Entering the tree hideout in an excited haste after finding news that would please his leader, Felix paused suddenly; seeing Peter hand over a small plate covered in the best light meat pieces from the pheasant speared over a circle encased fire, to a young girl dressed in patched clothing sewn with the same green and browns as the young boy vigilante. Surely this wasn't Rose? Her skin had become a clear milky canvas with small specks of red freckles placed across her nose and cheekbones, matching the sudden brightness to her red-tinted hair less brown than he remembered; a flash of her mind-blowing emerald eyes in his direction caused Felix to nearly forget what he had come to say.
Peter chuckled with a pleased grin, "Nice to see you boys could join us for dinner Felix, there wasn't much meat left." He seated himself rather closely beside his flower on a short log they had pulled into the hideout, gnawing away at one of the legs stripped from the smoke-roasted body while occasionally glancing at Rose to see her selectively eating bits of the meat he had given her.
"Peter," Felix replied a little breathless, having to drag his eyes away from Rose's face, "We found something." The boy's head turned, a narrowed gaze motioning back to his flower seated next to him in which Felix nodded; Rose looked up to Peter with an innocent flutter of her long black lashes. "What's this about?" Peter grinned, carefully touching her shoulder trying to appear as though everything were fine. "It's nothing flower, I sent the boys out searching for some more of those pain-killing berries for your hand. Does it still hurt?"
Rose could sense something was off in Peter's tone, and by the far-too-calm look in his sea green eyes, yet she decided to ignore it for now. Setting down her plate still hosting a space of several pieces of meat, she lifted her bandage-wrapped hand, seeing the cloth to be stained and rather damp from hiking around the island. She could feel the digits throbbing as the bone started to heal its cracks, but it wasn't unbearable; the bandages covered the darkened bruises along with the swelling so Rose couldn't tell if she did need anything. "I think I'll be fine Peter, but thank you." "Of course Flower," the boy draped his arm along her shoulders, feeling Rose stiffen at the notion which caused a smirk to spread his pink lips all the while, one of his eyebrows jumped up as they always seemed to do.
XxX
"Excuse me for a moment Rose," Peter slipped into his private bedroom with Felix and several other Lost Boys following, all silent as they watched their leader casually stroll over to a chair and seat himself next to a stump-made table. "Tell me what you found," his expression seemed almost uninterested as his fingers carefully traced the rings of the tree's life documentation. "There is someone back in the adult realm, but it's not a sibling; there's a young girl back at the orphanage. After going through a couple of the place's files, we found that she came in the same year Rose did except her parents had actually given her up. We weren't able to find much more or any connection really although Rose and the little girl shared rooms in the orphanage."
Peter's thumbnail tapped one of the rings in thought, the teen then standing while releasing a deepened breath where he motioned out to the others behind Felix. "Speak of this mission to no one, especially Rose." They all nodded before exiting the room, having noticed Peter's motion to leave and eat dinner. Felix started to leave as well until the teen called him back, "I didn't mean you. I need to talk with you." The taller boy nodded, removing the hood of his hand sewn cloak as he stood watching Peter pace back and forth with crossed arms, a notion he rarely ever did. "I need to speak with her about this…but, she mustn't know we've been digging into her past. What do I tell her?"
"Honestly Peter, just come out and ask her; she already knows you've been keeping tabs on her as she grew up, you could just say you've seen the little girl in one of her earlier moments or something." Felix leaned against his large hiking staff, watching as the boy vigilante chewed at the bit of his nails that were left before turning to him. "Felix, I have to win her heart in two weeks or less. You've dealt with women before, haven't you?"
Felix couldn't help but to grin, "You're asking me for love advice?"
"It was worth a shot," Peter chuckled, continuing his pace back and forth where he abruptly paused, parting the curtain door just enough for them both to peer out and see the Lost Boys huddled around Rose; her squeals of laughter and remaining smile causing Peter's heart to flutter. She was a perfect mother to those boys, and he could not afford to lose her, which meant he had to do something! Felix smiled at the picture as well, knowing Peter's love for his flower already while combining that with the knowledge of Rose's compassion for the Lost Boys; the older teen himself listened in on the questions each younger boy threw at her along with her answer. They asked about the adult realm, how everything had changed, if it even had, and Rose's own personal living conditions at a young age. She answered truthfully enough, managing to put enough detail into the personal questions that it avoided revealing anything about her as a person, which caused Peter to grin; his flower was quite crafty with her wording.
