Kisses and Thimbles
By: Emiko
Disclaimer: I don't own "Peter Pan." But Riku is *mine,* I tell you!! //snatches him up like an overgrown plushie and glares at random onlookers//
~~~
She still hadn't woken up.
Kairi lay on the floor of the ship's cabin, her head pillowed on the other girl's -Wendy's- lap. Wendy stopped in the middle of the lullaby she was singing when she noticed Riku's presence.
"Hello," she said. She lifted Kairi's head gently and propped it up on some coiled rope before standing. "Are you here to set me free?"
"No," Riku said.
The younger girl's face fell, then lit up again with a new idea. "Has Peter come for me?"
"No. I just came to see Kairi."
"Oh." With that, Wendy defied gravity and floated up to sit on a high shelf. She peered down at him from her new perch and said gently, "She still hasn't woken up. She must be very tired."
Riku knelt next to Kairi and brushed a stray hair from her face. Then he looked at Wendy. "How can you do that?"
"Fly?"
Riku gave a brief nod.
"Why, Peter taught me."
"Peter Pan?"
Wendy beamed. "Yes, he's absolutely wonderful."
"I'm sure he is, if you think he can break past all the Heartless guarding you," Riku sneered. "I'm surprised he's not here already."
"He will be, Wendy assured him. "I'm his mother, after all. If not me, then who will take care of him?"
Riku tried not to snicker. "His mother?"
Wendy apparently didn't see anything wrong with it. "Yes. Peter, the Lost Boys, and John and Michael. I'm mother to all of them." Riku only smirked in reply, so she said, "I know Peter will come for me. I have faith in him."
"You don't want to be just his mother, do you?"
"No, I don't." She sighed.
"...What if he doesn't?"
"What?"
"What if he doesn't come? What if your Peter never comes to rescue you? What if he gets killed by the Heartless on his way here?" Riku asked bitterly. "What if he just decides that you're not worth the trouble? He'll turn his back on you."
Wendy looked scandalized. "Peter would never do such a thing!"
"That's what I used to think about Sora!" he bit back. "I was hurled into another world, with Heartless surrounding me. Too many to count, let alone fight, and there wasn't anyone there to help me. SORA WASN'T THERE. I'd have died if Maleficent hadn't found me."
One look in Wendy's frightened eyes urged him onward. "You go right ahead and believe what you want. That Peter is going through Hell and high water to make sure you're safe. I'm sure that's just what Kairi was thinking before the Heartless took her."
Wendy scowled and drew herself further back on the shelf, where Riku couldn't see her. Satisfied, he sat back and watched the peaceful, nearly serene expression on Kairi's sleeping face. He could barely remember her telling him a story about a princess that was put under a spell that made her sleep for a hundred years, until the kiss of a prince rescued her from her fate.
Kairi loved telling stories.
She certainly wasn't a princess, but in Riku's opinion, at least, she could have easily passed for the one in the story. And Riku was far from a prince, but...
Slowly, he lowered his lips onto hers. She felt warm. But if she would only move! Kairi remained as unresponsive as ever. Riku backed away quickly, feeling very stupid about what he'd just done.
"What are you doing?"
Riku jumped. He'd completely forgotten about Wendy.
"It's none of your business," he said.
Wendy sneaked a glance over the edge of the shelf and smiled wryly. "I saw you. You gave her a thimble."
"You mean a kiss."
"No. That's what grown-ups call it." She sighed again. "It's just like the story of Sleeping Beauty."
"Is that the one where the princess wakes up with a kiss?"
Wendy nodded. "Peter so loves it when I tell that story."
"Kairi told it to me a long time ago."
"Is she your mother?"
"My mother's gone with the rest of my world."
"Oh, I'm very sorry. ...Would you have Kairi be your mother?"
"Not quite."
They stared each other briefly with the understanding of those who know what it is like to love someone who is unreachable. Then Wendy's eyes welled up with tears.
"Oh, it's so terrible to be without a mother!" she cried. She glided back down to the floor with her arms outstretched, both to keep her balance and in entreaty to Riku. "I would be your mother, too, if you would have me! But you're nearly grown up already."
A small part of Riku marveled at how the girl's unbelievingly giving nature, but he pushed back the thought quickly. After all, what was he doing, making nice-nice with the prisoners? "Sometimes things happen that make you grow up faster than you need to."
"Peter will never grow up, no matter what happens." She said it with a great deal of pride.
"Then he'll never treat you as anything other than a mother."
Wendy smiled sadly. "I know," she said, folding her hands over her heart. "But it's enough. You see, I don't ever want to grow up, either."
"Right. Delay the inevitable. Have a great time." He gave Kairi one last fleeting look before standing. Wendy only stared at him as if she didn't understand what the word "inevitable" meant. She probably didn't. He turned to leave.
"Aren't you going to give her a kiss before you go?"
"I already did."
"No, you gave her a thimble." Wendy pulled out a chain with a plain button on it. "This is a kiss that Peter gave me."
The way that she swelled with pride whenever she spoke of him was getting annoying, but Riku ignored it.
"I've already given her something like that, a long time ago. A key chain with a star on it."
Wendy smiled at him, but he didn't see it. He was already gone.
~~Fin~~
AN: Yes, yes, I know, it was pointless. And the Wendy in this ficlet is more like the Wendy from the book than the one in the Disney movie, with Peter's button and her outright saying that she wants to be something other than a mother figure to Peter... Those who have read the book know what I'm talking about, because in the book, Wendy isn't nearly as prissy, so I like her better for it.
I included the bit about Sora's Oathkeeper originally coming from Riku? I figured it'd make things interesting; something to include in a future fluff fic. ^.~ Watch for it! Oh, and review, please.
