of that stuff mattered. All that mattered was being together and loving each other in spite of all that bad in his past.
“Can I ask who the lucky young man is?”
Rumple asked looking at me knowingly, I blushed shaking my head lightly.
“Not yet, but soon, I promise everyone will meet him soon”.

Rumple smirked.
“Make sure you have paramedics standing by for your father”.
I laughed gathering my things and heading out of the back room, I waved to Belle on my way out and headed into the rainstorm outside. I held my jar of water tight to my chest as I ran through the pouring rain. An arm reached out of the alleyway grabbing me around the waste, I yelped in shock looking up at the hooded figure. Peter smiled lowering the hood of his black zip up hoodie.
“Relax, it’s me”.
I blushed looking up at him.
“Peter, I wasn’t expecting you. It’s pouring”.

He smiled at me cupping my cheek rain water dripping from the ends of his hair.
“I told you I’d find you”.
I could feel the color burning hot in my cheeks.
“We’re going to get soaked”.
Peter smirked taking my hand in his.
“I thought of that”.
He led me through the alleyway, I stumbled following him down the bends and twists coming to a warehouse by the docs. He led me inside and wrapped a blanket around my shoulders.
“There, now we’re out of the rain”.
I smiled up at him.
“Is this where you’re living?”

Peter shook his head looking towards the vacant warehouse.
“No, we’re living in the next one over”.
I looked around as he flipped a switch and strings of lights lit up as they hung from the ceiling.
“Wow, did you do all this?”
I looked at him smiling, Peter nodded taking my hand in his.
“Why do you have a jar of water?”
He smirked, I laughed blushing a bit setting the jar down.
“Oh, its magic homework, I have to change the color of the water”.
Peter looked at the jar.
“That looks like sea water, it’s enchanted probably from a mermaid cove the only way you can change its color is with a powerful spell”.

I giggled.
“How could you possibly know that?”
He brought me into him holding both my hands in his.
“I’ve spent some time around mermaids”.
I shook my head lightly, it didn’t surprise me at all that he had spent time around mermaids. He lifted my chin smiling at me.
“I want you to meet me tonight”.
I blinked feeling my cheeks flush with color again.

“Where?”
I whispered. He smiled at me lacing his fingers between mine.
“I’ll come get you, just leave your window open”.
I smiled at him shaking my head lightly.
“The more I think I have you figured out the more mysterious you become”.
He smirked cupping my cheek.
“Does that mean you’ll do it?”

I nodded placing my hand over his.
“Yes, but I still don’t know”.
Peter smiled at me.
“I’ll tell you everything, it won’t be easy for you to hear Krissi. And you’ll probably never want to see me again. But I want you to know the truth because once you know the truth, you will see the change in me, a change you caused”.
I felt lighter than air in that moment, the rain outside stopped. Peter smiled at me holding my hands in his.

“Sounds like your siblings are looking for you. I’ll see you tonight”.
He kissed the back of my hand before leaving drawing his hood again. I looked back hearing the door open, Amanda and Henry stood looking worried.
“Here you are, where’s that guy you came in here with?”
Henry asked looking around. I shrugged picking up the jar of water and my messenger bag.
“What guy?”
I moved past them. Amanda looked at me confused.
“The guy in the black hoodie, we saw him lead you in here”.

I shook my head backing away from them towards the door.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about”.
I smiled leaving the warehouse. I made my way home feeling like I was lighter than air. As I came inside Mom was in the kitchen working on dinner and dad hadn’t come home from the docs yet.
“Hey sweetie”.
Mom smiled at me as I set the jar of water on the counter top.
“Hey”.
I sang grabbing a bottle of juice and twirling from the room. Mom laughed following me.
“Whoa, what has you so happy?”

I smiled at her standing on the steps.
“I think well, I know I’m falling for someone and he feels the same way about me too”.
Mom smiled at me.
“Who is he?”
I shook my head lightly.
“I can’t tell you, not yet anyway. I promise to introduce him to everyone once we figure things out. I don’t want to introduce you to someone and then have things not work out”.
Mom smiled taking me into a hug.
“Well, don’t take too long. I’ll feel better about this if I was able to meet the boy”.

I smiled at her.
“You will. I promise”.
I made my way upstairs and closed my door. I changed my clothes and fixed my hair before finishing my school homework. I still had the jar of water to deal with but I figured I could do that when I got home. After eating dinner with my family and ignoring the glares I was getting from Henry and Amanda. They knew I wasn’t being honest with them about the guy they had seen. I hated lying to them, but I felt this powerful need to protect Peter from the people I loved. Like they wanted to hurt him.

