Hey everyone! Again I apologize for the lack of updates lately, but I just started school, so naturally I haven't really had time to get much writing done.

Thank you, Gingerbread Kisses, for favouriting! Your gift something not something Peter Pan related, but it is a passionate kiss from the Host Club member of your choice. Enjoy. ; }

X. Brand New

At first he thought it was all a dream. There was no pain; there was no light at the end of a tunnel. But the fear was far too real. Then again, when one had a nightmare, the fear was often so intense it could give one a heart attack, or at least some sort of seizure. But Kyouya had never really been one to have silly nightmares.

Then the chilling thought flickered through Kyouya's unconscious mind. He hadn't remembered falling asleep since Pan had come to see him, so what if this whole amazing adventure, the entire beautiful twist his mediocre life had decided to take, and Peter were all fleeting figments of his dozing brain? But the wonder, the magic, the sheer thrill was all too real. Then again, when one had a dream, the magic was often so beautiful that, once awake, one would grow very depressed from the feeling that his subconscious lied to him, dangling ephemeral hope and wonder before his face only to snatch it away when the accursed alarm clock chimed. But Kyouya had never been one to have silly dreams.

How, then could it be that he felt no pain?

The images and words of Kyouya's intricate thought process blurred out of focus, and soon he could hear very faint sounds. They reminded him briefly of a schoolyard with lots of playing children, laughing and arguing. But it was as if he was merely an onlooker. It was a sound he had grown accustomed to in his years of elementary school. Kyouya Ootori had always been merely an onlooker. It wasn't until recently that he had learned what it was like to truly enjoy himself. He had Pan to thank for that.

Slowly the sounds grew louder and the darkness dimmed. Soon the world around him faded into view. He was hesitant to truly focus on what he was seeing for fear he may only see the dull ceiling of his nursery, and his adventure would be over. It wasn't until Peter's gentle voice whispered his name that he gained the courage to look around. Above him the world was green with white streams of light peeking in between cracks in the leafy ceiling. The walls surrounding him were made of tree bark and twigs and various other things, and beside him Peter's flawless face grinned a shining grin.

"Kyouya?" he whispered again. "Oh, thank goodness!" Peter shouted. Outside Kyouya could hear hushed whispers and sighs of relief. Peter reached to hug him but stopped. He didn't want to hurt his possibly injured new friend, after all.

"What…what happened?" Kyouya's thin voice strained. He knew he had been shot; that much was true. Maybe in this world there was no pain? But Neverland was already too good to be true. Still, he ran his hand down his chest to feel for blood.

"No, don't touch—" Peter tried to warn him, but Kyouya had already winced and jerked his now bleeding hand away from the broken glass on his chest. "I'm sorry!" Peter cried dramatically. "I should have removed the glass, but I wanted you to see why you're still alive in case I wasn't here when you woke up. That was stupid. I'm sorry."

Without warning, Peter grabbed Kyouya's hand and put the bleeding fingers in his mouth. Kyouya gasped, and all the blood seemed to rush to his face. He wasn't used to this kind of treatment. He had never really known what it was like having someone care so much for him. Peter didn't really think much of it. It was almost habitual; he was used to treating the Lost Boy's wounds since he was the oldest and their leader. Still, the strange intimate contact with another human being that was so foreign to Kyouya made his heartbeat speed up. It was only natural that it should make him nervous. No one had done this for him before. It was natural that he was nervous. It was natural that he kind of appreciated the special treatment. It was natural. Right?

"You uh…didn't have to do that. I appreciate the consideration, but I could have handled it on my own," Kyouya said in a strangely unconfident tone for him as Peter wrapped soft leaves around his wounded fingers.

"You're right. I should have made Tootles do it," he huffed, "but I wouldn't trust him to take care of you. If he had hurt you again, I would have fed him to a crocodile." Kyouya shuddered. For some reason, violence did not suit Peter. His eyes were too kind and innocent. Though, it seemed like he could become very violent when someone he cared about was in danger.

"It was my mirror that saved you," Peter smiled. "I knew there was a reason I gave it to you. But glass probably wasn't the best shield. I should probably make sure you aren't hurt." Casually, Peter began unbuttoning Kyouya's shirt.

