Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2006 14:00:21 EST
From: J
Subject: Peter Pan and Me 60

A bare footed figure  swooped down, feet first, swung the giant arrow with
both feet, having caught it  and zipped it around. Peter grabbed my body and
pulled me into the air, one arm,  then the other, wrapped around me. I felt the
wave of  emptiness in my belly and groin as I  left the ground, carried by
Peter, holding me tightly and lovingly.
The giant arrow zoomed into  Graham, smashed him into the ground, through it,
making a huge hole. Graham's  trajectory didn't end there. His body came out
the other side of the ground,  which ended at a...was that there before? Or did
Neverland change again? To suit  Peter? Graham's body flew out the ground...
out the side of the cliff and arrow in  his belly, out his back. The body kept
going, swerved down into the ocean below.  Once there, mermaids began to take
revenge for the comrades that had been  murdered by Graham. They tore apart
what  was left of his body. Then a giant shark ate them all  up.
One Viking boy was left. He  was almost a man. And he was trying to prove
something to himself. He saw Peter  land and crying. I ran to the cliff side to
see if I could find any sign of  Graham. I noticed the huge shark shape  just
beneath the water. The Viking boy ran up behind Peter and kneed him in the
stomach. He had a knife and he pushed at Peter. I turned. Peter was being pushed
toward the Cliffside and it was further away than the cliffside I was on. It
was  a sort of  backwards hill, or rather  a hill downward. Peter was hurt,
more mentally than physically. The boy's knife  grazed Peter's shoulder as
Peter struggled with him.  It wasn't in him at that moment. All the  fight was out
of Peter. I yelled, "PETER! I'm coming! Hold on,  Peter!"
The fight was over. Peter  knew it. This Viking boy didn't. He was older than
I was. Certainly older than  Peter was. Maybe 17 or so. And he kneed Peter in
the gut again and shoved his  knife at Peter's belly button. Peter turned one
way and the knife struck bare  flesh. Then Peter's whole body vanished over
the side of the cliff. His feet  stumbled over a few craggy rocks. But it was
almost as if Peter, for his crime  of  letting Saca get killed...wanted  to go
over. The Viking boy raised his bloody knife, "Didcha see? I killed him! I
killed him! I slew Peter Pan!!! I did it! I am the one! I am the man who killed
Peter Pan! I slew Peter Pan! Give me accolades!!!!"
My face winced. I wanted to  cry. I broke. But then I was fixed.
The boy/teen went on, "I  killed Peter Pan!"  he turned to  brag to me, to
anyone. He said it over and over  again.
My eyes must have turned  red. I glazed over. I felt like Seth at his worst
or even Peter at most  animalistic. "You killed Peter Pan!? You did it! And now
..."  I had fists raised...and marched at the  teen. "And now, I'm...gonna...kill...
you..."   I said each word slowly and deliberately.
The boy looked toward the  cliff Peter just fell off of. He looked back at me
and then at the cliff that he  just realized was just behind him. The sun was
coming up over the ocean, the  rays gleaming on shimmering waves. It shone
behind my victim, who looked at me,  the night vanishing behind me, the dark
shadows still there but fading. One  mighty darkness issued from it: ME! And it
was moving directly at him. He raised  his knife, "I have a knife. I warn you.
I have a knife  ..."
I didn't hesitate as I  strode right at him, "A KNIFE! I'M GONNA KILL YOU
WITH MY BARE HANDS! YOU ARE  GONNA DIE!"
Even with the knife up, the  teen was clearly afraid. Something inhuman was
coming at him. Intent on slaying  him. Now, I think I would have. I think all
of us have it in us, given the right  circumstances. If someone tries to kill
our loved ones, or does kill our loved  ones, for stupid reasons or not, we
react. I was going to tear this teen apart  with my bare hands.
I knocked his arm with one  punch. The knife flew out of his hand. He put his
fists up to punch but I jabbed  in between them and smacked onto his chin. He
pushed him toward a bigger rock  and his back was against it. I punched his
hard tight belly. He wore a fur loin  cloth. He sported a slight Viking Helmet
and had long blond hair beneath  it.  He was rather good looking but  at the
time, my rage saw none of that. Only the killer of Peter Pan. I had slept  when
Seth slew Peter right behind my back...true, I was mesmerized by demonic
powers. This time I was fully awake. How could I have let this little no  one...
unfair of me to say...this little boy...kill Peter right there before my eyes?  How? I
backhanded the boy's face and his helmet flew off.  He was crying. I didn't
care.  "DIE!!!!!"  I picked up a huge rock  in both hands and made ready to
smash it down on the head of this killer.
>From behind, someone  grabbed both my wrists. "Let me do it! Let me do it! He
killed Peter! When Peter  was grieving for Saca and the fight was over and
Peter  was crying and..."  The person behind me, floated. He turned  my wrists
toward him. He had floated up over the cliffside.
Blindly, I dropped the  rock, but took the boy and pushed him over the side, "
DIE!!! DIE DIE DIE!"
"Chase!"  Peter was the one behind me. He dove off  the cliff and grabbed
the Viking boy around the waist and floated back up to me,  a broad smile on his
face. "You'd commit murder for me,  Chase?"
I fell to my knees. "You  know I would."
"No, I didn't,"  Peter put the boy down.
The boy was broken. He was  on his knees, just like me. He tried to say
something. "I...I'm  sor..."
"The fight is over. Go now.  To your ship,"   Peter said,  "Or with the
flying women....either way...what is your  name?"
"Garvic. I'm not really a  man. I'm just a teen."
"Well, Garvic, just a man,  you have your life today."  Peter  smiled, "Take
it or I shall..."
"Th...thank you..."   Garvic moved off, unsure what to  do or where to go.

