Older Peter Pan X Older Reader: Part 15

You had watched them all go, leaving you behind. It was a hard pill to swallow, but one you had to do never the less. You sent up a silent prayer that they would all come back to you. Your agonizing wait had officially begun. Tootles placed one hand tentatively on your shoulder. You couldn't turn to face him, it was all you could do not to go running after them. Tootles gently gave your shoulder a squeeze before you felt his presence behind you fade. You stood stock still for a little bit, biting back your tears and gathering your own resolve. You would do what Peter asked, but that didn't mean you liked it. You hated this. You hated feeling useless. You may have come up with the plan to save Tiger Lily but what good was it if you couldn't even participate in it? Feeling worried and self loathing you decided to try and sit down in one of the small beaten wooden kitchen chairs. You were able to sit for maybe all of three seconds before you stood back up again. Your body was thrumming with the need to move. You didn't know what you wanted to do, but you knew you had to do something. You began pacing the floor back and forth in a clipped pace. Your mind was racing, bouncing back and forth wondering what was happening with Peter and the rest of The Lost Boys while you were left here doing absolutely nothing. Everytime your mind tried to wander off into dangerous worst case scenario situations you would force your mind to go onto something else. You couldn't sit and dwell and worry on what could happen. You needed to find something to do now. You felt like a tiger pacing in a cage. You had the will and determination to do something, but had no idea what exactly you should do. One thing was for sure; you weren't getting anything done here and you couldn't go chasing after Peter and risk putting the whole mission in jeapordy. So what could you do?

Frustrated and feeling like you were going to jump out of your skin you threw yourself heavily onto one of the empty beds in the corner of the room. You rolled onto your stomach and your face became buried against something. You pulled the soft object away from your face. It was Cubby's time worn teddy bear. It had certainly seen better days and it was now dirty and coming apart in places. You could see a perfectly stitched line on one of the arms where someone had lovingly put it back together. The craftsmanship of the sewing line was something you didn't think Cubby could have done. It was probably Slightly's doing since he seemed to be the resident doctor around here. No doubt he had, had to stitch up some of the boys a time or too. You imagined Slightly's long deft fingers methodically stitching up the bear for his brother Cubby. It made your heart clench. You clutched the dirty pathetic bear to your chest and curled up on your side. If only there was a way you could help them from afar... A tiny spark of an idea ignited in your mind. It was madness to be sure, but if you could pull it off...

You leaped up off of the bed and onto your feet. It was a long shot, but you had to at least try. You couldn't just sit here and sulk. With that in mind you set off towards Tootles who was once again tending to the fire, feeding it some more kindling. His baby blue eyes were staring intensely into the flames as if he were deep in thought. "I need you to take me to Mermaid Lagoon," you said quickly. Tootles flinched, drawn out unexpectedly from his thoughts. It took him a few heartbeats to register what you had just said. His young angled face looked up at you like you like you had just gone crazy and perhaps you had. His voice was carefully bland as he asked, "Why?" You took a deep breath, you didn't want to tell him your sad excuse for a plan just yet so you tried your best to tiptoe around it, "I need to speak with Titania. Please, Tootles it is important and I don't have time to sit here and explain it to you. Just know that this will help the guys." Tootles looked cautiously at you, no doubt weighing his options in his mind. "Titania is not one who simply talks to people, especially not women. She has already tried to murder you once. I'm sorry, but it is too dangerous. However if what you have to say can help the others, then tell it to me and I will go and speak with her so long as you promise to stay here." He looked terribly young, but his voice and face were firm. It wouldn't be easy to sway him on this, but you were going to try anyway. You knew it was wrong, but you were willing to use whatever weapons you had at your disposal to make him take you there. You let the tears you had been holding back pour forth from your eyes like fat raindrops. You let your careful control break so Tootles could see just how much pain you were in. "Please, Tootles I have to go. I have to do this myself. I can't sit here and do NOTHING!" you shrieked and your voice cracked a little on the last part. You dropped to your knees where he was sitting on the floor and you took his smooth face in your hands and forced him to look into your eyes. "I have to be the one who talks to her. I promise I wont step a single foot in the water and you can come with me to make sure I dont, but you have to trust me on this. I'm begging you Tootles. Please, let me do this. There is too much room for something to go wrong and they are up against bad odds, but if you let me go I can maybe turn the odds in our favor. If it doesn't work then I promise I will let it go and come back here with you and stay here. I won't ask anything else from you. Please let me go, this isn't just for me it is for them."

