Second To The Right, And Skate On Till Morning, 1/11
Title: Second To The Right, And Skate On Till Morning
Rating: G
Summary: Flying, fairies, and figure skating, oh my! Peter Pan AU starring Adam Rippon and Yu-na Kim.
Disclaimer: I own neither skaters nor magical flying children, and anything that happens to them herein is entirely fictional.
Notes: Thanks to watery_weasel for the idea and much of the casting!
“There’s a boy out there,” said Yu-na, clasping her hands and gazing out the window. “A little boy, just my age, and he’ll never get any older. He lives in a place called Neverland, where there are pirates and Indians and fairies. He flies through the air and skates along the Milky Way, and his hair is as soft and curly as the fleece of a baby lamb. His name… is Adam Rippon.”
“You can’t skate along the Milky Way,” objected Evan in his usual monotone. He adjusted his bowtie. “There’s nothing to skate on. Just space.”
Yu-na looked as if she would like to glare at him, but was too regal to do so. “You only say that because you aren’t Adam Rippon. He can do anything.”
“Can he rock a tassel?” asked Johnny, the baby of the family. He had been listening wide-eyed to his sister’s tale and hugging his stuffed sasquatch.
“If he wanted to, I’m sure he could!”
“Can he kill pirates?” asked Evan.
“Can he kill pirates with a tassel?”
“Tassels can’t kill people!”
“They can too!” Johnny mimed throwing something around Evan’s neck and pulling hard. “See, now you’re dead!”
“Am not!”
“Are too!”
“Boys!” said Yu-na. “This is not how Adam Rippon would behave!”
“Sorry,” chorused the boys. Johnny made his sasquatch kiss Yu-na’s cheek.
Yu-na smiled. “Much better. Now, if you’re good for Blade and hurry into bed, I might have time to tell you about how Adam Rippon cut off the evil Captain Morozov’s hand!”
Blade, the bulldog who served as the children’s nurse, emerged from his kennel with a long-suffering growl and started dragging Johnny toward the bath. If Johnny’s protests and Evan’s taunts were any indication of things to come, there would be no more stories that night.
***
Some weeks later, when the children’s parents had gone out to a party and left Blade chained up in the yard, something strange happened. The nursery windows opened a crack, and a ball of light darted inside, looking like a speck of sunshine in the darkened room. It flew here and there, examining everything in the nursery. Evan unconsciously batted it away when it landed for a moment on his chest, too close for comfort to the medal he had won at school for perfect attendance. The ball of light had just settled in an empty vase when the windows blew wide open.
A boy dressed all in leaves and vines leapt in, his arms gracefully raised above his head. His skates glittered in the moonlight, and his hair remained in flight long after he had landed. He had a face that looked as if it were expressly made for laughter, but now his expression was dark. “Jeremy!” he whispered. “Jer! Did you find it?”
The ball of light bounced out of the vase, eager to be of assistance. Had it been willing to pause for a while, one would have been able to see that it was a tiny youth dressed all in purple, with a tiny vest, tiny ice skates, and even, though he would have denied it, tiny freckles. He also had tiny wings, for he was a fairy. He gave his negative reply in the fairy language, which sounded like the tinkling of golden bells.
“Well, look harder!”
The fairy - Jeremy by name - zipped around the room once more, until he landed triumphantly on a chest of drawers.
“In there?” asked the boy, and when the bells sounded in the affirmative, he opened every drawer until he found the object of his search. Jeremy, meanwhile, decided to explore a drawer from the inside, and was quite surprised when the boy slammed it shut and he found himself locked in.
“My shadow!” crowed the boy. “I knew I’d find you!” He hugged the shadow, expecting it to stick to him.
It didn’t. The boy frowned, but soon brightened. “I know!” he said, and spread the shadow on the floor. He jammed his toe picks into the matching spots on the shadow and flew upwards, but was disappointed again when the shadow simply fluttered to the floor. He followed it, starting to cry. “Shadow, what’s wrong with you?”
The noise woke Yu-na. “Boy,” she said, tingling with excitement, “why are you crying?”
