Chapter 2

Lahona's POV

3 years later

My mind isn't fragile. Not anymore. Not after the break.

I open my eyes and find myself lying on my back. The cabin ceiling above me creaks as the world sways back and forth. The sun just barely peeks through the back windows. The smell of the sea fills the room. Banging can be heard from beyond the walls.

My crew must be up and at work. A routine they adjusted to the moment I became captain.

Throwing my legs off the rickety bed, I stand and walk with the sway to the back windows. I unlatch and open the stained glass frame and peer out.

Three years of traveling at sea, docking rarely for goods on unfamiliar islands. I'm finally back. Back to the island I once called home. The island meets my gaze just as the sun rises above the highest mountain.

We've docked at a cove, away from the couple of human cities that rest ashore. Though my crew are human, being an elf makes it hard to traverse amongst human society. Not without hiding my ears behind a bandana and a captain's hat. My ears flicker between the cloth and my head, feeling discomfort from the cloth being a little too tight.

A breeze picks up, the waves push the ship back and forth. I brace myself on the window frame and glare at the island. Could he still be here? Living on this island with his Lost Boys? Would he remember me? Would he care that I've returned?

Peter.

You still plague my mind. I have not forgotten you. How could I? You were, after all, my first love.

A knock echoes throughout the cabin.

"Captain?" The rough voice of my quartermaster reaches me.

"Comes in."

I hear the door open and his heavy footsteps as he enters. I don't need to turn around to know he's approaching the desk behind me.

"When do you wish to take the rowboat over?"

I pull my eyes from the island and look at the wooden floor next to me.

"Soon."

He clears his throat, something he does when he's nervous.

"Go on." I motion my right hand in a wave for him to continue.

"Do you think you'll find him? What if he's moved on from this place?"

He's not wrong. Peter could have very well left this place years ago but there is one dead giveaway that he's still here.

"The Jolly Roger is docked by the west town. Hook wouldn't leave without killing Peter. Where ever Hook is, so is Peter."

"Should we meet up with Hook to help pinpoint where this boy is?"

I glance back at my quartermaster. He's a tall, dark-skinned man with a bald head and distrusting eyes. I owe him my freedom. Three years ago, he snuck me on Blue Beard's ship under the guise of being a boy. The disguise didn't last long. Blue Beard was no idiot. But he took me under his wing, taught me how to operate a ship, and lead the men. I didn't have their respect until I killed Blue Beard's murderer.

"Hook is Peter's enemy," I point out the obvious. "We're not Peter's enemy."

"But why this place?"

I turn to him, my hands on my hips.

"I know the lagoon in this cove. I'll be able to find my way to his hideout from there."

"Alright." He crosses his thick arms across his thicker chest. "I'll ready the rowboat." He turns on his heels to leave."

"Only you and two other men can come. Peter doesn't like adults."

He pauses and twists back to me, a brow lifting above his left eye. "No offense, cap, but what would he think of you?"

"He knew I'd age. Besides, eighteen isn't at all too old."

"You're also a pirate, cap. Isn't he enemies with pirates?"

I frown. The expression on his face softens.

"I'm sure everything will be fine," he encourages.

"Yeah."

He takes his leave, closing the door behind him.

I look over my shoulder out the window to the cove. Sighing, I look away and walk to my silver jewelry box on my desk. I inherited everything that belonged to Blue Beard, including all his fancy jewelry. There is only one necklace of importance out of the piles of gold, silver, rubies, and diamonds. I pull out the silver necklace with the silver leaf charm and bring it to my heart. I hold it there and feel my heartbeat quicken.

We approach the cove slowly. My men are careful as they row since I stand at the bow of the boat. I scan the inside of the large opening of the cavern. Hot humid air pushes past us from the entrance. The temperature of the cave is odd since the island isn't nearly as hot or humid as the cave is.

As we enter, the blue and green crystals shine their colorful lights down upon us. It doesn't smell nearly as the ocean in here as expected. But instead, it smells of dampness like after a hard rain. Up ahead is the decrypted castle that Peter and I danced in. Now that I've grown I've come to learn that the castle once belonged to a subspecies of elves that have long gone extinct.

Blue Beard knew much about the history of this island. More than the fifteen years of knowledge that life had given me.

"Pull in here," I point to the shore of the cave. Great palm trees shade the shore. Trees shouldn't exist here but that hasn't stopped the foliage from growing. There is no explanation for this. It adds to the magic of this lagoon.

We row to shore and I leap out of the boat and onto the rocky beach. I help pull the rowboat onto the rocky shore and then peer around the lagoon. It's quiet except for the lapping of water.

"I'm going to the castle," I announce.

"Should we follow, cap?" Asks Derek. He's a plain-looking guy compared to the normalcy of pirates. No eye patch or leg peg for him.

"No, you can venture off on your own. I'll come to collect you when I'm ready to leave and head to the hideout."

"Yes, captain," the three of them say in unison. They look around with confused expressions on their faces. It's obvious they don't know where to go.

I roll my eyes and make my way to the castle.

The castle looks just as I left it three years back. The great gray walls tower over me as I walk up the stone steps. I walk along the walls, my gloved fingers skimming across the rigid brick.

"I don't want to dance," huffs a girl.

I pause in my steps and back up until I reach an alcove in the wall. There, in the middle of the ballroom, is Peter and a young girl. The little fairy that usual accompanies Peter is nowhere in sight.

Peter has aged, he now has an appearance of a seventeen-year-old. Not much has changed, though. His face is angled just the slightest, and he's a tad bit taller. Still taller than me.

But the girl is unknown to me.

She's human, maybe fifteen, with short brown hair. She's wearing a blue nightgown, as if she just crawled out of bed. She crosses her arms and turns her head away, her bottom lip jolting out.

Peter frowns, an expression of complete loss on his face.

"Just take me home," the girl demands.

"But Jane," Peter starts.

"No buts, take me home."

"I can't if you don't learn how to fly."

Did he take another girl from her bed?

My heart feels heavy and hurts immensely. My breath comes out shaky.

"You think dancing will help?" It sounds more like an accusation than a question.

"Happy thoughts will lift you," Peter smiles.

"Dancing with someone I hardly know?" She hisses.

So, he's trying to replace me?

I allow myself to lean against the alcove wall and settle my hand against my chest where my heart speedily beats.

How he so easily moves on to the next girl while this entire time my mind has been on him. At least she's giving him some difficulties. But my heart and mind gnaw at me. I don't want her near him. Her nasty energy will cloud Peter's bright aura.

And then there is the red that flames my vision. I'm angry at him. Angry he's replaced me.

I close my eyes and almost see us dancing in the ballroom all those years ago. He's replaced me with a nasty little human girl. Maybe he truly didn't care for me. Maybe it was just pretend.

Pushing off the wall, I open my eyes and walk silently away into the jungle.

I head straight back to the rowboat where my crew sits on the rough shore. They look up at me when my footsteps become loud enough to be heard by human ears.

"Hide the rowboat, we wait for nightfall," I order.

My men look at one another but oblige my demand.

While they carry the boat into the jungle, I glare back at the castle, a smirk crossing my lips.

I'll be seeing you soon. Peter Pan.