Chapter 18

Time Passes

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A week passed.

Two.

For two weeks Peter occupied himself by spending his time with Slightly and Nibs, as well as occasionally training with one of the Indian warriors, honing his body along with gaining skill with a bow and arrow. Tiger Lily made sure to see him everyday, watching him closely out of the corner of her eye whenever they were together. She tried to hide that she was keeping an eye on him, but Peter was always constantly aware of her gaze.

Peter's days were busy, and he threw himself completely, body and mind, into a routine. But at night, as he lie awake staring at the stars through the smoke hole in the teepee, only one thing occupied his mind. No matter what he did, whenever there was a pause for him to think, a free moment in his day, she would make her way into his thoughts.

"Leah." He spoke her name softly into the night, a sliver of hope behind it, that she would be able to hear him. He sighed and turned on his side, curling his arm under his head.

This is for the best.

For the best…

Peter buried his face into is arms and reluctantly fell asleep.

---

"Why?!" Peter yelled as he stormed into the teepee.

"Peter, please calm down." Tiger Lily soothed, remaining in her seated position, calm and collected while she watched Peter's expression shift between a dozen emotions in the blink of an eye. Anger, confusion, betrayal, hurt…pain.

Peter stared at the ground, attempting to relieve the tension and anger that seethed through him. It was a few minutes before he was composed enough to speak.

"Why…?" It was almost like he was asking himself. Lily was surprised when he began to laugh, but it was a tortured laugh and lasted only a moment. "I know why…I understand…but still I…"

"What would you do if something happened to her? And you knew, that it was because of you?" Lily's question caught him off guard.

"I…"

"Or what if something happened to you, and she knew it was because of her? Could you handle that?" Since entering the teepee, Peter met Lily's eyes. Something behind her eyes confused him, and yet, at the same time, fueled a determination in him.

"If I was with her…I could protect her. Save her."

"Could you, Peter?" Lily's eyes became hard as she stared at him from her position on the ground.

"Yes. I would fight with everything I have to protect her." Why was she asking him these questions? It felt as if she no longer believed in him. Like he was no longer the person she looked up to since they day that he has saved her from Hook.

"And would it be enough?"

"Yes."

"No." Lily stared him down, and although her she was physically lower than him, he felt as if she had suddenly began to tower over him.

"What?"

"You're wrong Peter. You are fooling yourself into believing that, how you are now, you can save anyone." A sharp pain shot through him and he became slightly unsteady on his feet. She hit him in the place where he knew all of his doubts; all of his fears had become rooted. He knew that there was truth behind what she said, but that knowledge wouldn't cease the betrayal he felt.

"What are you talking about? Of course I –"

"No!" Tiger Lily's eyes flashed with an anger that Peter had never seen before. "How can you believe that you can save anyone when you can barely save yourself?" She stood and crossed the small space between them.

"I – " Peter averted his eyes from her.

"Leah's told me Peter! She told me what happened in the time before she brought you here. She told me what you almost did! How you've pushed yourself and how she had to –"

"I never wanted her to save me!" Anger curled through him, and yet, he couldn't ignore what she said.

"And yet she's always had to! Don't you see? If something were to happen to either one of you, there's a high chance that neither of you would come out unharmed." Lily's face was strained as if she was trying to hold back tears, but her pride wouldn't allow them to fall. She was right and Peter knew it. But this wasn't the end; he wasn't about to give up.

"What do you want me to say Lily? That I agree with you, so I am going to run away and hide in a corner? You're right. If it wasn't for Leah, I probably wouldn't be alive. But I am not going to run away. If I'm not strong enough now, then I will just have to make myself strong enough." An unyielding resolve coursed through him and for the first time, he felt like he was finally finding an answer to doubts that had been plaguing him. Unexpectedly, Lily's arms wrapped around Peter's middle and she buried her face in his chest.

"Good." Came her muffled voice. "I'm glad to hear that."

---

"What is the news, Avery?"

"They've separated Cap'n. Pan has gone to the Indians and the girl remains in the woods."

"Good…good."

"Cap'n?"

"Tell Faboq and Biv to retrieve her."

"But Cap'n…"

"Don't you know where she is?"

"Aye…but Cap'n…"

"Don't question me Avery. Unless of course, you would like to join your traitorous brother Jave."

"No, Cap'n."

"Good. Tell them."

"Yes Cap'n."

Good. Very good.

---

There was something warm flowing through her fingers. She looked down at her hands…stained red.

What…?

Blood.

In her chest, her heart felt like it had been shredded to pieces…

Whose blood?

Mine…?

"Leah."

She turned, the name of the one who called her, lingering on her lips…

The morning birds gentle woke her, the obtrusive light gleaming through the window pelted her sleep filled eyes causing her to groan and turn away. The dream slowly drifted away to nothingness, leaving little to no fragment of memory.

Gingerly, Leah opened her eyes to yet another day. Stretching her arms over her head, she yawned and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The raw wood of the floor felt cold against her bare feet but she made no hurry to remedy that. She padded across the room to the window and leaned her head out to feel the gently breeze of the morning.

How many days had it been since Peter left?

She was beginning to lose count.

