Never

Chapter Sixteen

On the third day after she met Baelfire, Lily woke up with a something-special-is-going-to-happen feeling in her stomach, and she made a decision just moments after opening her dark eyes; today she would find Baelfire, and she would make him tell her who he was and how he'd come to Neverland. Today was a Hunting Day—the Boys were leaving for three days to bring back meat—and though Lily had been invited, she'd declined, saying that she'd prefer to stay at home.

As soon as she'd said goodbye to Peter (by letting him kiss her furiously against a tree for about an hour) and the Boys had left, Lily tied her hair up into a knot on top of her head and packed her supplies: her compass, some dried berries, and a small tube of fairy dust. She left at high noon, determined to get answers once and for all.

She spent relatively less time searching for Baelfire today; she somehow knew just where to find him, like today was special, somehow. It also kind of helped that he wasn't exactly covered in mud today; she found him sitting on a stump overlooking a small cliff over the lagoon, halfway between sun and shade. It was a really beautiful place, and Lily found herself wondering how she hadn't discovered it before. Then again, the island liked to change; it was likely that this spot wouldn't be here tomorrow.

Lily sat down on the ground next to his stump, landing with an unceremonious thwump, and they sat in silence for a while. After a few minutes of staring at the horizon beyond Skull Rock, Lily cleared her throat. Baelfire looked down at her, his curly, matted hair falling into his face, and rolled his eyes.

"You again," he said, sounding resigned.

"Me again," Lily confirmed, smiling. She was stubborn, and unashamed of it.

"What do you want with me? I'm really not interested in talking to you," he said. "I think I've made that clear.

"Big boy talk. Someone's in a bad mood today." you said, leaning back on your elbows. "I'm not leaving until I get some answers, kiddo." Baelfire sighed, going limp dramatically and flopping down on his back, his head hanging over the edge of the stump. Lily snickered, leaning away so as not to get hit with his flapping limbs, and poked him. "Seriously. Talk."

Baelfire grunted. "Fine. God, you're annoying. What do you want to know?"

"Everything. How you got here. Who you are. What kind of powers you have—and don't mess with me, I know you have some kind of power."

"Okay. So. My name's Baelfire, and I sort of ran away from my dad. He also sort of abandoned me, it's really complicated. I don't want to think about it or talk about it, because he sucks."

"Hey, at least you have a dad." Lily said reproachfully, and the boy flushed.

"Sorry. I guess you're right," he muttered, clearly embarrassed. "Anyway. I left him, and then all this crazy stuff happened. I was sort of living with this family for a while, and then I... wait. Why am I telling you this?"

"Because I asked," Lily reminded him.

"I don't know you,"

"I'm Lily. Tiger Lily Kantogoa, chieftess." she said, sitting up straight. "I'm the sole survivor of the Killian Jones attacks."

Baelfire squirmed; something about that made him uncomfortable. Lily raised her eyebrows, scooting around so she was in front of his upside-down face. She sat cross-legged, waiting. He sighed again, sitting up. He scooted around so he was facing her, sitting below him.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" he demanded.

"Why did you behave so strangely when I brought that up...? Have you heard of him, Killian Jones?"

"Heard of him," said Baelfire, scoffing. "No kidding, I've heard of him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily demanded, suddenly worried—had Killian somehow hurt Baefire too? Had he lost someone to the vicious pirate as well?

"Nothing," said Baelfire. "Nothing, I just know who he is. He's kind of like a living legend, right?"

"I guess you could say that." she said. "He captured me awhile back. Wanted to wipe out my entire tribe or something. 'Leave no survivors' and all that."

Baelfire used a stick to trace his shadow in the dirt in front of him. He sighed, spinning around to look out at the darkening sky, and groaned.

"I've gotta go." he said, standing up.

"Where do you go?" Lily asked. "Who says you have to do anything? Who are you returning to-"

"Stop with all the questions." He whined. "Listen, Lily, or whatever your name is, since you're so persistent, I'll meet you here tomorrow. Same time. Give me some answers and I'll give you some more."

"Promise?" asked Lily, the corner of her mouth curving upwards.

Baelfire rolled his eyes again. "Promise. Now get out of here."

"Why can't I see where you get off to?" Lily demanded. Baelfire gave her a look, and she smiled. "All right, all right. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Baelfire nodded, and took to the forest, running hard, letting out all of her curiosity and frustration and strange, unreasonable anger as her feet pounded against the ground.

That night was strangely lonely for Lily—it was the first since that fateful night on the cliffs with Peter that she'd slept alone. She wasn't afraid, exactly; she knew that she was the fiercest thing on the island—save for peter, of course—but there was something terrible about being alone. She'd grown used to sleeping with his strong, muscular arms around her, his lips sometimes waking her with hot kisses along her spine or collarbone. She knew it wasn't permanent, this loneliness, but it reminded her forcefully of the nights she'd spent wandering the forest after the fires before the orphanage.

Little did she know, in less than twenty-four hours she would have been willing to give anything to return to that long, lonely night; anything was better than what was coming.