Chapter Twenty-Three – Frenemy in Love

"I had the strangest dream," Wendy whispered to Violet as they walked through the halls to lunch.

"Oh?" Violet asked, raising an eyebrow in interest. "Which was…?"

"I dreamt that Peter visited me as a baby," she admitted, absolutely perplexed. When Violet covered her mouth to hide her giggles, Wendy sighed. "I know, it sounds weird…but I felt like it actually happened…not only that," she added, her brows furrowing in confusion as she and her friend took a seat at their usual table. "But…I've had dreams…since I was little, but even more so now…of myself flying to an amazing island and having adventures…I think I even see my brothers, and Peter…but they're different somehow. Peter is…younger, and my brothers don't quite look, act, or sound the same." Looking over to Violet, she asked, "Am I crazy?"

"Oh, no doubt," winked the gothic female. "It's funny you said that. I was thinking about the first night we went together to the island and met Peter…you had said that some of the stuff seemed familiar to you, but you'd never been there before or seen those people." When Wendy nodded, she tapped her cheek and thought a moment. "…ever heard of reincarnation?"

"Yes," Wendy nodded. "You think I'm my great-great grandmother?"

"Not necessarily that you are her," Violet clarified. "Just that her spirit's in you, with some of her memories. That might be why you connected so quickly with everything and everyone."

Wendy chewed her meal thoughtfully, mulling over Violet's words. Frowning, she realized she had forgotten something else. "Vi…I had another dream…a different one…"

"You, Hook, candlelight, wine…?" Violet started, bursting into a fit of laughter when Wendy made a mortified face.

"Ugh, no!" Wendy shook her head violently. "No…actually, it was about Peter."

"Shocker!" Violet gasped, teasing her friend.

"It felt so real…I almost thought I was awake," Wendy said, her voice lowering once more. "Peter was talking to me…he…" She swallowed, her heart racing. "…he said he loved me…"

Violet blinked, staring at the girl. "…and that's shocking because…?"

"He's Peter Pan," Wendy clarified. "He's the boy who never grows up…sort of," she added, recalling how now he was slightly older than before. "He doesn't have romantic feelings for anybody!"

"I dunno," Violet smirked. "He seems to be filled with 'feels' lately if you ask me."

Wendy blushed, remembering how in her dream, she could feel Peter's lips on her face, as if he were too shy to actually kiss her lips. Twisting the cap of her water bottle on and off, she felt her stomach twist in the same way.

"Hi girls," Ben said, coming up to their table. He held his lunch tray on top of a set of thick books, looking awkward as he went to them. "Could…I sit with you?"

"Of course," Wendy smiled, glad to take her mind off things.

"Make yourself comfy," Violet motioned for him to sit.

"Thanks," he said, sitting beside Violet. "I'm sorry about my aunt yesterday-"

"Don't be sorry, she was worried about you," Wendy interrupted him. "She really does care."

"I think she cares too much," he sighed. "She ought to go out more often. She's only been out of college for two years. She should be, I don't know, doing girl stuff and seeing somebody, not grading papers and babying me."

"Hey, be careful what you wish for," Violet warned him. "One time, I complained that-"

"HI GUYS!"

Out of the blue, Mandy hopped over to their table, slamming her lunch on the counter. Wendy yelped in surprise, Ben spat out his beverage all over the table, and Violet winced, clearing out one of her ears. "Look what the cat dragged in," she muttered.

"Nice to see you, too, Vi," Mandy waved, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "So, Wendy! Are you going back to Neverland soon?"

"Huh?" She stared at the girl, stunned. "What? I thought you said you never wanted to go back again…?"

"Well, you know what they say, 'never say never!'" she said in her best cheerleader voice.

"Oh God," Violet groaned, covering her face. "She's back."

"Hey, Mandy!" Fred called, going over to the table. "What happened to you last night? You just vanished…oh, hey everyone," he added.

"Suddenly, I'm feeling claustrophobic," Violet growled.

"Since when did we get to be so popular?" Wendy whispered to her friend.

"Oh, I wasn't feeling too good," Mandy smiled brightly at Fred. "I've already apologized to the squad. But I'm back in action now! I heard you guys won the game! That's great." Looking back to Wendy, she persisted, "So, are you guys going back soon?"

"Going where?" Fred asked, suspicious.

"Nowhere," all three girls said at once.

Fred raised an eyebrow and looked to Ben. "Don't look at me, I'm just as clueless as you," the boy said with his hands up in surrender.

