Wendy took a sip of medicine from Peter's flask and then passed it back to him as they arrived at the beach. They took a few more steps and then Wendy stopped in her tracks.
"What is it?" Peter asked.
"The pirates are here."
"Of course they are."
"You eat meals with them?"
"Yeah. Whoever loses the game cooks dinner for the champions," Peter explained. "The pirates make us dinner a lot," he added, winking at her.
"So, you all are friends?" Wendy asked, the tease reappearing at the corner of her mouth.
"I wouldn't say friends, but we get along."
"That's funny," she replied, continuing forward, "I thought you'd be complete enemies."
"Only during the games."
The pirates had already started eating, sprawled out on some rugs they had brought up on shore. A blazing bonfire crackled next to the food, making Peter cringe.
"Come on lads, we might have some lobster left for you!" Bellowed Cecco.
The other pirates laughed and made room for them on their rugs. Peter's mouth watered as they approached the food. Smee made the best seasoned Lobster, and as much as Slightly had pestered him for it, the old man had never shared his secret recipe. Peter carefully skirted around the fire, grabbed one of the wooden plates and began loading it with seafood and bread pudding. He was pouring himself some rum berry juice when he realized everyone had stopped talking. He turned around and saw that all the pirates were staring at Wendy. He expected her to shrink back, but instead she crossed her arms and glared at them.
"Who's the new one?" Starkey finally asked.
"Oh, that's just Wendy," a twin answered casually, his mouth full of pudding. "Peter brought her."
Now all eyes turned to Peter. He tried to form a response, but he still wasn't sure why he had brought her here, other than that when he looked at her he felt like he could fly without pixie dust. He knew it was unprecedented for anyone to bring someone to Neverland who hadn't been chosen, but up until that point he hadn't really thought it was a big deal. When he didn't say anything, Captain Hook spoke up.
"Welcome, Wendy," he said affably, raising his glass to her. "I trust you've enjoyed your stay here so far?"
"Very much, thank you."
"If you have any questions that those lost boys can't answer, please don't hesitate to come to me." Hook's tone was light but his expression seemed agitated. Wendy cocked her head to the side but didn't reply. Just as it was beginning to feel tense, Whibbler broke the silence.
"Why do they get a girl?" He grumbled. "I've been trying to get us a lady for ages, but I'm always denied!"
"Even if we did have a woman here you'd still be denied!" Shouted Bill Jukes. The pirates roared with laughter and the chatter resumed. Peter exhaled and guided Wendy to a rug a bit removed from the group. Mostly everyone ignored them, although Peter noticed Captain Hook glance over a few times.
"You're afraid of fire," Wendy said, pulling his attention fully back to her. It wasn't a question.
"Yeah."
Wendy looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to elaborate.
"I don't know why it bothers me so much," Peter admitted, a muddled memory and a twinge of guilt sparking in his head and then fading away. "I just don't like to be near it. It makes me nervous."
"I didn't think you'd be afraid of anything," she teased.
Peter studied Wendy's face. He was afraid of her, but not in the same way he was afraid of fire.
"So, how did you all get here?" Wendy asked. "The pirates, the lost boys, what was it that brought you all to Neverland?"
Peter frowned. He'd never given much thought to how people came here, they just showed up. He couldn't seem to remember a time when they weren't here. Instinctively he knew he was here first, him and Captain Hook, and then the others gradually followed. But how? He'd never thought it was very important.
"Is this one of those things I should ask Captain Hook?" Wendy inquired, drawing her brows together.
Peter started forward. "No!" He blurted, then tried to be more casual, "I don't think he knows either."
"Alright," Wendy conceded, but he could tell she wasn't satisfied. "Can you tell me why you brought me here, then?"
There was an odd gleam in her eye, and Peter sensed she was trying to get him to say something he wasn't sure he wanted to divulge.
"I-I wanted you to see Neverland," he responded lamely. "Plus, I thought you could help us out in the games, and you have," he added.
"Oh."
Wendy turned away and bit into a lobster tail a little too vengefully. Peter was trying to think of a way to make her smile again when a loud, female voice carried across the sky arch.
