She nibbled on her lower lip contemplatively and realized that she wanted to touch Eirwen. Get close to him. And then…do what? She didn’t know.

Oh, what is this strange, restless feeling welling up inside of me? Petra wondered dreamily. Was it an adult feeling? Petra’s eyes widened as she came to a sudden realization.

Love.

Could this be…love? That feeling that adults felt for each other in the romance books Petra had sneakily read in secret. If Tinker had known the kinds of books she’d been reading he would have given her that disapproving look of his. He could be so overprotective sometimes it drove Petra mad.

Of course, Petra had also read about a different kind of love in fairytales. True love. Those tales were about brave princes rescuing kind-hearted princesses in distress. The destined couple wouldn’t kiss until the very end of the story, and only after evil had been vanquished. Then the happy couple would live happily ever after. Also, according to those tales the power of true love’s kiss was an incredible force that could combat dark curses and the forces of evil.

True love.

Love at first sight.

“You know what, Tink? I think…I’ve fallen in love with him at first sight,” Petra announced before letting out a wistful sigh of longing. She had her chin propped on her hand and a dreamy expression on her face.

The blood drained out of Tinker’s face, and he fell off Petra’s shoulder out of shock. He quickly flapped his wings though, and flew back up to perch on Petra’s shoulder again. “Love!” he screamed into her ear. “You can’t be serious. You shouldn’t even be capable of such feelings. And besides, you don’t even know him.”

Petra’s brow furrowed and a tiny frown formed on her face. It was odd for her to frown. She’d never frowned before. “Um, that’s why it’s called ‘love at first sight’. Duh,” Petra explained knowledgeably.

“You don’t even know what love is,” Tinker scoffed, but his voice was tinged with doubt. “You’re nothing but a child!” He decided to remind her instead.

Petra snorted. “I was a child. But not anymore…not since the Neverland Clock was stolen and started ticking.” Petra’s voice was laced with regret. Ever since she’d started to grow up things seemed so much more complicated. She longed for the days when she’d always been happy and without a care in the world. Her days had been filled with silly games and exciting adventures that she’d shared with Tinker and her Lost Girls.

“Only on the outside,” Tinker said stubbornly. “You’re still a child on the inside.”

“A child that’s been a child for a few hundred years,” Petra reminded.

“You’ve never felt adult emotions before,” Tinker said while giving Petra a stern stare. “You don’t know them. It’s dangerous for you to think that what you feel for this mortal is love.”

Petra raised a questioning eyebrow at Tinker. “Why would it be dangerous?”

Tinker flushed as dirty thoughts filled his head. He really didn’t want to have to explain sex to Petra and its consequences. “J-Just stay away from him!”

Petra shook her head. “No can do. I want to get closer to him. He’s the one, Tink. The one we’ve been looking for. With his help…we’ll save Neverland. I’m taking him back with me. He’s mine.”

“You know the rules.” A grim scowl formed on Tinker’s face, and he folded his arms in front of his chest. “You can only bring those ‘out of time’ to Neverland.”

A somber cloud fell over Petra’s countenance. “Why do you think I chose to watch him in the first place, Tink? Eirwen Darling’s time…has run out.”

Tinker grew visibly startled, and looked back down at Eirwen, who was currently being put on a stretcher by an EMS team. That would explain the young man’s recklessness. “I still don’t like him,” the fairy huffed with obvious irritation.

“Well, I do. A lot!” Petra giggled mischievously, turned herself invisible with a waggle of her fingers, and flew after them. “Come on, Tink! We have to follow them! He’s mine!”

“Impetuous girl.” Tinker shook his head, turned himself invisible, and followed after Petra.

***

Eirwen Darling awoke five hours later with a pained groan slipping past his chapped lips. “Ugh.” He blinked his eyes open, stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling, and immediately frowned. Where the hell was he?

When he tried to sit up there was a sharp, stabbing pain in his left shoulder. “Ouch.” He glanced down at his torso and saw that it had been bandaged. Also, someone had apparently dressed him in his pajamas. Ah, that’s right, Jim had shot him. They must have already removed the bullet from his shoulder, or the bullet had passed right through the flesh of his shoulder.

Then Eirwen noticed his sisters - Joan and Michelle - in bed with him. Both girls were sound asleep, and snuggled up against his sides. His haggard expression softened at the sight of them. His lips dipped into a frown, however, as he thought about how they must have been worried about him. The last thing he wanted was to cause his sisters worry.

