DISCLAIMER: I do not own Peter Pan. The wonderful amazing imaginative fantastic phenomenal writer Mr. J.M. Barrie does. I just own Jade and co.
OKAY I have a few comments on the reviews I received.
Love (anonymous) – I know that children feel love – EVERYone feels love. But not the type I'm talking about in my story. Children aren't capable of feeling that type of love because they are too young and immature, their feelings not fully developed. Also, this is a story. People can write anything they want in their own stories. Thank you for the review. I'm glad you like my story! Please keep reading.
BRIdoubleP – Haha you needn't worry, me hearty. I will keep writing. What was the dream you had that this story reminds you of?
Innout (anonymous reviewer) – What do you mean why do I have to write this for others? If you mean why people don't review, I believe I have explained why I want reviews. It makes an author happy that he or she knows people like his or her story(ies). I write it for others as well because I know what it feels like to not get as many reviews as you had hoped for. It gets you down, and you feel like you don't want to keep writing. As for my reviews, I deleted every chapter of this story because they got mixed up and rearranged. I kept the reviews I had, which was in the mid twenties (I had 7 chapters up then with no author's notes). The reason I had twenty-something reviews is because I wrote author's notes saying I wouldn't update if I didn't get any reviews because of the same reason I told you and everyone else, but then I deleted them when I updated my next chapter. To me, twenty-something reviews for 7 chapters is very little. Some people have stories with 7 chapters and they have 100 reviews. It's depressing. Anyway, I hope I cleared that up for you. Thanks for reviewing my story, and I'm glad you like it! PLEASE keep reviewing.
THIS IS FOR ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO READ THIS WHO HAVE FRIENDS WHO LIKE PETER PAN. PLEASE encourage them to read this. I love reviews oh so very much!
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Last time: "…Can I really become younger? Will I really lose the ability to love?"
"If you wish it."
Chapter 5
Jade gasped and jumped back, hitting her bottom on the floor, her eyes wide in shock at the sight she saw before her. There, clad in animal hide and skeleton leaves, golden hair, and bronze skin stood the ever-famous Peter Pan. Or rather, a reddening, upside-down Peter Pan. Only his upper body was showing. He turned so that he was right side up and flew into the room, landing lightly on the floor without making the slightest bit of a sound. He stood in his stance that everyone knows well – legs spread, fists on hips, and his famous cocky grin plastered onto his face. He also had an air of innocence floating around him that was impossible to go unnoticed.
To explain him in further detail, Peter Pan had wavy, messy, unruly hair of a golden sun kissed dirty-blonde color, and slightly darker at the roots. His eyes were the brightest of emeralds and had tiny golden flecks mingled with the green, which are what gave him that mysterious yet adventurous and mischievous look he so often wore. His skin was the color of a deep bronze, though not unnatural-looking, and he had the smell of earth (dirt, leaves, trees, flowers) mixed with a tiny bit of sweat, which together made a very good scent. It was also, like his hair, sun kissed, a gorgeous tan that any woman could only dream of having from endless days in the Neverland sun.
Lastly, his clothes were made of the finest, toughest deerskin on the island that was covered with skeleton leaves and one vine that slung over his right shoulder. Skeleton leaves come from the Skeleton tree, of which there is a whole forest on the island. These trees are the biggest trees in Neverland. Skeleton leaves are very interesting, not to mention strange, as well. The seeds of the tree are located inside the leaves so wherever a leaf ends up, a tree will grow with time. Skeleton trees are extinct on Earth, but in Neverland, they thrive.
The reason for this is long ago, when Skeleton trees still existed on Earth, a single leaf broke off of a branch and blew up towards the sky by an extremely strong gust of wind from a horrendous hurricane that was passing through the area. The wind pushed the small leaf up and up until it reached the Neverland star, where it was pushed through the barrier and landed on the island. There it grew into one tree, which grew up and deposited its leaves on the ground, which grew into more trees, and so it went on.
The boy's arrogant smile suddenly turned into a slight frown and his expression changed to one of slight confusion and curiosity.
"Is there something wrong with your face, lady?" Jade finally snapped back to attention and looked at him, clearly annoyed. How can this boy be so ignorant?
