Chapter 9 – Escape

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Leah stared, horror struck, at the small figure lying in Peter's open palms. The fairy's once beautiful face was now completely lifeless and faded, her neck bent at an awkward and unnatural angle. She glanced up at Peter who had fixated his look upon his lifelong friend, and knew what it was that she had to do. Reaching out her hands, Leah covered his fingers with her own and curled them over Tinkerbell gently, encapsulating her in their body warmth.

"No." Peter's eyes shot up to stare into the face of the girl kneeling in front of him, her hands covering his. He couldn't believe what he had heard. She had refused to give Tinkerbell a proper burial and would probably enjoy it if she just rot like everything else on this horrid ship. His heart sunk deeper into his stomach, and for the first time, he completely lost hope in anything. Roughly he pulled his hands and Tinkerbell away from Leah, and turned his back to her.

"I thought that you were someone who was going to help me. But I see that you just as bad as any of the filthy pirates that live on this ship." He answered her bitterly, trying to her hurt her with his words as much as she had hurt him.

Peter waited a few moments for her reaction, a comeback, anything. But time kept on passing and she said nothing. Soon his curiosity for her reply got the better of him, and he turned his head slightly to see what she was doing. He was met only with her gentle gaze, which thoroughly confused him, and only made him angry.

Leah saw the anger in his eyes and realized that she should have completed her sentence right away. Leaning forward she placed a hand on his cheek and the other over Tinkerbell. His eyes flared at her gesture, but as she smoothed the tear tracks with the pad of her thumb, he began to soften.

"Peter," She started, making sure to have eye contact with him before continuing. "I'm sorry, but I can't do what you are asking me to." The irritation flooded his expression again.

"I see. I should have never trusted you in the first place. You're just another one of Hook's lackeys who doesn't deserve to - "

"Peter!" She pressed her fingertips to his lips to silence him, preventing him from saying anything that he might regret later. "I won't do this, because you will."

"What?" He was lost. Staring into her eyes, he tried to find something in them that would give him any indication of where she was headed with this.

Dropping her other hand down to his, she once again cupped his hands and Tinkerbell with her own. "Mr. Smee and I have been working on a plan to get you out of here. And now that all this has happened I feel that we have to do it immediately."

"Wait, Mr. Smee?" Peter was sure he had heard her wrong. It was hard to believe that the same Mr. Smee, who had followed Hook around for years like a cheap lap dog, serving his every beck and call, was now helping him, Peter Pan, to escape from Hook's grasp. It was a hard concept to comprehend.

"Yes. He's been very helpful to me since I've been here. And I believe that at this very moment, he is putting the plan into motion." She then ripped a piece off the linen that was hanging around his shoulders and handed it to him. "For her." Peter gazed down at his hands.

"Tinkerbell."

"For Tinkerbell." Peter looked up at Leah, who gave him a small, but sad, smile. For some reason, the warmth that she had in her eyes comforted him and he finally regained some of the hope that he had lost. But he refused to give himself too much, in fear that everything would end in vain.

Methodically, he wrapped Tinkerbell's small form in the linen, taking time to revel in the distant memories that he had of her. It was only then that he realized that he had no idea how long he had been imprisoned down here. He was so lost in thought that when he looked up to ask Leah, he found her to be at the door talking to Smee.

"Everything is ready Miss Leah. Avery and Jave have agreed to help us, and all we are waiting for now is for the Cap'n to fall asleep." Smee handed her a hooded cloak then turned. "I will return when it is time to go."

"Thank you so much Smee." He gave her a small smile over his shoulder before heading up the stairs, leaving the two pirates at the door that would be helping her when the time came. "Thank you. Both of you for helping us as well."

"It's nothing Miss." One said, the other just nodded his head. She closed the door and sighed, clutching the cloak to her chest as she rested her head against the doorframe. So far, everything that they have planned was going perfectly. A keg of fresh whiskey distracted the pirates down in the cabins below deck, and as they had hopped for, Hook avoided the commotion and retired to his quarters to enjoy his own stock of liquor. There Smee had snuck in sleeping herbs into one of the bottles, and being present to assure that Hook drank from the right bottle, Smee had gone straight to her to tell her that it would only take about fifteen minutes before Hook was off into his dream world. Once again praying that there would be no glitches in their plan, Leah turned to find Peter's green eyes, reflected in the dimming firelight, staring into hers. Walking over to him, she kneeled and removed the linen that was over his shoulders. Then in one fluid motion she draped the dark cloak over him and adjusted the hood over his head. His eyes had never left her face while she completed her task, constantly sending her a look of hesitant trust. He was still unsure of what exactly was going on, but knew somewhere deep inside of him that he had no other choice than to trust her.