Kyouya's stomach lurched again. "I can do that myself," he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Why am I so nervous? he thought. He's just treating my wounds. He's not going to kill me or anything. It's natural that I should be nervous, I guess. I mean, another man is unbuttoning my shirt, which is something I've always thought of as an intimate thing. It's natural that I should feel uncomfortable. Right? Why does Pan make me question myself so much! He really is starting to get on my last nerve!

"Don't be silly," Peter smiled, breaking Kyouya from his inner battle and unbuttoning the last button. "You need some rest. You had quite a shock back there. Ooh…ouch." He finally looked down at Kyouya's chest and winced, breathing in a hissing breath.

"What is it?" Kyouya leaned his head up to get a look at what Pan was seeing. He was interrupted by Peter's hand on his forehead, pushing his head back to the ground.

"Just relax and think of something else. I'll take care of it." Then he smiled and said, "Don't you worry your pretty little head, Kyouya."

What is this guy's deal. Kyouya thought. He is perhaps the most confusing fellow I have ever met. Kyouya's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp, stinging pain in his lower chest followed by the clink of glass on the dirt floor.

"You're doing fine. It's just a bit of glass that cut your skin a little. Nothing too deep. There aren't too many pieces, so this shouldn't take too long."

"You would have made an excellent doctor," Kyouya said for lack of anything else to say.

Suddenly Peter stopped at looked stunned. He looked at Kyouya like he had just killed his puppy, but then quickly transformed his pained expression into an awkward smile. "No, I wouldn't have. Please don't say that."

"I would have just taken it as a compliment," Kyouya said, trying to hide his annoyance.

"A compliment?" Peter's smile disappeared and he started yelling like a maniac. "It's not a compliment to be told what to be and how to act! I will never become a man, so you can just forget it! Maybe you want to grow up and be a doctor or lawyer or something else with no time for fun or games, but I'm having no part of it!" Just as suddenly as he had started screaming, he smiled again and pulled another sliver of glass out of Kyouya's skin, squeezing Kyouya's hand with his unoccupied one to help him through the pain. "Only a few more to go. Hang in there."

He surely is a unique character.

"So why do you call them the Lost Boys?" Kyouya said, fishing for a subject change.

"They were lost," Peter began. "I found them."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, first of all, they either fell out of their carriages when they were babies or they ran away from home. Tootles was one of the ones who fell out of his carriage. He was never too bright," Peter smiled. "Pockets ended up in Neverland many moons ago. He was one of the first Lost Boys. I didn't know it at the time, but he was living in the forest near Fairy Colony for quite some time before I found him. Apparently he had fallen in love with one of fairies. He had been watching her for a long time before I found him, but he was too afraid to do anything about it." There was another wince of pain followed by a clink of glass. "Hang in there. You'll be fine. Anyway, when I found him, he was a complete wreck, inside and out. Every day I would visit him and try to get him to come live with me in the tree house, but he never wanted to come. But then one day I noticed him staring at Kanako, the lovely fairy princess. So I kept an eye on them both after that, noticing little glances that they always missed. But it was obvious that Kanako had noticed him, too. Finally, I tricked her into revealing her true feelings for him, and they have been inseparable ever since."

Something about the story seemed familiar to Kyouya. Another wince. Another clink.

"Katz was the next Lost Boy to show up," Peter continued. "I don't know why he ran away from home, but I don't really talk to him much. He was really weird. Well, he still is, but a little less than before. To tell the truth, when I first met him, I was a little scared of him. He was hiding in a cave when I found him. He hissed at me or something when he first saw me. Then he started talking about how he would curse me if I stepped foot in his 'domain,' whatever that means. He was afraid of the light, Kyouya. Afraid of light! He was dressed all in black with a hooded cape. I made him get rid of it, but he made one out of leaves anyway." Kyouya was growing used to the pain, but every time Peter pulled out a shard of glass, he would squeeze Kyouya's hand anyway, just to assure that he was okay. "It's almost over. You're doing great. But as I was saying, I kept trying to convince him that the light wasn't going to kill him, and eventually he overcame his fear and stepped outside. He did it to save a little fairy that was about to get attacked by a cat. It was short lived, and he still rarely comes out of his cave, but at least he comes out."

Something about this story rang a bell in Kyouya's mind, too, but he couldn't figure out what.

