A/N: Update 18

After a day of leading Hook way off course, I was beat. We scoured a good portion of the island, and Hook never thought of checking Mount Never. I may have to spend a few more days searching in all the wrong places, but at least I was buying myself some time to make a decision.

When we reached the ship, I could smell something wonderful cooking. I could tell that Hook could too, because he raced up the ramp into the Captain's Quarters. Smee had made a pot roast with roasted potatoes and green beans. Everything smelled delicious, and I was starved.

"Welcome back, Captain. Peter," Smee smiled. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"No," Hook sneered. "Pan here didn't know where it was. We'll have to try again tomorrow."

Smee nodded as he set a bowl of bread rolls on the table. "Well come in and have some dinner. I'll gather the children."

Hook and I sat down. I thought I'd try just one last time to get permission to take Winnie out to see the island. "Captain? If you'll please, I'd love to take Winnie out to see the island tonight. She really wants to see it, and I don't think it's fair that she has to stay cooped up on the boat all day."

"Pan, I've had an incredibly long day. My answer is the same as it was this morning: no, and you know why. If she sees the island her memory might come back," Hook replied.

"But sir, isn't that a good thing?"

"Not for me it's not!" Hook was getting angry. "If she remembers, she will turn everyone against me. Everything would be ruined, and she would never trust me again."

I didn't say a word. I had no idea the old pirate had so much compassion in his heart. That didn't change my mind though. I still planned on sneaking out tonight with Winnie.

"Off topic here," I said. "Why do you care how the island stays young?" I asked genuinely curious. He had never said why, only that he wanted to know.

"That," Hook sneered at me, "is none of your damn business."

I shrugged not caring that I had made Hook mad. He already hated me, how much more trouble could I cause?

Everyone else entered the Captain's Quarters and sat down. Winnie smiled as she bounced over to sit by me. I had a huge smile on my face. She looked radiant. Her hair looked soft and shiny and was curled perfectly, with a small pink silk flower pinned just so in the curls. She wore a sun dress the color of the ocean, the color, as always, making her eyes shine brighter than anything I've ever seen. "H-hi, Winnie," I stuttered. I could feel my face heating up. "You look amazing."

"Hi, Peter," Winnie beamed. "Thank you. It's for tonight," she whispered. A sly smile crept up my face. I guess you could consider tonight our first unofficial date.

After dinner, Hook kicked everyone out of the Captain's Quarters for the evening. He was headed to bed early, so we could get an early start tomorrow morning. That was fine by me, easier for me to sneak out.

Winnie and I were the last to leave the room. "Perfect, this will be a lot easier than I thought," I smiled at Winnie. "Come on!" I grabbed Winnie's hand and we raced down the ramp to the boardwalk.

"Where are we going?" Winnie asked running behind me.

"It's a surprise," I called out over my shoulder. We ran deep into the woods, and stopped in a clearing. Both Winnie and I were breathing heavy.

"Are we going to run everywhere?" Winnie asked catching her breath.

"Not quite," I smiled pulling out the pouch Queen Clarion gave me.

"What's in there?" Winnie curiously looked at the bag.

"Dust," I replied casually. I eyed Winnie and smiled. She looked confused. "It's pixie dust! We can use it to fly."

"Fly, really?" Winnie exclaimed. "That's amazing. How does it work?"

"I've got a saying that I used when I lived here: All it takes is faith, trust, and a bit of pixie dust. Come on, I'll show you." I opened up the pouch and sprinkled a bit of the magic dust on myself. "All you have to do is think of your favorite thing, and trust yourself, and the dust." I began to float off the ground.

"Wow, Peter. You're flying!" Winnie stared in awe.

I flew back down. "Here, you try!" I sprinkled some of the pixie dust on Winnie. "Now think of your favorite thing. Got it? Now just have faith in yourself, and trust me." I smiled at her, grabbing her hands as I began to rise again.

Winnie closed her eyes thinking really hard. "Is it working yet?" she asked opening one eye. She was still on the ground.

"Think really hard," I encouraged.

"I am, I guess I'm just a little nervous," Winnie looked down, ashamed.

"You have to trust me. I won't let anything happen to you, Winnie." She opened both her eyes and looked at me. I smiled and could feel myself blushing. "That's it," I said as her feet began to lift off the ground. "Look, you're flying!"

"Oh my gosh! I really am!" She smiled at me and gave me a hug in mid-air. She loosened her hug and looked up at me. I had a huge smile on my face. I leaned forward and kissed Winnie softly on the lips. It was a quick kiss, and when I pulled back, I could see by the look in her eyes that she wished it had been longer. She bit her lip and gave me a small smile. I pursed my lips and pretended to ponder the idea of kissing her again, a cheeky grin forming on my lips. She rolled her eyes and pulled my head toward hers for a long passionate kiss.

