A/N: Hey, everybody, sorry it took me so long to put up this next chapter. I hope you all didn't lose interest! I haven't given up on this story yet, and I'm not planning to. If it's been a while since you've read the last chapter, I recommend going back and rereading it, at least the end of it, so you can refresh your memory on where the story left off. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Once again, thank you to Doctor John Smith for your continued support! I really appreciate your comments.
As Alice and Peter rushed down Crocodile Creek tied to a log, they began to hear a sound. To Alice, the sound was innocent enough, but to Peter, it meant danger. As if the situation they were in wasn't bad enough. It was the sound of a ticking clock. Peter looked over and saw two bulbous eyes protruding out of the river with a long, green, reptilian tail trailing behind. It was Tick-Tock the Crocodile. He usually liked to spend his days stalking Captain Hook for a second helping of that codfish, but if he was hungry enough, he'd go after anything. Unfortunately for Peter and Alice, this seemed to be one of those times. He was swimming toward the log, and he was catching up at an alarming rate. The reptile opened his wide jaws, ready to chomp down on the children as soon as he reached them, which would be very shortly. At least, it would have been if Tinker Bell hadn't flown in right then.
"Tink! Where've you been?" Peter said. "Come on, help us!"
Tinker Bell pulled out Peter's dagger from its scabbard, and she dragged it through the rope, cutting free Peter and Alice.
Tick-Tock chomped down on the log, but Peter and Alice had barely slipped away in time.
"Woohoo! We're free!" Peter said, flying out of the water. "Thanks, Tink. I knew you'd pull through for us. Wait a minute, where's Alice?" Peter looked down and saw Alice splashing around in the water, her head barely above the surface. "I guess I should save her, huh?"
The Crocodile was now swimming toward the struggling Alice, ready to make his second attempt at a meal. He opened his jaws again, his rows of crooked, sharp teeth glistening in the sunlight.
"Help me, Peter!" Alice said, gulping water in her attempts to breathe.
Peter dove into the water, swept up Alice in his arms, and flew back up into the air just as Tick-Tock's jaws snapped shut.
Alice coughed up water. "Thank you for saving me, Peter," she said. "I wouldn't have made it if it weren't for you."
Peter landed on the bank of the creek and set down Alice on her feet. "You're welcome," he said with his back turned toward her. He then flew up to a tree branch and sat facing away from Alice, his arms crossed.
"Is something wrong, Peter?" Alice asked.
"Something wrong? Of course something's wrong! Hook just captured the Twins and he's gonna feed them to those savage cannibals. Not to mention your queen is going to kill Bill and the Dodo. And all the while you did nothing to stop them."
"I told you, I was trying, but I couldn't do anything. I tried imagining a sword to cut us free, or a lion to gobble up those villains, but nothing worked. I was… I was too scared. I was panicking. I couldn't concentrate enough to create something with my mind. I'm sorry, Peter. Really, I am."
"Hmph," Peter said. He still refused to face Alice.
"Oh, come, now, Peter. Stop acting like you're above me, like you don't care about me. You just saved my life. So you must care about me somewhat."
Peter finally turned around. "Of course I care about you, Alice," he said. "But I care about the Lost Boys, too."
"And so do I," Alice said. "I'll do everything I can to help you find them and keep them safe. I know I didn't do anything back there, but I was trying, and you can't fault me for that. You have to believe me that I'm always trying my hardest to help as much as I can."
Peter sat quiet for a moment.
He then said, "Okay… I believe you." He floated down from the tree branch and sat on the ground against the tree's trunk. "Sorry for being angry at you. It's Hook and the Queen who I should really be angry at. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."
Alice sat down next to Peter underneath the tree.
The boy seemed a little restless with the girl sitting so close to him. He took out his pan flute and started fidgeting around with it. Eventually, he said, "So… you wanna know why I have a problem with mothers, huh?"
"Only if you want to tell me," Alice said.
"I was twelve years old when I left my home."
Alice was somewhat taken aback to hear him say that; Peter had never referred to his age before. "Why did you leave your home?" she asked.
"My mother and father… they wanted me to grow up. They were in a rush to make me into a man. They were always telling me I had to start training in my father's work so I could one day take over the family business. But I didn't want anything to do with the family business. All I wanted to do was… have fun and be free. I always hated school, and I wanted even less to go to work. So, I ran away."
