The Lost Girl
By: Ophilia LeNoir
Disclaimer: I do not own Peter Pan, the pirates, or the Indians. Nor do I own Tinkerbell. J.M. Barrie wrote it, so the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, who he left the rights to, owns it. I don't think he had children. However, I do own Aurora Braddock and this particular batch of Lost Boys, since the Original Lost Boys left with the Darling Children.
Chapter 1: Rude Awakening
I finished reading /Peter Pan/ for the umpteenth time. I had loved that story since I was old enough to grasp the story. I was 14. I was a freshman in high school. I got bored with high school sometimes, though. There were too many annoying people in there. Those people just didn't understand that my immaturity showed maturity. They all made fun of me for reading /Peter Pan/. It's my favorite book! I loved the idea of never growing up. I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in dressing like a slut and climbing all over some guy in the hall way! If that's what being "grown up" is, then I never wanted to grow up.
I wished I could just stop growing up. In another four years, I would be in college. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life! I was not at all ready to grow up. "Too bad Peter Pan's just a character in a book." I thought, "I would love to go to Neverland right about now."
I sighed. I knew Peter Pan, the boy, wasn't real. I knew I would never go to Neverland. I knew I would have to grow up someday. Someday, but not today. I stared at my worn copy of /Peter Pan/ and began my old rant.
"If I could go to Neverland, I wouldn't be their mother. Wendy had it all wrong there. Honestly, I wouldn't mind telling stories. And I'd help, them cook, but I would not be their mother… And if they tried to make me their mother I'd… I'd tell the pirates where they lived!"
I sighed again. It was only a dream. A dream I was beginning to grow too old for. Stupid high school teenage years. I checked the clock on my nightstand. 11:00. I had school in the morning, so I needed to go to sleep. I placed my worn copy of /Peter Pan/ on the nightstand, Tuned off my lamp, and laid down to go to sleep.
About an hour later, I awoke to find a boy about my age sitting on my bed, staring at me. There was nothing for me to do but scream, so I did. Loudly. The boy's eyes widened and he scrambled to cover my mouth.
"Shhh!" he said, "Look, I'm not gonna hurt you. Please don't scream."
His eyes pleaded. I didn't have time to consent one way or the other. My mother was coming down the hall because of my scream. "Aurora?" I heard her say, "Are you alright?" She was standing outside my door. The boy seemed to fly across the room and was standing next to my closet, ready to duck inside. He mouthed, "please," to me.
"Um, I'm ok, Mom. Just had a bad dream is all," I replied.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Uh," I glanced at the boy, "Yeah."
"Ok, well, goodnight then," she said.
I heard her retreat down the hallway. The boy was visibly relieved, but I wasn't.
"Ok, I saved your butt on that one. Now who the hell are you?" I demanded.
Did I mention I have a temper?
He obviously wasn't expecting this outburst. He backed up a bit. This gave me time to observe him. He was a little taller than me with messy longish blonde hair and blue eyes. He was thin, but muscular. He was also dressed very strangely. His clothes seemed to be made out of leaves. He only seemed taken aback by my abrasiveness for a moment. My appraising gaze apparently was taken the wrong way. He soon gained a rather cocky attitude.
"I'm Peter Pan," he said proudly.
I sat there for two minutes strait staring at him before I burst into peals of laughter.
"You're," Laughter, "You're," more laughter, "You're Peter Pan?"
He frowned and looked hurt.
Yes. I'm Peter Pan." He said.
"You've got to be kidding me," I replied, "I've been reading /Peter Pan/ since I was little. He's not real."
"Yes I am," he said. He was getting upset. Maybe he's crazy. It's best to humor him.
"Ok, if you're Peter Pan, then how come you look like a teenager. Practically grown up, I'd say."
"What do you mean, grown up? I can't grow up."
"But you look pretty grown up. Not quite there, but close to it."
"No I don't," he started to look panicky.
I got out of bed and walked over to him. I held out my hand to touch his shoulder and he moved away.
"You mustn't touch me," he said. That seemed familiar…
"Why not?"
He paused thinking.
"I don't know," He said at last.
"Well," I said, "Follow me."
I lead him to my vanity and stood beside him looking in the mirror.
"There," I said, "You look like a normal fourteen year old boy. I always thought Peter Pan was a lot younger."
"I- I am," He said, uncertainly, "I've always looked like this."
"Well, I suppose you are defiantly not an adult. Wait! I know how to test this! Have you ever lost a tooth?"
"I don't see what that has to do with anything," he said, "But no."
"Smile, then."
"What?"
"Smile!" I demanded.
He did. He still had all of his baby teeth. He was the real Peter Pan.
"Oh my gosh," I said, "You are Peter Pan."
He beamed with pride at being recognized and at the look of awe on my face.
"Yes, I am," He replied, regaining his former cocky attitude.
"Ok, then the next subject to bring to the table-"
"What table?" he asked.
I sighed. "I mean, I have to ask another question," I replied.
