<div style="text-align: center"><b>Tiger Lily</b><br/>
<i>A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step</i>​</div><br/>Since he’d appeared in her tribe’s lands, searching for her and knowing he needed her help to fulfill his mission, Hook had done nothing but bungle about and cause more problems than he solved.  How many times had they been close enough to grab Wendy, return her to Neverland, and set things to rights?  Yet each time his buffoonery had botched their plans.<br/><br/>“<i>You</i>?  Tell<i>me</i>what needs to be done?”  Her nostrils flared and a dry humorless laugh burst forth.  “You will do nothing of the sort, Captain,” she said with sneering disdain dripping from every clipped syllable.  “I have walked next to you on your path of tonight’s missteps but now it is time that I take the lead otherwise we risk Neverland’s demise.”  Unspoken words hung heavy in the air around them - if Neverland perished, so too did they.<br/><br/>Her expression softened around the corners of her eyes.  “I see it clearly now, why we have been destined to fail.  There is something we’ve missed, something we must take back.  There is a piece of Neverland here, in this realm.  Until we reclaim it and return it to where it belongs, we will always be doomed to failure.”<br/><br/>Lily looked upward to take in the colors of the sky.  They were not so different from the sky in Neverland.  Yet the two realms must stay separated and to save their home, to maintain the natural order, they had to find the missing piece of Neverland before they could remedy the problem Wendy’s escape had caused.  She could feel it pulling at her like a fish hook deep in her core.<br/><br/>But first, she had to keep more of Neverland from leaking into this world.<br/><br/>Stepping forward with her head tilting curiously to one side, Tiger Lily examined the tear in the veil created by Hook’s frantic slicing through the air.  The edges of the opening were frayed.  Several of the threads were smeared red.<i>Wendy’s blood</i>, she thought.  It could be mended but the tear would eventually give way.  They had to be in Neverland before that happened.<br/><br/>Taking hold of one side of the tear with one hand and the other with her other hand, she tugged the edges toward each other.  A wordless tune filled the air, the one her people hummed to set a rhythm to their work, as she pressed and folded and kneaded the edges of the rip back together.  After several minutes of work, the last few notes of the song faded away.  Tiger Lily stepped back to eye her handiwork with a critical eye.  It wasn’t pretty but it would do.<br/><br/>“Come, Captain.  We must hurry.” Without a look to see if he followed, she set off in the direction in which she was being pulled by the piece of Neverland that longed to return from whence it came.<br/><br/><br/><hr class="bbc-hr bbc-hr--3"/><br/><div style="text-align: center"><b>Wendy</b><br/>
<br/>
<i>Saved!</i>​</div><br/>Clutching hands that felt more like sharp talons than fingers yanked and pulled rag doll Wendy into the shallows.  She knew the voices, knew by the strange movements of the bodies attached to those hands that the mermaids had rescued them.  She should have fought them off but she was just too tired.<br/><br/>Tendrils of exhaustion pulled her into sweet unconsciousness.<br/><br/>It seemed like only a heartbeat had passed before a violent jarring shake and Mr. Dameron shouting “Get back!” yanked her back to awareness.  A small pained groan lingered behind her lips as she clutched at him, trying to stay on her feet.  He half-dragged her, she managed to push with her feet, and somehow they made it away from the beach and those horrid mermaids.<br/><br/><i>Mr. Dameron</i>, she tried to say but the words would not form and her teeth would not stop chattering.  Laughter, not like Tink’s bells but like discordant clanging, erupted from the beach only to be interrupted by shrieks and cackling from the once-beautiful creatures of the sea.  Neverland had truly changed for the darker since the last time she’d been here.  Had she done all this?  Had her absence caused these wretched changes? Surely not.  One person could not possibly wreak so much havoc on an entire realm.<br/><br/>He did not waste any time trying to get them further away, deeper into the trees.  For a while, Wendy tried to help and stay on her feet but she was so tired, so drained, so weak, that eventually, Mr. Dameron scooped her up into his arms to carry her.<i>Put me down</i>was the insistent refrain in her head.<i>I can walk</i>its accompaniment.  Such lies though - she was far too cold and exhausted to walk.  Most of her life had been spent dealing with Neverland.  She was a liar but tell more lies to sell more books and make more money.  She wouldn’t stop lying so clearly she needed to be committed over and over again, medicated into submission and when that wouldn’t work, clearly the solution was to create a medical facility behind heavy steel doors in the house her lies had paid for and turn a blind eye to the things that were done to her in the name of healing.  If only she was as brave as Coralia, brave enough to make the choice to end it all.  Except Coralia had been saved by the sea and was now perverted into a horrible version of the beautiful creature she once was.<br/><br/>Whispers poured from his lips as he poked and prodded and pushed pressure onto the rip Hook had torn into her flesh.  