Earlier on today was easily the most frustrating day of my entire life, and it was all to do with one little word.

Flying.

"C'mon" , Peter had said. "You told me you wanted lessons, now's the time."

I groaned, immediately starting to regret my 'conditions' .

"No backing out" , he told me.

"But this is so embarrassing" , I moaned. We were standing on the cliff edge yet again. This time we had an audience of Tootles, Curly and a few other boys that I presumed were part of the 'crew' . They seemed nice, although they were sniggering every time I had my back turned. So now I was deaf as well as ridiculous.

"Why do we have to do it now?" I pestered.

"We only have a while to catch out Hook, he'll have started planning by now."

"So?"

"If he catches you, you need a quick escape route. Flying is the key."

I sighed in defeat. I hated to admit it, but he did have a point. And I can't run for ten seconds without getting a stitch anyways.

"Fine. Okay. So, how do you do this?"

He demonstrated quickly. "Just do this…and then this…oh and don't forget to stick your arms out…"

I nodded here and there and pretended I was listening, but really my mind was a million miles away. I had left my Blackberry in the forest, positive it was broken. And if it wasn't, I'd wait till some Indian trampled on it. Ma was the centre focus of my mind. I felt so bad. I'd left her in her most vulnerable state…sometimes even Joseph couldn't get her back to normal. That was mainly my job, because she listened to me. What would she do now?
I bit hard on my thumbnail, completely unconcerned about what Peter was telling me. It felt like I was in Irish class with Miss Dempsey. I never listened to her, just smiled and nodded whenever she looked for a response.

Peter stopped and I looked up. He was looking at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Remy."

"Yup, right here."

"I've been calling you for the last minute."

I frowned. "Oh…I was just thinking about swooping tactics. How to go in and out of trees and –"

I stopped. He looked at me, biting back a laugh. He didn't believe a word.

"Anyways…as I was saying…"

"Remy. Hello?"

A hand was waving in front of my face. I jumped and looked up, recognizing it to be Aaya. I was sitting on one of the logs around the fire in the Indian village. I wondered how long I was there for.

"Hi."

"Are you okay?"

I smiled weakly. "Never better."

She didn't buy it. "Oh. You've just been…kind of staring into the fire a lot…you might hurt your eyes."

"Oh. I didn't notice."

She gave a small laugh. "I'm going to bed, you coming?"

We shared a tent, Aaya and me. Two single beds and a small wooden bench at the base of the tent, which we just dumped our clothes onto.

"Nah. I'll be there later."

She looked suspicious but didn't press the matter any further. "Okay. Goodnight."

"Night" , I called after her. She retreated into the tent, yawning. I turned back to the fire, balling my hands into fists and resting my chin on them. For the first time I truly wondered whether I would ever get home. This thought jumped and down in my mind, pressuring it for an answer. I really didn't know.
One by one the Indians started to wander away from the group. I refused to move, hoping nobody would notice me. I just wanted to curl up into a corner and stay there. I was tired of being relied on. The Indians didn't seem worried at all now that I was there, and that worried ME. What if they thought I was going to win this? What if they were well and truly convinced? I moaned and covered my face with my hands.

Someone sniffled. And again. And again.

I looked up from my hands curiously. An Indian girl, a little younger than me, was curled up on a hammock, crying. Her shoulders were shaking, that was all the evidence I needed.

"Hey" , I said softly. "Are you okay?"

The girl stopped. "Yes" , she gulped. "Fine."

"Liar. Come over here."

The girl hesitantly rolled round in her hammock. She slid off of it and walked towards me slowly. I squinted at her, it was getting darker and darker by the second. Soon the flickering flames began to dance on her face until her face was bright orange. I immediately recognised her as Kina.
She wiped her eyes with her wrist.

I held my arms out. "Come here."

At first she just looked at me, but gave in. She ran to my arms and collapsed into them. Her head was resting on my shoulder, and she was surprisingly light.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She sniffled again. "My – my brother. Marus. He's missing, he didn't return from hunting today. The others thought he had already come back."

She shoved her head into my neck and began sobbing hysterically. I felt very awkward, trying to calm her.

"It's okay!" , I protested. "Calm down Kina! I'm sure Marus is around here somewhere…he'll be back!"

I don't think she even heard me. But slowly the tears subsided, and she was just quietly sniffling on my lap in the dark, nothing but the fire's flames giving us sight.

"What if the pirates took him?" , she whispered suddenly. "What if-"

"No", I interrupted. "You can't think like that. You have to stay positive for Marus, yeah? Can you do that? If not for him…for me?"

She processed this, and nodded.