"But then what?" Alice asked. "Where did you run away to?"
"I didn't really know where I was running away to; I just knew I needed to get away from there. Then one night, when I was by myself, I found the pixies. They're always on the lookout for those who have lost their way. So I guess I should say the pixies found me. Then they taught me how to fly, and they led me here, to Neverland, where I'd never have to grow up."
"But that still doesn't explain why you have such a distaste for mothers in particular," Alice said.
"I was just getting to that," Peter said. "You see, I stayed here in Neverland for a long time. I'm not sure how long, exactly. It's kinda hard to keep track of time here. But one day, I decided that I missed my mother and father, so I left Neverland to go see them again. But when I came back to the real world and went to my old home, the window to my room was barred. And when I looked in, I saw another boy sleeping in my bed. I saw my mother give him a kiss. She used to kiss me, but now she was kissing this other boy. She… she forgot all about me. She replaced me."
Alice saw a tear roll down Peter's cheek. This was another first. She had never seen him be this vulnerable before. She didn't even think it was possible for him to cry. Yet here he was.
Peter quickly wiped away the tear. "So, that's why I don't like mothers," he said. "Ever since then, I slowly started forgetting about my mother. After so long, it got to the point where I forgot what a mother even was; I forgot what the word meant. Until I met Wendy, that is. She became the Lost Boys' mother, and once she told us what a mother was, I started remembering my own mother again. And all the bad memories."
Alice said, "But you're wrong about mothers, Peter. The love a mother has for her child never dies out. Just because she had another child doesn't mean she forgot about you, or that she was replacing you. I'm sure if you had given her a chance, she would have welcomed you back with open arms."
Peter scoffed. "Well, even if she had, she would still try to make me into a man. I know now that I'm better off here."
"What about the Lost Boys, though? They want a mother. And personally, I think they'd be better off with a mother."
"Well, sure, you're their mother."
"No, I mean a real mother. Peter, you know I'm not a real mother, right? I've just been pretending."
Peter said, "Who cares if you're pretending or not? When you're in Neverland, whatever you pretend becomes real."
"But I can't stay in Neverland forever."
"Who says you can't?"
"Well… I do," Alice said. "I have a family back at home. They'll miss me if I stay away too long."
"I thought your family wanted you to grow up. I thought that's why you wanted to come to Neverland in the first place."
"Yes, and I never said I would stay here forever."
"I don't get it. You don't want to grow up… but you don't want to stay in Neverland."
Alice said, "Because even though I may not want to grow up right away, I know I'll have to grow up someday. Everyone does. Even if you don't, I think at least the Lost Boys should have the opportunity to grow up."
"No! Never! They don't want to grow up anyways."
"Are you sure? Or are you just saying that for them?"
"Why does everyone have to leave? First Wendy left, now you want to leave, and now you want the Lost Boys to leave." Peter was starting to get choked up again.
"I'm not going to make the boys leave you. All I'm saying is that they should have the choice to leave here if they want to. We'll ask them what they want to do after we find them."
"Hey!" Peter jumped up on his feet. "What're we doing sitting around talking? We gotta find the boys!"
"I was just about to say the same thing," Alice said, standing up and dusting off the dirt from her nightgown.
"And where's Tink?" Peter said. "How long has she been away?"
As soon as he said that, Tink came zipping back to Peter's side.
"There you are, Tink! Where were you?" Peter asked.
Tinker Bell chimed a phrase.
"She said she went out looking for the Lost Boys while we were talking," Peter said. "Well, did you find them?"
Tink jingled some more.
"She said she found Slightly, Cubby, Nibs, and Tootles at the Indian Encampment!" Peter said. "Come on, we gotta go, Alice!" The three of them all took off to the skies and made their way toward the Indian camp.
A/N: For those of you familiar with the original Peter Pan book, you may have noticed that I made some changes to Peter's backstory. In the book, he left his family when he was a baby, but I changed it so that in this version, he left when he was 12 years old, which is the age he's stuck in when living in Neverland. It never made sense to me in the book how you supposedly never grow up in Neverland, but somehow Peter grew up from being a baby to being a child. And since this story is based on the Disney version of Peter Pan, and we don't know the backstory to Disney's Peter, I thought it would be okay if I made some changes. Hopefully none of you mind too much.