The boy, noticing the girl for the first time, quickly vanquished his tears and bowed as magnificently as if she were an audience of thousands. “Hello,” he said. “What’s your name?”
“Yu-na Kim Orser-Wilson,” Yu-na recited. “What’s yours?”
“Adam Rippon,” said the boy - for who else could he be but the hero of Yu-na’s stories made true?
Yu-na squealed delightedly. “Adam Rippon! I knew you’d come for me!”
“Did you?”
“Oh, yes! I’ve always felt so close to you.”
“Is that why you tell stories about me?” asked Adam with a mischievous grin.
Yu-na blushed. “Did you hear those?”
“Of course! I’ve been coming every night to hear them, and then just the other day- oh!” said Adam as he remembered why he had come this night. “Just the other day, a monster stole my shadow!”
“A monster?”
“Yes! With big sharp teeth and a big slobbery mouth and a big floppy face!” Adam growled in an impeccable imitation of Blade.
Yu-na laughed. “Oh, that was Blade, our nurse! He wouldn’t hurt a fly!”
“He hurt my shadow,” said Adam, looking pitifully at Yu-na. “It won’t stick on.”
“Oh dear, let me see…” Yu-na rose from her bed and went to look at the shadow. She gasped when she saw the holes in the toes, but then laughed when she realized what had made them. “Why, Adam! You tried to attach it with your toe picks!”
“So?”
“So, that won’t work! It must be sewn on.” Yu-na studied the shadow. “I’ll try to sew it for you… Johnny would do it better, but he needs his sleep.” Taking Johnny’s sewing kit from his nightstand, Yu-na set to work. “This might hurt,” she warned Adam.
“I never cry,” said Adam airily, and did his best to keep his word as Yu-na sewed. “It’s awfully nice to have someone to sew for me,” he said. “None of us can sew anything. We don’t even have any pockets!”
“‘Us?’” asked Yu-na.
“Me and the lost boys! We don’t have anyone to tell us stories, either.” Adam looked pitiful again, not only because of the surgery his shadow was undergoing.
“You poor things,” said Yu-na absently, concentrating on her work. She sucked on a finger she had pricked, then made a neat knot and cut the thread. “There, your shadow should be as good as new!”
Adam hopped to his feet, careful not to cut anything with his blades. The shadow followed. “I did it!” he crowed.
“You did it? What about me?”
“You helped!”
“Helped!” Yu-na was astonished at such a display of ingratitude from her idol. “If that’s all I can do, I might as well go back to sleep!” And she dove for her bed.
“Yu-na, don’t go!” said Adam. “I didn’t mean it!” Yu-na just pulled her pillow over her head. “Yu-na,” said Adam, “one girl is worth twenty boys.”
“I know that,” said Yu-na. “I have brothers.”
“So you see I can’t help it, don’t you?”
“Well…”
“If you get up, I’ll let you meet my fairy!”
Yu-na sat up immediately. “You have a fairy?”
“Of course! He was just here… Jeremy!” There was a muffled jangle from the chest of drawers, and Adam turned back to Yu-na, his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. “I think I shut him in the drawer!”
“Well then, let him out!” Yu-na was practically bouncing on the bed in anticipation.
Adam quickly opened the drawer, and out popped Jeremy, who flew in dizzy circles. “Jeremy!” Adam called. “Stand still and let this lady see you!” Jeremy came to rest on Adam’s hand, and preened as Adam presented him to Yu-na. “Yu-na, this is Jeremy of the Flying Pigs Clan. Jeremy, this is Yu-na Kim Orser-Wilson.”
Yu-na squealed again. “He’s adorable!” Her face fell as Jeremy tinkled angrily. “What did I say?”
“He doesn’t like it when people think he’s cute,” said Adam. “He wants people to think he’s a- what was it again?” Jeremy tinkled proudly. “A badass,” Adam finished.
“Oh,” said Yu-na doubtfully. She smiled at Jeremy. “You’re very- that word.” Jeremy’s light grew even brighter at the compliment, and he fluttered his wings at Yu-na before flying off to explore Blade’s kennel.