"Good" , I said, jiggling her. "Now come on. We need to cheer you up. What do you like doing?"

She thought, staring into the fire. "Dance" , she responded. "But it is too late to do it now. It is dark."

I shook my head. "You can dance WHENEVER you want. There's no rules as to when you can and can't do it. So. Let's…dance."

Inside I was telling myself that I really shouldn't dance. Because when I dance I look like a retarded duck. That's why.

Kina got off my lap and stood in front of the bonfire, eyeing me awkwardly. I smiled at her – well, I hope it looked like a smile – and beckoned her.

"You go first."

She shook her head. "I'll do it when you do it."

I sighed. "Okay. But you can't laugh. Deal?"

"Why would I laugh?"

I sighed again. "I can't dance to save my life, but I'm doing it for you, okay?"

She nodded, a smile already playing around the corners of her mouth.

I groaned. "Well, here goes nothing."

I thought of a song, Remember When. I began to jump around the fire to the beat, keeping my eyes closed for fear of meeting Kina's. I could already hear her giggling. I'm sure I looked exactly like one of the mad drunks back home that I used to watch out my window. They danced and sang, and I found it entertaining. Now I just felt embarrassed.
I peeked out of the corner of my eye and froze. Many Indians were watching me intently, suggesting the thought of me probably looking more stupid than I first initially thought. I looked at Kina and she smiled. She danced forward and took my hand, pulling me around and around the bonfire in a dance. Other Indians happily came forward and took my free hand and Kina's. Soon everybody had joined, and there was laughing and talking echoing in the cold air of the night. I caught sight of Aaya in the ring. It seemed we had awoken the entire camp. The Indian Chief, whom I had seen earlier in the day, was sitting in his fancy wooden chair smiling at the party. Maybe there hadn't been this much happiness in the camp for a long time.
After a while I sat out, breathless and unable to feel my legs. I watched the dancing for a long time. Other Indians had also broken away to perform music with their wooden instruments. I clapped along, hoping I looked happy and at ease. Really my head was spinning around and around with the thoughts of having to defeat Hook. I sighed.

A hand slapped onto my shoulder. "Boo." I jumped and my head turned sharply to look behind me. Peter was standing there, grinning.

I let out a whoosh of breath. "You scared me."

"Yeah?" He eyed the dancing circle. "You had a party without me! How could you?" , he asked in mock horror.

I laughed. "It's still on, I'm just sitting out. Dancing is extremely hard work."

He smiled. I peered at him, waiting for him to say something. He gazed at the Indians, seeming astounded. I shrugged to myself and turned back to watch them. Instantly I felt his eyes on me, they bored into my skull. I felt uncomfortable. This was insanely awkward.

"Anything else?" , I asked, turning round again. He ripped his eyes away from me and looked at the Indians again, pretending.

"Um, yeah, actually. I wondered if you would come with me."

"Come where?" , I asked suspiciously.

"It's a surprise."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

He held up his hands. "Trust me."

My eyes flickered back to the dancing group. I'm sure Kina nor Aaya would notice I was gone, if it was only for a little while….

"Okay" , I said simply. I stood up and noticed he held a rag in his hand. I groaned.

"Are you going to blindfold me again?"

"It's meant to be a surprise, remember?"

"Well…yeah, I suppose" , I muttered.

I stepped forward and sighed. "Come on then. Let's get this over with."

He gently wrapped the rag around my eyes and pulled it tight.

"You're gonna send the pulse to my cheek if you pull it any tighter."

"Sorry." He took hold of my hand briefly and pulled me along. Soon the sounds of singing and dancing Indians was distant, barely heard. The air was filled with Peter regularly telling me "Step over this" or "Watch your head" .

"How much longer?" , I whined.

"Not much now. Oh, watch that branch." I ducked and continued walking blindly. I was used to it.

"So can you give me a clue about my surprise?"

"Nope. Isn't the point of surprises to keep it a surprise?"

"Nobody follows those points anymore."

"I do."

I shook my head. "Eejit."

"Remy."

"Yesy?"

"No. I'm calling you a Remy."

I frowned. "But I am Remy."

"Well, yes. But you're a Remy also."

I opened my mouth to argue with this, but thought better of it. "Sure. Okay. How long now?"

We stopped. "I guess we're here."

"Oh. Really?" It hadn't been that long a journey, ten or fifteen minutes.

"Yeah. Just keep your eyes closed when I take off the blindfold. I'll tell you when you can look."

"Sure." I felt something at the back of my neck and my eyes were released. I determinedly kept them closed – I was always a sucker for looking when I wasn't supposed to.

"Can I look yet?"

I felt his presence beside me. "Yeah. You can look."

