A.N. Shining Star of Valinor, you are indeed an inspiration. Thank you for your kind words. Sometimes we all need a little kick in the unmentionables to get us going; your foot did the trick. This one's for you.

Chapter 20

They stood in a line across the front of the forest. One stood in front, her arms crossed as well. In fact, she looked cross. She looked pretty pissed off, actually. A young girl, early teens if I was to guess correctly. Very early teen. I felt like I was about to be bitched out by Lizzie McGuire or something. Except instead of poofy blonde hair she had perfectly straight jet black locks that fell in a loose braid down to her lower back. Feathers and bright flowers adorned her hair as well. Things started to click into place…

"Ah, Tigerlily!" I snapped my fingers and pointed at her as soon as I remembered. This quick movement probably wasn't the best plan. The rest of the natives immediately jumped and went for their weapons. Suddenly I hade five daggers and seven sharp arrowheads aimed at me. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I cried, throwing out my arms as a sign of peace. "Easy there, I didn't mean anything-"

"How do you know who I am?" The teenage Indian girl asked me in a regal and holier than thou voice. Her accent was interesting. Her English seemed to be nearly fluent, and yet she spoke with that halting native voice that just seemed so…perfect. Predictable. Expected. It was odd.

I wasn't sure what the 'right' answer was going to be, so I kept quiet. She walked up to me and dropped her arms. She circled me, and her armed companions followed my every move as I moved to watch her. "I know," she sniffed. "You are worlder. You know of Neverland. Stories."

"Yes," I said, hesitant. I felt like I was being insulted, I just wasn't sure how yet. "I'm Ma-"

"I know who you are." Tigerlily interrupted, stopping right in front of me and staring me down. "You are that worlder. You are like that other girl. You come for Peter."

I was starting to get annoyed now. I mean, wasn't I here to save these people's asses? Why the hell did I keep catching all this attitude?

"I come for all of you ingrates!" I spat, angrily mocking her accent. "And I'm sick of being sized up and judged every time I turn around! This is not my fault, none of it, ok? So you can just take your condescending attitude and kiss my worlder a-"

"Tigerlily! Right on time," Teaken flew down in front of me and immediately slapped a hand over my mouth while smiling at the Indian princess and her tribe members. "Thank you for coming. You'll have to excuse Mary here, she doesn't know any better."

I made a sound of insulted outrage and bit Teaken's hand. He merely winced and shoved an elbow into my side, effectively stopping my tantrum.

Tigerlily only raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have it?" Teaken asked, and I raised my own eyebrow in question. Have what?

"Yes. Both of them. But I must teach you how to use them." Tigerlily pulled two small pouches out of her waist belt. On was tied with a green vine, the other a piece of rawhide.

Teaken dropped his hand from my mouth in order to take the pouches from the Indian girl, but kept his other hand firmly wrapped around my upper arm to contain any further outbursts I may, and was likely to, have. He frowned down at the pouches.

"So which is which?" he asked, rolling them in his palm.

"The green is for memory. The leather is for-"

"Got it, thanks." Teaken cut in quickly. He dropped the two small bundles into his own belt pouch and smiled at Tigerlily, who narrowed her dark eyes at him, but didn't finish.

"Pour them each in warm water. The green must be drunk, the leather must be absorbed. The leather one can only be used in moonlight, or it will not have effect. Do you understand?"

"Moonlight, you bet. Thanks again, Tigerlily. This is really great of you." Teaken started to pull me away from them.

"We all work together now, to save Neverland," She looked seaward and gave a sad smile that seemed beyond her age. "To save Peter."

Teaken looked in the direction Tigerlily was gazing, and tightened his grip on my arm.

"Ow, easy there, Hercules," I whined.

"Gotta go, 'Lily. Stay and talk to Peter, I'm sure he'd love to see you. I'll be talking to you again soon, I'm sure."

"We are ready. Until then, it is up to her." Tigerlily tossed once more glance my way, and then smiled and walked down the beach to greet Peter, who had spotted her and was waving. I grinned as Teaken pulled me into the forest. Was she ever going to get a greeting when Peter walked up onto the beach…

"Again, ow." I complained as Teaken pulled me faster. "What is with the muscle treatment? Am I under arrest?"

