Note: I'm going to see how far I can take Peter and Amy's relationship without going too far.

Chapter 15: Peter's Injury

"Great places you take me to, Peter!" Amy commented.

"Then you pick the place for our next date!" he shouted back.

"This is your idea of a date?!?"

"You said that was needed to go someplace fun!" he grinned at her.

"In the middle of a battle with the pirates was not what I had in mind!"

Peter just laughed as he lept into the air, just narrowally missed being hit by a cannonball. Amy had joked about the two of them being a little young to go out on a date, and Peter had asked, "Don't you think we're a bit big to sit on a little piece of fruit?" Amy had to explain that the "date" she was talking about was a romantic evening shared between a male and a female.

Naturtally, this had given Peter an idea. Dangerous thing, due to how Peter's imagination worked. To him, "fun" was adventure, and his favorite adventure was fighting with Captain Hook and the pirates.

So here the two were, hovering in mid-air and dropping water bombs on the Jolly Roger. Peter's idea, of course. No way would Amy come up with something like that.

She was helping, however. She was having the playfull, child-like Aqua Spirit from her Duel Monsters Cards make the water bombs. Fortunatly, as long as the Duel Monster was out and doing something, she would not fade away.

Peter had just dropped another water bomb on the pirates when it happened. Someone down there must have had pretty decent eyesight and was a good shot because neither saw it coming. One moment, Peter was hovering in the air, laughing at the drenched pirates, the next, he was screaming in pain, clutching his side. He began to fall toward the ground.

"Peter!" Amy cried. She dived down to rescue him. Behind her, no longer needed, the Aqua Spirit faded away, to be summoned some other time.

Having caught the falling boy before he hit the ground, Amy flew to the emergency shelter where they had gone during the storm, so long ago.

*~*~*

Amy laid Peter on the bed, carefully removing his shirt. She quickly examined the wound, fretting over what to do.

"Amy..." he said weakly.

"Peter?" she looked at him with eyes full of fear.

"How bad is it?"

"Bad," she replied. "I can see the musketball in the wound."

"Not too bad, then," he mused, half to himself. "You should be able to remove it."

"'Remove it'?" she did not understand. "But how can I...?"

"Just do what I tell you," he said. "Grab my dagger and heat it up. You have to light a candle for that. Better mix up a little Healing Dust Paste while you're at it," he pointed to the bag of Dusty's Healing Dust that Amy always carried. "Don't worry: I'll survive. Just do it quickly."

Amy mixed the paste, then heated the dagger, as Peter told her to do.

"That's enough," he said after a few mintues. "Now," he continued, "you are going to use my dagger to remove that musketball from my side. As soon as it comes out, use the cloth to stop the bleeding. When the bleeding has stopped, put the paste on the wound and bind it with bandages. I have to tell you all this before we start, because you'll have to stuff my cap into my mouth. This is going to HURT --very baddly! If I'm gagged, I won't distract you." With that, Peter grabbed the edge of the bed, waiting for Amy to start.

Amy stuffed Peter's green cap into his mouth, then prepared to dig out the small, metal ball out of his flesh.

As soon as the heated blade touched the raw wound, Amy felt the boy tense up in a silent scream. Keeping her attention on her task, Amy continued her operation on Peter's side.

Finally, after what must have felt like an eternity to both Peter and Amy, the metal ball popped out of the wound. Quickly disguarding the dagger, Amy staunched the flow of blood, then applied the paste, and bandaged the wound tightly. When she was done, Amy looked at Peter's face.

No longer tensed with pain, Peter's features were relaxed, although his hair and skin were dampened with sweat. Amy quickly removed the cap from his mouth, then ran to the water supply and cleaned her hands, for Peter needed water, and there was only one way to get it into him.

Taking a clean cup and filling it with water, Amy dipped her finger into the cup, then applied it to Peter's lips. The water went past his lips and ran down his throat, cooling it. Amy repeated this until the cup was empty. She then put water in a bowl and cleaned off Peter's hair and skin of the sweat.

Exhausted, Amy climbed into the bed beside Peter, moving close to his unwounded side. She held his hand as she drifted off to sleep, knowing that she had done all she could for the eternal youth.

*~*~*

Amy awoke the next morning, and the first thing she did was check on Peter. She sighed in relief when she saw him resting comfortably.

She got up and began to prepare soup for when he woke up. For a while, the soup would be all that he could eat, even though he would be completely healed in five days.