"Then there was Slightly. He ran away from home when he was very, very young. It was before he could talk, I guess. But even back then, everyone was afraid of him. You may have noticed he is kind of scary looking. He really is a good kid, though he has quite a temper. When he first came to Neverland, one of the pirates found him before I could. He noticed Slightly's scary face and though he would make a great pirate one day. When he grew up. He grew up a lot on the Jolly Roger. The pirate ships are the only place where anyone gets any older. I first noticed him during a battle between the pirates and the Lost Boys. The look he shot me gave me the creeps, but I couldn't let a kid in Neverland stay on a pirate ship. Nobody grows up here! Not on my watch! Naturally, the rest of the Lost Boys were afraid to attack him, because of his scary face and because he was the son of a pirate. None of the other pirates bothered them, but Slightly had a face that could freeze fire. The pirates liked to call him the 'Walking Blizzard.' So anyway, I had to rescue him from the pirates, no matter how much he scared me. When I finally saved him I found out how misunderstood he really was. He never wanted to be a pirate; he was just born with face that makes him look mean all the time, so he didn't think he had much choice. People seemed to forget he was young and he just wanted to play. So the boys and I taught him how to control his temper (though he still has a hard time with that) and now he's a Lost Boy. Lucky for us, with him around, no one will think to bother us." Peter stood up and wiped the blood from his hands on his clothes. "Okay, you're all finished," he said. Kyouya hadn't even noticed that Peter had wrapped his chest in long, medicinal leaves. Peter smiled and added "I think the Lost Boys have something to say to you." He hurried over to Kyouya and grabbed his hand and then dragged him to the doorway of his new, makeshift house. They opened the door to reveal Katz, Slightly, Tootles, Pockets, five or six Lost Boys Kyouya hadn't met before, and to Kyouya's surprise, Mitsukuni. They were all holding flowers and smiling widely, like they had been waiting for him to come out for quite a while. Slightly whispered and audible, "One, two, three," and the boys all said in unison, "Mr. Kyouya boy, please be our mother!" Kyouya hesitantly accepting their bouquets and said, "Well, I…I'm not really…" He looked over at Peter who was wearing the most pathetic yet adorable puppy dog face he had ever seen. He wanted to say no, but somehow he felt like he couldn't argue with that face. Mitsukuni tried that on him all the time, and so did his sister and lots of other people he knew, and it never worked. But for some reason, no matter how hard he wanted to, he just couldn't say no to that face!

He sighed and said, "Alright."

The small crowd roared with pre-pubescent cheers and a swarm of boys tackled Kyouya to the ground, hugging him and laughing and saying "Momma Kyouya! Momma Kyouya!"

"Who's gonna be our father?" Honey said.

"What's a father?" asked the Lost Boys.

"Someone who decides your future for you and makes you feel inadequate in everything you do, constantly telling you that you are not good enough and reminding you that you will never amount to anything." Kyouya said matter-of-factly.

"Why would we want one of those?" one of the boys cried.

"No one's gonna tell me what I should be!" said another one.

Soon, the whole crowd was shouting. "Wait!" Honey shouted, waving his arms in the air to get everyone's attention. "That's not what all father's do. On TV, most fathers love and protect their children. They give them words of advice when times get tough and keep their children safe from harm."

"Peter always makes sure we're safe," said Slightly.

"And he's given all of us advice," said Tootles.

"Peter should be our father!" another Lost Boy said. It was unanimous. The whole crowd was soon chanting "Peter! Peter! Peter!"

"Okay, okay," Peter said, standing on a rock with his head held high. "But only if you admit that I am the strongest, bravest, and handsomest of all the Lost Boys."

"Peter is the strongest, bravest, and handsomest of all the Lost Boys," the crowd repeated.

"Good," Peter flew to Kyouya and grabbed his hand. "Now I must go show Mother Kyouya around the island."

"Can we come, Peter?" The crowd shouted.

"Of course not! You've already seen the island."

"What about me?" Honey chirped.

"No, Honey. You stay here. This is only for Mother and Father," and before he could look back to see Honey's puppy dog pout, he flew away with Kyouya in tow.

"Wasn't that a little harsh?" Kyouya asked as they sailed through the air.

"He'll see the island eventually. I wanted it to just be me and you. Mother and Father."

Peter's hand around his suddenly felt warm and his heart lurched.

Never has one person confused me so much.

I didn't get the chance to read over this, so tell me what sucks and I'll edit it. I really did like the way this chapter turned out, though. =]

"Hit me with your rhythm stick. It's nice to be a lunatic!"

~RhythmStickLunatic