The Jewel of Neverland

Chapter 21

Through the trees ahead, I thought I saw a small blonde bun. I knew instantly that it had to be Tink.

"Hey!" I called, increasing my pace to catch up with her.

Tink whirled around and smiled when she saw me. "Amy! You're okay. I was worried. Did the pixie dust get you where you needed to go?"

I sighed, my breathing returning back to normal. "Something like that. I have more." I held out the vial.

"You stole dust from Pan?" she gasped, her eyes widening in her. She glanced around fearfully, expecting a Lost Boy to spring from the brush.

"No, no, no," I assured her hurriedly. "He gave it to me."

She blinked her long eyelashes. "Gave it to you?" she repeated in disbelief.

I nodded, realizing how rare the dust must be. My heart fluttered a bit at the thought that Peter trusted me with it. "He wants you to tell me . . ." my voice trailed off awkwardly as I thought of the nicest way to phrase it.

She raised her eyebrows expectantly. "What?" She was both suspicious of Pan's tricks as well as curious, as her eyes continued to dart between me and the vial of dust.

"Well," I finally said. "He wants you to help me do whatever it was that you did for my sister, Regina."

Her eyes widened and she took a step back. "Regina is your sister?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah," I laughed, "Just found out myself," I said with a shrug. "Now what is it that Peter wants me to do, exactly?"

"Are you sure that's what he wants?" she asked, her thin eyebrows furrowed. "It doesn't make sense."

"It's what he said," I insisted. "What will it do?"

She stared at me oddly for several seconds before finally saying, "It's a use of pixie dust not commonly practiced. In the end, the one who wields the dust is led to the one who will always hold their heart." She looked at me, "Their true love or soul mate, as is said in your realm."

My eyes drifted away as I thought over her words.

My true love.

I began to pick at my nails nervously. My heart was beating loudly in my chest. I began to understand why Peter had sent me here.

She continued, "Everyone has a match, a pair. Fairies have always known this, but not everyone has always believed. The pixie dust will lead you to him," She giggled, meeting my nervous eyes "Or her. Unless of course they're not on the island."

"True love?" I repeated, thinking over the concept. I wasn't sure how much I believed in the idea. Destiny, fate. . . I guess at this point anything could be real.

"It's real!" she insisted, her blonde bun bouncing slightly. "But your sister was too afraid to take a chance, after I broke the rules for her by stealing the dust for her to meet him!" She looked angrily into the distance, still troubled over the loss of her wings.

"That's why you're not a fairy," I whispered, my shoulder sagging for her.

"Yes." She nodded, "But why in the world would Pan want you to find your true love?" she asked, tilting her head.

I already knew the answer, as did Peter. "He said it'd finally make me 'believe in him'," I said softly, meeting her eyes. It didn't take long for her to catch on.

"I see," she whispered, her blue eyes bright with sympathy. "He knows it's him."

A flicker of emotion crossed her face, and for a second, it seemed to me that she was angry or envious. Then, it was gone.