Chapter 15

The Beginning of the End

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Peter didn't sleep very well that night.

His mind had replayed the words of the pirates over and over again, trying to understand the extent of what they had said. But he always came up empty.

The sun shone blindingly through the window signifying it was late in the morning. With a sigh, Peter sat up and looked around the room with tired eyes. Staring blankly into space, he thought of Leah. He wasn't able to say anything to her the night before, but when he saw her today, what would he say? Just like the night before, he came up blank.

Throwing the fur off of him he climbed out of bed and ran a hand through his hair. Satisfied, he climbed down the ladder to the hideout in search of the Leah.

The hideout was dark, the candles long extinguished. He searched all the little coves, but was unable to find her. Growing worried he padded across the soft ground to his room. But once again, he found the space empty. A wave of fear swept over him. What if she had left?

Peter made his way back up the ladder in a hurry. In his haste to find Leah, he was unaware that she was back in the room until he almost knocked her over, as well as the two buckets of water that she carried.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, jumping back to avoid a collision, causing some of the water to slosh onto the floor. "What's the hurry?" She asked while putting the buckets down in the corner, then she straightened and began to flit around the room tiding up, unaware that there wasn't much to tidy up.

"I…uh…thought that you had…" Peter stammered then clamped his mouth shut and watched her clean in stunned silence. She was acting so calmly, like nothing had happened the night before.

"Hm?" She paused putting a few things in a small bag for a moment and looked up a Peter, who was standing stock still by the entrance to the hideout.

"Uh….nothing." Still not moving, he watched her place a Neverland peachberry into a bag, and then pulled it closed. "Where are you going?" He tried to suppress the worry in his voice, but by the way her back tensed, he knew she heard it.

"I'm going to see Tiger Lily. I also want to check up on the boys."

"I'll go with you."

"No." She turned away from him and headed towards the door.

"You can't go out there alone. What if those pirates show up?" He crossed the small space to her, but didn't try to force her to face him. "I don't want them to hurt you." He held his breath when the words left him lips. He was always one to want to protect people, but the extra pang in his chest when it concerned her, took him aback.

The sincerity in his voice struck a cord in her heart. But she couldn't face him, and yet, she didn't know why. That's why she had to go see Tiger Lily.

"They are all back on the ship. I watched them leave."

"You watched them?" He couldn't believe her. Something was wrong; it wasn't like her to be so foolish. "But they could have seen you!"

"They didn't see me. Be careful if you go outside today. They should be back on shore soon."

"But-" She was outside before he had the chance to finish the sentence. He ran both hands through his hair and kicked a pebble that had found its way into the room.

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Leah knew that all the pirates were on the ship; she had watched them all grumble their way back to their crafts moored on the beach, dragging a hog that they had hunted for lunch.

Never the less, it didn't prevent her from being paranoid on her way to the Indian encampment. Every snapping twig made her jump and spin around to see what had caused the noise. Only becoming satisfied when she would see a rabbit or other forest creature make its way through the bushes.

It took her a little longer than usual to travel to the encampment, but she was relieved when the saw the totem polls marking the entrance and became a little less on edge. She greeted the guards with a small smile and made her way to the Tiger Lily's teepee. Fighting Bear, the princess's guard was standing out front. When he saw her approaching his peeked his head inside the teepee, and then beckoned her inside with a nod of acknowledgment.

Slightly and Nibs were sitting next to Tiger Lily, who was teaching them how to fashion necklaces out of polished pebbles, and telling them the meaning behind each color.

"What's this one?" Nibs asked, holding up a reddish brown stone. Taking it from his hand, Lily holds it up to the light.

"Well, the red in this means courage, and the brown means stability. And you can also see little flecks of yellow meaning wisdom." She smiled and handed the stone back to him. "You have a very special stone there." Nibs beamed as he slid the stone onto a string filled with an array of multicolored stones.

Leah watched Nibs fondly, as he tied the two ends of the strings of pebbles together and held the finished piece out in front of him proudly. It was then that he noticed Leah standing at the edge of the teepee.

"Leah!" He jumped up and ran to her, catching her around the middle in a tight hug. "Look what I made!" He held the jewelry up for her to admire.

"It is very beautiful." She said with a small smile. From across the room she caught Tiger Lily's eye and knew that she could tell that there was something wrong.

"You like it?" Nibs asked, forcing her to break eye contact and look down at the boy.

"Very much." His face beamed, and it held it out to her.

"Good. Cause I made it for you!"

"Really?" The young boy nodded.

"Yep! I don't think I made it big enough for a necklace, but it cold fit around your wrist." Sure enough, he took her arm and slid the jewelry over hand where it fit perfectly around her wrist.

"I love it, thank you Nibs." She said, smiling at him. Not to be outdone, Slightly jumped up from where he was sitting, and stood next to them.

"I made one too!" He held up another multicolored bracelet, but rather than the reddish brown central stone of Nibs, Slightly's was blue.

"It's also very lovely." Leah said. Slightly held the piece of jewelry level with his eyes and scrunched his face.

