The Cursed Son

He turned back to the vendor and exchanged coins for another bag, this one meant for hands that needed it more than his own.

“Take it,” he said simply. “You shouldn’t have to be hungry.”

Home was where the heart was , or . . . It used to be . His home now was long , long buried with the COWARD that turned his back on him . He didn't know where he was , or how he got there . The last thing he remembered was falling through the portal , and now he stood in the center of a busy town . His small village was { { replaced } } by bustling people , buildings that looked more elegant than anything he'd seen before , and people were crueler than { { any } } soldier he had come across . He was certainly not in the Enchanted Forest anymore .

Days turned into weeks that Bae was in the Fire Nation village . He dodged Fire Nation soldiers by night , { { hiding } } in the corridors to avoid being caught . Curious brown eyes followed his hands as he {{ dug } } through the scraps behind a restaurant once again , finding himself lucky to find old rice that people discarded . He was about to find an apple core , when his eyes looked up and saw something that looked absolutely { { delicious } } . He didn't know what they were , but they smelled so good that it made Bae's stomach rumble .

When the other approached , Bae's eyes flanced over him , then at the bag that was outstretched to him .

❝ You don't have to do that . Really . It's yours . ❞ But , at the same time , Bae's hands were already moving forward before he could stop them . ❝ I - . . . Thanks . I can pay you back . I don't have any coins right now but , I'll find a way . ❞

This was one of the most unexpected encounters he could have imagined and he was a Dream Fae. He tried to erase the shock on his face, but part of him was also happy to see Bae.

They had a lot of history together, even if that time had seemed like so long ago. Time was funny to him now. It all kind of mixed when speaking in a linear fashion that most humans lived on. He was also traveling back and forth between New Neverland, Neverland, and the Autumn Court.

Of course, he had aged a little in the process, now appearing eighteen, himself, even though if counted in actual years he was a lot older.

There were a lot of emotions going through Baelfire's mind . Some good , actually a lot of them good . Most of them having to do with [ [ r e l i e f ]] rather than the opposite . It had been a while since they'd seen each other -- [ [ c l e a r l y ] ] -- given that they were no longer looking like they were still in middle school . They'd both grown up a lot , which was never a bad thing .

While he [ [ w a n t e d ] ] to answer Wil's question , Bae wasn't even really sure how he was going to answer it . He was here , and so was Wil . That really was all that seemed to matter .

The brunette couldn't help the little smile that formed on his own features when his fear of magic was made , letting a little laugh bubble from his throat .

" Yeah well , sometimes magic can do some good things . "

He shrugged a little , " [ [ S o m e t i m e s ] ] . "

It was nice that they could tease like this , it brought back a lot of fond memories between the two of them . Though , the other part of Wil's question did kind of make his heart sink .

" A little birdie told me where I might find you . If this isn't okay I can leave . I - . . . think I can , anyway . " He did give a little nod in response , " I'm okay . . . I promise . Are [ [ y o u ] ] okay ? I - . . . I take it a lot has happened since we last saw each other . "