Hey guys! ^_^ The update's finally here!
I admit that it took its dear sweet time to show up – I expect that it got lost on surface streets or something like that. But it's finally arrived, huzzah! *Tosses confetti in the air*
The Shout-outs:
Jessi – Thank you so much for reading! ^_^ As for who will end up with whom – that remains to be seen. ^_~
Crystalstorm21 – Here's another chapter! It's been awhile, but the story is still going!
Zorrina - *High-fives you* UPDATE! Whoo! *Jumps around in circles*
PButtercup – Yeah, poor Tiger Lily! She's gone from having to deal with one girl as her competition to like, eleven! Good luck with your SATs! *Hugs*
DANI! – Aw, thanks! ^_^ Here's some more!
oi-oi-oi (Sallie) – Nope, I wasn't kidnapped this time. I was busy with the holidays, is all. "Not all men are annoying. Some are dead." Put that on a bumper sticker girl, because it's sooo funny! LOL
Sugar High5 – "I got an early acceptance to Blake High School for the Performing Arts." GO YOU! *Cheers wildly and whistles* That sounds awesome, I hope you love it there! ^_^
Raven – How does he do it? Peter's just that clever. ^_^
Written Sparks – Thank you so much for reading my story and reviewing, it means a lot to me. Had this been a few months ago things might have been different, but now that there's this giant Peter Pan flux going on since the movie came out I'm afraid if I squeezed in one more person I would end up with about a gazillion more requests to be in the story, which I just couldn't manage. I'm sorry. I hope you understand.
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Peter Pan and all the characters, places, and etc. in it don't belong to me. Your characters all belong to you guys. "Thing One and Thing Two" are from Dr. Seuss. All the original characters and of course myself in addition to the story and story idea are mine. I'm totally not out to disrespect any race or belief system or such.
"Come on Tink, at least say hello," one of the boys cajoles outside Tinker Bell's "apartment" – it's really a Victorian jewelry box hung up with vines.
Angry chiming is the only reply. The boy turns away and smiles apologetically at the girls. "Sorry she isn't very polite."
"What did you say, Tink?" Another boy asks, clearly upset. He's very tan but has light brown hair, which gives him a rather unmatched look.
The irate bell-like sounds are repeated, louder this time.
"Don't talk about my mother that way!" The boy says, balling up his fists menacingly. "Or you'll regret it!"
"Shut up Switch," one of the twins says.
"You don't even have a mother!" the other adds.
"Well, one of the ladies will be my mother, so I don't want Tink saying bad things about them!" Switch says huffily. "And if you're true English gentlemen then neither will you!"
Well, that does it. The boys all prepare to valiantly defend the orphans from whatever Tink is calling them. Wildcat draws his sword, the twins put up their dukes, and one of the boys even readies a slingshot for fire.
"Whoa, back up!" Nora insists, stepping between the boys and Tink's apartment. All the weapons go down in an instant.
"Who said anything about being anybody's mother?" Raven demands.
"You're ladies, aren't you?" The boy with the slingshot asks.
"Yes," Charlie says flatly. "And you think that that automatically makes us your mothers?"
"That's right!" the littlest lost boy cries, his eyes lighting up as he breaks into a giant smile. Charlie's tone is utterly lost on him. "There are so many that we'll all get our very own!"
"We won't even have to share!" the twins realize as one.
"Dibs!" Switch shouts, making a mad dive for Nora.
"That isn't fair, you can't call dibs! DIBS!" the boy with the slingshot hollers, attaching himself to the hem of Gracie's pajamas.
The free-for-all that follows is easily imagined. Anna is nearly pulled in half when each of the twins grabs one of her arms and they start a tug-of-war. It's all going completely insane and Tinker Bell is watching them, laughing like a maniac.
"You have to help me!" Raven hollers to Wildcat over the din. "Stop them!"
"Company, fall in!" Wildcat booms. The boys immediately desist and form a (mostly) straight line.
"Wow," Raven says, impressed in spite of herself. Wildcat's little stunt isn't much when compared to Peter's captain voice, but then it's nothing to sneeze at either. "How come you can do that?"
