"Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day." -Dalai Lama
OMNISCIENT POV:
Peter hovered behind thick tree branches in the dark of night, the moon's light dulled by passing clouds. The warm air was still, making it more difficult not to be heard as Peter accidentally brushed against dead leaves on the tree. He bit his tongue and kept to the shadows, avoiding all sources of light
This sky was sad, and the stars above showed little signs of life, unlike they usually did when Peter was near. Normally, they talked to him. Encouraged him, joked with him, sometimes even warned him of passing danger -- but tonight, they were quiet, and it only made Peter's boyish heart ache more.
As silently as he could, Peter flew himself away from the wilting tree and closer to the open window. He pressed his back against the wall just beyond the window, and ever so carefully, he poked his head around the corner of the familiar house and looked inside.
The small room was dimly lit by flickering candles on the walls, and a dying fire struggled to stay alive in the furnace.
Peter had been to this place many times. He could easily find it with his eyes closed, and simply allow his heart to find it for him. It's location was permanently etched into his mind, and even now as he stared into the unfamiliar room, he knew he was in the right place.
Although the three, small beds had been replaced by one, large one; and although the doghouse had been removed, and the toys taken away -- Peter recognized it immediately. It was rather strange for him to see the place once so fit for a child turned in to a room for an adult. But stranger still, was the fragile person slowly rocking back and forth in the chair by the fire.
Peter placed both of his dirty feet on the white step of the window, and looked inside. The fire flickered quickly upon his entrance, but that was the only sign of his appearance.
"Hello Peter." said a woman's raspy voice from the chair by the fire.
Peter held his breath for a minute and shook the anxiety from his hands, before walking across the wooden floor to the woman in the chair.
She was a fragile old lady, and when I say old I do mean old. Her pale skin wrinkled on her face, and her blue eyes looked tired. The hair on her head was grey, and she had strange dark spots on her bony hands which lay clasped on her lap. Around her neck was a golden chain, and on the end was an acorn with a hole in it. The woman's withered face lit up in a warm smile as she saw Peter, and he did his best not to gasp too loudly and scare her. He had learned by now that when people left Neverland, this is what they turned into.
She shook her head, "It has been a very long time, my old friend."
"Me?" Peter asked, chuckling at her, "Old?"
The woman grinned and waved her hand at him, "I may look like the old one, but you're older still."
Peter crossed his arms, "No, I am only a boy. You know that."
She smiled to herself and looked down at her hands, "Believe me, I know. You're still as stubborn as ever, Peter."
"And you're still as observant as ever." He said with a bounce in his toes.
The old woman laughed softly and looked up at Peter, "It's good to see you again, Peter."
He warmly smiled at her, "It's good to see you too, Jane."
After Wendy had gone and decided to grow up, Peter had resented her for many years. He was angry that she had chosen to grow up instead of living on Neverland with him and staying a child. Though the years had no effect on Peter, they were even longer for Wendy, and by the time he had finally decided he could forgive her and perhaps take her back to Neverland for a night, he returned to the nursery to find another little girl in her bed. It was Jane, Wendy's daughter. Peter was devastated. He couldn't understand why Wendy had grown so quickly, and why this new girl was in her bed. But, in the end it worked out. He forgave Wendy, and ended up taking Jane back to Neverland instead of her.
They had marvelous times together, Jane and him. They swam down streams together, flew through rainbows, played hide and seek with the Piccaninny -- all sorts of games that children play. After all, the island was their playground. There were no Lost Boys at this time. Peter's old crew had left with Wendy, and had all grown up, thus why none could return to Neverland, so it was just Jane and Peter. They were the best of friends, and Peter almost forgot about his loss of Wendy, until one day when Jane followed in her mother's footsteps and asked to go home. She wanted to grow up too.
Peter left her at the nursery. His Wendy had left him, and now his Jane too. Once again, Peter could simply not comprehend what was so spectacular about growing up that both of the girls had to do it, but he did not argue either of their requests. He held his head high, and flew back to Neverland alone.
Wendy tried to convince him that she still believed. That she would always believe -- but she was a grown up, and grown ups can never believe.
So now Peter returned to the nursery, and found exactly what he expected. Jane... a grown up, but, more grown up then he expected.