Peter was about to say something when a knock came from the door. It slowly opened and revealed Smee nervously shifting from foot to foot, holding a similar dark cloak to the one that Peter was wearing.

"It's time." Leah rose and strode over to Smee who then draped the cloak over her shoulders and adjusted the hood over her head, the same way she had done for Peter only minutes ago. She then turned and walked back over to Peter.

"Let's get you out of here." She crouched next to him and swung his left arm over her shoulder, the slowly they stood together. Being off of his legs for the past few weeks, Peter was unsteady and leaned heavily on her. Embarrassed at his incapability, he attempted to remove his arm and stand on his own, but she thwarted his attempts by grabbing his left hand and curling her fingers around his. This not only prevented him from standing on his own but also pulled them tighter to each other.

Despite everything that he had gone through, Peter couldn't resist the feeling the warmth that he felt from her as she pressed against his bare torso, and willingly gave up his struggle for the little pride he had remaining and let her help him.

Leah looked up into his face and was relieved to see his acceptance of her assistance. Peter turned his head to look at her and gave her a small nod, which she returned, accompanied by a light squeeze of her hand in his.

Clutching Tinkerbell to his chest Peter hesitantly took a step forward, and only then was he grateful for Leah's presence supporting him, for without her there, he surely would have fallen over. Cautiously he took another, and then another, and before he knew it they were following Smee up the stairs and onto the deck into the crisp night air.

The sky had begun to clear and the glimmer of scattered stars, shined through the haze of clouds against the obsidian darkness of the night. Smee and the two pirates carefully and cautiously lead Leah and Peter across the deck and into a small boat rocking in the water flushed against the hull of the massive ship. Leah helped Peter settle in next to her in the vessel, still bearing his weight as much as she could. Soon, Smee un-tethered the rope that linked the two ships and they headed off across the water to the shore.

The night was unusually silent, except for the water that rolled beneath them. Next to her, Leah watched as Peter closed his eyes and turned his face up toward the sky – marveling the feel of the crisp air against his skin. He had a new appreciation of this air, and drank in as much as he could, fearing that it might be taken away from him again. She continued to watch him as he slowly dropped his head back down and open his eyes, all the time still clutching Tinkerbell tightly to his chest.

They made it to the other side of Neverland, and docked safely on the soft sand without being detected. Leah helped Peter out of the small craft onto the wet sand, the waves occasionally nipping at their bare ankles. Wordlessly, Smee handed Leah a bag of supplies, which happened to also contain the clothes that she had arrived in. Then, he and the two pirates bid their farewells to the two teenagers and went sailing off in their small craft, returning to the Jolly Roger before anyone realized that they were gone. Leah watched them until they disappeared behind a cliff, and then turned her attention to Peter, who was staring blankly into the woods. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and he bent his head to look at her, the moonlight reflecting the sadness in his expression.

"The woods seem so quiet." His voice was soft, almost inaudible over the sound of the crashing waves behind them. "I miss them." He began to walk away from her into the dense forest, his legs felt weak and he stumbled slightly, but before he could fall, she was right there beside him.

"Where should we go?" She asked him, entwining one of her arms with his.

"The fairy burial ground. I want her to be able to rest among her friends." Leah nodded and together they entered the forest, damp with the early morning dew.

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….I guess we have a few things to say here.

-Yes, we know we're two months behind our schedule

-Second, as you probably have already have figured out we are not finished.

When Star and I sat down after our last post we had actually written out an out line of the rest of the story which at our guess comes to about 16 chapters…at this point in time, we are up to chapter 12 in rough writing – and what we have we like

The only problem is that we started this story a few years back and are slowly losing the initiative to sit down and actually write the rest out.

I (Glade) am headed into college next week which will cause further complications in Star and I finishing the story. But we do want to finish it. SO…we apologize in not having it complete when we said we would, but please keep in mind that we will finish.

Plus, every time we think about stopping we go back to the reviews and read them over and over again, and they help us become motivated. So please, PLEASE review and bear with us!

We love and thank all of you who have stuck with us!

-Star and Glade

8-19-05