Again In Neverland

Chapter 17: Who?

"I didn't bring her here! You're the one who told her where the portal was!"

"GUYS!" Lil yelled over their bickering, "I'm standing right here. No need to talk about me as if I'm not."

Peter sighed and crossed his arms, "Let's get inside before your Mother shows up, shall we?"

He opened the door to the tree house and ushered Lil inside. As Alina passed he stuck his tongue out at her and she did the same.

Once inside, the chill immediately left Lil's bones. She could feel her fingers and toes warming up against the soft carpeting. She wrapped her arms around herself again and rubbed them.

"Cold?" Peter asked.

Lil nodded. Peter lead Lil into the room with the large couch and sat down in front of the open fire, patting the seat next to him for Lil to join.

Cautiosuly, she lowered herself onto the floor next to him and pulled her knees to her chest. She stuck her hands out to warm them in front of the fire. A few moments of silence passed as Lil tried to warm herself up more, and Peter kept stealing glances at her.

"You know," Lil finally said, "I wouldn't be so cold if I had some shoes. Or maybe socks."

"Those are boring. They're uncomfortable." Peter responded.

"Maybe. But they keep your feet warm."

"I'll just put them near a fire if they get cold."

"And what if yours toes catch on fire?" Lil asked, eyebrow raised.

"Then I shall go back into the cold and all will be fixed."

Lil rolled her eyes and laughed softly, "You're a stubborn boy, Peter Pan."

He smiled too and lifted his gaze from the fire to Lil, "If I wasn't, would you like me any less?"

"Probably not."

They're eyes seemed to linger on each other's for just a beat too long, but it wasn't uncomfortable to either. Just to Alina.

"So," she interrupted with a loud flutter of her wings, "Lil what happened after you fell in the water? I lost you after that."

Lil racked her brain for memories but they proved difficult to dig up,

"I don't know. There were these bubbles. They engulfed me, and pushed me into myself. I... I was suffocating and I couldn't see anything. Just pitch darkness. I remember that the darkness didn't come until after I had already seen the bubbles from beneath me coming upwards to grab me."

Lil's recollection was becoming slightly more vivid, "Actually, not long after I fell in I heard something else. It sounded like.... it sounded like...."

Dread began to fill Lil's heart and the chill returned to her bones.

Could it be possible? Could the splash really have come from that?

"It sounded like what, Lil?" Alina pressed.

Lil closed her eyes and focused on the memory as hard as she could.

Right before the bubbles surrounded her and turned everything into darkness, she heard a noise that made her look up, and when she did, she saw Jonathan diving into the waters, and the other two Darling's follow.

Lil's eye flung open and she gasped loudly, "My friends!"

"Who?" Peter asked, his lip curled.

"Jonathan, Wendi, Mike!" Lil cried as she pushed herself upward from the floor and nearly fell over.

Peter rushed over and put a hand behind her back, "What are you talking about?"

"They jumped into the water! After I fell in! They jumped into the portal... which means they're here somewhere!" Lil's eyes moved to the door and her legs began to carry her, "I have to find them."

Peter ran in front of her and blocked the door, "Hold on a second. Let's get the Lost Boys together and we'll go out searching in teams, alright? We'll be able to find them easier that way."

Lil covered her face with her hands, "How could I have forgotten? What if something terrible has happened to them? I don't think I could live with myself if something happened."

She felt on the verge of tears, and fell backwards onto the arm on the couch. Peter had his hand on her back within seconds, "If they're here, Lilith, we'll find them."

"I know what they look like. I'll gather some of the boys and get started." Alina stated.

Lil looked up from between her hands, "Thank you, Alina."

Alina flew down the hall, jingling all the way. Peter moved in front of Lil and crossed his arms over his chest, "Where should we start?"

Lil put her hands on her lap? "How should I know? You're the one who knows Neverland the best. Could that portal have taken them anywhere else?"

He moved his hands to his hips, "No. If they fell through, they washed up on the beach. Unless they didn't make it onto the beach."

Lil's eyes went wide and she jumped from the couch, "What do you mean 'didn't make it'? You think something might have happened to them? Oh no, this can't be happening. I've killed them! I've killed my only friends!"

Peter snorted, "Your only friends?"

Lil hit him on the chest, "This is no time for joking around." She walked around him to the door, "We must start searching immediately."

Lil opened the door and the breeze blew her hair across her shoulders. She marched to the end of the platform and looked back for Peter, who was sliding a sword into his belt and walking out the door. He shut it and moved next to her, gazing out at the forest.

"Don't I get one of those?" Lil asked, pointing at his sword.

He smiled and rested a hand on it, "When you're ready."

Lil stomped her foot, "You keep saying that! I can't learn to fly on my own 'until I'm ready'. I can't have a sword 'until I'm ready'. When exactly do you deem I'll 'be ready' for any of it?"

He looked back out at the forest, "Soon."

Lil sighed, "Whatever. Let's just get going. I say we start at the beach, since that's the most likely place they'd be."

Peter held out a hand to Lil at her eye level, which was a few inches below his, and bowed slightly

"As you wish."

She held her head a little higher and slid her hand into his. He wove his fingers through hers and brought their arms back down by their sides. Lil followed their interwoven hands with her head, as did Peter, until they both looked up at each other. She stared into his ocean blue eyes and a smile spread on his face. He broke the eye contact to look down once more, sincerity replaced by mischief. Lil looked down and saw that their feet were no longer on the ground, but hovering above the trees.

She giggled, "That's a cool trick."

He gave her hand a quick squeeze, "Come on."

Then he leaned forward into the wind and flew them towards the beach.