2 Chapters in a row! Chapter 8 is already in progress! ENJOY!

Chapter 7: Never is an Awfully Long Time

Hours later, when Autumn woke up, it was nearly dusk. The sun had just began to set in the sherbet sky. Per was lying next to her with his arm around her, holding her tightly next to him. She sifted slightly, Peter awoke immediately…

"Are you alright?" He asked with concern, putting his hand gently to her face.

She nodded. There were a few moments of silence before Peter decided to further a conversation;

"Do you remember any of your dreams?" Peter asked carefully, hoping not to upset her by making her think of them.

She nodded again. Autumn was quiet, almost distant. She'd been in a way, traumatized by her nightmares. Peter seeing this and seeing that it would take some help for her to talk about it, he urged her on…

"Can you tell me about it?" he asked soothingly.

Autumn thought about this for a moment. A tear rolled down her soft cheek. This made Peter want to hold her, regretting that he'd even pushed her to think about it, wishing he'd have let her bring it up on her own time. He put his palm to her face and wiped the tear away with his thumb.

"Shhhh…" he hushed her sweetly. "I'm sorry, if you don't wanna talk about it right now, we'll wait."

She looked down in remorse for a second.

"No…" Autumn shook her head ever-so-slightly. Peter caressed her face in his hand, she looked up at him. He raised his eyebrows in concerned question at her. She made a face showing some sort of discomfort…

"What? What is it?" Peter asked, consolingly. He rubbed her side reassuring her of his care for her. She looked away, but he guided her face with his hand towards his, till their eyes met again.

"What's happening to me, Peter?" Autumn said in a whisper. Peter felt her fear and confusion, this made Peter feel miserable for her. He took a deep breath, weighing his options in his mind… was now the time to tell her? He thought cautiously. If not, then what should be said? He didn't want to compromise his feelings for her, so he didn't know if he should tell her he was falling for her first, then break the big news… or break the big news, then tell her he was falling for her… if he told her he liked her afterward, then it'd be like just telling her that so she'd stay. But if he told her first, it'd seem a little insignificant, and off-topic… almost rushed. He drew a nervous breath, he had to tell her about her dreams… he'd convince her he loved her later… Neverland had to be saved or there wouldn't be a place for them to be.

His first words cam out hoarsely… "Autumn… you're having foresee-dreams." He sighed heavily, having no idea how to put into words the things he had to tell her, the things she needed to know. She looked almost more confused than she had already been. He ran his fingers through her hair. He looked in her eyes; she could see his frustration of not being able to verbalize what he needed to say. Then a thought came to her mind; her dream… she relapsed into a blank-stare trance for a moment….

"She is the one, she's here, there's nothing you can do to destroy Neverland now that she's here. You can't kill her."

She came from it moments later, with him staring at her, a worried look on his face… "In my dreams, even before tonight, there was a couple times where Hook wanted to kill me and you said he couldn't because I was "the one"."

Peter's eyes grew large… his eye-brows raised in surprise. Autumn was uncertain of his reaction… "What? Is that bad? Peter!"

"No!" Peter jumped on the last words, not wanting her to think negatively of it. "No, it's quiet the opposite, in fact."

"What does it mean?" Autumn asked.

"We need to go to the fairies." Peter stated.

"Do you not know what it means, Peter? Please tell me, Peter. Please" Autumn grabbed his arm, begging him.

Peter looked in her eyes and saw her pleading desperation. His whole countenance dropped and he relaxed, disarmed by her expression. He didn't want her to have to deal with this; he just wanted to take the burden from her before she even knew what it was. It was hard to try to tell her she was Neverland's only hope. He sighed… "Autumn, remember when you asked me what I was talking about with the Fairies, the Mermaids, the Indians?"

"Yeah…" Autumn replied, wondering where he was going with this thought.

"I was telling them about you… telling them you are… the one." Peter paused for only a second. "I know it sounds far-fetched, but please, Autumn, I-" Peter was cut off when Autumn put her hand up to his mouth.

"Can we start at the beginning here? I feel lost, like we're starting a story in the middle of it. Let's we rewind."

"Where do you want me to begin?"

"The beginning… what happened when you left Neverland, what made you want to bring me here."

Peter sighed. "When I'd take a few years out to grow up, Tink had still visited me. And one day she came to me fretting about how Hook had escaped and was in recovery and was plotting the destruction of Neverland. I asked her what I could do and she said she didn't know but would soon return with an answer. A few days later she came to me and told me about Hook's tears; the dreadful poison he had been multiplying." Peter paused for a moment, looking at her.

Autumn was listening intently, hanging on every word he said. So Peter continued… "She told me it would be fatal. She didn't have every detail, but there was enough for her to tell me so that I could begin planning my return to Neverland. She told me that I had to find someone worthy of coming to Neverland, that this person would be "the one". The one who would save Neverland." Peter again paused to make sure she didn't think he was making it up. He looked at her; she was still listening with the utmost intensity.

She crinkled her eyebrows, "Why did you stop? Keep going!"
"You believe me?" Peter asked in almost disbelief.

"Yes… unless you have reason for me to doubt, like you've told this to a hundred other girls and they didn't believe you…"

Peter's mouth dropped, he looked like she had just socked him in the face. "No, Autumn, this…"

"I know, I was only kidding, Peter." Autumn said with a giggle.

Peter sighed deeply with relief. "Don't do that. I thought you were serious, you really had me scared there for a moment." He paused momentarily to take in the fact that she actually believed him. "So, you really believe me?"

