A/N: Hey Team!

I'm really excited. Cause, if you were there for When One Day and A Soldier's Curse, you'd know that I was having a fair bit of trouble getting a job. And *drum roll* I now have one!

I do have to go back to my high school for it, but being a teacher now, it makes it more bearable. So I'm going to be teaching piano whilst going to Uni this year. I get to go and buy music books and stickers and a cool diary and be all profesh. #notevenanadultyet

But anyway. Here's another chapter, dear Neverlanders.

Aureaborealis and ElektraMackenzie: Just wanna say, I love how you aren't logged in but you still review. It really means a lot that you guys leave me something to read. Heart you! xx

Aight. Enjoy!

Amongst the Stars

Evie woke up freezing cold the morning after realising that Peter Pan was back. Her window was open and letting in the wind from the horrible day. The sky was a darkened grey and the trees that lined the coast were swaying in a harsh wind that threatened an oncoming storm.

Evelyn only had that brief moment of respite before a high pitched "MOMMY!" came rampant through her room. At her door were three little girls. The two that had called to her came rushing forward to jump on her the moment she was awake, but at a second glance, Evie saw that the one in the doorway was one of the new girls from last night.

Xenia and Lily jumped on her body, trying to pull away her covers and Evie had to laugh at their reckless abandon.

"I'm getting up, I'm getting!" she said, struggling to push the two girls off of her body. They ended up laughing on their backs as Evie rolled her eyes, smiling at Kala who was standing with a shy smile in the doorway.

"Morning honey," Evie said with a smile, "Come in! Do you want to help me pick out my dress?"

Kala nodded without saying a word, stepping into the room and following Evie to the small chest at the end of her bed. Over the years, she'd built up a collection. As the girls grew older, the amount had lessened, but Evie gave them away willingly. Everything in this stronghold didn't belong to one person. It belonged to all of them.

"What colour do you reckon, Kala?"

"Blue," she whispered almost silently. But Evie smiled as she pulled the blue dress out. It was the first word Kala had said. It was a start.

Breakfast was in full swing by the time Evie came down the stairs. Kala was clutching her hand whilst Lily and Xenia were as boisterous as ever, telling Evie and Kala their plans to decorate Tara and Kala's room.

The underground stronghold was pretty massive. When Evie had founded it, it hadn't been nearly as big. Just a one room cottage. But then she'd dug underground. And with each new girl that came along, their underground city grew. As time went on, Evie had even bought out some of the surrounding houses so that they had a fortress of sorts. But the dining hall was underground, and because of the amount of people there, it was surprisingly warm.

"Why is there a baby here?"

"She's a little lost girl too, isn't she?" Evie answered Tara with a smile as she sat down beside her on the long table. The young girl thought for a moment before shrugging in agreement. She was a lot more talkative than Kala, but she was also a few years older. They hadn't got around to talking about it yet, but it seemed like Tara had most of the physical scars, Kala's seemed to have marred her inwardly.

Killian took a moment then to come and sit next to Evie at the breakfast table. With the little girl clinging to his neck, he found it hard to disentangle himself from her without snagging his hook on anything. Eventually though, he managed.

"Thank you for taking her last night," Evie said as she took the 13 month old into her arms. She was waking from sleep which was good. It had been a horrible few weeks of trying to get her to sleep properly since she was teething. Getting back to a normal routine was essential.

"You'd been up for 24 hours trying to get Tara and Kala away from that woman. You needed your beauty sleep."

"You saying I'm ugly, Jones?" she teased.

"Not at all, my lady," he grinned, niggling under the baby's chin. Her eyes found Killian and she gave him a smile.

"Why does she always smile at you?" Evie asked, disgruntled as she turned the child to look at her. "You never smile at me, Ash."

And true enough, the baby's face became serious once more. Sighing, Evie placed her lightly in her lap before reaching for a bowl of porridge. Whilst Ash's hands went to play with the food, Evie attempted to get at least some of it into her mouth. It proved impossible though, and she looked over at Killian pleadingly. He rolled his eyes before giving Ash a wide smile and holding his hand and hook out for her. She climbed off Evie's lap and into his arms easily. Killian gave her a smug smile.

