TAKE ME OVER | HENRY MILLS [1]

LXII. baby came home

Chapter Status: Edited.

[Read Author's Note]

Home.

Is it really even Tahlia's home? I suppose it is. She has not been home for who knows how long. How long could it have been? Days, weeks, years? Who knows when Neverland does not really run on time. Tahlia's eyes flutter open as her feet finally hit the concrete and she smiles at the sight of June running towards her. Tahlia opens her arms wide before June jumps into them.

She holds her close, she can feel her tears falling and hitting her shoulders as she sobs.

"I missed you so much," she cries.

"I missed you too," Tahlia whispers, a large smile on her face.

"Tahlia!"

Tahlia and June pull apart at the sound of Caleb's voice, and Tahlia watches as Caleb runs towards her, hugging her extremely tightly.

"Since when did you care about me?" Tahlia asks jokingly.

"Shut up," Caleb mumbles, but he does not let go.

No words can explain how worried her family were when they were all missing. When Caleb finally pulls away her mother and father hug her, both of them crying, her mother shaking badly.

"When you all went missing," her mother hiccups, "we got sent a letter."

Tahlia let's go and looks at her parents.

"What letter?" she frowns.

Her father wipes away his tears before pulling an envelope out of his back pocket, handing it to her. Tahlia carefully pulls out a piece of paper from it, it is folded in half. She slowly unfolds it and looks at the messy writing that can only belong to one person.

Mr and Mrs Kennedy,

Do not fear, your daughter and her friends, if you can call them that, are safe. In a few weeks at the most they will be returning home, but there is a chance- well, more likely than not- that your daughter will not be accompanying them. She will be staying with me, she may be able to visit in the near future, but that is also unlikely.

Don't worry, she likes it here, trust me, she used to come here all the time as a child. And if she doesn't? She'll get used to it. This letter is a warning, you shouldn't have messed with me, Camilla, now it's my turn to get revenge. I told you this day would come, you shouldn't have taken my boys away from me. Maybe all of this may never had happened.

-P

Tahlia looks up at her parents, sadness swimming in the pools of blue in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry he put you through this," she apologises softly.

"We're the ones that should be sorry," her father starts.

"We're the reason all of this happened," her mother adds.

"You didn't mean for it to happen this way, you were just trying to save Dad, it's not your fault, it was Pan's doing," Tahlia argues.

"You did it, Tahlia, you got everyone out of there," Regina places a hand on her shoulder from behind. "You raised a very intelligent girl."

Regina and Tahlia's parents go into conversation and Tahlia hugs Anna who was standing by herself a few feet away.

"We did it!" Tahlia smiles at her.

"I'm sorry, for, well, you know," Anna apologises awkwardly, avoiding her eyes.

"I understand, it was the island, it was doing it to all of us, Ann," Tahlia smiles. "And I'm sorry, for everything, I didn't mean for any of this to happen."