Never Neverland
She held the key to the throne of Neverland. Now to return home all she had to do was escape the clutches of blood-thirsty pirates and somehow remain immune to the alluring flying boy who's keeping her alive.
Disclaimer: I do not own Neverland, nor do I own Peter Pan.
Chapter 1
"You'll never believe who just died," the shrill voice echoed down the hallway and reached Amu's ears in no time.
She sat tucked away in a deep armchair in her dad's office, momentarily pausing her reading to impatiently listen to her little sister's latest gossip story. Usually death wasn't a topic someone so casually brought up. But this was Ami she was dealing with and nothing seemed to be too inappropriate for her to boldly proclaim.
Ami's auburn-haired self appeared in the office doorway with wide, eager eyes that instantly met her sister's golden orbs.
"Guess who died," she urged impatiently.
Amu hardly had enough time to even arch an eyebrow before her little sister went off again. Apparently it was their elder neighbour who had passed away just the other day. His family was going through his belongings at this instant. Ami was already keen on finding out if she was in his will at all.
At hearing this, Amu placed her book down and had to interject.
"Washing his truck one time three years ago isn't all that significant."
"Actually, it was two years ago."
Sending her sister a look of disbelief, Amu blew her bangs out of her eyes and reopened her book, "Yeah, and I brought him his paper once. Doesn't mean I'm in his will to inherit his life savings."
The younger of the two sisters went silent and sent a glare in Amu's direction, "You're a dirt bag."
Spinning on her heel with a huff and a crossing of her arms, the auburn-haired teenager shimmied her way back down the hallway to leave Amu in temporary peace once again.
Her gaze flickered up from her book and lingered on the empty doorway. How death could be treated so casually, she didn't understand. The thought made Amu's stomach feel heavy as her chest tightened. Nothing good ever came out of growing up. Growing up meant more responsibilities, more hardships, and death.
Being nearly seventeen and just one day away from entering her last year of high school, Amu had no reason to greet the future with welcoming arms. She loathed it and dreaded its arrival. Which is why she was spending her last day of summer vacation locked up inside, reading a fairytale novel that brought her back to her youth. Back to the days where she would fall asleep on the couch and wake up in her bed. Back to the tingling excitement of Saturday morning cartoons instead of Tuesday night soap operas or Friday night partying.
Amu sighed longingly and shut her book. Her attention caught briefly on the warm blanket of sunlight that streamed through the window to her right and lit up the cozy room. She would live in her dad's office if she could. He probably wouldn't mind, either, as he never even used it, really. Its sole purpose was to provide an escape for anyone longing for a good read, where they could choose from whichever genre of novel they longed for. The walls lined with bookshelves provided plenty of variety for escapism. With the plush carpets and deep-colored wallpaper, it was a welcoming atmosphere with a homey feel to it, making it Amu's favourite room in the house.
Placing her book on the side table next to her, the pink-haired teen pulled herself to her feet and wandered out of the office while dragging her feet across the hallway's cold hardwood. She made it to the living room before collapsing again, too depressed to do anything exciting on her last day of summer break.
She lay motionless on the couch for quite some time while her dad sat in an armchair across the room.
Tsumugu glanced over the top of his paper to steal a look at his daughter. He frowned. One of his girls was gallivanting throughout the house speaking of an old man's death and the other was resembling a dead old man.
Watching in silence for a moment longer, Tsumugu flipped the page and turned his attention back to the words in front of him.
"My little sparrow is looking glum today," he commented with a pout, "why is that?"
There were too many reasons, Amu noted to herself. Summer was over, school was tomorrow, senior year started tomorrow, her childhood was officially beginning to end…so many things were affecting her mood.
Shifting her head so she was looking at her dad, she offered a shrug in response, "Just tired."
Tsumugu nodded once, seemingly content with this response and completely naïve as to believe her answer to be the truth.
"Oh, mama was looking for you," he informed after a moment of silence passed, "said she had a job for you. I believe she's outside."
Inhaling deeply through her nostrils, Amu closed her eyes momentarily.
"Perfect," she groaned. She reluctantly rolled herself off the couch and shimmied out the front door in search of Midori. Passing Ami along the way, the sisters shared a scoffing look before Amu resumed her walk, spotting Midori across the street at the house of the man who just died. Amu scolded herself for not even knowing his name.
"…Mama?" Amu began while taking slow steps onto the lawn, "Papa said you needed me."
Midori glanced up from the box she was going through and paused, taking time to stand up straight and crack her back. She brushed a few strands of coffee-coloured hair out of her eyes before readjusting her glasses. Placing her hands on her hips, she nodded slowly while scanning the yard, trying to remember just what it was she needed help with.
Amu also looked around the yard in hopes of finding something. Cardboard boxes were scattered randomly throughout the lawn, nearly hidden in the over-grown strands of cool grass.
As the two Hinamoris stood in a confused silence, a young woman with her hair pulled back in a tight bun hobbled out of the house with a pile of boxes in her arms.
"Oh, are you one of Midori's daughters?" She asked politely while staggering over to the two.
Amu nodded slowly before taking the boxes out of her arms to lighten her load.
