Helpless

14-Mother

  The nightmares don't come back. I wake up on my own, wrapped in Peter's arms. He's still sound asleep.
  Since I don't want to wake him up, but can't fall back asleep, I just lie there. I look up at him.
  His cheeks are pink, probably from the cold. The weather is beautiful here, but it does get kind of cold. Or maybe he's blushing. I'll never know. His lips are parted, and he's breathing peacefully. He's so warm I wish I could lie in his embrace for eternity. He helps me forget about the world.
  It still confuses me that he decided to let me stay here instead of killing me or sending me back off the island. He did say I seemed important, but I'm not really sure what that means. I've never been important. Just a street rat. But it also confuses me how I woke up with completely different clothes, yet the same ones I woke up with in the woods in New York, in Neverland. I still have lots of questions that may never get answers.
  I bury my face in his chest and close my eyes. His presence practically lulls me asleep, like I'm under a spell when I'm around him. Though, now that I know magic is real, I very well could be. I'm almost about to drift off to sleep when a striking realization hits.
  I bolt up and feel Peter wake up underneath me.
  "Audrey? What's wrong?" He pushes himself up on his elbow, quite alert considering he just woke up.
  "Oh my God..." I whisper, my eyes wide. Peter places his hand on my forearm.
  "Audrey, please. You're scaring me," Peter pleads. His grip on my arm is strong, begging me for the answer.
  "The Evil Queen is my mother," I say, barely audible. But Peter hears it clearly.
  "What? How do you-"
  "It makes perfect sense! The erased memories before I was nine, the apple necklace, the dreams! I'm from a different realm. I'm from the Enchanted Forest. The Evil Queen is my mother!" I shout a little more loudly. 
  "You mean... you mean your mother is Regina?" Peter asks nervously.
  "You know her?" I turn to face him, confused. Neverland is a whole different realm from the Enchanted Forest. He nods.
  "She's the cruelest ruler across the realms. Some say she had a devastating backstory, but no one ever knew it. You must be apart of it," Peter reasons. I sigh.
  "No, that makes no sense. Mayor Mills... or Regina, I guess... she said she didn't want me. If I was part of some tragic backstory, wouldn't she have taken me back?" I ask, confused and upset.
  "Not necessarily. Maybe your birth caused something. Maybe you remind her of her devastating past. Maybe it caused her too much pain to give you up and seeing you was too overwhelming. Maybe she just can't take care of a child now," Peter tries to explain.
  "That doesn't make sense either. She has a son, and she's the mayor. It couldn't be having a child-"
  "Then you must just remind her of the pain. Sometimes people do that, and instead of hanging onto those reminders, they don't know how to deal with it and can't bear it," Peter tells me, a doll suddenly appearing in his hand. "I gave this to someone who meant a lot to me once. When I first lost them... I hated seeing it. It was a constant reminder of what happened. But now, I'd protect it with my life. I'd never cared about someone that much. I never knew I would end up caring about someone else more." He looks up into my eyes.
  He leans forward and gently meets my lips to his. I close my eyes. I feel the Earth stop turning underneath my feet. I feel my devastating past melt away. I feel electricity as we touch. I feel... I feel...
  Horrified.