The Island of Safety (ish)
Edward follows the man out to a more private place to talk in a nearby wood. The tall trees loom over them and the man holds a lantern to provide them some light. He hangs it from a low overhanging branch so he doesn't have to hold it.
"So, you're saying that you have a place where my wife and I can go hide for a time?" he asks hesitantly. He's not sure that he trusts the man but he would love any sort of help that he can get in keeping her safe.
"I do," the man answers, "But it's a very secretive place. I'm only supposed to share it with the right person." He pauses before continuing, "Forgive me for not introducing myself. I'm Joseph Blackburn, a medical professional helping out in the war effort."
"Why do you keep saying that?" Edward asks, "Only someone who wants something badly would say something like that." Joseph shakes his head, his dark black sideburns being caught in the light of the lantern.
"No no no. I'm not someone who wants something," he interrupts, "I just....this is a very secretive place. I can't tell just anyone about it."
"Will my children be able to find us once the war ends?" Edward asks, "My wife and I truly adore our children."
"That depends," Joseph says, "I'm sure we can find a way to connect you with them when the time comes." He crosses his arm over his once starch white medical uniform in thought.
"So, where is this place?" Edward asks, "And can we wait until Wendy is well enough to travel?"
"Wendy....." Joseph trails off, "That's your wife's name?"
"Yes," Edward confirms, "Her name is a beautiful one."
"Anyways, so the place...." Joseph continues, "It's an island a ways from here. I'm not going to tell you how to get you there because I know people who can guarantee you safe passage there. It is very peaceful and you shouldn't be bothered by anyone or anything in regards to the war. You'll be safe and you can spend as much time there as you like."
"Those are two things we need that we never seem to have enough of," Edward remarks, "I'm sure Wendy would appreciate that." Joseph nods in agreement.
"It's a beautiful island and it's really a peaceful place compared to many other places you could go hide. Much of Europe is so war torn," he says, "I wish I had hidden my family there sooner but alas, it just wasn't meant to be."
"I wish my family hadn't been separated," Edward remarks, "My children were sent away the day after I returned for a short time. It really would be wonderful to see them again. I'm sure Wendy misses them as much as I do." He rubs his arm sadly and Joseph puts an arm around Edward's shoulders and smiles at him.
"Means you're a good father," he says, "I should know. The misses and I were ballin our eyes out when we had to separate from our children."
"I just wish we could have all gone but I know I would have never forgiven myself if something happened to them when I could have been out there fighting for their freedom," Edward says.
"That's part of servin in the war," Joseph agrees sadly, "Even the medical field is rough. Seeing the injuries that walk through the tent flaps....." He shakes his head in dismay and looks at the ground. "Just glad none of em were the misses," he says, "I wouldn't have handled it well. Thankfully, being so close to the city, I'm able to meet up with her from time to time."
"That must be nice," Edward muses, "I wish I could've done the same with Wendy." He gazes back in the direction of the tent.
"Well, she's here now," Joseph reminds him, "You might as well spend time with her."
"You're right," Edward says as the two of them start to walk back to the medical tent. The young nurse from before comes rushing out and approaches the two men with a sense of urgency.
"Mr. Harris, you need to come in here immediately. Your wife is moving around. We're not sure if it's a dream or if she's coming to," the young nurse says, "She doesn't seem to have any kind of a fever." Edward and Joseph quickly follow her into the tent and they notice Wendy fidgeting around on the bed, fighting in her sleep.
"Jane....." she mumbles in her sleep, "Danny....." She wiggles around as if trying to reach for her children. "Jane! Don't!" she cries out at one point.
"Restrain her!" a doctor cries out as he rushes into the room, "I'm not certain that it's a good idea for her vertebrate to be undergoing that much movement. I have no idea how stable they are."
"No!" Edward protests, "I think I can get her to calm down. Just please....don't restrain her." Edward reaches for one of Wendy's hands and takes it in his own. "Wendy....love...." he says, "You're safe. It's alright." Wendy stops fidgeting quite so much at the sound of Edward's voice. "Jane and Danny are out in the countryside. They're safe," he reassures her, rubbing the back of her small hand with his thumb, "Please....stop this." Wendy eventually stops stirring and falls back into a peaceful sleep. The medical staff, including Joseph, check her over to make sure everything's alright. Once they know for certain, they leave Edward with Wendy with explicit instructions to come and get them if anything changes.
