Peter’s arm scooped around Maggie’s waist before she had a moment to think. He gently pulled her into a warm embraceagainst his chest. While the mermaids exclaimed joyously at the return of their light, there was something dreadfully sorrowful about Peter’s hug. He wrapped her in a cocoon that was not tight, but rather memorable. It was as if he wished for the moment to stick with her for the rest of time, for her to never dare to think that anything else happened. He wanted to make sure the memory was imprinted on her, though he didn’t know that every moment with him was already unforgettable to Maggie.
When he pulled away, the space between them was minimal, barely a breath away. “You can go home soon,” he whispered. “Maybe not tomorrow, but soon.”
Maggie raised her eyes to him. The breath hitched in the back of her throat. There was an entire sky in his eyes, clouds and storms streaking by his pupils. Never had she seen such an intense stare, one with a thousand words trapped behind them. She wished to sink into his gaze, to let him engulf her and never pull herself free of him.
Everyone was expecting her to leave.
The moment the Everything Plant was restored to full health, Maggie would return.
Everything would return tonormal.
Peter’s hands tightened around her waist, as if he could hear her thoughts.
What even was normal anymore? Maggie had no semblance of it. There was only Neverland and its King, the mysterious island and its lovable Lost Boys. There were adventures lurking around the corner, there were dangerous pirates and captains with smoldering stares. Creatures with untold stories and secrets waiting to be uncovered lingered on the surface of the rowdy seas. An entire lifetime's worth of adventures, of discovery, of new found passion, lies just out of reach for someone as simple as Maggie Hart.
She looked up into Peter Pan’s eyes and prayed that the Everything Plant would be broken for just alittlewhile longer.
19
An angry storm lingered on Neverland’s horizon. It had already swept over the island only a few hours before. The clouds were caught along the western mountains, breaking up into a series of relentless thunderstorms before being pulled by the ocean breeze. The raging storm followed the current out into the rowdy seas, growing to greater heights the further it went. Though it didn’t do much damage to the island itself, besides a few knocked over trees and a mess, Neverland’s familiar beach carried a haphazard look to it.
Maggie dug her bare feet into the sand as she looked at the distant storm. There was something undeniably beautiful about a dangerous thunderstorm. The blue of heavy clouds, filled to the brim with tons of rain droplets, was unlike anything else. The seas didn’t even look like that shade of blue. When lightning struck, it was silent for a moment, streaking across the sky in a flash of white brilliance, before the thunder followed swiftly afterwards. Sparks would fly as the sky’s drums rippled down the island, the onslaught of rain quickly coming next. The pelting rain was cold to the touch, and nice against her skin.
Even then, when it was looming in the distance, Maggie was entranced. To stand within it would transport her to an entirelydifferent land, one where everything was streaked grey and blue and green.
Behind her, Peter kicked up another hunk of dirt. It rolled down until it mingled with the sand, and landed at her heel. Maggie breathed a sigh and turned around, wrapping her thin shawl tightly across her torso.
The Everything Plant was not getting any better. Two weeks had passed since the mermaid’s cove was free of any dams, and the moon coral had returned to their former bliss. Nothing was stopping the island’s natural water source from regularly filling the Everything Plant’s with all the nutrients it needed to survive. Despite the change, nothing looked any different with the flowers themselves. The berries were not being produced on the vines, though everything else looked rather fine.
Maggie had left him alone for a few minutes. Neverland’s King even needs to let out some steam sometimes, even if it was just in a few kicks to the undisturbed ground below. But they waited long enough, and there was obviously something else going on that they were missing. Maggie stood alongside him, overlooking the rows of Everything Plants.
“I don’t understand,” Peter breathed. “What haven’t we done?”
Maggie crossed her arms. “Are yousureyou’ve told me everything, Peter?”
He whipped around and produced a childishly offended expression. “Sure,” he drawled. “Like this means that Imust’veleft something out.”
Maggie couldn’t stop herself from blurting out with laughter. Peter gave her an angry look, his brow furrowed together in a charming way. She covered her mouth but it could hardly subsidize the giggles. A part of her was strangely satisfied. They had planned on visiting the Everything Plant exactly two weeks after removing the dam in the cove. While Maggie knew theday was always coming, she was dreading it all along. It almost was like her send off date, like she would’ve never returned to the treehouse after going to see the plants on the beach. It was a ludicrous idea that wouldn’t have happened either way, but it frightened her all the same. The wish she made clung to her throughout it all, and it ended up coming true.
She should’ve been upset.
Right?
Beside her, Peter was staring at the Everything Plant with frustration painted across his face. Maggie couldn’t deny how perplexed she was. All that they had done so far should’ve been enough to bring the plant back to its full health, but had failed to do so thus far. She was confused, but that didn’t mean she was angry. In fact, she was strangely pleased. The universe listened to her pleas, and she was stuck in Neverland for longer than expected. Not that it was what she wanted, or needed, for that matter.
Shaking her head, Maggie yanked herself out of her thoughts and approached the plants, hearing Peter’s quiet steps close behind her. “We’ve had good weather,” she thought aloud, “minus the storm we just had. But there aren't any fruit on the beach, or any sprouts that were ruined by the rain, so I don’t think it hurt them.”
Peter snapped his fingers at her. “Maybe the water isn’t all back to normal! Maybe it’s –”
“I’ve been checking it every other day,” Maggie interjected. “You know that. There’s nothing wrong with the water. In fact, healing the moon coral only seemed to strengthen the ocean and her inhabitants, not the opposite.”
His face scrunched up as he looked away.
“Peter,” Maggie drawled, her hands pointedly on her hips, “Why do I get the feeling that you’ve been leaving some sort of information out?”
He pressed his lips together and avoided her stare.
“Peter!” Maggie pinched at his side, tickling his sensitive spots until he whipped around, his face a beat red. “You totally were! What is it?”
