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"But what if I fall?" Scar's voice quivered.
"Don't worry, Mav's got your back," Seth assured her, nodding in my direction. "That's right, Tink. I've got you covered," I reassured her with a grin.
Scar's eyes fixed on the towering treehouse. She hesitated, uncertain about approaching it. Yet, just as she was about to turn away, Seth came closer and stood by her side. "Remember, as long as John Darling"—he motioned to himself and then to me—"and Peter Pan are here, you'll be safe."
With a hopeful look between us, Scar asked, "Forever?"
"Forever," Seth promised.
Scar turned to me for confirmation, and I replied with absolute certainty. "Always, Tink."
I never had a sibling to watch over, so the notion of being Tink's guardian was A-OK with me.
THREE
THE PAST
SCAR, AGE 9
Ihad been feeling tired and sick all week with a nasty flu and couldn't do much except lie in bed. But on this warm summery day, I felt better and decided to sit outside in the sunshine and color in my favorite coloring book.
As I was coloring, Seth came out of the house. He had been hanging out with his friends more lately and not spending much time with me. I missed spending time with him.
"Hey Skittles, what are you doing?" Seth asked, walking over to me.
"I'm coloring. Do you want to color with me?" I replied, smiling.
Seth grinned. "I was thinking we could have a water balloon fight. I brought some balloons with me."
"Really?" I could hardly contain my excitement.
We hastily filled up the balloons with water and paint and started throwing them at each other. Despite being covered in paint and water, we were having so much fun that we paid no attention to it. We ran around the yard, dodging balloons and laughing uncontrollably until our sides ached.
Seth's gray tank top was covered in blue, green, and yellow splotches. A smattering of paint was matted in his hair, making it look like a small paint palette.
Seth tripped and fell, and I fell on top of him. We both started laughing so hard that we couldn't stop. We lay there for a moment, catching our breath and enjoying each other's company.
As we got up and started to pick up the remnants of the water balloons, I realized that I no longer felt sick. Instead, I felt happy and energized, grateful for the time that I had spent with Seth.
"Thanks for playing with me, Seth," I said, smiling.
"Anytime, Skittles," Seth replied, ruffling my hair. "I'm glad we got to spend some time together."
Seth sat down next to me. "I just wanted to apologize for not being around you more lately. I've been busy with my friends, but that's no excuse. You're my sister, and I want to make time for you."
"It's okay, Seth," I said. "I understand you have your own life, and I don't want to get in the way of that."
Seth nodded. "I promise to make more time for you."
Mom and Dad came out of the house and their breath caught. They looked shocked to see the mess that we made.
"Scar, Seth, what happened here?" Mom asked, looking at the gray stones covered in paint.
"We were having a water balloon fight," I replied, trying to hide a smile.
Dad shook his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "It looks like you were having a paintball fight, not a water balloon fight."
After a moment of silence, Mom spoke up. "Okay, you two, it's time to clean up this mess. We don't want our yard to look like a paintball arena."