"Peter, we're in Neverland," she began with emphasis. "How can I not believe you? You proved your truth by bringing me here; to a place I thought only existed in my dreams, so why would I not believe you in whatever you had to say about it?"

Peter was taken by her words… he loved her more by the second…

"Then my parents decided to move and I saw you, and right away I knew…"

"I'm the one…" Autumn trailed off…

"It was like love at first sight… I knew the second I laid eyes on you. And when I got to know you, I saw your innocence, your child-like curiosity, your imagination and adventure. I saw you had faith; you were strong willed, good and kind, generous and forgiving, you have a good heart and good character and your courageous. I saw that you're selfless and loving."

Autumn blushed, smiling shyly.

"These are all traits worthy of Neverland. That is why I brought you here. I could see you longed for Neverland; I knew you'd dreamt of it before. I knew it was your one wish, the dream you never dreamed of being fulfilled. And the moment I saw you I wanted to grant you your one wish, I wanted to fulfill that dream. I knew the second I saw you that you believed, it was written all over your face whenever you smiled. I could hear it in the way you spoke. The moment I saw you, I fell in love. The more I got to know you, the more I knew you were the one, the more I fell in love with you. All those wonderful traits I listed about you, they weren't the only things I saw…" Peter paused for a moment, with and enticing look for her to question him.

She was thrilled, she was speechless and her eyes glistened with pleasure at the thought of him having feelings for her. She looked at him, as he spoke his last few words about him seeing more in her than what he had already mentioned. It was as if he wanted her to ask him. … "What else did you see, Peter?" Her tone sincerely curious, almost naïve sounding.

Peter swallowed, took a deep breath and continued, "I saw beauty… in your eyes and in your heart. Not only are you beautiful on the out side, but your beautiful on the inside. Your personality is breath-taking." He said; his voice low and soft, enchanting with a soothing texture as it rolled off his tong. His tone full with the honesty of love and affection. He placed his hand on her face, caressing in lovingly.

Autumn found her heart beat had accelerated slightly, her breathing had gotten a bit more heavy and she couldn't take her eyes off him. Before she had a moment to think he was leaning towards her and suddenly she felt his lips pressed against her own. Her heart was now thudding against her rib cage. He pulled away slowly to look at her; his eyes glittered with love; his face had a warm glow as he gazed down at her with such tenderness in his eyes.

"My only fear, Autumn, is that you will think that I only told you I love you so you will stay and help me defeat Hook. And that you will lose your faith and no longer believe. That you won't want to stay here with me. I want you to know that I really do love you and that is not the reason I told you about Hook. I was afraid of falling in love with you because I knew you were the one and I didn't want you to get hurt. Autumn, I don't know if you understand what I'm trying to express here, there's no other way I know how to say it. I---" he was cut off by the sudden feeling of Autumn's lips onto his own.

When she drew back and looked at him, he had that sleepy, sweet look on his face, the look of complete satisfaction in his eyes. She then said in quiet, serious tone; "I know, Peter. I felt a connection with you as well. I believe you, and I am not going any where… because I feel the same way for you."

Peter held her close against him as he looked into her eyes, "Then Autumn, may I ask you something?"

She nodded. Peter urged her to stand up, so she did. He led her to the top entrance and he held her steady on a large branch of the top of the tree home while her hovered behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, which enfolded them in the blanket from her bed. He leaned in close to her, his head on her shoulder and his lips nearly touching her ear…

"You see all of this?" Peter began in a whisper. Autumn nodded. "Will you stay with me Autumn, here in Neverland? Will you leave the outside world behind? Forget the cares of the world and stay with me where we can be free." He forward a little more glanced at her face; it was as though she were in a trance, seeing such a beautiful sight…

All of Neverland, in a peaceful night. The sun was setting behind the horizon; the sky closest to the ground was an orange-sherbet color, mixing with red and pink. Layers above that were purple and blue fading into a darker shade of blue. Most of the sky was now blanketed in black, stars staring to show in places. The water was lapping on the shore, the sound of mermaids talking to each other. You could see the firelight from the Indian camp, and you could hear the slight sound of music coming from the fairy-dance… it was the most magnificent sight in all the world.

"Forget them, Autumn, forget them all. Stay with me, where you'll never, never have to worry about grown up things again." Peter whispered into her ear.

"Never, is an awfully long time…" Autumn said, without changing her gaze. Suddenly her trance broke, "But it would be wonderful." She said with a smile.

"So you will stay?" Peter asked with anticipation.

Without giving her previous life another moments thought, she whispered into his ear; "I would love to."

Peter smiled a sincerely charming smile and they went back down into the underground home to get peaceful night of sleep… Autumn headed toward her bed, but Peter grabbed her by the arm and swung her into him.

He smiled shaking his head, "Mmm-mm." he hummed in manner that meant 'no'. "I can't let you sleep alone after you've had all those nightmares… I shall protect and comfort you throughout the night."

Autumn smiled. "If you insist."

"I do."

Peter picked Autumn up under her knees and carried her into his bedroom. He laid her down on his huge bed of furs and quilts. He scooted her closer to the wall and wrapped her up in a quilt and laid a fur on top, then lay down next to her. Peter looked at her a stroked her cheek with his fingers.

"Good night," he said and leaded over and kissed her forehead. "Sweet dreams." He snuggled close to her and put his arm around her and they fell asleep.