Brown Eyes

Chapter 4

(Peter's P.O.V.)

"Where's the girl?" Felix asked, walking up to me as I watched some Lost Boys throwing knives.

"Her name is Beth," I said. Felix always just calls her 'the girl.' "And I dunno. Probably still sleeping. She had a rough night last night."

"What happened?" he asked.

"I don't think I should say," I said. "It's her business."

"I mean to you," he said. I looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"You never let the Lost Boys sleep in," he commented. "You like her, don't you?"

"She's alright," I said.

"I mean you like her, don't you?" he said.

I was confused at to what he meant for a moment, then I realized it, and it felt like a kick in the gut because I immediately knew he was right.

"Peter Pan doesn't fall in love," I said without looking at him. He didn't reply. I kept repeating that in my head. Peter Pan doesn't fall in love. Peter Pan doesn't fall in love. Peter Pan doesn't fall in love.

I got frustrated when I didn't listen to myself, and left for my thinking tree.

~

Three days later...

I sat at the very tops of the branches of my thinking tree with the book I had been reading before Beth came in a few nights ago, scared by the cries. When she told me they call her a "pirate princess" I recognized that from somewhere. So, I started looking up famous pirates. There was Hook, of course, but I already knew much about him. Black Beard, Jack Sparrow, etc. Then I saw a name. Elizabeth Morrison.

"Elizabeth," I mumbled to myself. I flipped to the page it said her information was on. I started reading.

Elizabeth Morrison, also known as "The Pirate Princess" ,
Daughter of King Samuel Morrison of the kingdom of
Valgus1, was to be married to a young prince from another
kingdom, whom of which she didn't love, when she was ten. So she ran away.

Elizabeth has been said to be an extremely powerful sorceress.
Witnesses say she has fought battles using magic, but we've heard she doesn't
use it to harm others unless she has to.

There are many rumors of how she came to be a pirate.
Some say she was sold to pirates who then had mercy on her and let her
join the crew. Other's recall she won a bet with pirates
for their ship. But the story most people believe is that she was taken in
by the notorious pirate Killian Jones, A.K.A. Captain Hook. (See pg. 66)

She had many aliases, some of which being Eliza Jones, Liz Hook, or
Beth Valgus, after her kingdom. when she was last seen, she had short, dark brown/black hair,
fair skin and dark brown eyes.

She, unlike the rest of her crew, is not wanted
for anything besides petty thievery, which she did while she was first
on the run. Eventually the charges were dropped anyhow.

Her whereabouts are now unknown.

Valgus1: Estonian for light; a kingdom in Misthaven (The Enchanted Forest)

I was shocked reading this. I turned the page, thinking, Is Beth part of Hook's crew? Then, I saw the sketch on the back of the page.

It was of her.

Huh.

I jumped a bit when I heard a loud knock on the tree. I looked down and saw Beth waving up at me.

With a poof of smoke, the book had vanished, and I was on the ground.

"Felix told me I'd find you here," she said, dropping the dead branch she used to knock on the tree. "It took some convincing, but I... persuaded him to tell me."

I raised an eyebrow and said, "Well, that doesn't sound promising coming from the Pirate Princess."

She laughed and said, "Don't worry, he's fine."

We laughed for a second, then I asked, "Hey, Beth? What's your last name?"

"Valgus," she said and there were no more coincidences. It really was her in that book.

"So, you are her," I said, folding my arms and smiling.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing at all," I said, then bowed and finished, "Princess Elizabeth."

She gaped at me then smack my shoulder and said, "How long have you known?"

"Not long at all," I said, standing up straight. "In fact, I just found out."

She sighed and said, "You're not going to send me back to my father, are you?"

"Nobody leaves Neverland, remember?" I said. "Especially not when they want to stay."

She smiled, but I could tell it wasn't real.

"You do want to stay... don't you?" I asked.

She didn't respond right away.

Then she said, "I don't want to go home. I just... I miss being a princess. I always have. I mean, I could live without all the business parts, but the dresses and big rooms and high ceilings weren't that bad. I wish I... I wish I could be like a princess, and Lost Girl."

"I get it," I said.

She smiled a real smile at me and my stomach turned over. I accepted it: maybe Peter Pan does fall in love. And more importantly, maybe Peter Pan has fallen in love. Now all I had to do was figure out how to get her to like me back.