Peter inhaled sharply and got to his feet. He could feel the ebb and flow of the island, was deeply entwined with it on a level that no one could really conceive. That was why he had almost died when his connection with the island had been severed while in London, like he had been a fish ripped out of water and expected to adapt to the air. Right now he felt something different; Wendy was on the move. For awhile now he had watched her every morning as she walked around the top of her cave but recently she had started to lift a hand to him in greeting. It was a small sign and she never said anything and disappeared before he could move but it was a start.

"Where are you going?" he mused and half smiling left his hollow tree and pursued her but kept a distance. Sometimes she would leave the cave at dawn or dusk, likely because she was bored silly, and roam around but never too far and avoided doing so if there as anyone near. She had turned into some shy woodland creature, like a badger but he knew better then to underestimate her now. Badgers don't let go of their prey until they hear bones crack.

Peter paused as he felt Wendy's presence become faint and he knew she must be on water now. He could still sense her, he could feel everything in the seas as he could on land, and right now Wendy was headed towards Skull Rock. The small island was off limits to everyone but those he gave express permission to visit, which was only Felix. Wendy had seen it from a boat but did not venture further, deterred by the horrible visage of the place, which was the point. She had told him it was because she did not want to see the hourglass but it seemed she had changed her mind.

"What is she doing?" he frowned and disappeared, leaving the jungle around him stirring and buzzing, the air still heavy with condensation after the last rainfall.


Skull Rock was just as foreboding as the last time she saw it and she focused on the entrance – not a screaming mouth – and tied her boat to a rusty spike. She thought the terrible storms might have destroyed it but it still stood. Tendrils of lose hair whipped back and forth in the wind, she had gathered the mass up and tied it into a messy bun before heading out in the boat. She inhaled, absent-mindedly fingering the old thimble she still wore around her neck and headed into the dark gap, trying to ignore the fact that she was heading into something that was effectively Peter's tomb.

He had told her once that early on he had found a small hourglass that over time got larger but the sand continued to pour. The sand trickling down was his remaining years and it was now slowly running out. Wendy moved up the roughly hewn steps, boots splashing into puddles and walked into a massive cave that was practically smothered in vines and seaweed. It seemed that the storms had done some damage, a wall at the back had partially collapsed, wind whistling through the cracks loudly.

She was not prepared for what she saw. The hourglass was huge, stretching up to the craggy domed ceiling and light glinted dully off the smeared glass. It was neglected, years worth of salt and wind almost making the sand inside impossible to see but she could make out something glittering within. She could hear a persistent susurrous as the sand poured before collecting at the bottom half of the glass. Seaweed covered the base of the hourglass but she could make out a huge pile of skulls and bones, as if it was propping it up. Wendy stood back, taking it all in and crossed her arms.

"It's a bit melodramatic," she remarked to herself and behind her someone began chuckling. Wendy turned, quickly pulling out her sword and pointed it at Peter. She knew he would come, knew he wouldn't be able to resist and so her first thought was to arm herself. He calmly leaned back, eyeing the weapon thoughtfully.

"You've been practising?"

"Yes."

"Good." he said and meant it. He had been teaching her, before they hit their snag, so he was pleased to see that she still took his warning seriously. He wanted Wendy to be able to defend herself. However he hadn't really imagined he would be on the receiving end of her sword, only in his dreams and they were a lot more fun.

"What do you want?" she asked, sharp point still at his throat. She would not harm him, not unless he gave her reason to. She felt vulnerable being face to face with him after so long, his gaze too penetrating but then he smirked. For all of Peter's expression she may as well be pointing a feather at him. The smugness was unbearable.

"Well, I was curious. You haven't been outside in years, at least not this far. Why come here?"

"I was also curious," she answered, moving back but kept her eyes trained on his face.

"Well there it is, my own personal countdown," he moved to the hourglass, ignoring the wavering sword in his face. Wendy licked her lips, hand sweating on the hilt. She didn't know why she was still brandishing her weapon, only that it made her feel better.

"How – how long do you have?"

"Oh about sixty years, give or take," he said nonchalantly. Wendy stared at him sadly, weapon finally lowering.

"How can you be so flippant? Why aren't you using this time to change what's going to happen?"

"Why on earth would I want to do that?" he asked, truly confused and Wendy felt like rushing at him. He was so obtuse, so arrogant still. Had their separation done nothing?

"You know when I left I hoped that you would take that time to reflect, as I have done, to think on your life and what choices you've made. But you're still pig headily heading down the same path, making the same stupid decisions."

He laughed in shock, eyebrows almost jumping into his hairline. "Stupid?"

