Wendy began to run toward Peter as well. They didn't slow down, even knowing that they were going to crash into each other painfully. It didn't matter. They came together like a wave breaking on the shore, arms and legs knocking, tumbling to the ground as their lips crushed together. Pure painful bliss.
They landed on a mossy area, rolling under a hanging bush. Peter pinned her pelvis to pelvis staring into her eyes. Are you all right? He asked with no words.
She gazed at him from under her eyelashes and smiled. Her hand went up to cup his head, sinking her fingers into his hair and drawing him down to her mouth. He kissed her with such tenderness she thought her insides might explode.
Peter delighted in her safety. He took joy in having her in his arms and not Hook's. His heart dropped when he thought of the pirate's hand wandering over Wendy's skin.
Peter pulled back. The guilt at having let hook grab her in the first place overwhelmed him.
Wendy blinked, as his lips left hers. "What's the matter Peter?" she asked stroking his hairline.
"It's just… I should have…" His eyes were full of emotion. "I should have…"
"You two, come out from under there," said John standing above them. "You need to see this Peter."
Wendy touched his face. They would finish their discussion later. He kissed her and rolled off, pulling her up to her feet. They looked around and saw the fairies, their wings humming, gathering from all corners of the forested cave, flying toward where Wendy had lay Tinkerbell. They were swirling and glittering over her.
"What's going on?" asked Peter.
Wendy felt horror in her stomach. "Tinkerbell."
"Tink!" He had almost forgotten, adding to his already considerable amount of guilt. "Tink! Oh God, Tink!"
He ran to where she lay, the fairies singing over her with haunting, sorrowful words. He knelt down over her. "I believe in fairies, I believe in fairies!" He clapped at loud as he could. Her light was out. "I believe in you Tink, I believe in you!" Nothing was happening. Tears pricked his eyes, and he wiped them with the back of his hand. He jerked his head up angrily at the singing fairies. "Do something!" he yelled at them. "Save her! Do something!" They kept singing their funeral song, the melody ripping Peter apart from the inside.
The lost boys had come out now into the clearing. Nibs, his hand over his side, where the wound still hurt a little walked toward her slowly, his eyes swollen and red. "Tinkerbell," he whispered. "Oh Tink." He let his tears flow quietly, putting his hand on Peter's arm. Peter slung his arm over Nibs' and they mourned her together.
Wendy, heartbroken, sank to the ground beside them and wrapped her arms around them. Then the lost boys all gathered around, uniting their grief.
John put his arm around Tiger Lily's shoulders and looked sadly down into her face. Why wasn't it working? They had all been saying that they believed in fairies under their breath. Was that not enough? Was that an old wives tale?
He saw the fairy Queen hovering above Tinkerbell mournfully. He carefully tiptoed over to where the fairies had begun to swirl around her, sprinkling her with their fairy dust. They seemed to be preparing her for burial.
"Ma'am," he said addressing the Fairy Queen. She looked up at him with her heartbroken eyes and nodded. "What is to be done? Can we bring her back with our belief?"
She chimed at him, her small voice teeming with grief. Even he could recognize that without knowing the language.
"She says no," said Soaring Eagle, stepping out from behind a tree. His hand was over his chest and he looked heart sick.
"Why not?" asked John, looking at his anguished family.
The Fairy Queen chimed again.
"She says there is only so much that a fairy can give. Only so many times it can sacrifice itself. She sacrificed herself many times for me." He looked sadly at the ground. "This is permanent." He let a tear fall from his eye. He hadn't gotten to see Tinkerbell as much since she had been with Peter but over the last few months, he had had much more time with her again. They had reminisced about old times. He'd long ago forgiven her for trying to kill his beautiful wife. Morning Dove had died before he made his trek to the mountain to save his people and his Greenblossom had many times told him of her regret and the ways she had tried to make it right; watching over his people while he lived with the fairies, reporting back to him on how they thrived. This was his loss too.
The Fairy Queen touched his cheek and removed his tear with her tiny hand. She flew down to her sister, and placed the tear on her stomach and kissed her cheek. She fluttered up to the two men, and began talking quickly as if remembering something.
Soaring Eagle began to smile. "She says the fact that we all love her enough to cry could be cause for hope." He paused as she continued. "If we who love her all give her a tear, they can put her in the Place of the Fairies. If she remains there, the magic might be enough to revive her."
The Fairy Queen tinkled at him sadly, correcting him.
"Forgive me. It will not revive her, it will rebirth her as a new fairy. She will be Greenblossom but she will have no memory of us, of her past life." He looked disappointed at the thought. "But she will live." He smiled what John now thought to be a wonderful smile.
John walked over to the others, telling them what the Fairy Queen had told him. The lost boys all quickly gathered the tears on their faces before they dried. They rushed over to give them to Tinkerbell. The fairy might not remember them when she woke up, but at least she might live.
Peter stood slowly and took Wendy's hand and they walked over together to the still fairy and deposited their gift. To have Tinkerbell not remember him, not remember rescuing him, not remember who he was to her was too much. He hung his head.
They stood like that over her for an hour, letting the fairies prepare her for her sleep in the Place of the Fairies. They learned it was in the heart of the mountain. A place sacred to them; the place where when the first baby laughed, and it shattered into millions of pieces that that was where the pieces had gone. A room filled with shining crystal laughter.
When the time came to say goodbye to her, Peter found he didn't have the stomach for it. It was too much. He nodded at Tinkerbell as they flew her on a bed of flowers away into the forest, and sank to the ground to sit quietly.