Chapter 8- Learning to fly

Peter flew quickly through the sky back to Never Land. His heart felt so much lighter now. Colette could now start a new life in Never Land guilt free. Oh he had so much to show her! The Mermaids Lagoon-where the mermaids sing sweetly on the rocks, combing their long silky tresses; Skull Rock- a magnificent feature of the island, a rock shaped like a skull, fashioned during the huge battle he'd had with Captain Hook, The Indian Camp-Princess Tiger Lily must be about 20 or 30 now; Marooners Rock- where ships crew leave sailors to drown; Selkies Cove- a huge waterfall where you could dive and swim and look at the wildlife; The Black Castle- a tall black fortress that been there for time, not even Peter knew how old it was. And of course, now was the season for the Never Birds to be hatching-they could sneak into the nests and steal Never Bird feathers or watch the fluffy fledglings topple over as they attempt to walk. They could watch the whales come in, or play with the dolphins, try to sneak past the Venus Fly Traps, huge venomous plants 6 metres tall. Or they could attempt to tame the Wild stallions that Willow had discovered only the other day. There are so many parts of Never Land still undiscovered- and that's only on Land. There's a whole new world under the Sea as well. They could attempt to steal the mermaids' pearls or ride on the currents, watch the sea life float by, dare to sneak into the Lair of the Giant Squid. Oh so many adventures awaited them all!

They were still all laughing and circling the tree when they got back. Holding hands and jigging around. They probably hadn't even noticed he had disappeared. Good. He didn't want anyone to know where he had gone.

The slow song ended. It was one of those ones where you needed just a partner. The children had sat out, getting their breath back. The last few dances had been so fast. Colette couldn't remember the last time she had had soooo much fun!

"Awww," Birch cried. "He's fast asleep!" She pointed to Loki, whose head lay on her lap. She had been silently stoking his auburn hair all through the last tune and now she had stopped. Loki's eyes were closed, his angelic face was peaceful and he was snoring quietly.

The others smiled. Thor stood up slowly. "Maybe we should be getting back." He said. He held out his arms for Loki. "Give him here."

Birch slid her arms under Loki's neck and his legs and lifted him up from her lap, before transferring him gently to Thor's arms. The others all stood up and stretched. They were all pretty tired too but none of them wanted to be the first to say.

Birch, walking alongside Thor and Loki, led the way back through the undergrowth, away from the tree. Colette, Liana, Willow and Laurel brought up the rear.

Liana was talking energetically to Willow, one arm linked through his. She turned to Colette, excitedly. "Did you enjoy yourself bella?" she said.

" I had so much fun! Thank you, thank you all so much!" Colette nodded enthusiastically.

"Woah!" Willow breathed. "That party was really something! One of the best I've ever been to! I guess its cause it was a royal ball! The faerie prince and princess were there too. And did you see all the pretty little cakes? Dusted with sugar and icing all the colours of the rainbow!" He sighed enviously. " I've always wanted to try a faerie cake. They must taste delicious. If anything, that's why I would want to be a faerie, to taste a faerie cake. We're not allowed to eat faerie food," Willow added turning to Colette, "It'll enchant us. Of course Peter's allowed to have faerie food." He almost sounded jealous.

The three walked in silence for a moment, thinking about the sights of the faerie ball. Then, very quietly, Liana started humming the tune of one of the faerie waltzes under her breath.

"We're nearly there." Thor murmured. "We're nearly home."

Colette stared about her in amazement. The forest looked the same to her in every direction she looked. Green leaves, interrupted by the green stripes of brown tree trunks or splodges of grey boulders hidden in the undergrowth. She turned to Liana and Willow confused.

"How…how are you able to find your way back to the Nevertree? Everywhere looks the same to me."

"Ahh," Liana tapped her nose. "You need to keep your eyes open. Little things, just little things. It could be anything. An odd shaped rock, a wound in a tree. You just have to know the signs. Only we know the signs to find our way home."

"It's easier," Laurel added suddenly. Colette jumped a little. She had forgotten he was there. She had realised that Laurel was the silent brooding type "To find your way back at night." He stopped walking and pointed to the sky. "Do you see that star? The brightest one of all?" Colette followed the direction of Laurel 's hand. High up in the sky ahead of them, the smallest star shone, haloed in creamy golden light. She nodded. "Just keep that star straight ahead of you, and you'll never get lost coming back to the Never tree. See?"