You had put the weight of your conviction into your eyes and voice. Tootles looked back at you bewildered. You could almost see the civil war that was raging through his mind at the moment. You refused to break your gaze from his. You both stayed like that, locked in a battle of wills for a few tense moments. If he wouldn't take you, you were just going to sneak off and do it yourself anyways. Tootles must have figured that out because he let out a long suffering sigh and said, "I will take you there, but you will not go anywhere near the shoreline and if I don't like where the talk is going I am going to drag you back here myself got it? And if whatever you are planning doesn't work you are going to come back here and you will stay and wait without anymore crazy schemes. Do I make myself clear?" Tootles's face was as serious as you've ever seen it. He meant every word of what he had just said. Excited to be able to move forward you nodded enthusiastically and leaned forward to place a fast victorious kiss on Tootles's lips. You couldn't contain your happiness to finally be able to do something. Tootles's face turned beet red and he scrambled away from you on his hands and knees like a flustered crab. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" you cried as you unceremoniously grabbed one of his arms and tried to yank him up. Tootles came to his feet and looked over at you warily. He seemed to be mentally kicking himself for agreeing to this, but he had and so he would go through with it no matter what. You looped your arm in his and half walked, half dragged him up the wooden stairs and out of the tree house.

You both continued like that, walking arm and arm through the thick exotic vegetation of the island. Here and there you could hear the loud noises of the wild life hiding hidden among the overhanging trees and in the plush greenery all around you. It was beautiful the way the sun shown down in rays between the patches of interlocking trees and colorful plumage of leaves. But you had no time to waste on the scenery. You had a half-baked plan forming inside your mind and the only way to see if it would work was to negotiate with the same mermaids who had already tried to kill you in cold blood once before. It wouldn't be easy you knew. While the mermaids were circling you in the water you had been able to see their true faces. Vain, vicious, and self serving creatures they were, but you would not let that deter you. They may be frightening beings all their own, but you were a woman scorned with everything to lose. Let them see who's scary now. you thought to yourself as every sure footstep brought you closer to your destination.

Finally after what seemed like a very long time but probably wasn't, you both emerged from the thick tropical looking trees and knee-high wild vegetation onto the oval shaped beach where Mermaid Lagoon was. The last time you had seen it had been night time and while it had been mesmerizing then, in the bright light of day it was breathtaking. The water of the ocean reservoir was sparkling everywhere the sun's rays hit it. The waterfall was gushing forth gallons of crystal clear water down into the lagoon and in the center between water and sky was a thin transparent rainbow that when you looked through it seemed as if the colors were glittering because of the way the shining water from the falls cascaded behind it. The waves that gently lapped the sand on the shore were clear with hints of aquamarine blue. It was the kind of water that one would expect to see on a lavish exotic vacation. And just as they had before, there in the middle of the reservoir sunbathing atop the smooth white washed rocks jutting from the sea below, were the mermaids. They were just as stunning in light as they had been in the dark. The rainbow colored scales of their tales caught the light and cast reflections of rainbows onto the surface of the rocks and the water around them. Their pale skins gleamed like marble in the sunlight. Their long hair gently swaying behind them in the light breeze. They lounged and played shamelessly with their perfectly petite and curved naked torsos bared for all the world to see. In fact they were displaying their smooth flawless flesh to best advantage. Mermaids...no more like sirens. The ocean breeze felt good and cooling on your face. This would be a wonderful place to swim, but you didn't have time for that now. Your eyes narrowed as you searched the lagoon for the one mermaid you wanted to see.  

Titania was in the same place she had been the last time you had met her. She was laying atop the one rock that was in the dead center of the lagoon. She lay on her back, the end of her tail hanging off of the rock so her fin could lightly splash the surface of the water. Her long arms lay stretched by her curvaceous sides. The luscious locks of her hair trailed behind her head and hung off of the other side of the rock like pure golden silk. The light from the sun above added even brighter highlights to her hair making it seem like it was alive. Titania lay flat with her ample breasts exposed towards the sky, her delicate heart shaped face was turned to the sun, soaking it in. She looked so peaceful, so gloriously alive, that it made rage burn through your veins. All that otherworldly beauty was just a facade; inside you knew she was hideous. Seeing your prey you marched out of the bush's and straight into the middle of the beach, being careful to keep a safe distance from the shore. You didn't know if mermaids could crawl on land, but you weren't going to risk it. The pale sand shifted beneath your feet as you planted them wide and placed your hands on your hips. You cleared your throat loudly and exclaimed, "Sorry to interrupt your playtime ladies, but I'm here on business."

