Disclaimer: No, I don't own Peter Pan. But I do spend every waking moment of my life wishing I did...
Author's Note: Thanks so much to the people who reviewed! I'm so glad that you liked it! So as thanks here's the third chapter! I hope you like it!
chapter three:
Emily awoke for a second time that night to a rather loud racket. She sat up quickly to see a bright light buzzing around her room. But her eyes were too clouded with sleep and her mind too jumbled with dreams to fully comprehend what was happening. Before long, she found herself staring into the face of a young boy, no older than fourteen, who was perched on the footboard of her bed.
She practically jumped out of her bed with the double take. Emily shouted out as she fell in a heap onto the floor.
"Oh good! You're awake!" was the first thing the boy said when Emily fell to the floor.
"Who are you?" Emily nearly shouted. But somewhere inside of her she felt no reason for alarm. Or a reason to ask whom the boy was, for she already knew the answer very well.
The boy jumped off the footboard and landed lightly on the floor, as if he had floated. He held out a dirty hand.
"Who are you?" Though he as well knew the answer.
Emily looked at his hand for a moment before taking it and being pulled up. He was taller than she was, she noticed now that she was standing.
"My name is Emily," she said. "Emily Moira Darling."
The boy smiled. "Peter Pan." And then he bowed.
Emily was somewhat surprised by this, because she expected Peter Pan to be a wild boy, no matter how much Grandma Wendy said he was a gentleman. But she didn't let this faze her for long, and she curtsied in reply as best as she could.
"Why are you here, Peter Pan?" she asked truthfully, sitting on her bed. "Have you lost your shadow again?"
Peter scowled and looked at the floor behind him, checking for his shadow. "No," he said. "I still have it." He sat in the floor and glanced around the room. Almost immediately his imagination kicked in and rearranged the furnishings in the room to the way they were when he first entered the Darling home. Emily became Wendy, in her nightgown, clutching an acorn that was strung on a gold chain about her neck, smiling at him... And then everything melted back to the present. "This place hasn't changed much. Where's Wendy? I expected she'd be guarding you."
"Huh?" Emily watched Peter examine her bedroom, then zone out while staring at her, then snap out of his daze and smile at her. Was he okay? "Why would Gran be guarding me?"
Peter grinned his elfin smile, his green eyes shining.
"No reason." He stood and walked over to the bed, standing in front of Emily with his hands on his hips and feet apart. ((From now on this will be called the Pan stance)) "I'm bored." And he plopped right back down in front of Emily. He looked around again, and then back to Emily. "Tell me a story!"
"ButI don't know many stories," Emily said. "I've never actually told any."
"You must know some stories," Peter insisted.
"Only the ones my Gran told me."
"Then tell me one of those!"
"But they're all about you," informed Emily. Persistent little bugger.
Peter grinned triumphantly. "Well, let's hear one."
"You're a little conceited, don't you think?"
The boy's expression turned to what screamed "Huh?"
"What's that mean?" he asked.
Emily shook her head. "Never mind. But I'm not telling a story. I don't want to."
Peter hopped up and crossed his arms. "Then we'll go to Neverland anyway!" He took her hand and led her to the window.
"But Peter," protested Emily. "I can't fly!"
"I'll teach you. I'll teach you how to ride the winds and sail through the clouds. You'll love it."
"But"
"Haven't you ever wished that you could just stop worrying about everything, Emily?" Peter let go of her hand and stared into her blue eyes. "About school or growing up?"
Emily looked at the floor. "Well, yes, but"
Peter continued. "And earlier today. Didn't you beg me to come and take you to Neverland?" He looked absolutely smug with himself at knowing all this information.
Emily's head shot back up. "You heard that?"
Peter shrugged. "I was right outside you window." He didn't mention that when he had heard, he thought that Emily was Wendy.
"You were?"
"Yup. Now are you coming or not?" He made his way to the window.
"I already told you: I can't fly."
Peter scoffed. "Its easy. All you do is think happy thoughts!" He exaggerated this point by leaping into the air and flying around the room. Emily laughed.
Happy thoughts, she pondered. Going to Neverland, perhaps. Or my dreams coming true...
"That's it, Emily!" exclaimed Peter from somewhere. "You're doing it! You're flying!"
Emily opened her eyes and found herself hovering a few feet in the air. With a gasp, she lost her happy thought in shock and fell for the second time that night.
"Ow!"