Adam wiped the fairy dust off his hand and smiled. “He likes you! Fairies can be picky sometimes.”
“Do you know lots of fairies?”
“Zillions! But not as many as I used to,” said Adam. “You see, children know so much now that there isn’t any room left for fairies. And every time a child says, ‘I don’t believe in fairies,’ somewhere, a fairy dies!”
“That’s awful!” said Yu-na. “I shall always believe in fairies!”
“I knew you would!” Adam beamed at Yu-na, bringing his face close to hers. “How would you like to meet the rest?”
“In Neverland, you mean?”
“That’s right! There are pirates, and Indians, and mermaids, too…”
“Ooooh!”
“And the lost boys, of course! You could sew pockets for us, and tell us stories, and tuck us in at night… you could be our mother!”
“Your mother?” asked Yu-na. She wrinkled her nose. “Why would I want to be your mother?”
“Because we don’t have one?” ventured Adam.
“Neither do I!”
“You don’t? But who mends your clothes for you? Who does your cooking?”
Yu-na drew away from Adam. “Papa Brian and Papa David do those things very well,” she said icily, “and if you think that that’s all women are good for, then you’re a sexist! And- and-” Yu-na scrunched up her face, trying to remember the word her fathers had used when Evan had refused to wear a pink shirt. “-and heteronormative! Like Evan.”
“Evan?” asked Adam.
“My brother,” said Yu-na, nodding towards where Evan slept.
Without another word, Adam shoved Evan out of bed. “Now will you come to Neverland with me?”
“You just pushed my brother!”
“You said you didn’t like him! And anyway, he didn’t wake up!”
Yu-na looked, and sure enough, Evan was still asleep, his hand clutching his medal. “Very well. I will go with you if my brothers can come, too. And,” she said, holding up a hand as if in warning, “I will not go as your mother. I will go as your Queen!”
“Can I be the King?” asked Adam eagerly.
“Maybe,” said Yu-na.
Adam shrugged. “All right.”
Instantly, Yu-na was all smiles again. She shook her brothers awake. “Evan! Johnny! Wake up! Adam Rippon is here, and he’s going to take us to Neverland!”
Johnny gave a squeal much like his sister’s, but Evan just looked confused. “I’m on the floor,” he said. “How does that even happen?”
“Never mind that, Evan, Adam is going to teach us how to fly!”
“Can you really fly?” asked Evan, rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his lightning bolt pajamas.
“Uh-huh!” said Adam. He jumped into the air, spun around three times, and landed on one foot.
“I can do that,” Evan began to say, but his voice died when he realized that Adam’s blade was nearly a foot above the floor, balanced on nothing at all.
“Cool!” said Johnny. He dropped to the floor and poked at the blade. “Now he won’t mess up the carpet!”
“How do you do it?” asked Yu-na.
“Just think lovely, wonderful thoughts!” said Adam, smiling innocently. Making sure not to hit Johnny, he spun around a few more times before finally returning to solid ground.
The Orser-Wilsons jumped. Yu-na thought of cake. Evan thought of cars. Johnny thought of sequins. None of them managed to stay in the air for more than a few seconds. “I don’t think he told us everything,” Johnny announced, rubbing a new bruise.
“Did you, Adam?” asked Yu-na.
Adam giggled. “Maybe not. Hold still…” He blew fairy dust over each of the others, who shivered as the magic seeped into them. “Try now!”
Johnny was the first into the air. Yu-na soon followed, and then Evan, who was so overwhelmed by the experience that his monotone disappeared. “We’re flying!” he said. “Look at us! Look at me! Look what I can do!” He flapped his arms wildly, and let out a whoop of delight when he bumped into the ceiling.
“Stop flapping,” said Johnny as he somersaulted through the air to pick up his sasquatch. “You look stupid!”
“Do not!”
“Do too!”
“Do not!”
“Do too,” Adam broke in with a chortle. “You’ll get better with practice.”
“I like practice,” said Evan.