"Jane," Peter said, observing her frailness, "You've gotten quite old."
She rolled her eyes and clicked her teeth, "It's never polite to point out a woman's age, Peter."
Peter sighed and sat cross-legged next to the chair, his head down, "I never thought I'd hear you call yourself a 'woman'. It's strange."
Jane reached over and put a hand on his shoulder, "Would it not be even stranger if I still called myself a girl? A little girl? No, it is true. I am a woman now. I have a daughter of my own, and she has a daughter and son of her own. I am old, Peter. So very old. But I have never stopped believing you."
Peter stared into the fire and put his chin in his hand, "It's hard to be a Lost Girl if you're not a girl anymore."
Jane went pale, appalled at Peter's comment, "I will always be a Lost Girl in my heart, Peter. If you'll let me, that is."
He turned to her, a reminiscent smile on his face, "Once a Lost Girl, always a Lost Girl."
Jane's wrinkled cheeks stayed in a small smile.
"There is so much you must fill me in on, Peter." Jane began, "How are the Piccaninny? Does Tinkerbell still behave poorly? Did you find any new Lost Boys yet?"
Peter grinned, her enthusiasm was unexpected, "The Piccaninny are fine. They just helped us win a battle against the pirates, actually. Tink is... better. Yes, I've found Lost Boys, but I also found something better."
"A battle with the pirates? But who's the captain now? There were no pirate problems when I was with you. Wait just a minute, what is better than new Lost Boys?"
"Not a what, a who." Peter replied.
"Who? If it's not a Lost Boy then," Jane made a small gasp and clapped her bony hands together, "You've found another girl, haven't you? Oh my. What is her name? What is she like?"
Peter sheepishly smiled and shook his head, feeling his ears grow warm at the mention of her.
"She's....," He began, but the more he tried to think of ways to describe her, the more he remembered why he was really back in London.
He thought of how he could explain how fearless she was; allowing him into her life, leading a rescue mission for her friends, never once showing a moment of doubt in what she was fighting for. He thought of how he could describe what she looked like; the fiery red mass of hair on her head that matched the flame in her heart, the way her green eyes sparkled at a sign of something that intrigued her, or even the fragile way she would hold his hand as they flew together through the skies.
But once again these thoughts would carry him back to the purpose of this quest. The reason why this wonderful girl was not with him, as she should be.
Jane leaned forward, "She's what, Peter?"
Peter felt his lips begin to quiver. His eyes soon blurred with tears and he felt them leaking down his face.
"She's dead." His voice cracked.
Jane was silent as Peter sobbed. He wiped angrily at the tears streaking his cheeks and looked up at Jane.
"She's mostly dead, that is. She got injured, by the pirates, saving her fairy... and saving me. There was this... this stupid green blade with this stupid poison called Lily-of-the-Valley and she got sliced with it more than once. If you look at it in a more optimistic type of way, she's not entirely dead. She's in some type of deep sleep that apparently only she can wake herself from, but there's no telling how long that will last... and there is no cure."
Peter took a breath, sucking a shuddering breath into his lungs as he continued, this time more upset than sad, "I'm so angry at her though, Jane! She knew something wasn't right, she knew she wasn't feeling like she should... but she kept it a secret. And now it's too late." He broke again, crying freely, "I've lost her."
Peter put his hands over his face, ashamed at himself. He felt to blame for Lilith's dying. If he had noticed something earlier, picked up on what she was hiding, then maybe he could have saved her. Maybe before the poison took control he could have figured something out. But there was nothing he could do now. No amount of fairy magic would be able to bring someone back from the dead, and the only thing that could do that was gone. Lilith has so selflessly used the only attainable piece of the Neverleaf on Jonathan, and now there was none for her.
Peter felt like he was loosing control of his life. Like everything was just slipping through his fingers, and he was helpless to halt it. Even being the so called 'ruler' of Neverland, Peter could not fix this problem. He could not save Lilith.
Peter stopped crying when he felt Jane put her hand on his chin,
"Peter, she didn't tell you about how she was feeling because it sounds like she was more concerned with helping her friends then herself."
"I know that, Jane!" He exclaimed, "But I don't know why she does that! If she had just told me.... just... said something."
