Sorry for taking so long! Time got away from me.
Sometime later that afternoon, Wendy awoke with a start. She hadn't realized that she had even dozed off, again. The gentle rocking of the sea seemed to help her drift off to sleep easier than she ever could at home. There was another knock at the door, before it gently opened and Mr. Smee poked his face inside.
"Are you awake, Miss. Darling?" He whispered, then broke into a smile when he saw she was sitting up. He straightened and came into the cabin, closing the door behind him. He was balancing a tray on one hand, as he began to move things around on the desk.
"Ah, good. The Cap'n said you were finally feeling better. Gave us all quite a fright, there ya did. I haven't seen the Cap'n so worried in quite a long time." Wendy watched as he bustled around the room. Placing the tray on the newly cleaned desk, he grabbed a handful of cloth she assumed was clothing and began to fold and pack them away in an open chest.
"He was upset?" She asked, watching him. He slowly turned and looked at her with a gentle smile.
"Of course, Miss Darling. He wouldn't leave your side. Wiped your brow, fed you soup, held you all night just to be sure you were safe."
"I didn't realize…" Wendy felt a pain of regret at the sharp words she had said, understanding why he had reacted the way he did. Mr. Smee came up and sat on the edge of the bed, facing her.
"If you don't mind my sayin', there's never only one side to a story." He gave her a meaningful look over his round glasses, and she felt her face heat. As if he knew exactly how she felt, guilty at her continuous harsh assumptions. "Of course, you know all about that, what with your wonderful stories." He climbed to his feet and lifted the cover off the tray.
"Thank you, Mr. Smee." Wendy quickly said before he had a chance to disappear. For an old and heavyset man, he was quicker on his feet than Wendy realized. He smiled again, pulling a smile to her face, as well.
"Feel free to come out for some fresh air and sunshine after your dinner." With that, he left, closing the door behind him. Wendy pulled her knees to her chest and looked out across the ocean. More than one side of any story… There was a side of the story that involved Hook which she didn't know. All of her information about him, all of her judgements, stemmed from when she was a child. Fed to her from Peter Pan, the little boy who cut off Hook's left hand. She wondered over the conversations they had had over the last few days. He told her most inhabitants had arrived in the NeverWorld. Wendy wondered where Hook came from, originally.
After she ate the dinner provided for her of hard cheese, dried meat, and some sort of baked bread, Wendy left the cabin and climbed the stairs to the upper deck. Hook stood at the helm once more, resting both arms on the wheel and staring off into space.
"May I join you?" She asked, tentatively. Instead of answering, Hook turned to the pirate behind him and spoke.
"Take a walk, Banner." The same man from before nodded and walked off, climbing down the opposite stairs. Wendy stayed a bit back, leaning against the railing, watching him.
"I wanted to apologize for my words earlier, I've not been fair to you. I realize I really don't know anything about you." Hook smirked, still looking forward.
"I had hoped you would have grown out of such childish behaviors over time." Hook responded. Wendy glared at his profile, seeing the slight upturn of his lips.
"Which is why I am apologizing. I will do my best to be more open. Although, you did kidnap me." Hook turned a raised eyebrow to her.
"I kidnapped you? You are entirely mistaken, Miss Darling. You're no longer a child, I stole you." Wendy's eyes went wide, seeing the slight curl return to his lips, as he turned back to face forward. There was a beat of silence between them.
"May I ask you something?" Wendy hesitated, waiting for Hook to respond. When he didn't, she ventured forward with her question anyways.
"Have you always been a captain?" The slight smile disappeared, the line of his jaw going tight, as if clenching his teeth. Wendy held her breath for a moment, afraid she had crossed a line.
"I don't… I don't think so. I must have been a child, at one point." He was speaking quietly, staring off into the distance before him. Wendy stood straighter, inching forward to hear him over the sounds of the crew and ship.
"Do you remember your childhood?" she asked, quietly, her interest peaked.
"I remember sleeping in a bunk, under the decks. I can remember the men teaching me things, the captain teaching me how to chart the stars, the time of day, how to read and write… I remember another boy, only a bit older than I was, teaching me how to swim. It's foggy, trying to remember when I was a young boy." He was staring ahead, lost in his thoughts. Wendy dared to step closer to him, brushing the sleeve of his tunic. A look crossed his face, his brows furrowed and his jaw clenched.
"What else do you remember?" She whispered, daring to breathe in his scent. A soft smile played across his mouth.
"I remember the day I was given command of this ship." His right hand splayed out and he lightly ran his long fingers across the helm. He turned to face her, caressing the smooth wood beneath his hand.