Yu-Na smiled. “You’ll be the best flyer in Neverland by the time we get there. Except for Adam, of course.”
“Of course,” said Adam. “And except for you! Your Highness.”
Yu-na smiled again, a very royal smile, and spun around while leaning back so far that she was almost bent in half. “I could use some practice, too.”
“Then let’s go! Do you have ice skates?” asked Adam.
“Do we ever!” said Yu-na.
“Put them on!” commanded Adam. “Next stop, the Milky Way!”
“See, Evan, I told you he could skate along the Milky Way!” said Yu-na as she laced up Johnny’s skates.
“But there’s nothing there!” grumbled Evan.
His skates laced, Johnny tugged on Adam’s sleeve. “Can I bring Quatchi?”
“What’s Quatchi?” asked Adam. Johnny held up his sasquatch. “Oh. Sure!”
“And my clothes? I need lots of clothes,” said Johnny. He was wearing his favorite pajamas, the ones with swans on them, but even the best pajamas wouldn’t do forever.
Adam shook his head. “You can’t carry very much when you’re flying. But don’t worry!” he said hurriedly when Johnny’s lower lip started to tremble. “You’ll get new clothes! Do you like fur?”
“Fur!” Johnny abandoned his wardrobe without a backward glance.
“Is everyone ready? Jeremy, come on!” Adam called. The fairy flew to his side. The Orser-Wilsons huddled close together, beaming at each other. “Good. Onward!” The windows opened, and the children flew off into the night.
Jeremy, however, paused for a moment. Down in the yard, Blade was barking furiously, trying to break free of his leash, and the kindhearted badass couldn’t stand to see anyone in such distress. He flew down to the nurse, unfastened his collar, and shook fairy dust all over him. “Follow me!” he tinkled, hurrying to catch up with Adam and the others.
Blade was not a whimsical dog. He had never dreamed of fairies or flying or magical islands. He wasn’t sure that he wanted anything to do with any of them, but it was his job to keep the Orser-Wilson children safe, and he would not shirk his duty. He flew after Jeremy, kicking his stubby legs against the wind.
Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11
Rating: G
Summary: Flying, fairies, and figure skating, oh my! Peter Pan AU starring Adam Rippon and Yu-na Kim.
Disclaimer: I own neither skaters nor magical flying children, and anything that happens to them herein is entirely fictional.
Notes: Thanks to watery_weasel for the idea and much of the casting!
“There’s a boy out there,” said Yu-na, clasping her hands and gazing out the window. “A little boy, just my age, and he’ll never get any older. He lives in a place called Neverland, where there are pirates and Indians and fairies. He flies through the air and skates along the Milky Way, and his hair is as soft and curly as the fleece of a baby lamb. His name… is Adam Rippon.”
“You can’t skate along the Milky Way,” objected Evan in his usual monotone. He adjusted his bowtie. “There’s nothing to skate on. Just space.”
Yu-na looked as if she would like to glare at him, but was too regal to do so. “You only say that because you aren’t Adam Rippon. He can do anything.”
“Can he rock a tassel?” asked Johnny, the baby of the family. He had been listening wide-eyed to his sister’s tale and hugging his stuffed sasquatch.
“If he wanted to, I’m sure he could!”
“Can he kill pirates?” asked Evan.
“Can he kill pirates with a tassel?”
“Tassels can’t kill people!”
“They can too!” Johnny mimed throwing something around Evan’s neck and pulling hard. “See, now you’re dead!”
“Am not!”
“Are too!”
“Boys!” said Yu-na. “This is not how Adam Rippon would behave!”
“Sorry,” chorused the boys. Johnny made his sasquatch kiss Yu-na’s cheek.
Yu-na smiled. “Much better. Now, if you’re good for Blade and hurry into bed, I might have time to tell you about how Adam Rippon cut off the evil Captain Morozov’s hand!”
Blade, the bulldog who served as the children’s nurse, emerged from his kennel with a long-suffering growl and started dragging Johnny toward the bath. If Johnny’s protests and Evan’s taunts were any indication of things to come, there would be no more stories that night.
