Peter shielded his eyes from the rain, desperately searching for Nova. But he couldn't see a thing, and time was running out to find her.
"I can't see her!" He cried in panic. "I can't see anything!"
Suddenly, Tinkerbell darted off and flew frantically in circles; she was signalling to Peter that Nova was there. Peter was instantly relieved, for he could easily see Tinkerbell's glowing light against the darkness that grabbed hold of the sea and sky. He flew to her without hesitation and plunged into the water, stretching his limbs and reaching out in every direction he could. Finally, he grasped someone's hand and pulled them up.
"Black Stache!" Peter yelled. He immediately let go, but Ted and Prentiss dove down and lifted the unconcious pirate out of the water. Peter went back under and soon came up with Nova, unconcious as well. "Tinkerbell, help me!" Tinkerbell doused Nova and Black Stache both in the fairydust and they were then easier for Peter, Prentiss, and Ted to lift.
They flew home at maximum speed, delayed only because of the thick sheets of rain and powerful winds that blew them in all directions. Finally, though, they made it back to the boys hideout.
Peter laid Nova down by the fire and checked her pulse as Prentiss and Ted did the same with Black Stache. Peter leaned back in relief as her pulse was evident and her breating, although shallow, seemed normal enough. He wiped his face with his green hat and caught his breath.
Prentiss and Ted shook hands, satisfied with their work at saving a life. But Peter, less than thrilled, suddenly turned on the two with fire in his eyes.
"What did you have to go and do that for?!" He yelled, motioning angrily to Black Stache sprawled out near the fire. "He's our enemy, a villain, and the reason Nova almost drowned tonight!" Prentiss stood immediately, fed up with Peter's anger.
"You may have been willing to let your anger get someone else killed tonight Peter, but we weren't!" Ted leapt up and held his ground next to Prentiss with his arms crossed in defiance.
"Yeah!" Ted agreed.
"If you were okay with letting him die out there just because of your temper, how much better does that make you than him? Huh, Peter? You'd be one in the same!"
The words hit Peter like a bullet, and they reverberated around in his head in an almost haunting manner.
One in the same...
"You'd be one in the same!"
You'd...be...the same...
"NO!"
Peter stormed off to his room and slammed the door behind him. Prentiss rolled his eyes in exasperation and waved Peter off, having no tolerance left for his temper.
"Don't worry about him, Prentiss, he's just mad. Hey, let's get some food or something!" Ted, unaffected by Peter's outburst, immediately ran to the cupboard and began sifting through it. Prentiss shook his head as a small smile found its way to his lips at Ted's innocence, which provided a nice change from the ever-bitter Peter. Suddenly, both boys' attention was drawn to the the two that lay by the fire as they heard quiet wheezing, which soon gave way to more audible sputtering and coughing. They ran to the fire and discovered it was a now conscious Black Stache.
Stache rolled onto his side and emptied his stomach of water as he coughed it all up. He laid back in exhaustion, and Prentiss and Ted could tell by his facial expressions that everything was slowly coming back to him.
"Where am I?" He croaked, his speech prompting more coughing. Ted ran to get him some water, which Black Stache took, despite who he was recieving it from.
"There was a storm. You were about to drown, until we saved you." Prentiss said monotonously, not expecting a 'thank you' of any kind, but wishing to enforce the fact that without them, Black Stache would be dead.
Black Stache only nodded. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he sat up instantly, making him cough once more as he fought to get words out.
"Nova, where's Nova?" He finally said. Prentiss raised an eyebrow in suspicion; why did he care where Nova was? Maybe he still suspected she knew something about Starstuff. Ted pointed behind Black Stache at Nova who had been laying with her head just by Black Stache's, yet he had failed to notice her upon waking.
"Peter and Tinkerbell saved her." Ted turned and waved to the tiny fairy, who jingled proudly.
"Why do you care?" Prentiss questioned.
"Care?" Black Stache was caught off guard. "I don't...I don't care! Black Stache cares about no one, you'd think you would know this by now!" Prentiss rolled his eyes, having no room for his attitude after Peter's outburst earlier.
"Listen, Black Sass, you may not have cared about anyone before, but you've never met a girl- a girl you possibly like- before." Black Stache tried to protest, but for once he couldn't find the words.
"Love is a lot like Starstuff." A girl's voice said. "It changes people, but with less regard of what they want to be." Prentiss and Ted whipped their heads around and shouted in delight at what they saw.
"MOLLY!" Prentiss and Ted ran to hug Molly, who had appeared with Aster by her side and had heard the whole conversation.
"Prentiss, Teddy, I've missed you!" Molly exclaimed, hugging the two boys.
"Hello, Aster." Prentiss said as he pulled away from Molly.
"Hello." Aster replied chipperly. "Molly and I got here as soon as we were called...although it seems as though our services are no longer needed." He finished, eyeing Black Stache and Nova still on the ground.
"Actually," Prentiss corrected him. "They may be needed now more than ever." Molly raised an eyebrow in question.
"What? Why?" Molly asked. "Where's Peter?" She looked around the room for the person she was secretly hoping to see the most, but panic began to rise within her when she couldn't spot him; she immediately began to assume the worst.
"Peter's fine, but he let his temper get the best of him." Prentiss explained.
"Again!" Ted added, before popping a spoonful of sticky pudding into his mouth and sighing contentedly at the taste.
Molly rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath at Peter. As much as she loved him, he definitely made problems a lot worse than they should be whenever they arose.
"And this girl, here-" Molly said, kneeling beside Nova. "Who's she?"
"She's the one Peter told you about." Prentiss informed Molly.
"What's happened?" She inquired, taken aback by the state of Nova and Black Stache in particular. In addition to Nova being unconcious and Black Stache being exhausted and practically hacking his lungs out in one minute intervals, both were soaked through with sea water and undoubtedly cold, regardless of their close proximity to the fireplace. Prentiss explained everything that happened, uninterrupted only with the exception of Black Stache's small outburst when Prentiss accused him of liking Nova. Molly let the story sink in and, despite the overwhelmedeness of the situation, she decided it was best to think of it as another great adventure. Granted, she hadn't been there for the adventure, but Prentiss's story, albeit short, was grand and very entertaining.
"I'd better go talk to Peter." Molly concluded, knocking on his door and proceeding to enter.
Prentiss, Ted, and Aster were all partaking in a conversation whilst Molly and Peter talked on their own in the other room. Black Stache kept uncharacteristically silent, but he couldn't help but not talk, for his mind was overcome with thoughts of Nova and the things Prentiss had said.
Perhaps he was right.