From behind her, Peter laughed. Emily groaned and stood, rubbing her smarting backside.
"That wasn't funny, Peter," she said, turning to berate the boy, but he wasn't there.
"Peter?"
She turned and met Peter face to face, his grin spreading from ear to ear. Emily jumped, but settled back down just as quickly.
Peter turned his head and scanned the room. "Tink!" he hissed. "Tinker Bell! Where are you? I need your help."
And a small bright light came out from behind a bookcase (knocking a couple of books off of the shelf as she went and making a rather large racket) and flew over to Peter. Emily gasped.
"A faery!"
Tinker Bell looked at Emily, her eyes wide. Then, the faery stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry. Emily looked appalled.
"I beg your pardon!"
Peter smushed Tinker Bell down out from in front of them. "Don't be so rude, Tink."
"I thought faeries were nice," Emily said while glaring at Tinker Bell, who was glaring right back.
"She's nice," Peter explained. "Just not very polite. Tink, I need some faery dust."
Tinker Bell shook her head. Peter growled and snatched her out of the air and shook her roughly, creating shimmery clouds of gold. The dust settled into Emily's hair and then she was floating again, Peter along with her. She yelped in surprise again.
"I really wish you would stop doing that," Emily said, but she couldn't stop smiling anymore than she could scold herself for doing so.
"Now, let's go." Peter took her hand in his and flew to the window, pulling Emily behind him.
"Wait, Peter What about my parents? And Gran?" Emily sunk to the windowsill. She turned to look back at her room, and then finally heard Nana's barking. They were followed by footsteps, and then, voices. Her parents' voices.
Peter flew up behind her, placing one hand on her shoulder. He brought his lips to her ear.
"Forget them, Emily," he whispered. "Forget about them and come to Neverland. Then you'll never have to worry about grown up things again."
Emily swallowed heavily, and then shut her eyes. To never worry about adult things again, she mused mentally. Nothing to worry about...
She opened her eyes and took Peter's hand.
It would be nice to tell you that Emily's parents made it to her room in time and stopped her from going to Neverland. But then there would be no story, now would there?
Flying was exactly like Grandma Wendy said it was. The rush of wind in your ears, the feeling of zero gravity, the sharp bite of the snow on your cheeks, everything. It was so...exhilarating.
"Peter?"
The boy finished off a wild loop and flew up next to her. "Yeah?"
"When will we get to Neverland?"
Peter laughed and held out his hand. Emily took it and held on tight, feeling their speed increase.
"The fast way it is, then," he laughed. "Hold on tight and do not let go!"
On the word 'go' Peter flung himself forward into a stream of air current, Emily in tow. Instantly, they were swept away into the sky and toward the stars. Before she knew it, Emily Darling found herself zooming over and ocean of stars (as Peter himself displayed by slapping the lukewarm water at her) to the island that was Neverland.
Emily was overcome with a great feeling of awe upon seeing the land. Was this how Gran felt? she thought, releasing Peter's hand.
"Its so beautiful."
Peter laughed. "It's okay." He took her hand again. "C'mon! Let's go!"
"Go where?"
With his elfin grin, he replied, "You'll see."
They landed sometime later in a patch of forest. The trees were taller than the clock tower in London, and every inch of it was green. Green as far as the eye could see, which wasn't really far considering the abundance of foliage.
"Where are we?" Emily asked, looking around. She quickly noticed something missing.
"Peter?"
"Shh!" came his voice from somewhere in the trees.
"Where are you?" Emily hissed in no particular direction. "Peter?"
"Over here."
Emily turned and turned in circles, trying to spot out Peter, until she was dizzy. "Where? And why are you hiding?" she called out before falling to the leafy forest floor. It took her a while for everything to stop spinning, and when it did, her eyes met another pair of eyes. Eyes that definitely weren't Peter's.
"Well, well, well," said the man, for with his deep voice, it could only be a man, "What do we have here?"
Emily head began to spin again when she tried to focus on the forming group in front of her. It looked like a bunch of grown-ups, and from the flashes of silver, they must have been armed. With swords.
"I dunno, Cap'n," said another voice, another man. "Looks like some kind of overgrown faery. Odd clothes for an Injun."
"She looks strangely...familiar," said the first man. Emily's head finally slowed to a halting stop when she shuddered. This man's voice was like ice: cold and harsh. Or it felt like it, anyway. And if this group in front of her was armed, was she in danger? And where was Peter? Still playing hide and seek in the bushes?
