Tonight was Christmas Eve in Neverland. Peter and his band were putting the last touches of decorations on the large tree they had set up in the underground house. Here and there, glittering ornaments sparkled like gemstones on the prickly, green branches of the fir, accented by drapes of shining, tinsel garlands of silver and gold. A light dusting of pixie dust from the three resident pixies gave the tree its glowing lights.
In the kitchen area of the house, Amy and Petra was busy making Christmas dinner for the next day. The turkey was already cooked, and would only needed to be heated up tomorrow. The vegtables would be left to be fixed last the next day. Right now, however, the girls were making the pies, cakes, and cookies that would be served for dessert --provided the treats could survive the Lost Boys until tomorrow, that is.
The presents were all under the tree, except for one. Peter had not found anything for Amy. He was not sure what to get for her. Hook's treasure would not please her, he knew. It had to be something special. But what? That was what concerned Peter.
He was trying to think of something, when Marzi came up to him with a golden star for the top. Peter smiled at his little Lost Girl, and picked her up. True, Marzi could have flown up by herself, but Peter liked the idea of flying up with the child and holding her while she fixed the star on the tree. It reminded him of a something he did long ago, when Danny was a little boy, and it was Christmastime.
Marzi fixed the star to the treetop just fine, then Peter floated down with her. Tinkerbell also seemed to remember that Christmas in London so long ago, for she flew to the star and covered it with her pixie dust, causing it to glow brightly.
The smell of the cooking sweets drew the children toward the kitchen area, and soon, the boys and Marzi were crowding around the girls, begging for samples, or to lick the bowls and spoons.
Peter took the distraction this provided as an oppertunity to sneak into his room and dress in his winter clothes. He knew of a place to start looking for Amy's present, and he was going to need the warmer clothes.
The Ice Kingdom was vast, caverns of cold, white walls of ice and snow, glittering occationally with colorfull crystals. He could take these, if he wished, but Amy would not want stolen jewels for a gift. He would ask Queen Crystal of the Ice Kingdom for permission to take the gems. Then, the gift would be acceptable.
He rounded a corner in one cavern, and came upon a beautiful young woman battling for her life. The woman was dressed in a long dress made of icy thread, and wore a crown of ice on her head. Her skin was as white as snow, and her hair was shimmery as ice. Her eyes were large and bright blue. In her hand, she weilded an ice scepter, from which waves of cold were emitted, aimed at her enemies.
The creatures that the woman were fighting were large, with long, white fur, and had faces that were between that of a monkey and a dog in appearence. The creatures carried clubs made of icicles as they advanced on the woman. Those hit by the beams of cold were frozen solid in tombs of ice.
"Queen Crystal!" Peter cried, unsheathing his dagger and flying to her rescue. He dragged his dagger across the bases of the ice stalagmites hanging over the creatures. The blade --the hardest forged in all of Neverland-- cut the ice easily, causing the huge ice structures to fall. The creatures scattered to escape the stalagmites. They then took one look at Peter, then retreated into the darkness of the ice caves.
Peter sheathed his dagger and flew to help the queen to her feet.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes, my sweet one," Queen Crystal answered, her voice tinkling like ice. "Thank you."
"What were they?"
"Snow Orcs," she answered. "They live in the darker parts of the Ice Caves. They have only recently began showing themselves, although why, I do not know."
"Prehaps they want your kingdom," Peter suggested. Although, who would want to dethrone such a good queen, he did not know.
"That is possible," she admitted. "But they seem to be afraid of you."
"I cann't stay with you," Peter said, afraid of what she was about to suggest. "I have others I must take care of. But those Snow Orcs don't seem so smart. I have an idea..."
Peter Pan could do just about anything, and was even quite an artist. Now, he took a block of ice, created by an ice stalagmite that had fallen during the battle, and set it up near Queen Crystal's throne. With his dagger, the eternal boy carved out a perfect statue of himself, then polishing it to such perfection that no dagger mark could be found on the figure. It was as if it had been molded from Peter's own body, it was so perfect!
"He's beautiful!" Queen Crystal exclaimed. "If only he was real!"