They started walking again. Colette kept her eyes glued to the star, listening to the sounds of the forest at night. They didn't walk for much longer. Eventually a huge tree loomed up in front of them. The star came to rest in the centre of a natural gap between the heavy leaved branches of the Never Tree, and there it shone, like a lantern in the Darkness.

"Here we are." Thor said.

The children stopped walking. Thor shifted Loki a bit in his arms.

"Don't wake him!" Birch said.

"Don't wake him?" Thor snorted. "Trying to wake Loki is like trying to wake a rock. It's no use." He added, "I'm going to have trouble getting Loki down into the underground home."

"That's alright. We can sleep outside. It's such a lovely night." Said Birch, doing a pirouette, her silvery hair catching the moonlight. She was obviously singing one of the Faerie waltzes in her head. "We do sleep outside on nice nights." She said to Colette. "There's a beautiful clearing just round the back of the tree where we go when we do. You can see the stars from there on a clear night. It's like camping." For a moment, Birch's deep brown eyes clouded over, and her smile faded a little, as if she were remembering something that troubled her. But after a few seconds she shook it off. "Come on, I'll lead the way."

They started away from the base of the Never Tree. Colette felt the ground sinking as she rounded the corner, the path falling steeper under her feet. They children stayed close to the trunk of the tree. Not far ahead there was a huge root, jutting out from the tree. It arched high over the children's heads as they walked under it. Immediately, the light dimmed a little.

"It ok." Liana said, pulling Colette forwards.

Smaller roots jutted out across the path, lined up above each other, forming natural steps up the side of the tree. The children climbed up the wide slippery root steps, hands fumbling in the dimness for the rough safety of the tree bark. They headed up and up the natural steps, each step taking them further into the cool air. Finally the stars stopped. Colette's feet sank into cosy, curling dry moss, soft and bouncy. And the children broke out into the moonlight. They were on a small platform, encircled by two thick tree roots, creating a sort of cove. An enormous umbrella of a branch, covered with sap green leaves, which filtered out the sunlight a little bit, sheltered the cove. The floor was carpeted in the thick luxury moss so that it felt like a huge mattress, and the cove over looked the lagoon, which Peter and Colette had been staring at earlier.

Thor padded over to a corner of the cove and tenderly lay Loki down. He gazed him. "It's not usual for Loki to fall asleep before Dinner." He said. "I guess it's all the excitement of today, what with you coming suddenly Colette!" he grinned at her.

Birch stretched out on the moss, like a cat about to go to sleep. "I'm too tired for anything to eat at the moment." She said, closing her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess we'll have to have an extra big breakfast tomorrow." Said Liana, lying down next to Birch. Willow and Colette lay down on their backs next to the others. Laurel came over as well, but lay down a little apart from the others, his back against the wall of one of the huge roots. They all gazed at the stars. Thor yawned. "Weird." He said. I wasn't sleepy about 2 minutes ago. Well, 'night everyone."

The others murmured goodnight sleepily.

Colette rolled over, so that she faced the Heavens, and gazed at the brightest star. Gradually she heard the others fall asleep, and heard them snore softly but she couldn't sleep just yet. How could she? Here she was, Neverland, the island she had wanted to be in all her life. And still she was trying to take in the days events. She tried to forget all the bad things that happened. The happy fact that she was here in Neverland flopped over and over in her head.

Suddenly, a hand fell gently over her mouth. "Boo!" a voice whispered near her ear. Light brown eyes gazed down at her. Slowly, Colette propped herself up. Peter laid a finger silently on his lips and slipped his hand away from her mouth. He led her over to the edge of the cove.

"Are you ready?" He whispered.

"Ready? For what?" she frowned.

"Ready to learn how to fly? I promised. My word. I never break it."

"Ok."

He grinned, and then blew a handful of something into her face. Colette blinked.

Peter held out his for hers, and she took it. Together their feet lifted off the mossy ground.

