A week had passed since Peter brought Amy to Neverland to be the new mother for the Lost Children. As Amy had hoped, Marzi soon became accustomed to herself and the other children, not giving so much of a whimper when Peter had to leave for one reason or another. He always came back, and that reassured the baby enough for her to enjoy the company of the Lost Boys and Girls.
"Are you the first Lost Girl, Petra?" Amy asked the girl Pan as the two were peeling potatos for making french fries.
"No," Petra replied. "That honor goes to Jane, the daughter of Wendy Darling. I'm what you might call a Lost Girl by default, because I'm Peter's twin sister. I'm sorta his second-in-command, since I'm his only blood relative."
"And you seem to be like him, too," Amy commented. "I mean, you have the same attitude toward life and the future that he does."
"Strange, that," Petra smiled, "given that I was rasied by a different tribe of fairies. When I reached a certain age, I set out in search for my brother. I spent some time in Japan, learning how to use a katana sword, then resumed my search. I finally found him here in Neverland."
"Happy ending," Amy smiled. She finished cutting her potatos and put them in a bowl.
"It seems to be Peter's specialty," Petra smiled back. She added her raw fries to the bowl.
"I've been thinking," Amy mused aloud, "about Marzi. She's very little, and so much has to be done for her. If she was a little older, it would be easier for everyone. But would Peter allow it?"
"You'll only know that if you ask him," Petra replied. "It won't hurt to ask. But if you do, try to explain why. And don't lie to him. Just be truthfull, and Peter will at least hear you out before voicing his opinion."
"I'll remember that," Amy nodded. She took the bowl of fries and poured them into a the deep-frying basket Peter had made for her. Before long, the fries where a nice, golden brown, and ready for draining and eating. Amy finished the process and poured the hot potato sticks back in the bowl. She continued with dinner prepreations.
Peter and the boys filed into the Underground House with their usual decorum --that is, they came in as noisy and excitibly as ever. Marzi, who had been taking a nap on the big bed in the main cave, woke up just in time to see the boys return home. With a happy giggle, she greeted them, holding her little arms out to Peter.
Peter grinned and picked her up, instantly recieving a big hug from the tiny girl. He carried her over to the table as he greeted the two girls.
"Hi, Amy; Hi, Petra!" he grinned at them.
"Hi, Peter," they smiled back. Petra eyed Amy with a glance that said, "Ask him."
"Peter, I'd like to talk to you --alone. About Marzi."
"Okay," Peter said slowly. He handed Marzi to Petra and he and Amy went outside. To be sure they would be alone, they flew out to Skull Rock. No one would be there, so they could talk as much as they need to.
"What is it, Amy?" Peter asked.
"Well..." Amy began. How should she approach this? Be truthfull to him, Petra had said. Don't lie. Amy took a big breath and continued. "Marzi is very little right now, and so much has to be done for her. I was wondering if you would object to letting her just grow a little bit. Not grow up," she said hastily, aware of his feelings on that subject. "Just grow enough for her to be able to feed herself, to walk and talk by herself, and do a lot of other stuff on her own."
"'Grow'?" Peter repeated, allowing what Amy was telling him to mull over in his brain.
"Just a little bit, say --Umm...-- to about five years old, maybe? That should be old enough for her to be easier to care for. And besides," Amy put her hand on Peter's shoulder and allowed her face to come very close to his, "wouldn't you like to someday teach Marzi how to fly, and for her to understand when you talk about 'Faith, trust, and pixie dust'?"
Peter blinked. He had never been this close to a girl before. Or, at least, he could not remember being this close to a girl before.
"I don't know..." he finally said. This was something he had never thought about. To actually allow someone to grow to a certain age? And yet, what Amy said made sense. If Marzi was just a little older, they could have a lot more fun with her. And to be able to teach her to fly! That would be something, would it not?
Amy watched him as he thought about what she said. She hoped that he would not be too difficult about the subject. She never suggested for Marzi to grow up --just grow a small amount.
"I'll...think about it," was all he said at last. Amy smiled and nodded. She would not press him, allowing him the time to think her request through. Maybe he would see things her way. She would have to see.
Over the next few days, Amy did not bug Peter about what they had talked about in Skull Rock. She just went about her business, allowing him all the time he needed to think about allowing Marzi to grow to the age of five. She did tend to stress it sometimes, though, like trying to teach the baby to talk, or feeding her other foods, or some such thing like that. Amy always made sure Peter was watching, hoping it was only a subtle look she was giving him. Every time she did, though, Peter would cock his head and give her one of his charming smiles, but would not say anything. Amy wondered if he was really thinking about their conversation on that day.
Then, there was the one time that temporarily drove that talk out of their minds for the next few hours.
Peter and Amy were walking through the woods, coming back to the Underground House after a visit with the Indians. Well, Amy was walking. Peter was floating along beside her, just being his usual, cocky self. Walking beside Amy was Tiger, who was busily trying to catch what he thought was a butterfly. The boy and girl glanced occationally at the kitten, amused by the little animal's antics.
