Peter remained frozen on the ledge, staring at the ground. Margaret's body remained still. Far too still. The rising tide started lapping against her hair. Hook's body was in far worse state of disarray, leaving no debate as to the state of his life.
Peter willed himself to gulp as he floated down from the ledge. He grasped onto his happy thoughts like a lifeline, an unsaid prayer living on his lips. The moment his feet touched the ground, he strode toward Margaret quickly. Tears slipped down his cheeks as he forced a grin.
"Margaret, you're ok now," Peter said, reaching a hand to support Margaret's head as he propped her up. Margaret didn't respond. "You're safe now. Hook…Hook won't be able to hurt you anymore," Peter continued in a quieter tone. He felt a tremble start to ripple through his hands.
"Please," Peter's voice cracked. He willed himself to draw his hand away from Margaret's head. The hand dripped with red. Peter's eyes were held hostage by the sight, his hand trembling more rapidly than before. A tsunami began soaking his cheeks. He gathered Margaret closer and pulled her into a tight hug.
The shadow of the Jolly Roger drawing near drew Peter's attention. The echoes of Lost Boys yelling to Peter somehow reached his ears. But Peter didn't truly comprehend any of the stimuli.
All Peter could hear was his sob that screeched through the caverns of Skull Rock.
!
The procession was silent as the Lost Boys carried Margaret into the hideout. Fresh bandages wrapped the back of Margaret's head and other parts of her body. Tootles felt silent tears line his cheeks as he approached Margaret's still corpse. He grasped a hand, horrified at the cool sensation he was met with.
Peter paced around outside, uncontrollably crying as Slightly wrapped an arm around Peter and whispered every comfort he could conjure. Nothing seemed to quiet Peter, but Peter couldn't bear to be alone, nor could Slightly give up on trying to soothe their leader. Tootles returned his gaze to Margaret as the other Lost Boys bowed their heads and shed their own tears of grief.
They'd been too late.
!
The moon shone a calm, pale light into Hangman's Tree. Peter sat in a chair by Margaret's side, grasping a hand too tightly as he stared at her, practically willing her to awaken from death. The day had been long, not just from the battle, but from the grieving that had been undertaken afterwards.
Peter's head still stormed with more thoughts than could be healthy for an individual to possess. Anger at the crew and all parties involved for not planning more quickly. Fear…so much fear. Fear of breaking the news to Wendy. The fear of being alone.
The underlying emotion that stung the most was the despair. The unquenchable despair at the result of their operation. All of the planning, the hard work, the risk, was ultimately for nothing. Margaret was retrieved, only for Peter to throw away their efforts. If he'd just kept Margaret with him, instead of ordering her to go away…
What if? What if? What if?
All of the what if's played in Peter's mind like a continuing real. He couldn't escape from them. They were his prison, specifically fashioned to create the utmost distress for Peter. The tears broke through his stoic expression. Peter's hands shook as he brought Margaret's hand to his lips to brush a watery kiss against them once more.
A twinkle caught Peter's eyes. He looked up to see a crying Tinkerbell approaching, her space split with grief. I'm so sorry Peter. Peter bowed his head as the tears dripped onto his tunic. Tink patted his shoulder comfortingly.
"Why was I so stupid? I thought for a moment…for a moment I convinced myself that we might…I'm so stupid—" Peter repeated to himself under his breath. Tink felt her heart break further.
We should take her home soon. Wendy would want—
"Please," Peter pleaded with Tink, his distraught face looking up at her. "Please," was all that Peter could continue with. Tink bowed her head, a sign of her agreement to allow Peter more time.
Just…if you need to talk, please let me know.
Peter nodded his head absently. Tink took her leave.
!
Tootles walked in with bunches of flowers lining his arms. A frown fell on his face as he saw Peter sitting by Margaret just as he'd done before, his face staring at her in the same disbelieving shock. As much as Tootles wished to beg Peter to sleep, Slightly had received probably the worst scolding anyone had ever witnessed in Neverland earlier just by implying that Peter should go to sleep for a while. Tootles didn't wish to meet Peter's wrath now.