"It's alright, I've got you!" Peter said reassuringly. They fly away from the cove and out across the lagoon lit by the moonlight. Peter felt Colette wobbling a bit so he put his hands gently around her waist to hold her steady. Colette stretched out her arms like a bird. The air was so cooling, and it was lovely watching the moon trace a path across the surface of the lagoon. They flew far away from the others, almost to the middle of the lake.

Peter started laughing. His laugh was so light and fresh like a breeze. "Do you trust me?" he asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she nodded, lifting her big blue eyes upwards to his face.

He grinned. Then think Happy Thoughts!" he shouted. His hands left her waist and Colette dropped like a stone, gasping. The wind whistled past her face.

"Think Happy thoughts!" Peter shouted.

Colette screwed her eyes tightly shut, trying to remember happy memories, but then she realised she had hardly any. The surface of the lagoon plummeted faster and faster towards her pointed toes. She was going to hit the water just like in Kensington Gardens!

Colette braced herself, waiting for the collision---

But it never came.

Gingerly, she opened one eye and gazed down. She was literally floating above the water. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's it!!" Peter cheered, clapping. "Wooooo Colette that's it!!"

Colette smiled and did a somersault. She felt so happy.

Peter beamed, pleased with himself and came over to Colette, but she laughed and whizzed away, hovering a few inches above the water. Peter chased after her. She was a quick learner. He got closer and closer, reaching out to grab her foot but at that moment, she did a sharp flip and kicked out at the water.

Peter gasped and recoiled as a shower of water droplets pelted him.

Colette laughed "What? She asked innocently. "That's for dropping me!"

Peter lifted his sodden fringe out of his hair, momentarily surprised and then shrugged. "Ahh, well you knew I wouldn't have let you hit the water!" He flicked his wet curls off his shoulder.

"Of course you wouldn't have. I know that!" Colette laughed. She speed under his feet and kicked out at the water again, splashing his legs this time.

"Hey!"

He gave chase. They both whirled around and around the perimeter of the lagoon. Finally Peter caught up with Colette. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her round to face him. "D'you want a ducking?" He grinned.

They both laughed. Peter gazed into her eyes, so full of laughter, once again realising how pretty she was when she smiled. She was so full of joy. He stared at her intently. Her gaze was so fierce, demanding, commanding, making you want to spill your innermost secrets.

The words tumbled out of his mouth.

"He knows."

She frowned slowly. "Sorry?"

"He knows."

"Who knows?"

"Conner… your brother."

The laughter faded from her face. Once again she was the troubled suicidal teen he'd rescued from Kensington Gardens.

"He knows how you feel. I… I told him. He knows, and I think he understands."

"Oh."

She looked down sadly at her feet. He gulped. Now he felt really guilty. It was amazing how fast her mood had changed. Peter noticed her sink a few centimetres towards the water. He grasped her hand.

"Colette…. Colette I'm…."he shook his head. No point in making it worse. He supposed it was just best never to mention it again. "Do you…want to go back?"

She sighed, like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. She nodded silently without looking up. He pulled her up away from the water and back towards the cove.

The others were still fast asleep when they got back. Laurel opened one eye warily as they arrived, sensing the mood.

Colette lay down next to the others and curled up into a ball. "'Night Peter." She murmured, and turned away from him.

"'Night Colette." His heart went out to her. Why hadn't he kept his mouth shut? He knew what he had to do. The only way to stop Colette from hurting herself was to protect her from her past life. Never mention anything about it again. There was enough on the island to make her forget. Just give her time, he thought. For Peter didn't want to lose another one… not like he lost Wendy. No he wanted to keep Colette here forever. Just like he'd wanted Wendy forever.

Only this time, he would have her.

Hey guys!!PuddyKat here!! I am soooo soooooooooo sorry I've taken agggeess to update! I had to revise for my mock G.C.S.E.s! Thank God they're out the way, now it's just the real thing I need to revise for!!!

Thank you so much for all my reviews. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I made it long to compensate!! Don't forget to read and review!! Hopefully Chapter 9 will be up in the next 2 weeks. Chapter 9!! Oh doesn't that sound lovely! Chapter 9! Oh man I can't believe I've written 8 chapters already!!

Oh well. See ya later guys!!

Thanks!

Wuv PuddyKat xxx !!!