"Yes, stupid! You know I came here to help you, despite everything you've done. To help you and everyone else here because you obviously won't do anything to really save yourself," she said, jabbing the point of her sword in the sandy ground. All this had been building in her for years and only now had an outlet. Peter sneered.

"I told you years ago that you wouldn't find some little boy in here that needs rescuing and that hasn't changed," he said through his teeth, humour gone. "I don't need help, I don't need saving."

"Rubbish. You've been spending centuries attempting to save yourself but only in the way you think matters. And why else are the Lost Boys here if not to help you?" she cocked an eyebrow, waiting for an answer, watching Peter roll his eyes because she had got him there, she knew it.

"They're here to help me win. They do as they're instructed."

"They are not pawns for you to move and dispose of! There are more important things in life than just winning!" she cried and came forward but stopped herself. Peter eyes flashed darkly as he shook his head.

"No there's not, not when it concerns this place. I know you think I'm some power hungry madman but this goes so far beyond that. You don't know."

"Then tell me!" she gazed at him desperately and Peter looked aside, jaw clenched. Wendy blinked, mouth open. "You...you don't remember do you? You don't know why it's so important that you succeed, only that you must."

Peter shrugged. "I know I'll die and this place will be no more, that's enough," he gazed at her, his displeasure turning into something warm until he appeared to be drinking her in. "You knew I'd follow you, knew I'd come. I know you miss me...leave this place with me, don't go back there Wendy, it's been long enough."

Wendy shook her head. "Not yet, I must do this even if I get nowhere."

"I don't know what you hope to find. There's only one way to save my heart and he's so close now," he sighed, hungry eyes losing focus. Wendy gazed at him sadly.

"We both know there's another way. You could leave."

"Leave?" he smiled in disbelief, as if she were mad.

"You could go back to London, or some other place in our world. Your heart would be healed, like it started to become. You just have to reattach your shadow and go," she reasoned softly but knew that she was losing him.

"You think I'd leave this place now when I'm so close? You think I'd leave you?" he moved up to her, reaching for her face but Wendy leaned back, lifting the sword again. She looked disappointed and angry.

"And it didn't cross your mind once that I'd leave with you, did it? That would mean freeing me," she showed him the black dot on her arm, the poison in her veins, and his mouth thinned. "Not once have you offered to cure me."

"You're not sick."

"That's not the point you bastard and you know it! Pretty dresses and all that rubbish but the one thing that I really need you still withhold. You don't care and that will be your downfall!" she moved back, once again wondering why she was set on saving him when more often than not it appeared there was nothing left to save. But for all her anger and disgust she could not stop hoping because so much hung on it, her life for one.

"You think I won't give it to you because I don't care? I've just spent four years proving it!" his eyes flashed angrily and his teeth bared. "If I gave it to you you'd just leave!"

"You don't know that because you've never given me the choice. You're too scared," she whispered and he blinked. That was his problem at the core, he was frightened of losing her. Wendy felt sadness clawing up her throat, tightening it. "You realise that if I come back to the camp things will be different between us?"

"In what way?" he asked sullenly, hardly able to stare at her.

"Well for one I won't share your bed. They''ll be no kissing, no touching, none of that. I won't be like that to you any more," she said and it hurt to say. He stared at her in horror.

"Why?!"

"Because it wouldn't be right."

"Who cares about right?" he yelled, approaching her and she moved back even more.

"I do! You betrayed me and I still have some self respect left. Even if I forgive you it doesn't excuse what you've done. I can't give you what you want."

Otherwise it will be like he's won, she thought quietly but that was like playing games and this was more important than that.

"You're just doing this to torment me. Haven't you done enough?" he raged and Wendy felt like she had been punched in the gut and she laughed in amazement.

"You're unbelievable. Do you know why I've been able to endure all these years and you haven't? Because I have a life worth living and if I have to stay here then I must protect it. If that means saving you than I will. This is my life and if I am ruthless with it then that's all down to you."

"What life?" he demanded but Wendy would not answer. He had backed her against a wall and the only way of escaping was up. She knew that she had to run, there was something in Peter's eyes, something fragile and insane that was about to snap. He would not let her go this time. She saw a gap in the wall and some crumbling steps and scrabbled through it. Once she was outside she could reach her boat and escape. She was not skilled enough to travel over sea to land with a thought, not yet anyway.