She wanted to help, to swat at his hands, tell him that she was<i>fine</i>but her arms wouldn’t cooperate and her fingers felt like ice, frozen and stiff.  Sleep would help.  To sleep, perchance to dream for in this sleep of death what dreams may come.  Those words whispered against a window only a few short hours ago but time was funny in Neverland.  Maybe it had been longer than that.<br/><br/>Soon enough, Mr. Dameron had bandaged her and managed to get most of their sea-sodden clothes off before tucking them into the little pocket under the tree roots he’d found.  A wave of harsh shivers coursed through her body.  Wendy tried to press closer to him, wanting to share what little bits of warmth she had with him instead of leaching all of his away.<br/><br/><i>“You’ll be okay Wendy… I promised… I promised…” </i><br/><br/>“I am okay.” Her first attempt at speaking was just an exhale flavored with those three words.  Wendy coughed, winced in pain, then tried again.  “I’m okay, Mr. Dameron.  You saved me from Hook and those mermaids...I knew you would.  I’ve always known you would.”  Her voice trailed off, her eyes closing slowly.  Only resting her eyes for a moment, just a brief moment.  “But Peter...he just...needs…” Again, her voice faded away as sleep claimed her.<br/><br/>Minutes or hours or days could have passed by the time Wendy opened her eyes again.  The trees’ canopy blocked her view of the sky but it was still dark and she knew the stars overhead hadn’t changed at all.  They never did.  After all, a person could hardly be expected to know which star to follow to Neverland if they were constantly moving, could they?<br/><br/>He must have fallen asleep too; she could feel the rhythm of his chest rising and falling in the sleep deep breaths of sleep against her body.  It felt wonderful to be warm again.  Wendy lifted her head from where she’d pillowed it just over his heart and looked up at the man who had more than fulfilled his task of keeping her safe.  A gentle smile formed.  He looked so peaceful.  Behind the man he had become, she could still see the Boy he had once been.  She remembered now.  All those years ago when she’d first seen his face and all those times since she swore she’d caught glimpses out of the corner of her of someone she knew long ago flirted on the edges of her memories where she knew, if she concentrated hard enough, she could bring them forth.<br/><br/>Carefully, Wendy tugged her arm free from the tight cocoon of his body and brought her hand up.  Gentle fingers traced the contours of his face from his temple to his cheekbone down to his jaw.  The storm in her eyes had quieted as she slept so it was with eyes the pure blue of a calm ocean that watched his face so carefully.  “Mr. Dameron,” she whispered, “it’s time to wake up.  We can’t stay here.”  She twisted and pushed until sleep-heavy arms released her so she could pull on salt-stiffened clothes.  Behind her, she could hear her companion getting to his feet and slowly getting dressed.  Wendy rested a hand on a knot in the trunk as she looked around in an attempt to figure out exactly where in Neverland they were.<br/><br/>A strong thrum, like the vibration of guitar strings, ran through her arm.<br/><br/>Wendy yanked her hand away and scrambled back a few steps.<br/><br/>The tree must have been alive for thousands and thousands of years to grow as large as it was.  Once upon a time, its branches grew strong into the sky, its leaves colored with their vibrant shades of green rustled in the breezes only a being of such gigantic proportions could catch.  It had been alive and well, forming the heart of Neverland.  Now it was dead.  Gnarled and gray and rife with the stench of death.  Perhaps its death had formed the rot that had taken over Neverland from its core.  Or perhaps the rot that infected the realm had finally attacked the tree.  Either way, the tree was dead and Neverland was dying.<br/><br/>“This is Peter’s tree, Mr. Dameron.  Do you remember?” Awe and reverence filled her voice as she reached back to slip her hand into his.  They had to go inside.  They didn’t have to stay long but there was a longing deep in Wendy Darling’s gut that wanted to make sure that she hadn’t made any of this up.<br/><br/>Leading him along, she picked her way around the massive tree, searching for the way inside.  They were about a third of the way around from where they’d started when she stopped and smiled.  “Here it is.”  Lifting their joined hands, Wendy pressed on a large knot.  A small door hidden in a twist of roots at their feet swung open with only the smallest of creaks.<br/><br/>She ducked and crouched to fit through the door, not letting go of his hand.  They had made it this far together and together was the only way she could see them getting any farther.  Once inside the tree, they were able to straighten up to their full heights.  Clever hand and footholds had been carved up the inside to form a sort of stair-ladder that would take them up to the spacious rooms above.[/I]<br/><br/><br/><hr class="bbc-hr bbc-hr--3"/><br/><div style="text-align: center"><b>Tinkerbell</b><br/>
<br/>