Letting down the curtain to the room, he sighed, glaring at the floor as confusion and irritation clouded his mind; this was impossible! Every move he had thought about doing now seemed risky, there was always the chance it could frighten her for Rose turned out to be a bit more fragile than he had originally thought. Peter assumed he was just comparing her to Jane, for her mother could surely handle whatever he dished out, including unexpected kisses and flirtatious comments. He could still feel the soft skin of her pale pink lips on his, the fire that suddenly flared as he challenged her into fighting his kiss; it was magnificent, at least until she shoved him away. If Peter could just get that fire to ignite once again, it might make Rose's heart finally show her who she belongs with, but it would take a miracle to do that.
Tilting his head curiously, Felix flickered his eyes between Peter's thoughtful expression and the door, questioning if he could leave in silence. "Yes Felix, you may go, it's about time we returned or Rose will get suspicious of our scheming." Both boys exited the room quietly, Peter plastering on a fake smile at the sight of so many of the Lost Boys uncomfortably close to his flower who didn't seem to notice him until he stood on the other side of the fire. "Hello Peter," she replied with a small grin while eating the rest of the meat on her plate, not seeing the boys quietly retract from their close range as he stalked nearer. Placing himself in between Rose and one of the boys, his glare travelled quickly around the room, sending their stares elsewhere while Peter grinned over to his flower who had finished her plate.
"Would you like to see a magic trick, Rose?" She nearly choked on her water when he asked, coughing with an intrigued smile as she set her glass down to the side while nodding. Peter chuckled, scooting closer where his body pressed against her side rather closely, the boy feeling Rose's sudden discomfort as he trailed his palm all the way down her exposed arm to her hand; placing his hand over hers. Raising their hands together towards the flames licking hungrily at the air above, Peter grinned with his lips an inch from her ear, knowing the contact caused his flower to lose focus for her hand practically trembled under his. "Just watch," he whispered seductively, feeling Rose's breathing become shortened as he fanned out their fingers. The flames suddenly broke apart, becoming pieces that floated into the air, shaping themselves into the forms of animals; at first a large bunny rabbit, crackling with each of its short hops around the ceiling of the hideout.
After Rose gasped with fascination gleaming in her eyes, which allowed Peter to chuckle, motioning with his hand out to the left just a bit where the rabbit suddenly morphed, changing into a small ball of feiry light before becoming a thin slender figure; a snake, no a dragon! Its long being stretched, its orange-red appearance made the details that appeared in its scales, horns, and eyes, that much more impressive to Rose as she looked back to Peter who now held a light grip on her waist with his other hand. "How did you do that?" "It's magic, Flower. Do you still not believe in the island's power?" "Well…I don't know…"
The boy stood, pulling Rose up with him where the dragon then faded away into the thin air, becoming nothing but smoke that escaped through the hole leading all the way out to the very top of the tree-made hideout. Peter again pulled his flower's hand out in front of her, coming around her side where her innocent emerald eyes watched the teen in confusion. "Rose, believe in the island for just a few seconds and focus all your thoughts onto the fire. The tactic I use for my abilities is concentration, a clear and strong mind, along with a focused heart; the island can sense your uneasiness and it will only grant your full ability when truly ready. Now, perform the small motion I just did with you; fan out your fingers, but remember to concentrate."
Her gaze shifted to the fire, examining its ever-changing shades of red, orange, and occasionally yellow; Rose attempted emptying her thoughts, feeling the warmth of the flames teasing her palm's flesh with an imaginary embrace of heat. She grinned unknowingly, fanning out fingers in a bit different fashion from Peter's with a clear image in her mind of what she hoped the outcome would be. A surge of power travelled through the veins of her arm extended outward, mimicking the feel of fire as it passed through her blood, which gave Rose a shortened thrill of energy. Sure enough, the flames lifted, just as they had with Peter's demonstration yet this time, the figure formed into a stallion, galloping across what Rose had imagined as an open field much like the Fairy Gardens. Focused completely on her creation, she didn't notice the boys' and Peter's reaction, the boy teen's smile stretching from ear-to-ear while the others mouths lay ajar.
Peter hadn't believed Rose would catch on so quickly, but just as before with the kiss, the idea of believing in magic struck the fire behind his flower's eyes. Her fire-made figure was beautifully depicted for a rookie at magic, the stallion's long wild mane and tail blowing back as if a strong wind were carrying it with his large flank and chest muscles moving like a real horse, had it been galloping so quickly as well. Utterly blown away by his flower's potential, Peter watched as she quietly let her palm drop to her side, the flames extinguishing into the air where all the Lost Boys sat around the room in silence. Felix smiled, again leaning forward with his long staff before him. "Nice going flower, you'll be besting Peter in magic battles in no time."
Rose giggled, causing Peter's heart to skip a beat as she looked back at him, her long red braid sliding over her shoulder as she softened her gaze. "How do you think I did Peter?" "Marvelous, love," he couldn't help but to break out in a smile, "Marvelous…"
