CHAPTER III - A Secret Uncovered ?

I won't say anything except - R&R please. Emotions run high in this…

Oh, and thanks to tinkerflyinbell1 for my 1st review!

Peter hovered awkwardly. Tinkerbell jingled worriedly in Peter's ear. "I don't know," confessed Peter, sounding uncertain.

"Peter," said Elsa softly. By now, the cats had come to join their mistress, and were watching the stranger and the bright light with round green (and, in Maelstrom's case, yellow) eyes. "Peter."

Peter landed and knelt in front of Elsa. "Yes?" he said, just as gently. The cats sniffed warily. Tinkerbell tinkled quietly.

"I recognize you, but I've never seen you before," Elsa whispered, looking deep into Peter's eyes. Her tear-filled gaze seemed to ask, "Why?"

"That's because - " Peter broke off; his normal, childish self was telling him to get on with it, whilst a newer, more sensitive and - dare he acknowledge it? - sensible side was saying, "Be careful."

Tinkerbell trilled lightly, encouraging both Peter and Elsa. The cats mewed tentatively.

"It's because your mother used to tell you stories about - me," began Peter. "You were really small - a baby. I used to hover outside your window and listen to the stories. I like stories about me, " he added with a touch of arrogance. Elsa sniffed, more out of emotion than irritation.

"Anyway - I said to Tinkerbell that I would come back for you when you were a bit older, and we could go to Neverland together - do you remember Neverland?" He broke off, worried somewhat by the prospect of his new Mother - for that was what she was, according to him - not remembering the existence of the very place from whence he came.

"I - I don't know," murmured Elsa. "I was told something - I know the name - but…" she trailed off. Peter spoke up, anxious to explain and chivvy Elsa's memory.

"Well, anyway, I said we could go to Neverland. But when I came back for you, a few years ago - you weren't there. Your mother wasn't there. No one was. I had lost you. I think you would have been…wait a minute…" He counted on his fingers. "I think you would have been about ten years old," he concluded.

"Ten? You came - ?"

"Yes. How old are you now?"

"Fifteen."

There was silence, during which the cats continued to glare at Tinkerbell and Peter and Elsa held each other's gaze.

"But - what happened to you?" asked Peter suddenly. Elsa lowered her eyes.

"I - I...Listen. About my parents - I don't what happened to them. I lost them before I was three, I was told. No one told me what happened to them. I can't remember them at all, and no one seems to want me to be able to."

Elsa felt anger rising, unbidden, from her heart. "I've been passed around like an unwanted present for most of my life, and I don't even know who my parents were. They could've left, they could be in another country, they could be dead for all I know!" She covered her face with her fingers.

Peter sensed her distress. He put a small, dirty hand on her shoulder. "Death is an awfully big adventure," he told her plainly.

Elsa raised her eyes. A tear shimmered on her eyelashes. Her hand automatically went up to play with her hair, as was her habit.

It was then that Peter knew why he recognized her.

That's all you're getting for now…Chapter IV - "Off To Neverland" - is coming soon. Once again, thanks for R&R'ing!