After doing the dishes for my mom I rushed back up to my room with the jar of water and the spell book Rumple had given me. I set the jar and book on my desk flipping through the pages. I found the write up on enchanted springs, mermaid springs had different water than others. The mermaids made the water so pure that any spell was repelled by it except for one. The spell of colors, the explanation got a lot more intense with a color wheel and everything. Apparently the color the water changed showed the true character of the person who used the spell. Some people used it to sort out the liars from the honest.

“Almost done with your magic homework?”
I jumped turning around to see Peter sitting on the window ledge smiling at me. I smiled back at him.
“I can finish it later”.
I walked over to him feeling my heart skipping a beat as he took my hand in his helping me up to the window ledge.
“Are you ready?”
He asked never taking his eyes away from mine as he brought my arms up to rest on his shoulders. I held tight to him giving a nod.

“I’m ready”.
I whispered. Peter jumped and I shut my eyes tightly expecting to fall. I felt myself rising through, as I opened my eyes Peter smiled at me as we flew above the clouds.
“You didn’t think I’d let you fall did you?”
He grinned looking down at me as I held onto him.
“No, I thought physics would though”.
Peter laughed keeping his arms around my waste. As we flew above the clouds I saw the endless stars in the sky and the half-moon that beamed down on us like a spot light.
“This is amazing”.
Peter smiled at me.
“I’m glad you think so”.

We flew towards the bluffs that over looked Story Brook. Once our feet were on the ground again my eyes remained locked with his.
“That was so amazing”.
I smiled, Peter lightly pushed my hair from my eyes.
“I want to give you something, before I tell you everything”.
I looked at him not sure what he could have to give me. He moved in his lips pressing to mine. My first kiss, I felt my eyes widen in shock. I had never been kissed before now. I returned his kiss feeling my heart racing, he pulled back and smiled at me.
“I always thought people who said their first kiss was like fireworks were full of it, until now”.

I blushed looking down.
“Yeah”.
I whispered. Peter sighed letting my hands go looking out over Story Brook.
“Now I have to tell you everything, and you’ll probably hate me. I won’t blame you if you do hate me”.
I turned to him. Peter looked down.
“Before I died, I was just a man with a son, I guess you could have said I was a conman and a drunk. My son needed me but, I didn’t want to take care of him. I let him fend for himself, I guess for the most part he took care of me”.
Peter sat down, I walked over sitting next to him.

“We used a magic bean to leave the enchanted forest behind and start over. That was when we found Neverland, I gave up my son for youth, and a child can’t have a child. So I gave up my son and became Peter Pan”.
I frowned at him feeling tears in my eyes. Peter looked at me.
“My son, is someone very close to you Krissi”.
I looked at him shocked. Peter took my hand in his.
“My son is Rumplestiltskin”.
I felt my eyes widen looking at him.
“What? Rumple is your son?”

Peter nodded.
“Yes, and there’s more”.
I looked at him as he kept holding my hand in his.
“I kidnapped your brother, and tricked him into giving me his heart, I put your family through hell in Never Land, and some people who worked for me tried to destroy Story Brook and used shock Therapy on Regina”.
I jumped back from him tears rolling down my cheeks.
“Oh my god! How could you do those things?”
Peter stood looking at me tears in his eyes.
“I wasn’t the person I am now Krissi, just let me show you. I want revenge on them all but because you love them I don’t go after them”.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.

“How noble of you”.
I said sarcastically as I looked away from him.
“I can’t believe this!”
Peter moved towards me.
“Rumple killed me with his dagger, and himself. I wasn’t seeing things clearly at that point Krissi. But I’d never do those things now because I could never hurt you”.
I hugged myself looking at him.
“I never want to see you again”.

As I turned to leave a blast of energy came at me and Peter pulled me backwards taking the hit himself as we fell to the ground. I looked at him seeing he was bleeding. Another blast of energy came out of the shadows and I felt Peter grab me as he rolled out of the way. The attacks were getting more aggressive. Peter looked back towards the shadows, someone was moving around in them but we couldn’t see who it was.

“Run!”
He told me helping me up. I looked at him, he was bleeding badly from his arm.
“Go, you won’t see me again”.
He promised pushing me towards the trees. I started to back away from him turning to run when I remembered Rumple’s words. How he had been a monster before he met Belle. I looked back to where I knew Peter was risking his life to save mine. I ran towards where I knew Peter was as fast as I could. I didn’t want anything to happen to him, as I came to the clearing I saw Peter on the ground and a swirling mass of energy hovering over him ready to attack.