"I'm lieutenant," Wildcat says with a modest smile. "That means I'm in charge while Peter isn't home," he adds, shooting a look at the shamefaced boys. "And I say that you don't have any idea how ladies should be treated. We haven't even introduced ourselves."
The boys look guiltily at one another- it's the truth.
"But we can fix that. I'm Wildcat," he says, sweeping into a surprisingly formal bow. Raven has the sudden thought that if he was wearing a tuxedo instead of deerskin she might be very close to being smitten. Dark and handsome has always worked for her, and apparently it still does.
"Boys, fall in!"
"I'm Black," one of the twins says, stepping forward.
"And I'm Blue," the other twin finishes.
"We're very sorry," they tell Anna, bowing their sandy-red heads in shame.
"That's okay," Anna says, gracious as a queen. Then something in her expression changes. "Do it again and I'll show you the meaning of karate," she warns.
The tan boy with light hair decides that it's his turn. He smiles winningly. "The name's Switch. I'm two-tongued."
The girls stare blankly for a good minute and a half.
"You have two tongues?" Madeline asks in tones of disgust.
Tinker Bell makes a rather snippy comment, but the boys have long since been desensitized to her and none of the girls can speak her language yet, although Madeline thinks she can catch a word or two.
"I speak Italian," Switch explains.
"That doesn't mean you're two-tongued, sweetie. We call that bilingual," Gracie explains.
The Lost Boys gasp.
"She called him sweetie!"
"Switch always gets everything. He has an extra tongue and now he's got a mother too!" The littlest lost boy sulks.
"I've only got one tongue," Switch counters. The boys launch into an argument.
"Why did you do that?" Nora hisses in Gracie's ear.
"I – I don't know," Gracie says uneasily. "It just popped out!"
"Boys, we didn't finish," Wildcat prompts in his lieutenant voice, attempting to restore something like order. "Keep going. Slingshot, you're next."
A green-eyed boy steps forward awkwardly, using his feet to trace circles in the sandy bottom of the cave. "Uh – my name is Slingshot and I'm good with a slingshot. Be my mother?" he asks, getting down on one knee.
Since he's looking at the girls in general and none of them in particular nobody quite knows what to say. Nora is more surprised than anybody when she hears herself blurting, "I'd love to be your mother!"
Raven sharply elbows her friend in the ribs. "What are you doing?"
Nora shrugs helplessly.
"I think it's called adopting," Gracie says with a laugh. "Who else wants a mother, boys?"
"I do!"
"I do!"
"Me!"
"Why do I always have to go last?" The littlest lost boy demands. "I want a mother too!"
"You go last because you're the littlest," Switch says matter-of-factly.
"Don't listen to him," Gracie says, ruffling the boy's hair. "We save you for last because you're the most important!"
The little boy smiles – his front teeth are out and it's rather adorable. "I'm Quiz! Why's that my name?" He asks Wildcat.
"Because you're always asking questions!" Wildcat cries.
*
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Sallie is half-asleep but completely irritated. Falling Shadows just finished dressing Alicia's wound and now they're whispering together; Sallie gets the distinct impression that Alicia would appreciate it if she disappeared for a while. A dull throb begins in her forehead. After a few minutes Sallie realizes that the pulsing pain is tied to something else – the sound of infants screaming not far off.
"I'm gonna go tell them to shut the brats up," Sallie mumbles, but it's doubtful that
Falling Shadows and Alicia even register the fact that she's gone.
*
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*
"That's where we sleep," Wildcat says, waving to a small back chamber of the cave. It's strewn with mismatched animal skins and lopsided pillows. "It's pretty crowded, but there are only ten of you, once your friends get here. We should be able to find some room."
Raven and Nora exchange glances. Was it possible to simply find some room for ten extra people, even in Neverland?
"Remember what I said about cramming," Gracie advises in a whisper. "We'll be fine."
The boys leap to attention when they hear Peter crow. He, Kaela and Katrina slip into the cave. "Oh good, you found it!" Peter says.
"Where were you?" Charlie asks the girls.
"Captured," Katrina answers with a nonchalant grin. It's the first time in her life that she's had the opportunity for adventure and she's savoring acting unimpressed.
"By Tiger Lily's scouts," Kaela adds. "Stupid screwy ropes burned me!" she says contemptuously, holding up her wounded wrists for all to see.