"Aye, Cap'n," replied the second man.
She could see straight now. The men before her were all brandishing swords or loading pistols. All of them were leering at her, revealing horrible teeth. In the middle of the group was a litter being supported by four of the men. On the litter was the man who plagued her nightmares.
From his blazing forget-me-not blue eyes to the iron hook that was his right hand, Captain James Hook was right there in front of Emily. Her first thought was to run, but it was followed by 'Isn't he supposed to be dead!'
But her thoughts were quickly interrupted.
"You, girl!" Hook shouted. "Who are you? Why are you here?"
Emily stood defiantly. Nobody ordered her around.
"I'm Emily Darling. I have come here to tell stories. And what right have you to order girls around?"
Hook laughed, a noise that made Emily flinch. "Well, Miss Darling. To whom have you come to tell stories?"
Now, you see, one of Emily's weak points was speaking before she thought. It had gotten her into loads of trouble before in London, but never so much as it had now.
"To Peter Pan." Upon realizing her mistake, she threw her hand across her mouth. "Whoops."
Hook smirked evilly. "Peter Pan, you say? Well now, dear lady, where is dear Pan?"
"No idea, actually." Emily crossed her arms. It was the truth, although she could have sworn she heard a groan from a nearby bush.
"So then you wouldn't mind to come aboard my ship and tell stories to my crew?" Hook implied charmingly. "The lads love a good story." All of the pirates nodded eagerly.
Emily thought a moment. For one, she knew that Hook was a madman who killed and pillaged for pleasure. But his offer was quite generous, and considering the fact that she was alone in front of a band of murderous pirates and Peter was nowhere to be seen... going with Hook wasn't a half-bad offer.
Sorry Peter, she thought. But you aren't even here to tell me otherwise. Your loss.
"All right, I accept."
Hook threw his, well, hand and hook, into the air. "Marvelous! Boys, make way for the lady! Wendy, welcome aboard the Jolly Roger!"
"Its Emily," she stated as she climbed onto the litter.
Hook ignored her. "To the ship, you dogs!"
A murmured "Aye, aye, Cap'n" and the litter was lifted up and carried away, leaving only empty forest.
Emily was brought aboard the Jolly Roger and prompted to tell a story the moment she set foot on the deck. Sure, she wasn't quite the storyteller her grandmother was; she couldn't even stand up in front of class to give a report. But some of the talent did manage to be passed ononly a hint, mind youso Emily told the story of Snow White, it being the only one that came to mind.
"And they all lived happily ever after," she finished. The pirates who weren't in tears began to applaud.
"Bravo!" praised Hook. "Bravissimo!"
Emily grinned. "Thank you."
Hook took her by the arm and led her to a cabin. He opened the door and showed her inside.
"This will be your quarters, m'dear. Dinner is at six."
Emily looked at the sun outside. "But its not even noon. Am I to be locked up in here till then?"
"Of course!" Captain Hook began to howl with laughter, and so did the rest of the pirates behind him.
Brainwashed idiots, Emily thought, shaking her head.
"My dear," continued Hook, "you are merely bait for that wretched Peter Pan."
"Why do you hate him so much?" Emily asked, trying to buy time as two men tied her hands and feet together.
Hook laughed hollowly. "Why do I hate Peter Pan?" he mused aloud. "Maybe its because he cut off my hand and fed it to a crocodile. And then he threw the rest of me to the beast again and forced me to live in the creature's belly until it coughed me back up!" The captain slammed his hook into the doorframe of the cabin. His eyes were blazing angrily. "That, my dear, is why I hate Pan. See you at dinner." And he shut and locked the door.
Emily sighed and sat on a large coil of rope.
"Well, what do I do now?" she asked herself. "Jesus, Emily, are you really that big of a dunce to agree with Hook?" She sighed again. "Apparently yes."
From the darkness around her, she heard a voice.
"Barely here ten minutes and you're already captured by Captain Hook."
Emily nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Who are you? Where are you?"
In a small patch of light coming from underneath the door, Emily saw a pair of bright green eyes.
"Peter!"
"Shh!" Peter flew over to her in a flash and covered her mouth with his hand. "We can't have Hook find us yet. That'll mess up the whole plan!" he hissed.
She raised her eyebrows. "You have a plan?"
"Not yet," Peter replied. "Now hold still."