<i>Neverland</i>​</div><br/>Peter was who she loved most.  He was the one who was careful and most protective of both her and her fragile wings whether she was big or small.  They were a team, always had been together, always would be together.  Except Peter wanted fun and games and crazy adventures involving danger and daring and tormenting the pirates.  Peter couldn’t, wouldn’t, didn’t understand why she wanted Wendy Darling deader’n a doornail.<br/><br/>But Pan did.<br/><br/>Until tonight, she would have shied away from the Pan.  Gone along with his schemes and plots - he was still here Peter down deep somewhere - but not as excitedly as she would dive headfirst into whatever Peter suggested with nary a second thought.  Peter wasn’t the one who was going to help her find Wendy though; Pan was.<br/><br/>Her eyes snapped up to meet his only to find him smiling at her.  It was Peter’s smile but<i>more</i>.  Darker.  All the red coloring her so furiously whooshed away like she had been doused with a bucket of water.  The sudden loss of heated vengeance was too much, enough to make her gasp and her wings to skip a beat.<br/><br/>Rarely was Tinkerbell without a tint to her frame and this time was no exception.  Gold bloomed in her eyes and spread down to her toes and out to her fingers and into the delicate webbing of veins of her wings.  Another quick inhale followed a quick glance at where her fingers were still wrapped tightly around his wrist.  So gold, almost glittering.  So extremely happy.<br/><br/>Tink laughed, that delicate peal of bells behind the joyous sound.  She released her companion and zipped high into the sky, twisting and turning on the currents of the wind before diving down toward the tops of the trees.  A kingfisher diving for prey but she was not after fish.  No, this fairy was after Wendy Moira Angela Darling, the Wendybird she would finally get to shoot and kill.<br/><br/>“Pan!” she cried delightedly as she zipped past him.  “Let’s find the Wendybird!  The boys need our help!”<br/><br/><br/><hr class="bbc-hr bbc-hr--3"/><br/><div style="text-align: center"><b>Wendy</b><br/>
<br/>
<i>Memories</i><br/>
<br/>​</div><br/>“I remember the very first time I saw you, Mr. Dameron,” Wendy said in a hushed voice, not wanting to break the magical atmosphere of the long-abandoned treehouse.  She glanced over her shoulder at him, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Moonlight streaming through the round window that had once been a giant knot in the tree’s trunk illuminated her like a spotlight, making her dark hair glow silver.<br/><br/>“I was sleeping in my hammock, the one Peter had the Boys make for me because girls don’t have to sleep on the ground, you see.”  Wendy took one step, two steps toward that window, her finger drawing a gentle loop through the air, marking the place where her hammock had once been suspended.  “Peter never liked to sleep.  His mind was always go go going, all through the night until he’d just collapse from exhaustion.  Usually, he’d let me sleep though, wanting me rested for whatever he decided we’d do during the day.”<br/><br/>She turned to face him where he stood in the center of the great round space, littered here and there with the detritus of so many long-forgotten Boys, some of whom met untimely ends at the hands of Hook and his pirates, some of whom had become pirates themselves, and some who had become Pan’s shadows...  “He shook me awake, grabbed my hammock, and rocked it back and forth.  ‘Wendy!  Wendy!’ he hissed at me until my eyes opened.”  Stormy blue eyes searched his face, dropped down to his mouth, then lifted to linger on his eyes.  “Do you remember yet, Mr. Dameron?<br/><br/>She paused to see if long-forgotten memories had unlocked.  Hope started to bloom in her eyes despite her best attempts to squash it down.<br/><br/>“I opened my eyes to find Peter staring down at me.  He didn’t have all the,” her hand circled around her face, “yet.  ‘I’ve found us a new Boy, Wendy’ he said.  And I looked over his shoulder, Mr. Dameron, and there you were.  Younger, happier I think, excited to be in Neverland.  The world wasn’t weighing on you back then.”<br/><br/>Wendy shoved her hands in her pockets and turned away, staring without seeing at the special place she used to sleep all those years ago.  “ ‘This is James, Wendy’ is what Peter said.  ‘He’s going to come with us on all our adventures now.’  I felt jealous.  He was looking at you and talking about you the same way he did about me when he was trying to convince me to come to Neverland. He has a strange way of making a person feel special, doesn’t he? I was scared Peter would forget about me because he had you now but then… you smiled at me, Mr. Dameron.”<br/><br/>Her shoulders drew up toward her ears as she moved to the large round window.  “You smiled at me and in  that moment, I knew everything would be okay.”  One hand left the safety of her pocket to trace the curve of the round windowsill.  “You’ve always been able to make me feel like that…even when everything’s gone to shit.” That hand rose, delicately fingering the hastily-made bandage on her neck.  “Even when you forgot about me and I forgot about you.  I think I held the memory of you in a very special place...tucked away in the back of my mind until tonight.”<br/><br/>Risking a glance over her shoulder, she offered a half-smile.  “Will you smile at me like that again, James?”  There was reverence, a weight in the way she finally let his first name roll off her tongue, in the care she gave it as it slipped from her lips to linger in the air in the quiet room around them.