Instead, Tootles simply walked up to Margaret's side and started lining her body with flowers. Peter didn't appear to notice Tootles' presence, but Tootles had a feeling that Peter knew he was there. Just as Tootles turned to leave, Peter spoke.
"I wish she was still here."
Tootles walked up to Peter's side, feeling his own tears threaten to dampen his cheeks. "I wish so badly that she was still here." Peter broke down into tears. Tootles hugged Peter, holding back his own tears to comfort Peter's wounded cries.
"I wish she was here too," Tootles whispered as Peter cried. "Do you think we should…we should tell…?"
"Not yet," Peter replied almost inaudibly. "I can't face Wendy—I just…"
Tootles didn't ask anything further, noticing just how much Peter struggled to string together his thoughts. All the light in Peter's eyes had long hollowed into suffering. Peter's shoulders slumped forward as he sat helplessly by Margaret's side. Tootles could scarcely recognize Peter in this state.
"I…I think I'll go look for others. We'll need to think about cooking dinner soon."
Peter shuddered at the mention of food, stifling back a tinge of green that threatened to sully his features. Tootles frowned, deliberately avoiding a mention of the matter. He squeezed Peter's shoulder before leaving the hideout. Peter was alone with Margaret once again.
Clutching Margaret's hands, Peter leaned forward to be closer to her. He gently reached out to swipe some flowers away from Margaret's side so that he could have an easier reach. Silent tears fell down his tense jaw.
"I'm so sorry, Margaret," he said quietly, planting a kiss on Margaret's palm. "We failed you. You believed in us and we failed you. I could've done something sooner—we could've done something sooner. But we didn't. You shouldn't have had to suffer for our failings." Peter swiped away a few stray tears that dribbled onto his lips. "I wish I could've said this to you when you were here, but I really liked you a lot. I mean, you probably knew that but—what I mean to say is…I grew to like you more than I think I've ever had anyone else before. Grown ups might call it…'love'. Being around you was different than how it'd been with Wendy and Jane and…I just wish I could've told you," Peter said as his voice broke.
He rested his forehead against Margaret's hand, which was still clutched in his fingers. His face strained considerably as he allowed himself to make quiet cries in the empty hideout. All of his hopes that he'd foolishly allowed to grow during Margaret's stay had died with her. Peter was left now to pick up the pieces, of which he was woefully unprepared to do. Peter given up anything to get her back, even the Lost Boys in a very guilty part of his mind.
Peter stood up, composing himself as much as he could before leaning down to give Margaret a kiss of farewell on her lips. He couldn't keep her here for too long. Wendy needed to know.
As Peter's lips brushed against Margaret's, he almost believed that he felt a light squeeze on his hand for a moment. Peter pulled back after a lingering moment, keeping his eyes closed to push back the tears. Peter opened his eyes.
Margaret's open eyes were staring back at him.
!
A/N: Haha, now you know why I was urging all of you guys to keep reading! Obviously, if you want explanations, you'll have to wait till next chapter. However, I think this chapter will have helped you guys understand why I wanted to post both 28 and 29 at the same time.
As for this story, there are about 1-2 more chapters left. I may do more than that, since I have a lot of ideas for the epilogue. However, that may end up being a mini-story that has a more episodic feel and nature. A one-shot collection if you will, taking place within the universe of this story. I won't guarantee that will happen, but it's definitely something I'm considering.
Apologies as always for taking a while to get chapters out. At this point I believe it's been 4-5 years that I've been working on this story, due to all the random hiatuses I take when I lose inspiration. I'll try to finish this story soon, but I have college finals this week before I'm off for the summer. No idea if I'll have a summer job that will take up my time. However, I will fulfill my promise of finishing this story within my lifetime.
That's all for now. See you guys next chapter.