Be glad everyone! We finished this early just for you! That and I wouldn't leave Kristen alone...poor girl...
I love everyone who reviewed!!!! *GLOMPS* Yay! It makes me want to just write and write and write until I can't write any more! That's why this chapter is out so early. We finished it today 'cause I bothered Kristen and bothered Kristen. Yess indeedy! Now review if you haven't and you want a fudgesicle! I know you do!
Disclaimer: I like Peter, I like liver. Meow Mix, Meow Mix please deliver! I don't own Peter Pan, neither does Kristen. We DO own Aurelia we do we do... MWAHAHAHAH. Oh, and by the way, I'd like to own the Meow Mix jingle, but that's a whole other story.
"OUCH!" Peter yelped rubbing his head. The boys burst into fits of laughter and Peter couldn't help smiling back at them. He really needed to get that strange girl out of his head. Little did she know that for the past few days he had been spying on her in his spare time. He was dying of curiosity. Where did she come from? How did she get here? When he asked the mermaids who she was, they looked at each other and quickly changed the subject, usually onto something like himself. What was worse is that every time he followed her, she always managed to some how disappear. Either by the lagoon, or near the strange rock formations, he'd search for hours but then he wouldn't see her again until perhaps the next day. Maybe she was avoiding him? He immediately shook his head at that obviously incorrect thought. That couldn't be it!
"Peter!" Nibs shouted, "Pay attention and throw the ball!" Peter shook his head, willing the mysterious violet eyes to disappear from his mind's eye and hurled the ball at Nibs's head.
Aurelia heard voices up ahead and, not being one to deny her curiosity, hurried forward to see six boys tossing a ball to each other. Peter wasn't there. He was probably off to bother the mermaids again for information on this strange interloper.
"These must be the Lost Boys," she thought before climbing out of the bushes. She caught the ball as the boy in the rabbit outfit misfired and it whirled towards her face. She smiled as the boys' jaws dropped.
"Hi! You must be the Lost Boys!" she said, tossing the ball into the air and catching it again. They all nodded. She introduced herself, and the boys, always looking for another begged her to join in the game. She felt an immediate liking for them all and agreed. She tossed the ball into the air. It was up for grabs and all of the boys went for it, banging their skulls against one another, and none of them even touching the ball. Aurelia stifled a giggle. She had a sudden idea.
"Have any of you heard of kickball?" she asked. The boys looked at each other blankly, and turned back to her.
"Duuuh, what's kickball?" the one in the bear outfit asked. Aurelia grabbed the ball.
"It's a game! I'll show you!" she cried, walking towards the fields of the safari. The boys darted after her and she explained the rules of the game as they walked. Soon they had divided into two teams, the Twins and Slightly, against Cubbie, Nibs and Tootles. Aurelia was proclaimed the pitcher. The boys had a tremendously fun time kicking the ball and running from base to base. After a few hours, they ceased playing and just collapsed in the grass. Aurelia had a giant grin plastered across her face as she closed her eyes and let the sun bathe her in its warmth. The boys weren't comfortable with so much quiet, though, and thus bombarded her with questions.
"Where are you from Lia?" one twin asked, the other echoing him. All of the boys had unceremoniously nicknamed her Lia, because Aurelia was too much to spit out.
"Uh, how did you get here?" Cubbie asked.
"How old are you?"
"How long are you going to stay?"
"Do you know any good stories?"
Aurelia held up her hand, and laughed
"One at a time! The answers are as follows: London, stowing away on Hook's ship, 16, indefinitely and yes I do." The boys burst out in giggles.
"Why were you on Hook's ship?"
"I was running away...from the police. I saw the ship there and jumped on to hide."
"Why were you running from the police?"
"I stole something," she said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. She was afraid they would be disgusted and think her a horrible person.
"You know how to steal?" The reaction was quite the opposite, the boys were in awe of her.
"Of course," she said, bolstered by confidence, "I've had to steal to survive, have had to for the past 9 years."
"Can you steal anything?"
"Of course," she responded with a shrug of her shoulders. The boys looked at each other, mischief glinting in their eyes.
