Chapter Three: Underground Homes and Birthday Presents

Peter faced them once more, and even in the darkness Wendy and Tock could see Peter's bright grin. "They have won our Home Under the Ground back!"

Wendy stared at Peter in disbelief as Tock pulled on her nightdress in excitement, "How can you know that Peter?"

The leader of the Lost Boys shrugged, "I just know!" And with that he ran off, hollering for Wendy to follow him.

"Peter!" she screamed into the darkness, "Wait!" But Peter Pan did not respond, and she could hear his quick footsteps getting farther and farther away. "Oh, it's no use to even try to follow him through all these dark woods." Then a brilliant idea dawned on her, "Tock," she regarded her little brother, "Do you remember how to get to the Home Under the Ground?"

The boy looked uneasy, "I…I think so…Follow me!" He grabbed Wendy's hand and together they made there was as quickly as possible to the Lost Boy's old home.

Several miles away, resting in the calm ocean was the Jolly Roger. Pacing its deck was the solitary figure of the ship's captain. His eyes, blue as forget-me-nots, were bright and mysterious as he thought over his plan. Capturing Wendy would be relatively easy now that he knew she would be sleeping in the Home Under the Ground. He had lost the battle against the dreadful Lost Boys purposefully, so that he could insure that Wendy would be in the underground home, and therefore, he would know exactly where to find her. Of course, he had lost a few of his shipmates in the progress, but it was all for a greater good. Not tonight, he thought, not tomorrow night. But in a weeks time we shall capture the fair Wendy. He needed enough time to kill Pan. He already had the perfect plan for that little adventure too. Hook knew that Pan would come to save Tiger Lily soon. And when he does…Hooks eyes became red as he thought of gutting his boy-enemy.

As you have probably most wisely guessed, Peter arrived at the Home Under the Ground first.

"Lads!" He cried, "You have won our home back!"

The Lost Boys cheered and motioned Peter inside the tree that drops down into their home. Peter looked around. The den looked exactly the same, and Peter was very glad of this. He placed his hands on his hips, in his classic Peter Pan pose and grinned. "Your mother is on her way."

Cub sniffled and asked, "What about Tock?"

Peter's face distorted as he tried to remember, "Tock?"

"His twin," Nibs said.

"Oh, yes, he is with Wendy."

As soon as this was said, Wendy herself slid into the den, Tock close behind.

"Wendy!" Michael yelled, and ran into the arms of his sister. Although they had only been apart for two hours at the most, he had missed Wendy something fierce. She was all Michael had to protect him, and he felt that he needed her dreadfully.

"Michael," Wendy whispered, "It's all right."

She looked up from her brother, who was still clinging to her tight, and announced, "Who wants dinner?"

All the children hollered and jumped at the mention of food. Peter said, "As the father, I shall go fishing and bring back Mother lots of fish to cook!" And with that, Peter flew out of the home with a promise that he would return soon.

"Alright!" Wendy began, "Lets get to setting the table! Slightly?"

"Yes?" Slightly stepped forward.

"You go get the plates from the shelf next to the fireplace. Curly? Will you please put the chairs 'round the table?"

Wendy assigned each boy a specific duty, and they busied themselves with those duties and other helpful chores until Peter got back half an hour later. Peter announced that he had caught plenty of fish for all of them, and Wendy fried the food and gave an equal amount to each.

After the dinner table had been cleared, and all the dishes cleaned and put away, Wendy tucked each boy into their beds. Their beds, though, were actually hammocks, since it was easier to install ten hammocks than it was to build ten beds. After she wished them all a goodnight's sleep, she followed Peter, who had whispered earlier that he would take her to her present, outside into the midnight of the Neverlands.

They walked together hand-in-hand once more, and the scene was very like the one from earlier. It was still just as dark, and both of them were still just as hushed. Wendy wondered whether or not this was a dream, for it certainly felt like one. She thought that maybe she had never come back to Neverland at all, and she, her brothers, and her cousin were still back inside the Nursery, sleeping peacefully. But when Peter let go of her hand to part a few thick bushes, she knew for a fact she was not dreaming. There in the middle of the tiny field that Peter revealed to her was the most beautiful treasure chest she had ever seen. Not that that was saying much, considering Wendy had seen very few, if not any, treasure chests. They were generally strictly for pirates.

The chest itself was striking. It was about three times the size of a standard music box, and made of dark mahogany wood, outlined with gold. The lock was made of an even brighter gold, and all of it looked rather expensive.

"Peter," Wendy gasped, "where did you get such a beautiful treasure box?"

Peter smiled and gazed at Wendy, "I stole it from the pirates! But the box isn't your birthday gift…the present is inside."

