My Darling Girl *Disney fanfic*

20. Blood and Love

**A long time ago**

Wendy and Pan walked hand in hand, a gentle summer breeze ruffling Wendy's braided hair. Pan was in a good mood, which was rarer and rarer these days. The loss of the Neverland, his magic ship, had scuppered his trade links completely – severing Wendy's London forever from this realm and its islands. This meant that now, Pan was having to kidnap children from the islands and the local authorities were closing in. Unable to portal away, he was weaker than he'd ever been.

Last week had been the worst. The twins, two of Pan's Lost Boys, had been killed. Locals on the Isle of Pharaohs had cornered to the two immortals and lynched them. The twins had been dangling from the noose, on the brink of dying without dying, whilst the crowd beneath them brayed for blood. Realising that this wasn't enough, the mob had decapitated them – without much skill. They'd left the bodies for Pan to find. One of the twins' shoulders had been hacked to pieces from the executioner repeatedly missing his neck.

Wendy and the Lost Boys had suffered the brunt of Pan's frustration and anger. Today, however, he was all smiles. Wendy played along, not wanting to bring an end to the sunshine since she was still sporting the remnant of a black eye. Life these last few weeks had been like tiptoeing on glass and Wendy was near skeletal from being too on edge to eat.

"What do you think, darling?" Pan chatted animatedly. "I'm finally keeping the promise I made to you so many years ago." His feet kept floating up a little above the ground he was so excited. Wendy tried to guess what this promise could be. Flowery words and promises were Pan's speciality. He was always promising to 'do better' and to 'be less angry' but it never lasted.

They came to a lagoon and Wendy paused to admire the scenery. The lagoon's waters were a beautiful crystal clear turquoise and large flowers grew over the rocks, dripping fat petals into the pool. Pan left her side and flew over the water. Hovering over the smooth reflective surface, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a shell. Wendy watched him deliberately slice his finger on the shell's sharp edge.

A droplet of blood gleamed on the shell's snowy ridges. With the pad of his thumb, he smeared the blood in a streak across the shell – before bringing it to his lips and kissing it. Wendy frowned, perplexed, as Pan dropped the shell. It plopped into water and sank beneath the lagoon's clear surface.

"A sea offering," Pan explained to her. "Combined with blood and love – that's how you summon them."

"Summon who? What is this place?"

Ripples began to spread over the glassy waters.

"Mermaid Lagoon."

Wendy's lips parted in surprise. She'd always wanted to see a mermaid. She approached the pool's edge, her belly fluttering with anticipation.

Three mermaids broke through the lagoon's surface. Just as Wendy had always imagined, they had the torsos of young beautiful women but large fish tails in the place of legs. Wendy gazed, entranced, admiring how they swam through the water – so graceful and supple and yet fast. It seemed effortless. A small waterfall was splashing down from the rocks above and one mermaid purposefully swam beneath it, smiling contentedly as the rushing water massaged her shoulders and back.

"Peter!" One the creatures exclaimed happily, seeing him flying above. The two others, craning their necks also, called up at him – their tones alluring. Pan flew a loop the loop, earning adoring praise, before settling down on a rock. The mermaids gathered around him, vying for his attention.