"Anything at all?" Tootles repeated slowly. She nodded.
"Bet she couldn't steal Hook's hook," Slightly said offhandedly.
"Bet I could," she defended.
"No, you'd have to manage to get on the pirate ship, and then steal it right off of his hand. It'd be impossible," Nibs said, catching on to the game. Aurelia's eyes narrowed in determination. Her mind was already calculating out the proper way to steal it.
"I'll have that hook. Just you watch!" she said determinedly. The boys looked at her with wide eyes.
"What if you're caught?" Tootles asked. Aurelia grinned wickedly.
"A good thief is NEVER caught," she answered. There was a quiet as Aurelia planned in her mind, and the boys were wondering if they should feel guilty for putting her up to the steal. Tootles broke the silence by tugging on her shirt.
"Lia.. will you teach us more games tomorrow?" he asked looking up at her with big puppy eyes.
"And tell us stories?!" the Twins added. She smiled and gave them all a curtsy.
"I'd be honored to," she responded, before looking up at the sky. "I must be going boys! The next time I see you, that hook will be MINE!" Her violet eyes lit up with the thought of a new challenge for her to face.
That night, Aurelia was dressed in a completely black outfit. She would have loved to say that it was her amazing talent with the needle that had created the tiny stitching and the perfect hems. But no, one of the mermaids had taken pity on her, and sewn the outfit. Aurelia had new respect for the mermaid. Of course Aurelia would respect anyone who could even hold the needle without managing to prick herself ten times before they had even started. She flinched at the memory.
Aurelia tied and extra cloth around her neck to wrap around the hook. She didn't want to spear herself with the hook while swimming away did she? She dove into the murky water and swam to the ship. The sun was still up, it was just about to slowly dunk into the sea. There she took a break, clinging to the ship and just letting herself float trying to catch her breath which was lost in that extremely difficult swim. She had to make sure she had enough energy to manage to get upon the ship, and to swim back immediately, in case something went wrong. She heard a horrid bellowing toneless voice that appeared to be trying to sing, followed by wild hoots and thunderous applause. She rolled her eyes. What on earth was going on up there?
"The singer must be drunk," she thought to herself before climbing the side of the ship, she hopped upon the deck, crouching behind a very large cannon.
"It must be rough on the ears for the one who was firing that thing," she thought, wincing. She crept along the side of the ship and hide behind some barrels containing gun powder. Aurelia cautiously peeped her head over the top, just in time to witness a man in a giant red coat flinging a door open, ran to the balcony that was just above Aurelia's hiding spot, and roaring out a name that sounded like "Scee? Smee? Snee?" She noticed the golden hook in place of his left hand. The mate scurried up the stairs to the upper deck where the captain was situated.
"Hello sir, hope you don't mind having that hook stolen right from under your nose," she mumbled under her breath. A small, whimpering, over weight man came fumbling towards the captain. He also appeared to be drunk. Aurelia paid no attention to what the two discussed. She thought she caught the word "hideout" and "Peter Pan." But that could have been her over active imagination. Aurelia had to some how get to the door which was currently being blocked by the shouting captain and the bumbling first mate. She watched in surprise as Hook grabbed Scee (Snee?) by the shirt front with his hook and brought him to eye level. So, the hook did have a use? Aurelia was sure that the captain could make do with out the hook and just kick the poor mate if his hook wasn't available. She wondered what kind of material the shirt was made of considering it hadn't been ripped to shreds yet. It wasn't like she could sew together a shirt from the same material anyways.
Aurelia, as the captain and his obviously incompetent mate turned their backs to her, quickly ran to the floor beneath them, as the captain's quarters were on a second level of the deck. As the two descended down the stairs, to the main deck, Aurelia silently hoisted herself up in a back flip that was so perfectly executed that it seemed effortless. She landed upon the upper deck, she turned her head behind her to make sure that she had not been spotted, she entered Hook's quarters and shut the door noiselessly behind her. She pressed herself against the wall and snuck down the hallway towards the only door there. She opened that and entered silently.