"Stop!" Peter shouted and instead of being angry he sounded panicked. Wendy ran up, falling over loose stones until she came out into a darkly lit rooftop, situated at the back of the rock. Above her a curved wall of stone shot upwards, completely covered in vines. It was massive. Wendy scrabbled around it, looking over the edge and she saw that vines cascaded down into the waters below. She could climb down. Peter appeared, staring up at the green wall before him and took a step back. Wendy forced her hands into the green foliage, looking for something to grip, and the sword still in her hand collided with something solid.

CLANG!

What Wendy had taken to be no more than stone rang through the air and Wendy dropped her sword as it vibrated violently in her hand. She had hit metal.

"Fuck," Peter whispered and she looked back to see him standing in the doorway, staring up in dread. Wendy stood back, trying to make out what it was when the plinth she was standing on started to tremble and she threw out her arms for balance. She could make a distinct shape out of the metal thing now; it was a dome.

"What is this?" she shouted but not waiting for an answer she grabbed hold of the vines and pulled. They ripped away in clumps and she used all her strength to clear it away until she could make out some details.

"Stop!" Peter yelled again but did not come any closer. Wendy stared at the thing she had unveiled in confusion.

"It's a cage?" she had uncovered a door but the bars of the cage were still hidden under leaves and seaweed. Finally she turned to Peter for answers.

"Well done Wendy, you've discovered the Never Bird," he answered dryly, still looking at the cage hesitantly, like it could explode any second. "Now get back here."

"You've kept it in a cage!?" she shouted furiously and grabbed the handle and was about to open it when she was pulled back roughly, Peter's arm around her waist but she held onto the handle.

"Don't let it out!"

"Get off me!" she screamed and clawed at his arm, kicking back at his legs until his grip loosened. Wendy ripped the gate wide open and Peter dropped her suddenly, so Wendy quickly blocked the doorway with her body. He moved forward and slammed his hand against the door to close it but it was too late. Something inside started to stir and the rock they stood on shook violently.

"You've woken her!" he shouted and there was a definite note of fear in his voice now. Wendy wanted to laugh in his face but the look in his eyes was pure panic.

"But it's just a bird..." she stared up, hands curling around the bars either side of her and finally saw the infamous Never Bird.

She had imagined something like a peacock and she was right except this peafowl was the size of a bus. Once she had jokingly imagined riding on the Never Bird, not realising that she could quite comfortably. It was huge, it's tail feathers a dozen meters long and almost reaching the bottom of the cage. It's talons were sharp and long, deadly and she knew they could slice through her like butter. Once the bird must have shone pearly white, it's feathers gleaming and once flared it must have been achingly beautiful to witness. But after years of being exposed to the elements the bird's plumage was now dull and bedraggled. It was perched up high, it's crested head hidden under a wing but as Wendy gazed open mouthed the bird lifted it's head up and stared down at her. It's large eyes flickered like blue fire and it was cold.

"Peter," Wendy breathed, unable to take her eyes away from the stirring bird.

"It's okay, just don't make any sudden movements," he whispered. At the sound of his voice the bird suddenly stood and Peter grabbed Wendy but it was too late. The gate swung shut, locking Wendy in.

"Peter!" she shoved on the bars and he pulled but it would do no good. She was stuck and the bird above was shaking it's feathers out. She repeated his name, heart racing with fear and he pressed himself against the cage, staring at her intensely and she felt his hands curling around her own on the bars.

"You'll be okay. I know you'll be okay," he said breathlessly.

"What – what do you mean?" she was shaking now and if she wasn't so scared she'd be practically alight with embarrassment. How on earth had this happened? She had wanted to find the bird but not like this. Peter stared at her intensely, eyes locked on hers.

"The Never Bird has always been on the island, it's here for a purpose. Look behind you, move slowly," he instructed and Wendy craned her head back. She had overlooked it at first, thinking it was more vines but as she stared she could make out a clear T shape.

"Scales?"

"Yes. The Never Bird is used to weigh hearts. A feather is placed on one scale and a heart on the other, to check if they balance."

"W- why?"

"To see if they're pure or not," he explained very quietly, never taking his eyes off her. His mouth curled. "That's why she's in a cage Wendy, she kills anything with an impure heart."

"Oh god," Wendy gasped and stiffened but he cupped her face through the bars, smiling.

"You have nothing to fear. Remember I told you that you're the only one on this island with a pure heart? That I could prove it? I meant that."

"She won't eat me?" she was still shaking but started to take his words to heart. It had been a doubt that gnawed at her, whether she was still pure of heart or not. It seemed Peter was the only one who never doubted.

"She much prefers me. She's the only thing on this island that can kill me. If she got out she'd lay waste. You'd be the only one left standing."

"You did this once?"

