We've all heard the great tales of Captain Hook. We have all listened and read about his days as a pirate. There is hardly a child in this realm that has no heard his name.
But no one has heard of the feared archer and bandit, his younger sister Na...
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NAOMI WRAPPED HER ARMS around Pan's waist from the back. "Hi," she whispered with a kiss to his cheek. He smiled and patted the spot next to him. She quickly sat by his side.
"So..." she leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and tilted her head. "Can I learn magic yet?"
Pan's smile instantly dropped. He averted his eyes and looked to the trees ahead. "No."
"Why not?"
"You know why. It's too risky. You could get hurt," he responded. It was the same simple answer as before.
Naomi was not satisfied with this. She needed more of a reason as to why he would not teach her magic. Didn't every combat skill come with risks? Why was magic any different?
Over the past few hours she had put much thought into what had transpired over the past few days. After yesterday, Henry had given up on Operation Save Magic. He had given up on speaking with her at all. Regina and Emma were set on the idea that she was against them this whole time.
Well, they already had a motive not to trust Naomi. She may as well use it to gain something. If they were set on the idea of leaving her behind, why not actualize their reasons?
Why not catch up?
At least they had been right about one thing: she was here to stay. She may try to help them save everything, but after that, she was staying here. She was staying with Pan. She had made that decision a short time ago.
They may call it a betrayal. She called it taking care of herself.
Naomi sat up straighter and turned his face to look at her. "I promise I won't blow up the island. You don't even have to teach me much, just the basics. I'm ready," she assured him.
"It's not about whether or not you're ready," he told her. "I don't want you to think I don't believe you can handle it, but magic always comes with a price. You know this. It's never what we expect, and payment is always large. There's a reason why most sorcerers are never depicted with the happiest of livelihoods. I wouldn't wish that burden on you. I'm afraid, no offense, but I'm afraid you're not prepared for the consequences. If something happens to you because of what I taught you, I feel like that's on me."
She pressed her lips together and gave this some thought.
He did have a point. Magic was never priceless. Regina and Cora were perfect examples of that. Rumpelstiltskin was an excellent example.
But she wasn't them. Their motives for magic were different than hers. At first, magic just seemed like an interesting pass time. Now she wanted to be something more. So what if people feared her as a magician? As far as she was concerned, she would only add on to the dog pile of magicians.
