On the beautiful and magical world of Neverland, a shooting star streaked across the sky, over a pirate ship and the vast ocean, bumping and zagging along until it finally landed.

A tiny fairy saw the star falling and flew off to tell her crew, they would want to know about possible treasure!

Not too far away in a tidy little settlement of tents, Minnie shook off her dizziness before retying her bow. She was used to the harsh landings the star shard gave by now. She then realized she didn't even have the star shard. "Oh! Oh, dear…!"

The princess frantically checked around and peeked into the tents after making sure no one was home. Surprisingly, the entire area was empty. She didn't have any energy to focus on that though, she had to find the shard or she'd never explore another world, or even make it back home.

A faint glint caught her eye and she gave a sigh of relief, seeing the star shard was nearly hidden under a tent flap.

She was so happy to find it, she didn't feel the dark presence, the reason the people had abandoned the place until she was about to pick the shard up.

"So long, 'Your Highness'!"

Minnie turned to see Adar. She tried to make a barrier but the woman was too quick, all it did was absorb some of the killing blow, enough to simply have it knock her unconscious.

"Not so high and mighty now, are you, princess…?" Adar laughed until she realized the mouse had simply vanished. The woman looked around in utter confusion before her eyes landed on the glowing star shard. She gave a short yell in anger, kicking away the thing that had saved her prey.

"She ain't moving… Why you look so happy 'bout it, Tink?!"

Hm? Who's that? And where am I…? A second ago I was blasted away and then…

"Come on, let's just kick the lady awake!"

Wait, no, I'm already awake!

Aqua's eyes shot open and she rolled away before the boy could try his idea.

"Oh!" The boys gasped together. One wore a fox suit and the other a bear suit.

Aqua sat up groggily before a little girl with wings flew in front of her, a fairy. She seemed annoyed at her for some reason.

"Who are you?" The one in the fox suit asked.

"I'm Aqua," Aqua answered gently as she brushed off some sand.

The bear frowned, scratching his head. "There are no girls on the island except the mermaids, Tink, and Princess Tigerlily… Are you a mermaid turned human?!"

What a crazy conclusion… What am I supposed to say if there aren't any other women or girls? "Uh…"

Tinkerbell gave a short and stubborn ring, choosing to ignore her. She then flew over and pulled on the fox boy's ears, thankfully distracting them.

"Alright, alright, we're going!" The boy groaned. The two began to trudge off before Aqua piped up behind them.

"Where are you off to?"

"Tink saw a shooting star and we're going to go hunt it down!"

"I see. Can I come along?" While the idea of finding a star fascinated her, she was far more concerned with the boys' safety, there were pirates nearby if the ship was any indication.

"Sure you can! But you gotta tell us stories on the way, girls are good at stories, right?"

"I don't know about every girl…" Aqua muttered, thinking aloud. "But you're in luck, I have quite a few stories!"

"…And with the help of her friends, Cinderella was finally able to go to the ball." Aqua finished. She didn't have any stories except the ones she'd experienced. As long as she didn't let them know she was one of the friends, it would be alright.

"What happened at the ball?" Asked the fox who'd introduced himself as Slightly.

Aqua shrugged. "Sorry, that's all of the stories I know. But I'm sure she will get a happy ending."

"Yeah, 'cause the good guys always win in the end!" The bear boy, Cubby, cheered.

Aqua smiled, hoping that was true for this journey as well. She, Terra, and Ven's happy ending wouldn't be anything fancy like the stories though, they'd just go home and start training again, which was happy for them.

They came across a large, old tree when suddenly, a rooster call was heard for miles around.

"Peter Pan!" The boys cried in excitement as a boy around Ven's age all dressed in green flew down to meet them.

Peter Pen saluted them before noticing Aqua. "Who's this? Never seen someone like you before!"

Tink tried to ring over her but Aqua was all too happy to answer. "I'm Aqua."

"Alrighty then." He said, ignoring her the moment he lost interest. He grinned at the boys. "Ten-shun!"

The boys straighten up and saluted. Peter Pan was their leader.

"Now then, men. I don't suppose you'd wanna capture some real pirate treasure?"

"Real pirate treasure?!" Gasped Cubby in excitement.

"Sure!" Slightly smiled.

Peter Pan smirked, pacing as he told them. "Well, guess who caught sight of Hook right when he was stashing his treasure? Whaddaya say we sneak in and grab it?!"

"Oh boy!"

"Let's go, let's go!"

Tinkerbell was not as thrilled. She glared at the boys before flying in front of Peter. She rang sharply until he paused. "What's gotten into you, Tink?"

