When Robyn felt Slightly's arms wrap around her again and pull her upwards she grabbed his shirt firmly and held on with all her strength. There was a last 'BOOM' from a cannon and all was silent except distant singing from the pirate ship.
Robyn hit the water and felt Slightly's grasp on her slip. She resurfaced and coughed out a mouthful of salt water. Slightly hung above her in the air. There was a sheepish look on his face as he reached a hand out to her.
"Sorry 'bout that, luv. I couldn't catch yeh 'cause I knew I'd be pulled into the water. And if that would'a happened, then there would'a been no flyin'. It'd be swimmin' the whole way to the Island." His hand caught Robyn's wet one and he started to heave her upwards out of the water. She clutched at him awkwardly, not wanting to go back into the cold water.
Laughing, he pulled her higher off the water. Her dress clung to her legs and wet, blonde hair stuck to her face. "I take it, yeh don' wanna fly? Yer gonna make me carry yeh the rest of the way." He laughed again, sounding as if it would be no effort for him to carry the fifteen-year-old girl to shore.
He easily flew with her in his arms the rest of the way. Setting down gently on the beach, Robyn let out a sigh of relief when her feet touched the ground again. Immediately she pulled down the dress that was clinging high on her thighs. Slightly's eyes had rested on her legs and after pulling down the dress, Robyn checked to make sure the rest of her was covered. When she was assured she was, her hands went up to her long hair to unstick it from her face.
Raising an eyebrow, Slightly turned to the trees only a short distance away, put his hands to his mouth like a megaphone and called, "Tink! Tink, yeh there?" When there was no answer, he shrugged. "Let's go then Robby, 's'a long walk."
Robyn jerked at the sound of him using her cousin's pet name. He looked at her oddly then smirked. HE elbowed her lightly in the direction of the trees and she started walking, trudging really, through the sand that was now sticking to her feet and legs.
They had just entered the trees when all light seemed to be cut off and the only sounds were distant roars and birds. You could barely hear the waves hitting the beach and it creeped Robyn out. She inched closer to Slightly and he put a hand bracingly on her shoulder.
"Nothin' to worry 'bout, luv," he said reassuringly. "We're safe 'nuff here durin' the day."
There was a loud cry from somewhere above them, causing them both to look up. While Robyn's face had a puzzled, almost frightened look on it, Slightly started grinning.
"Tha's Pan, tha' is. I'm sure of it. Just wait a second, luv, 'spect he'll be here soon 'nuff."
Tinkerbell came soaring through the leaves on the top of the trees down the path in front of the Lost Boy and wet girl. Neither of them saw her and they both looked around uselessly for Peter to come into view. Virtually silent, he sunk down near Tinkerbell and studied his friend and the new arrival.
"Wendy," he breathed as he watched Robyn's partially dried hair blow in the wind. Then louder he called, "Wendy!"
Both turned to look at him as he strode towards them. Tinkerbell jabbered behind him but he payed her no attention. Peter stopped short of Robyn only a couple inches. She swallowed as she watched his eyes play over her features. Then he reached out and touched her hair. Robyn flinched a bit but tried to hide it. Slightly coughed and Pan turned to look at him.
"Slightly! Took ya long enough, mate! I've been combing the Island all mornin' thinkin' you might have gotten here and decided to walk!" His voice was pleasant. There was a faint trace of an almost Australian accent.
While he spoke with Slightly, Robyn took the time to examine him as he'd examined her. His hair was dark. Almost brown but with a tinge of red. He had a dusting of freckles on his nose and when he grinned it revealed teeth that looked like they had been prisoner to braces. She had to look up at him. Not too far, only a bit higher than Slightly. He was tall. But then again, she was short.
"- yeh," Slightly continued, looking kind of nervous now. "I thought I should introduce yeh. This here's Robyn. She's Wendy's great granddaughter, Pan."
The look on Pan's face went from pleasant to shocked to angry in about three seconds.
"What?" he asked, quietly. His voice was filled with fury.
"Yeh, er - sorry 'bout tha' mate but, well, Wendy kinda... snuffed it. Number of years ago in fact."
Instead of looking angry, Pan looked startled. Sad. Without really thinking, Robyn reached out and touched his shoulder with one hand. He jerked out of her grasp and took a step away from them, shaking his head.
"You look like her. But you're not. And no one can change that." He then turned to Slightly. "She should go home."
