Disclaimer: The Mad Doctor claims no ownership to the Kingdom Hearts franchise. It belongs to Disney and Square Enix.

Notes from the Mad Doctor: Greetings readers! Sorry, it took so long to update. I've been sick lately and I've also been trying to get my head around Re: Mind. I won't go into specific details just in case any reader hasn't played it yet at least until a month has passed. But I would like to reiterate that this story isn't going to take anything from Re: Mind into account because I had this story planned before it was even announced. I hope it's exclusion doesn't put any of you off following this story. But that's the way the ball bounces when it comes to fanfiction: it's non-canon no matter what you do. Now let's get back to Kairi in Never Land. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up

Never Land

Up in the Never Land sky, there was a small ball of glowing light flying through. Upon a closer look however, it would be revealed that it was a small woman with blonde hair, a green dress and wings. It was Tinker Bell, the most famous fairy in all of Never Land.

Things had been pretty quiet in Never Land lately and the usually tightknit group of Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, and the Lost Boys had been off doing their own things. Tink had just come from Pixie Hollow where she had been visiting with her fellow fairies. Now that the visit was over, she was looking to rejoin with her other friends.

As she passed by Skull Rock, a strange sound came to her tiny ears. It sounded as if there was some kind of commotion coming from within.

Flying in toward one of the holes that resembled eye sockets, she perched on the edge and gazed inside. What she saw was quite a surprise.

The Lost Boys were currently in the midst of a fight with a pair of unusual opponents: a redheaded girl dressed in pink and a yellow furred dog. The girl was brandishing what appeared to be a giant flower covered key.

Tink had never seen the girl or the dog around Never Land before. She wondered where they had come from.

But then, the fairy took a long and hard look at the girl. There was something oddly familiar about her and the weapon she carried.

Then Tink's eyes opened wide in sudden realization. She had seen the girl before.

Turning around, she flew up and headed in the direction of the mainland. She had to find Peter right away.

In another part of Never Land, sitting on the limb of a tall tree, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up was playing on his panpipes. After finishing his current tune, he let out a loud sigh.

'It's been pretty boring lately. There doesn't seem to be anything fun to do. There's no more Heartless to hunt down and even the old codfish hasn't been up to something. At least the boys have their treasure hunting to keep them amused. Wonder if they've found it at Skull Rock by now. Still, I sure wish something exciting would happen.'

No sooner than Peter had finished his thought, he suddenly heard a loud frantic tinkling sound. He looked up and saw his best fairy friend flying toward him at a fast speed.

"Oh, hey Tink! Glad to see you're back. Everything alright in Pixie Hollow?" he asked as the fairy stopped in front of him.

Tink ignored Peter's question and continued to speak in the same frantic tone. Peter suddenly became concerned as he took in what the fairy was saying.

"Whoa, Tink! Slow down! The boys are in a fight? Is it Hook?"

Tink shook her head and continued her tale. Once she was finished, Peter's eyes shot open.

"What?! Are you sure it was her?"

Tink nodded in response.

"Then we'd better get to Skull Rock as fast as we can," said Peter as he rose to his feet and took off into the sky. Tink followed close behind.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Peter couldn't help but feel a little elated. 'Looks like I got my wish after all.'

"Take this!" shouted the boy in the bear suit as he threw his club at Kairi.

"Reflect!" shouted Kairi as she conjured up a barrier. The club bounced off it harmlessly.

"Charge!" said the two boys in raccoon suits as they sped toward Kairi with their wooden swords brandished.

But before they even reached the girl, a growling Pluto leapt in front of them with his teeth bared. The boys immediately turned around and ran while the dog pursued them while barking wildly.

'So far, I've been able to fend off whatever they've thrown at me and I've avoided hurting them. But is there any way out of this pointless fight?' thought Kairi as she deflected more slingshot attacks.

"Attention!" shouted a voice from above. Everyone gazed upwards to see Peter floating high above them with his arms crossed over his chest and a displeased look on his face. Tink floated above his shoulder.

