This has been such a long time coming! Sorry, sorry , sorry! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and hope you enjoy this chapter. Please tell me what you think and what I could improve :D
Chapter 19
Silence spread like the softest butter through the tree house in the immediate aftermath of the crow.
Jane's was half elated, half fearful. Johnny's was utterly joyous.
And Hook? His was furious and black as thunder.
Through the silence broke the sound of light footsteps, coming closer and closer. Jane was certain her heart would burst right out of her before he got there. She imagined seeing him again, imagined how it would feel as he held her.
Without knowing it a smile crept over her face.
Peter was here.
Hook saw the smile and his own lips twisted into a scowl.
She would not be smiling for long.
A Note from the Narrator
If I could take a moment now, to speak from my own perspective. I have not introduced myself before. My name is Aurora and Jane was my mother – a much-loved mother. I am telling this story how she told it to me, night after night, and I have made neither elaboration or deviation from what truly happened. I write now to warn you that Hook was right. My mother would not stay with Peter Pan in the paradise she loved so much; not forever as she would have liked. I write also to say that a small part of this story, right at the end, will be my own. I intend to give this story to Peter myself and ask him to fill in the bits that mother left out.
One of them being why it is that I – daughter of Jane and (supposedly) Mark Able – can fly.
I shall return to the story now, do forgive my intrusion.
A light shower of dust and bark fell at their feet as the footsteps stopped and, quite suddenly, a door that none of them had noticed before flew open and there stood Peter. He stood as usual with his hands proudly placed on his hips, his chin tilted, but he was older – noticeably so.
He was taller and stronger, his muscles wiry and more evident than they had been when Hook had seen him last. The change could also be seen in his chest – it was broader, but the biggest difference was found in his eyes.
They were burning.
An azure sky set alight.
Jane had often marveled at how his eyes, which had seen so much, could retain such youthful innocence and wonder.
It had all caught up with him now.
They were the eyes of a man.
Hook stiffened as the boy appeared, his lip curling as he took in the changes.
"Taller are we, Pan?" he said in a tone of forced, frightening calm.
"Balding are we, James?" Peter shot back, stepping lightly off of the raised platform and looking round at his old home.
Hook's false smile disappeared and he pulled Jane backwards by her hair so she was pressed against him. Slowly, deliberately, he put his pistol against the side of her head.
"You forget the power I hold, boy," he said quietly, his deceptively clear eyes locked on those of his enemy.
Jane struggled, feeling her hair tug at the roots as she tried to go to Peter.
"Let me go," she breathed, hating the pain on Peters face and in his eyes.
His eyes...they were sparking, burning with masses of anger and sorrow and other nameless emotions she couldn't describe.
He had always seemed so carefree, so simple. Now he was older – she could see it, feel the change in him and it was final. A real, non-refundable difference.
What he'd always been afraid of.
Was it because of her?
As Hook jerked her back tears pricked in Jane's eyes as pain shot through her head. It was nothing, though, compared with the hurt in her heart. The sheer, agonizing pain that it cost her to see Peter struggle.
"Don't hurt her," he said eventually, as if every word was a battle.
"Oh come now," Hook crooned. Jane could practically hear the smirk in his syrupy voice. "Harm this dear, sweet girl? Never."
His insincerity was as clear as day and Peter responded with equally clear signals. His fists curled, clenched, and his eyes became dark.
"Let her go."
"In good time."
"That's not good enough."
Jane, meanwhile, was sick of being haggled over. Disregarding the gun completely she wrenched herself from Hook's grasp, running to Peter. Her action caught the pirate by surprise and he cursed as she escaped but made no move to go after her.
Peter met Jane halfway and caught her up in his arms, moving back so she was out of reach of the pirates and glaring fiercely at them over the top of her head, as if daring them to try and harm her.
Jane felt much smaller in his arms than she used to and so it was with great care that he held her, as if she was the most precious thing in the world. Of course to him, she was.
Jane, on the other hand, held him as tightly as she could, her face buried in his chest. She held him half to make sure he was really there and it was true, and half simply for love of him and of being in his arms.
Feeling safe. Protected.
"Peter."
How could there be emotion in one single word? A name?
"It's alright," Peter said, drawing her even closer.
"I beg to differ."
Hook's voice cut into the intimate moment, the click of his gun as he readied it to shoot even more so.
Jane gasped and turned around, her face losing any trace of color as she saw him point the pistol at Johnny. How could she have forgotten her brother? In the moment...seeing Peter...
"No!" she called, agony clear in her voice.
"Make your choice, girl," Hook sneered, and in that instant Jane knew what she had to do.
She stepped out of Peter's arms. Away from the boy she loved and towards the man she hated and feared.
"Let Johnny go," she said into the charged silence. "I'll stay. Whatever you want."
"Jane!" Peter shouted her name but Jane's eyes remained fixed on Hook.
She had made her choice.
"Well, well. An interesting turn of events," Hook pretended to muse with a wicked grin.
"Don't pretend you didn't have this planned from the start."
Such was the venom in Jane's voice that Hook actually looked shocked. Slowly he lowered his pistol and Johnny reached out to Jane, tears sparkling in his baby blue eyes.
"Jane?" he quavered, a sob catching in his throat.
It felt like someone was squeezing Jane's throat ruthlessly. She faltered only for a second as tears sprang into her own eyes, but she stepped back.
"Go to Peter Johnny," she said in a voice that was more breath than substance. A broken voice. "He'll keep you safe."
"Jane don't do this," Peter said from between his clenched teeth, his eyes fixed intensely on Jane's which were now swimming with tears.
"Take him and go, Peter," she said abruptly. She found herself unable to look at him as she knew she would back down. She needed to stay strong and save Johnny; nothing else mattered. Nothing.
"I don't want to go without you," Johnny whimpered as a tear stole down his cheek.
Jane breathed in a deep, shuddering breath, focusing on Hooks amused grin. Anything but the fear on her little brothers face.
"It's the only way," she said quietly.
Look at your enemy, Jane, she thought fiercely, look long and hard. Don't think about anything else. Don't let yourself feel. Just look at him and hope he trembles.
Had she been looking at Peter she would have seen that he looked furious; his brows were low and his eyes flashing. But when he turned to Johnny his expression softened.
He held out his arms.
After looking at the older boy doubtfully for a moment Johnny turned to Jane once more with trust on his little face despite all he'd been through.
"Are you going to meet us there?" he asked. He didn't even know where 'there' was.
It was a good thing his sister had his back to him so he didn't have to see tear upon bitter tear roll down her cheeks. Jane was glad of that as she nodded and tried not to let him see how she was hurting, or realize what was happening.
Peter would take care of him.
She sobbed, just once, but turned it into a cough.
Oh, Peter...
"Yes, Johnny," she said quietly and (despite her best efforts) it was the saddest voice the little boy had ever heard.
"I'll meet you there."
She heard Peter walk forward and sweep Johnny up, heard them walk away, heard Johnny call a sweet goodbye. Then nothing.
And tears fell like rain from her sky-blue eyes.
