Unlike her classmates, Avery doesn't really care about boys, romance and fashion. Her phone contains fewer contacts than there are pens in her pencil case. Her classmates don't seem to care about her excistance, and at home it's basically the same s...
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'We need to talk about yesterday,' Peter said as Avery walked out of the nest the next morning. He sat down on the wooden platform, his legs dangling above the flourishing valley. He said it so simply, as if this morning had not happened. As if she had not just woken up in his arms after he had taken her to her hammock the previous evening and had not left it himself. Not until he had woken up and had slipped away quickly. Avery noticed it. She had slept deeply, but his calm heartbeats had resonated through her body with each beat, as if it had hypnotized her and kept her asleep until the moment the soft pounding against her ear had disappeared.
'I know,' she said softly and sat down beside him. A warm wind caressed her face and hair, allowing her to smell the dried salt of the sea again. For a moment she imagined Jacob's face and the anger that would probably had washed over it the moment he had woken up with a bump on his head and the mermaids gone. Would the sisters have found Korafay?
'I'm sorry,' she said softly, 'I shouldn't have run away. And I'm sorry I poisoned you.'
He almost seemed to have forgotten that part, because suddenly he frowned. Yet he didn't get angry, but didn't look at her either. 'Tigerlily shouldn't have put you in that position.'
'But she's right, Peter,' Avery said, 'Neverland needs you and it feels like you've given up. I wanted to help you, but got myself into trouble because of it.' She bit her cheek. 'Again.' She looked at him, leaned forward a little. 'I'm sorry.'
'My hopes really aren't worth putting yourself in danger like that.'
'But it is, Peter. Don't you understand that? Neverland's whole foundation is built on hope and faith. It is dreaming and fantasizing. It is you, as much as the mermaids and the fairies. You are as much the core as any resident here.'
Peter looked at her, his eyes big and his cheeks a deep red. Avery didn't know if her words fully penetrated him, if they could make a change over all the misery he had been through, but as long as she could plant a seed of hope in him, then it was enough. She would nurture that seed, make it strong.
'You really do believe in me.' It sounded like a question, but it wasn't. Still, he sounded extremely surprised, incredulous even. She smiled. 'Do you believe in yourself, too?'
His eyes turned away, staring at the wooden planks between them. 'I have forgotten the meaning of those words.'
'Then tell me how I can help you remember.'
For a moment he looked in her direction, but as fast as he was with his sword, he had jumped up again and walked away from her. 'You can't.'
Avery jumped forward and grabbed his hand. He looked back, but the hand encircled his wrist, so soft but firm. 'Don't walk away.' She didn't even know if it was a command or a plea herself, but he stayed, looking at her as she stood up. 'The prophecy,' she began softly, 'Tell me about it.'
He turned to her. 'The Chief, Tigerlily's father, had seen a prophecy in the clouds just after the first fairies were kidnapped. The clouds foretold a new Neverland, without me. And they predicted you. You would bring balance to my spirit, restore my hope. Nonsense.'