Following them, under cover of the brush, was Captain Hook and his pirates, on yet another of their little excursions to locate and destroy Peter Pan. The sly pirate captain stalked his prey, intent on the kill. He would kidnap the girl, and prehaps take the kitten to use as a threat to make her obey him. He might even try to find Pan's hideout, as well, just to flush out the Lost Boys and that girl Pan.
Soon, Peter, Amy, and Tiger got to the beach. Peter wanted to talk to Amy before going home. Prehaps he had made up his mind about Marzi. Amy hoped that he would allow it. It was only going to be a little growing; a little aging. Nothing major or anything.
Before Peter could speak, however, Hook and his pirates rushed the two, surrounding them in a ring of curved steel. By reflex, Peter drew his dagger, ready to fight the pirates.
"Now, Peter," Hook smiled, an ugly, oily grimice. "You aren't thinking of running off anywhere, are you? And just who is your charming friend? Hmmmm?"
"None of your business, Codfish!" Peter answered in his usual defiance.
"But you must introduce us," Hook bowed gracefully, doffing his hat. He attempted to kiss Amy's hand, but received several of her fingers in his eye for his trouble.
"OWWWW!!!" he shrieked, his hands flying up to shield his eyes, although a little too late. Amy took a karate stance. Anyone looking at it would see that it was a third level pose, a stance for barely novices at the sport. Luckily, none of the pirates recognized it as karate, although they assumed that the girl knew how to defend herself, and that she may even know more than the stance let on.
"You just stay right where you are," Amy said evenly, watching the pirates' every move.
Neither Peter or the pirates knew what to make of a girl that could defend herself. They remembered Jane, who did very well in that department (Peter, especialy, remembered their first meeting when Jane socked him in the jaw...). That there were other girls that could fight, they could never have imagined.
"You'll pay for that, wench!" Hook snarled, all false politeness gone. He held his sword out in front of him, ready to thrust when the time came.
Suddenly, Tiger pounced between the children and Hook, hissing and snarling at the big man with the long blade. Hook and the pirates stared at the little ball of fluff as it attempted to protect Peter and Amy. Then, Hook started to laugh, and almost immediantly, the other pirates followed suit.
"Why, what do we have here?" Hook said between his laughter. "A little fuzzball trying to protect its friends from the big, bad pirates? How very amusing!" But the amused laughter changed into an evil cackle as Hook prepared to skewer the tiny animal on his sword.
What happened next, no one could comprehend, even Peter, the eternal boy to whom Neverland was a home. To the pirates, it was positively frieghtening.
Tiger began to glow gold. First, his eyes, and then his body emitted a bright light. Then, slowly, the kitten began to grow bigger and bigger. Soon, he was no longer a tiny baby, but a full-grown golden tiger! And that was not the last of it. From out of Tiger's body grew large, golden-feathered wings. He growled loudly, his new form giving him more stength then he thought possible --if the kitten had ever thought at all. Eyeing Hook menacingly, Tiger advanced on the old pirate.
Hook took one look at the transformed animal, screamed, and turned tail and ran. Crocdiles, octopi, and now, a giant golden tiger with wings. That was as much as the wicked pirate captain could stand. Even before his pirates ever thought of following him, Hook was already half-way to the Jolly Roger.
The pirates looked from the winged-tiger to the retreating form of their leader, and back again. Then, as one, they screamed and headed back toward their ship. They out-raced Hook and was on board before the one-handed pirate could start climbing onto the deck.
Peter and Amy looked at each other in shock, then stared at Tiger. Slowly, the large cat turned back into a cute, little kitten, totally unaware of what had transpired just a few moments before.
Without a word, Peter and Amy returned to Hangman's Tree. Amy picked up Tiger and carried him the rest of the way, not sure if she should let the little kitten run around on his own anymore.
"What could have happened?" Petra asked. Peter and Amy had told the eternal girl and the Lost Boys about what had happened on the beach, and how Tiger had changed and single-handedly ran the pirates off.
"There's only one thing I can think of," Peter said. "Somehow, Tiger tapped into the natural magic of Neverland and was changed into a winged-tiger, his magical-creature counterpart. You named him 'Golden Tiger', and that's exactly what he became --a golden tiger. He wanted to protect us from the pirates, and Neverland responded."
"Let's just be glad he's on our side," Amy said. The encounter had left her breathless, and Peter had allowed her to sit on his throne. Tink was sure to make a note of the gesture. She knew where Amy slept, and with whom, although she also knew that it involved Marzi for some reason.
"Maybe we should just get to bed early," Peter suggested, seeing how shaken Amy was. "We'll all feel better in the morning."
Everyone agreed, and climbed into their own beds. Peter led Amy to their room, where Marzi was napping in the hammock. After helping Amy to lay down, he picked Marzi up and laid her next to Amy. Then, he laid down beside her. He had planned to sleep in the hammock that night, giving the bed to Amy and Marzi, but with what had happened that day, he decided to sleep with them like always.
Things had just become very, very, VERY interesting in Neverland.
Next: Chapter 7: Peter and Amy: Puppy Love? Could Peter Pan be falling for Amy? And, of course, Peter's decision about Marzi.