"No. Haven't you ever seen someone very surprised or in shock before?" she asked. Peter, sensing she could see his ignorance, stood taller. Of course he has!
"Sure I have! I've seen it many times on Hook's face whenever I defeat him!" He puffed out his chest proudly. Jade gasped.
"Hook?! Captain James Hook of the Jolly Roger?!! (Peter nodded) But I thought he was dead!!" Jade looked at him wide-eyed in shock.
"So did I…until he showed up in the bay of Raven's Town one day with most of his crew and a few new pirates on the Jolly Roger. It turns out that he ripped his way out of the crocodile with his hook and swam to shore. He made his way to Raven's Town, as did his crew, and boarded the Jolly Roger, which I sailed into the bay when I came back after dropping off Wendy, John, Michael, and the EX lost boys at Wendy's house." He said the last bit with increasing poison dripping from his words.
"Oh my…" Jade said.
He broke his stance, looking into her eyes. There was something there that was completely out of place. It should never be there. 'She still holds all of her youth, though not innocent, and she should be happy, but…I see grief and loneliness in her eyes. Poor girl. She and Wendy must have been good friends,' he thought.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Jade."
"Jade…" He seemed to be thinking about her name, and then started walking towards her. Jade saw the boy come out of his stance and he was, in turn, staring at her. He wouldn't take his eyes off of her, and when he started walking towards her, all she could do was sit there on the floor and do nothing.
She didn't know what else to do. Peter knelt in front of her, taking her chin gently in his right hand and lifting it slightly.
"Huh…?" she murmered. He stared into her pine green eyes a few seconds longer, and noticed that there were little specks of dark gray, almost bluish. They were beautiful eyes, ones that belonged to a person who was pure at heart, mischievous, and adventurous. Ones of a child, not a grown-up.
"So sad. You really liked Wendy, didn't you?" Jade frowned and swiveled her eyes to the left so that she was looking away from the boy's face, even though she could still see him out of the corner. Tears started to form and they threatened to spill down her cheeks, but no. She could not let him see her cry. She was strong, wasn't she? She doesn't cry in front of anyone but her closest friend, Nadia. That was a habit, you see. He took his hand off her chin.
Most people she won't let see her when she is upset about something, and since that has become almost second nature to her, she does it even to Nadia sometimes. Now she was doing it to Peter, a total stranger though also not one, but as she felt with Nadia, she didn't feel the actual need to hide her feelings but this is a little different. This is someone she doesn't know well, so she tried to hide them, anyway. But Peter, being someone who observes everything, failed to miss them.
"Girl? Why are you crying?" That line. That famous line, only this time with 'girl' instead of 'boy'. Her eyes slowly made their way back to his face and her expression changed to a stronger one, one of bravery and strength, which happens to her whenever the "threat" of someone seeing her weak or crying comes up. She frowned and her eyebrows formed a V-shape. Peter took his hand away from her chin as Jade made herself slightly taller, though still sitting on the floor.
"I am not crying. (Proudly) I never cry." Peter smirked and raised his right eyebrow, tilting his head ever so slightly. "I don't," she confirmed. He righted his head.
"You certainly do have a proud spirit," he said. She smiled. Peter's face softened. "Ah, finally. A smile. Tears don't suit you." Jade gasped.
"You were spying on me!"
"I…NO! I wasn't spying! Not exactly…(He sighed and sat on the ground) Listen. I've been watching you for a long time – ever since I saw you leaning out of your window one night. You were staring at that star (he turns his upper body and points to the brightest star, then turns to face her again), the brightest one in the sky–"
"The North star, Polaris," she interrupted, though Peter wasn't annoyed.
"Yes, Polaris. That is Neverland, Jade." Jade gasped again, her eyes widening.
"I knew it! So I was right all along...I had a feeling that it was Neverland. So it IS true..."
"Yep. I was above you on the main roof and I heard you whisper something, and I had to come back. I came to see you a lot, you intrigued me so, but I had to come less and less, for I was growing with the amount of time I spend in this world. I heard your plea, but I couldn't bring myself to take you at first because Neverland only allows pure children…"
Jade looked hurt. How did he know? Oh, he's Peter Pan, the epitome of youth, the magical boy who was Neverland's ruler. Of course he knew. He can sense these things. Jade's heart wrenched. No! It wasn't fair! She HAD to go to Neverland. Peter was here! This couldn't happen to her, not after how far she has come. It wasn't her fault! IT WASN'T HER FAULT!!
