Foreverland

Chapter 6

•Peter•

I often wake falling- if that makes sense. I'm often falling, drowning, and dying in my dreams. Yet I still wake before I hit the ground or before I take my last breath. Not this morning. I didn't sit up with a gasp or a scream. I woke to the sun filtering through the cracks in the hollowed tree.

I didn't feel panicked. It was hard to explain but something felt off. Like something was missing. I wasn't sad, yet I wasn't happy either. I'd call the feeling emptiness if it wasn't so different than before. It felt as though everything I had was gone. Everything inside of me was missing and I- I just couldn't explain it. There's moments where I can laugh and play and then there are those where I just sit, and shake, and overthink. It wasn't either of those moments now, I felt different.

Something inside of me was gone. I wasn't sure if I wanted it back.

I went to reach for my flute when I realized there were already noises coming from outside. Had I slept in past the boys? I walked out from the tree to my throne, counting heads as I did so.

There were eight of them. It was the correct number, but not the correct number of boys. I didn't see Ara, yet there was eight Lost Boys. I counted again, stopping and number six. The back of their head was facing me, one I didn't recognize. Before I had the chance to speak, they turned he turned to look up at me.

No, not he.

She.

Although Ara's grin was unmistakable, almost all her hair was gone. The sides were all chopped off, the top was left just long enough to curl over her eyes. My jaw dropped and her eyes shone with accomplishment.

"Ara." I growled, standing up, "what have you done?"

"I am making breakfast, is there a problem with that?" The strange emptiness I was feeling moments ago was replaced by anger, and she could tell. "Oh! You mean my hair?"

"Yes, your hair."

"Well I felt a little out of place you know. So I decided to chop it all off to fit in a bit more!" The fake cheerfulness grated on my nerves, "Plus, I never like my long hair and my parents would never have let me cut it off. don't you like it?"

No. I didn't like it.

"Just... go eat." I held back all the words I wanted to scream and sunk back into my chair. Ara was supposed to be different from the boys, that was the point of all of this. I couldn't stand everything just staying the same, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to move on, move forward.

"Catch." Damon called, chucking an apple at my face. It hit my palm firmly and the rest of the boys chuckled. It seemed to be a new game these days, who would be the first one to catch Peter Pan off guard. None of them seemed to be making any progress.

"Nice try Damon." Winston scoffed as I took a large bite out of the apple. "What are we doing today?"

"Hm." I took another bite of my apple and chewed it slowly. I had all of their attention now and I liked to play these moments out. Well, almost all. Ara was too occupied with her food. "Well what do my Lost Boys want to do?"

A thousand suggestions came at once. I let the words roll over me, not listening to a single one. I already knew what were going to do, I just liked to let them think they had a choice.

"I think we're going to practice some sword fighting today." I announced with a smile. No one ever beet me in sword fighting, it would give me an opportunity to put Ara in-

"I don't think anyone suggested that." Ara spoke up, finally looking up from her food to give me a knowing smirk. "What if we went to see what the pirates are up to?"

The pirates?

How did she know about them already.

A chorus of cheers erupted. For years the boys had been begging to stir up some trouble with the pirates. Especially Winston, Alex and Little Jack, as they had faint memories of back when we did.

"Go pack up! We leave in 20!" She called out, never breaking eye contact with me. As the boys scurried off we stayed frozen in place. Her eyes darkened and for a moment I felt like I was looking into a mirror. It scared me.

"I'm going to let this one go... for now." I jumped down from my chair and walked straight for her. I expected her back up, trip over her heels until her back was against a tree. Where she'd be trapped. Where she'd be scared. It was a tactic I used too many times.

But Ara didn't back up. She didn't flinch. Instead she raised her chin smugly, even when we were just inches apart.

"When we get back, however. You're going to wish you never opened your big mouth." I pushed past her, every nerve in my body forcing me not to turn around when I heard her snicker. Was I loosing my touch? All the other boys still appeared to fear me. So why didn't she?

↢ ↢ ↢

We stood on the beach. Ara, Winston, Alex, Jack, Damon and I. Emris had begrudgingly stayed back with Toby and Spencer. It was noon and I could see the outline of a little boat bouncing across the waves. They always came in at noon to scavenge for supplies. So predictable.

"I know you all think you could take down a giant, but it's still my duty to tell you to be careful." I leaned on a large boulder and watched them wait anxiously in the sand. Alex and Winston were the closest and both gave me a quick nod. Jack stood over Damon who was drawing in the sand- probably trying to summon a demon of some sort. Then there was Ara, standing the farthest away and quite obviously watching me out of the corner of her eye.

I tried not to let my face betray the turmoil I felt inside. Each second that ticked by heart skipped a beat. What would happen when they saw me? Who exactly was on that boat? I was ready to face any of them. Not after that day.

They were close now and could surely see us waiting for them. There was three of them, I couldn't imagine what was going on in their heads. I was surprised they weren't turning around. They were heavily outnumbered.

"You follow my lead, understand?" I commanded as the pirates pulled their boat onto land, glaring at Ara and Damon. They were the most unpredictable.

"Peter Pan. It's been awhile." A familiar voice called. He'd grown in the past five years. The massive scars across his face were as sharp as ever. I still remembered when I slashed my sword across his face, relieving his from his left eye. The cut hadn't gone deep enough and the boy had just slipped my grasp. He didn't look like that innocent boy anymore.

"Chay." I nodded, not sure what to say. I wasn't even sure why I'd let this happen.

"It's Captain Scar now." His mangled mouth twisted into a sort of smile. I raised my eyebrow at Cecco at his left who I'd have expected to become captain after Hooks death. He shrugged with a sly grin. He hadn't been one for the spotlight anyways. Captain Scar looked much more intimidating, even if I knew it was all for show.

"Ah I didn't realize we were still going with the silly nicknames." I chuckled, regretting this more and more with every second. At least I was not grateful Ara had cut off all her hair. Maybe they wouldn't notice she was another girl. Maybe we could walk away from this without starting another war.

"D-Do I know you?" Winston sputtered from behind me and I followed his gaze to where it landed on Elijah.

Elijah looked back at him, a pained look clouding his eyes. The face of youth I remembered had hardened over these years. I hated it. I hated the thought that Elijah chose to stay with the pirates after they abducted him from the last fight. That dreadful day.

"Yes, you did. But I suppose you've forgotten." Elijah's eyes grew cold when they landed on mine, "There's much that's been forgotten."