That day they put Saca's  body on a wooden raft made from the treehouse,
which the Lost Boys took apart.  Peter had ordered them to. He didn't want any
reminders of it or of Graham. I  had to comfort Peter all day, my arm around him.
I think he, as did I, felt  guilty about Saca's death. Neither his plan nor
my own was any good. True, the  kids were safe but it was risky from both ends.
Loss is a part of life, I  reminded Peter. Peter cried in my arms. I fell
asleep in his.
With all of that behind us,  the Lost Boys and the Valkeryie boys made fun of
each other's names. Even the  Valkeryie girls got into it.
"Tit."
"Rollin. Rolling on what?  Your rear?"
"Rir. You should have  called yourself ass..."
"Orgna? What kind of  a name is that? Sounds like  ogasm?"
"What's that  mean?"
"Never mind,"  Scen put an end to this game soon  enough.
I hugged him. "You're a  man."
"Not quite,"  Scen smiled, "Not  quite."
Peter frowned,  "Fool."
"Maybe so. But Rober awaits  me. And as long as you or I have someone to love
us, Peter Pan, what does it  matter if we grow old or stay young as you
forever?"
Peter's face cracked and he  smiled. "I understand. I love Chase."
I melted. Again. When Scen  left we met Rober and Elise, both of whom looked
so old to me. I felt like a  baby compared to them. I myself thought  of
myself as so grown up but they towered over me. They appeared so  ...so...so OLD. I
shuddered. Why I was not sure. Was it because I was afraid to grow  old like
they? Or afraid for them? Or of them? Or that I was missing out on  something
that they had? I knew Peter ignored the entire thing. It nagged at me,  somehow.
I didn't know what the  future would bring. The Valkeryies were ready to
depart. "Tid, I shall carry  you,"  Bruna said.
"No need, he can fly  himself,"  Peter puffed his chest  out.
"I have no need,"  Tid said, "I am staying  here."
"What?"  Peter  asked.
"If you, brave one, shall  have me?"
"But I got your mother  killed."
"No, she would have wanted  to die that way. Plus,  you got us  out of a
terrible situation that we were in and couldn't get out of any other  way."
"You are a noble  boy."
The bushes stirred. What  now, I thought? I can't take much more action and
adventure and monsters just  today.
>From the stirring bushes,  Garvic came to us, "I too, wish to change ..."
"You'll go with them?"  I asked. I didn't trust myself around  him. I still
remembered seeing him push, stab and fight Peter off a cliff. I  still wanted
to kill him for that.
"I want to stay with  you."  Garvic told  me.
"NO!"  I said, "Out of the  question."
"He may stay,"  Peter said, "If he so wishes  it."
"But what he  did!"
"If he so wishes it he may  stay. Besides, what did he do?"
"Peter! You don't remember  him trying to kill you? And just about doing it!
Just about succeeding at  slaying you?"
"Me?  Him?"
"Uh  huh..."
"Oh.  No."
"OHHHHHHH!"  I frustrated. "Look at him, anyway, he's  too old. He's
almost, what, 18?"
Tingling...and I could feel  it gather off Peter's body and ebb into my own...as
I began to tingle too....Peter  turned Garvic around, "Close your eyes, my
son. Mother will forgive you and you  will...."  He spun Garvic around and
around. "You will forgive yourself too...."  As he spun, Garvic became a little boy,
he looked about 6. "Young  enough?"
"Yes, thank you."  Garvic smiled and came over to me.
I had to admit, he was  cute. And he was nothing like the teen that killed or
almost killed Peter. I  hugged him and he put his head on my shoulder. Should
I really trust him? And  what of Tid? Did he really forgive us for such a
mess of a rescue? Or were one  of them or both of them together or separately
trying to gain our trust in order  to kill  us?
We'd have to find out. We  gave our  waves goodbye to the  Valkeryies and the
other children. As they sailed into the soon setting sun, my  thoughts turned
to other things.
I knew this life had to end  sooner or later. All things do. I just didn't
know how long it would take. It  could be tomorrow or five million thousand
years from now. The outside world had  changed. The aging of Rober and Scen had
made me realize that. Bailey, too, must  be a man by now or somewhere along
those lines, headed for that manhoodedness.  Time will go on. And so will I and
Peter. But how and when it will end? It could  be some grand adventure would
finish us both. Some valiant death in the face of  our enemies. One enemy too
many. Saving the world, the universe, or just  Neverland? Dying for our love? Or
some unknown, lesser, but more civil and  smaller death? In bed? From the flu?

I knew in other universes,  as seen in my dreams, that other Pans and other
Chase's go on to live in  different ways. Some leave Neverland and grow old,
give the Lost Boys lives  outside of the Neverneverland. Others never leave.
Some went on forever. And  ever. Some died prematurely. Some died together, some
died separately. I didn't  know which line our fates in our own universe would
take. I did know that I  would make the most of our time together. Peter and
I would also cross that line  and some day I would have sex with him, fully
and in every manner and every way  imaginable. And he will enjoy it. And I know
I  will, too. But it is my love for him,  beyond just sex, that will go on
forever, no matter our futures, together or  not, I just hope it is together.
Willingly, I would never leave his side and I  know he would not willingly leave
mine, not now.
For now, we all look  forward to some peace and quiet after our incredible
adventures of the past few  years...all but one...
"Come on, Chase! Get out of  bed Je'ne! Rollin, Aoi, Sole, Landen, Jennie,
Bo, Garvic, Tid! There's a rainbow  monster on the other side of the
NeverMountains! And one touch from him, and  it's certain death!!!!"
"Peter, don't you ever  change..."

To be continued?