***
Some weeks later, when the children’s parents had gone out to a party and left Blade chained up in the yard, something strange happened. The nursery windows opened a crack, and a ball of light darted inside, looking like a speck of sunshine in the darkened room. It flew here and there, examining everything in the nursery. Evan unconsciously batted it away when it landed for a moment on his chest, too close for comfort to the medal he had won at school for perfect attendance. The ball of light had just settled in an empty vase when the windows blew wide open.
A boy dressed all in leaves and vines leapt in, his arms gracefully raised above his head. His skates glittered in the moonlight, and his hair remained in flight long after he had landed. He had a face that looked as if it were expressly made for laughter, but now his expression was dark. “Jeremy!” he whispered. “Jer! Did you find it?”
The ball of light bounced out of the vase, eager to be of assistance. Had it been willing to pause for a while, one would have been able to see that it was a tiny youth dressed all in purple, with a tiny vest, tiny ice skates, and even, though he would have denied it, tiny freckles. He also had tiny wings, for he was a fairy. He gave his negative reply in the fairy language, which sounded like the tinkling of golden bells.
“Well, look harder!”
The fairy - Jeremy by name - zipped around the room once more, until he landed triumphantly on a chest of drawers.
“In there?” asked the boy, and when the bells sounded in the affirmative, he opened every drawer until he found the object of his search. Jeremy, meanwhile, decided to explore a drawer from the inside, and was quite surprised when the boy slammed it shut and he found himself locked in.
“My shadow!” crowed the boy. “I knew I’d find you!” He hugged the shadow, expecting it to stick to him.
It didn’t. The boy frowned, but soon brightened. “I know!” he said, and spread the shadow on the floor. He jammed his toe picks into the matching spots on the shadow and flew upwards, but was disappointed again when the shadow simply fluttered to the floor. He followed it, starting to cry. “Shadow, what’s wrong with you?”
The noise woke Yu-na. “Boy,” she said, tingling with excitement, “why are you crying?”
The boy, noticing the girl for the first time, quickly vanquished his tears and bowed as magnificently as if she were an audience of thousands. “Hello,” he said. “What’s your name?”
“Yu-na Kim Orser-Wilson,” Yu-na recited. “What’s yours?”
“Adam Rippon,” said the boy - for who else could he be but the hero of Yu-na’s stories made true?
Yu-na squealed delightedly. “Adam Rippon! I knew you’d come for me!”
“Did you?”
“Oh, yes! I’ve always felt so close to you.”
“Is that why you tell stories about me?” asked Adam with a mischievous grin.
Yu-na blushed. “Did you hear those?”
“Of course! I’ve been coming every night to hear them, and then just the other day- oh!” said Adam as he remembered why he had come this night. “Just the other day, a monster stole my shadow!”
“A monster?”
“Yes! With big sharp teeth and a big slobbery mouth and a big floppy face!” Adam growled in an impeccable imitation of Blade.
Yu-na laughed. “Oh, that was Blade, our nurse! He wouldn’t hurt a fly!”
“He hurt my shadow,” said Adam, looking pitifully at Yu-na. “It won’t stick on.”
“Oh dear, let me see…” Yu-na rose from her bed and went to look at the shadow. She gasped when she saw the holes in the toes, but then laughed when she realized what had made them. “Why, Adam! You tried to attach it with your toe picks!”
“So?”
“So, that won’t work! It must be sewn on.” Yu-na studied the shadow. “I’ll try to sew it for you… Johnny would do it better, but he needs his sleep.” Taking Johnny’s sewing kit from his nightstand, Yu-na set to work. “This might hurt,” she warned Adam.
“I never cry,” said Adam airily, and did his best to keep his word as Yu-na sewed. “It’s awfully nice to have someone to sew for me,” he said. “None of us can sew anything. We don’t even have any pockets!”
“‘Us?’” asked Yu-na.
“Me and the lost boys! We don’t have anyone to tell us stories, either.” Adam looked pitiful again, not only because of the surgery his shadow was undergoing.