Teaken snorted in response and pulled me closer, suddenly taking off from the ground. I gasped, startled, and immediately clutched onto his torso as my feet left the forest floor along with him. We flew over the canopy in silence, a rather awkward silence, and finally landed on the branch of the Tree that led to my room. Teaken turned to me and pulled out the two pouches.

"How far are you with him?" he asked quickly, not looking at me.

I blinked, caught off guard by the fast question. "How, what?"

"How far are you with Peter? With the plan?" Teaken asked again.

"Well," I started, still reeling from the sudden inquisition. "Not very far at all, I suppose. Seeing as he doesn't even know what we have to do."

"What were you doing with him all day, then?"

"Talking," I answered, a little offended that he though I would take something like this that lightly.

"About?"

"If you must know, nosey, Wendy. And family. And pick up lines," I listed, trying to remember back on every part of the conversation.

"Pick up lines?" Teaken raised an eyebrow, then shook his head. "Never mind. He talked about Wendy with you? Good. That means he must trust you. Very good. How much longer do you think it will take?"

"Teaken there is no way I can know something like that!" I tossed my hands up, exasperated. "I don't exactly have a daily schedule, or, or a manual called "How to Bed a Fictional Icon in Five Days or Less". I'm living everyday here off the top of my head! I don't know what more you want from me!"

"Fine, just, fine." Teaken said quickly, knowing that I was reeling towards the end of my rope rather quickly. "I just need to know a few things then, ok? And…just…tellmethetruthdon'taskquestionsanddon'tgetmad." He mumbled quickly.

"What?" I stared at him, not having understood a word of that last verbal vomit.

"When is your next period coming?"

I stood and stared at him, dumbfounded. He must be kidding. I had to have heard wrong. My mind refused to acknowledge what had just come out of his mouth. My own hung open as I gaped at him for a good two minutes straight. I finally got enough air in my lungs to say: "I. Can. NOT. Believe. That you. Just. Said that."

"Mary, I swear to God. This is as painful for me as it is for you, ok? Just answer…the question." Teaken's face became even more flushed as he continued to speak at my feet.

"Why in the world would you need to-"

"Answer. The question." Teaken interrupted loudly.

"How do you even know about-"

"Answer the question!"

"You can't expect me to believe that girls at that club wanted to randomly discuss that with-"

"MARY GODDAMNIT ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION!"

Teaken's voice echoed around my eardrums for a few moments, and when I finally opened my eyes, after having immediately squeezed them shut at Teaken's decibel destroying voice, I saw birds just finally settling back into their roosts that had been disturbed when Teaken had shouted. I felt my heart beating very quickly in my chest-he had scared me. I noticed, too, that now Teaken was definitely not looking at me. His hands were on his hips, and his head was turned away. I could see the veins pulsing in the side of his neck as he tried to regain some control.

I swallowed hard, and thought back to his question and tried to deduce the answer. How many days had it been since I had left, and the date it had been when I was taken…it all calculated out to be…

"In four of five days." I answered quietly. Then I thought about the ramifications of that. "Oh, hell."

Teaken seemed to hesitate for a moment, then nodded. "Good," he acknowledged quietly.

"Good! How am I going to deal with that here? I don't have any…supplies, or-"

"You won't." Teaken quietly interrupted.

"What do you mean 'I won't'?"

"You won't need to worry about it. Not as long as you use this." Teaken held out the leather pouch.

I took it in my hand and looked it over. "What is this? Some nature grown birth control or something?"

"Rather the opposite." Teaken sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You have to absorb that into your body in warm water, in the moonlight, and it will help…help ensure that you…conceive…when you and Peter…" he trailed off and dropped his hand back by his side. "So that's why it won't matter when it's…your time to…because it won't and you'll always be…Yeah." He finished lamely.

I felt the blush crawl up my face as I realized he was trying to tell me that I would be continuously fertile until Peter and I had done the dirty. "Oh," I breathed quietly. "Good…good idea."

Teaken nodded and shuffled his feet.

"So…the Indians made this?" I asked.

Another nod and shuffle.

"And…we trust them?"

"Of course. They've been using it for years. And there are tons of them, so it must work." Teaken cracked a smile, and actually managed to look up at me from under the fringe of his hair.

