Chapter Nineteen: Peter

Peter couldn't help smiling. He stretched out on his bed and breathed in the morning air. He had dreamed about Wendy, and at times she had felt so close and so real. Losing her yesterday had made him realize just how much she meant to him, and as much as it scared him, he planned to tell her how he felt.

He sat up and looked around. The other boys were still sleeping, predictably. They had stayed up late last night celebrating their victory against the pirates. Wendy had taught them all a dance called the tango, and they had danced and laughed until they nearly collapsed.

Peter crept out of bed and made his way over to Wendy's corner, unable to wait one more minute to see her. He hesitated at her partition, suddenly nervous. Would she be awake? What would he say to her if she was? He pulled the blanket back and peeked around it. His heart sank. Wendy was gone.

"Wendy!" He whispered, tip toeing around the house and peering into the tunnels and doors. Peter tried not to wake the others, but as he passed Slightly, the boy sat straight up.

"No! I will NOT lay eggs for you!" He shouted, then fell back in his bed, sound asleep.

Peter sat back on his bed and held his head in his hands. "If Captain Hook took her again, I'll cut off his hand and give it to the Crocodile," he murmured. Then he noticed a scrap of paper on top of the cabinet. He picked it up and read it three times through before he could process it, and even then he wasn't sure it made sense.

Peter,

Thank you for bringing me to Neverland, but I have to go home. Don't drink the medicine.

-Your Wendy

He felt like laughing and crying at the same time. She had left. She was gone. She had essentially told him she was his. And what was this about the medicine? He opened the cabinet and found his flask lying at an odd angle. He turned it around in his hands a few times. Suddenly, something flew in his face and plucked the flask out of his hands.

"Tink! What are you doing?�� He exclaimed, marveling that the tiny robot could heft something three times its size.

"Saving your life," the fairy responded, and flew out of the house. Peter jumped up and ran after her, scrambling up one of the passageways and out of the house, but he couldn't catch her. He followed and called after the fairy all the way to central control. He burst into Tink's small room and found her lying on the floor.

"Tink! Tink?"

She was paler than usual, and she kept coughing and gagging. The flask was next to her on the floor, empty.

"Tink, what happened?" Peter whispered, kneeling over her.

"I... I drank your medicine," she explained weakly. "It was poisoned. Captain Hook, he... poisoned it last night. He's trying to kill you."

"What? Why would he ... ? Why did you drink it?"

"I wanted to make sure you didn't." She seized up with a round of coughing, then exhaled and rested on the floor. "Peter, hold me," she pleaded.

He sat down on the floor and carefully pulled her to him, cradling her head in his lap. She smiled at him, then reached up and pulled his head towards her.

"Tink?" Peter questioned, but before he could say anymore, she lifted her head and pressed her lips to his. A pleasant tingling ran through his body and he instinctively knew he shouldn't be thinking of Wendy at this moment. He pushed the thoughts away and focused all of his attention on Tink. After a few moments she pulled away and sighed.

"What was that?" Peter ventured.

"That... was a kiss," she answered. She gazed at him and Peter detected a subtle sadness in her eyes. "At least I got your first, even if she gets all the rest." She let out a long breath, rested her head on his knee, and closed her eyes.

"Tink?" Peter whispered, beginning to panic. "Tink, wake up!" He shook her shoulders and her head rolled to the side. "No! Tink! Please don't die!" He felt tears filling his eyes as he pushed her ginger hair out of her face. Suddenly, her eyes flew open and she smiled mischievously.

"Aw, you do care," she cooed. "That's so sweet." She jumped up, brushed herself off, and crossed the room.

"Wait, so you're not dying?" He asked, completely baffled.

"No," she laughed, fiddling with something in the lab. "But I appreciate your concern, I really do."

"But, you drank my medicine?"

"Of course not! I'm not stupid," Tink spat. "But it was poisoned," she added, holding up a beaker of cloudy liquid. "One sip of this would have killed you instantly."

"How did you know?"

"I saw the Captain Hook sneak into your house last night and mess with your flask."

"Captain Hook was in my House?" Peter suddenly felt a wave of nausea pass over him. "But, Wendy…"

"Wendy is back in the Grey World, safe and sound," Tink interrupted, anticipating his thoughts. "Well, more or less safe and sound. She might have accidentally run into a few walls on the way out," she added with a grin.

"You took her back?" Peter shouted.

"Whoa! How about a 'thank you' for taking the hussy off of your hands?"

"Why did she come to you?"

"Well, I'm guessing if she had asked you to take her home you would have thrown and fit and locked her up."

"I wouldn't have done that," Peter protested, although he was a little unsure. He wouldn't have locked her up, but he probably would have tried to persuade her to stay. "Why did she leave?" He asked. "Did she say?"

"She probably left because she was sick of you."

"Sick of me?" Peter repeated, his stomach twisting in knots. "She said that?"

"Well, she didn't say that exactly, but think about it. You did take her away from her home, from the people she loved. You forced her to come here when she didn't want to. If someone had done that to me, I would hate them forever."

"Hate?" He felt like the word had punctured his heart and deflated all of his happiness. He sank into a rolling chair behind him. Tink's mouth twitched.

"What's wrong?" Tink pressed. "It's not like you care that much about her, right?"

"Of course I care about her," Peter moaned. "She's the most amazing person I've ever known."

Tink looked down at her hands. "But you told Captain Hook..."

"I was lying! I wasn't about to tell Hook that I loved her!"

"But you'll tell me," Tink said quietly. Peter gazed at her and saw that her face looked exactly the way his heart felt. The realization hit him like getting slapped by the Neverbird's wing. It was like he was seeing her for the first time. How could he have been so stupid? This love, these emotions that he had never experienced until he met Wendy, Tink had felt them for him all this time. He felt awful. Not only for causing Tink pain, but for the pain Wendy had caused him. Now he understood why the others had talked about love as something wonderful and horrible at the same time. He wanted to comfort Tink, but he knew he'd never be able to return that love. He could never make her as happy as Wendy had made him.

"Tink, I'm so sorry…"

"Don't," Tink commanded, wiping away a tear. "I'm fine." She turned away and began tidying some supplies. Peter didn't know what else to say, so he quietly left.

It was uncommonly warm outside, but Peter shivered when he looked out across Neverland. He didn't want to go home. He didn't want to explain to the other boys why Wendy had left. He didn't want to believe it himself. If she really did hate him for forcing her to come with him, then he had to at least apologize. He had to see her one more time.

His decision to find Wendy in the Grey World gave him some motivation, and he quickly headed towards the entrance cavern. He was out of pixie dust, so he took the basket up again, thinking of Wendy during the entire ascent. He was so preoccupied when he reached the lip of the cavern that he didn't notice that someone was inside of it until he'd already stepped in.

"Hello Peter," the Crocodile sneered, her black hair sticking out at odd angles. Her circular pendant swayed as she stepped towards him. "I thought I might find you here."

Peter saw the crazed look in her eyes and the gun in her hand a second too late. Before he could do anything she raised her arm and shot him in the chest.