'Peter Pan! And Tinker Bell! Hopefully, they can help me out of this mess,' thought Kairi as she gave a look of relief.

"Pan!" exclaimed the boy in the rabbit suit.

"You're just in time!" shouted the boy in the fox suit.

"This girl pirate was trying to steal our treasure! But now that you're here, we'll stop her good!" exclaimed the one in the bear suit.

"You blockheads! She's not a pirate! She's a friend!" Peter shouted angrily.

"Huh?" exclaimed all the boys at the same time as Peter landed on the ground and they all gathered around him.

"You remember that boy Sora I told you about?" asked Peter.

"Oh! The one you saved from Hook along with Wendy, Tink and his friends?" asked the boy in the rabbit suit.

Kairi felt a little annoyed when she heard the last statement. 'Sora did a little more than just be saved by you, Peter.'

"That's the one. And it just so happens that this girl is his friend, Kairi. So, you all ought to be ashamed of yourselves for attacking her!" chided Peter.

"Well, how were we supposed to know that?!" exclaimed the one in the fox suit.

"Yeah! We'd never seed her before!" said the boy in the bear suit. The one in the skunk suit nodded in agreement.

"You shouldn't have attacked her!" accused the one in the rabbit suit.

"You started it!" said the two boys in raccoon suits.

The boys immediately started brawling with each other. Peter ignored the boys' fighting as he approached Kairi and smiled at her. "Welcome back to Never Land, Kairi! Glad to see you're more awake this time."

"Er, thank you, Peter. And for the record, I wasn't stealing anything from your treasure chest. I was only looking in it," said Kairi.

"Oh, well, no harm done then. In fact, it's great that you came back, Kairi," said Peter.

"It is?"

"Yes. Why, a few minutes ago, I was thinking how it's been pretty boring lately. But now that you're here, I can think of a million things we can do. So, first, let me show you around Never Land. Always like to give the grand tour to friends," said Peter.

"Um that won't be necessary, Peter. In fact, there's something important I need to talk to you about right now."

"Oh, come on. Let's have some fun first. You were so sleepy last time, you missed out on so much. Just a quick fly around and then we'll get to whatever you want to talk about," said Peter.

'Looks like I don't have a choice. I'll play along for now and maybe he'll be more cooperative later.'

"Well, okay then. But what about Pluto?" asked Kairi pointing to the dog.

"Men!" shouted Peter causing the boys to stop their fighting, stand at attention and salute. "Head back to the hideout and take the dog with you. But watch your shadows around him. Dogs tend to bite them off."

"Right, Pan! Come on, doggy!" said the boy in the fox suit gesturing to Pluto to come to him.

Pluto looked hesitant as he gazed up at Kairi. It was as if he was asking her if he should go with them.

Kairi was skeptical about trusting her companion to the boys who only a few minutes ago, were attacking them. But since Peter seemed to be able to control them, Pluto would probably be okay.

"Go with them, Pluto. I'll see you soon," said Kairi. With her blessing received, Pluto walked over to the boys and they all headed out of the cave.

Peter then turned his back to Kairi. "Hop on!"

"Are you sure you can carry me like that?" asked Kairi.

"Of course! I'm pretty strong! Just wrap your arms around my shoulders."

Kairi walked up to Peter. But before she could lay a hand on him, Tink flew right in between her and Peter and held her arms out. She had a sour look on her face.

"Whoa! What's up with her?" she asked.

"Oh, she acts like this whenever there's another girl around. She acted this way with Wendy and Aqua too. Never really understood why."

A shock ran through Kairi's mind. 'Aqua's been here too? Just how many Keyblade Wielders has Peter met? I'm really going to have to ask him about that later. Especially about that wooden Keyblade with Terra's name on it.'

"Tink, just let me take her for a ride," said Peter.

Tink shook her head.