I smiled back and chuckled quietly with him at that. "So, what happens when Indian babies are born? No faeries?"

Teaken shook his head and looked out over Neverland, and towards the Indian encampment. "No. When they are born, they are innocent, but they have an inherent knowledge of magic and Neverland. To produce faeries, a child must be completely innocent of all things. They have to be a worlder," he turned towards me. "Or part worlder, anyway."

"And each child, each worlder child, now only produces one faerie?" I asked.

Teaken nodded. "Yes. Only when it was the first child did it have enough magical innocence to create many faeries. And because your child will be the first to be created and born in Neverland, we're hoping for the same effect."

I raised my head. "Hoping?"

Teaken raised his eyes to mine again. "It's the best chance we've got."

I nodded and leaned beside my window in the trunk of the Tree. "So what's the other for?"

Teaken seemed to hesitate, but he held out the other pouch to me too. "This…will also be your responsibility. There will be a great risk involved in all this as well. This could save our world. It could save Neverland. It could also destroy us all forever."

"What!" I gasped, standing up straight. "What are you talking about? I thought that I was here to save everyone and everything! How could I end up destroying anything?"

"You may not," Teaken said, hands up in a placating gesture. "And you won't, as long as you use this." He said, indicating the pouch. "Everything will be fine if you use this."

"What is 'this'?" I asked, finally taking the pouch from Teaken.

"It's another potion. This one is for Peter."

"What, to make his…sperm more powerful?" I spat out.

"No, no. Nothing…nothing like that," Teaken said, blushing. "We're counting on…that…being as normal as…well…as it should be."

"Then what? And why is it that I have to give it to him?"

Teaken hesitated here, and began shuffling his feet again. "Because…it has to be administered at a…certain…time," Teaken began.

"Well that was certainly vague." I crossed my arms and tapped my foot impatiently.

Teaken sighed and paced back and forth on the branch. He stopped suddenly and looked around. He seemed uncertain of something, then he finally turned to me and grabbed my arm again. He pulled me towards a thick vine next to the branch. "Let's go somewhere else to discuss this. I don't want to…alarm anyone for no reason."

"You're alarming me," I said, suddenly wondering what it was he was trying to hide. "And why the hell are you so grabby today?"

Teaken suddenly looked down at his hand on my arm. He dropped it immediately, as if he'd been burned. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize, sorry. Just, come on. We'll kill two birds with one stone." He moved as if to pick me up, and I moved to let him without even thinking about it. Suddenly, when my arms were around his neck and his were around my waist, he froze. He immediately let go and stepped out of my arms reach.

My cheeks warmed up and I dropped my arms hastily. "I'm sorry, I thought-"

"Here." Teaken held out a pixie dust pill to me. I remembered about the shortage of the dust, and how important it was to conserve what they had left, and sighed.

"Teaken, this is stupid. You need to save pixie dust. Don't waste it on me when you can fly us both. We are both adults," I paused. "…kind of. And we can handle being in close proximity to each other for long enough to get to wherever you're taking me. So suck it up, and pick me up." I marched up to him and threw my arms around his neck while determinedly never raising my eyes above his chest.

I felt Teaken give in when he finally relaxed and wrapped a tentative arm around my waist. All I got was a quietly mumbled 'Hold on,', and we were off.

As I flew over Neverland again and looked down at the trees and jungle below me, I was suddenly reminded of how surreal this all was. I mean, I was freaking flying right now with nothing but a Lost Boy's arm holding me to safety. A Lost Boy. A protégé of Peter Pan. Peter. Pan.

I started giggling. And couldn't stop. Before I knew it, I would see Harry flipping Potter fly by on his broomstick. I mean, it made perfect sense that the Boy Who Lived would be hanging around with the Boy Who Refused to Grow Up, right?

That sent me into right fits of laughter. Teaken looked down at me.

"What is so funny?" he asked, a half smile of his own on his face.

"This. Us, everything!" I cracked up again, and then laughed harder at the slightly concerned look on Teaken's face. "Relax, I'm just as lucid as ever, although I suppose that's not saying much," I admitted, bringing the small smile back to Teaken's face. "I'm just finding the humor in the situation, I guess. Which, I hope, is a healthy and normal way of dealing with this."