Days were beginning to pass in a blur for her. Without Peter around her days wouldn't fill up; there was nothing to occupy her busy mind from thinking of things that she would rather forget.

With a sigh, Leah pushed herself away from the window and pulled on her dress that was still damp from the previous days washing. Gathering up the bedding in her arms she made her way down the tree trunk to the river.

It was midday by the time she had the bedding washed and laying on the rocks that surrounded the river to dry in the day's sun. With her back against one of the rocks, Leah shielded her eyes and stared up at the sky. The sun had been shining brighter lately.

Peter must be happy.

Neverland's weather was a reflection of Peter's mood. Wrapping her arms around herself Leah tried to make her thoughts not turn dark. Without her around Peter must be happier; the air was warm and the birds that had been silent as of late, were singing a cheery tune as they flew.

Tiger Lily was right. This was the best thing to do…

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"You and Peter must separate." Lily told Leah, looking her straight in the eyes with a great since of authority.

"What?" She was dumbstruck, but in the back of her mind she knew that it was probably the best idea. Lily squeezed her hands tighter around Leah's trying to convey something that she was having problems saying.

"We'll have Peter come here. He will be surrounded by my best guards as well as have the company of the Slightly and Nibs. We will make sure that nothing happens to him." Leah searched the eyes of the girl sitting in front of her, trying to understand exactly was she was telling her.

"But –"

"I'll make sure that you are safe as well, of course. I will send one of my personal guards to watch over you."

"For how long? How long can Peter and I keep running?" Frustration began to overcome her. "We've run away from the pirates, from Hook, and now, because of that, we have to run away from each other. I just don't…" Emotions were over taking her, all she wanted to do was throw something, scream, wail at the world, anything to make these all too familiar feelings go away.

"I don't know how to answer that. As long as it takes I suppose." Lily stared at the girl and felt her turmoil. As of right now, there was solution in sight, all they could do for now was to continue to live the best they could. Leah dropped her head and unwound her hands from Lily's. From her pocket she took out the blue bracelet that Slightly had given her to give to Peter.

"Can you tell Slightly that he can give this to Peter himself? I'm sure he would like that." Carefully Lily took the bracelet from Leah.

"Yes." Leah nodded and then delicately rose from her seated position and began to walk to the entrance flap of the teepee.

"I will tell Peter that he will need to come here and stay here for…for as long as it takes." Her back was to Lily as so the young princess could not her face.

"Leah…"

"I guess this is goodbye then." Leah turned and gave Lily a strained smile. "Until later."

---

The goodbye to Peter had been hard, but the next day without him around had been worse. Time continued to pass even if she didn't want it to, and she had no choice but to look towards the future.

It seemed that Peter no longer needed her, so what was she going to do? Leah buried her face in her knee and stared at the pebbled below her.

Maybe she should find away to go home.

Home.

Did she even have a home now? Was the place she was living before she came to Neverland even considered her home? Maybe she's been away too long that 'home' would no longer be there for her.

Leah raised her head and stared across the river.

How long had she been here? What day was it? What month was it?

Her hands tightened around her arms. When Peter was around, those questions hadn't even occurred to her. When he was around, it didn't matter what day it was, all that mattered that he was with her. She let out a choking sob as her heart pounded painfully in her chest.

Home…home…home…

Peter.

After all this time without a place that she could call home, she had somehow found it unknowingly. She dropped her head back into her knees.

"Peter…" She whispered.

"Aww…'ow sweet. She misses him Biv." The deep voice behind her caused her heart to stop. She recognized that voice…the voice that had been saying those things…With a start she tried to make her way as fast as she could away from the voice, but the pebbles below her caused her to slide to the ground, scrapping her palms and knees in the process.

"Tryin' to run away now?" The voice said as the man belonging to it kneeled next to her. Gripping her chin between his thumb and forefinger he forced her to look at him. He was a harsh looking man with a wild mop of black hair and a scar that ran from his right temple, across his eye and nose and then curled around his mouth to the tip of his unshaven chin. Frantically Leah searched the surrounding woods for the guard that Tiger Lily had sent to watch over her. "Lookin' for 'ur Indian friend? Not gonna come rescue you love, we took care o' 'im already." His grin as he said that sent shivers down her spine.

Fear was seizing her muscles, but she couldn't let them have her, she had to get away. With one last attempt she jerked her chin out of his hand and tried to scramble to her feet. But the other pirate was too quick, wrapping his thick hand around her ankle and pulling her to ground on her back. Her head hit the ground with a loud crack and all she saw were stars.

"No runnin' away for you." Get up, get up. She yelled at herself. Get up Leah! Get up! But her body wouldn't listen. She watched at the scarred pirate pulled a cloth from his pocket and dumped the contents of a small vile on it. "Time for you to go to sleep." She tried to push his hand away but he was too strong for her. The contents of the cloth smelled sweet but whatever it was she felt the effects immediately. The tips of her fingers and toes began to tingle, the sensation spreading rapidly throughout the rest of her body. Then without warning, her entire body went limp and the world went dark.

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No excuse, no excuse. Apologies, apologies. But here's another chapter! Yay!

Happy Halloween!

-Star and Glade

10/30/07