Edward keeps holding Wendy's hands, wondering what kind of dream she could have been having.
After a time, Joseph reenters the room to check on Edward.
"How are you after that?" he asks, taking a seat next to Edward.
"I'm alright. That was quite distressing," Edward says, rubbing his thumb in a lazy pattern on the back of his wife's hands, "How soon can we leave?"
"As soon as she's able to walk," Joseph replies, "She can rest on the way to the island."
Edward nods his head in agreement and turns his attention back to his wife, hoping against hope that she wakes up soon. He also wonders if she'll be able to explain the dream that was apparently vividly playing in her mind when she wakes up. He hopes that she'll wake up soon.
Meanwhile, Jane is clinging to Peter's neck as they fly into Neverland. Seeing no pirate ship in the bay, she smiles at the memory of it sinking. The sun is just starting to rise, kissing the tops of the mountains on the island and bathing the bay in a gorgeous light.
Except the octopus had always been weird. Her mother had always told her stories of a crocodile so she really has no idea of how the octopus got here.
Danny marvels at the island as they fly around it.
"Where's Captain Hook?" he asks nervously, "I don't want to get attacked by pirates."
"You won't," Peter says, "The octopus sank their ship and chased them away."
"More like somebody dropped an anchor through their ship and it started sinking and then the octopus helped sink it," Jane mutters under her breath, "I'm surprised you're not taking credit for that."
"What?" Peter asks, "I didn't catch that." Jane clears her throat and pretends she hadn't been mocking Peter's lack of humility.
"You weren't exactly supposed to," Jane replies snarkily.
"Awwww, but now I wanna know what you said!" Peter protests, "I'll drop you in the bay if ya don't tell me."
"You wouldn't," Jane challenges. Peter grabs her off his back and holds her by her hands out over the bay, a mischievous smirk on his face as he does this. He is hanging upside down as he dangles her over the bay. "PETER!" Jane shrieks in response, "This isn't fair. You're a horrid horrid boy."
"Just tell me what you said," he teases, letting his fingers possibly slip away just a little bit more.
"PETER!" Jane shrieks again, "If you pick me up, I'll tell you." Peter drops her, swoops down underneath her and catches her in his arms.
"Okay, I caught you," he says teasingly, "Now talk."
"I was explaining that you missed a detail of the story," Jane says, "You dropped an anchor through Hook's ship and the octopus helped you sink it by going after Hook. I was surprised you didn't brag about it to Danny."
"Hey!" Peter protests, "I'm really gonna drop you in the bay this time." A smirk spreads across his features. Jane, to his surprise, starts smirking back.
"You're going to come find me, aren't you?" she asks playfully, "Come swimming after me?" Peter pretends to consider it for a moment and Jane thumps his chest.
"Ow...okay okay," he concedes, "I'll catch you before you fall in."
"Then why let go of me in the first place?" she asks before picking up what Peter could possibly be saying next, "To teach me a lesson?"
Peter just shoots her a slightly annoyed look. Tinkerbell and Danny fly nearby just watching the argument unfold.
"Drop me then, Peter. Teach me whatever it is you want to teach me," Jane challenges him and Peter smirks at her.
"With pleasure," he answers. He adjusts Jane in his arms so he can drop her again. Jane peeks up over his shoulder and manages to make eye contact with Tinkerbell. Jane nods at her and Tinkerbell nods her head back in confirmation.
"Three...." Peter says and Danny starts helping him count down, knowing exactly what's going on.
"Two....." both boys count. Danny gets excited at the prospect of Jane being able to fly.
"One!" they both exclaim and Peter drops Jane. She plummets quickly towards the bright blue waters beneath her. Jane relishes in the excitement of what's about to happen. She splashes into the water and the coldness of it shocks her for a brief moment.