Teaken snorted at that. "If you say so."

We flew for a few more minutes in amiable silence until Teaken finally began to descend into something of a clearing in the Neverland jungle. He set down gently and let go of my waist. I looked around slowly. He had brought me to a dead place. Right in the middle of where all the destruction of Neverland was spreading from.

It was horrible. The rest of the island of Neverland always had something in the air, an energy, a vibration of life, of magical things. Here, there was nothing. It was devoid of anything magical or benign. Trees lay strewn across the dirt floor, dead and rotted. Nothing lived here, and I felt that if I stayed long enough, I wouldn't be able to live anymore either. The more I focused on it, I could feel whatever the damage was, actually pulling at me, trying to take whatever it was that kept me alive. Needless to say, I didn't like the feeling at all.

Shivering, I wrapped my arms around myself and stepped back towards the middle of the clearing, shutting my eyes. "Teaken, I don't like this. Why are we here?"

"I wanted to you see it. So you'd know that what you are doing is important." Teaken said quietly somewhere behind me.

"I know it's important. I've seen what's happening to Neverland, to Peter."

"Yeah, well now you've felt it."

I opened my eyes and looked over my shoulder at him. He sighed and looked around at the damage. "I could tell it wasn't having the same effect on you that it has on everything and everyone else here. Probably because you aren't of this island. Because you're worlder. But this feeling that you have right now, the one that's making you shiver? That's what we all feel every second of every day, Mary. It's always pulling at us, whatever this is. It…it almost calls to us, really. Like a sick lullaby. It's getting stronger, and the more the Boys pull away from each other, the more Peter pulls away from us, the harder it's going to get to resist it."

I shut my eyes again, harder. "God," I whispered. It was all so tragic and, suddenly, terrifyingly real. I gritted my teeth and opened my eyes again, forcing myself to take it all in. Teaken was right. I don't think I ever really got it before, but I certainly did now. And I felt the burden on me grow heavier.

"I'll come through for you," I said, turning towards Teaken. "For Neverland. I promise."

Teaken smiled sadly at me. "I know you will, Mary. Come on, I have something else to show you."

This time Teaken scooped me up in his arms bridal style and I wrapped my arms around his neck and shoulders. We flew out of the black deadness in the center of Neverland, and to the base of a beautiful waterfall. Teaken set me down on a flat rock bed three quarters of the way down the waterfall. The fall was huge and I expected to be deafened by the roar of the water cascading over the cliff's edge, but Neverland's magic stuck again, and the huge and gorgeous falls sounded only like a light spring rain. I smiled at the perfection of it, and tilted my face up to catch the fine mist that was spraying from the falls.

"Welcome to Whisper Falls," Teaken said softly from right next to me. His nearness surprised me, but didn't startle me.

"It's perfect," I said, and turned to grin at Teaken. "As usual."

As I turned towards Teaken, something glinted in the late afternoon sun, and I caught it out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look, and gasped. A beautiful silver bathtub stood on the rocky outcrop Teaken and I were standing on. It was surrounded by tropical flowers and palm fronds. I turned back towards Teaken; he'd never taken his eyes off of me. A small smile crept across my face as I looked at the tub again, then back at Teaken.

"Did you do this?" I asked, moving towards the tub.

Teaken demurely placed his hands behind his back and rocked forward and backward on his feet. "Maybe." He said.

I touched to cool silver of the ornate tub once I was close enough. "Why?" I asked as my fingers traced a beautiful carving of a winged woman that decorated the front of the bathtub.

"Gratitude, I suppose." Teaken said, still not walking any closer.

Wicked, wicked thoughts were bombarding my mind as I continued to inspect the beautiful silver carvings. So many opportunities, plans, situations, and easily misconstrued hints were dive bombing my brain that before I could even sort them out, I realized I'd already put a few into action.

I stopped circling and looked up through the curtain of my dark hair, raising an eyebrow at Teaken suggestively. "You suppose?"

Bingo. Teaken blushed and looked away. "Least we could do." He said, clearing his throat.

"We?" I asked, circling back around the tub.

"The, the other Boys and I, I mean."

"Oh, so they helped you with this?" I causally bent over to test the aquamarine water that lapped at the rim of the tub, at the same time giving Teaken the opportunity to inspect the cheerleader panties Peter's faeries had made for me.