Disclaimer: I don't own "Peter Pan." But Riku is *mine,* I tell you!! //snatches him up like an overgrown plushie and glares at random onlookers//
~~~
She still hadn't woken up.
Kairi lay on the floor of the ship's cabin, her head pillowed on the other girl's -Wendy's- lap. Wendy stopped in the middle of the lullaby she was singing when she noticed Riku's presence.
"Hello," she said. She lifted Kairi's head gently and propped it up on some coiled rope before standing. "Are you here to set me free?"
"No," Riku said.
The younger girl's face fell, then lit up again with a new idea. "Has Peter come for me?"
"No. I just came to see Kairi."
"Oh." With that, Wendy defied gravity and floated up to sit on a high shelf. She peered down at him from her new perch and said gently, "She still hasn't woken up. She must be very tired."
Riku knelt next to Kairi and brushed a stray hair from her face. Then he looked at Wendy. "How can you do that?"
"Fly?"
Riku gave a brief nod.
"Why, Peter taught me."
"Peter Pan?"
Wendy beamed. "Yes, he's absolutely wonderful."
"I'm sure he is, if you think he can break past all the Heartless guarding you," Riku sneered. "I'm surprised he's not here already."
"He will be, Wendy assured him. "I'm his mother, after all. If not me, then who will take care of him?"
Riku tried not to snicker. "His mother?"
Wendy apparently didn't see anything wrong with it. "Yes. Peter, the Lost Boys, and John and Michael. I'm mother to all of them." Riku only smirked in reply, so she said, "I know Peter will come for me. I have faith in him."
"You don't want to be just his mother, do you?"
"No, I don't." She sighed.
"...What if he doesn't?"
"What?"
"What if he doesn't come? What if your Peter never comes to rescue you? What if he gets killed by the Heartless on his way here?" Riku asked bitterly. "What if he just decides that you're not worth the trouble? He'll turn his back on you."
Wendy looked scandalized. "Peter would never do such a thing!"
"That's what I used to think about Sora!" he bit back. "I was hurled into another world, with Heartless surrounding me. Too many to count, let alone fight, and there wasn't anyone there to help me. SORA WASN'T THERE. I'd have died if Maleficent hadn't found me."
One look in Wendy's frightened eyes urged him onward. "You go right ahead and believe what you want. That Peter is going through Hell and high water to make sure you're safe. I'm sure that's just what Kairi was thinking before the Heartless took her."
Wendy scowled and drew herself further back on the shelf, where Riku couldn't see her. Satisfied, he sat back and watched the peaceful, nearly serene expression on Kairi's sleeping face. He could barely remember her telling him a story about a princess that was put under a spell that made her sleep for a hundred years, until the kiss of a prince rescued her from her fate.
Kairi loved telling stories.
She certainly wasn't a princess, but in Riku's opinion, at least, she could have easily passed for the one in the story. And Riku was far from a prince, but...
Slowly, he lowered his lips onto hers. She felt warm. But if she would only move! Kairi remained as unresponsive as ever. Riku backed away quickly, feeling very stupid about what he'd just done.
"What are you doing?"
Riku jumped. He'd completely forgotten about Wendy.
"It's none of your business," he said.
Wendy sneaked a glance over the edge of the shelf and smiled wryly. "I saw you. You gave her a thimble."
"You mean a kiss."
"No. That's what grown-ups call it." She sighed again. "It's just like the story of Sleeping Beauty."
"Is that the one where the princess wakes up with a kiss?"
Wendy nodded. "Peter so loves it when I tell that story."
"Kairi told it to me a long time ago."
"Is she your mother?"
"My mother's gone with the rest of my world."
"Oh, I'm very sorry. ...Would you have Kairi be your mother?"
"Not quite."
They stared each other briefly with the understanding of those who know what it is like to love someone who is unreachable. Then Wendy's eyes welled up with tears.
"Oh, it's so terrible to be without a mother!" she cried. She glided back down to the floor with her arms outstretched, both to keep her balance and in entreaty to Riku. "I would be your mother, too, if you would have me! But you're nearly grown up already."
A small part of Riku marveled at how the girl's unbelievingly giving nature, but he pushed back the thought quickly. After all, what was he doing, making nice-nice with the prisoners? "Sometimes things happen that make you grow up faster than you need to."
"Peter will never grow up, no matter what happens." She said it with a great deal of pride.
"Then he'll never treat you as anything other than a mother."
Wendy smiled sadly. "I know," she said, folding her hands over her heart. "But it's enough. You see, I don't ever want to grow up, either."
"Right. Delay the inevitable. Have a great time." He gave Kairi one last fleeting look before standing. Wendy only stared at him as if she didn't understand what the word "inevitable" meant. She probably didn't. He turned to leave.
"Aren't you going to give her a kiss before you go?"
"I already did."
"No, you gave her a thimble." Wendy pulled out a chain with a plain button on it. "This is a kiss that Peter gave me."
The way that she swelled with pride whenever she spoke of him was getting annoying, but Riku ignored it.
"I've already given her something like that, a long time ago. A key chain with a star on it."
Wendy smiled at him, but he didn't see it. He was already gone.
~~Fin~~
AN: Yes, yes, I know, it was pointless. And the Wendy in this ficlet is more like the Wendy from the book than the one in the Disney movie, with Peter's button and her outright saying that she wants to be something other than a mother figure to Peter... Those who have read the book know what I'm talking about, because in the book, Wendy isn't nearly as prissy, so I like her better for it.
I included the bit about Sora's Oathkeeper originally coming from Riku? I figured it'd make things interesting; something to include in a future fluff fic. ^.~ Watch for it! Oh, and review, please.