"Tink, don't do this," scolded Peter.

Tink folded her arms and pouted. But she flew out of Kairi's way and allowed her to wrap her arms around Peter.

Once she was in position, Peter rose up from the ground. Kairi tightened her grip on the boy.

"Ready to see Never Land?"

"I guess so. But can we not go to where the mermaids are?"

"Oh, you met them already?"

"Yes and they tried to drown me!" exclaimed Kairi angrily.

Peter laughed. "Yes, that sounds like them alright. Hold on tight!"

"Whoa!" screamed Kairi as Peter soared out of Skull Rock through one of eyeholes. Following close behind was Tink who was completely red with anger.

Much later, Peter was flying through the sky with Kairi on his back. He had been all over Never Land, showing her the most notable places. Now they were heading back to Peter's hideout.

Though still precariously holding onto Peter, Kairi had enjoyed every sight that he had shown her. She only wished that Tink would stop being such a sourpuss as she continued to trail behind with her arms folded and her face set in a jealous pout.

"So, what do you think, Kairi?"

"Never Land's a pretty amazing place, Peter. Thank you for showing me," said Kairi.

"No problem. But it's too bad Sora never got a chance to see it the first time he was here. The most he saw before he left was the inside of Hook's pirate ship."

Returning to the subject of Sora immediately brought Kairi down. 'He should be here seeing Never Land with us.'

"Oh. I forgot to mention. I'm really glad that you managed to get away from those bad guys in black coats."

Kairi was surprised to hear that Peter knew about her being imprisoned by the first Organization. "How did you know about that?"

"Sora called on Tink and me a few times during one of his adventures. And the magic that enabled him to call us also let us know what was happening even if weren't there," said Peter.

Kairi's surprise increased. 'I had no idea Sora's summons worked like that. Wait. He did mention that his summons from his first adventure like Mushu and Simba were aware of what happened. I guess, even if the summons worked differently on the next one, the same thing applied and all of them are aware of everything that happened.'

Then a horrible thought came to her. 'Does he already know what happened to Sora?'

"Peter, how much do you know exactly? I mean, what was the last thing you remember Sora doing?"

"Well, let me think. The last thing I remember was him going with his silver haired friend to this stern looking old man. I think they were taking some kind of test or something. After that, nothing else. Probably for the best. Tests are boring."

'Peter's knowledge of what Sora was doing must have been cut off when Riku and him started the Mark of Mastery exam. Master Yen Sid did say they would lose all their powers and abilities at the start. So, he doesn't know that Sora's gone.'

Despite this fact, Kairi didn't feel any better. When she started on the journey, it never occurred to her how she was going to break the news of Sora's fate to any friends of his she might meet along the way.

"Even though it stopped, it was pretty fun joining Sora in a way on his adventures. Though I do wish he would have called on me more especially when fighting those guys in black coats. I would have shown them a thing or two and we would have beaten them just as easily as Hook."

'No, you wouldn't have, Peter. Fighting the Organization, both the old and the new, is nothing like fighting Captain Hook. They are more dangerous than you think, and Sora would never have put you in a fight like that.'

"There it is!" exclaimed Peter pointing downward. Kairi looked over Peter's shoulder and saw a large tree with a hangman's noose hanging from its longest limb.

"Is that your hideout?" asked Kairi.

"Yep. Hangman's Tree. Prepare for landing!"

Once they were directly over the tree, without warning, Peter flipped over. Kairi shrieked as the surprise caused her to lose her grip and fall feet first.

As Kairi closed in on the tree, she ended up falling through the top of it and onto a slide. She continued to scream as she slid until she came to a soft landing on a bed.

After recovering from the sudden thrill ride, Kairi heard a familiar bark. She looked ahead and saw Pluto bounding up to her. The dog leapt onto the bed and licked Kairi on the cheek. Kairi giggled.

"Thanks, Pluto. I needed that. Good to see you got here safe."