“You poor things,” said Yu-na absently, concentrating on her work. She sucked on a finger she had pricked, then made a neat knot and cut the thread. “There, your shadow should be as good as new!”
Adam hopped to his feet, careful not to cut anything with his blades. The shadow followed. “I did it!” he crowed.
“You did it? What about me?”
“You helped!”
“Helped!” Yu-na was astonished at such a display of ingratitude from her idol. “If that’s all I can do, I might as well go back to sleep!” And she dove for her bed.
“Yu-na, don’t go!” said Adam. “I didn’t mean it!” Yu-na just pulled her pillow over her head. “Yu-na,” said Adam, “one girl is worth twenty boys.”
“I know that,” said Yu-na. “I have brothers.”
“So you see I can’t help it, don’t you?”
“Well…”
“If you get up, I’ll let you meet my fairy!”
Yu-na sat up immediately. “You have a fairy?”
“Of course! He was just here… Jeremy!” There was a muffled jangle from the chest of drawers, and Adam turned back to Yu-na, his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. “I think I shut him in the drawer!”
“Well then, let him out!” Yu-na was practically bouncing on the bed in anticipation.
Adam quickly opened the drawer, and out popped Jeremy, who flew in dizzy circles. “Jeremy!” Adam called. “Stand still and let this lady see you!” Jeremy came to rest on Adam’s hand, and preened as Adam presented him to Yu-na. “Yu-na, this is Jeremy of the Flying Pigs Clan. Jeremy, this is Yu-na Kim Orser-Wilson.”
Yu-na squealed again. “He’s adorable!” Her face fell as Jeremy tinkled angrily. “What did I say?”
“He doesn’t like it when people think he’s cute,” said Adam. “He wants people to think he’s a- what was it again?” Jeremy tinkled proudly. “A badass,” Adam finished.
“Oh,” said Yu-na doubtfully. She smiled at Jeremy. “You’re very- that word.” Jeremy’s light grew even brighter at the compliment, and he fluttered his wings at Yu-na before flying off to explore Blade’s kennel.
Adam wiped the fairy dust off his hand and smiled. “He likes you! Fairies can be picky sometimes.”
“Do you know lots of fairies?”
“Zillions! But not as many as I used to,” said Adam. “You see, children know so much now that there isn’t any room left for fairies. And every time a child says, ‘I don’t believe in fairies,’ somewhere, a fairy dies!”
“That’s awful!” said Yu-na. “I shall always believe in fairies!”
“I knew you would!” Adam beamed at Yu-na, bringing his face close to hers. “How would you like to meet the rest?”
“In Neverland, you mean?”
“That’s right! There are pirates, and Indians, and mermaids, too…”
“Ooooh!”
“And the lost boys, of course! You could sew pockets for us, and tell us stories, and tuck us in at night… you could be our mother!”
“Your mother?” asked Yu-na. She wrinkled her nose. “Why would I want to be your mother?”
“Because we don’t have one?” ventured Adam.
“Neither do I!”
“You don’t? But who mends your clothes for you? Who does your cooking?”
Yu-na drew away from Adam. “Papa Brian and Papa David do those things very well,” she said icily, “and if you think that that’s all women are good for, then you’re a sexist! And- and-” Yu-na scrunched up her face, trying to remember the word her fathers had used when Evan had refused to wear a pink shirt. “-and heteronormative! Like Evan.”
“Evan?” asked Adam.
“My brother,” said Yu-na, nodding towards where Evan slept.
Without another word, Adam shoved Evan out of bed. “Now will you come to Neverland with me?”
“You just pushed my brother!”
“You said you didn’t like him! And anyway, he didn’t wake up!”
Yu-na looked, and sure enough, Evan was still asleep, his hand clutching his medal. “Very well. I will go with you if my brothers can come, too. And,” she said, holding up a hand as if in warning, “I will not go as your mother. I will go as your Queen!”
“Can I be the King?” asked Adam eagerly.
“Maybe,” said Yu-na.
Adam shrugged. “All right.”