It’s a shame…I didn’t die. Shit. That would have been the perfect opportunity to die and get to die like a hero no less. He let out a disappointed sigh.

Eirwen Darling’s time had run out. He’d been diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer. At this point the brain cancer had spread and the cells kept multiplying. It was already too late for chemotherapy to make much of a difference and surgery wasn’t an option due to where the cancerous tumor inside of his brain was located. The last time he was at the hospital his doctor had told him he had a month left to live at the most.

Three years ago, Eirwen’s parents had died in a car crash, and he’d been raising his sisters ever since. They were living off of a combination of their parents’ savings and the money they got from their parents’ life insurance policy. Still, it wasn’t a lot of money and Eirwen decided he didn’t want to tap into the money that could be used for his sisters’ education by wasting it on chemotherapy that wouldn’t buy him that much more time anyways.

All Eirwen wanted was to enjoy his last month on Earth by spending time with his sisters as much as possible. And then maybe he’d come up with a creative way to kill himself so his sisters wouldn’t feel guilty that he hadn’t wanted to spend money on chemotherapy and break into their college fund.

Maybe he’d jump off a bridge. Or jump out in front of a truck.

He’d taken a bullet for them, but hadn’t died. What rotten luck.

Life wasn’t done buggering with him yet apparently.

As carefully as possible so that he wouldn’t disturb his sleeping sisters, Eirwen slipped out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom. After taking care of business, he washed his hands, and then splashed cold water on his face. His muscles ached. He felt exhausted and drained, and his head was pounding. He looked up at his haggard expression in the bathroom mirror.

Florescent lighting was never very flattering to begin with, but Eirwen had to admit to himself that he looked like shit. He had dark shadows beneath his tired brown eyes, his complexion had turned incredibly wan, and his cheeks looked hollow.

A drop of blood dripped down from his nose. Shit.

Eirwen grabbed a paper towel and held it up to his nose. He applied pressure to the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger to help staunch the blood flow. He couldn’t return to his sisters until his nose had stopped bleeding. He didn’t want to worry them.

Eirwen had accepted and come to terms with the fact that his time had run out.

Time was a bitch.

No one could escape Time. Except for maybe…Petra Pan.

A rueful smile tugged at his lips at the thought of the twelve-year-old girl who never grew up, and that lived in a magical place called Neverland where she battled her archenemy, Captain Jasmine Hook.

Eirwen’s great grandfather Eirwen Darling had still been alive when he’d been twelve and had told him stories about how he’d been taken to Neverland one night. He’d always had a twinkle in his eye as he’d recalled Petra Pan and her loyal male fairy companion Tinker, who was so obviously in love with his charge. Petra had invited Eirwen to be the ‘father’ of the Lost Girls who’d been in dire need of parental guidance. For a time, Eirwen had lived in Neverland, but he’d eventually missed his family and decided to return home to London, England.

If I could go to Neverland…I wonder if I wouldn’t die. Or maybe when I die I wonder if then I’ll get to go to Neverland. Eirwen ran a hand down his face as he sighed. I can’t believe I’m even thinking about this. I don’t believe in fairytales…or dreams or magic.

Abruptly, Eirwen recalled the vision he’d had of that strange girl - the one in fairy cosplay. She’d been pretty hot. Maybe if he wasn’t going to die in a month he could have invited her out for a coffee or ice cream or something. C’est la vie.

But even if he could go to Neverland, he’d never go without Joan and Michelle. He’d never abandon his precious sisters. Their protection was his responsibility and he would protect them until his last dying breath.

Finally, Eirwen’s nose stopped bleeding and he exited the bathroom. He returned to the bed with his sisters curled up against his sides. His eyelids felt heavy and drooped until he fell into a very deep sleep.

***

Eirwen was having a nice dream. He could feel a cool, sea breeze blowing against his face. It felt refreshing. He could smell the salt in the air and could hear the sound of seagulls squawking as they probably soared overhead and eyed the sea below for fish. He groaned and stretched his stiff arms over his head.

Eirwen was reluctant to open his eyes since he didn’t want this nice dream to end. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked up at…the sky? What the? Instead of a plain white ceiling with peeling paint and water stains a blue sky was overhead complete with fluffy, white clouds that were drifting lazily past.