Wendy walked to the chest, and pulled up the latch. The lid immediately popped open, and inside were three different items. The first, she pulled out, was a comb made of seashells.

"It was a mermaids comb," Peter whispered to her as he leaned over the chest.

"It's beautiful." And it was indeed very beautiful. The shells were the color of pale moonlight and it glittered and sparkled as Wendy turned it around to see all its angles.

Peter took the comb from her and turned Wendy so she was facing him. He reached out and tenderly ran the comb through her hair. The feelings were wonderful; Wendy's scalp tingled each time Peter ran the comb down.

"When you brush your hair with this comb," he whispered quietly, "The mermaids consider you as one of their own. It's magic."

The stars above them shown brightly and they seemed to be dancing around the full moon. The little field that they were in was illumanated with the celestial glow, and Wendy felt that this light was magic also.

"There's more." Peter reminded her.

Wendy turned her face away from him and looked back down into the treasure chest. There was a clear wine bottle lying on its side, and it contained a strange pale yellow light. Peter grinned as Wendy pulled the bottle out by its long neck. The light inside began bouncing around, and the girl was sure she heard the tinkling of bells.

"Peter," Wendy gasped, "Is this…is this…"

"A fairy." Peter finished for her with a solemn face. "She is a child fairy who has been orphaned, and without someone to take care of her she will die. I found her looking for food near the Indian's tribe. I caught her in this bottle for you."

Wendy murmured something Peter could not hear and tapped on the bottle. The fairy stopped moving and stared up at Wendy through the glass with an, "Ooooo…"

The little fairy was stunningly beautiful with her blonde hair in two braids and dark violet eyes. "Oh, Peter…I can't believe this…She's so beautiful…for me to keep?"

"Yes," the boy said with a laugh, "But don't take her out just yet for she will fly away! Keep her in the bottle until she gets to know you a little better."

In her shock Wendy could still not form complete sentences. She numbly handed the bottle to Peter and reached in the box for the last gift.

"A whistle?" She asked Peter in puzzlement. The whistle was small and made of a light colored wood.

"Wherever you are, Wendy, if you blow this whistle I will come to you. It contains all sorts of magic that I stole from the mermaids, and no matter how far away you are I will be able to hear it. And I will come to you!"

Wendy was unable to find the right words to express her appreciation for her gifts. She finally decided on a traditional "Thank you" and that delighted Peter a great deal.

"Are you pleased with your presents, fair Lady?" he asked formally.

Wendy giggled and tried to keep a straight face (though very unsuccessfully), "Yes, dear Sir, I am very pleased."

Peter stood up and bowed deeply, and Wendy curtsied in reply. "Wendy, will you stay here for always and be Mother?"

Wendy's mood plummeted, and she stared at her feet, "Peter, I can't. I belong in London."

"But I got you all these gifts!" He said frantically, "You said you were pleased!"

Wendy looked up to meet his eyes, "And I am pleased, Peter. I wish I could stay, but my life resides in England."

Peter wiped his eyes with his fist, "How long will you stay?"

"We agreed on two weeks, did we not? Peter, please don't be upset. Let's not think about these things. Let's go back to the Home."

Wendy put the comb and the whistle into the box, and Peter agreed to carry it for her. Wendy carried the bottle containing her fairy, and as they walked back through the illuminated woods, Wendy mused over different names.

"How about Jane?"

Peter rolled his eyes, "That's a person's name! You have to give her a fairy name!"

Wendy pouted, "Well fine. You name her then."

Peter looked deep in thought, and they walked on in silence for several minutes. Finally, when the great trees that led to the underground den were in sight, Peter declared the young fairy's new name.

"Aisling."

Wendy looked at the little fairy, who was sleeping on the bottom of the bottle. "Aisling? Aisling…we could call her Ai for short."

"Ai," Peter repeated. "A fairy named Ai…I used to have a fairy..."

Wendy gasped and almost dropped her bottle, "Peter! You can't have already forgotten Tinker Bell!"

Peter shook his head, "Of course I haven't forgotten Tink. Where is she?"

Wendy opened the door to the tree, and watched as Peter slid into the Home Under the Ground with the treasure chest in his lap. Then Wendy followed. As she looked around the dark den she said a quick prayer of thanks that all the boys were still safe in their hammocks. She watched as Peter set her treasure chest down beside her hammock, and climb into his own. Wendy went around the room and blew out all the remaining nightlights. Peter had her now, he did not need the guarding nightlights any longer. She then set her bottle on top of the chest, and climbed into her own hammock to dream of Peter.

A/N: Ai is pronounced "I"