The aroma of the cooking food woke Peter, who looked over to the fireplace where Amy was cooking. The smell of meat and vegtables reminded him that he had not eatten since early yesterday. Suddenyl, his stomach protested its emptyness --loud and clear!

Amy heard the grumbling of Peter's stomach and whirled around to see about him. As soon as she saw that his eyes were open and looking at her, Amy forced a smile and approached the bed.

"How are you feeling, Peter?" she asked.

"Better than I was last night," he answered weakly. "Still hurts, but there's not as much pain as there was before. And," he added with a weak grin, "I'm hungry."

"Soup's almost ready," she smiled back. She held his hand for a moment, then leaned over and kissed his cheek. Carefully, she stood up and went back to the soup.

When it was ready, she spooned some into a bowl and brought it to him.

"Can you sit up?" she asked.

"I don't think so," he replied. "Dusty's magic works fast, but not that fast."

"Then how are we going to do this...?" she wondered aloud. She knelt beside the bed. Carefully, she dipped her finger in the bowl and but it to his lips.

Peter subconciously remembered feeling something like this when he was unconcious. He looked over to Amy.

"Did you give me water last night, like this?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, startled. "How...?"

"I think I felt you touching my lips with something cold and wet. But that's all I remember of it."

Amy dipped her finger into the soup again and continued to feed Peter. When Peter tired of eatting, he went back to sleep.

While he slept, Amy cleaned and mended his shirt. When he was ready for more soup, she fed him again. Before it was time for bed that night, Peter showed signs of regaining his strength.

As she had the night before, Amy climbed into bed with Peter, holding his hand. The boy was surprised by the action. She was actually so close that she was touching him!

"I slept with you like this last night, too," she explained.

"Amy...I..."

"Shhh..." she shushed him, giving him a kiss. "Time to sleep." Both boy and girl drifted off to sleep.

*~*~*

"The wound is healing very quickly, Peter," Amy said. She was changing the bandages on his side.

"Yeah," he replied. "I'll be able to fly again tomorrow."

"I'm glad," Amy smiled as she finished with the bandages. She then gave him a hug.

"What was that for?" Peter laughed.

"Just because," Amy smiled.

Peter did not question further. They were too young to be lovers, per se, but they had the feelings for each other that they would have if they were older.

They spent the day talking, or exersizing Peter's legs. That night, for the first time since he was shot, Peter laid on his side --his GOOD side, of course. Amy laid on her side, as well, facing him.

There was something bothering Amy, and she decided to ask Peter about it.

"Peter," she began. "I was wondering: How did you know what to do about the musketball? You've never been known as a medical person."

"I learned from an old ex-pirate I met sometime ago," he answered. "Sometimes, one or more of the Lost Boys will get shot, and I have to dig the ball out. It's the only surgery I can do."

"I guess it comes in handy," Amy commented.

"Yes, it does," Peter smiled. He reached over and took her hard in his. He seemed to want to say something, but could not get it out. He blushed, his thoughts on the girl with him.

They drifted off to sleep, just gazing at each other.

*~*~*

"Where have you two been?!" Petra cried when Peter and Amy returned to the underground house. The Lost Boys, Marzi, and the pixies crowded around the two, waiting for them to answer.

"I...kinda got...shot," Peter told them. At their shocked and worried reactions, Peter quickly explained about what happened.

"No do that again!" Marzi scolded. She then grabbed Peter around the waist and hugged him hard. Peter winced as he felt the sting at his side.

"Easy, Marzi!" he said. "It may be completely healed, but it's still tender."

"Maybe you'll be more carefull, then," Petra said. Then, she tenderly touched Peter's cheek. "I found you once, my brother. I don't want to lose you again."

After a quick supper and story, everyone went to bed early. Forgiveness is quickly given in Peter's band, and Amy tucked all her "children" into the giant bed. After seeing to Petra, Amy and Peter took Marzi to their room, and laid in the bed. Marzi lay between them, having been berift of Peter and Amy for the past five days.

Peter and Amy gazed at each other over the sleeping child. Everything Peter had wanted to say came back to him. He said it all with four little words.

"I love you, Amy."

And Amy answered him.

"I love you, too, Peter."


I don't know whether or not what Amy did really works, but it does in Neverland.

Next: Chapter 16: Popcorn Party. Amy decides to throw a popcorn party, but needs to take a trip to the "real world" to get the popcorn. But what if someone recognizes her?