“Get away from him!”
I screamed, the mass reacted and came at me fast. Peter’s eyes opened seeing the mass coming at me.
“Krissi no!”
I closed my eyes tightly thinking about fire. Flames shot up from the ground consuming the mass causing it to squeal in pain like an animal before it was turned to ashes. I ran towards where Peter was kneeling down at his side.
“Why did you come back?”
He looked at me.
“I don’t deserve you, after everything I’ve done to the people you love”.
I placed my hand over his looking at him.
“You wouldn’t have done those things if we knew each other right?”

Peter nodded.
“If we knew each other I think my life would have been a whole lot better than it was”.
I smiled at him squeezing his hand lightly.
“I don’t care if you were a monster in your past. You’re not a monster now, you’ve risked your life for me twice. And I can’t ignore this feeling that I belong with you”.
Peter smiled at me his hand grazing my cheek.
“I’m pretty sure I would have died without you”.
I smiled at him.
“We all deserve a happy ending right?”
Peter cupped my chin bringing me in to him.
“You are my happy ending Krissi Jones”.

He pressed his lips to mine lightly, I returned his kiss holding his hand in mine.
“I should get you back, your bleeding pretty bad”.
Peter looked down at the cut on his arm. Whoever was attacking us just now had some razor sharp magic. We got back to the warehouse, Felix was quick to get the first aid kit. I had no idea how he got the medical supplies they had. And I wasn’t about to ask questions.
“What happened?”
Felix asked looking to Peter as I got to work mending the wound and cleaning it.
“Something attacked us, it almost killed me”.
Felix narrowed his eyes, I knew that Peter was like a brother to him. He was probably the only person that he’d ever been loyal to. I wrapped the wound and smiled at him.
“You should be ok now”.

Peter smiled back at me.
“Thanks”.
Felix rolled his eyes gaging as he walked away from us. I stood hugging myself, Peter stood across from me.
“I have something else to give you”.
He took a Silver Star locket from the pocket of his jeans. It looked just like the one I had seen in my vision, Peter placed the locket around my neck.
“It belonged to my mother, it’s got fairy dust inside”.
I smiled at him as he stepped back from me taking my hands in his.
“I want you to have it now. If you’ll let me keep you”.

I could feel my heart skip a beat again as we looked at each other. Holding his hands in mine I leaned in pressing my lips to his. I smiled at him.
“I can’t ignore my feelings, no matter what. In the end, I am meant to be with you. I just wish braking the news to everyone else wouldn’t be so devastating”.
Peter sighed tucking my hair behind my ear.
“We’ll get through it, there were opposing forces that wanted to keep your grandparents apart right?”
I nodded smiling at him.
“I don’t think people will be voting us the new Snow White and Prince Charming any time soon though.”
Peter snickered.
“Yeah, probably not”.

I smiled up at him.
“I guess this is where the adventure begins huh?”
Peter smirked bringing me in close to him.
“Seems that way”.
I thought for a moment, it was probably best to tell everyone at once.
“I’ll have Regina call a town meeting. We’ll tell the whole town together. And if we have to live like outlaws then so be it”.
Peter laughed kissing my forehead lightly.
“I think I’ll be the outlaw, you’ll be the princess”.
“Ugh, if you two don’t stop with the romance crap I’m going to vomit”.
Felix called from behind some crates. Peter narrowed his eyes a bit, I laughed.
“My apologize Felix, you haven’t found your princess yet”.

Felix peeked out from behind the boxes.
“I never will, at least one of us has to keep our sanity”.
Peter rolled his eyes.
“Ignore him, he’s a moron”.
I smiled at Peter.
“I’ll have the meeting set up for eight, you’ll probably have to come around the back so no one sees you before I’ve broken the news to everyone”.
Peter nodded to me holding my hands in his.

“I’ll see you then”.
I turned seeing Felix standing with his arms crossed looking kind of annoyed. But that expression was normal for him and much better than the look he got when he was up to something. I felt the warehouse feeling both excited and nervous. I was excited because I knew without a doubt despite his past mistakes I was in love with Peter Pan. Nervous because I knew tomorrow the whole town would riot after I told them my “good news”. But there was no changing my mind now, I was in love and I hoped that over time my family and loved ones could accept my choice.