Forbidden For You.=Sequel= SLOW UPDATES

Chapter Nine

-Third Person-

The Good, and the Bad.

The mermaid was forlorn as she told her story to the boy with the green eyes, blond hair, and pink, mischievous lips.

Her musical voice filled the cave, mixing with the sound of plummeting water and chirping tavern insects, a heartbreaking harmony that made the boy's chest ache to a point of a burning feeling around his irises.

“When a mother murders her new born baby, a mermaid is created,” she croaked, her eyes downcast on their entwined hands, “You see, Sammy, when a baby's soul is created, it's pure, innocent, and good. It hasn't sinned, and, in a way, is as close to Holiness as you can get. In a mother's soul, there is a perfect balance of good and evil; but when she's with child, the half of her that is pure and good is given to the newborn inside her.

"This way, they balance each other out. Once the baby is born, over time, the he will gain his other half of his soul from the sins of the surrounding world, and give backthe mother's good half gradually by creating his own. That is how it should be, and always has been.” She pauses, and brushes a strand of damp hair behind her ear with a slightly trembling hand.

“But sometimes, in an act of complete desperation and insanity, the mother will kill her own newborn, thus not allowing the souls to replenish each other. The mother's good half of the soul is, in a way, lost , and the bad half is forever trapped inside the her. Now, if the child is a still-born,” the mermaid sees the confused look flash across the boy's face, and hurries to explain, “ if the baby dies inside the mother by natural causes, heaven forbid, the good half just returns to the mother automatically, and she can try again, usually.

“But killing your own newborn child....it's the worst sin you could ever commit. That's why mermaids were created. It's punishment for the the Damned souls, because Hell is simply too easy. Mermaids feast on the flesh and blood of humans, but we can never settle our hunger. We breathe, and swim in water all our lives, but we can never quench our thirst. We are all seeing, and often get flashes of the future, but we are bound by our fins, and can do nothing about it. Suffering is a daily routine, and is our eternal punishment. We are ugly creatures, and can only feel anger, hate, and depression.” she pauses, and looks guiltily at the boy, waiting for his own fury. But she was surprised when he said,

“But you're nothing like that, Angel. You're beautiful, I can see it with my own eyes. You could've killed me that time at the pond, but no, you saved me. You fought against the other mermaids in my defense, you risked everything, and you didn't have to. That's not something someone with an evil, Damned soul would do.” the boy insisted, placing his hands gently on either side of her face, putting fervency in his words to make her believe every single one as much as he did.

“Thank you, Sammy. And you're right, that's not something they would do,” she grabbed one of his hands back into her own, and squeezed it, “I've gone over the story thousands of times in my head, and I've only come up with one possible explaination.” The boy adjusted his seating so that he had a better angle of her, and nodded eagerly for her to continue.

“The soul of the mother that I have must have had a still-born baby. Then, with her grief, blamed it on herself so much that she convinced herself that she killed her own baby. I'm positive that the good half of her soul tried to connect back, and maybe some did, but the mother's bad half must've rejected most of it because of her remorse. Then her soul would be almost completely evil, so, that's why I'm here. But you see,mermaids are usually entirely bad, so with that small sliver of good, it, how would you say? Threw off my existense.

“I can't even imagine how devastated someone must be to tun their own soul into something that would reject purity. Her sorrow must've been unbearable; Sometimes I can even feel it.” she shivers and rubs her arms absentmindedly, “Just at random moments, I'll suddenly get so full of grief, I can't breathe. It horrible, Sammy, which is why I try so hard not to be like the other mermaids. This soul deserves to live a happier second life, so I eat seaweed, or other greens I find, instead of human beings;

When an animal comes near, I only feed on them if they're old, or ill, never the young ones, though; I go all around Neverland, because every body of water is connected with underground tunnels, and clean. Any mud or dirt that gets in the ponds, I try to get rid of, and purify. Have you ever seen a truly discusting pond in neverland?” the girl asked the boy, a hint of pride in her voice. Sammy thought for a second, going over all the waters in Neverland that he's come across, and relised that indeed, all of them were crystaline, and bluer than any saphire gem; so he shook his head, and grinned at her smug expression.

“If I can give any redemption back to this soul, I'll find a way. It's the least I can do.” she shrugged, but was engulfed in a pair of strong, sturdy arms. The boy kissed her so passionetly, the frogs and fish looked away in respect and slight embarassment for being witness to such lust that almost disguised the love.

Almost.

__-*-__

The hours passed, and back at the Underground Home, the great Pan, and his equally as great wife strolled through the forest, their linked hands swinging between them as they talked. Around them, the Lost Children were fretting about, searching for a treasure that Peter Pan had expertly hidden, and the cocky twinkle in his eyes sparkled with knowlege.

“Can you try not to look so superior, Love? It's really quite unsettling.” Kaytee Pan said, her wise, brown eyes set on her husband with mock, and tease. The boy who now resembled a man smirked a familiar smile, and laughed.

“Aren't you used it by now, Kate?” he chortled his nickname at her, and she playfully batted his arm, before rebounding with a peck on the cheek.

“I'll never be used to you, Penelope,” she threw back at him with a wink, and started to run as he chased after her with glee. Their laughter surrounded them, bouncing off the skyscraping pines, and branches, cloaking them in delight. Stuck in their own world, they barely noticed a group of started, confused children gathered around each of their comrades. Kaytee stopped abruptly, and Peter just about ran into her if he hadn't banked to the right just in time to zoom passed her,ending in mear inches of becoming a grease stain on a rather large scpruce. The murmurs of the children hit the couples ears, and they glanced at each other in confusion.

“Guys? What's up? Have you found the treasure?” Kaytee called over, effectively scaring the daylights out of them. They looked worriedly at Kaytee and Peter, fidgeting nervously under their gazes. It wasn't until now that the older two realised how embarassed they all seemed: their cheeks flushed, eyes filled with guilt and shame, as if caught doing something incredibly naughty.

“Well, er, um....” One of the children, Leonard,stuttered and didn't meet their eyes, “not...excactly...” he trailed off and frantically looked at the others for help.

“We, uh, found something, but, uh, it wasn't....treasure...” another said, and the group nodded in unison. Utterly confused, Kaytee and Peter walked closer to them, and scraped their minds for any understanding.

“What did you find, then?” Peter asked, glancing, at each of the childrens' faces. His eyes locked on the only boy who seemed the least disturbed: Collin. In fact, he seemed positively glowing a mischeveous aura, but it vanished when he saw that his leader's attention was on him; the younger boy swallowed nervously, and stared down to the ground.

“Collin,” Peter purred, resting a fatherly hand on the boy's shoulder, “What did you find?” Collin shuffled his feet, and continued to study the ground, before sucking in a breath. He said it all in one woosh of air:

“We-saw-Sammy-kissing-a-mermaid-in-a-cave-in-the-mountain.”

Silence filled the clearing as the children all held their breaths in fear. Kaytee was about to ask him to repeat himself, but her lover beat her to the punch.

“HE WHAT?!”'