Pan's Redemption

Chapter 23 ~Thinking Spot*

"Hey," Wendy said softly as she saw his green eyes were already open. He looked at her expectedly. He already knew she was coming.

"Hello, Darling." He said with a half smile. And then he looked away to the ocean. Something was wrong with Pan. He was so high and mighty all the time. He was always mocking about a new game he wanted to try or how he knew the moves his opponents would make.

"I want to talk to you." She said eying him suspiciously. He rolled his pretty green eyes at her expression.

"And what would you like to talk about?" He asked in a sarcastic tone. Wendy forgot what was keeping her from flipping the hammock upside down.

"I want you to train me."

Pan raised his eyebrows in real surprise. "Train you?"

"Yeah, train me. Show me how to be a Lost Girl." Pan looked as if he might have fell out of the hammock himself.

"And why is your interest so peaked today? You haven't spoken to me in a week. Felix is gone. Everyone seems so quiet." He mused. She knew he was trying to get the truth out of her. He wanted to know.

"I'm not going to tell you what happened." She whispered.

Apparently Pan did not like that explanation. He grabbed her arms and pulled her to him. Wendy didn't have time to protest because suddenly he was only inches away from his lips. His eyes were dark again, yet still green. It was like the colors of pine trees. His lips were curved into a crooked smile Wendy had never seen him use before.

"And what makes you think you can get away with that? I am, after all, Peter Pan. And Peter Pan never fails." She had heard the phrase from everyone she knew on the island. She had heard Rudolph and the other Lost Boys whisper it as if it was the code they lived by. Hook told her on the ship along with his 'bloody demon' comment. Tink described it to her in the treehouse. And Felix ruled beside him mocking her in the bamboo cage.

"Peter Pan never fails."  It was an anthem. A hum in the darkness. It was the one sentence Neverland was ruled by. There are no rules on Neverland. No kings or queens, just him. Just Peter Pan, the boy who could do it all. And he was just mocking her now, Wendy knew it. She knew that no matter how much distance was between them for so long now, he was always there. Always watching her every move. Always plotting against her wishes. Always ready to swoop in on a little spark of happiness. Always there to make sure she stays.

She felt like she was having an epiphany. She knew all her struggles were useless. No matter how much freedom she tasted on her tongue each time she neared the escape, he would find her. He always found her. And she would always find him, in the end. Not by choice, or luck. It was by fate. They were meant to be together. She was meant to be the queen of Neverland.

It only made sense. When she first got here, she felt like the island was calling her. She felt it even in her cookie cutter house in London. It was a little hum that told her to buy the book Peter Pan at the book store around the corner from her school. A hum that told her even when she thought she was in love with Daniel, she needed to keep the book in her grasp. It made sense, looking back at it, that she had panicked when Daniel had ripped the book from her grasp a million years ago.

Wendy Darling was meant to stay. Stay with Peter Pan. Forever.

She should have been crying at this. Should have been on her knees begging the sky to take her home. The problem was that she had been staring into those green eyes the whole time. Staring in silence. Pan's face was all she saw and all she could ever see again. The hatred was still there, but something along with it. Something she had never felt before. She couldn't put a name to it.

"Train me to use my powers." The powers Neverland gave her. Pan's brow furrowed in confusion by how well of a subject change occurred.

"And why would I do that?" He again pressed her for information. She resisted, but barley. She told herself over and over again what would result with the truth. The locked closet in her mind had the guilt and Tink locked inside it. If the truth came out, it would come in a whirlwind. She would break in front of the person she absolutely did not want to combust for. And she never would again.

"Train me to fight with you." She used a powerful voice. A strong voice with no cracks or shakes. One that knew what she wanted. One that Pan's little mind games could not penetrate. His eyebrows furrowed again.

"How do I know you won't try to over throw me?" He asked in a sarcastic voice. It was a serious question, but he wanted her to know how doubtful the possibility of that happening was.

"You don't. You just have to trust me." She looking dead into the eyes of the snake. She was Wendy Bird and he was the snake. One blow could kill, another to protect. "There's no point in running away from you anymore. No use to waste any energy. And I don't break my promises. I will become a Lost Girl even if I don't want it for myself." Pan's lips curved into a warm smile. Although his eyes were still as cold as ice, the combination almost made her shiver. Cold nature, warm heart. That was how she could explain Peter. The boy who once was to the boy who is.

"And you will rule by my side?" He asked cautiously trying out the words. Testing how he liked them.

"Yes." Wendy breathed in relief.

"Forever?" He asked again. A hidden promise was buried in those words. She had to quickly remind herself of Syrena in order to remember she was not walking herself into his trap.

"Forever." She lied with a warm smile.

"Then I will train you, my Wendy." He breathed on her ear.

With that Wendy couldn't keep the smile off her face. Victory felt like a high, and she was riding on a livewire.