"James! Open the portal!"
Captain Hook blanched. Wendy looked bewildered, so Peter explained before she asked.
"That's the Crocodile. She's the only thing Hook is afraid of. She can come through the entrance on her own, but she always makes Hook do it for her, using that big speaker in the cavern because she knows it scares him. Sometimes she comes and talks to him all night long, and the next day he's really on edge. It's hilarious."
Wendy only seemed more confused. He watched Captain Hook quickly board the ship to open the cavern entrance from the helm's control system. Peter wasn't too fond of the Crocodile himself, and he wasn't in the mood to stick around and see her yell at Hook. He slowly stood up and motioned Wendy to follow him.
"Come with me," he said, pulling her to her feet. "There's something I want to show you."
*****
The Imagination Tower was at the edge of Neverland, next to the sand dunes. When Peter had explained to Wendy what it was, she had practically run up the long spiral staircase to get to the top. The steel structure resembled a long needle sticking up from a bed of sand. The entire building housed pipes, wires and building materials, and at the very top was the creation lab, which was equipped with special programs and controls. The walls of the lab were made entirely of glass and they could see all of Neverland as it was enveloped in the twilight.
"This is phenomenal," Wendy whispered, her hands running reverently along the glass walls.
"I haven't even shown you how it works," Peter laughed. He plugged his shadow into the central receiver and all the screens lit up. He ran through a list of elements and selected a few, then turned to another screen and zoomed in on a quadrant at the waterfalls, designating the place where he wanted his creation to appear. He selected a design that he'd previously created and stored on his shadow, typed in some code, and executed.
"Watch," he instructed, pointing outside to the waterfall. A large glass and copper sphere erupted from one of the pools, bobbing on the water. Wendy gasped and pressed her face to the glass. "It's a fishing float," Peter explained excitedly. "That way you can fish in the waterfall without getting water in your boat and sinking."
"And you made that just by pushing a few buttons?"
"Well, no. I developed it a while ago and copied the design to my shadow. Just now I selected the required elements and the system configured the components."
"What else can you create?"
"Anything that can be pulled from the framework or matter of Neverland. We've made trees, rivers, mountains, houses, animals... once the twins even made it rain cranberry juice. Everything got really sticky," he remarked, grimacing at the memory.
Wendy put her hands on top of her head and laughed.
"Can I try?"
Peter hesitated. "You don't have a shadow..." Wendy's face looked so forlorn that Peter immediately blurted: "But you can use mine!"
Wendy jumped over to the controls and Peter held back a groan. He was really careful about which activities and creations were tracked on his shadow. He didn't want to lose points if she made something mediocre. Maybe he could erase it after a few days.
"So, where do I start?"
"Here's the design program," Peter responded, reaching over her and pulling up the application. Wendy stared blankly at all the icons and buttons before her.
"Help?"
"Ah, I'll switch it to the mode where you can basically draw it with your fingers."
Peter watched her, mesmerized, as her nimble fingers flitted across the screen, composing and merging beautiful lines and angles. She found the list of elements and selected several that Peter never would have considered. He helped her find a location for her structure by the river at the base of the silver mountains, then held his breath as she executed.
The trees next to the river trembled. The branches grew and stretched, melding with roots and metals that twisted up from the ground. An intricate bridge formed over the water, intermingling with the overhanging trees. You couldn't tell where the bridge ended and the trees began. Vines crept up the sides, weaving in between the delicate patterns.
"Wendy, it's incredible," Peter whispered. She slowly took his hand and laced her fingers through his. A multitude of sensations shot through Peter, but he didn't dare look over at her, afraid of what he would do if he did. Among the myriad of emotions was a wave of guilt. He had brought Wendy to Neverland against her will. He thought he was doing her a favor, but now he realized he had just been selfish. He had taken her away from her home because there was something about her that he couldn't leave behind. He knew he should apologize, but he didn't want to ruin this moment. Instead he just focused on her hand in his and stood next to her in silence, admiring Neverland under the darkening sky.