So this is how I'm going to die, thought Tink, squeezing her eyes shut. Like a fish in an empty tank. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head on them, somehow imagining that if she could make herself smaller, she wouldn't need as much air. She muttered another curse as she recalled the Crocodile barging into central control a few hours before, raving mad about how she had prevented Peter from drinking his poisoned medicine. She should have known that her act of mercy would come with repercussions. Tink had thought that the Crocodile was going to kill her on the spot, but instead the woman had just smiled evilly, cut Tink's video feeds and her air and locked the door. The only screen that was still functioning was the one that indicated how much oxygen the small room held. She was at 13 percent.
Was it worth it? She wondered, and then smiled a little at the thought of kissing Peter when he thought she was dying. It was a cheap trick for sure, but she saw her opportunity slipping away with every adoring glance he gave to that stupid Wendy girl. And now she really was dying, so she felt justified. Plus, what was the point of living if Peter was dead? She didn't regret saving him at all, even as she began to feel the dizziness pressing in on her.
Suddenly, the lights went out and everything became quiet. For a moment she thought she had died, but then realized the power must have been turned off. Thinking that the door might somehow be unlocked, she groped around in the dark until she found the handle. It wouldn't budge. She rested her head against the cool metal, thinking of everything that was beyond it, and was suddenly grateful that she couldn't get out. This realization filled her with a new flood of weakness and guilt. Would I really rather die than leave my tiny room? Am I so scared of the outside world that it would kill me? She imagined the marvelous landscape of Neverland: the exotic trees and animals, the rivers and the lagoon, and the silver mountains that she was housed in. All the things that she only saw on her screens and through her robotic fairy avatar. She began to shake, but then quickly pushed herself away from the door. It doesn't matter, she rationalized. The door is locked, I have no air, and I'm going to die alone. But at least I'll die a hero, and I hope Peter thinks about me every day and feels awful for not loving me.
The minutes dragged on and she felt herself getting drowsy, floating away from reality. Snatches of her former life in the Grey World passed through her mind, of the parents who abandoned her, of living on the street, stealing food and doing odd jobs for strangers, sleeping in that huge library whenever she could manage it. She was barely surviving when the Crocodile found her and brought her to Neverland.
Then there was the medicine. The glorious solution that took away all of her memories, her bitterness, her fears. There was meeting Peter and creating all sorts of games and devices with him. They had so much fun together in those early days. But she had been so caught up in the fun that she often forgot to take her medicine. And the memories would come back, and the new world she was in would overwhelm her, until she couldn't handle the sensations and the unfamiliarity and the uncertainty anymore. So she made herself a home in central control and never came out. A place where she could see everything but do nothing.
Tink felt tears streaming down her cheeks and cursed. She didn't want to be crying, she wanted to handle death like she'd handled everything else - bitter and removed.
"But don't I deserve to cry a little?" She yelled, beating her fists against the wall. "I am dying, after all!"
Nevertheless, she took a few shallow breaths and gained control of her tears. She sat down on the floor and tried to clear her head until the only thing she could see in her mind's eye was the glorious Neverland sunset.
"I shouldn't have let the world win," she muttered, slipping in and out of consciousness. "If I get another chance, I promise I'm going to leave this room."
She leaned her head against the wall and prepared to slip peacefully away, but her peace was disrupted by pounding and yelling.
"Tink! Are you in there?" Came a vaguely familiar voice.
Tink didn't know if the voice and the noise were real, but she couldn't find the strength to respond.
"Tink! I'm going to get you out of there!"
The pounding intensified and it seemed as if the walls were going to collapse around her, but Tink just sat there lazily, trying to make sense of it all. Then the huge metal door burst open, and Tink saw him silhouetted against the Neverland moon. The air hit her and almost immediately her senses cleared. She took a few gasping breaths and tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn't support her and she collapsed to the ground.
"Tink, are you alright?"
Strong arms were around her, pulling her up, pulling her close. She inhaled his scent and suddenly felt euphoric.
"You came for me!" She exclaimed weakly, clutching at him, burying her head in his chest. Of course he came. She knew he would come to his senses eventually, especially when she was dying (for real this time). They were meant to be together. She knew, somewhere deep down, that Peter loved her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face to hers, meeting his lips with her own. There was a moment of resistance, and then he responded eagerly, pressing into her and kissing her with more passion than she could ever have hoped for. She ran her hands over his broad shoulders, up into his thick, curly hair...
Curly hair?
Tink pulled away and tried to focus, but it was too dark and she felt she couldn't trust her senses.
"Peter?"
There was silence for a moment, and then-
"Oh. Oh no."
She could almost feel the disappointment filling the space between them, and she wasn't sure if it was hers or his. She scrambled to her feet and found the button to reboot the room's power. The lights flickered on and instead of a self assured and cocky Peter, her eyes rested on a very bashful and red-faced Curly.
"What are you doing here!" She shouted.
"Rescuing you," Curly answered meekly.
"So you thought you could just come in here and take advantage of me?"
"But you... I didn't..."
"I would have expected behavior like this from Slightly, or even the twins, but you?" Even now, Tink couldn't reconcile the gentle-faced boy with the strong, passionate lad who had kissed her moments before, whose lips had been so urgent and welcoming...
"Ugh!" Tink cried, pushing the memory away. "Just leave me alone, I need to think." And before she knew it, she had marched right past Curly, out the open door, and into the vast expanse of Neverland. She looked around and froze.
The air was cold and fresh and enticing. The stars were twinkling in the fabricated sky, and below everything was coated in glistening white snow. It was so beautiful, and big... too big... too foreign...
She forced herself to breathe, to keep her eyes open. She remembered the desperate promise she had made about leaving her room if she was given the chance to live. But the newness and the space and the smells swirled around her and she felt like she was going to be sick.
"Well, I'm alive, and I came out here, but I never said I had to stay out here, right?" She whispered. And with that, she turned, rushed back into central control, and faced Curly.
"Leave!" She ordered, pointing to the door. He opened his mouth and then shut it. He looked miserable, but he ducked his head and slowly walked out. Tink slammed the door behind him and leaned against the wall.
Her head was reeling with emotions. Relief at being alive, mortification from that incident with Curly, fear, frustration, exhilaration... guilt? She groaned and quickly opened the door again.
"Hey!"
Curly had already walked a dozen paces down the path, but he turned around, looking bewildered.
"Thank you for saving my life!" Tink yelled angrily, then slammed the door again.