"Our Captain had put us in danger. He was given a choice and made a very stupid decision and… it costs all of us. By the time Smee and I found out what had happened, there was nothing we could do. The crew turned mutinous, angry at what had happened. After a vote, we marooned him at the first chance we could. I was voted to replace him as captain of this ship, and she's been mine ever since."
"It was voted upon?" Wendy asked. Hook nodded, leaning casually against the helm.
"Aye, pirates can be some of the most democratic people. We work together to keep our home afloat, to take our spoils, and to keep ourselves alive. It's only fair that we work together to keep the chain of command."
"I didn't realize." Hook raised an eyebrow at her in a mocking look.
"Of course not. I don't imagine you spend a lot of time onboard ships, pirate or not." She flashed a quick smile then turned back to his crew working before him. There was a beat of silence. She also turned to watch the men working before her.
"We've been still for a long while, what are the men doing now?" She ventured.
"The crew is lowering the sails, so we can catch the evening wind and move into port. We should be docked in about three hours, give or take."
"Then, I can have a real shower?" Wendy asked, hopeful.
"Miss Darling, I can appreciate your desire for some type of normalcy however, you must understand this is not your world. The only baths are public baths, and those are only found in taverns or inns." Hook turned, leaning against the wheel once again, watching her face drop in defeat.
"By taverns and inns you mean brothels, don't you?" The corner of his lips pulled up in the slightest smirk.
"Yes, I'm afraid your plumbing hasn't quite made its way to Never World. Though, I can understand why you miss it so much."
"What do you mean it hasn't made it here?" With an exhale, Hook turned from the helm and stepped back towards the wooden railing, leaning gently against it and crossing his arms in front of him. Wendy followed his lead, leaning back beside him.
"Miss Darling, you must understand. Never World is where the forgotten go. Those that are thrown away, swept under the stairs, pushed away from their world. The men that create such magical feats as your shower are not those people. They are not thrown away by society and do not end up here. Therefore, Never World hasn't quite caught up with your world." Wendy took a moment to understand that information.
"How long have you been here, Hook?" She whispered beside him.
"I'm not sure. A… a very long time." She felt, rather than saw his body relax into a heavy sadness. One that Wendy found herself wanting to offer comfort to fight away.
"Haven't you ever wanted to go home?" she tentatively asked. Immediately, he stiffened.
"Of course I have." Hook snipped, standing tall and stepping back to the helm. "It is not so easy as to simply sail home. Don't you imagine we have tried such things? That I have tried to find a way for my crew?" He snapped over his shoulder at her. She tried not to flinch away at his tone.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking about it." Another beat of heavy silence passed before he turned to speak over his shoulder once again.
"You should return to my cabin." She huffed at his clear dismissal.
"Are we not going to shore?" she asked him, standing straight.
"Not tonight, Miss Darling. We will go ashore tomorrow. Goodnight." She tried not to take his steely tone personally, and instead climbed down the stairs and back to the cabin. Mr Smee was waiting at the bottom of the stairs to usher her back to the room she had been occupying for several days, now. Wendy found she was becoming stir-crazy. Needed to feel a little more freedom than the cabin of the ship offered.
"Why are we not going to shore tonight, Mr. Smee?'" She asked him, as he held the door open for her. After a thought, he followed her into the cabin and held the door mostly closed.
"The island we're goin' to Miss. Darling is not safe. It's a very rough crowd that lives there, especially in the nighttime. Only a few of our men will go this evening once we dock, and they go of their own choices. Most of the crew will stay here tonight and embark in the morning." He explained thoughtfully.
"Why are we here, if it's so dangerous?" she asked, sitting on the warm bed and pulling her feet up underneath her.
"'Cause we need supplies. There's no town on NeverLand, and this is the nearest from where we sailed in at. Cap'n is planning to stay at NeverLand for a week, at least, so we need to collect everythin' required in order to do that." He explained slowly. She nodded, understanding.
"Mr. Smee," She called as he was turning to leave. He turned back, hand on the door. "Is Hook going to hunt down Peter Pan?" She finally vocalized her fear, remembering how they had fought when she was a child, how he had wanted to kill Peter.
"I'm sorry Miss Darling, I can't answer that. The Cap'n has a plan but he hasn't shared it with us."
"And, you're happy to simply follow him, blindly?" Her tone was harsher than she meant it to be, but Mr. Smee only smiled.
"It's not often he asks for our faith and he has never steered us wrong before. Why wouldn't we?"