"Now, if I were an evil man's hook, where would I be?" she mused to herself. Aurelia knew there was a second hook. When she had stolen the other items for her home from the ship she had noticed that Hook waltzed around raging like an angry bull, waving a silver colored hook. She remembered seeing him shake it threateningly at the sky, at his pirates, at the water, just about everything. Tonight though the hook he was wearing was obviously gold. Thanks to her fantastic deduction skills, Aurelia supposed there was not one but two hooks and if he's not wearing one of them, the other's had be somewhere else on the ship. And since Hook was the captain of the ship, it would also make sense for his extra hook to be place some where in his quarters. She had known where those quarters were due to watching him storm inside them after shouting "INSOLENT FOOLS" to his men.
She found herself peering into his cabinets, under his bed, in his desk drawers, even in his piano bench. Giving up the escapade for the night, she turned to leave, but tripped on an uneven plank. Cursing her own clumsiness and praying that no one had heard her, she reached down to replace the plank that she had subsequently unearthed. Looking down into where the plank had been, Aurelia spotted a small chest. "What the devil?" she wondered as she pulled it out. It was locked, but ten seconds later Aurelia's bobby pin had persuaded it to open. Inside were hooks galore, but Aurelia decided not to be greedy and only took the one that hook tended to wear the most. Smiling gleefully, she attached the hook to the cloth she had brought and was about to leave, when she heard the door open. Having no time to hide, she panicked, but felt immediately relieved when she saw it was the incompetent mate - who was quite drunk. She backed against the wall but the mate weaved over towards her.
"Good evening capt'n!" he chirped. She blinked. Since when did she look like an evil pirate? The mate looked up into her face and squinted.
"I *hic* thought you were *hic* on the main deck lecturing the *hic* men about *hic* drinking on *hic* Sunday." Aurelia, thinking fast, grabbed the hook and curled the fingers of her left hand around it. She growled a bit, deep in the back of her throat.
"Yes, yes. Terrible thing, drinking on Sunday," he continued, "I must say, though, cap'n. You look a mite different."
"Oh?" she nervously donned the captain's coat as well.
"Hmmm, yes, but I can't seem to put my finger on it."
"Really, Mr. Scee?" she growled.
"Thats.. sMee Capt'n.."
"Don't correct your captain, Mr. Smee!" she bellowed swooping the hook to catch on the mans shirt. She tried to lift him with one hand and found it was easier said than done. This man was HEAVY. She placed her right hand under her left and tried to lift again. She gritted her teeth together, planted her feet, bent her knees and lifted with all of her might. The man remained firmly planted upon the floor. She finally gave up and just glared at him ferociously.
"Capt'n have you gotten weaker?" He asked.
"God give me strength" she thought raising her eyes to the sky.
"INSOLENT UNGRATEFUL FOOL!" she shouted at him. He flinched. FINALLY! A reaction!
"GET OUT!"
"I'm sorry cap-" he started.
"OUT!" she interrupted tossing her jacket into his face. She watched, slightly amused, slightly fearful, as he tripped over a stool, landed on the desk with a very loud crash.
Smee heard Hook roar from him outside the door before barging into the room. Smee blinked and stared at the now enraged Captain standing in front of him, behind the captain was the door that he had just witnessed the captain open and run through. But wasn't the captain behind him? He looked at the red coat in his hands, and then at the coat the Captain was wearing. He slowly turned around and only saw the piano, the destroyed stool, the closest in the corner. The window was open and the curtains were billowing in the sea air.
The captain grabbed Smee, muttering about how hard it was to find good help these days. He dragged the drunken man out of the room back outside where Hook could be heard raging about how Smee should be more careful when walking towards a door, how he shouldn't be drunk on Sundays, how he should NOT TOUCH THE CAPTAINS COAT!
Aurelia giggled and almost felt bad for the incompetent bloke, but it quickly passed. She massaged her wrist, that man really needed to loose some weight! She wrapped the hook back into the cloth and tied it securely before wiggling out of the first hiding place she thought of after Smee had klutzed. A hammer in the piano hit a string softly as her knee hit it while she was trying to climb out. She dashed towards the door, slid out, back up to the deck and dived into the now dark, freezing cold water of the sea. She swam to the lagoon as fast as she could, the hook banging against her with every stroke reassuring her that she had succeeded in her mission. A grin lit up her face.