"Uh…uh no, they uh…didn't know about this…" Teaken stumbled and eventually trailed off. I nearly cracked up then and there. I stood back up and turned around.

"Well which is it? Is it from you or them?" I asked, hands on my hips.

"Me, I guess," Teaken mumbled to his feet.

"Uh-huh," I said and walked towards Teaken. He looked up at the sound of me closing in on him, and immediately looked decidedly panicked. This was too easy, really.

"What's the matter?" I grinned. "I just wanted to give you some gratitude back for what you did. I appreciate it." I slid my arms around his waist, hugging him warmly. I felt him tense up, then pat my back awkwardly.

"You're wel…" he stopped, cleared his throat. "No, uh, no problem."

I laughed and pulled back, looking up into his face. "It's ok, Teaken. It's just a hug. What happened to that suave guy I met in the club, huh?" I joked, punching his arm lightly. "He wasn't the least bit shy."

Teaken colored a bit and looked away. "It's different now."

"Different how? It's still me. It's different just because now we're all alone in the middle of a jungle on a magical island?" I stopped. Teaken raised his eyebrow at me. "Ok, I see your point."

"Well, that's part of it, I suppose."

"And…Peter?" I said, stepping back.

"Another part, yes."

I narrowed my eyes up at him. There was...an emotion…to his voice that made my stomach flutter. "What's the rest of it, then?"

I saw him pull away inside, I couldn't stand it. I had to hear it, no matter what it was. "No, please, please tell me, Teaken." I caught his hand.

He grabbed my hand back, as if to anchor buy it. He continued to turn away, but he pulled me towards him, enveloping me in his arms.

"I…I didn't know you then," he said, shakily.

No, I'm not ready for this…I tricked him into this, I was just playing around…wasn't I?

"Teaken," I said softly, trying to stop him before he went further, too far. But he was already speaking, and I was already lost in his words.

"I didn't love you then."

Oh, god…

And the ground fell out from beneath us.

Literally.

I screamed and Teaken reacted. He pulled me to him and rocketed upwards, away from the crumbling hillside. I watched, clutching onto Teaken, as the edge of the cliff fell away and into the waterfall.

"What the hell is going on?" I shouted as he put us back on solid ground again, right in front of the bathtub.

"Lost Boys aren't supposed to love," he said eyes wide with realization. He shut them hard then, and clenched his fists. "I'm making it worse," he whispered harshly to himself, but I heard.

"Teaken," He turned away from me and ripped open the pouch with the leather tie. He poured it into the bathtub and I watched as the water inside went from aquamarine to a dark blue. The moonlight shimmered across the top of the water and I swore I saw it spark and glimmer where it was reflected.

"Get in," Teaken said quietly.

My chest ached deeply and I didn't know why, but I robotically did as he asked. "Do I need to…?" I pulled at my dress.

"Yes." Teaken said, and abruptly walked away. He stood at the new edge of the cliff, his back to me.

I wondered at the pain that was blossoming in my chest directly next to a kind of jubilation I had never before known. It was like a space in my heart that had been empty for a very long time, was now filling up again. It was a different feeling than had been there before, but it felt just as good. The pain was warring with the joy, and it left me in a kind of numb state. It was in this numb state that I silently undressed and stepped into the tub of shimmering midnight blue water. I slid down and let it flow up and over my shoulders. It felt odd, like it was clinging to my skin, trying to get it. I shivered.

I heard my voice asking Teaken how long I needed to stay in the tub. He answered back in a flat, dull voice, that I had to remain until all the color had gone from the water. As I looked down, I could already see the edges of the water that lapped at the bathtub were already lightening, as if the color was seeping into me. I supposed it was.

I felt the tears drop down my cheeks, but couldn't understand them. I couldn't understand anything. Maybe there wasn't anything to understand. And maybe if I closed my eyes, there wouldn't be anything at all.

So I did.

A.N. Kind of depressing, I'll allow. I'll tell you the truth, the next chapter won't get much happier. Angst, people, angst. …It's what's for dinner. Thank you for all your encouraging reviews, pokes, and prods. They are all appreciated and utterly deserved. Well…the pokes and prods are deserved anyway.