Their was a chattering of lilting female voices as they became aware of your presence. There was also a great deal of splashing as the mermaids who had been zipping around the lagoon now pulled themselves all towards the rock Titania was laying upon. A voice from somewhere rose above the other's and said plaintively, "We were only trying to drown her." To some it might look like they were rallied around and protecting their queen, but to you it just looked like they were gathered in uncertainty around her. Titania hadn't moved from where she rested, she didn't even bother opening her eyes. The only indication you had of her noticing you was her breathy voice as she said, "You again? Come for another swim little sister?" You had the urge to pick up a rock and throw it at her, but you held yourself still. You hated them all and would love nothing better than to exact some kind of revenge for the way they tricked you, but you didn't have time for revenge. Right now you needed to help Peter and the boys rescue Lily, and so no matter how hard it was you would swallow your hatred for today and try and get what you came here for. "Not today sister, today I'm in the middle of something important which is why I have come to speak to you." Titania did languorously sit up then. Her slanted eyes fixed on you curiously and you saw that unlike last time when her eyes had been as deep as the ocean that night now they were as bright as the aqua ocean was today. Color changing eyes...that was something new. Her plump rosey lips curved into a sardonic smile as she said, "Something important? Really well then get on with it child. What is so important that you interrupt my time in the sun?" She was humoring you. That was a good sign. If you could control your feelings of rage against her and speak to her rationally you just may be able to pull this off. Tootles came to stand beside you. You briefly glanced over to look at him and you noticed he was staring intently ahead, but wasn't actually looking at any of the mermaids. It puzzled you a bit until you noticed the creeping blush that was coming over his handsome young face. Of course, here was a lagoon filled with naked beautiful women that any normal man would kill for a night with, flashing their goods right in front of him. He was young but he was still a man. You had to give him points for not staring. Tootles's presence beside you kept your mind focused on the task at hand and as long as you stayed focused you wouldn't pick up that sharp looking stick on the ground and throw it at Titania like Captain Ahab trying to harpoon the White Whale.    

"Trust me, it is something gravely important otherwise I would not be here," you said as evenly as possible. It was hard trying to keep the venom out of your voice, but you would manage it for Peter. "Seeing as you were the ones who informed Slightly of Princess Tiger Lily's whereabouts after the abduction by Captain Hook, I assume you are aware of how bad a situation this is for all of Neverland." Titania made no indications to confirming this, but her large piercing eyes stayed trained on you like a laser. Her long porcelain arms were supporting her weight behind her nonchalantly making you feel like she would at least continue to hear you out. You went over a brief explanation of the plan you had come up with and that The Lost Boys were currently enacting. You saw it fit to put emphasis on the fact that the plan had lots of holes in it, but if it worked Neverland could be rid of Hook once and for all. When you had finished Titania waved one slender arm imperiously and rolled her large ocean eyes as if she was bored, "Yes, child that is all very fascinating, but what do you want from me?" This was the part where you had to take a leap of faith. This was what you came here for. Taking a deep breath you prepared yourself, "You told me the first time I met you that you were mistress of the sea and queen of the mermaids." You paused there waiting for her to actually confirm it this time. Titania nodded regally her full lips pursing as she replied, "That I am girl, what of it?"  Good she had taken the bait so far. If you knew anything about mermaids it was that they were incredibly vein so in dealing with them you had to appeal to their vanity. "If you are mistress of the seas then why does Hook seem to be the king of them? From what I understand he is just a man, so how come he seems to rule the seas not you?" Titania's bemused expression falterd and her delicate face began to harden and look as if it were made of stone. You had hit her right where it hurt. "I rule this ocean, no one else," she responded and her usual singsong voice was as sharp as glass. Her large slanted eyes narrowed even further as she now looked at you like she wanted to try and drown you again. That was exactly how you wanted it. "But what will you do if Peter and The Lost Boys lose? Who will be left to stop Hook from taking over your ocean and the land as well. Why wouldn't he become king of all of Neverland?" you asked faking an innocent but insinuating tone. Titania didn't say anything, but her body had become rigid and she began to look like a vengeful statue. You took that as a cue to keep on talking, "Of course if you really are mistress of the sea, then it shouldn't be too hard for you to use your powers to assist The Lost Boys and Peter on this mission." You began to pace back and forth slowly as if you were just stopping to have a chat about the weather. Titania however did not look pleased, "And what exactly do you think I should be doing child?" The last word was bitten off like she was sneering down at you. You shrugged it off, she was in your court now. "Well if you truly are mistress of the seas then it would be so easy to end Hook once and for all. I mean everybody knows he is terrified of the Tic Tok Croc. So how hard would it be for the ruler of the seas to lead the croc into the caverns where he is holding Tiger Lily? The croc would do all the work since he seems to still be licking his chops for another bite of him. But of course you could only do that if you really were the mistress of the seas as you claim." You then stopped in your tracks and raked your eyes over Titania and let your expression clearly tell her you doubted her ability. Titania didn't even try to hide the rage she was feeling at your passive aggressive insults. Her eyes which were as bright and clear as the water in the lagoon changed into a dark churning grey blue. They looked like the sea would look during a tempest. "I am the mistress of these waters and I do as I please. Let the foolish men fight to their hearts content see if I care. We mermaids need nothing and no one but the sea."

