Author's Note: I believe that the last time I posted a chapter was December 26. That's a damn long time. I've been busy with school and stuff. Well, I'm on summer vacation now…so…yay. I feel like this chapter is a bit weak. You be the judge.

Nothing Gold Can Stay: chapter four

Unhappy Thoughts

She awoke in darkness, groggy, with the smell of vomit wafting around her. Her own vomit.

There had been so much blood…

She had watched in horror as Nibs had clung to his life as it left him little by little. She had watched as Slightly apologized repeatedly, begging Nibs not to leave him and attempting to stop the blood that swiftly escaped his body from his neck. She had listened to Slightly cry out in despair when Nibs had let go, when he had breathed his last breath and his dead eyes gazed back at Slightly, taunting him. She had expressed how dismayed and disgusted she was by vomiting everywhere, and then blacking out soon after.

And now it was dark, and Wendy was terribly frightened. She could see nothing and the quietness unnerved her. Had Slightly gone? Was Nibs still there, lying alone in the darkness? How would she get out? She needed to find Peter!

Wendy stood, feeling around blindly for some indication of a way out. If only she could see…

Then, she heard it, the frantic jingle-jangle of little bells that could only be identified as a fairy. She watched, wide-eyed as its light came shining down from the tunnel that she had slid down from.

"Tinkerbell!" she cried, relieved. It was the first time that she was ever happy to see her.

The fairy speedily flew past her and Wendy turned to watch it. It paused and then seemed to blow out fairy dust. The fairy dust had a mind of its own, splitting in every direction and re-lighting all the candles, including the fireplace.

Nibs was no longer where Slightly had been crying over him. There was no evidence of a scuffle. In fact, there was quite a bit of dust covering every surface and spider webs had made their claim.

She crossed the room, confusion draping her face. She had just seen this place…why did it seem like it had been untouched for years?

"Tinkerbell?" said Wendy, still examining the room. "Tinkerbell, this is so strange. This room is not the same as it was before."

No reply.

Wendy turned around, expecting to see the fairy there. "Tinkerbell?" called Wendy when she did not see her. "Where are you?" Once again, there was no answer. Annoyance settled in among the confusion and apprehension. "Come out, Tinkerbell!"

She waited a few moments before sitting on the ground in a huff. What was she to do now? This was unbelievable. Nothing was happening the way it should have. She should never have come. It was her fault about Tootles, she had seen Nibs die at the hands of Slightly (or had she?—the underground house displayed no sign), and Tinkerbell would not even reveal herself.

And if Tinkerbell was here with her, then where was Peter?

"Tinkerbell," tried Wendy again. "Won't you come out? Please?" Standing up to the sound of silence, she looked around. She needed to get out. Desperately.

The desperation that she was feeling brought about other feelings, feelings that she had forgotten for the moment. Although there was no evidence of a fight, the feeling of horror from Nibs's death returned, as well as the feeling of apprehension as to how Tootles was faring. Everything was going wrong and she did know what to do. Wendy tried to hold back her tears but she failed and the tears came.

Soon, her ears caught something other than her own crying. Bells. Wendy lifted her hand to her face, wiping her tears and expecting to see Tinkerbell.

He was absolutely beautiful with black hair and very fine features. He floated in front of her, grace glowing around his tiny frame. "You're…you're not…Tinkerbell," breathed Wendy, taking in his beauty.

His blue eyes flickered and a smile crossed his face, as he spoke in his fairy language.

"I'm sorry," said Wendy, "but I don't quite understand..."

"I said, hello beautiful lady. You may call me Ren," he said, bowing.

Wendy smiled in delight. How charming. And he continued to be graceful in his every movement.

"We must leave here at once, for this place is cursed." He tugged her finger and, surprisingly, he was quite strong.

Like Tinkerbell, thought Wendy. She let him lead her out of the underground house through an alternate way than she had arrived, and even let him pull her a few feet from the tree before planting her feet. "Wait," said Wendy. There were so many unanswered questions. She paused. Where to begin?

The pause was long enough to allow time for another fairy to arrive, an older, rather stout one who spoke to Ren quite frantically. Wendy could not understand, of course, but she inferred that Ren was being scolded by the way the stout fairy was wagging his finger. Ren retorted and the two fairies began to argue. Finally, Ren retreated and turned to Wendy.

