Belief Extraordinary

Game Plan

Sarah followed after him, still a bit unsteady. They'll be ok. She told herself. They're going to be ok. She didn't know why she was trusting Pan's word on this. He'd certainly never given her reason to trust him before, and she didn't have any idea how he could possibly make things right all the way from Neverland. Deep down, she suspected she was trusting him because she wanted to believe what he told her. She wanted to believe she could have her adventure here without hurting the people she loved. And perhaps, she wanted to believe in a Pan she could trust.

She blinked hard, trying to tamp down her emotion. He told you the game is still on, she admonished herself, you have to get it together fast. It was difficult. It always was after her emotions got the best of her. She felt stretched and distant, as though she had cried pieces of herself away. Taking a deep breath, she clenched and unclenched her fists slowly. Soon she realised she had better pick up her pace of she wanted to keep up with Pan. His long, purposeful strides carried him with a speed she wondered at considering he had quite literally all the time in the world. What was it he was always gliding off to do, she wondered?

"When something's your business," Pan sniped from ahead, "I'll tell you." Whoops. Apparently she'd wondered that out loud. Sarah fell quiet, retreating to the company of her thoughts as the two made their way back. Although she didn't know it, Pan was doing the same. He vacillated between the puzzle of what to do about Sarah's parents and the puzzle of why he was bothering with such a problem in the first place. Certainly, having them well in hand would be excellent leverage, should he require it – but that wasn't what had made him agree to help her. It's because a broken toy is no fun to play with. He rationalized at last. And because our game has barely begun.

When the two broke the edge of camp, Pan went off quickly with Felix. Left alone, Sarah found herself the subject of stares. She locked her gaze ahead of her, avoiding the eyes of any of the Lost Boys as she walked towards her tent. Shortly she found her path blocked by the stormy-eyed boy who'd taken issue with her presence on the island. Lucian. She stared directly past his ears, as though he were not there, hoping the same trick would work on him twice. With a hard look on his face, he pushed her shoulder roughly. "Had enough of the island yet, girl?" Sarah shifted her gaze to stare at his face. "Looks like you've been crying." Lucian scoffed.

Sarah sidestepped to pass him. She really didn't feel like doing this right now, not when she still felt so strung out. "I'm talking to you." He stepped back into her path. She stared at him blankly. Though she kept her face even, inside she was starting to worry. Pan had suggested Lucian might challenge her, and she didn't think she could take him on even if she were feeling her best, let alone now. She didn't think he'd stop at simply tackling her to the ground like Felix had, either. No, why ever he disliked her, if he decided to fight her she could be in real trouble.

"Sarah!" Sarah started as a friendly arm slung itself around her shoulder. She looked over to see Xavier grinning at her. She blinked, confused. "Just the Lost Girl I wanted to see. We need you to settle a debate for us, something about the Land Without Magic." He looked up at the older boy in front of her. "Sorry, Lucian." He said brightly. "Didn't mean to interrupt! But you know I can't go another minute with Rasheed thinking he knows more than me about something." Lucian scowled. Sarah might have been confused, but Xavier's act wasn't fooling Lucian in the slightest. Even so, he made no move when Xavier began to very insistently steer Sarah away, only glared after the two of them. She could run for now, he mused-but sooner or later she'd see how little she belonged here. She'd see – or he'd show her.

"So..." Sarah asked hesitantly, when they were out of earshot of Lucian. "What was your question?" Xavier slid his arm off her shoulders with a laugh.