Until she sees Tinkerbell dive down into the water next to her. She circles around Jane quickly before darting back up. Jane feels the pixie dust settling on her and starts to think happy thoughts to lift her out of the water. She manages to do just that and she zooms after Tinkerbell.
Peter is shocked at the sight of Jane and Tinkerbell flying together and Danny begins to cheer.
"Go, Jane, go!! Hooray for Tinkerbell!" he cheers in excitement. Peter grins up at the sight.
"That's the real reason you were fine with letting me drop you?" he asks as he flies up to join her. He takes her hands in his and spins the two of them around.
"Of course!" Jane says, "Couldn't let you have all the fun."
"I would've come after you, ya know," Peter assures her and Jane grins up at him.
"Just had to make sure that you were on your toes," she replies with a bit of spunk in her tone. Tinkerbell nods her head in agreement, little jingles ringing out as she does.
"I'm just happy Neverland's Lost Girl remembers how to fly," Peter says happily, "Not sure what I would've done if she hadn't been able to."
"Guess you would've had to have CARRIED me around the island and oh! Such a bother," Jane continues sarcastically, "How dare you have to show me how strong you are!" She drapes a hand across her forehead and closes her eyes, pretending as if she were a dainty lady about to pass out. Peter starts to blush and Tinkerbell laughs little bell like laughs as she points at Peter blushing.
"Stop it, Tink!" Peter says. Tink jingles,
"Somebody's blushing!!! You know what that means, don't ya, Peter?"
"I don't wanna know, Tink," Peter says exasperated, "I don't even wanna think about it. Why don't you take Danny down to the hideout? Jane and I will be down there shortly."
"What?! You're kicking me out? Why would you do such a thing???" Tink protests. Peter just sighs and starts to fly away but he can hear Tinkerbell continue her musings, "Ohhhhhhhhhhh. I get it. You want to spend some alone time with her, don't you? You're lucky I'm not jealous of her or else she'd be dead right now. And so would you."
Peter blanches a bit at that before whirling back around to face her.
Jane and Danny watch from a distance, floating directly next to each other.
"What're they arguing about?" Danny asks.
"I haven't the slightest idea but I'm assuming it's something that's hurting Peter's ego," Jane replies with a small laugh. Danny just looks up at her with a confused look on his face.
"Jane, Peter's a great hero. Why are you and Tinkerbell teasing him?" he asks.
"It's....oh...I don't know," Jane answers, "It's just funny, I guess. Peter's so full of himself that it's fun to put him in his place on occasion. I'm not really sure why else we do it. There's not much to it. Don't try to worry about it, Danny. Tinkerbell and I don't want to hurt Peter intentionally."
"Jane!" Peter calls out after a minute, "Come on! I got something to show you. Tink's gonna take Danny to the hideout so he can hang out with the rest of the Lost Boys while I show you somewhere else."
"It's not the mermaids, is it?" Jane asks, "I'm not really certain that I want to see them." The stories her mother tell her pop into her mind.
"No," Peter says with a light laugh, "It's not the mermaids. It's always funny how angry they get whenever I bring other girls to Neverland though. Not really sure why." Jane just groans and rolls her eyes. "What! I really don't know," Peter explains.
"Oh....just....never mind," Jane finally says, "Danny! Be careful! Stay out of trouble!"
Danny, who's too excited to meet the Lost Boys flies off with Tinkerbell and Jane sighs when he doesn't listen to her advice. Peter tugs on her hand.
"Come on," he says, as though he were a small child, "I want to show you this place. It's really pretty at sunrise."
Pretty like you, his brain filled in but he bit his lip before he could say that out loud. Jane follows him as he leads her to a small summit of mountain tops. He flies them down to one of the tops. He helps her land, making sure that she's stable.
Jane gasps at the beautiful sunset before her. She can see the entire island from here and it's so pretty. She turns around in an entire circle to take in the entirety of the island.
"Peter, this is wonderful!" she exclaims as she looks around, "It's so beautiful up here."
"I like to come here and watch the sun rise and set whenever I like. I'm just happy you're here. Now you get to enjoy it with me," Peter explains. He sits down to watch the sun finish rising and Jane sits down next to him.
"Thank you...for bringing me here," she says, "Even though we have a lot to figure out, it's so sweet of you to help me relax first and then work. It clears my head."
