Neverland - Completed

Chapter 5

•Peter•

I could see Captain Hooks ship on the horizon, trapped somewhere between nothing and everything. I pitted those who dwelled on the decks of that ship. They had to suffer through the pain that growing up brings. I offer a much better deal, yet some do not have enough imagination to see what I do. I cannot blame them for their ignorance, but I can kill them for it.

The ship looked like a toy sailboat, resting peacefully on the waves. If only it were that small, then I could crush it beneath my foot. Make it nothing but a pile of splinters.

But no, that would be too easy. No fun at all.

I brought my flute to my lips and started to play my favourite tune. It's hollow sound thudded deep within my chest. I wasn't quite sure where I learned it, or where the song came from. Yet it was always there in my subconscious. the tune always hummed by a woman's voice. I was unaware who this woman was, or how I knew her.

The original her.

Of course, I'd found a girl who sounded almost the same as this voice in my head. At first I'd thought I'd found the source of the music, but the tune never went away. Not even when she did.

Wendy. My dear old Wendy Darling. Oh how I could never forget her voice, or the way she believed in me before...

Before she tried to leave me.

Before I said goodbye to my Wendy. I shouldn't have said goodbye to her, because goodbyes are forever.

Or so I thought.

For one night I heard another voice. One so similar I had thought it to be hers. Of course, that was impossible. I knew I'd never see Wendy again. No one comes back from where she went. Instead I found my way to Rose. My nasty, runaway shadow lead me right to her.

I fear that my heart may break again to the sound of that voice. It has such a strange control over my mind. I'm not quite sure why I brought her here, why I did this to myself again. However, Rose isn't quite like Wendy.

Rose has a certain defiance to her that I'm not quite sure if I like. I can't pin her down, can't control her. It's quite unnerving. Some part of me almost fears her. She doesn't trust me, or even like me for that matter. Even though I showed her the mermaids, and tried to teach her how to fly. Even though I gave her a home. A real home, where she never, ever has to grow old. Who wouldn't wish for that?

A little light appeared by my side, landing atop my shoulder. Tink sighed, crossing her arms and glaring up at me.

"I know you don't like her." I stopped playing my flute and rested my chin on my hand, "I'm not quite sure if I do either. However, I won't deny that I have some sort of strong feelings for her."

In a commotion of bells and a little stomp, Tink yelled, "send her away! Let the lost boys hunt down and pick the pretty flower from the garden."

"Don't you know, the prettiest flowers have the sharpest thorns?" I shook my head, knowing full well I wouldn't send my Rose away. Not to back we're she came from. She would never go back there, no one does.

"Good thing she's ugly. Get rid of the ugly one." Tinker Bell huffed, contradicting her last comment. She shoot into the air once again and circled my head like a halo, boasting about how awful Rose was. Soon I let her voice fade away to background music as I started to play my flute again.

The lost boys would be here soon, and with them, Rose. I hopped.

As if on cue, Rose tumbled from the bushes, still floating inches off the ground due to the pixy dust. Her eyes were wild with a sense of adventure and excitement. I stared at her for a long moment, knowing that look of hers would wear off quickly. If I could, I would capture this moment. I'd place it in a glass jar and keep it forever.

I was surprised that she was the first to get here. I had expected her to try to run away. I planned to send the lost boys out on a hunt to bring my Rose back to me. I was glad I didn't have to, she came all on her own. Maybe, possibly, I was getting somewhere with her.

"What are we doing here Peter?" The light from her eyes faded when they landed on me. Still, I was transfixed by the way she said my name. It send pixies fluttering in my stomach. There was such bite to it, so much aggression. I only grinned and continued to play my music. "What are we doing?"

"Rose. Darling." I sighed, "Is that a question I hear?"

"Yes, it is." I could almost hear here groan internally. There was something so beautiful about her when she was mad, and it was so easy to make her this way.

"We are here because we are treasure hunting." I decided to answer her question, a rare occurrence. I never did things demanded of me. I didn't follow the rules or what was expected. I made them.

"But you told me that already." She tugged on her long dark hair. It reminded me of the wisps of the night. The pixy dust residue catching like stars in a dream catcher. Such beauty. I caught myself staring.

"Patience, Rose. Do you know what that is?" Her annoyed nod was the only answer I needed. Although she claimed to know what patience and questions were, I couldn't bring myself to believe her. She wasn't helping her cause.

I looked back out at the ocean, it reminded me of her. There was so much depth, so much unknown dangers. I knew it was safer to stay away yet I was drawn closer and closer, loosing more air every second. She would be the death of me.

"I don't like being patient." She answered after a long moment of silence. Or maybe it just felt like a long time because I couldn't stop staring at her. She looked away, avoiding my eyes. I wish she wouldn't, I could gaze into those eyes for all eternity. So enrapturing, so mesmerizing, so-

"Then maybe you shouldn't run so fast." I hadn't even heard Michael approach, I'd been too captivated by the girl before me. I wish he'd been slower, I'd wanted more time. Needed more time. Maybe I could command him to leave and retrieve the rest of the lost boys.

"You're the one who gave me the pixy dust." She answered back, her face twisting into a grin. Why didn't she look at me like that? I longed for a smile from her. Craved it.

Tink landed on my shoulder at the sound of pixy dust, out of the corner of my eye I saw her stick her tongue out at Rose.

"And now you'll have to wait." He nudged her, pulling his pink bandanna down from around his face. I couldn't help but glare at them, wishing my gaze could set them on fire. I didn't like my Rose talking to Michael, each glance between them sent unwelcome shivers up my spine. The bottle I kept my rage in was starting to crack.

I liked Michael, he listened well, he knew how to keep order when I did not bother to. However, ever since he first laid eyes on Rose, he seems to have lost his trust in me. His belief. I couldn't have that now could I.

I knew Michael was getting older, despite how much I wished for him to stop. I didn't want to let him go. He was my last tie to her, to Wendy, even if he didn't know it. I couldn't let him get much older than this, that wouldn't be fare to him or anyone else. It was almost his time to end.

In the distance a loud noise- which sounded strangely similar to a stampede- could be heard. The rest of the lost boys were almost here. Good, we could get started.

It was time for Rose to meet the "grownups" of Neverland.