"Enjoy the ride down, Kairi?"

Kairi looked and saw Peter and Tink hovering close by. She frowned. "You could've warned me you were going to do that."

"What fun would that be? Right, Tink?" asked Peter causing Tink to laugh.

"Not the most thoughtful pair, are they Pluto?" asked Kairi. Pluto nodded in agreement.

Peter floated over to a thronelike chair. After sitting down, he shouted, "Men! Fall in!"

In response, the Lost Boys dropped down from the ceiling, hanging from their feet like bats. Kairi gasped in surprise.

"Sound off!" ordered Peter.

One by one, the Lost Boys disengaged from ceiling and landed on their feet. They each gave a salute while saying their name.

"Slightly!" said the one in the fox suit.

"Nibs!" said the one in the rabbit suit.

"The Twins!" said the two in the racoon suits.

Then the one in the bear suit dropped down and landed on his head. "Cubby," he muttered.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" asked Kairi as she got up and rushed to Cubby's side.

"I'm fine. This happens all the time," said Cubby as he picked himself up.

"Yeah, it's no problem," said one of the Twins.

"Cubby's head is the hardest in all of Never Land," said the other one as the both of them pounded on Cubby's head causing him to groan in pain.

"See?" they said together.

Kairi was about to object to their ill treatment of their comrade when suddenly, the Lost Boy in the skunk suit dropped into her arms. He smiled up at her.

"Now I remember you. Don't think I forgot about you beaning me with a slingshot," she said sternly.

The Lost Boy said nothing. He just continued to smile at her.

Kairi became concerned. "Can't he talk?"

"Nope. He never learned. His name's Toodles," said Slightly.

Peter then stood up on his chair and announced, "This certainly has become quite a day and we have much to celebrate. Now that Kairi's here, she can be our new mother and tell us stories and do anything else a mother can do for us."

The Lost Boys cheered. Kairi, however, had a different reaction.

'Mother? Seriously?'

"And even better! Since Kairi's come to Never Land, Sora can't be far behind. You'll all finally get to meet him, and we'll have many great adventures," continued Peter causing the Lost Boys to cheer even louder.

Kairi's heart sank. 'I've got to tell them. But how am I supposed to do that? How do you tell a group of boys who won't grow up that someone they know is gone?'

"Uh, Peter?" asked Kairi. But she was drowned out by the revelry of the Lost Boys.

"Peter!" Kairi shouted louder. Still, she wasn't heard.

"PETER!"

After that outburst, Kairi found everyone's eyes on her. All of them looked confused as to why she had shouted.

"Something wrong, Kairi?" asked Peter.

Kairi let out a sad sigh as she set Toodles down on the ground. "Something is, Peter. I really hate to tell you all this. But Sora isn't coming."

The Lost Boys gasped. Tink jingled in confusion. Peter floated off his chair and landed right in front of Kairi.

"What do you mean he's not coming? I mean, if you're here, he can't far behind, right?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Peter. But Sora is…" Kairi struggled to find the right word. "…lost."

"You mean like us? A Lost Boy?" asked Slightly.

"No. Not like you at. You see, during our last adventure, something really awful happened, and Sora was lost. That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm looking for him and I was hoping that you could help me," said Kairi.

"So, he was looking for you and now you're looking for him? Boy, you two seem to lose each other a lot," said Peter.

'You don't need to remind me of that.'

Peter sighed and floated back to his chair. "Men, it looks like we won't be getting our great adventure after all."

"Aww!" groaned the disappointed Lost Boys.

"But Kairi can still be our mother, right?" asked Nibs.

"I'm sorry, boys. But that's not why I came here. I came here looking for Sora. In fact, I was kind of hoping Peter or Tink may have seen him. But it seems that they haven't. Is that right?" asked Kairi causing both the boy and the fairy to shake their heads no.

"You boys haven't seen anyone like Sora, have you? Brown spiky hair? Dressed in red and black clothing? Carries a giant key like mine but not as flowery?" asked Kairi.