Emily heard Peter unsheathe his knife and felt him begin to cut her bonds. She held absolutely still so as he wouldn't cut her instead. With a snap her legs were free.
"Thank you. Now get my hands." Emily held out her hands and let Peter cut the ropes at her wrists, then helped her up. The sound of hand hitting skin hard resounded off the walls.
Peter held his cheek. "What did you do that for!"
"That was for leaving me behind," she said. Then she stepped forward and kissed Peter on the same cheek she had slapped. "And that's for coming back for me." Even in the faint light, Emily could see the boy's cheeks turn red.
"I-I-" He cleared his throat. "I brought these." Peter pulled two swords from his belt and handed one to Emily. "Tell me you know how to use it."
Emily took the sword and held it. Of course she knew how to fight...sort of. She'd had some instruction in school gym class, but not enough to fight pirates. Plus, this sword was much heavier than the fencing swords at school.
"Well," prompted Peter. "Can you fight or not?"
"Uh..." Emily nodded.
"All right." Peter held up his sword. "How about a test? Get ready."
"But won't Hook hearYikes!" Emily somehow managed to fend off Peter's blow, but it left her arm pounding. She had only a split second to parry the next strike, followed by a third and a fourth. It wasn't long before Peter had Emily against the wall of the cabin. He grinned just inches away from her lips. For a moment, she thought that he would kiss her, but instead, he spoke.
"Promise me one thing."
"What?"
His grin grew; his eyes sparkled. "Leave Hook to me. When you see your chance, fly to the forest. Call for Tinker Bell. She'll take you to the tree."
"All right. I have one question, though."
Peter blinked. "What?"
Emily's eyes narrowed. "Where were you when Hook showed up?"
I, uh...Never mind about that. C'mon."
Emily began to object, but Peter shushed her again.
"Okay, here's my plan...sorta." He had one ear against the door, listening for any movement outside. "I'll distract Hook while you sneak off the ship."
"What happened to my finding Tink?"
"Forget that plan; this one's much better. Fly into the clouds. I'll come for you when I can." He looked back at Emily. "Got that?"
Emily rolled her eyes. "I escape while you have all the fun fighting pirates," she translated. Peter grinned and she stomped her foot stubbornly. "I want to fight, Peter! I don't want to run away!"
"You'll have to run. You can't fight," Peter replied quietly, his eyes to the floor.
"Why?" Emily demanded.
"Because."
"Because why, Peter!" Her voice was rising.
"Not so loud!" Peter hissed. "You want to blow our cover?"
"You mean your cover," she hissed right back. "Answer my question, Peter."
"Because I said so." Peter stood up straight, staring hard into Emily's blue eyes. "Do as I say and I won't have to take you back." He turned away.
"You sound like a grown up. Did you treat Grandma Wendy like this, too?" Emily spat, gripping the hilt of her sword.
Peter stayed silent, but Emily saw the muscles in his back and shoulders tense. Apparently she had hit a nerve.
Unlike Wendy, who had had to discover Peter's true nature on her own, Emily knew all about the boy's inner feelings thanks to her grandmother's stories. She knew how he had a fondness for love stories and how deep down inside he did feel, especially for Wendy. How he was caring and he felt responsible for Neverland and all its inhabitants (except pirates, naturally), and now, Emily. She shuddered as she realized something.
Peter didn't want her to fight not because of selfishness, but because he didn't want Emily to be hurt.
Emily was so lost in her own thoughts, she never heard Peter apologize for being so rude.
"What?" she asked, snapping out of her daze.
Peter sighed and repeated, "I'm sorry for being rude."
"Oh, its all right. Really, Peter." Emily put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I like the plan. I'll meet you in the clouds."
Peter looked confused, but nodded anyway.
"So," began Emily, looking at the door. "How do we get out?"
Peter shrugged. "No idea."
A thought suddenly hit her mind. "How did you get in here without Hook seeing you, anyway?"
Peter grinned this time. "Pure skill."
Emily snorted and began to giggle. Peter merely continued to grin.
The duo spent the rest of the day in the cabin, Peter hiding away behind coils of rope of stacks of cannonballs every time Mr. Smee, Hook's first mate, came by to check on Emily. And every time Smee would leave, Emily and Peter would share a quiet laugh at their secrecy.
It wasn't the greatest adventure so far, but it was something to talk about.