"Girls are stubborn. You should know that by now, Peter. No woman with any sense of pride would willingly give up a quest she embarked upon because of something they could power through. Girls are strong. They have a willpower that I've never seen in a man, or a boy for that matter." Jane winked at Peter.
He threw his hands up, "It still doesn't make sense!"
Jane sighed and crossed her arms on her lap, "Peter. I can see how upset this makes you... but I think your anger is coming from a place that perhaps isn't solely out of frustration with..."
"Lilith." Peter said, gripping his wrists, "Her name is Lilith."
"Like I was saying, your frustration with the situation isn't just because of how stubborn Lilith was. I think, perhaps, it is sprouting from a place deeper within you that is too deep for you to even realize."
Peter sprung up and leaned against the fireplace with his arms crossed over his chest, "You know I don't understand your grown-up talk, Jane."
Jane sighed again and shook her head, "You're so irked because there was something you wanted to tell Lilith, something that you felt the need to let her know, but you never did. And now, you are worried that you'll never have the chance to."
Peter's face falls as he realizes the truth behind Jane's accusation. It was obvious that Peter was angry because Lilith never told him and therefore he couldn't protect her, but he was also angry because he never had the opportunity to tell her what he needed to tell her. A secret that he's really only just discovered, but a life-altering one. And now that Lilith was in the cursed sleep of the green blade, there was no telling if or when she'd wake up.
Peter broke down in tears again. He collapsed to his knees and hung his head in regret. He was burdened with so much regret. The fire smoldered next to him and danced in the corners of his blurry eyes. He knew for sure that by now his face was red and puffy, and there were dirt smudges all down his cheeks.
"How can I fix it, Jane?" Peter helplessly asked, saying the question he had come so far to ask her, "How can I bring her back?"
Jane looked down at his sweet, innocent face, and for a moment she found herself wishing it was her who Peter cried for. She had spent years of her life dreaming of him, thanks to her Mother's stories, and when he whisked her away to Neverland it felt like a dream come true. And then she did the thing that felt right at the time. She grew up. After the facade of adulthood wore off, Jane wondered what her life would have been like if she had stayed with Peter, as he offered. All the magnificent adventures she could have had with him. But, that moment of wishing passed, and Jane knew that her chance with Peter was over. It was Lilith's turn to try and change him now. And by the looks of it, she was doing pretty well.
Jane leaned forward, her sagging face above Peter's boyishly handsome one, "Go to her. She may be asleep, dead-like as you say, but she will hear you. Tell her what you wanted to tell her. Get the weight off your shoulders and let her know what she needs to know. Lilith will hear you, I'm quite sure of it."
Peter soaked in the information, weighing the options and understanding how it just might do something. It was better than nothing, he guessed. And besides, it was time he saw her again, even if it was for the last time.
Peter slowly shook his head, staring into Jane's unaged blue eyes,
"How can you be so sure?"
Jane sat back in her chair and took up the sewing needle in her hands again. With a small smirk on her face, she shrugged, "You've always had a knack for finding lost things, Peter."
The parts of his mind clicked together like a machine getting back in gear. Peter knew what he had to do. He had to get back to Neverland, and go to Lilith straight away. He had to tell her. He had to wake her up.
In a heartbeat, Peter shot up from the floor with a newfound hope, and raced towards the open windows of the nursery, back to Neverland. The stars called out to him, "Go to her, Peter. Go to her!"
He was just out the window when he grabbed the frame with both hands, forcing himself to stop. His blood pumped in his ears, but there was one last thing to do before he left.
"Jane," Peter called from the window, taking a step down, "I've never forgotten, you know. The adventures you and I had together or the adventures I had with Wendy. I keep them stored in a jar, the memories, so that I never ever forget."
Jane didn't say anything in response, she bit her tongue and let him leave without exchanging another word.
"Until we meet again." Peter said, giving a low bow although Jane couldn't see it. And with that, he flew into the sky, away from the Darling home.
There were many things Jane Darling would have liked to say before Peter left. Many things that she knew in her heart would only make things worse for Peter. News about a certain someone, and her passing. But Jane Darling was no monster, especially not to children, and especially not to extraordinary children like Peter Pan. So she let Peter leave without saying goodbye, and hoped that the advice she had given him would be enough to solve his problem.
