Chapter 19

A sharp ache in my right hand woke me and I winced as I sat up, realizing I'd slept on it, using it as an impromptu pillow the night before. I carefully flexed and relaxed my fingers, pumping the blood back into my hand, and with it, a sharper pain than the bloodless numbing ache. I sighed and looked down at myself in the light of that bright Neverland morning. The Neverbirds were singing, the air was sweet with fragrance from the Tree's beautiful blossoms, and I looked like absolute shit. My clothing was stiff with blood from my lovely battle wound, as well as from dirt and filth in Hook's cell. I winkled my nose in disgust and ran a hand through my hair.

Ugh. Even better. Greasy, tangled, smelly hair. And I had kissed Teaken like this last night? No wonder he'd rejected me.

That thought, though I was only being bitter with myself, still had plenty of bite on it, and I felt it in the pit of my stomach. I knew better, he hadn't rejected me, not really. He was just being a good person. An unselfish person. Something that I was going to have to learn to be very quickly. No time like the present.

I stood up and brushed myself off, resolved on a long bath in the lagoon, and maybe even washing my clothes. Somehow. I'd figure it out as I went along.

I turned to make my room to get my bathing things, and stopped dead, startled. "Peter," I gasped quietly, a hand over my heart.

He just grinned at me. "Good morning. I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to give you this." He held out a parcel to me. I looked at it quizzically, and took a tentative step towards him.

"You didn't have to get me anything, Peter," I smiled nervously as I took the bundle from him.

Peter snorted. "Oh yes I did. You need them. You look like shit."

Boys. Always so tactful and sensitive.

I pulled the binding twine off of the bundle and unrolled it. "Oh, this is fantastic!" I nearly squealed, so relieved. "You're absolutely right, I did need this! Thank you!" I looked closer at the clothing Peter had presented me with. It was a dress, a simple, very jungle-styled one-shouldered dress made of multicolored bits of soft material I guessed to be animal hide, as well as leaves and twine for the stitching. I shook it out to look at the entire article, and a smaller article fell out at my feet. "Oh, what's this?" I asked and bent over to retrieve the article. A very, very small pair of shorts. Could I even call them shorts? They reminded me of what cheerleaders wore under their skirts so as not to give off free shows after every pretzel jump. I held up the smaller material and raised my eyebrow at Peter.

He blushed and looked down. "I had Tink and the other faeries make them for you, I just said to make whatever they thought you'd need," Peter trailed off, embarrassed. I laughed.

"Ah, yes. I suppose these will be very helpful. Extremely useful when flying and dirty Lost Boys decide to look skyward, right?" I joked.

Peter became, if possible, even redder. "Right. Well, I suppose you'll want to bathe before changing?" he asked.

"Yes, I was just on my way to the lagoon." I rolled the new clothing back up and placed it under my arm. "I just need to stop in my room and get my things-"

"Allow me," Peter said, already scooping me up in his arms.

"Oh, jesus," I squeaked at the unexpected shift in gravity. "This is very kind of you, but I think I can make it myself. Besides, I smell very very bad right now, you don't have to burden yourself-"

Peter snorted and took off into the air. "I live with the Lost Boys. I've smelled much worse." Peter winked. "You can't bathe by yourself in the lagoon, anyway. I'll have to come with you."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "Oh you will, will you? I think that I am perfectly capable of bathing without your help."

Peter smirked down at me as he dipped through the branches of the Tree and landed gently on the limb outside of my window. "I don't doubt that. But the mermaids can make it a difficult experience if you let them."

I shut my eyes in annoyance. The mermaids. Lovely creatures. I'd forgotten about them. I sighed and nodded my acquiescence to Pan and he set me down. I hopped into my room and grabbed my bag with all of my toiletries in it and slung it over my shoulder. I stepped out onto the branch and allowed Peter to pick me up again.

As he flew me the short distance down to the lagoon, I began to focus on him. I noticed subtle differences in his and Teaken's flying. Peter was definitely the more self assured flier. Teaken held me for all he was worth, it seemed, and was a very controlled flier. Peter held me with an easy confidence that should have made me a bit nervous, but I found that I wasn't. He knew exactly what he was doing, he was a master at this. No surprise there, really. He also flew with a bit more fun and style, he dipped, he turned, he was more of a show off, I suppose, to put it bluntly. No surprise there either. I enjoyed flying with him, and decided later on, once I was clean and not towing a large backpack around with me, that I would ask to fly with him again.

As I came to that conclusion, Peter alighted on the ground and let me gently out of his arms. As I was about to thank him, he shushed me quickly and pulled me a few steps back away from the water. He motioned for me to stay right where I was, and to continue to be quiet. He then floated out into the lagoon and stopped atop a rock that jutted out of the middle of the small inlet. He pulled a small carved lute from the twine wrapped around his middle and played a short, chipper tune on it. He knelt down then, and waited. Almost immediately, colorful heads of hair began to break the surface of the water. I winced at the squeals of delight that met my ears. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but it was obvious they were fawning over him. I rolled my eyes and wondered where the hell their senses of dignity were.