"I guess only time will tell to see who really rules these waters. If Hook comes out of this alive then I imagine the mermaids will be what he comes after next. He doesn't seem particularly fond of women from what I've heard, but then again that is something you both have in common. In fact I believe Nibs told me that on the front of Hook's ship he had a wooden mermaid carved right onto the bow so it looks as if she has been skeward there." you stopped and gave a wickedly nasty smile at Titania and the other mermaids gathered around her. Titania still looked pissed, but you could see the stark fear on the other mermaids's faces. "Well I guess we will all just have to wait and see who dies next. I hear he is in need of a good story teller. It's a good thing I am one. I wonder though what use he will have for you?" And with that you ended your little speech and turned on your heel back towards the thick forest vegetation. You kept walking and didn't even turn to look back. Tootles was right behind you, his boots making crunching noises as he stepped on numerous plants. You had planted the seed in their minds it was up to them to act upon it, but you had faith they would do it. There was nothing more that mermaids loved most than themselves and with their lives potentially on the line, you had a feeling they wouldn't hesitate to secure their own safety and their own vanities. They may not join the battle and risk their own skins, but you had given them a way to get someone or in this case something else to do it for them. A victorious and wicked smile crossed your lips.You had won this round you were sure of it and in doing so The Lost Boys and Peter may also have another weapon on their side. The Tic Tok Croc was just the thing to turn the tides of this battle. Satisfied that you had been able to pull off your crazed plan you began happily sauntering back to the secret club house. Tootles escorted you back, his strides matching yours and the only comment he made through the whole journey was, "I think Slightly might have just met his match." You smiled even broader. You liked the sound of that.      


To be continued…

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Authors Note: Oh my another chapter update? Is this some kind of trick? No it isn't, it's a treat! I actually pounded this one out relatively quickly considering how long my previous updates have taken. We once again were united with the mermaids in this one. How did it feel to see them again? Yeah, I thought so too. Turns out you dear reader have some mighty tricks up your sleeve lol. A good thing too considering Neverland is such a fickle mistress. I don't know why but in my head I imagine Slightly as some what of a mixture between Kyoya from Ouran High School Host Club and Jareth from The Labyrinth....which in a sick and twisted way makes him my dream man, but I envision him as somewhat of a jack of all trades and an evil mastermind only mildly evil. So the last line where Tootles says he has met his match is because the reader is proving to be an evil mastermind all her own. I didn't want anyone getting confused and thinking that I meant a love match, I just meant a mental match. Just wanted to clear that up just in case. Though if you ship that pairing you can take it however you like. I ship all the ships after all. Anyways, that’s all for this chapter guys. I hope you all enjoyed it. What will happen next?  Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out!
Much love to you all,
Fox