Anna makes a sound of concern and begins to examine the severity of the rope burns. "You'll live," she says after a minute, sighing with relief and giving a small smile.
"And they gave us a nickname too," Katrina says. "The Indians, I mean."
Madeline looks up with interest. "Thing One and Thing Two?"
Kaela snorts. "No! They call us The Howling Jasmines."
"Really?"
"Yupperdoodles!" Kaela says cheerfully. "Neat, huh?"
"This is yours," Charlie says, handing Peter back his knife. He bows a brief acknowledgement and tucks it into his belt.
"Look Kaela, Lost boys!"
"Mother, which one's which?" Black asks Nora.
"Kaela has the brown eyes and Katrina has the blue ones," Nora explains. "Not to mention their faces don't look anything alike," she adds, eyeing her "son" with some trepidation.
"Whoa, why is he calling you mother?" Katrina asks Nora. "He looks your age!"
"It's a game," Nora says in a no-duh tone.
"Oh."
"So all the Lost Boys have mothers now? Great!" Kaela says. "Who adopted who?"
"These three are mine." Gracie gestures to Switch, Quiz, and Blue.
"And me too!" Madeline interjects.
"What, Mads?" Gracie asks in surprise.
"I'm Gracie's too!"
Nora indicates Wildcat, Slingshot, and Black. "These are my little monsters," she says ironically – both Wildcat and Black are taller than she is.
*
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*
Sallie stamps off into the jungle, snapping twigs and getting whacked in the face by low-hanging branches.
"That dumb pirate couldn't get the kids to shut up," she soliloquizes, "and not only that, he wouldn't tell me about Hook!" She quiets for a moment to jump over a small stream. "Not that I'd believe him. Any pirate stupid enough to be made a slave of instead of standing and fighting his ground is just pathetic." She goes a bit further into the heart of the island, saying rude things about pirate nurses and mulling over the fact that Alicia and Falling Shadows are back in the Indian Encampment chatting it up like old friends. "But do I have anyone to talk to? Of course not. Just myself. It's probably better that way anyway; it's a good idea to speak with the most intelligent person around." Laughing to herself, Sallie closes her eyes for a second. Unfortunately this second coincides with the appearance of a rather large tree branch at eye level. Sallie walks straight into the branch. With a resounding Thwack! she sees stars and falls to her knees.
Her nose gets the worst of it and hurts terribly; to make matters worse the pain in Sallie's face is triggering a crying reflex. The tears come and there's not a lot she can do about them.
The same way I can't do anything about being stuck on this stupid island. I don't even know the way home, she thinks. I – I don't even have a home, she realizes all of a sudden, which makes her so depressed that tears flow completely without connection to the whole Indian Encampment fiasco. Since nobody is there to see (and she'd rather die than let someone find her in the midst of tears) Sallie lets loose and cries her heart out. It's not until about twenty minutes later that she reins in the sobbing and attempts to calm herself, trying to steady her breathing and choke down her emotions.
Sallie opens her eyes but can't see very well through the tears. Stupid, she thinks, you need to see. Didn't Gracie's stories have an alligator in them or something? How'd you like to be snuck up on by that? This thought is sobering enough to make her attempt to stop crying in earnest. Once the tears are wiped away and she can see Sallie gasps.
A pale hand is offering her a handkerchief –
One embroidered Jas. Hook.
*
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Wow, that took me forever to get out! The thing is I'm just losing the inspiration for this story . . . so I don't know if there will be any more, or if there will how long it will take me to get it out. I don't want to abandon it (especially after the way this chapter ends! ^_^) but maybe in the future not every chapter will have every girl in it – I hope y'all are good enough to understand.
Please review guys, they mean sooo much to me! ^_^ Reviews are like going to a cool party! But no flames, flames are like not being invited to a cool party!
A/N: I know it's a crocodile, not an alligator, but Sallie never paid much attention to Gracie's stories so it's an honest mistake for her. ^_^
To Sallie – Remember, I'm not killing off your character, honest! But she always wanted to meet Hook, and this is her chance! Also, if the crying was a bit weird – well, I hope you can see it happening. Between the pain and the being genuinely depressed I think that a few tears were not uncalled for.
I hope you guys liked this chapter! ^_^