Peter knew that the reason Jade wasn't pure in body was not her fault at all, but he had to warn her. He told her he wasn't sure that the island would let her through, but because of her immensely pure heart and spirit, it just might.
"It wasn't my fault...I was forced! No, NO Peter I HAVE to go with you! I can't stay here, I can't LIVE here. It's too much for me! I can't stand it, it's slowly killing me. I am going with you, even if Neverland's power rips me to pieces. I refuse to die old and grown-up."
"I know, sshh, it's ok, please don't cry, Jade. I know it wasn't your fault. Like I said, Neverland might let you through. In fact, I know there's a good chance because you have the purest heart of anyone I have ever met. But back to my story.
I didn't care about the fact that your body wasn't pure after a while. I kept coming, and I saw that you were still innocent and you weren't an adult. I must admit that when I first saw you I thought you were one because no child looks the way you do, but I soon realized that it isn't always what's someone looks like, because you were such a child on the inside (Jade chuckled and flashed him a small, sad smile that showed promises of looking better). So, I finally made up my mind to take you away where you wanted to go for so long, and here I am."
Jade couldn't believe it. Here he was, the boy of her dreams, of her favorite story, which happened to not be a story at all. And he had been coming to see her all this time.
Then it hit her. It hit her like a cannon ball flying right at her at full speed. Peter was acting strangely...almost mature. She took a good look at him. He had clearly defined masculine features, a lean but muscular build...and then it hit her. Peter was...a teenager! That night in her room when she opened her eyes, she only glimpsed at him, thinking he was the same 14 year old boy in the stories. But then she remembered that she told someone...maybe Nadia, she forgot...that he looked no older than 14. But that was in the dark light of her room with an innocent and curious expression on the boy's face.
"Peter..." she breathed. "You're...you are older! I thought you were 14 years old, but you look so much older...Peter, kids start turning into adults and are able to love another in the romantic sense at the age of 14. Peter, you look no younger than 15 or 16! What happened?"
Peter sighed. He knew this was coming. He stood up and walked to the window, peering out into the inky darkness of the winter night, scanning the surrounding area for eavesdroppers. He sent out his senses that have grown over the many years he has lived on the island, and found only Jade and Tinkerbell, who was sitting outside on the roof on the other side of the window so Jade was not able to see her. He then shut the window and came back to sit in front of Jade again, his face becoming stern and serious. His eyes bore straight into hers so he would be able to detect any deception in her answer to his question.
"This is an EXTREMELY important issue, Jade. If the information I am about to give you gets into the wrong hands, Neverland can and will be destroyed if we are not quick enough to stop it. Do you swear on your very life, no, on your parents and friends' lives, that you will not mention this to ANYONE?" Jade nodded.
"I swear, Peter Pan. I will not tell anyone." Peter made a cross on his chest over his heart with his index (pointer) finger.
"For sure?" He asked. Jade made the same gesture Peter did, crossing her finger over her heart.
"For sure!" Peter's face relaxed, but not so much. He leaned back against the iron vines on the foot of Jade's bead and began.
"All right. I confess. My 'innocent ignorant little boy' personality is a mere act. Yes, I am innocent, as innocent as any child can be, but the way I portray that is an act. I love having fun, having adventures, everything the Peter Pan you know loves. Listen. Because I bring a new 'Wendy' every few years, I grow older because of all of the trips I take to earth. After about four 'Wendys', which is around 12 years your time, I look to be abound 16 years old. Then I have to go to the fairies, who take me to the heart of Neverland and, combining my powers, their powers, and Neverland's powers, they transform me into a 13 year old boy." Jade's eyes widened at this and she gasped. She has been doing that a lot recently...
"They make you younger? Every 12 years of earth's time? That is truly amazing..." Peter nodded.
"Yes, it is."
"So when you get back, you will have to go to the fairies to have that done to you again?"
"Yep." Jade tilted her head slightly, as if she was waiting for more to come out of the boy's mouth.
"And...?"
"And what?"