"I am sorry," he quickly apologized. "I must go." He gave Wendy the smallest kiss that she had ever received, right on the apple of her cheek. It left a very pleasant, tingling feeling and she touched the spot, seeing that her finger was coated with fairy dust. "There," Ren whispered into her ear. "Now we will meet again. Just call out my name." He soared above her head no more than three times, creating a halo of fairy dust that rained down on her. "May your thoughts be happy until we next meet."

And they were happy. Wendy was promptly elevated and she watched Ren fly away while the stout fairy trailed behind him, scolding all the way.

How strange. Everything had gotten progressively stranger since she had arrived on the island. And poor Tootles…how selfish she had been to forget him while she had been with Ren, however short a time it had been. And what about what had happened in the underground house?

Wendy now realized how high she was floating. She had now surpassed the treetops. Discovering this, she stopped herself with moderate difficulty, as she was still not used to flying. The sun said that it was quite past noon. How long had she been in the hideout?

Surveying the area, she saw the Jolly Roger in the far distance. Tootles, she thought, gazing at the ship. Firmly, she pursed her lips together. She would go to the ship. Assuming that Peter and Tinkerbell were already there, she would go and she would go without fear.

On the contrary, Tinkerbell and Peter were not at the ship as Wendy had assumed. They were quite far from it.

"Peter!" Tinkerbell cried urgently. She found him lying in his hammock, dozing, and pulled on his hair to jolt him. "Peter! Tootles is in trouble!"

He stood slowly, rubbing whatever sleep that remained out of his eyes. "What sort of trouble?"

"He was hit by Long Tom and now Hook has him."

Peter's face dropped and Tinkerbell could see fear in his eyes before he quickly averted them. "Hook?" he said, quietly, not looking at her.

"Hook! No time to waste!" She tugged on him, urging him to make a move. "Peter!"

Peter shook his head in an attempt to throw out his fear. He took his sword and could not help but gaze at it for an instant. It had been so long since his last real adventure…since he had last seen Hook…

The fear took him once again and he tried to forget about it, rising into the air and out of his tree house into the sky. However, he was only in the sky for a few moments before slowly sinking to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Tinkerbell asked after having watched him land.

Ignoring her, Peter once again lifted himself into the air, but even more quickly than last time, his feet touched the earth. It was almost as if there was something heavy tied to each of his feet in an effort to bring him down. "I don't know what the matter is," he said, puzzled. "I can't—I can't seem to—"

Fly. He could not seem to fly. But Tinkerbell would not let him say it. She was afraid that if he actually said it, it would be true. Before he could finish his sentence, Tinkerbell blew her dust on him and watched as he lifted himself into the air with ease. This time, he stayed afloat. She smiled in relief. "To Hook!" she shouted, in triumph.

No sooner than she had said Hook, Peter fell to the ground, landing in an ungraceful mess. He lay there stunned before getting up. "Again!" he called to Tinkerbell, requesting more fairy dust. But it was no use. He ran, jumped, and fell flat on his face, crying out as his sheathed sword jabbed into his side.

"Peter…" Tinkerbell whispered to herself as realization settled in. Peter could no longer fly.

Peter pulled himself to his knees with his rear in the air and his face and fists to the ground. "Why, Tinkerbell?" he demanded, pounding a confused fist on the ground. "Why?"

How could Tinkerbell answer his question if she herself had the same one? This had never happened before. He had been able to fly since she had taught him how. All he had to do was think happy thoughts…

That was it. He could not fly because he was not thinking happy thoughts. But did it matter? Peter was different from others in that he could fly without thinking a happy thought. It was part of what made him Peter Pan. As long as he still possessed a happy thought, as long as there was one stowed away somewhere in the depths of his mind, he had the ability to fly.

And now that Peter could not fly, Tinkerbell realized one thing: Peter had no happy thoughts. They had gone, dissolved into nothingness.

"More fairy dust," said Peter, still on the ground. "I'll fly."

Tinkerbell landed on the ground so that she was face to face with Peter. "Peter," she said, her tone grave. "You haven't needed fairy dust since the day I found you."

"More dust," ordered Peter.

