Pan's Redemption

Chapter 43 ~Friends No More*

And then she was snapped back into the cave with Pan.

"Are you okay?" Pan asked looking at her worriedly. He cringed holding his ribs as he sat up.

Tink half smiled at him, "Fine, just a nightmare."

A brutal nightmare.

~~~~~~~~

Wendy was shoved out if Tinkerbell's head similar to the snap of an elastic band. She gasped taking in the surroundings she had left behind. She was still on Hook's ship. The sky was a morning pink signaling the sun's rising. Wendy was alone; Hook and Felix must have still been below deck for the privacy she required before the trip into Tink's consciousness.

Wendy took these quiet moments to think of him. To take a step back and determine if she was making the right choice by leaving.

It is the only way the hour glass will stop, Wendy reminded herself.

Yes, she was making the right decision. Wendy couldn't follow with her heart any longer. It only told her to stay on Neverland and be with the one who made her heart hurt in the most wonderful ways. She could only listen to her mind. The only constant reminder about how she held Pan's heart. How this bittersweet choice would stop his greed, and therefore his time limit.

Hearing Pan's voice in Tink's head had made her waver. Hearing how broken he sounded choked her revenge plot. She just wanted him to be safe. But that should be simple request would not happen anytime soon if she didn't get a move on.

Wendy stood and made her way below deck. Felix appeared to be resting his head on the small kitchen table, but as she got closer Wendy heard a light snore. She looked doen at him startled with an unfamiliar sense of betrayal. He picked this time to catch up on his sleep? In the middle of their planned sneak attack.

Wendy revised that thought in her head. Sneak attack sounded a bit childish and uncool. Ambush, that's a better word.

Her anger evaporated as she tried to think of the last time she had slept herself. She was too busy playing mind games in Tinkerbell's head.

Hook was sitting at one of the lower deck windows that overlooked the beautiful coral reefs and small schools of fish under the water's surface. He looked up at her approach, but he too looked haggard. Wendy sat herself on the other window next to him.

"I'm sorry you guys are so tired." Hook shook his head. He smirked as if none of it phased him.

"No, don't worry about it. What did you tell Tink?"

Wendy prepared a lie. She tried to think of something convincing. They needed to believe in her. She couldn't tell Hook her plans in fear of a reaction like Tink's.

"I know that face," Hook warned her sitting up from the windowsill, "No more surprises. Whatever it is, tell me. Don't make me as terrified as I was when you sought me out with a tail." Wendy flinched, but nodded. She looked over her shoulder to make sure Felix was asleep.

"I know that you don't approve of my liking towards Pan...." Wendy trailed off with whisper laugh.

"Are you looking for an approval to marry, then? After this is all over? You're what twelve?"

Wendy's heart felt like it got stabbed with a thousand icicles.

"I'm fourteen." Wendy couldn't contain the sadness in her tone. Hook's expression went from teasing to serious in a blink of an eye.

"I misread the situation completely, didn't I?"

"Yep."

"I'm sorry. Carry on, I'll shut up." Wendy almost smiled, but sighed instead. She thought telling people her feelings was supposed to help. Make it seem like she wasn't bottling everything up till she explodes. It only seemed to hurt her more to say it out loud.