"I think she's upset we aren't finishing our hunt for the shooting star…" Aqua answered for her, getting a scowl from the fairy.

"Forget that!" Pan huffed, rolling his eyes. "Pirate treasure's way more fun! Think, you're coming with us!"

The fairy flew away, not interested in the slightest. She was bored of treasure hunts, the star was something new!

"Well, that's no way to respond to an invitation!" Peter grunted.

It sounded like more of a demand to me, Aqua thought, crossing her arms. Despite the act she put on, Tink was still just a kid eager to go on her own adventure, Aqua didn't want the boys to take that from her. "I'll stay here with Tinker Bell. We'll join you after we find that star."

Peter shrugged in response before flying off with the boys running after him.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Tinker Bell. Oh, uh, should I call you Tink?" Aqua wondered aloud.

The fairy shook her head with a fierce ring, sending dust everywhere.

"I have the slight impression you don't like me… Is it something I did?"

She didn't respond, her cheeks turning red.

"… Oh. It's because I'm a girl, isn't it? You think there's some kind of competition for Peter between us." Aqua realized, remembering one of the boys saying Tink looked a bit too happy she'd been knocked out earlier. "Well, you don't have to worry. I already like someone else, so I won't come between you two."

Tink brightened at this before smiling back at Aqua. She tinkled gleefully.

"You're welcome."

Just then, the two saw a glint of something from one of the tents in the settlement. As they grew closer, they saw what it was.

Minnie's star shard, what's it doing here?

Tink flew up to examine it when a hand suddenly shot out from the tent and grabbed her.

"Tink!"

A pirate in red alongside a smaller man stepped out from the tent before the Captain took the star shard with his hook. "A shooting star and a pixie, must be me birthday!"

"Let her go!" Aqua growled, summoning her keyblade.

"And who are you supposed to be?" The man asked, raising a brow. He smirked before giving a chuckle. "Bah, your name doesn't matter as long as you deliver a message to that blasted Peter Pan! Tell him if he ever wants his precious friend back, he'll meet me at Mermaid Lagoon!"

The two fled at once, making Aqua give chase. A swarm of Unversed blocked her way. She expected it to be an easy fight since it was only the underlings but more and more kept coming. Aqua felt her inner light grow with each Unversed she took out until they were all gone.

She finally ran off after the three only to find they were long gone. "No…"

Her hands fell to her sides in disappointment before she felt the lump in her pocket. She took out her wayfinder then and watched it glitter in the sun. I wonder how Terra and Ven are doing after all that happened…? Better than me, I hope…

"Yep, hard to believe there are so many worlds out there besides our own. The light is their hearts, and it's shining down on us like a million lanterns." Terra had said, staring up at the stars.

"Huh? I don't get it." Ven muttered.

Terra laughed before giving a shrug, rephrasing it into something he might understand a bit better. "In other words, they're just like Aqua."

It's been such a long time since then and she still didn't know what Terra meant…

A whoosh of air took her out of her thoughts. She turned to see Peter Pan and guilt welled up inside of her. "Peter, two strange men, one with a hook for a hand, stole Tinker Bell!"

"Then I'm too late…" Peter's face hardened before crossing his arms. "Hook's going to pay for this!"

"He said to meet him at Mermaid Lagoon, but I'm coming with you!" Aqua insisted.

"If you can keep up! It's probably an ambush, so you best be on your guard!"

While the Captain lay in wait at Mermaid Lagoon, Smee was prepared to eliminate Pan before he even arrived. He looked out the ship's telescope until he caught sight of Pan and the woman who'd been with Tinker Bell earlier. "Peter Pan ahoy! Man the Long Tom and… fire!"

The canon shot out a giant lead ball that landed right between the two.

"Looks like it was a trap." Aqua grunted, summoning her keyblade before glaring at the ship. Was Tink on board? Was she safe?

"Oy, watch out!" Peter shoved into her side, avoiding another cannonball.

"Thank you!"

They heard a sudden jingle before Tink flew between them, pushing them apart.

"Tink!" The two gasped in surprise.

"Am I glad to see you! How'd you get away?!" Pan asked. He smiled at her response. "My new recruit saved-?"

They were interrupted by cannon fire again. Aqua had to quickly summon a barrier to protect them. They were all shoved back from the impact of the ball reflecting off.

"Gotta stop that cannon…!" Pan growled, the pirates had gone too far this time: forcing a kid to labor, pixie-napping Tink, and now firing on his new friend! "Aqua, you go after Hook, he won't be expecting you!"

"Right. Good luck!"

