Neverland is Forever

A/N: Now we've moved beyond what I'd written in my handy little notebook, so from here on out it's fresh ideas, and not the story I've been mulling over ever since the new movie came out. Speaking of, it's out on video today. Guess who's making a trip to Blockbuster? *happy squee* I can't help it, it sounds molest-y, but I love that Jeremy... mmm... Totally the master of the 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' grin. *sigh* Anyway, on with the story!

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Lily soared through the air, the breeze brushing past her cheek like a gentle caress. The feeling of complete weightlessness was a brand new thrill to her, and Peter delighted in watching the expressions of joy and excitement on her face as she flew through the air. After a while she became more daring, and started making loop-de-loops in mid-air and making sudden dives to touch her feet to random rooftops. Peter laughed heartily when she pretended to ice skate on the Thames, her toes making little ripples in the water as she moved. For the first time since she could really remember, she was smiling and laughing, and not worrying about what the next day would bring.

"Where is Neverland, Peter? Is it far outside of London?"

Peter grinned, nodding. "Yes, quite far." He took Lily's arm and pointed her hand at a group of stars in the sky. "You see that over there? It's the seconar tar to the right, and straight on til morning."

Lily looked confused for a moment, but then shrugged. It made about as much sense as anything else that night did.

They continued flying for a while, when suddenly Lily noticed that the ocean looked completely different. It had become a sparkling deep blue, clearer and more beautiful than any ocean she had ever seen. When she looked ahead, she saw the remains of what looked like a large ship about a mile away from the shore of a great island. The tattered remains of a black and white flag hung limply from the broken mast, and rotted out holes marked the hull. On the other side of the island, a smaller ship, but in much better repair, sailed the sea, flying the skull and crossbones. Pirates, Lily thought to herself. There are pirates.

Lily's blue-violet gaze now turned to the island itself. As they approached she noticed that most of the island was covered in dense forest. She noticed a small village of conical tents located in a clearing of the forest, and a lagoon with a waterfall at the edge of the island. There were other things she noticed here or there all over the island, but they were flying so fast that she couldn't really catch them.

Peter had begun flying incredibly fast, turning back every now and then to make sure that Lily was keeping up. He was glad to be home, and with someone new with whom he could share Neverland. "You see over there? That's the Pirate Ship, captained by the vicious Captain Smee. And over there, that little bay, that's where the mermaids live, and-"

"Mermaids? There are mermaids?"

"Well yes, but I don't think they are what you typically think of when you think of mermaids. They're a treacherous group, keep trying to pull people down into the water with them. I'd advise not getting to close to the water in their bay."

Lily nodded quietly. It was all so unreal, this beautiful place with the strange scent in the air and this strange boy who taught her to fly. But at the same time that it was the most fantasical thing she'd ever experienced, for some reason, it also seemed the most real thing she had ever known. It was as though she were finally waking up, and the rest of her life had simply been a dream that she was now free of.

She inhaled deeply the tangy, wonderful scent of Neverland air, following Peter as he flew down into a certaectiection of the forest, diving between branches, which Lily chose to fly between more carefully. She found herself in a clearing covered by the canopy formed by the large trees all around. Peter stood in the middle of the clearing and put his fingers into his mouth, letting out a shrill piercing whistle.

Suddenly from the trees appeared half dozen differeoys oys of varying ages. A few slid down a rope suspended from one of the branches, a few somersaulted out of the trees and landed, with the aid of fairy dust, safely in the clearing, others climbed down recently unfurled rope ladders, and still others swung in on vines.

"Peter's back!"
"Yay, it's Peter!"
"Who's that Peter?"
"He brought someone with him."
"Where'd she come from?"
"Is she gonna be one of us?"

Lily laughed out loud at the flurry of voices and activity, but Peter gave them all a stern look and all the boys suddenly became quiet.

"Everybody, this is Lily, and she's come to stay with us here."

This began another volley of words.

"She's staying?"
"Can she use a sword?"
"I bet she can't fly as good as me!"
"She can't be a lost boy though, she's a girl!"
"So, she can still be one of us."
"I like her, she's pretty!"

Peter narrowed his eyes, giving the boys another stern look. After they had all quieted, Peter cleared his throat and began speaking again. "Boys, I want you all to introduce yourself to Lily." As all the boys started talking at once, he held up a hand and pointed to the end of the line. "You start, and then move down the line, all right? Otherwise she'll never be able to understand you."

A red haired boy with freckles spoke first. "I'm Chip." He smiled brightly, revealing he was missing his two front teeth.

A brown haired boy with muddy brown eyes spoke next. "They call me Toad," he grinned and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

A chubby kid with dirty blonde hair laughed and stated, "I'm Chuckles."

A short boy with a curly black hair grinned at Lily. "I'm called Monkey, cause I can climb trees with the best of them!"

A rather skinny boy spoke up. "They call me Bones." He smiled brightly.

The youngest of the bunch was next. He could be no more than six or seven years old. "My name is Noodle." He smiled happily, rubbing at his eye with one hand as he looked at Lily.

Lily smiled brightly. "I'm pleased to meet all of you." She yawned slightly, attempting to hide it with her hand.

"Are you sleepy, Lily?" Peter asked. "I know the first trip is always pretty long."

"Actually, I am a bit tired, Peter. Is there somewhere I can sleep?"

Peter nodded. "Well, the boys all sleep up in the branches, but you can sleep in my tree tonight."

Peter walked up to an incredibly large tree and touched a particular knot in it's bark. It opened to reveal a large room, with a bed made of vines hanging from the wall on one side, and a small table and chair set on another wall. The floor was littered with swords and cups and leaves and toys of all sorts.

Peter gave a bit of a sheepish grin, for some reason feeling that the room should be neater when Lily saw it, and ushered her over to the vine bed. "You can sleep in my bed tonight. We'll make you one of your own tomorrow. Tomorrow I can show you all sorts of things, like the lagoon, and the pirates, and- Do you know how to swordfight?"

Lily shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't."

"Well then, I'll have to teach you how tomorrow. Anyway, I guess I should let you sleep."

Lily nodded and smiled, giving Peter a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Peter." She climbed into his bed, and almost immediately fell asleep. Peter just looked at her for a while, his hand over the place on his cheek that she had kissed. That was... a thimble... or no, really it was a kiss... He remembered that a thimble-kiss was good, and made him feel especially happy, but he couldn't remember where d red received one before.

He shook his head and looked at Lily as she slept, her hair spread all around her. He reached out a hand tentatively and touched a strand of hair. It was unbelievably soft. He twined it around his finger gently, feeling it's silkiness as it wound around his hand. Lily murmured something in her sleep and shifted, making Peter jerk his hand back.

He turned away, looking at Lily once more over his shoulder before leaving the tree and closing the entrance.