Eirwen sat up quickly and groaned at the pain in his shoulder. He tried not to panic as his head spun. But, apparently his bed was flying! He looked down at Joan and Michelle who were both still fast sleep and let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to worry them just yet. After all, he was probably hallucinating or something.

“Wow,” Eirwen muttered darkly to himself, “just what kinds of pain meds did they put me on?”

Something caught Eirwen’s eye and he noticed that there was a rope tied to the footboard. Eirwen’s gaze traveled along the length of rope until he spotted-

What the fuck? He rubbed viciously at his eyes. Was that...a girl? And she was flying. Just like Petra Pan might have been. The girl appeared to be tugging the floating bed along with her as she flew off somewhere.

“Yep, I must be dreaming.” A laugh started to bubble up his throat. Eirwen saw something flying close to Petra and shielded his eyes with his hand against the blinding sun to see it more clearly. It…looked like a tiny fairy man. His wings reminded Eirwen of a dragonfly’s wings. They were opalescent, translucent, and glowed with a golden light. As the fairy flew forward he left a trail of glittering, gold dust behind him. Pixie dust?

The sound of Eirwen laughing slightly hysterically drew Petra’s attention and she glanced over her shoulder at him. Her green eyes widened, and a bright smile formed on her face. “Oh! You’re awake, Eirwen Darling.” Petra dropped the rope and flew over to hover directly in front of Eirwen. “How are you feeling?”

Eirwen offered her a crooked smile. “Hello, Miss Hallucination. I’m going crazy. But other than that…I’m great. Thanks for asking,” he replied dryly.

Petra tilted her head at Eirwen and her brow furrowed slightly in confusion. “Miss Hallucination? That’s not my name. My name is Petra. Petra Pan!”

Eirwen laughed despairingly. “Yeah, and I’m the Easter Bunny!”

A small frown formed on Petra’s face. “You don’t believe me?”

“Well, first of all, you’re just a figment of my overactive imagination. Secondly…” Eirwen glanced down at Petra’s ample cleavage. Petra had rather large, luscious breasts. “Petra Pan is supposed to be the girl who never grew up. She’s supposed to be twelve-years-old. And you…well, according to those breasts are at least as old as I am. Maybe older. You’re an adult.”

“My breasts?” Petra looked down at her chest quizzically. A thoughtful expression settled over her face as if she hadn’t even noticed her breasts until Eirwen had pointed them out to her. Petra cupped her breasts with her hands and squeezed them. “What’s wrong with my breasts?”

Eirwen flushed at her childish yet lewd actions. “N-Nothing is wrong with them. They’re just…you know, huge.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Petra looked up to meet Eirwen’s gaze, her frown deepening.

“No - yes - I mean, it just means you’re an adult,” Eirwen coughed awkwardly into his hand. “Ahem. You know…?”

Petra blinked. “Having big breasts makes me an adult?”

“I’m starting to doubt that now actually.” Eirwen scratched his head. What the hell was up with this strange girl? This was a very odd, messed up dream.

Petra accidentally pinched one of her nipples and gasped. Startled at her body’s reaction to her own touch, her eyes widened. “What was that?” Her voice was tinged with awe.

Eirwen’s mouth gaped open as he stared at this innocent yet lewd girl. He was at a total loss on how he should actually respond to that question. “Uh…”

“Petra!” Tinker zoomed over to Petra and wagged his index finger at her in a chiding manner. “Stop that at once!” He flew over to Eirwen and glared into his face heatedly. “And you - stop putting strange perverted ideas into Petra’s impressionable head!” The fairy then bit Eirwen right on the tip of his nose.

“Ow! Hey!” Eirwen rubbed at his sore nose and shooed the fairy off with his hand. “Okay, now there’s a little fairy man talking to me and he sounds pissed. Maybe I should apologize or something. Even if this is just a dream there’s really no reason for me to be impolite. Uh, sorry, mate?”

Tinker let out an exasperated huff. “This is not a hallucination, you fool.” The fairy looked down his nose at Eirwen in a condescending manner. “And you’re not dreaming. This is real. She is really Petra Pan, and I am Tinker.”

Eirwen gave the fairy man a suspicious and doubtful look. “Uh, no, you’re in my dream. That’s why Petra has such huge-”

“Enough!” Tinker snapped, predicting where Eirwen was going with that thought, and bit Eirwen’s nose again for good measure.

“Ow! Quit it!” Eirwen waved the fairy away again. “Will you stop doing that?”