Kissing Winnie in mid-air became my new favorite thing. I'd always heard that when you find your soul mate, you feel like you're flying. It was amazing to actually be flying, and I finally understood the analogy. I took Winnie on a birds-eye view tour of Neverland. We flew everywhere. We saw the Mermaid Lagoon, Neverland Falls, Pixie Hollow, and everywhere Hook and I had searched that day. Winnie grew tired so I found a fluffy cloud for us to rest on.

"It's so beautiful up here, Peter," Winnie whispered. We were lying on top of the puffy cloud looking up at the beautiful Neverland stars. I loved the stars here. They seemed to shine brighter, and twinkle better than the stars that you could see on Earth. The magic of Neverland seemed to make everything better.

Winnie nestled closer to me and sighed. "I never thought I would be sitting on a cloud watching the stars with a flying boy who never grows up."

I smiled, "It does sound a little crazy doesn't it?"

"Are you calling me crazy?" Winnie said slyly.

I moved so that I was literally hovering over her. "So what if I am? What are you going to do about it?"

She grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me close to her. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she whispered against my lips before kissing me fully. She licked my bottom lip before biting it, driving me mad. I forgot I was floating and fell, catching myself on my hands before I crushed Winnie. "Forget how to fly?" Winnie laughed smiling up at me.

"Sorry," I said quickly moving off of her. I sat beside her not looking at her, my face burning red with embarrassment.

Winnie sat up placing her hand on mine. "What's your favorite thing about Neverland?" she asked changing the subject.

There were so many beautiful places here, and each of them had a special memory. Some of them included memories with Wendy. "I'm not sure," I replied. "I never really thought about it." I pondered for a minute trying to think. I looked out at the beautiful land in hopes of finding inspiration. I saw smoking streaming through the sky. "Hey, the Indians are having a party. We should go," I exclaimed, her question completely gone from my mind. I got up and pulled Winnie to her feet. "There, see?" I pointed to the top of a hill. "You can see the smoke from their fire. C'mon!"

We flew over and landed just outside of the kiva. "Wait here a second," I whispered to Winnie. "I'll introduce us."

I wandered over to the Chief and greeted him respectfully. He eyed me suspiciously, unable to recognize me at first. He then smiled and raised his hand to me in greeting. "Peter Pan has returned after many moons," he told his people. "We welcome him to join us in celebration!"

The people cheered and began to dance around the fire. A now teen-aged Tiger Lily ran to me and embraced me. I was so excited to see her. Tiger Lily was my childhood crush before I met Wendy. Now that she had grown a bit, she was even more beautiful. I picked her up and spun her around. She was a girl of few words, but she said to me, "I missed you so, Peter Pan. You must stay now?"

"I'm sorry, Tiger Lily, but I can't stay. I'm here on a mission to find the source of youth on the island. I only came by to introduce you all to my friend—,"

Oh no, Winnie! I glanced back to where I told her to wait. She was fuming mad, and red in the face. She turned to leave and marched down the hill. I ran after her without saying goodbye to anybody, suddenly remembering that when Wendy came to an Indian party, she got roped into doing chores, and I had ignored her. She must have some repressed memory of that.

"Winnie, please. I'm sorry!" I called after her. She stopped and turned around. Her face twisted with anger and jealousy. "I'm sorry," I repeated. "It's just been so long since I've seen everyone. Tiger Lily is just a friend, I swear to God. She was just excited to—."

Winnie slapped me in the face, hard. I was dizzy, and as I came to, I saw her flying off towards Hook's ship. I flew after her, but I knew it was to no avail. I had royally screwed up, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to fix it.

When I got to the boat, I ran to Winnie's room. Her door was closed, so I knocked. She didn't answer. "Winnie, I really am sorry. I understand why you're mad, but I promise you: I don't like her the way I like you." I listened for an answer, but heard none. I knocked again. "Winnie?"

"Go away, Peter! I don't want to talk to you. Go enjoy your party, celebrate with your real friends," I heard her through the door.

Admitting defeat, at least for the night, I slunk away and headed towards the kitchen. A glass of water and a good night's rest is what I needed. I entered the kitchen and saw Nibs in there again for the second night in a row. I glance at the clock it was one o'clock in the morning.

"Nibs, what are you doing up this late again?" I asked. "You're a growing kid, you need your sleep." Dear God, I sounded like a grown up.

He looked at me with wide eyes. "I uh, was hungry," he replied not too convincingly.

"Nibs, seriously, tell me what's going on."

"Hey, Nibs, did you get the—crap," a voice said.

I turned around and saw Slightly standing in the doorway.