"Well?" Peter demands. The fairy's eyes are like sparkling diamonds. She's happy.

"She took it." Tinkerbell says gayly, flying around his head in quick, darting motions. "She took the bait. She now thinks Henry is needed to unlock the power on the island that will allow you to leave Neverland."

"I must say, you've done well." Pan sighs. "For once, you might have actually done something well. Did she trust you?"

"After I apologised for knocking her down." Tinkerbell laughs.

Pan shakes his head. "You are evil, Tinkerbell. I like that. Go back to the fairies. We shall see what the next few hours holds."

He turns and walks back to camp, hearing the boys practicing their fighting. In the middle is Henry, fighting proudly with them. Duke is nowhere to be seen. Life is looking up.

***********

I arrive back at camp to find lots of things happening. Firstly, Henry is fighting with the lost boys, and getting better with every hit he takes. I sit beside the flower tree, massaging my wrist, and close my eyes, thinking of my plan. It's going to have to be a good plan. I'm smart, but am I smart enough to out-smart Peter Pan? He has magic on his side. He loves playing games. Especially twisted games that involve people's lives. I have nothing but my brain and my impulsive sword skills, which make no sense.

And I'm holding some faith in the fact that Henry is going to trust me enough to come with me without question. Every day he's around Peter Pan and his lost boys, it seems harder to imagine.

"Don't over-think, it has a way of driving you insane." A voice says. I roll my eyes inwardly. The cut on my hand starts hurting as I remember yesterday.

"What do you want?" I'm hoping the scowl on my face is enough to make him back away, but he simply pulls out one of his arrogant smirks.

"Ever been flying?"

I look up to find him hovering above me. "Uh... no. Not with pixie dust anyway. It's kind of... not done back at home... because pixie dust is... you know... not there."

"It only takes faith, a sense of balance and the slightest hint of pixie dust." He blows some down to me. As it settles over me, I start to rise until I'm hovering beside him. I shake my head, not in the mood for flying. I don't travel well at the best of times. Even long car rides make me sick.

"Come on, it's fun!" He grabs my hand and before I can yelp in pain from my crushed hand, he takes off at the speed of a shooting star, until we're far above the island, up into the clouds almost. Then I snatch my hand back.

"Oooowwww." the groan escapes my lips before I can stop it. We float back to the ground and I turn my hand over to see a huge purple and blue bruise forming.

"Why the..." He stops short. "Oh. What happened?"

"Your blasted fairy." I grit my teeth. "Tinkerbell. She's meant to be lovely in the stories - blond hair, green dress - dazzling... flying around helping people. This is not helping." I glare at him.  How come all you fairytale characters don't stick to the personalities you had in your books and movies? Life would be so much easier."

"You can't fly like that. Here." He tries to grab my hand but I snatch it away. 

"Don't touch me."

"Come on." He nods encouragingly. "I know it hurts. I can help you." 

"Why would I need your help?" I continue to glare at him.

"Because you can't play the game well, now, can you?" He asks.

After another moment of me glaring and him smirking, I sigh. "Fine. But only because of Henry."

"This may hurt some." He takes my hand carefully and waves his over it. His palm starts glowing and my hand feels like it's on fire.

I grind my teeth together until the pain stops and I take in a big gulp of air. As I look at my hand, the bruise is no longer there. It still throbs a bit, but not painfully.

Wonders will never cease. If I had power like that a lot of things would change.

"Now, are you ready to fly again?" He takes my hand gently, but it's stopped hurting so much.

This time he goes slower, climibg gradually until we're hovering above Neverland.

******

"Ready to try on your own?" He asks, speaking much louder as the clouds muffle his voice.

"No!" I shriek, but he ignores me and lets go. The wind starts rushing in my face and I plummet towards the earth. I can't scream because the air rushes into my lungs, filling them instantly. I guess this is what bunjie jumping feels like. I'm about to picture my horrible death on the rocks when something wraps around me and we start to rise again. I open my eyes hesitantly to see Pan carrying me in the air, looking more than a little amused. "You're worse than Wendy." He remarks, laughing.

"Excuse me if I didn't take flying lessons before I came here." I say bitterly. My face heats up as I realize he's just saved me once again. And he's still holding me. "Let me go." I insist. He obeys, holding only my hand.

"Let the pixie dust catch you - and trust it. It only works if you have faith, which you obviously do. Just lean side to side until you feel comfortable." I dip up and down for a while, trying to get used to the feeling, before I finally get the hang of it. It's like swimming, but in air. And you don't have to move all the time, because the pixie dust supports you. All you have to do is learn how to balance in the air.

"Here, let's go a little higher. You can see the whole island." He rises up, and the clouds part before us. I'm looking down on the whole island. I never realized just how big Neverland was, until I'm in the air, looking at it. Surrounded by acres of ocean, it's like a tiny dot, but the tiny dot is huge.

I sigh, starting to feel very light-headed and slightly sick. "The clouds." Pan yells with a smile. "They're like drinking rum, but without knowing you're doing so. We'd better go down." We start the long descent, slowly, because I already feel sick from the clouds. Who knew clouds were so bad?

We hover for a bit before Peter looks over at me. "Would you like a tour of the island in 30 seconds?"

"What?" Confusion circles me.

"Just say yes." He laughs. This is getting old. He flies close and wraps his arm around my shoulders. I stiffen and try to shake him off but he only pulls me tighter. "You might want to hold on. And I'm not joking."

Before I can even say a word, we're off. Faster than lightning, we zip around the weird shape of the island, the jutts that go in and out, the waves that lap the side. For the first few, I can't even feel anything, I just grip his arm so tightly I think I'm going to leave red marks. I scarcely get a glance at the island, but when I do, the beauty of this place almost overwhelms me. It's like a tropical paradise. No wonder Pan loves it - no wonder he called it Neverland - the land of no worries or cares. Except if you have the heart of the truest believer, of course, then you're scared for your life.

I don't even realize we're heading for the ground until we drop down, and when we're standing on the land, the pixie dust floats away from us in a cloud.

My body wants to fall in a heap like jello, because it's literally been battered by the wind so much I feel like a human bowl of jelly, and I realize I'm shaking like I'm in the arctic with nothing but a pair of jeans and a T-shirt on. But I can't fall to the ground, because Pan has me in a tight hug. Or is it head lock? I can't tell.

"I'm gonna throw up." I say sickly.

"No, you're not." He puts two fingers against my throat and the feeling slowly passes. "No one gets sick from the tour of the island."

"Ugh." I groan. "That was amazing." I look at him with shining eyes. Then stop. Wait, no, no no no. This is not happening. I am not... Henry... parents... HENRY! The lost boys! PARENTS!! Focus your mind, stupid girl. Why are my stupid emotions getting in the way of saving Henry? This is what Pan wants. This is what he wants. He wants to see you trusting him, because that is how he is going to get Henry. Henry is gone. I have to save him.

"Most people just say thanks and move on." He says with a smile, looking into my green eyes. "Anyone ever told you that you have very beautiful eyes. We're not so different, you and I."

Has he read my thoughts? I can't tell. But he certainly seems far more amused than usual. "We're not the same... We're enemies. You're a jerk." I finally stop shaking long enough to stumble away from him. "I know you knew what I was thinking just then."

"Battling your emotions, sweetheart? You can't help yourself, can you? You're..."

"Shut it!" I yell crossly. "I meant every word of what I said to you. I will save Henry, or I will die trying."

"Of course you will." He smirks suddenly. "If I don't stop you first."