Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Peter Pan, Captain Hook, or any of Mr. Barry's other wonderful characters. I write about them solely for my own amusement, and make no profit from it except that which I receive from knowing my writing has been enjoyed by others.

Chapter 11

The Return

Far away, in Neverland's fairy grove, the little folk were holding a great feast. Hundreds of tiny lights flew about the hollow tree in an ever-changing pattern. In the midst of it all, one pixie stopped his dance. Hawk Dancer's head shot up, and he flew a short distance away from his brethren. He strained to catch the sound of the voice that he had heard just a moment ago. It was a human's voice, and one that was familiar to him, though he could not imagine how.

Hawk raced through the trees, looking for the one who had spoken to him. He was not sure how he knew, but he was certain that she was sad and lonely. His entire body was filled with the need to find her, to bring her to Neverland where she would never be alone again.

Other fairies passed him by, and Hawk Dancer chimed at them in confusion. The others nodded sagely. Hawk was hearing the call of a Lost One, they informed him, a rare honor among fairy-kind. The only way to make the voice go away was to travel to earth, find the one who called to him, and bring her back.

Hawk chimed bashfully. He did not know the way he should go. The older fairies laughed and told Hawk he was a silly young thing. No fairy knew the way, exactly. He only needed to follow the sound of his Lost One's voice, and that would lead him to her.

The pixie thanked his elders and shot into the sky, through the treetops and away from Neverland, the sound of the sad lady's voice his only beacon.

-----

Sophia woke to the sound of a thousand tiny bells ringing in her ear. She opened her eyes and found herself face to face with a very excited pixie. She adjusted her glasses and reached out to touch him.

"Hawk? Is that you?" she asked. It was rather difficult for her to believe that the fairy who had come to be her guide was the very one who had been her friend.

Hawk nodded happily, then flew around her, trailing golden pixie dust as he went.

"You remember me?" Sophia asked. Hawk hovered in front of her, hands on hips, and chimed with annoyance. Of course he remembered her! Sophia laughed and kissed the top of his head.

"You've come to take me back, have you?"

Hawk nodded and took off down the path, motioning for her to follow him. They wound through the park until they came to an open field of grass, silver under the light of the half-moon. Hawk Dancer stopped abruptly and waited impatiently for Sophia to catch up with him.

"What do we do now?" she asked. By way of an answer, Hawk sprinkled her with pixie dust and shot up into the air.

"I'm not sure I can keep the flying spell up all the way back to Neverland!" Sophia called after him. An exasperated Hawk Dancer dropped back down to her level and let her know in no uncertain terms that she didn't need any spells. She had pixie dust, didn't she?

"And how does that work?" she asked. Hawk Dancer gave her a big grin, pointed at his mouth, than tapped her on the forehead. "Ah," Sophia said. "Happy thoughts. I see." She closed her eyes and thought of books, sweets, and James. She rose a few inches off the ground, then a few feet, and then, laughing like a child, followed Hawk as he soared higher and higher over London.

The air got thinner and thinner, and Sophia had just begun to wonder whether pixie dust also had the ability to help one breathe in space when Hawk Dancer wrapped his hand around one of her fingers, and gave off a blinding burst of light. Sophia blinked, trying to clear her vision. When she could see again, the expanse of the Sea Between Worlds roiled beneath them.

"That's… a different way to get to the Sea," she murmured. Hawk called for her to hurry up, they were nearly back, and this was no time for dawdling. She hurried to catch up with him, and soon the mists broke, and she saw the single peak of Neverland's mountain and the masts of the Jolly Roger in the bay. The sun was rising just as they arrived, and the morning light wreathed the island in a halo of golden flame.

Sophia wiped away the tears that stung her eyes. "For all the time I spent trying to find a way to get away from this place, I never thought I'd be so glad to see it," she said. She turned sharply, as if to get a good look at the island from the air, but Hawk chimed a warning at her. The pixie dust would soon wear off, and she was too weary to sustain her flying spell for long.

"It seemed to work for quite a long time for the Lost Boys," Sophia said. Hawk shrugged and held his hand at knee level, then above his head. "It's because I'm a grownup, then," Sophia said. Hawk nodded. "Very well then. I say we pay the pirate ship a visit." She veered downward, and Hawk had to fly as fast as he could to keep up.

From the moment that Sophia's feet touched the deck, she knew that something was not as it should be. The Jolly Roger's sails were ripped and tattered, there was no watch on duty, and the ship was in general disarray. Several pirates, apparently sleeping where they had fallen, snored loudly and clutched half-empty bottles of rum.

Sophia picked her way across the deck, trying not to step on anyone. One single thought occupied her mind. Where was the Captain? She knew that James would never allow his ship to sink to such a miserable condition, and yet, she could not deny what she saw. She remembered Wendy's story about the crocodile and frowned.