Peter leaned forward and spoke to the mermaids. Again, I couldn't hear what they were saying (squealing), but I got the distinct impression he'd promised them something exciting. They began clapping their hands excitedly, and Peter grinned, and made a shooing motion to them. They waved suggestively at him, some even blowing him kisses as they eagerly swam off. Peter placed the lute back on his side, and flew back towards me.

"All right. That takes care of them for a while. You'd better hurry though, they'll be back pretty soon." Peter lay down on a large rock at the edge of the lagoon and lounged with his back towards me.

"You aren't going to peek, are you?" I asked as I slowly began to remove my soiled clothing.

He waved a hand back at me. "Of course not. Hurry up. They won't be gone long."

I dove out of the rest of my clothes and into the lagoon in about five seconds. I submerged myself and immediately felt better when I came up for air. I used a nearby rock formation that broke the surface of the water to set my soaps on. As I lathered my hair, I called back to Peter. "What did you say to them anyway, to make them leave me alone?"

"Oh I didn't tell them to leave you alone. I told them to go and find me the biggest pearls that they could." Peter answered in a matter of fact voice.

I scoffed as I rubbed shampoo into my hair a second time, trying to remove all the dirt and dried blood. "They're just so eager to do your bidding, huh? Must be nice."

"Hmm. Yes. But I do reward them."

I dunked my head and rinsed all the shampoo from my hair. Satisfied that it was clean at last, I peered at Peter and saw that his back was indeed still facing me, so I leaned out of the water to grab the bottle of conditioner off of the rock. I poured copious amounts into my hand and massaged it through my hair. "So what did you promise them to make them so excited?" I asked, keeping conversation.

"I promised I'd swim naked with the one who brought me the biggest pearl."

I nearly drowned. I forgot to continue kicking my legs or moving my arms for that matter. I dropped beneath the water like a stone, and when I tried to inhale the water, finally got a hold of myself and fought my way back to the surface. I pushed my conditioner-slick hair out of my face and spewed water out of my nose and mouth. "You what?!" I called back, sure that I had heard wrong.

Peter repeated himself. I hadn't. "Why would you promise something like that?" I demanded, grabbing the disposable razor off of the rock that held my toiletries. I saw Peter shrug.

"Well, for some reason, ever since my body started changing, they've wanted me to swim with them more and more. I discovered they especially like to swim with me when I'm not wearing any clothing,"

"Yeah I'll bet they do," I muttered, placing the razor back on the rock when I was finished. He really was incredibly naïve.

"So, I promised them they could so that they'd leave and let you bathe. Otherwise, they'd be trying to drown you." Peter finished, nonchalantly.

"Well, I appreciate the generous sacrifice on your part," I snorted sarcastically.

"You're welcome!" Peter called back brightly. "But it's not a sacrifice. I usually swim naked, and they never cared before. Hey! You're a girl like them, maybe you can explain it!" Peter suddenly rolled onto his stomach and faced me.

"Um, glad to be of help, but, excuse me?" I ducked down in the water and covered my chest with my arms.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Peter turned back around. "So anyway, like I said, I almost always swim without any clothes on, since forever, I mean, what's the point in getting your clothes all wet?"

"None at all," I agreed as I half listened and gathered my bathing supplies in my arms, preparing to swim back to shore.

"Exactly. They never bothered me before. I mean, they don't bother me now, I guess, but they all crowd around me now and touch me, and they fight with each other. It's crazy. I think it must have something to do with what's happening to Neverland."

I know my face was incredibly red by the time I'd reached the shore and ducked behind some more rocks to change. As I pulled on the cheerleader undies I wondered how to explain such things to him. Would he even understand? I mean, did he even know the mechanics of things like this?

"Well? Mary? Did you hear?" Peter called.

"Yes, yes. Um, well, maybe they just, you know, like you a lot." I winced at the incredible cop out.

"I already know they like me. Every one does. I'm Peter Pan."

I rolled my eyes at his cocky response as I pulled on the dress that Peter had given me. I was amazed at how comfortable it was, and it fit me perfectly. I wondered how they had known my size. I walked out from behind the rock as I ran a brush through my damp hair.

Peter had stood up on his rock and was looking expectantly in my direction. His eyes widened a bit and he gave me a big grin. If I'd seen that same look on any other man's face in any other situation, I would have slapped it off his face.

"It looks good on you!" Peter said unabashedly.

"Thanks. I'll have to thank Tink and the other faeries when I get a chance. It was very nice of them, it must have taken so many of them to do this. I mean, look at the stitching!" I gushed, looking down at the dress. "It's so tiny."

