Part IV - 26: Slightly

"Slightly, this has exceeded all of my expectations!" The mayor exclaimed, shaking Slightly's hand vigorously as his eyes darted around to take in all of Neverland's attractions. "This is a historic day indeed!"

Slightly watched the mayor nearly skip off to see the show at the lagoon. All of the mermaids except Cora were doing impressive jumps and synchronized moves in front of a delighted crowd.

The grand opening of Neverland had been a success. Hundreds of people had turned out to see London's biggest underground attraction. Many of the visitors were those who lived in children's homes, and they had free admission. They had engineered two large lifts in the hole left by the Silver Mountains that carried visitors in and out of Neverland. The mayor and his committee had worked hard with the city officials to get everything approved, but finally they obtained permission to have the entrance right there in Hyde Park.

The last few weeks Slightly had been making plans, giving assignments, and overseeing reconstruction. Some parts of Neverland would be closed to the public, of course, like the tree house, central control, and the deep lagoon. It had been amazing how well everyone in Neverland had responded to the idea. Even Tink had come around once she realized this change would help people to stay. Slightly caught a glimpse of her avatar guiding a tour group through the jungle.

Peter had acquired quite a bit of business prowess from running the bakery, and he implemented it as they assessed price points, filled out paperwork, and hired extra personnel. At the moment, Peter was giving flying lessons in a large enclosure they had constructed to ensure safety. Slightly had spent many long nights sewing dozens of flying suits.

Slightly noticed some of the pirates were posing for pictures with the visitors. That's probably not a good idea, he thought. The pirates weren't as notorious as Captain Hook, and Tink had erased all of their files, but he still wanted to be safe. He made a mental note to ask the pirates to disguise themselves.

Wendy had taken all the boys from Mrs. Nancy's over to the Imagination Tower, where Curly was teaching them how to use a simplified version of the design program. There they could build temporary structures in the sand dunes and take home a picture and a blue print of their design.

In an arena by the beach, people were petting some of the animals and taking rides on Lamar (after signing a wavier). The twins had done a pretty good job of training the beast, but they kept close by in case he got out of control.

A commotion from the jungle drew Slightly's attention. He trekked several meters through the thick foliage until he found a large group of people congregated around the trampoline moss. He smiled when he saw the reason. Lily was soaring into the air, performing intricate acrobatics that became more impressive with every jump. She went on for a few more moments, but when she realized a crowd had gathered, she stopped. Slightly waved at her and she made her way over to him.

"Slightly, this is amazing!" She exclaimed. "I don't know how you could have ever forgotten about this place!"

Slightly smiled. "Well, I'm glad I did. Otherwise I wouldn't have met you."

Lily winked at him and he felt his temperature rise a few degrees. "You're lucky you have a place like this to call home."

"Maybe you should live here too," Slightly suggested, trying to sound nonchalant.

"I'm considering it," Lily replied, her eyes shining. She stepped next to Slightly and laced her fingers through his. He felt a pleasant sensation course through his body, and he savored what seemed to be an almost perfect moment. Standing there, holding Lily's hand and seeing Neverland alive and vibrant, he realized that getting hit by a car was the best thing that had ever happened to him.