"What?" he asked, nonplussed. "After all my trouble? Yeh know how 'ard it was gettin' her here?! Pirates fired on us, then Tink ran off -" here Pan rounded on Tinkerbell and glared at her "- and she fell into the water. And now, now yer tellin' me I hafta take her back. Wendy's dead Peter. Yeh have to accept it. But yeh're not dead, mate. And yeh got this pretty thing here, just waitin' to help yeh, and yeh're sayin' no? Are yeh fuckin' psycho? The faeries messin' with yer mind, man?"
Peter had the sense to look ashamed here. "Fine. Bring her to the tree, will ya? Tink, you're stayin' with them the whole way there. You leave and I'll hear 'bout it, got that?"
Some angry sounding bells came from somewhere behind Robyn. Peter let out a weary sounding sigh before bending his long legs and pushing off the ground. He was out of sight quickly and Slightly, Tinkerbell and Robyn were left alone.
"Sorry 'bout that, luv. Give him a day or two, I know he'll come 'round." Robyn nodded, subdued now. With a sigh, Slightly continued, "Yeh up to flyin' now?" Another nod from Robyn. Slightly waved and Tinkerbell obediently rained Dust down onto both of them. "Thanks mate."
It took longer this time for Robyn to fly. Pan's words kept invading her head. "You look like her. But you're not. And no one can change that." Did he really want to send her home? Finally she forced herself to put his disappointed words out of her head and concentrated on a happy memory again. Soon enough she found herself airborne beside Slightly.
He seemed to be treating her gently, almost as if she would break. He took her hand and floated a bit higher. She looked at him and he gave her a half grin.
"Let's rock then, luv."
Soon both of them were flying quite quickly above the canopy of tree tops. Slightly seemed really tense and Robyn didn't speak until Slightly stopped short and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her up against his body to stop her. She let out a scream of shock as she was flattened against him. There was a huge clearing in the trees that seemed easy enough to fly over. Turning to look at him, Slightly released Robyn's body but kept a hold on her arm. She raised an eyebrow and he pointed.
A bright orange bird was flying over the clearing lazily. It had gotten about half way when a huge plant swooped up and caught it in its mouth. The bird let out a plaintive squawk before there was no more sound. Robyn's eyes were huge as she recognized the plant. It was a Venus Fly Trap. But not like any she had seen before; it had to be at least thirty feet high to reach up to where the bird was.
"Yeh'll soon see, Neverland isn' quite as nice as what yeh're used to," Slightly said.
Nodding as they started to fly around the clearing, Robyn muttered, "That's for sure."
Soon enough Slightly dipped down low, dragging Robyn behind him. He grounded himself, as did his smaller companion. All Robyn could see was a huge tree with twisting roots. Slightly was prodding around, looking for something. Finally he seemed to find what he was looking for and beckoned Robyn forwards. She looked down to see a hole in between the roots.
"It looks a lot smaller than it really is, trust me on tha'. If Tootles and Cullen can fit down, yeh can easily. Gimme yer hand, luv, I'll help yeh take the first leap."
Gritting her teeth, Robyn did as she was told and slid her body into the hole. Without warning, Slightly let go of her hand she let out a high pitched scream as she hit the ground below her and slid a couple feet into an unceremonious pile. She looked up into green eyes and saw Peter standing a couple feet in front of her, smirking almost in an unfriendly way. He held out a big hand, taking hers and pulling her to her feet. She was only inches from his face and looked up into his eyes.
Even though he hated to admit it, Peter enjoyed having her this close to examine her. He had thought he would burst when he mistook her as Wendy. He roughly grabbed her chin in one of his hands and looked down at her. Her blue eyes were wide, almost fearful as she watched him study her. The light green dress she was wearing felt soft as it brushed against the hand at his side.
There was a thump from behind them that broke the spell. Both of them whipped around to see Slightly standing there, legs bent as if he had just landed. Wondering how anyone managed to go down the hole without falling on their faces, Robyn turned back to Peter who was now walking away.
"Robyn," he said, sounding almost thoughtful, "Welcome to the Tree."
(A/N: Here I am, writing for you all desperately though I am supposed to be doing homework. Maybe this is the reason my mother is so angry about my low marks. Dum de dum dum dum. Meh. If I'm taking this much risk to write for you, the least you could do it Review, right?)