Innocence (OUAT/Peter Pan)

Chapter 9: Learning to Swim

The next morning, she woke up on something softer than she remembered the ground being. Yes, in all her time, she still hadn't made herself her own full tent. She had built one, but she'd been so used to Felix's she had ended up crawling into his in the middle of the night. After that happened three more times, he just let her stay.

            Today, she opened her eyes and found herself lying on her side, a barely-balanced wooden table directly in her line of sight. She put her palms down on the surface-a cot made of cloth and nature-and pushed her head up. There were brightly colored maps and intricate diagrams on the table, and sheets of yellowing paper with a messy scrawl on them. Just as it clicked in her mind, he stepped quietly into the tent.

            "How did I get here?" she propped herself up on her elbows so she could look at Pan.

            "Oh you're awake. Good morning to you, too," he raised his eyebrows at her. She tilted her head at him. "You fell asleep last night, we didn't think a princess should be left outside on the ground to sleep," he mock bowed.

            "So, you put me in your tent? In your bed?" her voice trailed. She felt her cheeks heat up, that damn blushing thing again. This time it was understandable, she'd never slept anywhere except her own bed or the ground. And she'd read enough novels to gather that people typically viewed beds as...private places. "Where did you sleep?" she pursed her lips, looking instead at the pile of weapons in the corner. He chuckled.

            "Not with you, Princess," he assured her. "And if you're done enjoying my bed," the heat on her cheeks increased, "I have a rather fun magic lesson for you today." That got her jumping off the cot so quickly she tripped on her hair. He caught her by the arm and spun her, so she fell into his shoulder instead of onto the ground. She grinned sheepishly up at his smirking face.

            "What am I learning, then?" she asked eagerly as she stood outside the tent, twisting her hair and tying it with the scrap of-very dirty-cloth. "Ugh," she groaned. "Can it please have something to do with being clean?" she scrunched her face at how her black dress was now light brown with dirt, and she didn't even want to look at her hair. She was never particularly vain, but the dirt caked on her was starting to just irritate her.

            Pan turned, looked her over, and nodded. "I agree," he smirked teasingly. "It's alright, we are practically immortal here, young forever and all, so we have lots of time for me to teach you. Come on, I know a place." He turned and walked into the forest, tucking his dagger into its sheath and slinging on a pouch of arrows.

            She followed him into the forest on a new path, only moderately beaten down. Soon, she could see a river on the side of the path through some trees, they seemed to be following it downstream.

            "Can't we just go in the river?" she couldn't help it, she was getting a bit impatient knowing her goal was in sight.

            "We could," Pan shrugged, "but trust me, this place is much more fun. Now hush and hurry up," he looked over his shoulder, smirk in place and eyes sparkling excitedly. She snorted but climbed faster.

            He reached back after a minute and grabbed her hand. She was surprised, she wasn't far behind, but he didn't say anything and just kept walking, so she shrugged to herself. They walked like that, her slightly behind him, her fingers wrapped in his. After another few minutes, he stopped and she stepped up next to him. She clapped in happiness at the beauty before them.

            They stood on the bank of a pond, the water was so clear she could see the bottom in the middle, even though it must have been at least three times her height in depth. On the side closest to them, the river was pouring over a small wall of rocks into the pond. On the side almost directly opposite, the water tumbled over a larger rock wall. The sound of the waterfall this close drowned out whatever Pan said to her next, but he made his meaning clear when he splayed his hand on her back and shoved. With a short scream, she tumbled headfirst into the pond.