The door to the Captain's cabin was ajar, and Sophia carefully opened it and stepped inside. Two more pirates were asleep at the table, the remnants of a large dinner spread about them. Hook's first mate, Mr. Smee, dozed in the Captain's favorite chair. The room looked like it had a nest of rats living in it, and there was no sign of James. Her patience was beginning to run thin. She walked over to Smee and shook him none too gently. He spluttered a bit, and squinted at her as he tried to wake up.

"May I ask what exactly you think you're doing in here?" Sophia demanded.

Smee scratched his head. "I could ask you the same thing, Miss," he replied.

"I came on board not five minutes ago, but no one saw me because no watch had been posted, and it appears that the entire crew is out cold from having too much to drink." The disapproval in her voice was obvious, and Smee cringed. It had been quite some time since anyone had been around to berate him. "Where is the Captain?" Sophia asked, suddenly switching tacks.

Smee, more fully awake now, stood and poked a gnarled finger at her. "Now wait just a second, Missy. I don't know who you think you are, but I'm not about to start answering questions put to me by someone I've never seen before."

"You don't remember me?" Sophia asked. "Because I remember you, Mr. Smee."

The first mate's mouth dropped, and he squinted at her some more. "How did you know my name?"

"I know all of your names. And you know mine, you've just forgotten it. I'm Sophia, the Captain's friend." She stopped and waited for him to try to remember. "Does that sound at all familiar?"

"You? Friends with the Captain?" Smee chuckled. "Doesn't seem very likely, a prim little thing like you. Besides, the Captain doesn't have no need for friends now." His face grew mournful, and as a reflex, he took his hat off and clapped it over his heart for a moment before cramming it back onto his head.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sophia asked. "What happened to Captain Hook?" She was almost shouting, and her voice woke one of the sleeping pirates. Seeing an unfamiliar intruder, the pirate lurched forward and was about to attack her when Hawk Dancer latched onto his wrist and drove his knife, no bigger than a rose thorn, into the pirate's hand. Sophia's would be attacker yelped and tried to shake Hawk off, but the pixie, grinning wildly, held on. "Make him stop that, or I will," Sophia said to Smee, nodding at the frantic pirate. One look at her face told the first mate that she was serious, as did the menacing looking ball of black mist that had appeared at her fingertips.

"No need to panic!" he shouted. "Lady's a friend!" The pirate stopped and stared at Smee, dumbfounded. Hawk sheathed his knife and flew away, sticking his tongue out at the pirate as went.

"That's better," Sophia said, and let the sleeping spell she'd been holding in readiness dissipate. "Now, I ask you again. What happened?"

"There was… a crocodile, and Peter Pan… Well, actually Peter Pan came first, and then the crocodile just happened to be there…" Smee rubbed his hands together anxiously. "And then, Pan stole the ship, and it flew away… but when he came back, he left it in the harbor, and we all came back on board…"

"All of you but the Captain?" Sophia prompted.

"Yes, Miss. The Captain had already been… well… eaten."

Sophia's face went pale, and Smee cringed. The lady, whom he had already decided was dangerous, was getting angry. "You saw this?" she demanded.

"Clear as daylight! One moment, the Captain was falling, and then that great monstrous reptile jumped out of the water and SNAP! Swallowed him whole. Pan's left us alone since then, seeing as how there's no Captain to fight. From what I hear tell, Pan and his new group of boys spend all their time chasing Indians and catching fairies these days."

Sophia advanced on him, every muscle in her body held rigid. It was all she could do to keep from falling apart completely. She could not afford to show weakness at the moment. She meant to find James, or to avenge him, whichever was appropriate. And for that, she would need help and the respect of the ship's crew.

"You're telling me that your captain got eaten by that hideous beast, and you didn't even go after it and try to avenge him? What kind of pirates are you?" she hissed. Though he was a good four inches taller than she, Smee shrunk back.

"It's a very big crocodile, Miss," he said meekly.

"Useless," Sophia muttered under her breath. She brushed past Smee with the intent of going into her old room to think. Upon finding the door locked, she stormed back into the Captain's cabin.

"Where is the key to that door?" she asked.

"I… wouldn't know, Miss," Smee stammered. "Captain had that place locked up long ago."

She let out an exasperated sigh. She was going to get nowhere with the pirates in their present disorganized state. "I take it you're in charge here?"

"I was the Captain's first mate, so naturally…"

Sophia interrupted him. "You are no longer in command, Mr. Smee." She flicked her wrist, the door slammed shut, and every candle in the room burst into flame at once. "I am."

Smee nodded, sufficiently cowed by her display of power.

"Now, I'd like for you to rouse the crew. Get them sober, get them cleaned up, and get me a list of things that need to be done to make the ship seaworthy again."

