Magic ➙ Ethan Dolan

chapter thirty five

The canoe began to sway in the water, causing Annie to grab onto the side with one hand. There was hardly any waves, so she knew the natural effects of the water wasn't causing the change in movement.

"Do you hear that?" Peter asked, moving the paddles more slowly so he could listen to a new noise that had reached his ears.

"Hear what?" Annie asked in confusion, her eyebrows turned downwards.

"That...ticking noise. You don't hear it?" Peter clarified, looking around at the water. He sat up straight as something bumped one of his paddles, and looked over the side of the canoe. "Oh no." He mumbled, swallowing heavily as he looked back up at Annie.

"What? What's wrong?" Annie looked over the side of the canoe to see a large creature just below the surface, with green skin that rippled under the water. It's long tail swayed behind it as it swam underneath the canoe. "That's not...is that a crocodile?" The girl asked, sitting up straight again with both hands on either side of the canoe.

"It's the crocodile. The only one that lives in Neverland's waters." Peter replied, his paddles moving quickly as he tried to get away from the beast. The shore was getting closer, and Annie could only hope they'd make it there safely. With one violent, sudden jolt, the canoe was tipped over with both Annie and Pan hitting the cold water. The first thing Annie noticed was the difference in water temperature way out in the middle of the sea compared to at shore. Her body went numb as she drifted below the surface, looking frantically around for Peter. He was a few feet away and was swimming over to her.

Annie didn't see the crocodile anywhere, and tried to use this as their chance to get back to the canoe. She grabbed Peter's hand, him latching on with a tight grip. Just as Annie began swimming away, she heard a groan and felt Peter's grip loosen. She looked back at him to see what was going on, and let out a gasp under water at the sight behind her. Peter was floating, only held up by Annie's hand. His eyelids were partially closed and his lips parted, while a dagger resided just under his shoulder, the blade pointed outwards towards Annie.

"Go...safe yourself." Peter mumbled, his voice barely audible by the water. Annie looked around to see who had thrown the weapon, her blood running cold as she saw the familiar blue mermaid about 50 feet behind Peter. Even from how far away she was, Annie could see not only the evil smirk on her pale face, but that Indigo was very much alive.

"No, we need to get to shore." Annie dragged Peter over to the flipped Canoe, more blood seeping out of his wound with every movement. The water had turned a faint red, blood mixing with the peaceful blue of the sea. Annie tried her hardest to turn the canoe back over, struggling to hold onto Peter at the same time.

"Annie," the boy mumbled, but was cut off.

"I'm not leaving you." Annie snapped at him. Her brain began to scream, quickly running out of oxygen. Annie kicked harshly against the water, trying not to hurt Peter in the process. She pulled him and herself up to the surface, both taking a deep gasp of air. Peter's eyes were closed, and before Annie knew what was happening they were both on the beach. There was a loud groan from out in the water, and Annie watched as the crocodile chomped it's large jaw around the bow of the canoe. With one quick bite, it was in half.

All of a sudden, Peter's legs gave out on him. He collapsed onto the sun kissed sand, with Annie crouching down in front of him.

"You need to remove the dagger. My magic will heal me." Pan managed to say, growing weaker as time ticked on. His head kept tilting forward, like he was trying to fight sleep.

"Are you sure?" Annie asked, her eyes darting back and forth between Peter's as a single tear leaked out of the corner and rolled down the side of his face.

"Do it, Annie." He told her, closing his eyes as he tilted his head back. "Do it."

With shaky fingers, Annie reached for the handle of the dagger that was sticking out of Peter's back. She wrapped her hand around it, trying not to move at all.

"Ready?" She whispered, biting down on her bottom lip to prevent it from shaking. Annie wasn't sure if she had tears or sea water running down her cheeks, either way it was salty as it reached her mouth. Pan nodded in response, just as Annie pulled the dagger out. The boy yelled out in pain, his head tilted back as far as it could go, before falling forward and colliding with Annie's shoulder.

Annie saw the dagger in her hand and Pan's blood on her skin, causing her to drop the weapon in the sand. Heavy breathing reached her ears as Pan focused all his energy on healing himself. Trying to help, Annie put a hand on Pan's shoulder. She closed her eyes and rested her own head against Pan's, his damp hair touching the side of her face.

The boy's skin was warm as the magic spread throughout it, healing the wound that violated his body. His breathing slowed down, and Annie knew their magic was working together to heal him.

Peter lifted his head up to look at Annie. She dropped her hand, noticing that the stab was now healed. There was a rip in his shirt, and a faint scar poking through.

"Thank you." He mumbled, the familiar flush of pink to his cheeks had returned and his eyes were a soft shade of green, like tall blades of grass. "It was Indigo. I saw her, she's alive."

Annie inhaled deeply, and for the first time in a while, she felt content. She no longer feared the secrets of Neverland, including the ones she held inside of her.

"I don't care." She replied, before leaning forwards quickly. Annie hovered her slightly chapped lips just over Peter's, before he closed the painfully small distance between them. Annie smiled as her lips moved carefully against Peter's, a hand moving up to gently hold the side of his face. A kiss with Peter Pan was something like Annie had imagined it to be, with him tasting like mint and salt, and the smell of a campfire reaching her nose.

"Sorry I was such a prick." Pan mumbled, pulling away just enough so that his nose still brushed against Annie's cheek.

"No you're not." Annie replied before leaning forwards to kiss him again, only to get pushed away by a hand coming in contact with her shoulder.

"Yes I...no, you're right. I loved seeing you all fired up." Peter said before pulling Annie back to him, their lips reconnecting.

Somewhere in the distance, the Lost boys had set off fireworks to celebrate the return of Grayson. Sparks of colour erupted in the sky, with the sun setting over the island. For the first time in a long time, Neverland held nothing but happiness. The Lost boys lived carefree again, and the jungle had managed to regrow itself into tall trees full of green leaves with a variety of animals living within them. Neverland was overflowing with magic, and the leader didn't want it any other way.

The End

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That's it! Thank you all so much for coming along on the journey of Peter and Annie. I really hope you all enjoyed it!

If any of you have questions about this story or about the characters, please ask!! I will be sure to answer all of them. I think I tied up all the loose ends, but I want to make sure everything gets answered!

Again, thank you!

Love, Ericka