Welcome back my dear readers. I will be continuing this story, do not fear. It will take around two more chapters before we manage to get to the point where Maggie will be a teenager. That's when the action will really pick up.

Special thanks to:

Charliethompson67, James Birdsong, Alana Casto, Anonymousgal1990, luma, and crissy145.

Thank you for your support. This chapter is dedicated to you.

Chapter 4: "The Burial"

As the fairies cleared the trees, the glow that they were giving off illuminated the body that hung suspended by the vines that they held. My father's face was bathed in the warm glow of a small fairy that placed her small hands on his face and kissed his cheek tenderly. Wiping her tears from her small face as she drifted closer to the boys, the fairy suddenly transformed - taking on a much larger, more adult size. Now that she stood with the lost boys she turned back to the body, and lifted her hand and then slowly lowered it. At this gesture the remaining fairies carefully lowered my father's body to the ground until it was no longer suspended.

Emotion overtook me like a gigantic wave, making it impossible for me to move at first. After the first five seconds of overwhelming sorrow drowning out all other thoughts, I finally stumbled forward, tripping over a stone that jutted out from the ground and steadied myself on an arm that one of the lost boys had raised to keep me from falling down. The crowd of boys parted to let me through - and suddenly I found myself standing right in front of my father's lifeless body. His always animated face was now slack and emotionless. His hands were lying folded on his chest as if someone had thought to arrange him in a way that was at such odds with his extremely violent death.

I dropped to the ground at his side and gripped one of his large hands in/with both of mine.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry," I choked out. The guilt had been eating me up this whole time. If it hadn't been for me and Jack he would still have been alive. "We should have escaped on our own, and not begged for you to save us. I was too dumb and too scared to do anything - now I've lost everyone."

Overcome with despair and guilt I pressed my face to my father's chest and sobbed uncontrollably into his increasingly damp sweater. As I tried to hug him with my small arms I felt my right palm getting sticky. Confused I lifted my head and stared blankly at my now blood-covered hand. A whimper made it past my lips as my hand started to shake. An image overlaid my bloody palm — my father with a blade protruding from his back, the distant sound of screaming, my world falling apart — then all of a sudden a warm, comforting weight settled on my head. My vision cleared. I look up to see Rufio crouching next to me, his hand placed awkwardly on my head as if wanting to offer comfort, but not exactly knowing how to go about it.

"I know you miss him — we all do. He was the father we never had, and the best leader we could have hoped for. He lead with his heart, and loved those he met. I wish... I wish I had done a better job watching his back. I wish I could have kept you from this pain, I wish I knew how to keep my promise to him, and I wish I had been able to call him 'father'." Rufio took a shaking breath and ran a hand down his face.

"I never believed in adults in the past. All they had ever done was betray and harm me. He was the first. The first to offer protection, and the first to teach me that strength is meant to protect those weaker than you. He was a man worthy of respect, and a man who was loved by all who knew him. We will miss him, but we won't forget him."

I looked up at his face and saw tears in his eyes. This big tough guy who laughed when people said they'd kill him, suddenly he looked as lost as I felt. Without thinking about it I threw myself around his middle and hugging him I cried. I cried for the loss of my father, my brother and even my mother. I cried for the unfairness of it all, for being left in this strange place all by myself. And then I cried for him. This older boy who seemed so powerful and sure of himself, and yet who became weak and miserable — like I felt — due to the knowledge of my father's death. His pain and sorrow made me feel not quite as alone as I had originally felt.

When I first wrapped my small arms partway around him — managing to avoid impaling myself on any protruding spikes — I felt Rufio stiffen. But when I started crying, his muscles relaxed and he awkwardly patted my back.

All too soon a felt someone else touch my back to get my attention. Moving back from Rufio and wiping my tears in embarrassment with my sleeve, I glanced up at the face of the person standing over me. It was that fairy, the one who seemed to know my father. The one who had turned big.

She held a remarkable bouquet of unique flowers I had never seen before in my life. The blossoms glowed as if they were lit by fireflies from within.

The lady wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and lay the bouquet on my father's chest, placing his hand on the stems. I saw her exchange glances with Rufio, and then reach over and take my hand.

"Come dear, let's give them a moment alone." Her voice sounded kind as she spoke, but I hesitated, looking back at Rufio. He glanced down at me and gave me a nod.

The fairy lady helped me up from the ground and lead me back to the crowd of lost boys who stood still, watching the proceedings with sad expressions. Some of the boys had arms around each other, while others were trying to wipe the tears from their eyes without being obvious about it. I felt so much compassion for them in that moment, it was clear that they had cared for my father deeply.

I joined the boys with the lady by my side, and turned back to look at Rufio as he knelt before my father. This dangerous-looking teenager with bones, spikes and a punk-like hairstyle silently looked down at my father for a while. After several minutes of silence Rufio's broken voice could suddenly be heard.

"I have failed you. I made you a promise that I was unable to keep. I saved your daughter, but Hook got away with your son. Today I swear that as long as I live, I will do whatever it takes to free him from Hook's clutches. I will take your kids back home and then make sure that no one harms them ever again. I will not rest until I complete this task. To this I swear."

The little fairies that had fluttered around the body suddenly started making a ting-a-ling sound — like little bells in a variety of tones. From the forest came hundreds of other little lights, and as they approached I started to make out little figures with wings of all colours. As the fairies all gathered above her father's body, Rufio stood up and moved back to join the rest of the lost boys.

The air around my father's body started fluctuating and shimmering in a variety of different colours.

Then, right before my eyes, my father's body slowly started sinking into the moss as if it were quicksand. I made a move as if to rush forward, only to be stopped by a hand on my shoulder, holding me back. I looked up to see the fairy lady standing next to me, and looking down with a gentle smile. "Do not be afraid, Neverland is taking back one of its own. Peter Pan has always been a part of Neverland, and so he will never fully be gone."

Somehow this idea felt familiar to me as well as soothing. It sounded so similar to our own belief back home of our loved ones watching over us.

The fairy lady who stood next to me, broke away from the crowd of lost boys and walked over to where my father's body had lain just moments earlier. In his place, there was a sword. I remembered seeing him using it in his battle with Hook — right before he died...

She lifted the sword up with both hands and turned around, presenting it to Rufio. Slowly, he stepped away from the boys that had been crowded around him and walked forward until he was facing her.

The sounds of small little bells filled the air as they sped up almost as if in anticipation. Rufio reached out toward the sword with both hands, bowing his head in respect as he accepted it. The instant the he held the sword, all the fairies swarmed around him, fluttering around him in excitement as the sound of bells became nearly deafening. At that very moment Rufio started to shimmer and a pearlescent glow seemed to enclose him. The fairies fluttered about him like a swirling mass of colourful petals on a breeze. As the fairies finally startled to settle, Rufio was once more fully visible. Only that this time his skin and hair now had a pearl-like sheen to them.

He looked down at his arm in wonder. When his head lifted up, his eyes were filled with a mix of excitement and determination. Raising the sword in the air in a confident motion, his entire body followed the movement, lifting up off the ground until he was suspended a fair distance above us.

At that moment I felt a sudden fear that just like my father, Rufio was now going to be taken away from me. I made a grab for his booted foot, but it was already well out of my range. The fairy lady walked over to me and crouched down to hold my face between her palms. Her kind eyes looked into mine as she spoke to me in a comforting tone.

"Pan's powers are being transferred onto Rufio - he is now the official protector of Neverland. Do not fear, all will be well."

There was no way that she could have known that I would remember that last phrase well into my later years, and that those well meaning words would result in far reaching consequences.

That's it for now!

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