"Oh… what is it?" He asked.
"Why are you here?" I finally asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, as if I should know what a boy would want with me at midnight on a school night. I cocked my eyebrow at him and glared. He seemed to take the hint.
"I've come to take you to Neverland," he said.
I stared at him. It must have only been for a minute, but time had seemed to stop for me. Here was this boy, about my age in appearance, who still had his baby teeth, and he wanted me to leave home and go far away with him. If it were anyone but him, I would have called the police. I probably should have. But… he was my hero. I had been reading his book since… since… since I learned to read! But one thing was nagging at me…
"Why do you want me to go with you?"
It was his turn to stare at me… This was becoming a common theme with us, and I had only known him for 15 minutes… or was it my whole life? It was hard to tell at that point in time.
"Well, I want you to come and be our mother of course!"
Ah. He wanted a mother. Of all the girls in the world to choose as a mother, I have no idea why in the world he would choose me. I had not really ever displayed any motherly tendencies that I could recall. My cooking was atrocious, my sewing was… decent but all by hand… I suppose that's what he wanted anyway… just mending… I knew stories from reading constantly, but I'm not sure all of them were age appropriate stories… wait a sec! These boys killed people! What was I worried about age appropriate? Was I trying to protect killer children from violence? Who was I kidding!
"I'm not a mother," I said.
"What?"
"I'm not a mother."
"But, we need a mother to-"
"To tell you stories, and mend your pockets, and cook and clean, etc. Don't look so shocked I've been reading the words since I knew what words were. I can't cook, if you look around, you'll see that I'm not big on cleaning, I can tell some stories, but I don't know what you will and will not like. Some of the things I read aren't exactly fairy tales. I can sew, but not well. I'm self-taught. I'm not a mother. If you want a mother find someone else. If you want me, make me a Lost Girl. I'll do all the work a Lost Boy does. As long as I have help with cooking, I'll help with… whatever the boys do. I'll tell stories, but I won't tuck you in. I'm not going on a pedestal, but I'll be an equal. If you can't handle that, leave me here. If that's what you want, take me with you."
I waited, calmly and quietly for a response.
"Girls are equal? I always thought girls were better that boys…"
He wasn't giving up on a mother. I sighed, time to pull out the guns…
"I see you have made your decision. Good night, don't fall on your way out the window."
I laid down and pulled the covers over my head. I remember Wendy doing something similar in the book. Maybe in this slightly different context it would work for me…
It did.
"Aurora?" he said sweetly, "I'll treat you as an equal. You don't have to be a mother… I'll make sure all the Lost Boys treat you the same way. You'll be a Lost Girl, our first! And you won't have to tuck us in. We just… we need somebody to… to… help us."
I peeked at him then. He looked so pitiful his eyes downcast, his blonde hair falling into his face. He looked… defeated. Damn this bleeding heart of mine!
"Ok, I'll go with you. Just for a bit though… Let me change clothes first though, will ya? I don't want to go in my pajamas…"
His face brightened and he agreed to this. I grabbed a t-shirt and jeans and disappeared into the bathroom to change. I soon emerged. The shirt was green and had a flower printed on it with child written underneath. Flower Child. Get it? The jeans were just regular, run of the mill bell bottomed jeans. I grabbed a pair of all weather, all purpose sandals and put them on.
"ready to go?" I asked, nonchalantly.
"Yeah," he replied.
"I need pixie dust, right?" I said.
"Yeah."
"Where's Tinkerbell?"
I noticed suddenly that I had not seen her… Shouldn't she be here? Was she still alive… Had the book said she had died? How was I going to get to Neverland without Tinkerbell? She was the best Part of the Disney version…
My worries were for nothing. A big ball of light shot out from under my bed. She must have hidden under there before I woke. On Peter's command, she few around my head, covering me with pixie dust.
"now think Happy thoughts," Peter told me.
I could have said it with him, but I chose not to. Best not destroy his entire ego in one night… I'll have my whole time in Neverland to do that… I grinned evilly… And floated into the air… I guess I was more sadistic that I thought… Actually, if it had been destroying his ego that had done it, I should have already floated into the air, right? So it was the prospect of Neverland that was my happy thought… At least, that's what I tell myself…
He seemed rather happy about my quick ability to take flight, of course, he didn't know my "happy thought." He took my hand and we flew out the window into the night, followed by Tinkerbell. I hoped she liked me better than she liked Wendy…
I was off on my adventure with Peter Pan. I had only ever dreamed this. Dreams are seldom reality. I had only ever gotten past threatening the lost boys and a few vignettes worth of adventures, I would soon see the difference between dreams and reality.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Well, that's the first Chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. Pleas R&R. The Lost Boys should appear in the next chapter. Hopefully my Muse will be kind and this story will be written in a timely fashion... Please remember, this is my first attepmt at a Peter Pan fic and my first chapter story, so be kind. Although I do like constructive criticism, i don't like flames.