Wendy's Return

Chapter 6 ~Girls Cry, But They Are Never Broken*

Lily and Tinkerbell sat on the logs around the bonfire all night waiting for the boys to return. They sat silent, but their emotions were nearly the same.

Lily didn't think she could ever be angry enough at Pan that she could forget she loved him. However, it was hard to believe she had cried for him that morning. Lily was sick and tired of sitting on the sidelines. Being left alone twice in one day, for several hours, it finally sunk in. The tiger within her roared. She wanted to shred the whole jungle apart. Lily didn't know which analogy Pan wanted her to keep. His monster the jungle cat, or his delicate little lilypad. At the moment, seething in furry, Lily felt like she was a third option:

A house cat.

Lily thought about why she loved Pan. How did it happen? Lily remembered the night that brought her to Neverland. Remembered the crowd laughing at the tiger kept in a cage. Lily remembered being so desperate to escape she jumped into the sea. It was the only time she had forgotten how scared of water she was. Lily remembered how she swam away from the village she had called home for so long. Swam with no intention of ever wanting to find land again. She had just looked up to the stars and wished for someone to take her away.

And then the morning came.

"What will master make us do with it?" Mouse, the youngest Lost Boy had asked.

"Probably eat it." Victor responded, sounding as bored as usual with his surroundings.

"Do you think lion meat is tasty?" Noah asked, disgusted.

"It's a tiger, you idiot." Zealand grumbled.

"It's a shame. It looked to be quite beautiful." Rudolph murmured.

"Maybe it fell off a cliff?" Silver asked in monotone.

"Sir, there's a dead tiger on the beach." Even then Felix's voice sounded like that of a military officer's.

"I've been expecting her."

At that, Lily had dropped the act and opened her blue eyes making half the Lost Boys jump in fright. The other half had been on Neverland for so long they were barley interested. When she saw him, Lily remembered how wise he looked. She bared her teeth at him and growled. Rudolph and Felix were at his sides with their swords pointed at her in mere seconds, before any, even the older Lost Boys, had even flinched. The wise eyed boy just smiled, clearly entertained.

"Boys, there's no need to startle her. She's our friend." He spoke calmly, never taking his green eyes off of her. Lily eyed Zealand and Victor as they placed themselves behind Felix and Rudolph. The pair of four did not look friendly to her. She hissed at them.

"No girls besides Tink have ever set foot on this island, Pan." Zealand argued, his glare begging Lily to step an inch closer. "If she is even a girl." The boy found a chink in the tiger's armor. Lily knew that being a tiger was all she had. Her monstrous form gave her the intimidation she needed to survive. That was why when her human response to Zealand's comment had been to take a step back into the water, Lily knew she was dead. Zealand and Victor smiled widely at this. She looked at the leader, the boy Zealand had just called Pan, afraid. He would surely kill her now.

"Don't you dare talk back to me." Pan warned turning around to face the Lost Boy whose menacing smile immediately disappeared. Lily couldn't see Pan's face, and for that she was thankful.

"Yes, sir." Zealand lowered his head. The younger boys, Mouse, Noah, and Silver, shrunk away from Pan.

Pan turned back to Lily. His green eyes suddenly soft. "I can see you."