"This doesn't have to do with the Neverland park, does it?" Fred asked, seeing Mandy wince. He frowned. "Look, that place isn't safe. I heard there was some explosion over there last night and some giant croc almost ate somebody…wherever the heck a croc could come from. It's too cold up here for them!" He noticed Mandy had a look of guilt on her face as Wendy, Violet, and Ben all gawked at the message. "Mandy…what's going on…?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," she said with a pout. "Vi and Wendy would understand."

"We would?" Violet asked, confused.

"Mandy…" Fred started, getting frustrated.

"Ok, look, all I'm gonna say is Peter saved me last night," she began, only to get cut off by everyone shouting "WHAT?!" "Sheesh, keep your voice down or the teachers will come over!" she hissed.

"Have you noticed something weird?" Violet asked, looking to Wendy with fear in her eyes. "She's not constantly saying 'like'…who is she and where's the real Mandy?"

"Funny," Mandy rolled her eyes. "Look, I want to thank him somehow so I want to go over and visit, but not on my own. That's why I came over." She looked pleadingly at Wendy. "Please?! I promise I'll behave!"

"She said 'please'?" Violet's jaw dropped.

"Nobody is going to that funhouse of hell!" Fred declared.

"What 'funhouse of hell'?"

"AAH!" the students yelled, startled by Ms. Seaworth. She raised her brows at them, wondering what on earth was going on.

"Nothing," Mandy said quickly with a weak smile.

"Aunt Chris…" Ben groaned.

"We were just trying to figure out what to do on Thursday since we've got Friday off!" Wendy said, thinking fast. "We decided we're going to Never-Neverland."

"We are?" Fred asked, stunned. Violet flicked a pretzel stick at his head.

"I've heard things about that place from other teachers," Christine started.

"We'll all be in a group," Violet offered.

"It'll be super fun!" Mandy grinned.

"Super pain in the ass is more like it," grumbled Ben to which Violet gave him a high-five.

Pressing her lips together as she thought, the teacher remained silent, mulling over the details.

"My brothers will be with us, too. They're thirteen and five, but they love that park," Wendy added. "We've also got P-…er, our friend who knows the place very well." She tried to avoid saying his name in front of the grown ups. She didn't want Fuller to pass by and hear them accidentally.

"…Ben can go."

The girls grinned at one another, Fred looking uncertain. "On one condition." They looked up at her, suspicious. "I'm coming, too."

~NEVER-NEVERLAND~

"How unlucky are we?" Violet sighed as the Darlings picked her up from her house that Thursday evening. Nana licked her hand in consolation, leading them all down the road.

"Can't we ditch them?" Jon asked mischievously.

"Certainly not," Wendy scolded him. "Fred and Mandy already know about Peter and all the madness going on, Ben is new, and if we vanish it'll give Ms. Seaworth a bad impression of us."

"I just wanna see Peter again!" Mikey pouted. "It's been forever!"

"It's been about a week," Jon shook his head with a smile, patting his little brother's hair.

"Still!" Mikey insisted. "I wanna see Peter now!"

"As you wish!"

The group gave a cry of surprise, jumping at the sound of the familiar voice. Spinning around, they saw Peter floating behind them, clutching his stomach, laughing. "Oh! OH! You should've seen your faces!" he coughed, tears escaping his eyes.

"PETER!" Mikey exclaimed, jumping up and down until Peter picked him up and placed him on his shoulders. "Missed ya!" Mikey declared as he hung on, smiling brightly.

"Missed you, too," Peter smiled back, landing on his feet before them. "Everyone's been waiting for you to come back." A ball of green light peered out at them from his jacket pocket, waving up at Mikey.

"Tink!" Wendy smiled.

"How does she do that?" Jon mused aloud.

"Do what?" Peter asked, walking down with them.

Glancing back at him, Wendy was stunned to see that he was wearing normal clothes – dark washed jeans, black converse sneakers, a green hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath, and a blue baseball cap on his head.

"Nice threads, Pete," Violet commented.

"Thanks," Peter grinned. Turning to Jon, he explained, "If you're talking about the shrinking and growing, that's a spell that Tink and Blue Falls placed on all the fairies that came with us. They can grow and shrink at will while they're here to help maintain the park and if they want to explore. But if you're talking about waving, that's easy. Just do this." And he waved his hand at Jon, earning laughter from Mikey as Jon sighed and rolled his eyes. Looking back to Wendy, Peter's smile seemed to light up the street. "Missed you, Wendy."

Blush came to her cheeks as she smiled back. "I…I missed you, too, Peter. How are the Lost Boys?"

"They want your cooking," Peter laughed. "They can't wait for you to come. Are we picking up Ben?"

"And his aunt, our teacher," Wendy confessed.

"And Mandy," grimaced Violet.