"Right away…. Miss," Smee said, not quite sure what title of respect she expected him to use.

"And get someone in here to clean out this mess, please. I'll be using this room until the key to mine turns up." She was calmer now, and no longer looked ready to bore holes through him with her eyes alone.

"Of course, Miss… Sophia."

Sophia favored him with a kindly smile. "Thank you," she said. There was no use in not being polite. Besides, she didn't fancy trying to bully the crew about all the time. It would be much easier if they did what she asked because they liked and trusted her.

Smee shook his head, as if trying to remember something he had long forgotten. Suddenly, as if a veil had been lifted, she saw recognition on his face. "Miss Sophia? It's… you? You came back!"

"So you remember me now?" she asked.

"I don't understand how I ever forgot," the old man said, looking a little embarrassed.

"Well, I'm back now. Go, tell the others. Tell them… that we're going to go and avenge our fallen Captain," she said.

Smee tottered out of the room, leaving Sophia alone. She walked over to the wall that contained the secret passage to her room and pushed on the appropriate spots, curious to see if that entrance had been sealed as well. Much to her disappointment, nothing happened. She wandered over to the bed and threw herself none-too-gracefully across it, raining a cloud of dust as she did so. Apparently, the pirates hadn't thought to touch Hook's fine bedding. She took off her glasses, set them on the nightstand, and massaged her forehead. This was not the return to Neverland she had envisioned. James was supposed to be waiting for her. All her visions of a joyful reunion were turning out to be just that—insubstantial dreams.

He can't be dead, she told herself. I can't have come all this way to find him dead… I would have known. I would have felt it. But if he is… Sophia had never been one to savor the thought of harming another creature, but at that moment, images of the bloody death she planned to wreak upon the crocodile when she found it were quite satisfying.

-----

Sophia was pleasantly surprised at the ease with which the rest of the crew accepted her command. True, Smee did have to threaten to knock the heads of any man who dared disobey her, and Sophia was forced to put on a little show of her power, but after a few tense moments most of the pirates either recognized her or realized that they would do well not to trifle with the short little sorceress. By mid-afternoon, the ship was beginning to look like itself again, and James' cabin was halfway livable.

Sophia spent most of the day poring over James' maps of the island. She found no trace of the crocodile's lair. Though there were many notations representing where the beast had been sighted, none of them seemed to be the crocodile's home. When, at last, she reached her wit's end, she went out onto the deck to clear her mind. It was summer in Neverland, and the water around the ship was blue and glassy.

Sophia looked over the edge and into the sea. That creature is in these waters somewhere… It's just one more secret I don't have the answer to, she thought bitterly. However, before she could indulge in any more self-pity, an idea occurred to her. She hopped up onto the railing and swung her legs over to the other side so that she was sitting with her feet dangling above the water. She closed her eyes, blocked out all of the noise around her, and tried to concentrate.

"Be careful you don't fall, Miss!" a passing pirate said, seeing her balanced so precariously.

"I'm all right," Sophia assured him. "Now, please… don't distract me. What I'm doing is… not easy." The pirate tiptoed away, and shooed away all of his curious crewmates that had gathered around her. Sophia sank back into a near trancelike state, and almost didn't feel the change begin. Therefore, she was rather surprised when she opened her eyes and saw a mottled fin instead of legs, and a blue-green webbed hand instead of her own slender fingers. The crew was equally shocked to see a mermaid sitting where Sophia had been only a moment before. On closer inspection, however, they saw that the mermaid's face was vaguely like Sophia's. Not even waiting for all of the commotion to die down, she flashed a toothy smile at them and dove into the water.

Though she had never experienced the mermaid's form before, swimming came naturally to her. The water on her skin felt cool and smooth, like liquid wind. As she swam, her sharp eyes were able to distinguish gradations of color that she had never seen before. She made a full circle around the ship and met nothing but a startled school of angelfish. Sophia flipped over onto her back and laughed soundlessly as the colorful fish flashed by her and saltwater streamed through her long, tangled hair. Satisfied that there were no other mermaids nearby, she struck out for the lagoon.

The magic of the mermaids' secret place pressed in heavily on Sophia's mind as she swam in lazy circles around it. She remembered being frightened of it once, but now, the ancient power that was there filled her, made her feel safer and stronger. It was a heady, intoxicating sensation, like drinking too much wine too quickly.

A subtle change in the currents at her back alerted her to the presence of another. She spun around and saw a familiar face. The mermaid with the kelp-green hair swam in place a few feet away.

Your powers have grown. You can take our form now, she said.

Yes, Sophia replied, and yet I still come to you for help… Sister. She hoped she was not being too forward in naming the mermaid thus.

Ishari. I am called Ishari, the mermaid told her. Much has changed since you left this place.