"Listen to me. It isn't only fairy dust that you need. You know that." He just stared at her with blank eyes. "Just one happy thought, Peter," she whispered, placing her hands on his nose and leaning closer. "Just one and it will lift you into the air. Just one…"

Peter stood so suddenly that it startled the fairy, and she flew to remain face to face with him. He glared at her before saying, "I haven't any."

The Jolly Roger, Tootles had long ago concluded, was where he was now. It was the only explanation for why he was locked in a cell.

He thought of Wendy, hoping that she was alright. Tinkerbell will look after her, Tootles reasoned with himself. But, giving Wendy and Tinkerbell's past experiences with each other, his reasoning did not possess much strength. Still, this time was different. This time was important.

Everything was a bit hazy except for one thing. He would never forget the feeling of the cannonball colliding with his left leg. The pain was as clear ever. And the pain he was feeling at that particular moment was not much less than when Long Tom had hit him.

But the peculiar part was that his leg had been bandaged. Why? They were pirates, after all. They would never think to set and bandage his leg. Was this some sort of game that Hook was playing? In exchange for helping Tootles, he would be forced to lead them to Peter? If not, who would think to tend to his leg? Who—

Tootles grew attentive when he heard the sound of his cell being unlocked. The pirate had his head down and his hat low so that his face could not be seen. Finally, he opened the cell door and stepped inside.

"The Cap'n wants you on deck." It was Slit-Your-Throat Slim.

A feeling of hatred spread through Tootles when he saw the pirate's face. Now he knew who had tended to his leg. "I'll need a little help," scowled Tootles. "Since you're so good at helping," he mumbled under his breath, referring to his leg.

Slim pulled Tootles up and let him lean on him for support. "How's…how's the leg?" he asked, meekly. He began to walk, slowly so that Tootles could walk at a comfortable pace.

"Why do you care?" spat Tootles. "You shouldn't have helped me. You're a coward and traitor and I don't accept help from cowards or traitors."

Slim stopped upon hearing Tootles stinging declaration.

"In fact," said Tootles, letting go of Slim and putting all his weight on his right leg, "I don't need your help. I can walk myself." However, this was a lie that was obvious to the both of them. It was so obvious that it had the power to knock Tootles over after just one hobble and cause him to cry out in pain.

Sighing, Slim bent over and extended his hand. Tootles stared at it and then took it with loathing.

Once on deck, Tootles was greeted with the familiar faces of pirates whom he had not seen in quite some time. They were gathered around, bunched together, waiting for him in anticipation. There were many times when Tootles found himself in this same situation, in a situation where he found himself surrounded by pirates. But this time struck him more than the others did. This time, he was alone.

And at the head of the bunch was the "Cap'n" himself, Captain Hook. "Why hello, Tootles, is it?" smiled Hook.

"Yes, Cap'n," said Slim, answering for Tootles. They had settled in front of Hook and Tootles shot Slim a look of malice that Hook immediately picked up.

"A bit of animosity between old comrades, I see," he commented to no one in particular. "Perhaps you two would like to sort it out? In a duel?"

Now, Tootles was never that skilled in combat to begin with. And knowing who his opponent was did not better things. He had heard the stories about Slim. He liked his neck in tack and preferred to keep it that way. Subconsciously, he found himself rubbing his throat nervously.

"I thought you might find that idea a bit distasteful," said Hook, smiling. "Then maybe you would like to tell me where Pan has been hiding all this time."

Tootles refused to look at Hook, thus, giving his answer in the act of avoiding Hook's eyes.

"Your loyalty has not waned, like others," said Hook. He watched as Tootles flashed Slim a dirty look and then set his eyes to the ground again. "Are you sure you don't have anything to tell me?"

Tootles remained silent.

"No matter," said Hook, sounding nonchalant. "My men and I are in dire need of entertainment. You and Slim will duel when the sun goes down. How about it, men? How does that sound?" asked Hook, earning cheering from his crew. "You have until sundown to think it over," Hook told Tootles over the crew's cheering.

Tootles was sentenced to death at sundown.

End Note: So…was it weak? I don't know, I'm just getting back into the swing of things. I'm also thinking about kicking it up a notch, you know, making the rating go higher. I've got things in mind…some romantic things that I've been thinking about since the very beginning, as well as some other things...so, thanks for reading and thank you for all the reviews. Please, don't forget to review. It helps. Thanks again.