Jade sighed and put her right hand up to her head, shaking her head in exasperation. Then she looked up at him again.
"What about love? You wait until you are 16 to go through the transformation. You MUST be able to feel it," the red-head stated. She was sure he did. He had to have. No 16 year old - no 14 year old, even - cannot feel love. However, the eternal youth did not answer her with a nod, but a shake of his head, instead, his bronze highlighted dirty blonde and gold loose curls bouncing with the movement.
"Nope. I did the first couple of times I had to go through with it, but I got used to it. You see, The first couple of times, I was allowed to grow to the age of 13, then 14, and eventually 15 and 16. As time went on, I got used to the feeling and I blocked it out, unable to feel it even when I am as old (he shuddered) as I am now."
"Wow." The room went silent, and for a few moments before that silence was broken, Jade thought to herself. She had been waiting for so long for Peter to come, wishing with all her might and believing with all her heart. And he was here, now. Finally.
"I can't believe this…" she breathed slowly. "You have been watching me all this time…I have been waiting for you all this time...and now you're finally here." Her voice changed to a sterner one, though it still had a joking manner to it. "Well it took you long enough."
"Heh. Well, you know me, I hate adults and it took a while for me to realize that you weren't one."
"Then why did you keep coming back?"
"Because remember what I said. You intrigued me and I couldn't figure out during that time whether you were a child or an adult. Anyway, I listened to your stories about school (he spat that word out as if it was covered in venom) to your friends on something you call a seal fon…foan…"
"Phone. Cell phone," she corrected.
"Ahh…yeah, phone (he didn't like being corrected). I never thought that ANYone could think that school was fun, or…interesting." Jade looked amused.
"Oh, Peter! The work isn't the part that's fun! It's being with your friends, talking to them about current news, their lives at the moment, funny things that happened to them, gossip about other people in the school who we don't like – just having a good time with them," Jade explained.
"What's gossip?" Peter asked.
"Gossip is talk about someone you don't like or something about someone else that's funny…it's hard to explain. The gossip is what you liked listening to," she explained.
"I also loved listening to the story about me that you told to a small child not too long ago. You were watching him for his mother and father." Peter was referring to the 8-year-old boy, Rhoads, who Jade babysat two weeks ago. "You got most of the story right, but you missed some important facts. Hook, the pirates, the Indians, and the lost boys were fine but Neverland has many more details and things about it you didn't add in. Take Raven's Town for example. It seems you didn't know a thing about it and by your expression when I first told you about it, you've never heard of it." Peter smirked. Jade had to admit, she didn't know anything about it, but she had seen it in the movie "Hook".
"I have heard of it, but because it was in a movie of a grown-up you who's children were captured by Hook and brought to Neverland where you went after them to save them, I thought that it wasn't real. Besides, it isn't in the stories I like about you. Though it would be interesting to see it," she answered. She noticed the look of pure anger molding itself onto Peter's boyish face, and was surprised. "P…Peter? What's wrong?" Peter was clenching his fists now.
"I will NEVER grow up! How DARE they think of me as doing such a crime!" Jade quickly slapped her hand on his mouth (it didn't hurt).
"Shhhh!!! You stupid fool, do you want to bring my parents up here?!" she hissed in a rushed whisper. Peter's eyes softened and she took her hand away and sat back in the same position she was in before Peter's outburst.
"Sorry. But I will never grow up!" said Peter in a lower voice. Jade shook her head and chuckled softly.
"No, you won't. And neither will I." Peter smiled. "So what is Raven's Town like?" she asked. Peter used hand motions as he described the dreaded pirate town as best he could.
"Well, it's the pirate town where all the pirates live and do whatever they do. It's located on the eastern coast of Neverland, right around the bend of the Jolly Roger! It has houses, buildings with rooms that have many people, all different kinds of shops, and the most common, bars. All over! (His arms formed semi-circles from in front of him around to his sides) The people who live there are nasty. All they do is drink and if anyone outside of their "clan" like a Lost Boy or an Indian ventures anywhere near their boundaries, they kidnap them and torture them, sometimes even kill them!" Jade gasped in horror.
"Oh my gosh! That's horrible!" she exclaimed. Peter nodded.