This would be the last time Peter saw Jane Darling. And it was a good thing, because soon after her midnight meeting with him, she laid down on the windowsill where she had first laid eyes on him, closed her eyes, and never opened them again. Jane's daughter, Margaret, had her buried with her mother, in a small cemetery next to Kensignton Gardens. Margaret's daughter and son, Moira and Nicholas, were curious little kids. They were exactly the type of kids who dreamed of adventure, and eventually, they found it.
But for now, with Jane sitting in the nursery knitting a green scarf and twirling the acorn necklace between her fingers, she reminisced about those magical days when she could fly.
******
When Peter broke through the barrier to Neverland, it was in no different a state then when he left it. Wilting flowers, dreary skies, rough waters. Everything was stuck in a depression. Peter had come back with such high spirits, but being back reminded him exactly how dire the situation was. And if he couldn't save Lilith, she would be so lost that no lost-things collecter alive would be able to find her.
He was flying over Crystal Beach when, from above, he saw a tiny figure sitting on the damp sand below. This figure's dark hair stood out against the white sand of the beach, and it took Peter only a minute to know who it was.
Slowly, he put his feet down on the mushy sand next to the figure. They jumped, and looked up at him.
"You scared me half to death!" Jonathan gasped, putting a hand on his heart.
Peter kept his hands at his sides, feeling a bit awkward, "Sorry."
Jonathan waved his hand in dismissal, "It's alright. Maybe being half dead would've made the other half of me feel more alive. Right now I just feel... numb."
Jonathan went back to staring intensely out at the swelling ocean, the wind causing his hair to look disheveled. Peter looked around and saw that the beach was empty except for Jonathan.
"What are you doing out here?" He asked.
Jonathan shrugged, "I don't know. I just needed to get out of the tree house. I needed a place to just... I don't know... think. Put all these frantic thoughts in my mind into some type of order."
Peter shifted uncomfortably on his feet, scratching the back of his head, "Can I sit?"
Jonathan looked up at him, his brow scrunched in confusion, "Sit? Here? What? Oh, yes. Yes, of course."
Peter sat down next to him, his legs bent and arms resting on top of them. They both watched the waves in silence, occasionally hearing a seagull call.
"I was under the impression that you don't particularly like me." Jonathan stated, looking at Peter out of the corner of his eye.
Peter shrugged, "I don't like the pirates. I don't like baths. I don't like rules. You... I wouldn't say it's that I don't like you, it's more that I would prefer being with other people than you."
Jonathan chuckled nervously,
"Well that makes me feel a whole lot better. At least you enjoy my company more than the pirates."
Peter pointed a finger at him and jutted out his bottom lip, "That is true."
"Maybe one day I can work my way into your circle of 'preferred company'?" Jonathan suggested.
"It's a system." Peter explained, "You gotta work your way up."
"So if I win one of those games of hide and seek with your Native friends, does that move me up a level?"
Peter laid back on his hands, "Perhaps."
"Looks like I've got a lot of work cut out for me." Jonathan chuckled, wiping his hands on his legs.
Peter laughed also, for a moment, before the two fell silent again. Some of the tension had been alleviated, but there was still something in the air between the two boys, although neither commented on it.
"We have to figure something out, you know." Jonathan said, hands shaking, "We can't just let her die. Not after all she's done."
Peter knew what he meant, "We won't."
Jonathan looked back at him, "Do you have any idea what we can do? Alina says there is no more Neverleaf and none of her potions will work."
Peter sat forward, "Something has to work. There is a cure somewhere, and I will find it."
Jonathan rubbed his hands together, warming his fingers,
"We may not be the best of friends, but I promise to help you in any way I can. For her."
Peter looked over at him and sadly smiled, "We may not be the best of friends, but I can tell you one thing. We will bring Lilith back. We will save her."
And so, just like that, the two unlikely comrades found themselves with one common goal, and thus a reason to get along. The one thing Peter had kept from Jonathan throughout this conversation, though, was that he already had a plan. And not one part of it involved him.
A/N: Hey guys I'm so so sorry this is late!! I started school this week (ugh) and readjusting has been difficult...
Anyway hope you all enjoyed this
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