"Not a word, Hook," Evie said warningly, reaching for her food. "Not. A. Word."

xxx

Four Years Ago

Evie barely had a chance to blink before the street had disappeared and she was standing atop a cliff surrounded by foreign plants, rocks and air. She would have lost her balance were it not for Pan's arms around her waist, which, once he saw she was stable, he removed.

"Welcome to Neverland, Evie," Peter Pan said with a wide grin, using his hands to display the world to her. "A few quick rules. One, don't go into the Dark Forest without me, Two, Echo caves are out of bounds, and Three, if it seems impossible, it isn't, but that doesn't mean you have to try. As far as I know, in your world, curiosity killed the cat."

"But I'm not a cat."

"Ooh," Pan smirked, "I picked a witty one this time. You're going to be fun."

"Fun, eh?" Evie cocked an eyebrow. "What do you do for fun around here? I mean, it's late at night and it seems pretty dead."

"Fun?" Pan answered. "Well that only takes a few notes. But before we do that…"

Within a few seconds, Evie was swept up into Pan's arms despite her yelp of protest and he had taken a giant leap off the cliff. Evie wasn't scared of heights, but she was scared of magic. And having a teenage boy flying through the air in a world that she didn't know had magic written all over it.

"Peter…"

"Pan," he corrected.

"What are you?"

"I'm a boy!" he laughed. Evie's face screwed up in frustration.

"Then how are we flying?"

"Would you prefer to not be?" He didn't wait for her to answer, merely dropping her from his arms within a split second. The scream of fear that ripped through her, in those two seconds she spent falling, echoed around Neverland's night. This was it. She'd followed a boy she didn't even know to a land so far from home and she was going to die –

She was back in his arms again. And he was looking at her with a smug grin that she had the sudden desire to slap right off his face. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute as he carried her through the air. And despite her anger, there was a thrill that ran the length of her body, and the only thing she could attribute it to was the adrenalin.

Of course, she knew now that Pan hadn't meant to let her fall to her death, always intending to catch her, but she hadn't known that. And the fear had given her a rush that she wanted to feel again.

"Can you…"

She didn't even need to finish her sentence before Pan dropped her again. This time, she didn't scream – she laughed – her body soaring through the air as though she was cutting it with her dive.

And she was almost at the treetops by the time Pan swooped in to pick her up again, nodding appreciatively. Her laughter seemed infectious, because the minute he stepped down in the camp, letting Evie down lightly on her feet, he was chuckling too.

It was a long time since Peter Pan had last laughed.

"So this is where you live?" Evie asked, spinning around, a little breathless.

"It is," he answered, pulling his flue out from his pocket. "Me and the lost boys."

"The lost boys…"

A short tune escaped Pan's lips through the pipes as he called them forth from sleep. It was dissonant and eerie, but something held true about it. Pan smiled at her through his playing when he saw that she could hear it. It merely confirmed what he already knew. Little lost girl.

She would be his.

Wasn't she already? Within five minutes, hadn't she asked him for a kiss? It was spur of the moment, but something within her had to have wanted him. Wanted to know…

He stopped playing the music then as surprise hit him. He was her first kiss.

It should have been obvious to him, with the hesitancy in which she had placed his lips upon his. The soft movements; the innocence.

And as the lost boys fled their tree houses and lined up before him, Peter tried to push the thought away, returning to the promise of fun that he had given Evie.

"Alright boys," Pan called out. "The day break is mere hours away, and when it rises our guest will be gone. So take yourselves to the stars and in them you'll run far, over and under until you reach the ocean floor. Only then will you find what treasure lies in store."

"A puzzle?" Evie asked curiously, looking up at Peter as he finished giving the riddle.

"A game," Pan answered, his green eyes gleaming. He took Evie by the hand and ran after the lost boys, who had all spread out through the night in search of what Evie had gathered was treasure.

"You said…'take yourselves to the stars'."

"It's not literal, Evie," Pan said, stopping in his tracks. "Although, I guess in a way it is." He turned back to her quickly and slowly before breaching the distance between them with a single step. Tracing his hand along her cheek, he heard her breath hitch and smirked as she closed her eyes. His hand ran down her neck towards where the small star charm sat on her chest. But he didn't touch it. He didn't want her gone just yet.

So he pressed his lips gently to hers in a quick kiss and she smiled when he pulled away before he took her hand once more.

"C'mon, Evie," he said, pulling her along lightly. "Let's go find the stars."