Chapter 14

Lucy walked out onto the deck with the air of confidence she had always held when she was on the ship before and joined the group of cheering Pirates. She could see Peter tied to the mast of the ship his head held high, as proud as always. But Lucy could see a tiny tear forming in the corner of his eye. A tear that she had formed with her betrayal, even though Peter would never let it fall.
"Lucy!" Gale exclaimed from behind her. "Come to enjoy the show."
Lucy turned around and smiled confidently at Gale. "I don't know what came over me earlier," she said apologetically. "The boy deserves this and nothing less. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Slowly, Lucy started to make her way towards the front of the crowd as the Captain began his speech. She didn't have a plan. She had no idea how she was going to delay the inevitable from happening, but she knew that if she didn't try, she would never be able to forgive herself.

Lucy knew when the Captain was drawing to the end of his speech, she had listened to enough of them to know. "…and now," Hook concluded dramatically. "Peter Pan shall die!"
"Wait!" Lucy screamed she had no idea what she was doing. Millions of thoughts were zooming through her head right now, what was she going to do?
"Before he dies, I would like to say a few words," Lucy said finally.

Lucy looked at Peter and he stared back at her with pure hatred. It hurt her for him to look at her like that. Over the last few days, she had grown to like Peter however cocky he may be. There was something different about him though and she knew what it was, Nibs had explained it to her when she first came here. Neverland would keep you young as long as you showed no desire to become older. By falling in love with her Peter had broken this rule and so he had aged by a year. Lucy knew that it was her fault. She wished there was something that she could do to let Peter know that she was on his side but she knew that if she did one of the pirates would notice for sure. For now it was time for her to make a speech.

Lucy turned to face the pirates, who were all staring at her in surprise; no one interrupted the captain like that when he was making a speech.
"It was I who brought Pan to his death," Lucy began staring out at the crowd with an air of confidence. "Without me, our Captain would be no closer to getting his revenge than he was ten years ago when Peter cut of his hand and I will take the credit for this victory."
Hook barred his teeth at Lucy's speech he knew that it was right for Lucy to take the credit for her work, and he couldn't help but admire her for it, but at the same time he hated it. Why did she think she could have so much authority? "Thank you Lucy," he said. "I assure you that you will get the reward that you deserve," Hook said. Slowly, he leaned towards her and hissed into her ear, "Remember that I have the authority on this ship and you have no right to make me look like a fool."
"Yes father," Lucy replied obediently all the while staring up at the clear blue sky, but Tiger Lily and the lost boys were nowhere to be seen. What was taking them so long? She needed there help and she needed it now. There was no way she could put of Peter's death for too much longer.

Cut from the mast Peter was tied to an anchor heavy enough to stop him from flying and prepared to walk the plank. He didn't do anything to fight back or even flinch at the pirate's threats. Lucy knew why. It was her fault, her betrayal seemed to have sucked the life out of Peter and all that was left was an empty shell. She had to do something. "Before he dies there is something I would like to say to him," Lucy said. Lucy stepped towards Peter with an air of hate and distrust. Slowly, she leaned in and whispered into his ear. "Tiger Lily and the lost boys are on their way. We have to delay until they turn up. Trust me." Her voice sounded needy and urgent but it didn't seem like Peter needed any persuasion of her loyalties anyway. Her words seemed to have lit a spark inside him. Lucy could see it in his eyes. Something that said that he did trust her and that he had never stopped believing in her.

As Lucy stepped away Peter glared at her as if she had said something horrible. But still he did not speak as though he was afraid his voice would fail him. Finally he said "If you kill me the whole island will turn into a war zone, the way it was before I arrived here." He glared at Hook as he said this. "You thought that you had control, that you were a leader, but really it was chaos. I was the one to restore the peace. You have nothing Hook. Once I am dead what will you do? Once I am dead your life will have lost its purpose. What will you have to look forward to? Once I am gone there is nothing for you to do. No one for you to hunt and try to kill. No one loves you. You are alone in the world and once you have killed me that's it. Nothing more for you to do. Your alone Hook. Old, alone and done for."

All the way through Peter's speech Lucy had been staring at the sky, barely taking in his words. What was taking Tiger Lily so long? She should be here by now. Unless the lost boys had found out about her already, what if they didn't believe it was the real Tiger Lily, what If the thought it was still her in disguise? Suddenly a load of doubts crossed her mind, but she pushed them away. The boys didn't know about her and there was no way that they would have found out right? They would have thought that Peter was still out with Tiger Lily. Suddenly she saw them. They were only tiny dots travelling towards them on the horizon, but she knew it was them. It was time to put her plans into action before any of the pirates noticed.

"Your wrong Pan," Hook said. "When you are gone, I will have complete control of the island. I will be it's king, like I was before. Everyone will worship me. I am not alone anymore Peter. I have my daughter, she gives me memories of my life before Neverland and of my one true love, Evelyn…"
"Sorry father," Lucy said. "I can't stay with you."
Drawing the knife she had been hiding in her jacket, she stabbed it into her father's coat pining him to the mast which he had been leaning on lazily. This gave her time to cut Peter free as Hook was recovering from the shock of her sudden betrayal. Suddenly there was the sound of 14 feet hitting the deck behind them. The pirates spun around to see the lost boys, Tiger Lily, Tinkerbelle and… Peter Pan?