Hook waited impatiently for it all to be over as the cannon fire could be heard all the way across Mermaid Lagoon. He hoped Peter Pan wouldn't show. Once the cannon's stopped, it meant the boy was finally dead.

He listened close until the final rumbles subsided and the fire was over. He let out a sigh. "Alas, and so passeth a worthy opponent. To think that his would be such an inglorious end."

He mourned for only a moment before cackling with glee, bellowing up to the sky. "At last, that scurvy brat will never trouble me again!"

"Think again, Captain." Aqua called, walking in.

"You again?! You must be an ally of… Wait, don't tell me-!" Hook took out his spyglass and peered up at the ship to find his nemesis celebrating victory on top of Smee. "Blast that Peter Pan!"

He threw the telescope to the ground and stamped his feet in anger before Aqua summoned her keyblade. He took out his rapier in response and the two clashed.

Aqua watched his footwork and noticed he had no creativity in his style: this was just basic, dull swordplay techniques. She could easily beat those.

Aqua backbend away from the sword before twirling around the Captain. She caught his hook on the end of her keyblade, using that to fling him into the water.

No sooner had the battle ended before they heard a ticking of a clock.

"Oh no, not again!" Hook howled in fear.

The crocodile nearby lunged, making the Captain leap out of the water and practically run atop it to get away.

Aqua watched them go in surprise before hearing a shout: "Ahoy! Look what we got!"

Cubby and Slightly got out of a nearby rowboat as Peter landed beside them.

"This is the same chest I told ya about earlier, Aqua!" Pan explained as he helped the boys drag it out. He frowned. "Hey, where's the new guy?"

"He said he didn't wanna join, something about already knowing where he belonged before he left." Slightly answered.

Peter gave a huff before shrugging. "He's missing out, not only on the gang but on this treasure!"

Pan flung open the chest only to find it empty. "Huh?"

The boys looked nervously at each other before looking at their leader.

"Uh, sorry but… we lost the treasure…" Cubby mumbled.

Slightly nodded. "Yeah, but Ven gave us the neat idea to put what we treasure in there instead!"

The boy they met was Ven. And… he's already gone, of course… Aqua thought sadly, clutching her wayfinder.

"That's a swell idea! Instead of fillin' it up with jewels and gold and stuff, we'll put in what's truly special to us. The real riches!" Peter grinned.

The boys scampered away before returning a few moments later with armfuls of toys and wooden weapons that were all loaded into the trunk.

"What are you putting in, Aqua?" Asked Peter, looking up at her.

"A treasure, huh…? Well, I only have one." She took out the music box and thought back to when she got it.

"Aqua, Aqua, I got it!" Ven plopped down beside the girl and Terra before showing her a small music box that was painted midnight blue like the night sky with little splashes of silver and gold as the stars. "Ta-da! This is my most valuable possession! It helps me sleep at night and I figured it might help you too! I don't need it anymore because I'm all grown up."

Aqua wasn't sure what to do with it when he placed it in her lap. She glanced back at the boys and saw they were busy teasing each other. She wrinkled her nose in confusion while looking at the box. How could a box cure her horrible night terrors? She opened it gently and a melody played out. Despite its seemingly sad tone, it comforted her and she could already feel herself relax. She clutched it tightly and stared in amazement that such a small thing create such wonderful music. She looked back to Ven. "Thank you… Ven… I'll… treasure it forever."

"One of my best friends gave it to me. I've needed it for a long time to chase away nightmares and bad thoughts…"

"You sure you want to part with something that important?" The boy asked with a hint of concern.

Aqua nodded. "Yes. Memories of Ven and Terra keep those things at bay now, and there are many more memories to come."

She made a small hole between the knick-knacks and placed her treasure there. It didn't matter if she had it with her, she'd always treasure it.

Tink flew up with the star shard, about to put it in.

"Oh, Tink, wait. That belongs to a friend of mine, can I have it so I can give it back?" Aqua asked hopefully.

Tinker Bell shook her head greedily but one look from Pan made her hesitate. "Now, Tink!"

"Thank you." The moment the star shard landed in her hands, it began to glow a familiar light making everyone gasp.

Aqua was swallowed by the light and was gone.

"She's… She's gone!" Slightly gasped after looking around.

Cubby followed the light and saw it shoot back up through the sky. "Look! The light!"

The boys and Tink watched the light zig-zagging across the sky and Pan smiled. "Don't worry, men. Wherever the light takes her, Aqua will always have friends waitin' to meet her."

Once the light was gone, the boys closed up the chest and began hauling it back to camp, intent on keeping the treasure safe.