"Wait until they see..." she thought as she pulled out the hook and inspected it.
The next morning Aurelia got up early, or as early as one can without an alarm clock, with the express purpose of showing off her conquest to the Lost Boys. She could just imagine their eyes bugging out of their little heads as she took out the gleaming hook. Savoring the thought, she ran off to find them, even though she had no idea where they could be.
Soon she came upon the sound of boyish laughter, and on this island, as Aurelia had learned, boyish laughter meant only one thing: the presence of the Lost Boys.
"Well, hello, boys," she said nonchalantly, strutting in from the lush scenery.
"Lia! Did ya get it? Did ya get it?" they all clambered to learn of the infamous theft.
"Wait!" a new voice sounded with authority as "that Peter chap" walked up to the mob.
"It's you," he said, realizing the identity of the intruder.
"Yup, it's me. Happy to see me, Pan?" she asked with a smile. Slightly tugged on her arm.
"So? Did you get it?" he asked.
"Get what?" Peter asked. The boys looked sheepishly at Peter before Cubbie answered.
"We dared her to get Hook's hook yesterday," he said pushing his toe in little circles on the ground. Peter's eyes widened.
"No, I'm afraid I couldn't," she looked downward, mostly to hide her grin, but outwardly it looked like she was ashamed of herself.
"I knew you couldn't," Cubbie cried pointing his finger at her dramatically.
"Well, obviously. A girl couldn't just go up to Hook, my archenemy, and steal his hook right from under his nose. It's preposterous, it's..." Peter's ego-trip was interrupted by Aurelia pulling out a silver hook and smiling from ear to ear. The Lost Boys' jaws dropped, their eyes widened. Peter seemed to be frozen stiff, his eyes glued to the hook clutched tightly in Aurelia's fist.
"Of course, I did get this lovely consolation prize," she said laughing inwardly at the boys reactions. She wished she had a camera to capture this forever! (Not like she could develop the photos anyways...)
"Peter, Peter, do you see? Do you see? She got the hook!" the Twins said in unison.
"Yes, of course I see!" Peter said angrily. The Twins recoiled in fear. When Peter is angry Peter is not a good person to be around. Aurelia's smile dimmed a bit.
"Well, that was a little harsh, don't you think? They didn't do anything," she confronted Peter. The air grew thick with tension, and Lost Boys had the good sense to get away before Peter really lost it.
"Who do you think you are, huh?" he nearly screamed at her, "Coming here, stealing Hook's hook, telling me how to treat my soldiers?"
"They're not your soldiers. They're little boys and should be treated as such! I think you owe the Twins an apology," she retorted without so much as a bat of an eye.
"I don't owe anyone anything. They should know better than to pester me! And as for you, Hook's mine. Everyone knows that. No one goes near him but me, got it? Now, I'm gonna let you off this time, but if I ever hear you doing anything like this again..." Peter was interrupted by a quick smack on the face.
"Who do I think I am? Who do you think you are? You may be Mr. High and Mighty to the mermaids and the Lost Boys, but to me, you're nothing but a pompous windbag!" she started to storm off, but Peter stopped her.
"Now what do you want?" she asked angrily.
"The hook. It belongs with me," he said huffily.
"Oh, is that so? Did you steal it? Did you risk your neck to get it? No! I did! Therefor, it's mine!" she yelled.
"I told you, Hook is mine and everything that belongs to Hook is mine!" Peter screamed.
"Oh yeah? You want it, come and get it!" she took off running with Peter flying above her.
Author's Notes: *two big cheesy grins* MWAHAHAH! cliffhangers!!! Don't worry, we're working on the next chapter! It'll be out soon! You really thought she went through the window didn't you? Didn't you! Could you fit through that window? Didn't think so. We'll also add more Aurelia/Peter interaction in the next chapter! We promise! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! We love you!!