Instantly, Yu-na was all smiles again. She shook her brothers awake. “Evan! Johnny! Wake up! Adam Rippon is here, and he’s going to take us to Neverland!”
Johnny gave a squeal much like his sister’s, but Evan just looked confused. “I’m on the floor,” he said. “How does that even happen?”
“Never mind that, Evan, Adam is going to teach us how to fly!”
“Can you really fly?” asked Evan, rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his lightning bolt pajamas.
“Uh-huh!” said Adam. He jumped into the air, spun around three times, and landed on one foot.
“I can do that,” Evan began to say, but his voice died when he realized that Adam’s blade was nearly a foot above the floor, balanced on nothing at all.
“Cool!” said Johnny. He dropped to the floor and poked at the blade. “Now he won’t mess up the carpet!”
“How do you do it?” asked Yu-na.
“Just think lovely, wonderful thoughts!” said Adam, smiling innocently. Making sure not to hit Johnny, he spun around a few more times before finally returning to solid ground.
The Orser-Wilsons jumped. Yu-na thought of cake. Evan thought of cars. Johnny thought of sequins. None of them managed to stay in the air for more than a few seconds. “I don’t think he told us everything,” Johnny announced, rubbing a new bruise.
“Did you, Adam?” asked Yu-na.
Adam giggled. “Maybe not. Hold still…” He blew fairy dust over each of the others, who shivered as the magic seeped into them. “Try now!”
Johnny was the first into the air. Yu-na soon followed, and then Evan, who was so overwhelmed by the experience that his monotone disappeared. “We’re flying!” he said. “Look at us! Look at me! Look what I can do!” He flapped his arms wildly, and let out a whoop of delight when he bumped into the ceiling.
“Stop flapping,” said Johnny as he somersaulted through the air to pick up his sasquatch. “You look stupid!”
“Do not!”
“Do too!”
“Do not!”
“Do too,” Adam broke in with a chortle. “You’ll get better with practice.”
“I like practice,” said Evan.
Yu-Na smiled. “You’ll be the best flyer in Neverland by the time we get there. Except for Adam, of course.”
“Of course,” said Adam. “And except for you! Your Highness.”
Yu-na smiled again, a very royal smile, and spun around while leaning back so far that she was almost bent in half. “I could use some practice, too.”
“Then let’s go! Do you have ice skates?” asked Adam.
“Do we ever!” said Yu-na.
“Put them on!” commanded Adam. “Next stop, the Milky Way!”
“See, Evan, I told you he could skate along the Milky Way!” said Yu-na as she laced up Johnny’s skates.
“But there’s nothing there!” grumbled Evan.
His skates laced, Johnny tugged on Adam’s sleeve. “Can I bring Quatchi?”
“What’s Quatchi?” asked Adam. Johnny held up his sasquatch. “Oh. Sure!”
“And my clothes? I need lots of clothes,” said Johnny. He was wearing his favorite pajamas, the ones with swans on them, but even the best pajamas wouldn’t do forever.
Adam shook his head. “You can’t carry very much when you’re flying. But don’t worry!” he said hurriedly when Johnny’s lower lip started to tremble. “You’ll get new clothes! Do you like fur?”
“Fur!” Johnny abandoned his wardrobe without a backward glance.
“Is everyone ready? Jeremy, come on!” Adam called. The fairy flew to his side. The Orser-Wilsons huddled close together, beaming at each other. “Good. Onward!” The windows opened, and the children flew off into the night.
Jeremy, however, paused for a moment. Down in the yard, Blade was barking furiously, trying to break free of his leash, and the kindhearted badass couldn’t stand to see anyone in such distress. He flew down to the nurse, unfastened his collar, and shook fairy dust all over him. “Follow me!” he tinkled, hurrying to catch up with Adam and the others.
Blade was not a whimsical dog. He had never dreamed of fairies or flying or magical islands. He wasn’t sure that he wanted anything to do with any of them, but it was his job to keep the Orser-Wilson children safe, and he would not shirk his duty. He flew after Jeremy, kicking his stubby legs against the wind.
Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11