"Yeah, I know. But I always save them before they're killed." He puffed out his chest slightly and Jade chuckled.
"Peter, what's Neverland really like? What did I miss?" she asked. An adventurous look sparkled in his eyes and he flew to the iron design on the foot of Jade's bed, standing on it.
"Oh you left out a LOT."
"What? Would you tell me?"
"Well, all right. It is a sanctuary for all children who never want to grow. It is a place where dreams are born, and where time is NEVER planned. It is a beautiful island full of thousands of different types of plants, trees, and animals in the middle of a sparkling, clear, unending field of blue ocean. There are caves, valleys, mountains with tops covered in pure white snow, ponds, rivers, a lake, water holes with waterfalls, and springs, cold and hot," he explained. Jade gasped in gleeful surprise and leaned about an inch towards Peter.
"Hot springs?!" came Jade's squeal of delight. Peter nodded, grinning
"Aye, hot springs! There are also tall trees, the tallest, as I told you, being the Skeleton trees, meadows, flowers, and bushes. There are so many places to have fun, play games, and cause mischief, there is never a day when you don't have fun. There's Pirate's cove where the Jolly Roger spends most of its time and where I torture the ol' codfish, Shark's Bay, another place the Jolly Roger spends its time, the Black Castle, the Syrinx River, Mermaid's Lagoon, the Coral Lagoon, the Indian encampment, Unicorn valley, and so many more. My favorite places to hide Hook's treasure are Marauder's Rock, Skull Rock, and Ice Queen's Cave." Jade could only stare at him in awe; she was practically jumping out of her skin in her excitement.
"What creatures are there?" Jade asked. Peter laughed at her curiosity and flew off of the iron vines of her bed and onto the floor, not making a sound. He sat down in front of her, Indian-style.
"I will tell you a few, but not all. If I did, that would bring the fun out of the surprise you get when you see something magical and mythical that you never before believed was real. The most sacred creatures in Neverland I will save for when we get there. There are water ymphs, earth nymphs, fire nymphs, wind nymphs, the real elves that look like people with long ears and have powers, not the tiny things you know of that run around causing trouble, though they mostly keep to themselves and only come out when we need their help, gnomes, and sea creatures.
There is never a day without an adventure. You are going to love Neverland, Jade. We have so much fun, but we get lonely sometimes, even though we have each other. We need someone like you to tell us stories and go on adventures with us–"
"WHOA SLOW down! I don't tell stories. And we?! What do you mean, we??" Jade interrupted.
"Why me and the Lost Boys, of course. No stories? (he shrugged) Oh well. We'll find a new mother sooner or later." Jade looked at Peter in confusion. Weren't the Lost Boys grown up?
"The…Lost Boys?? Didn't Wendy take them home with her to grow up?" she asked. Peter's eyes took on a dark, angry look.
"The first ones did, the TRAITORS!" He spat the last word out as if it were covered in venom. "But I recruited new ones. Two came back with me one week later. It seems that the life of a mortal growing up did not match that of an immortal eternal boy. Nibs, my battle planner, and Slightly, my second in command. I saved them from a nasty life of growing up!" Peter's chest swelled with pride again for being the hero. "They got cold feet at the last minute and saw that they couldn't ever fit in with the people in Lobin. …Lugon…Lontam…Argh!!"
"London?" Jade said with a smirk. Peter rolled his eyes.
"Oh whatever!" He saved his two most valuable friends, and that was all that mattered at the moment. He saved those two, and he was determined to save Jade from her own miserable life filled with work, responsibilities, and the dreaded species called grown-ups. Jade sighed.
"It must be so amazing to live in Neverland." Peter flashed her a mischievous grin and jumped down from the iron on Jade's bed, landing lightly on his feet and kneeling in front of her again. He had jumped back onto the iron in his excitement of explaining how Jade would join them and tell them stories.
"You need not wonder. All you have to do is wish it, and it will happen." Jade looked at him with hopeful eyes and saw that his face held seriousness along with the permanent mischief and happiness, and she felt a wave of calmness wash over her.
"I do. I do wish to live in Neverland and stay young forever."
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This chapter was 12 pages long!! And 6,700-something words!! O.O So I had to cut it in half. Please excuse the abrupt ending.
