"I'm going to make you dinner tonight." She said taking the bags. He smiled. "Just... go do something boyish and I'll have it done in no time." She said rushing out of the main room and into another. He looked puzzled. "Boyish?" he asked out loud. He'd not done anything boyish since he'd found her. He'd not even played pranks on the pirates. They probably thought him dead. He sat down Indian style, floating just above the ground. "Boyish" he thought. He couldn't think of anything he'd like to do but stay with Christine. Everything else seemed meaningless and boring.

Before he knew it Christine walked back into the room with a bowl of something. It was steaming. He looked at it confused and sat in his chair. She smiled and sat beside him. "It's vegetable stew." She said. "I made it on the ship once or twice when I was sentenced to kitchen duty. I hope you like it." She said. She smiled at her and bravely picked up a spoon. Dipping it in cautiously he took a bite. He thought a minute. Letting the... stew... roll around over his tongue he decided it tasted quite good. He smiled and swallowed it. "I like it." He said. "Good." She said jumping up. He continued to eat it as she got herself a bowl and sat beside him. He smiled at her. "You'd make an excellent mother..." he said. Then he stopped eating. That had slipped out. He looked at her and hoped that she'd not heard him. She looked at him with fear and shock. "If... if we had lost boys here... for you to be a mother for." He said. "For I... I need no mother." He said. She nodded quickly then went back to eating. He cursed himself softly then he too went back to eating his stew.

Peter walked into the second room of the underground home. He smacked his head against a root. "Ouch!" he said rubbing it. "Did you hurt yourself?" she asked with worry. "Just hit my head. I'll be fine." He said rubbing his head still. He ducked and walked in. he'd never hit that before. He'd always been just beneath it. His mind raced. He tried to shrug it off. Maybe that root had fallen in; maybe the ground had gotten higher. But no reason seemed to stay. No reason except that he was what changed. He'd gotten taller. He couldn't, he wouldn't accept it. But he knew sooner or later he'd have to.

"Tell me a story." He said. "Story of what?" she asked picking up his bowl. "An adventure story." He said with excitement. She smiled. "With a happy ending or not?" she asked. "Happy ending." He said sitting on the bed. "Okay." She said. He scooted over and she sat beside him. "Once... along while ago... there lived a pirate." She said. "Oh I like pirate stories." He said. She smiled. "Now... this pirate was cruel, heartless and rotten clear down to his core." Peter's eyes twinkled as he listened. "He fought many battles, killed many sailors and innocent men. He was feared by all who sailed the seas for he had no care in the world, and no friend he'd not betrayed to Davy Jones's locker." She said. "Yet once... and only once... he was defeated. Defeated by his most hated enemy of all. And he himself was sent to rest on the bottom of the sea." "You said this was going to have a happy ending." Peter said. "It will. It will." She said. "Okay..." he said. "So the pirate was sent to rest on the bottom of the sea. Yet the sea would not let him die. Soon a mermaid came to his rescue. Bringing him to the surface and carrying him to land." She said. "That mermaid some how changed him. He had feelings, and his blood no longer ran cold. He... loved." She said. Peter's face light up. "He loved this creature that saved him from certain death. Loved her more than himself. Which was hard for him to do." She said. "So he took to the sea, vowing his love and life to the mermaid which had saved him. And she vowed herself to him. Time passed and they never parted. They parented a daughter. One of land and sea. But neither had enough room in their wicked hearts to love another. So they sent her a drift on the ocean currents hoping she'd drown in a storm or starve to death." She said. "How horrid." Peter said with shock. "Aye, but this child wouldn't die. She was picked up by a passing ship. Taken in and given the proper pirate up bringing she grew into a marvelous young girl." She said. This was her story; Peter could tell by her eyes that she'd lived every word she spoke. "Soon she grew tired of her ship prison and she dove over board hoping that her mothers blood would save her if she may sink to the bottom. She floated on the ocean waves and arrived on an island of magic... and love. There she lived happily ever after with the boy of her dreams." She said. "That was a beautiful story." He said smiling. She smirked. "I left out all the adventurous stuff." She said. "I liked it anyway." He said. She smiled and laid down. Peter laid beside her. "Is it all true?" he asked. "Some of it." She said softly. "I hope the ending is." He said. She smiled. "Everyone should be able to live happily ever after... with someone they... they care about." He said. She smiled and nodded. "I agree." She said. Peter smiled and closed his eyes. He felt her fingers tracing the vines that ran across his chest. He opened his eyes and looked down at her. "Is something wrong?" he asked. She smiled weakly. "You're no keeping any secrets from me... are you Peter?" she asked softly. "Secrets?" he said with worry. "Secrets... secrets..." his eyes shifted as he thought. "Nope. No secrets." He said with a big smile. She laughed. "Of course not. What sort of things would a boy like you have to keep secrets about?" she said. Then she snuggled up close to him and closed her eyes. Peter swallowed hard. He did have secrets. Secrets he couldn't even tell himself. Secrets that would destroy him and Neverland. Secrets, which involved his Christine.

He sighed. He couldn't sleep. Her breath on his chest merely made him think of how he was lying to himself. How he was lying to her. He carefully got out from beneath her and walked out into the night air. A cool breeze ruffled the leaves of his garments and he smiled against the darkness. Then the sky lit up and drew his eyes to it. Thousands of shooting stars flew across the sky. His mouth dropped in awe and his heart stopped. He rushed back into the home.