Don't dance with the Lost Boys. You probably won't get the opportunity, but if you do, then don't. When you dance with them, you become one of them.

Wildcat dragged me to the camp quickly. I shook him loose.

"Come on, Wildcat. It's not like I'm going to run away," I snapped.

He shrugged. "Sorry, girl. Pan's orders."

"I have a name, you know."

"No, you don't. You used to have a name. We're gonna give you a new one tonight at the bonfire," he said.

A new name. A new life. Not like I'd had much of one before, if I'd forgotten so easily, but still. I had a chance to make somehing of myself now, as long as I impressed Pan. Wait. Why did I have to impress him? If I just impressed the boys enough, he would be forced to let me stay.

Wildcat and Michael left me outside one of the tents and I sat down, thinking about ways to force Pan into letting me stay.

*~*~*

Later that afternoon, so late that the sun was setting behind the mountain, the little boy Michael toddled up to me. "Pan wants you, Miss," he said in a small voice. "You need to come with me or he's gonna get mad and kill you."

He was the most adorable thing I'd ever seen.

"Alright, Michael," I said. "If I carry you, can you show me where to go?"

He nodded and made grabby-hands at me. I scooped him up in my arms and balanced him on my hip. He directed me through almost inperceptible paths through the forest, right back to the campfire. The stones were cold earlier, but now they danced with orange flames. The boys sat around the campfire motionlessly, but there was a restless energy about them, as if they weren't used to sitting still when the fire was roaring like this. Michael squirmed out of my grasp and looked at Wildcat guiltily. Wildcat just rolled his eyes and patted the seat next to him.

When everyone was seated except me, Pan appeared in front of me out of thin air. I had to stop myself from sneering. Magic. So that's how he'd gotten the rope earlier. It just made me even more repulsed by him. I couldn't remember why (obviously), but I had a strong aversion to magic.

"Boys!" Pan said dramatically. "You've all seen the fight, and you all know what that means. Whether we like it or not, this girl is one of us now. And if she's one of us, she's going to need a name. As usual, the defeated gets their choice of names."

He looked at me, daring me to challenge him like I had the whole time I'd been here. I stayed silent and he looked a little put off. He did a good job of hiding it, though.

What he'd said finally sunk in. The defeated gets their choice of names. So Felix would be the one to give me a new name. That would almost undoubtedly end up badly. Felix looked at me blankly, but there was something else behind it. I couldn't quite place it at first, but then it hit me. Respect.

Fightng must really have been inmportant to those boys, if Felix could go from hating me to respecting me in a few hours. He cleared his throat and the boys went silent.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" Pan asked.

"Yes."

"Let's hear it then."

Felix looked me dead in the eyes. "She's beautiful, but deadly. I've never been beaten before, but I'm glad it was by an opponent like her. Lost Girl, your name is Lily. The beautiful flower of the dead."

The boys cheered and got up, doing random dances around the campfire. Pan lifted a pan pipe to his lips and began to play. The notes flowed out, smooth and sharp at the same time. The only boy that didn't dance was Felix. He just sat there on his log and watched with a slight grin on his face.

I walked up to him. "Thanks. For not giving me a stupid name, I mean."

He looked startled that I'd approached him. "No problem. I meant what I said. Not only are you a good fighter for a girl, you're one of the best fighters I've ever seen. Don't tell Pan, but we're lucky you're not against us. He won't admit it to your face, but he's kind of a bigot sometimes. He wouldn't admit that you could be a threat to the island."

I laughed at his straightforward response. "I get the feeling you and I are gonna get along just fine."

"It's possible."

He handed me a kabob of some kind of meat and got himself one. I chewed it quietly. Fresh venison. The boys danced around the campfire without a care in the world. If I was a more "proper" person, I would have laughed at the ridiculous way they moved, but to me it just seemed... free, like they knew no one would judge them. I started to see my place in the Lost Ones society as a place that I wanted to keep at any cost. Neverland was beautiful, the life was fun and, if I'd understood from the conversations I'd overhead, eternal.

"Go on," Felix said. "You know you want to. We all do."

"Want to what?"

He gestured to the fire and the dancing boys. "It's part of being one of us. Go on."

It was like I was put into a trance. As soon as Felix said that, I put the kabob down, got up, and joined the other boys. They immediately made a space for me. I let the notes of Pan's flute flow over me like water and it was like my body let loose on its own.

I lost track of time. It felt like we were only dancing for a few minutes, but when Pan stopped playing, I was startled to see that the stars were out and the full moon was high in the sky, looking down on us like a glowing white pearl. Had it really been that long? I wouldn't know. Time seemed to stop on Neverland. After all, Pan had said that the boys wouldn't go hunting for another day, but there Felix was, knawing on a kabob full of fresh deer meat. I must have been unconcious for longer than I'd originally thought.

"Alright, guys!" Pan said. "That's it for the night. Wildcat, Eddie, Bae, you have first watch. Everyone else, back to camp!"

Felix caught my arm. "You're gonna be staying in my tent until we can get one for you. Pan's orders."

*~*~*

"Don't worry," Felix said, holding the tent flap open for me. "You're perfectly safe with me."

I laughed nervously. "If I was a different person, that would be the absolute worst thing you could possibly say."

"But you are you, so it didn't do any harm," he said with a shrug. "Get some sleep. Your initiation starts tomorrow, and I think you'll be a good addition to the team, so I'll tell you: I'd prefer if you survived."

He pointed to what looked like a spread out leopard skin. "That's yours. I'll keep my distance, I promise."

"How do I know you'll keep that promise?" I asked.

I'd expected him to be annoyed, at least; everyone seemed so uptight here. But Felix just dropped his hood down and gave me a small, genuine smile. "I guess you shouldn't, we just met and you've given me plenty of reason to dislike you. But I've never broken any of my promises."

He handed me a pull-over jacket similar to his. "You can sleep in this, if you like. We'll have clothes in your size by morning."

I took it from him and he turned, probably to leave so I could change. "Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"I mean, you really seemed to hate me when I got here, but now you're being genuinely nice," I said. "Why is that? You seem the type who hates being beaten."

He laughed in surprise. "You're right. I can't stand being second-best. But to answer your question, as much as I dislike the idea of there being a girl in the family, you're unique. I've never seen anyone resist the flute so long. It's better for us all if you're on our side."