Peter's smile lost a few degrees of brightness. "They did it out of gratitude, I suppose. And there aren't 'so many' of them anymore." Peter sighed and sat down on the rock again. "That's why you're here."

"Right," I sighed quietly. I grabbed my dirty clothes and my soap, and climbed up on the rock next to Peter. I laid on my stomach and dipped my dirty clothing into the water. I then scrubbed them with my soap, and beat them against the rocks. Peter looked at me quizzically.

"What are you doing?"

"Washing my clothes," I answered him, going on with my task.

"Oh, yes," Peter suddenly became very quiet. "Wendy used to do that for us."

I pulled my jeans out of the water and lay them on the rock to dry. I turned and glanced at Peter. "Does it bother you to remember her?"

Peter didn't meet my eyes. "It…feels odd to remember her sometimes. Like…like a bruise that I have inside. But, it's not so bad. I'm glad I can still remember her."

I nodded my head, charmed and saddened at the same time by his innocent explanation of his heartache. "Can you tell me about her? I mean, I don't know a lot about her, even though she was my great great great grandmother."

Peter looked at me for a moment, such a long moment that I wondered if he'd even heard my question, or if perhaps my asking of it had thrown him so badly that he had no response. His gaze was calm, if a bit sad, however, so I didn't think I'd offended him.

"Wendy," he started, "was our first mother. Well, technically, I suppose, she was our second mother, but she was the only one we knew. She was perfect," Peter shrugged, putting it simply. "She told stories, she mended our clothing, taught us things. A great many things." Peter stopped then and looked at me again, I smiled encouragingly at him. "You don't look at all like her," he stated.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't I suppose," I conceded as I left my jeans to dry and began washing my tank top. "My mother was Japanese."

"She was beautiful."

"Who, Wendy?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Yes, I've heard that she was. She must have been, for you to remember her all these years."

"Your mother, too."

I stopped washing and looked up. "Was beautiful?"

Peter nodded.

I sat up. "How would you know that? Did you know my mother?"

Peter cocked his head. "Well, she must have been beautiful if you take after her."

I could feel a small flush run over my cheeks even as I smiled and shook my head. "Next I suppose you're going to ask me if it hurt."

"Hurt? What hurt?"

"When I fell from heaven." Peter still looked confused. I laughed and waved my hand in dismissal. "It's a stupid line guys say. To pick girls up. They also pull the beautiful parents card…when they're desperate."

"Why do they 'pick girls up'? Do they have to say a line in order to put them down again?" Peter scratched his head in adorable naivety.

I laughed and wrung all the water out of my tank top before laying it next to my drying jeans. "No, they usually drop us just by being their stupid selves."

Splashes in the distance cut off Peter's questioning glance. We both snapped our heads in direction of the noise.

"I've found it, Peter! The best one!"

"Hers are tiny compared to mine, Peter! Come look!"

"They're both wrong, I am the most beautiful-I mean, my pearl is the most beautiful, Peter, come and see!"

The lilting sound was of all the mermaids voices as they slipped and slid over each other in the water to try and get to Peter first. I rolled my eyes again and stood to gather my clothes.

"The bitches are back. Guess that's my cue to g-" Peter had placed a hand on the top of my head and shoved me down. "What the hell are you-"

"Quiet, Mary. If they see you, they'll try and kill you. Just stay here until we're gone. I'll lead them away from the shore line, and then you'll be safe to make it back to the Tree."

Not exactly able to argue with that, I did as I was told and kept down behind the rock. Peter flew over to where the Mermaids were surfacing and perched on a small rock that was just above the surface of the sea. I saw him look at what they had placed on the rock in front of him; pearls. Beautiful pearls. Peter grinned and made a big show of weighing them and looking them all over closely. He would pick on up, cluck importantly, and place it back down again. Finally, he declared a draw, saying that he couldn't really judge the beauty of the pearls when the beauty of the mermaids themselves was blinding him.

I wanted to puke. This guy was the epitome of slick. He then started to peal of his clothes as the mermaids splashed and clapped in excitement. Whores.

I shook my head and gathered my damp but clean clothing and took off for the shore once Peter had divested himself of every stitch and dove into the water to play with the mermaids. I stamped up on shore and turned around. Shielding my eyes from the bright Neverland suns, I was just able to make out Peter and his mer-groupies disappearing around the edge of the lagoon. It was to be a long swim, then.

"Whatever," I sighed to myself as I turned to trudge up the shore and head back to the Tree. "It's not like I need quality time with you or anything, Pete-GAH!"

I stopped immediately and dropped all my clothing in the sand as I saw what awaited me at the tree line. I got my breath under control and swallowed slowly. Ok, right. I remembered this part of the story…

Indians.

A.N. 500 reviews! Wow. Love to you all. Love, love, love.