"I'm Miss Kinomoto," the lady introduced politely after shaking Amu's hand, "this was my dad's place."
"Amu-chan, can you help us clean out the attic?" Midori asked from behind the pinkette.
Seeing as how she was kind of put on the spot here, Amu shrugged, "Sure, what is there to do?"
Miss Kinomoto went on about how there was just a few more boxes left in the attic that needed to be brought down to the yard so they could be sorted through. As a bonus, she even promised that Amu could keep whatever she found and liked, just as long as it wasn't an important family heirloom or anything of the sort.
As generous as Miss Kinomoto's offer was, Amu would rather be sleeping. She didn't mention this fact, though, as she found herself climbing the steep staircase into the attic of the old house in a mere few minutes after agreeing to help. Clearly Miss Kinomoto just wanted to clean out the house and be done with the job.
Truth be told, Amu would rather peel her eyelids off with a can opener. The attic resembled a creepy death trap. She wouldn't be surprised if it housed mountain lions and a wild ape that strangely resembled her long lost uncle.
Amu gazed around the nearly empty attic. The wood floorboards were coated in a thick layer of dust that was sprinkled across the few boxes left in the small room. Cobwebs stretched across the beams on the short ceiling, supplying another reason no one wanted to venture up to this dreaded room.
Screeching when a spider skidded across the floor in front of her, Amu snatched the boxes to her right and scrambled back down the ladder. She nearly tripped over herself upon reaching the front yard. She dropped the boxes onto the ground beside the other pile of boxes, watching a puff of dust bounce into the air upon the impact.
Midori coughed and waved a hand in front of her face to be rid of the dust particles that lingered near her nostrils.
"Thank you," she coughed again.
Amu pursed her lips and nodded curtly, not wanting to go back up that ladder anytime soon.
Midori seemed to notice this and pushed an already-opened box closer to her daughter. It had already been inspected and was spider-free with no creepy voodoo dolls of previous bosses old man Kinomoto had.
Lowering herself onto the cool grass, Amu tucked her legs underneath her as she started rummaging through the box.
"Whatever you think isn't worth keeping, just throw into that box," Miss Kinomoto nodded over her shoulder to the over-flowing box behind her, "everything else can just stay in the box if you feel it's worth keeping."
Nodding once to show she understood, Amu hesitantly dropped her hands into the box and started sorting through items. Now if she was a normal sixteen year old she'd be out partying right now with a bunch of people she only pretended to like. But she enjoyed this a whole lot more than getting completely wasted only to end up regretting it when morning strolled along.
It seemed like hours before she finally stumbled across something that actually caught her special attention. It was mixed in with a bunch of junk. She almost hadn't seen it.
Reaching into the box with interest lacing her amber-coloured eyes, Amu clutched onto the lock necklace and wiped it clean so it shimmered in the sunlight. The gold lock had a four-leaf clover design etched into it, diamonds filling in the leafs.
"I haven't seen that in ages," Miss Kinomoto commented with a smile. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and moved to stand behind Amu. "My grandma always said that it had magical powers. But, well, it was grandma, the same woman who claimed that every bird glared at her when she went to the food market."
She lost interest and went back to sorting through an over-sized box while Amu stared at the lock, even more fascinated than she had been five minutes prior. Magic powers? She didn't believe it one bit, but it was still an interesting idea. She was brought out of her thoughts by a sharp exhale from Miss Kinomoto.
The pinkette looked up expectantly.
"I'd say that's enough for tonight," Miss Kinomoto decided with a nod, smiling gratefully at Midori, "thank you for your help, Midori. Always a pleasure," she looked over at Amu and nodded to the necklace, "you can keep that if you want. Thanks for your help too, Amu-chan. Not many teenagers do anything productive these days."
Amu tried not to smile too wickedly, "Clearly you've met Ami."
Midori sent her a warning look but Miss Kinomoto just laughed. The Hinamori girls said their goodbyes before wandering back across the street.
Slinging her arm around her daughter's shoulders, Midori exhaled happily.
"I guess I should be a responsible mother and cook dinner," She decided as she brushed off her jeans with her free hand.
"Probably. Papa's most likely crying in a corner somewhere, entirely convinced you've forgotten about him," Amu uttered, only half kidding. Her dad tended to be quite the drama queen.
Midori frowned, "You're right." She then smiled and patted Amu's shoulder affectionately before hurrying into the house ahead of the pinkette.
Glancing behind her at the setting sun, Amu exhaled deeply, continuing to rub her finger against the necklace. Now that she was out of work to do, she decided to do something productive. And by productive, she meant returning to the office to read some more.
In an instant she wiggled into the familiar armchair. She smiled contentedly. Placing her book in her lap, Amu paused her reading to fasten the lock necklace around her neck. It was cold against her skin. Clearly it hadn't been worn in ages.
Opening her book, Amu let herself get lost in the words on the pages once again. Before she could finish reading one page, an uneasy twisting of her mind caused a wave of dizziness to wash over her. The words on the paper swirled under her gaze and jumped off the page. The walls surrounding her turned black and then grey as they twisted restlessly. Unable to focus her eyesight, Amu's weak fingers dropped her book before she tumbled into darkness.