Hey everyone! My A/N is a little long today for a reason...IM GOING ON VACATION IN A WEEK! It's going to be hard to update; I'll be gone for about a week and a half. BUT I'LL STILL WRITE! And, if lucky, update! Wish me luck guys!
-MLB12
Neverland is always prettiest at dawn- the clouds are just turning the familiar color of bubblegum pink, the stars still out and twinkling just a little less than usual. The water is a nice deep turquoise shade that rarely is seen by anyone, except Ariel today. As she swam out of Atlantica that morning, the feeling of awe overtook her as she saw how beautiful the island was. After swimming the familiar distance of half a mile, Ariel rose to the surface and saw Peter, waiting for her on the rock, which was now lavender.
"Hi Peter!" she said cheerfully, as he jumped up frightened and faced her.
"Oh, hey." he replied looking down, hiding his scarlet cheeks.
"Peter Pan were you just…scared?" Ariel laughed as he turned redder and replied with a silent 'no'.
She smiled and handed Peter a sopping wet back full of Lost Things. "Look what I found."
He opened the bag curiously and took out a top hat, wrinkled and black with a faded red ribbon wrapped around it.
"Looks old." he sniffed it and then threw it down, crinkling his nose.
"Like a grown up?" Ariel asked playfully as he smiled and nodded.
"Exactly like a grown up."
She showed him more human things- like a hairbrush, a little teddy bear, and a reading book.
"What's this supposed to be?" he rested the book down over his face and pretended to sleep.
Ariel giggled and replied, "No, silly, it's a thingie-ma-gigger!" before grabbing it back and showing him the pages.
He came closer and sat criss-cross on the rock as Ariel explained the story to him, showing the pictures every so often.
"It talks about a girl who was the fairest in the land, but her step mom was jealous of her. She hired a man to kill her and give the heart over to the queen. Her name was Snow White."
"So, what happened?" Peter asked eagerly, sounding like a child hearing their bedtime story.
"She ran off into the woods and found a cottage with seven dwarfs. They let her stay there and she cleaned for them." Ariel showed him a picture.
"Doesn't sound very fun."
"The queen figured out she was alive and turned herself into an old hag so she could kill Snow White herself. She went over to the house and gave her a poison apple to eat." Ariel paused and turned the page, looking up at Peter.
"So, what happened!" his eyes looked like a small puppy's.
"She ate it and passed away. The dwarfs put her in a glass box in the middle of the woods so everyone can look at her. A prince saw her and kissed her; she woke up." Ariel sighed at how magical the story ended.
"Well?" Peter asked leaning in to see the book.
"Well, what?"
"Did they live happily ever after?" he was so sweet at times.
"Of course they did silly!" Ariel smacked his hat down over his eyes, before taking it and diving into the water.
"HEY, GIVE ME MY CAP!" he yelled, following her tail that occasionally skimmed up to the surface.
Ariel thought she lost him, and before peeking up, hid the hat in between her fins. She glanced around, and when nobody was there, took out the hat and smiled.
"Boo." Peter whispered, and when Ariel turned, took his hat and flew away, crowing.
"UNTIL TOMORROW!" he yelled before sinking into the trees, hidden.
Peter POV:
"Peter, are you ever going to stop looking at your hat?" Tinker Bell placed her hands on her hips impatiently as he felt the hat, tracing it over and over again. He could feel where Ariel held it, where she gripped it. He smelled her on it.
"Whatever Tink is saying, she is right!" Nibs sat across from him at the small wood table in the hideout.
"Peter's in love with a mermaid!" the rest of the boys sang as he looked up at them and threw an apple in their direction.
"Tell us the story!" Curly looked over at him and sighed.
"We want to hear about Snow White!" the twins chorused in sync, both giving Peter 'the look'.
"Agh! Fine, I'll tell you the story!" Peter put his hat back on and sat down in his hammock as the Lost Boys crowded around him.
"Once upon a time…"
Ariel POV:
"Honestly Sebastian," Ariel rolled her eyes at her friend, "why do you always have to be so protective?"
"You weren't in your bed this morning when I came to get you up!" the red crab looked at her curiously, "Where were you?"
"Nowhere you knew about!" she replied swimming up to a seaweed field and lay there, "And, it's no concern of yours!"
"Yes, it is! Your father needs to know!" Sebastian hollered, but Ariel wasn't listening. She was too busy thinking about Peter.
His gleaming auburn hair paired with those emerald eyes… Whenever he smiled his nose would crinkle and his cheeks would get dimples. The way he was interested in everything she had to say.
"ARIEL! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!"
"Oh, what?" Ariel sat up and looked at the crab, listening with her ears, but her mind was in a whole different world.