"Huh?" Peter asked, stunned.

"And Fred," the gothic girl added with little enthusiasm.

"WHAAAT?!" Peter fumed, getting a harsh "SHHH!" from Jon and Wendy. "Why're they coming?!"

"Mandy said something about 'thanking you'," Wendy explained, titling her head in curiosity.

"Fred just doesn't trust us," Violet shrugged.

Peter sighed, smacking his forehead. "Geez…Monday night, Shade possessed Mandy and sent her over to kill Hook."

Tinker Bell chimed at him, appearing to scold the boy.

"Yes, yes, he wanted you gone, too, Tink," Peter chuckled. "Anyway, he was controlling her so she was going to stab herself when me, Hook, Ruff, Smee, and Lily fought back."

"Shade was going to kill Mandy?!" Wendy gasped. Even Violet paled at this.

"Yeah, but I stopped him…her…them? Whatever," Peter shrugged, waving his hand just so that his sleeve began to slide down his arm.

"Peter, was that from when you saved her?" Mikey asked, perceptive as ever, as he pointed to Peter's bandage.

"Huh…? AH!" He quickly pulled the sleeve back in place, smiling nervously. "No…um, that was from…"

"Oh, Peter!" Wendy slapped his shoulder, causing him to grimace. "Oh, sorry!" she squeaked, realizing she smacked his bad arm. "Sorry!...but really! Should you have been-?!"

"If one more person tells me 'reckless' or 'careless' or 'stupid', I'm going to hurt somebody!" Peter gritted through his teeth.

"Not me!" Jon, Mikey, and Violet called at the same time.

Wendy giggled at their reaction before sobering and returning her attention to Peter. "Sorry…I just…"

"I love you."

She bit her lip. In her dream, the one where she imaged Peter kissing her…she could have swore she heard him saying that to her as well…

"You just…?" Peter asked, raising en eyebrow expectantly. His eyes grew wide when she slipped her hand into his, her fingers hesitantly tightening.

"…I don't want to lose you," she whispered, avoiding his eyes.

Violet and the boys remained silent, waiting for a response from him. They watched as he looked at her, with eyes full of awe and soon replaced with joy. Pressing his lips together into a thin, anxious line, he contemplated an idea for a moment…and then moved to her face, his lips touching her cheek.

Wendy gasped, remembering her dream. "What if it wasn't a dream…what if he…?"

"HIIIII!"

Everybody jumped and winced at the sound of Mandy's high-pitched voice. Up ahead, Mandy was skipping full speed ahead towards them, Fred following close behind.

"Peter!" she squealed, pouncing to tackle him with a hug.

He swiftly moved out of the way, a mixed look of disgust and fear appearing on his face. "Don't touch me," he said simply, looking to Fred. "Is she always like that?" From inside Peter's coat, Tinker Bell fumed.

"More often than not," Fred shrugged. He took in the sight of Peter with normal clothes, surprised, and commented, "Nice outfit…by the way, what you did the other day for that Ben kid…it was cool."

"I know," Peter nodded with a smile, causing the other boy to frown while Wendy's brother's snickered. "You were pretty cool, too. You tried to stop that other guy, anyways, right?"

Fred gawked at him, unable to believe that Peter actually acknowledged him. "Uh…you think so?"

Peter was about to answer when Mandy latched onto his arm. "So, are we gonna pick up Benny?" she asked cheerfully.

Wendy raised an eyebrow at this behavior, looking over to Violet who made a puking face.

"His name's Ben," Peter grimaced, struggling to push her off of his arm. "Get off!"

Mikey giggled as he sat on Peter's shoulders and hung on. "I think she likes you!"

"You're so right," Mandy giggled. "Peter's awesome! Why shouldn't I like him?"

Normally, Peter would be very smug about such flattery, but not from her, not in this manner, and especially not in front of Wendy! Tinker Bell was ready to say a few choice words but held her tongue as so no one would notice she was there for safety's sake.

Fred glared at the girl, going over and assisting Peter in removing her from his arm.

"Hey! Fred!" she whined, pouting at him. "What's that for?!"

"Knock it off, would you?" he snapped, stalking off ahead of the others. She blinked after him, wondering what on earth could cause him to react that way.

Continuing together, they finally came to Ben's house. Ben grinned when he saw them, whispering an apology as to his aunt.

"She can't be much worse than Mandy," Peter sighed.

Christine stepped out in a crimson v-neck sweater, black skinny jeans and red-tipped gold slippers, her hair falling over her shoulders. "Thanks for coming to get us," she said, adjusting her glasses. She noted how Peter had joined them, conversing easily with Wendy's little brothers. A smile worked onto her lips as she went with them down Heather Avenue. "He seems harmless…"

Together, the group strode along, the docks finally coming in sight. The biggest pirate galleon of them all was tethered to the piers, majestic compared to the smaller vessels.

