The bright red ball of light, which had just shot purposefully towards Sitara's neck, slowed down in mid-flight and stopped just before Peter's hand. The young man exhaled in relief. With her uncompromising feelings, this fairy sometimes overshot the mark a little.

"Leave it, Tink! She's a friend!" said Peter placatingly, lowering his hand again.

The fairy had not yet calmed down completely, but the shock of possibly hitting him instead of the actual target had sufficiently swept aside the rage inside her. Now it whirred in a tight arc around Peter's head.

The star was now smiling and watching the little light with affection.
"Tinkerbell," her voice hummed softly, "don't you recognize me?"

The little light seemed to hesitate. All at once the little figure's glow brightened noticeably, wings fluttering excitedly and the golden dust drawing a web of shimmering lines around the star.

Tink seemed to have recognized her, and now Sitara reached out for the little light and gently nudged the little fairy in greeting. Seeing the fairy-like that, the star's eyes widened, and her hand shot to Peter's arm.
"Peter!" she groaned, her eyes sparkling with the idea that could have reignited the whole sky, "I know how we can save Neverland!"

A wide beam made the rosy lips take on a joyful expression. The soft glow around her figure increased, brightening a little in her gloomy surroundings.
"Infinite years ago - I don't even remember when - we were once a triumvirate in the sky. But in the course of a great battle, many of our sisters and brothers, as well as our big brother, the Noonday Star, fell from the sky and landed in the middle of Neverland. The island was still young and full of chaotic dreams. With its impact, the Noonday Star reshaped Neverland. His fall brought destruction, but it also allowed all the dreams it held to spring forth into freedom. Around the site where he still rests today, we remaining guardians of the sky, formed the Never Peak Mountains for this reason. For his protection - and that of the island." the star told him.

As it was exhausting to listen to Sitara and fly, Peter lowered the flight at the next opportunity and landed near a babbling brook.
"You mean the mountain range is a huge ... grave?" The thought brought Peter more adventurousness than the respect he needed. Always the numerous caves had been a mystery he had loved to poke his nose into. But numerous Lost Boys had already disappeared in them and never returned.

The star nodded slowly. As it was exhausting to listen to Sitara and fly, Peter lowered the flight at the next opportunity and landed near a babbling brook.
"The earliest children of the island, now called Natives or Savages by the pirates, found many of the fallen stars. They worshipped us and thought they were spirits or fallen souls. They gathered up many stars and brought them to the mountain."

Peter understood what she was getting at, and Tink also rang excitedly. As the star spoke, he climbed straight into the streaming creek.
"That means there could be more stars there?"

"Yes, that's possible," Sitara sighed and turned her head to look towards the rumbling mountain with a clammy feeling. "We must get there quickly. If the nightmares corrupt the star at the heart of the mountain ..."

Peter folded his arms over his drawn knees and scowled at his distorted reflection. What he saw ... he did not like it. Slowly his fingertips slid over the prominent cheekbones. He felt the rough stubble, and a disgruntled sound escaped his throat. The young man's reflection blurred as his fist struck the water. "Tick, tock, tick, tock. As if that damned crocodile is still alive and after us ..." grumbled Peter, but at the thought of the fire pits and the mountain rumble...
"I'm to blame for all this."

With a soft sigh, the star put her hands on his shoulder. From her fingers, pleasant warmth flowed into his body despite the clothes.

"It wasn't your intention for any of this to happen, Peter. I know that" she said softly, "Once you've returned me to the sky, Athtar and I will fix Neverland."
The apparent gold in her eyes was like a fire in the darkest night. It filled one's heart with the feeling that anything was possible and one's greatest, fondest wish was only a flick of the wrist away.
"As soon as I return to the celestial web and have my full power back ... I will grant you one wish," she promised him, smiling encouragingly. This is how a man lost at sea must feel when he sees the glow of a lighthouse-pure, warming, and uplifting hope.

"A wish ..." Peter murmured. Was she going to do that for him? Despite everything?" But if we have to get to the Ipixkih and back first ..." no matter how he twisted it, "There will never be enough time for that," Peter realized and ran a groan over his face.
"I can't fly that far and that high again. I ... don't have the strength anymore," he confessed, his jaw tightening under this bitter admission.

"We have to get to the mountain urgently. We are running out of time," Sitara's shoulders slumped. "We cannot rely on the help of the Ipixkih and warn them AND get there in the short time..."

What that meant did not need to be said. They could not warn the Ipixkih, and not about Hook or the horror that could befall the island. The proud chief's daughter, Misi Wayta (*), did like him and owed him her life ... but she had always been a guardian of the island above all else.

Tink, meanwhile, was buzzing around the star and him. The nerve-wracking ringing in his ears was still driving him crazy. He had once thought it pretty and delicate, but now he didn't even understand his old friend and ...
"That's it!" Suddenly Peter jumped to his feet. "Tinkerbell will warn the Ipixkih! She knows the way and is fast as the wind. And we can get to the mountain this long!"

Tink buzzed around his head like a fly, desperately trying to get his attention.
"Tinkerbell!" rumbled Peter as the little fairy stood on the end of his nose and tapped his forehead.
"I know you want to come! But we need your help to warn the tribe," he explained sternly and gently but firmly grabbed the fairy. Pouting, she twisted her greenish lips into a pout and crossed her arms before her chest. Her robe of petals crumpled slightly in his hand, almost like a fragile flower, and Peter was quite careful.

Sitara had joined them now too. Her fingertips rested lightly on his hand as she looked pleadingly at the fairy.
"Please, Tinkerbell," the star also pleaded.

Then the fairy sighed, swung one of her long strands of hair adorned with petals sweepingly back over her tiny shoulders, and finally nodded.

Peter then released it from his hand, and the little thing hovered with the tips of its feet a finger's breadth above his palm.
"Fly as fast as you can straight to Misi Wayta, do you hear me?" blustered Peter to the little fairy. He knew she could be as flighty as he was and easily distracted.

Tinkerbell nodded but flew another arc and paused at the star girl to whisper something in her ear. Then she whizzed away in a shimmering streak and disappeared like a firefly into the darkness of the Never Jungle.

(*) Misi Wayta = roughly translated "cat flower" in Aztec = Tigerlily.

Wordcount: 1.275 Words