"It's supposed to manly." He said in a thoughtful voice.

"I already told you, jewelry isn't manly." Nibs interjected, receiving an angry look from Slightly.

"It can so be!"

"Cannot!"

"Can so!"

"Cannot!" Tiger Lily jumped between the two boys to stop their arguing, and took Slightly's bracelet from him then looked at Leah.

"He made this for Peter. Could you give it to him?" Leah glanced over at Slightly who had turned away, cheeks red from either embarrassment or the argument, she couldn't tell.

"Yes I will. I'm sure Peter will like it very much." As she slipped the bracelet into the pocket of her dress she leaned closely to Slightly and whispered in his ear. "And I'm sure he will think it is very manly." Slightly turned at looked at her skeptically, but then he broke into a big grin that spread across his entire face. During her moment with Slightly, Leah didn't notice that Tiger Lily had stuck her head outside to talk with Fighting Bear. But when she straightened up, she say Fighting Bear standing by the door way beckoning the boys over to him. The two lost boys look hesitant to leave, but they were bright and could take a hint. Encircling their arms around her middle, Slightly and Nibs told her goodbye and then ran outside with Fighting Bear following behind them.

Leah watched their retreating backs in the sunlight until the flap folded closed. Behind her she could hear Tiger Lily putting the extra stones into bags. Turning, Leah knelt down next to her and helped her put the other jewelry making supplies away, all the while staying silent. When everything was back in their proper place, Tiger Lily crossed her legs and faced Leah.

"What's going on?" Leah contemplated not saying anything to worry Lily, but the girl was sharp and knew that if she tried to lie, Lily would catch it right away. Sighing, Leah settled herself across from the Princess and took a deep breath.

"We were almost caught by pirates last night." Tiger Lily's reaction was instant. Immediately concern and fear jumped into the girl's eyes.

"I knew I should have sent someone to go with you! Are you all right? Is Peter okay? Where is he now? What happened?"

"Yes, Peter's fine. He's back at the tree house." Leah paused, and looked down at her hands tightly grasped in her lap.

"You aren't telling me everything." Lily sat in silence and watched the different emotions that crossed the girl's face. "What did the pirates do?" She asked gently after a few minutes.

"They didn't do anything. They just…they said that they would…" Taking a deep breath, Leah described to Lily what she and Peter had overheard the pirates say, but with less graphic detail than the original wording. Anger poured out of Tiger Lily's expression, and Leah knew it wasn't towards her.

"Those filthy pirates! I could wring their necks! Every single one of them!" Lily crossed her arms and clamped her mouth shut in effort to contain the anger that bubbled up within her. Those pirates had hurt her best friend in the worst possible way, and now they were attacking someone who was growing closer and more important to him with every passing day. She was beginning to feel helpless. She didn't know what she could do to prevent anything else from happening. Lily was so deep in her thoughts that she almost forgot that Leah was sitting right in front of her. Leaning forward, she took Leah's hands in her own and looked her straight in the eye. "If those pirates ever do anything else to you, come tell me. I promise you, that I will do everything to prevent them from ever breathing again."

Tiger Lily had phrased it in an odd way, but Leah still felt comforted in the idea that Lily was on her side, and willing to help her.

"Thank you." Lily smiled and sat back, folding her hands in her lap.

"I should be the one thanking you." Leah was taken aback.

"What do you mean?" Lily looked thoughtfully into space, her eyes and expression growing somber.

"You've done so much for Peter. If it wasn't for you, I don't know what would have happened to him. Just the mere thought of the possibilities, ties my heart into knots."

"I just wish I knew why all this was happening. I overheard Hook saying something about revenge, but I know there is more lying beneath those words." Lily looked over at Leah, and studied her. There was something about this girl that made her different from anyone else brought to Neverland. She acted selflessly to protect Peter, Slightly and Nibs, and she genuinely cared about what happened to them. She had impacted Peter's life in a way that Lily knew he would never forget and she could never achieve. And then like a ball of lead, the truth settled in her stomach. Her heart lurched and her throat constricted.

No. Please, no.

Lily must have made some sort of noise because Leah realized that some was wrong.

"Is everything okay?" The concern in the other girl's eyes made the truth even more painful.

"I think I know why all this is happening." She didn't want to accept it, but it was the only explanation. And judging by the look in her eyes, Leah was surprised with this statement.

"You do?" Lily swallowed in effort to loosen the muscles preventing her from speaking. With a deep breath, she made eye contact with Leah.

"Captain James Hook is trying mold fate."

"What do you mean?" Leah was confused; she wasn't sure where Tiger Lily was headed with this.

"I think…there is a story I need to tell you. The original tale of Pan."

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"It's beginning Mr. Smee. I can smell it in the air."

"Cap'n?"

"The beginning of the end is approaching. Gather the men, we have work to do."

"Yes Cap'n."

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Yes friends, as the title and Captain Hook tells us, the beginning of the end approaches. From here, questions will be answered, chapters will get darker, and fate will be molded. Stayed tuned and review!

-Star and Glade

11-3-06