I know. That is why I must ask you… do you and your sisters know where the crocodile makes its home?

Ishari laughed and bared her teeth. You do not seek the crocodile. You seek the Dark Captain.

You are wise, Sophia conceded.

I know you, Sophia.

If Sophia was surprised that the mermaid knew her name without being told, she did not show it. Please… tell me. Does he still live? she asked.

Ishari swam past her and beckoned for her to follow. I will tell you. And I will show you. Sophia did not quite understand, but she followed anyway. The crocodile is not a mortal beast, the other mermaid told her as they swam. She is old, and she is cruel. Ishari came up beside Sophia and grabbed her wrist, and Sophia's mind was suddenly crowded with images of wounded, dying mermaids. Some were missing hands and arms, others had jagged bite marks on their tails and bodies. She has always been an enemy, Ishari said.

Was she always an enemy of the Dark Captain? Sophia asked. The other stopped for a moment, considering the question.

The crocodile did not hate him. She wanted him. She wanted to feed on him. And now she has him.

Sophia would have screamed if her voice would have made any noise under the water. Rage and confusion and unspeakable despair boiled up within her. He is dead, then!

Ishari moved her hand to the side of Sophia's face, and a measure of calm came back to the sorceress' mind.

Not dead. That is not how the Old One feeds. Ishari said.

But, how… I do not understand.

I told you. The crocodile is cruel. She loves nothing better than dark feelings. Hatred. Malice. Anger. Despair. These are her favorite foods. If he were dead, he could not satisfy her hunger.

The pirates told me they saw him swallowed whole, Sophia said.

They did not lie, Ishari told her. He lives inside of her, and she draws what she wants from him.

James certainly had enough of those things to keep her… full… for a long time, Sophia said.

Even he will be spent one day. The crocodile cannot keep draining him forever. And when he no longer feeds her, she will let him die.

How soon? Sophia asked.

It has been many, many moons since she swallowed him. If you wish to save him, you must do it soon. Ishari angled in towards land. Do you know this place? She asked.

Not from under the water, Sophia said.

Then we shall surface, Ishari said. They broke the surface of the water, and Sophia instinctively tried to take in a breath of air, only to find that nothing happened. You breathe the water now, Ishari said, a slightly mocking smile on her face. Now do you know where you are?

Sophia nodded. She had only seen the bleak, dark stones a few times, and she had only been inside once, but she knew instantly where she was.

The Black Castle, she said.

The crocodile's home is here, in a chamber deep in the caves. I will show you the way. Again, Ishari touched Sophia's face, and soon Sophia knew the way. When you face her, call to us. We will come. She pressed a small white shell into Sophia's hand. Use this. We will hear you. As soon as Sophia had accepted it, the mermaid arched her back and sped away, leaving Sophia to swim back to the Jolly Roger on her own.

Upon returning to the ship, she changed back to her own form while she was still in the water, then yelled at the crewman on watch until he saw her and let down a rope. When they pulled her on board, dripping wet, she was smiling widely.

"Find Mr. Smee. Tell him I want to talk to him in the Captain's cabin," she instructed them, then swept away, leaving a trail of water on the deck behind her.

Sophia was still in her wet clothing when Mr. Smee came to speak with her. She hadn't had the time to go looking for a change of clothes, and all of her things were still locked in her cabin.

"You wanted to see me, Miss?" Smee said.

"I want to go after the crocodile," Sophia announced. "Tomorrow, if possible. What I need to know is this: will the crew follow me? Because I can't go alone."

The old pirate gawked at her.

"What you're suggesting… it's madness! You haven't seen the size of that thing! The other lads like you well enough, but no one's going to be crazy enough to follow you into that!"

"What if I could convince them we could win?" she asked. "I know where its lair is. We could take it by surprise. And we wouldn't be fighting the crocodile with only steel and gunpowder." She created a tiny flame and switched it from fingertip to fingertip on her left hand. "We'd have my abilities as well. And we would not be alone. The mermaids would join us to fight our common enemy."

While Smee was not exactly convinced, he no longer looked as if he thought the plan was complete insanity.

"They might follow you, if you told him all that," he said.

"And if I told them that the Captain was alive, and I meant to free him?"

"That might help." Smee looked down his nose at her and tapped his chin. "One thing's certain, though. None of them'll follow you into battle if you're dressed like that, no matter how stirring a speech you give them."

She narrowed her eyes and looked down at her wet dress. "Dressed like what? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"You look like… well… a woman. Not very encouraging if you're going to be leading them into a fight, you know?"

Sophia looked down at her long skirts and tried very hard not to be offended. "No… I suppose not," she said.

When Smee was gone, she went to James' closet and threw open the doors. "If a pirate's what they need, a pirate's what they're going to get," she muttered to herself.