Author's Note: I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Mine was very nice, despite doing some schoolwork. I actually saw a TV spot for Peter Pan during the Lions and Packers game! And there was a bunch of scenes in it which are not in the teaser and/or trailer!!! There was a shot of Wendy saying "There's a boy here who's going to teach us to fly!" There was more about the flight to Neverland; it extended with what was shown in the trailer. Also there was more fighting between Hook and Peter. Wendy was talking about becoming a pirate. And a bunch of new shots of Peter and Wendy. It was awesome! So cool. I was basically jumping up and down with excitement when I saw it. Less than a month until it comes out in theaters! I cannot wait.

Anyway… *calms down* Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, that is one reason why I keep working on this story. Now, what you've all been waiting for…chapter three!


Chapter 3: Peter…and Tiger Lily

Peter! No longer thinking of herself, Wendy jumps off the rock, rushes from the lagoon, and races through the trees, she hopes, in the direction of which the crowing came. It is Peter – no person or cock crows as he does.

Wendy loses her sense of direction as she runs almost blindly through the island's jungle. Her white nightgown starts getting slightly torn as she races past branches and leaves which seem to reach out to block her path and keep her back. Her feet start getting sore. But she keeps going.

Suddenly a loud crow rings in the air. Just a few feet from her! Wendy pauses and then smiles with relief. Filled with renewed energy, she stumbles forward a couple of yards and peers between some bushes. She finds herself looking at a small clearing. But she does not bother looking about; instead, her eyes are drawn to two figures.

Sitting on a rock is the Indian princess Tiger Lily. And hovering in the air is Peter, who gives off another crow. Tiger Lily smiles, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Peter, you are the most wonderful boy in the whole world!"

"Yes, I know," Peter brags, rising higher in the air, a cocky grin on his face.

From her hiding place, Wendy feels her relief at finding Peter give way to annoyance. He can just be too full of himself – and showing off to Tiger Lily besides! Wendy sighs and shakes her head. When she raises her eyes, Peter has alighted on the rock next to Tiger Lily and brings forth Wendy's thimble, which he keeps in his pocket.

"What's that?" Tiger Lily asks, looking at the thimble wonderingly.

"You don't know?" Peter mocks her.

She shakes her head humbly.

"This," Peter says in a low voice, as though he is sharing a great secret which only he himself knows about, "is a kiss."

"A kiss," Tiger Lily repeats slowly.

Peter nods. Lightly Tiger Lily brushes her thumb over the "kiss." She then smiles at Peter.

"How wonderful it is. Who gave it to you?"

Peter thinks hard, as though he had forgotten where it had come from. His hazel eyes clear. "Ah, it was given to me by my mother. Wendy." And here Peter smiles – at the thimble, at the memory of the exchange of "kisses," or at the mention of Wendy, one can only guess.

Wendy herself rubs between her thumb and finger Peter's acorn button. Tiger Lily's voice captures her attention.

"Wendy? Is she a good mother?" the Indian princess asks, her eyes flashing.

"Yes. She looks after me and the boys. She cooks for us, cleans up after us. And she makes things for us, like pockets. And she tucks us in. And…" Peter's voice trails off and then continues, though the light in his eyes now darkens, "…tells the same story every night."

Of all mothers, only Wendy Peter does not despise. And while he does like how she cares for him and the boys, the one thing he has against her is her bedtime story, which he hates with a great passion. He hates the story so much that he does not recall that poor Wendy held to the promise she had made to him in the nursery: she has told him and the boys lots of other stories. But, alas, Peter does not remember.

Both Wendy and Tiger Lily notice the dark cloud which settles over him.

"You, you do not like her story?" Tiger Lily says softly.

Peter merely shrugs, as though not wanting to admit what he thinks of Wendy's story-telling to the Indian girl.

Wendy shifts a little, trying to get into a comfortable position. She blushed with pleasure as Peter spoke about her and then blushed with a little bit of guilt. She continues to watch the scene and suddenly feels a little uneasy at the look on Tiger Lily's face.

"Peter," the Indian princess says in a soothing tone, "I could tell you stories."

"Only my mother tells me stories, and I have only one," Peter says. He tilts his head to the side and gazes intently first into Tiger Lily's left eye and then into her right. "What kind of stories?" he asks.

"Stories about a brave boy who fought pirates, who saved his friends, and everyone was so pleased with him. And he never grew up," Tiger Lily answers, her eyes shining.

Now Wendy starts to understand the princess and feels irritated.

"Oo!" Peter breathes in delight. He looks at Tiger Lily with a mix of wonder and cunning. "Do you truly know such stories? Wendy never has told stories as you claim to know."

The beautiful girl nods eagerly. "Oh, yes, I know such stories, Peter!"

"I'm glad," the boy cries and hovers in the air, his face full of glee.

Tiger Lily smiles happily. Then she becomes thoughtful. "Peter? May I give you a kiss?"