"Yes and I walked out. You will too," he leaned through the bars and kissed her forehead and Wendy captured his mouth as he pulled back, unable to stop herself. All the angry words and restrictive measures that she had just expressed seemed as flimsy and ephemeral as the sand pouring in his hourglass. She kissed him hard, years worth of pent up longing and love pushing her against the bars. She only pulled back when she felt something soft brush along her cheek and looked down to see a large white feather floating to the ground.

"You have to do this now, she won't let you leave until you have. Pick up the feather and place it on a scale," Peter instructed as he took her hand and then waved his fingers over it until her skin shone. "This will stop it from hurting."

My heart, she thought and placed a hand against her chest as she snatched up the feather. It was beating hard against her ribcage, the only thing keeping it in place. Wendy closed her eyes and only opened them when red light shone through her lids. Her heart was beating in her hand, shinning and bright. She had not felt a thing.

"See? Not a spot on it," he said proudly and Wendy smiled weakly, thinking how odd it was that Peter Pan was proud that she was a good person at heart. She turned, still staring at her heart and on shaking legs she walked to the weighing scales. Her feet sunk into what she took to be dark sand but it was lighter, puffing up in the air as she disturbed it. Glancing up at the bird, who was watching her patiently, Wendy crouched down and inspected it. It was not sand but ash. The dark grey matter completely covered the ground but directly under the perch a large pile of it was gathered. Wendy stopped at the scales, mouth open in wonder and gazed up at the Never Bird.

"Are you a phoenix?" she asked but the bird just blinked at her. It made sense, an immortal bird on an island that never ages. She did not know if she was right but as Wendy placed the feather down she thought the bird looked incredibly sad, something in it's eyes almost human and she wondered how long the bird had been caged for. It wasn't it's fault that it was forced to spend an eternity with impure boys but she was the one made to suffer. It was an injustice but Wendy knew despite how bad she felt she could not risk Peter's life.

"And your heart," Peter broke into her thoughts, rousing both Wendy and the Never Bird. Peter avoided looking at the bird and she could see why. Every time he spoke it's feathers ruffled in irritation. Wendy moved to the other scale and gazed down at her heart. It was unblemished, there was not a mark on it and yet she hesitated. Peter had placed his pure heart here once but now look at him.

"That won't happen to me," she vowed quietly and placed her heart on the scale and stepped back. The wind stopped blowing, the very air was holding it's breath as the scales swayed, moving from side to side until finally they settled and balanced. Wendy grinned up at the bird and watched it incline it's long neck to her. She had passed and the gate behind her swung open. The door was not made for the bird, it never had been.

"Come on Wendy," Peter urged, not daring to go in any further but held his hand out. Wendy stared up at the Never Bird as she replaced her heart.

"I don't have any right to ask for your help, not while you're in here but I hoped..." she trailed off as the Never Bird flew down from it's perch suddenly, wings powerfully buffeting the air, and Wendy was stuck to the spot as the bird started to sing. The sound was beyond beautiful but heart wrenchingly sad and as she listened she realised that she had heard it before. It was Peter's lullaby.

Instead of taking her memories away the music did the opposite. Wendy was suddenly flooded with images and sounds that were not her own, a bombardment of old memories that made her reel. She saw the island back when it was young, back when it was not a jungle but filled with oaks and pines. She saw the Never Bird in the large beautiful filigree cage, hoovering in the air over scales shinning in the sun as two people approached. Peter, looking no more than twelve, stopped at the scales and placed his heart on the plater as a winged woman in blue stood outside, smiling encouragingly.

"I was right, you are the one," the fairy said, shaking with some undefinable emotion as the scales balanced and Peter smiled. It was not a smile full of maliciousness or arrogance but simple childlike glee and his heart was not just pure but shining like it was made from spun gold. And finally Wendy understood what Peter had forgotten and as the bird flew back up Wendy approached him sadly.

"What is it?" he asked curiously and she wondered if he had heard the bird song at all.

"I saw things, I saw your past. It was you Peter, you once owned the Heart of the Truest Believer. It was yours."

He gazed at her warily, not comprehending but then his gaze became hard and he laughed. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I saw it, it's true. You've forgotten Peter, just like the spinning sisters said," she stared at him with pity and it was the one thing that could drive him off.

"No, it's not true," he swore and glared at her but she just continued to gaze at him with a seemingly unlimited amount of compassion.

"You stopped believing in yourself," she said softly and his eyes flared with a painful remembrance before he suddenly vanished, leaving her by the cage alone.


a.n:

I think the Blue Fairy is shady as hell. More to come!