I blinked quickly and set my eyes to stare.

"Woah…"

Shining stars. That's what it looked like at first. Every one of them, glinting brightly. I stared at them intently, because I knew myself they weren't really stars. They were much too close. I noticed that each had flickering movements, and that they moved precariously and daintily, like ballerinas.

Something went "Ping!" in my mind.

"They're faeries, aren't they?"

Peter nodded and I grinned at him. "But what are they all doing here?"

"They're going to put on a show for you. Sit with me."

He gestured towards a tree in the middle of the clearing. The trunk was incredibly twisty, it was hard to believe it was actually a real tree and not a sculpture. The trunk stuck straight out to the side, creating a perfect chair for approximately four people to sit on.
I went forward and jumped onto it, Peter copying. He nodded at the faeries and I could hear them buzzing.

"Hey Remy!"

"Hi!"

"Heard so much about you!"

"Thanks for helping us!"

I laughed. Peter looked at me, confused. "They're all talking to me in the one go. Can't you hear them?"

"No. They don't talk English. They're talking to you in your mind."

"Oh. That's kinda freaky."

He shrugged. "You'll get used to it."

I was immediately concerned as to what he meant by that particularly. He didn't think I was staying a long time, right? I looked at him warily. He seemed content, staring at one glowing fairy. I presumed he was talking to her. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to make myself feel more comfortable. Peter mistook my actions.

"Are you cold?"

"Oh, just a little" , I lied. "I'll be fine. So, what now?"

He just smiled and turned back to the faeries. Soon they were going in every direction. They looked like they were taking places, as each of them were fairly picky about where they were hovering in the air.

"Will this….tire them or something?" , I asked. "Or waste their magic flying power thingies?"

Peter laughed and shook his head. "Nope. They'll be fine."

"One..Two..Three."

They started. Each paired up with another for a waltz, making seem a floating ball. They all sang and I listened intently. It was so beautiful…I was happy. I peeked at Peter out of the corner of my eye. He was watching me carefully for a reaction, and I quickly forced my eyes back to the faeries. I wasn't good at making eye contact with much people. The faeries danced gracefully in the air, perfection clearly taken into consideration. Two of them rose above the crowd, taller and even more beautiful than the others. Lady and Gentleman – they looked very gracious. They began an even more graceful waltz, with all sorts of twirls and twists. I sighed in content as the girl spun into his arms and he held her carefully. It was just so unbelievably romantic I felt as though I was watching a soap.
And then it was done. Faeries fluttered off one by one, all chattering excitedly to me. I could hardly make out what they were saying.

"Thank you!" , I called after them as the last ones disappeared into the trees. There was one last buzz of 'your welcomes' and it was silent.

I finally turned to Peter. He was still gazing at me. I wondered vaguely if he had even watched the performance.

"Well?"

I smiled. "Loved it. It was awesome…thank you."

He shrugged. "No problem."

He turned back towards the moon that was now filling up the clearing with a silver light. I cleared my throat and tried to think of what to say.

"It's…um…nearly time, right?"

No, Remy! After he's put on a lovely show for you? Dammit, please say he didn't hear…please say he didn't hear…

"What?"

Too late now.

"Um…about Hook" , I said uncomfortably. "It's nearly time."

"Oh. Yes. When do you propose?" , he asked coolly.

I gulped. "Um…I was thinking…tomorrow?"

He jumped up. "Tomorrow?!" , he exploded. He turned quick as a wink to face me.

"Yes" , I said firmly. "You knew it was coming."

"We've got nothing planned! Nothing decided! We're going to be totally unprepared!"

"I'M going to be totally unprepared" , I corrected him. "There's no 'we' ."

Shock plastered his face. "WHAT?!"

"I'm doing this on my OWN!" , I said angrily. "Remember? You've got no choice! Only I can do this!"

"You won't live to see another day!"

"Good to know you have so much faith in me!"

"You. Are. Not. Going" he growled.

"On the contrary, I AM going. And you can't stop me."

"We'll see about that" , he snapped. Then he silently headed into the trees, balling his hands into fists and clutching his face.

I screamed in frustration and began pacing back and forth, yelling the worst words I could think of. I yelled and yelled until I was drained and tired out. I dropped onto the grass and began viciously pulling the grass out of the ground, letting the last of my anger seep out until I was completely drained of emotion altogether.

"Damn, damn, damn" , I muttered.

This was more dramatic than Coronation Street and Emmerdale put together. I knew Peter couldn't stop me going. I wouldn't allow it. I pushed Peter out of my mind and concentrated on my Game Plan for the next day, when I could end this once and for all.