Chapter 4 #2
Maggie couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
It was weird logic, but it was logic all the same.
Holding back her laugh, Maggie allowed herself to be pulled by the King of Neverland, knowing entirely that it was what she had wanted all along.
The first time Maggie coursed through the waves it was on her own accord.
She led her own way, scaling along the corals and touching them as she went.
But now, with Peter in control, he swam as effortlessly as the mermaids.
His hold over her hand was firm and reassuring, never once loosening.
The rounded shore of the cove came into view as he followed the natural shape of the beach without breaking the surface.
Maggie’s eyes touched every surface as they went, holding onto the plethora of shells and rocks on the floor that glimmered beneath the sun’s gaze.
Peter began to swim away from the cove, gaining speed as they crashed into the deepening depths of the neverending ocean.
Mermaids went to and fro on either side of them, pausing in their treks to throw a friendly wave in the King of Neverland’s direction.
Peter, despite being fully involved in his swimming, never failed to greet them all back.
The further they went, the more unusual creatures began to appear in the darkness of the waves.
Large whales with innumerable stars tattooed all over their body coursed through the ocean, lighting the way through the darkest reaches.
The stars shone with light as bright as the moon, igniting a path in front of them and helping the other sea life along the way.
Peter eyed her over his shoulder. “You haven’t seen anything yet, Magpie!”
He shot forward with an unthinkable speed, pulling Maggie along behind him.
Turtles that were the size of small islands lazily floated along the water, tall trees and thick vegetation growing along their shells.
They barely paid them any mind as they passed.
Maggie’s fingers dragged along the thick turtle skin, the grooves and age sending a shiver down her spine.
Riding alongside the turtles were brilliantly golden seahorses, though they weren’t at all what seahorses normally were.
Those steeds were only steeds, exactly like what one might expect on the surface, except they were golden and galloping along the waves.
Maggie was reaching for one of the seahorse’s manes when Peter began to pull her in the opposite direction, telling her it was time to go.
She looked over her shoulder at the wildlife disappearing into the distance as Peter led them all the way back, past the mermaid’s cove and past the moon coral.
The next thing she knew, there was coarse grass beneath her wet feet, the Breathable popping and disappearing into the lingering water that dripped from her hair.
Despite being back on land, Maggie couldn’t stop herself from exclaiming in joy.
Everything she had seen lingered on the tip of her tongue, pulling our sharp laughs from between her lips.
She ran around the shore, curving around Peter as his gaze followed her.
She didn’t stop until she was breathless, her back leaning against the thick, rough bark of an old tree.
“Why did we have to stop?” she finally asked between taking down gulps of fresh air. “I bet there’s so much more.”
“Oh, there is,” Peter replied as he slowly walked toward her. “But those Breathables only last for so long, and I doubted it would be as fun when we’re stuck in the ocean, miles away from the shore.”
Maggie laughed, for she could hardly care.
At what other point in her life did she ever see such beautiful, wondrous things?
There was nothing like it in the human lands, and without Peter coming into her life, she doubted she would have ever experienced it.
Pushing herself off the tree, Maggie forgot herself and pelted forward.
Her arms launched around his neck, grasping him in a tight embrace.
Maggie breathed him in for a moment, lost in his natural musk and lingering salty scent from the sea.
“Thank you,” she murmured in his ear.
His voice was quiet but clear. “What for?”
“You’ve shown me incredible things.” Maggie pulled back, her cheeks hurting from how hard she had been smiling. “And I don’t think I’ll ever know how to repay such a generous gift.”
The King of Neverland watched her with an unreadable expression.
She was barely aware of his hands resting against her hips, of how one slipped to her lower back, of how he tugged her closer, of how the space between them was quickly disappearing.
It wasn’t until his gaze dropped to her lips, holding onto their rosy color, that her heart skipped a beat.
Something was about to happen.
Something that would change so much, though Maggie wasn’t entirely sure what or why.
Peter leaned forward and touched her lips with his own.
It was a feather-like touch, one that she almost believed never happened.
It wasn’t until he released a deep breath, warm air that smelt of cinnamon and citrus fanning over her face, that Peter captured her mouth in a feverish embrace.
The kiss was empowering, the kiss was fiery, the kiss was soft, the kiss was quiet.
It was everything all at once, wrapped up into a single moment that seemed to only last for a split second.
By the time Maggie realized what was happening, her shoulders slacking and eyes fluttering shut, Peter was already pulling away.
“P-Peter,” she breathed, her voice shaky and hoarse. “What –”
His long fingers intertwined with her own, holding her close to his side. “Let’s go home,” he whispered. “Okay?”
Maggie didn’t even know if she responded.
All she knew was that Peter was in front of her, and his hand wasn’t daring to leave her own.
He led the way forward, and she eagerly followed.
The world around her was blurry and hazy, with Peter the only figure there that her eyes could focus on.
Shock and desire and embarrassment coursed through Maggie, but there was only one sentence going through her mind, over and over again, like a mantra.
He kissed me.