Peter smiled saddly at the woman. She was such a kindly lady, and so very lonely. He wished that he could give her the child she so desperatly wanted. But he, himself, could not stay. Already, he was showing signs of the cold getting to him, even while in his winter clothes. He would have to go soon.
"Oh!" he cried. "I almost forgot my orginal reason for my visit. I wanted to find a gift for my friend, Amy. You see, it's Christmas, and I wanted something special, and I thought you might know of something I could give her and..."
"Say no more, dear one," the queen smiled. "You have given me more than I have ever recieved." She brought out a pendent with a star-shaped crystal that glittered like ice. "Give this to your friend. The crystal will allow her to create ice objects whenever she needs them. She will not be affected by the cold of the objects she creates, so she can handle them safely."
"Thank you, your majasty!" Peter grinned. He gave her a quick hug, then took the necklace.
"And to you, my sweet little warrior, I give a wish. Make any wish you want, and it will be granted."
"Me? But I..."
"Did you think that I would allow you to go without giving you something, dear one?" she smiled.
"In that case," Peter said, cocking his head to one side, as if thinking. "I wish...I wish...I wish that the ice statue of me were a real, live boy to be your son!" he finsihed at last.
As soon as the words were spoken, the ice statue began to move. Its eyes opened, revealing pupils of deep blue. The ice boy's skin and hair took on the same tones as Queen Crystal's, and his clothes became just as shimmery and as flowing as her own. The boy examimed himself, then turned toward the queen.
"Hello, Mother," he said. Crystal's hands flew up to her cover her mouth.
"Peter...why?" she whispered.
"So you won't be alone anymore," he answered. "My gift to you."
"Mother," the ice boy asked. "What's my name?"
"Icestar," she answered softly. "Icestar is your name."
"That's a great name...Icestar," Peter smiled.
"Thank you, Peter," Queen Crystal whispered through her tears of joy.
"Merry Christmas, Queen Crystal. And, Happy Birthday, Icestar." With that, Peter left the Ice Kingdom, leaving the new mother and son in peace.
On Christmas morning, the children awoke to a hot breakfast, than went right to work on unwrapping their presents. Toys and other gifts were revealed, and everyone was happy all around with what they got. Soon, the children where playing with their new toys.
Peter handed Amy a box with her gift. Carefully, she openned it, her eyes widening as she saw the glittering object that lay within.
Peter grinned, pleased that she liked his gift. He removed it from the box and placed it around her neck. As soon as he did so, Amy threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
"It's beautiful, Peter!" she cried. "Where'd you'd get it?"
"The Ice Kingdom," he answered. "Very long story."
Amy then looked up. She giggled.
"What?" he asked, giving her a puzzled frown.
"Missletoe," she answered.
"'Missletoe'?" he repeated. "What does that mean?" He looked up and saw the small plant with white berries. He wondered why it was there, for the berries were quite poisonous.
"It's a tradition, Peter, that if a male and a female is caught under the missletoe, they have to kiss," Amy explained.
"They do?"
"Uh, huh."
"Well, if that's the tradition..." Peter blushed a little. "Could I..." he whispered in her ear.
"Well...since it's Chirstmas...alright," she smiled.
Peter smiled. Then, he bent forward and very gently pressed his lips to hers. They held the kiss for only a moment, then pulled apart. They gave each other a gentle smile.
"Merry Christmas, Amy," Peter said.
"Merry Christmas, Peter Pan," Amy replied. She laid her head on his shoulder, enjoying his warmth and companionship.
Outside, though they could not see him, was a perfect, living ice statue of Peter Pan.
"Merry Christmas, Everyone," Icestar smiled as he stared at Hangman's Tree, as if seeing into the underground house.
The references to Peter and Tink's Christmas in London with Wendy, Jane, and Danny are in my Peter & Jane fic, also somewhere here at FanFiction.Net, here in the Peter Pan section.
Next: Chapter 20: Amy's Magic. An accident with the Dark Magician Girl card infuses Amy with the card's magic. Suddenly, Amy is capable of casting magical spells. But will the magic abandon her when she needs it the most?
