Perdita (A Peter Pan OUAT Fanfic)

CHAPTER TEN: Water Duty

A/N - I wasn't really sure about the plot for this chapter because my original plan seemed too short, so I merged two chapters together but now, to me, it seems like things are moving too quickly. So, sorry for that but I wasn't sure what else to do.

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It had been weeks since I'd first arrived. I'd lost track of the exact amount of days, but a significant amount of time had passed since that first awakening on the beach. I still didn't know who I was, nor had any information shown promise of revealing itself, but, to my surprise, I didn't mind as much as I thought I would. Whilst I was busy and my mind preoccupied, my time in Neverland wasn't nearly as bad as I expected and at moments, I even experienced brief bouts of something close to joy.

Each day had been similar to those two I'd spent with Felix: every morning, I'd wake and he'd meet me by the door of my tent - I'd even learnt the time by the position of the sun so that I could be ready in the morning when he arrived - and he'd take me on some expedition to gather something to bring back to the camp. (I'd completely forgiven Felix for the time when he'd held the knife to my throat; that boy was just what Peter had told him to be, not the one I knew otherwise. And anyway, so much had happened since the event that if hardly seemed relevant anymore.) In the first week or so, we had shared little conversation, no more than vague chatter, but eventually we had both become more sociable and spoke almost the entire time we were out. Our discussions were always light-hearted, never as meaningful as the first fishing trip, but still, I appreciated the talking and I could tell he did too. It was the only conversation I got at all, and I didn't think he was a particularly popular target for chatting either.

I didn't speak to anyone inside the camp, or very rarely anyway. I had picked up a few names in passing comments, but hadn't spoke directly to their owners. The boys had stopped staring altogether and they left me alone in my tent without so much as a whisper of disturbance, and at the evening campfire celebrations, I was all but invisible. Or... we were. Felix still sat next to me every night without fail. Like clockwork, he would bring me that night's dinner and sit beside me without a word. We were always in the same place; our out of the way, back corner log. It was as though no one even knew we were there.

I hadn't spoken to Peter Pan in forever.

Just as expected, Felix showed up at my door just as the dawn light broke over the treetops around the camp, on the morning of one very interesting day. His knock came as always; two concise taps against the wood.

I was already up and prepared, perfectly predicting his timing, and opened the door seconds after his knock. There he stood in his usual dark armour, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Good morning, Perdita," he greeted me cheerfully. He looked me directly in the eye and smiled an animated grin. This had become the norm.

"Nothing good about it. Mornings shouldn't exist, in my opinion," I yawned forcefully for dramatic emphasis. It was true. In the past weeks, I had discovered that I was unequivocally a night owl, and waking up before noon was the Bane of my existence. I had no choice, though, for however friendly I was with Felix, the rule still stood, as it did for everyone, about earning my keep.

He pretended like he didn't hear that. "You know, that name you picked - 'Perdita' - is a real mouthful. Mind if I shorten it?"

"Yeah, do whatever you want with it."

"Hmm... you are 'Perdy'. That's much better."

I had to agree. 'Perdita' didn't sit well in casual conversation. Perdy was much better.

"Okay," I laughed. "So what is it today? Something new?"

"Water Duty," he replied, wincing like he could already anticipate my reaction.