So they waited until Captain Hook came to fetch Emily for supper to put their plan into action.
Here's what they worked out: When Hook opened the door, Peter was well hidden in a net pile. He had retied Emily's bonds, so as not to create suspicion. Hook took Emily out of the cabin and led her to the Captain's quarters for dinner. The captain had foolishly left the door open, as Peter had expected.
The plan, you see, would come into action when Emily would distract the pirates with another story. Peter would sneak out of the cabin and take his turn distracting Hook and his crew while Emily got away.
So when Peter heard Mr. Smee shout "Emily is gonna tell us a story, lads!" he sprung into action. Sword in hand, he crept from the cabin and out onto the deck, careful not to catch anyone's attention.
Emily saw Peter sneaking up on Hook from the corner of her eye and began to speed up the excitement in her story to keep the pirates occupied.
"...And Cinderella took her sword and shouted at Pan"
Peter stopped in his tracks when he heard his name escape Emily's lips. A story about him?
"'Who be you to call me girlie?'" continued Emily. "And Cinderella lunged at Peter Pan and gutted him from naval to nose."
The pirates cheered wildly. Peter's brows drew together in either anger or confusion, he couldn't decide. But he saw Emily beckon him forward discreetly with a hand behind her back. Then they both continued.
"Then the great Captain Hook sailed his ship to the docks on which Cinderella had slaughtered the evil Peter Pan and brought her aboard the Jolly Roger. 'Congratulations, Princess Cinderella,' said Hook. 'Since 'twas ye who rid us of the vile Peter Pan, we aboard the Jolly Roger invite you to join our crew.'"
One of the pirates shouted, "Join the crew, Cinderella!" Emily laughed rather fakely as she saw Peter straighten behind Hook and raise his sword. Of course, he wasn't going to kill him; what fun would there be in that? Then there'd be no more adventures. The most he would do was remove another appendage.
Emily was going over the plan in her head and therefore not finishing the story. Hook placed his hook on her shoulder, making her jump.
"And did Cinderella join my marvelous company?" he asked.
"Y-Yes. Cinderella joined the crew. And they lived happily ever after."
The crew began to clap and Peter took his cue.
Leaping into the air in front of Captain Hook, he laughed. He hovered there before Hook and Emily, grinning.
"I liked the story, Emily," he said. "But I'm not sure the ending was to my tastes." Peter tossed the second sword to Emily, who caught it and ran for the side of the ship. One pirate caught her ankle and she screamed.
The pirate leered at her. "Where are you going, girlie?"
Emily hit the pirate over the head with the pommel of her sword. "I'm not a girlie!" The pirate fell to the deck, eyes closed. Guessing he was knocked out, Emily thought a happy thought and was airborne. Then she flew away to the clouds.
Peter, on the hand, stayed on the ship and fought Captain Hook.
"Peter Pan, prepare to meet thy doom," threatened Hook, readying his sword.
"Ready to lose the other one?" Peter grinned wickedly.
"And what about Wendy? Are you to lose her again?" Hook looked at his crew. "Fetch Long Tom."
Peter gasped as the crew bustled about, bringing the long-range cannon onto the deck.
"That's not fair, Hook!"
"Aim it at Wendy, boys!"
Peter lunged forward. "No! Emily!" Steel hit steel in a harsh clang, and the battle began.
Emily floated about the puffy white clouds (which were considerably solid), watching the ship from the sky. She could hear the clanging of swords from the deck, followed by Peter shouting, although she wasn't sure what he had said. After the shout, though, was a cannon fire.
In slow motion, Emily saw the large, black ball hurl through the sky toward her, cutting clouds apart. Time stretched to a stop just moments before the cannonball hit her square in the stomach. She didn't breathe at all, eyes never blinking, heart never beating. The cannonball was stopped midair.
But then Time revved up again, and Emily dove out of the way before the cannonball (now at full speed again) crashed into her. But the air wake left by the speeding hunk of iron was strong enough to rip her up and away from the cloud she was clinging, and she was falling to the ground faster than her mind could fill with a happy thought.
Emily remembered falling through the leaves and trees. She remembered being slapped in the face with vines and branches, her skin being cut and scratched with thorns and sticks. The last thing she remembered was hitting the ground very hard and everything going black.
Author's note: Okie-dokie! Big cliffie! But I'll get the next chapter up ASAP! kay? Don't hurt me! Pleez! Don't make me pull out the faery...