"You showed me that's what you needed after your first trip here," Peter replies, "I didn't want you to get too fried before we started making any headway."
"It took you four years to come get me though. You shouldn't have left," she answers in a slightly bitter tone.
"Four years?" Peter asks, "Jane, that war thing's been going for four years? That's a long time, isn't it?"
"Yes," Jane answers sadly, "It is a long time. Why did you leave? Why didn't you come back for me? Danny and I needed you."
"You seemed happy to be home," Peter reasons, "I don't understand why you're so upset. You never told me you wanted to stay here The entire time you were here you wanted to go back to your family." He crosses his arms across his chest moodily.
"The war kept going. Danny and I were sent away and we had no idea what was happening to our family," Jane cries out, "You would've taken us to see Mother. I haven't seen Mother or Father in four long years!"
"You never told me, Jane. I can't help you if you don't tell me things," Peter snaps back in response, "Besides, I did come and save you when you needed it. Those guys down in London were going to hurt you." Jane just sighs.
"I just wish you would've come to visit or something!" she exclaims, "I missed you!" Peter perks up at the sound of that.
"You what?" he asks, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"I said I missed you," Jane answers, "And it's true. I wanted you to come back so you could take me to Neverland and I could avoid everything. You didn't come when I was little and you never came then either!!"
She just stares back out at the sunrise, taking very little solace in the beauty of it. Peter gazes at her and sighs, recognizing the clear sadness on her face. He really hasn't been there for her.
Well that's about to change. He wants her to be happy, not hurt.
"I'm sorry," Peter says quietly after a minute, "I didn't know you were hurt. I had no idea you needed help. There's no way for us to know when you're home and I'm here." He scoots closer to her and Jane sighs.
"You're here now. You came and rescued Danny and I when we need it. That's what I should be focusing on," she muses as she closes the distance between them and leans her on his shoulder.
Peter blanches at the contact for a brief instance and then relaxes. The two of them stretch their legs out and watch the sun rise.
And it's all peaceful until there's some frantic jingling coming up to the mountain.
"PETER! PETER! PETER! YOU GOTTA COME RIGHT NOW!" Tinkerbell cries out as she flies up into the view of the two teenagers.
"Awww, come on, Tink," Peter whines, "Jane and I are watching the sun rise."
"No, you have to come right now. The boys and I went out and we saw the pirates! There's no time for hugs and snuggles. You gotta come now!!!" Tinkerbell demands.
"Can we do this later?" Peter asks, pointing to Jane.
Tinkerbell slaps her forehead and rolls her eyes.
"No! We really can't. You're the one who protects Neverland from the pirates so you're the only one who can do anything about it!" She explains as she slides her hand off her face.
"Fine fine," Peter says as he starts to get up. Jane sits up all the way, curious at what's going on between the two.
"What's happening?" she asks.
"Tink and the boys saw the pirates...for the first time in four years," Peter replies, "We've gotta go see what they're up to."
A/N: And off on an adventure they go!!! Also, hooray for more Peter and Jane fluff!!
The next chapter's gonna get exciting plot wise so be ready for that.
And yay!!! I'm sorry for more Wendy sadness. She'll wake up soon, I promise. But at least we got more adorable Peter and Jane fluff.
And sassy Tinkerbell. I love getting to write some sass in for her. She's fun to write sass for.
I love the cute moment that Peter and Jane got to have on the mountain top (there's probably gonna be more of them so don't worry that this one got "ruined"). If you know me at all, you know I write a lot of fluff so I will deliver when it comes to fluff.
Anyways, yeah!! School starts up soon, on the 18th, and I'm doing some other life things in between now and then so this is probably gonna be my last actual update for awhile where as I write something and post it immediately after I'm done writing it. I have some pre-written stuff that'll get me most of the way through the 16 week semester. I think I get a week off for Fall Break so you'll probably get an update during that week that's a "I wrote this and posted it all in one sitting" update. Yeah!!
I hope you all enjoyed!! Thanks for voting, commenting, reading or/and doing whatever it is you do!! See you around!!!
-Aisling
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