Dizgaia ~ The Dreamfinder's Daughter

Peter ~ Hook or Me

Dawn blossomed in golden splendor over the Isle of Neverland. Mermaids splashed in the lagoon and the native campfires began to blaze anew as the Paiqunee tribe prepared their breakfasts. Tiger Lily stood at the entrance to the village, her bow and arrows slung over her back. She had agreed to join the hunting party that morning, but they had gone on ahead and she lingered. From the hilltop village, her gaze swept out across the island, moving compulsively to Never Mountain.

Would today be the day Peter returned? And would he ever  return? Tiger Lily knew he must have found the Temple of Nev, for day after day she had circled the mountain in search of him, only to come up empty. He must have found a way inside. But beyond that, what had happened? Even the Lost Boys were gone. She could only assume that they had accompanied him.

Tiger Lily did not truly know what lay within the mountain and the Temple of Nev, aside from some vague legends passed down by her ancestors. There was the legend of the Eye of Neverland, of course, which Peter had gone in search of. As to whether or not it truly existed, Tiger Lily couldn't be certain. Nevertheless, it was this fabled gem which Peter sought. There were also tales of a guardian spirit – benevolent, but formidable if provoked. Tiger Lily did not know what fate may have befallen Peter and the Lost Boys. She could only hope that she would see her young friends again, for their own sake as well as another's.

With a sigh, Tiger Lily shouldered her quiver. It was time to join the hunting party. She'd just taken a couple steps down the dusty dirt path when she heard someone calling her name.

"Lily!"

She knew that voice... and yet something about it sounded different. Looking skywards, she saw a familiar figure silhouetted against the morning sun.

"Peter!" she exclaimed.

Peter landed on the ground in front of her, his fist raised triumphantly in the air. "Lily! I got it, I got it! I got the Eye!"

Glancing up at his fist, Tiger Lily could just glimpse a hint of green shimmering and refracting the sun's rays. Smiling, she said, "So you have, Peter Pan." But when she looked at his face, she took a half step back in surprise.

"What?" asked Peter. "What is it?"

"Peter... you've... changed somehow."

In response, Peter offered her a smile; a smile she had never seen him wear before. One that was filled with sorrow as well as joy. The smile of, not a boy, but a young man.

"I have changed, Tiger Lily. At least a little. I am whole now."

Tiger Lily was not entirely sure what he meant, but neither did she question him. Whatever had happened to him in the Temple of Nev was between him and the spirit who guarded it. Still, appraising him now, she could almost understand. He was older, but not in the same tentative way in which he'd once vacillated between younger teen and older teen. This somehow seemed more permanent. And in his green, seafoam eyes, Tiger Lily saw something there that she'd not seen before. She couldn't quite put a name to it, but it seemed to be maturity, pain, heartache, joy, and hope all wrapped into one. It was the look of someone who has lived long and suffered much. The look of someone who has a past... and remembers it.

Tiger Lily placed her hand against Peter's cheek. It was no longer smooth, but rough like the sandy beaches of Neverland. He did not pull away or reject her touch with annoyance or mocking laughter as he once would have. He simply smiled at her.

"So you have, Peter Pan," she said softly. "So you have."

"Lily, where's Mia? I have to give this to her, and I must take her home as promised."