"WOW!" Mikey gaped. "Haven't seen this one!"

"This is amazing!" Ben gasped, brushing his hair out of his face to get a better look at the ship.

"Looks like Hook decided to take the old Jolly Roger out for a spin and some cleaning," Peter chuckled.

"I never imagined it would be this big," Wendy said, her jaw dropping as she took in the sight. "I thought one of the other boats was the Jolly Roger!"

"Haha, no," Peter laughed. "That wouldn't fit a quarter of the crew!"

"Holy…!" Jon and Fred said unanimously, their eyes bulging out of their sockets.

Violet gave a low whistle, grinning. "Sweet ride."

Mandy pursed her lips in disdain. "…we're not going to ride that thing, are we?"

"Oh, but it's incredible!" Christine gasped. "Look at all the details! It's gorgeous!"

"Thank you, Milady. I do strive to make sure he's always in tip-top shape."

Gasping, Christine spun around to see who had spoken. Her eyes widened when she saw a rather elegant pirate before her. He seemed to be a devilish rogue, but with his scarlet coat and hat, his dark curls framing his angular face, and those haunting forget-me-not eyes, he could have been passed off for a duke or earl.

The man gawked at her as well when she turned to face him. He seemed thunderstruck, as if he's lost his mind. Quickly, he regained his composure, swiping his feathered hat off of his head and bowing before her. "Forgive me…I didn't mean to startle you. Please, allow me to introduce myself. I am James Hook, captain of this humble vessel, the Jolly Roger."

"O-Oh…well, it's an honor," she smiled, laughing off her insecurity. He certainly knew how to roleplay.

Peeking out from behind the teacher, Peter smirked and waggled his fingers at the pirate. "Hiya, Captain. I brought some friends, and we need a ride over. Y'mind?"

"Of course n-PAN!" Hook burst, his eyes growing wide. "What on earth are you wearing?! Don't tell me you discarded my old coat for this 'modern' trash you're wearing!"

"Hey!" Fred, Ben, and Jon frowned in protest.

"I didn't throw it out, besides it's my coat and I can do what I wish with it," Peter responded curtly. "I just wanted to go walking through the neighborhood and blend in a bit more, if you know what a mean."

Hook got the message, Shade's wicked face passing through his mind. "Hm…understood," he grunted. Smiling once more, he kept his hook hidden behind his back, and placing his hat back on his head he took Chrstine's hand and kissed her knuckles. "Just who is this fine young woman you've managed to capture, boy?" he asked, causing blush to color her cheeks.

"Hook, meet Christine Seaworth, and this is Ben, her nephew," Peter answered, motioning to the boy when his name had been mentioned. "Ms. Seaworth is one of Wendy's teachers."

"A teacher?" Hook asked, his eyes shining with admiration. "I've never had the patience for that sort of thing – I commend you, Miss…may I call you Christine?"

"If I can call you Captain," she laughed, sounding like a nightingale.

Beaming, he said, "You, my dear, can call me James."

"Ok, James," she smirked, looking extremely coy and shy all at once. "I don't suppose we could catch a ride with you?"

"My dear lady, you absolutely may," he responded.

That's when he forgot and accidentally brought out his hook, offering his arm to her.

Ben's eyes went wide, gawking at the metal appendage. "Holy cow! That looks real!"

Realizing his mistake, Hook paled and tried to hide his arm again, but Christine grabbed it. Bringing it out, she inspected the weapon, intrigued. "May I…?" she asked, curious to see if it really was attached. He was too stunned to answer so he just nodded. Peter and the others watched in, amazed at how calm she was about all this. Pushing up his coat and shirt sleeve, removing the frilly lace about his wrists, she gently probed at the line where his hook holder met his skin. She could see the leather straps holding the hook securely on his arm, and wondered how on earth he could have lost his hand…unless…

Her brows furrowed, she looked back at the boy named Peter, who waved with a proud smile. "That was my doing," he said until he felt Tink poke his side, scolding him from within his jacket. "I mean, my fault," he said, pouting.

Christine paused a moment, looking back to the island off in the distance, seeing the neon letters spell "Never-Neverland." So many coincidences…all from one of her favorite childhood stories…

Taking a breath, she decided to take her chances. Her smile returned to her lips as she fixed his sleeve, wrapping her arm around his. "Would you do us the honor of escorting us to Never-Neverland, James?"

That did it. Hook was…hooked.