This is a Peter and the Starcatchers/Airborn crossover. It takes place on the Aurora, when Matt is 16.
Other than this, I have no beginning author notes. Amazing, isn't it.
Matt Cruse yawned and grinned. He had just finished his first shift as assistant sailmaker on the airship Aurora. He was glad he was on his home ship after two years of being landlocked at the academy, even though Kate had decided to go to the university in Paris and they had seen a lot of each other. They had acted as they had on the island, two young people who enjoyed each other's company.
Matt walked down the hall, still smiling happily to himself. There were only a few passengers up at six-thirty in the morning.
He stopped, seeing the auburn hair of a girl his age walk by. It couldn't be Kate, he told himself, Kate was still in Paris, at the university. He turned and touched the girl lightly on the arm, just in case.
His heart slowed down it wasn't Kate; Kate didn't have bright green eyes like this girl.
"Sorry, I thought you were someone I knew." He said, and started walking again. The girl grabbed his elbow and looked at him for a moment, calculating.
"Are you Matt Cruse?" she asked.
"Yes," he said, confused.
"I'm Molly Aster. I know Kate de Vries. She's a friend of mine. She asked me to do a favor for her and for you."
"You're friends with Kate?" the notion that someone else their age knew his friend was strange, unusual.
"I just said I was, weren't you listening?" She looked at him curiously. "You remind me of a boy I knew a few years ago. His name was Peter. He loved flying as much as you do, from what Kate's told me."
"How did you meet her?" Matt had recovered and was interested.
"We met several years ago but lost touch. My father and I are just returning from a business trip in France. I learned that Kate was in Paris and we were able to catch up on the years. That was when she asked me to give you something, she's sure you'll like it. Can you come with me right now? I can't let most people see this."
"I just got off duty and I've got a long break."
"Good, let's go."
Molly led Matt to her cabin.
"Come in here for a moment, please." She said please, but she said it in a way not to be refused.
Matt looked uneasy. "I'm not supposed to go into passenger's cabin Miss Aster."
"It's Molly. And don't be silly. I don't want to show you this in the hall."
"If it's just for a few minutes it will be alright I guess." He did want to see what this girl had brought so he followed Molly into her cabin.
"Watch carefully," she instructed. "People shouldn't know about this, but my father and I are making an exception for you." She opened a locket that Matt had not noticed before and gently put her finger into the glow that was coming out of it.
Slowly, Molly rose upward, and Matt's mouth dropped in surprise. "How… how can you do that?" he asked, wonderfully amazed.
Molly shut her locket and drifted down. "That was starstuff. That is what we call it at least, my father and other Starcatchers. It lets us fly for short periods of time, and do other things. There are people out there who want the starstuff for evil purposes. My father and I, and the other Starcatchers, we must find the starstuff before the Others do, and hide it. We also have lockets with starstuff in them," here she dangled her locket, "and we use the starstuff to accomplish our missions. I was just made a full-fledged Starcatcher just recently." She looked proud.
"So is this stuff magic?" Matt asked. Something that could let him fly!
"No, not magic exactly. It comes from something like shooting stars. And what Kate asked me to do was show you the starstuff, and how to use it, and give you some. Normally, we wouldn't do this, but Kate is a very good friend, and she explained a lot of things to me. My father discussed this with other Starcatchers, and they agreed to allow it. You must realize how important this is."
"You're going to teach me to fly?" Matt asked, his eyes bright.
"Yes, but we need to go on the outside of the ship, if we can. If not, we need somewhere where no one will see us. If anyone sees us it would be disastrous."
"We can go up through the lookout's nest when they change at seven." Matt told her.
"Good. That's in 10 minutes. We need to hurry."
Ten minutes, three seconds later Matt and Kate were on top of the Aurora, past the lookout's nest. They hurried around to a blind spot Matt remembered from his times in the nest.
Molly drew out a small bag from her dress.
"Dip your finger into the bag," she instructed Matt, opening the bag. "Then," she said. "Think about something happy."
Matt looked surprised, but did as he was told.
He felt himself rising slowly and saw Molly rising with him.
She showed him how to move forward and back, up and down, and how to control himself when he wasn't upright.
"I want to go off the Aurora, fly next to her." Matt said breathlessly. He was so happy he could have shouted.
Molly shrugged. "We ought to be able to keep up with her, if we aren't out there for too long. But take some more starstuff, it's wearing off."
Matt put his fingers into the bag again and headed over the side of the Aurora. He flew around his home, doing back flips and loops. Then he flew a ways away from the airship and let out a whoop. He soared happily for a few minutes then flew back to the Aurora and Molly.
"That was amazing," he said. His hair was going every direction and his eyes were filled with happiness.
Molly handed the small starstuff filled bag to the assistant sailmaker.
His eyes widened. "Is this for me?"
Molly nodded. "Kate asked me to give it to you. It's very valuable so don't waste it. You should only use it in special circumstances. It won't last forever, and we cannot give you more."
Matt understood what she meant. He could fly now, if he ever needed to. If he couldn't bear being landlocked he could become lighter than air and flee his troubles. And if trouble came, he could fly out of it.
"About that boy Peter. Who was he?" Matt had just remembered Molly had mentioned a boy who loved to fly as much as he did.
She smiled, a little sadly. "I haven't talked to him since I last saw him, three years ago. But I've heard he's made a name for himself. He's been going by Peter Pan. He can fly without starstuff now, because of an incident. You shouldn't try it though. It would have killed most people."
"You miss him a lot, just like I miss Kate. You'll see this Peter again one day I'm sure." Matt told his new friend.
"Yes. You're probably right. I must get back to my room now." Kate said. "And you are most likely tired as well."
Right on cue, Matt yawned. "Yep, I should get back to my room too." He grinned. I need a few hours nap."
They parted, heading to their own rooms. Matt changed and hid the bag of starstuff.
He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. There was a small smile on his face as he dreamed about the adventures that could come.
Done! Ha ha! This was my first non-humor story, as well as my first non Yu-Gi-Oh! fic, but I think I did all right on it. Reviews are welcome, as is constructive criticism. I couldn't really think of a good ending, so this was how it ended up.
This was posted under Peter Pan because there is no category for Airborn. I tried to keep everyone in character, please let me know if I did alright.