"Nope," said Slightly.

"Haven't seed anyone like that," said Cubby.

Kairi sighed and then held up the Wayfinder to look at it. 'Then why did it bring me here?'

"Well, if none of you can help me find Sora, then I guess I should be on my way. It was nice meeting you all though even if we didn't start on the right foot and I am sorry to disappoint you. Uh where's the way out?" asked Kairi.

The Lost Boys pointed in the direction of a passage. Inside was a staircase that led upwards.

"Thanks. Come on, Pluto," said Kairi as she sadly walked toward the passage with Pluto trailing behind her.

Unseen by Kairi, as she was leaving, Tink waved pleasantly goodbye with a smug smile on her face. She clearly was not too broken up about having to see her go.

"What's the matter with her, Pan?" asked Nibs.

"I don't know. Sure, we're not getting a new adventure with Sora. But we're not that sad about it," said Peter.

"No one should be sad in Never Land!" exclaimed the Twins.

"Yes. This is a place to laugh and have fun and never be sad at all," said Slightly with Toodles nodding nearby.

"I agree. Men, we cannot let Kairi leave so sad. We must find a way to cheer her up," said Peter.

Tink floated in front of Peter. She tinkled in an objecting tone to make it clear that she didn't want Kairi to come back at all.

"No, Tink. We are going to do this. Sora wouldn't want his friend to not have a fun time in Never Land. Right?" asked Peter.

Tink folded her arms and pouted. But she did give a begrudging nod of agreement.

"So, what can we do to cheer her up?" asked Peter.

"How about another treasure hunt?" suggested the Twins.

"Nah. She already founded the treasure and she wasn't even trying. She's too good. Hey, how about we take her to meet the mermaids?" asked Cubby.

"She's already done that and for some reason, she didn't like that very much," said Peter.

"So much for your great idea," said Slightly as he bopped Cubby on the head.

Then Peter's face lit up. "I've got it! I know just what we can do for her!"

Outside Hangman's Tree, Kairi sat on a nearby rock. Pluto was sitting in front of her while she gazed at the Wayfinder.

"'Follow in the footsteps of your special one and a broken heart may be healed.' That's what the woman in my dream said to always remember on this journey, Pluto," said Kairi causing Pluto to look confused.

"Yeah. I don't get it either. I also don't understand much of the stuff she told me like it would bring me to where I needed to be and wherever that was, there would be a reason. But what could it be?"

Kairi let out a deep sigh as Pluto nuzzled up to her in sympathy. "I knew getting Sora back wasn't going to be easy. But I never thought it would be this hard."

"Kairi!"

Kairi turned back toward Hangman's Tree. Peter had emerged from one of the entrances and was flying toward her.

"What is it, Peter?" she asked dryly.

"Look, the boys and I are sorry about what happened in there. Let us make it up to you," said Peter.

"Thanks, Peter. But I don't think there's anything you all could do," said Kairi as she and Pluto began to walk away.

"Oh, there is! In fact, it may even help you look for Sora," said Peter.

Kairi stopped in her tracks and turned back. "Really? What is it?"

"You're going to love this. In fact, Sora actually wanted you to try it when he planned to bring you here himself," said Peter as he floated up to Kairi and gave her a big smile.

"Kairi, would you like to learn how to fly?"

Notes from the Mad Doctor: I've really been playing up Peter and the rest of his crew's more negative traits at the start. They may be good guys but they do have their flaws. Chalk it all up to perpetual immaturity. Fun fact: did you know that in J.M. Barrie's original play, Peter would actually side with the pirates if he thought the battles were getting too one-sided? He would even kill any Lost Boys to thin the herd as it were. So, believe me when I say that Disney's version is a lighter than the original (as are many of their adaptations). Next chapter, Kairi begins her flying lessons although you can probably guess what direction it's heading. Reviews are much appreciated! Stay tuned!