I just want to say that this is my first fan fiction and I'm very excited! It's about one of my favorite pairings ever, Wendy and Peter. I always go over and over in my head what it would have been like if either Wendy stayed with Peter or Peter stayed grew up, but I've come to the conclusion that it just wouldn't be the same. However, I've decided to provide some closure with this story. Oh, and it's based of the 2003 movie and parts of the novel.
Peter's Return.
One-Shot.
DISCAIMER: J.M. Barry owns everything Peter Pan, not me.
"Wendy! Tell us another story!" the boys shouted. Wendy looked at her parents and grinned. It felt good to be home.
Wendy and her two brothers had just returned back from their wild exhibition to the fantastic world of Neverland. They had fought pirates, met mermaids, and learned a few songs in Indian languages. The boys had even brought back a few friends to adopt as their own siblings.
The adventure was crazy to experience and satisfying to remember for the brothers, Michael and John, but for Wendy it had been a completely different experience. She had met a boy – a very mysterious boy with an exotic American accent and a list of enemies that is twenty pages long. He lived a life of adventure, but he was frozen in time – frozen in his world of Neverland. He would never grow up, and that was why Wendy left him.
She knew that he made her understand something. He made her understand the hidden truth of life that most grown-ups don't even know.
Wendy loved Peter Pan. Peter Pan made Wendy grow up.
Wendy went home.
Here she sits, with so many loving arms around her, waiting for her to speak. Her story was one that she planned to tell as many times as it took to numb the pain she felt inside.
"Once upon a time there was a boy who would never grow up . . ." she started. Her parents watched as her cheeks grew rosy and her icy eyes twinkled. But she was not happy.
Wendy loved Peter Pan.
Once the story ended, the children brushed their teeth, said their prayer, and went to bed. Wendy couldn't sleep. The window was shut.
"The window must always be open," she whispered to herself. Tears came to her eyes as she remembered Peter's farewell.
"You won't forget me, will you?" Wendy called out to the dark sky as Peter started to step off of the window sill. He laughed nervously, ran his fingers through his filthy hair, and said:
"Never!" Wendy smiled when she heard this answer.
"Never is an awfully long time . . ." she whispered, smiling, but still trying to keep her tears in her eye. Peter was struggling too, but he would never let it show.
"Bye, Wendy." With that, Peter Pan was gone.
Tears started to run down her cheeks as Wendy finished the memory. She knew he would forget, and she knew he wouldn't come back. She ran to the window and opened it as quickly as she could, and then rested her head up against the glass and sobbed.
"Wendy . . ." a familiar voice whispered. Wendy looked up and her eyes opened wide. "Wendy, I have come for you," Peter Pan said quietly, his voice shaking.
"No, this is a dream." Wendy closed her eyes, but she dared not to walk away.
"Open your eyes, Wendy," Peter whispered. He awkwardly rested his hand on Wendy's cheek, and then decided his action was too forward and pulled his hand back. Wendy opened her eyes and stopped crying.
"Why? Why are you back? I can't leave with you, and you're just making goodbyes harder!" Wendy said, raising her voice. John started to stir in his sleep.
"Shh . . . come out here so we can talk!" Peter commanded, pulling Wendy out of the window and onto the rooftop.
"Don't do this Peter!" Wendy cried out when they settled back down on their feet. She looked down at the street below and back to Peter. "Why are you here?"
"I'm sorry, Wendy. I can make this right, though! You don't have to come! I'll visit you tons!" he bargained, grinning his cocky smile.
"It doesn't work like that."
"Why can't it? Wendy, we can still be friends!" Peter's green eyes showed excitement when he spoke this phrase, but then filled with tears when he saw Wendy's face. "No, Wendy. Don't be a stupid girl! Don't get mad, and don't you dare cry again! Wendy!" Wendy's face turned white, and Peter felt a tear trickle down his face.
"I can't be your friend." Another tear fell from Peter's eye, but he quickly wiped it away with his hand.
"Why not? We were made to be friends. What is a Peter without a Wendy? Who else will tell me stories? Who else will make sure I take my medicine? Who else – "
"I love you, Peter Pan!" Wendy shouted, cutting Peter off. His eyes widened.
"Then I have to love you too, right?"
"No, Peter," Wendy started, her voice and expression softening. "You don't have to love me unless you feel it."
"Where will I feel it?"
"In your heart," Wendy whispered. Peter paused for a moment, grinned, and said:
"Then I love you Wendy." Peter started to hug Wendy, but Wendy backed away and sighed.
"But you won't grow up." Peter frowned.
"No," he whispered. Then he remembered something, as all boys do, and changed the subject. "I want a thimble!" He smiled as he said this. Wendy frowned.
"Okay," she mumbled under her breath. Then she closed her eyes and prepared herself, but a pair of lips was already crashing on hers. The kiss lasted for a few seconds, and then Peter pulled back and said:
"I love you, Wendy."
"I love you too, Peter." Wendy knew she had to speak the truth, though. "Peter, if we go along loving each other like this, somebody's gonna get hurt. I'm gonna grow, and you're always going to see me when you're just a boy. I have to become a lady and a woman, and then a wife and a mother. If you love me like you say you do then you're not gonna be okay. You're gonna die inside everytime you see me give away my kiss to my husband, and I'm gonna die imagining that it's you. We can't do it, Peter. We just can't." Wendy sobbed at the end of her speech, and Peter finally realized what would happen.
"Okay," he said, simply. There were no tears and no screams. He had given up. His Wendy was no longer his, even though they both wanted her to be. He placed her back in the nursery, kissed her hand, bowed, and left her there, heartbroken.
Wendy never again did see Peter, but on one cold night ten years later Peter came back and watched as his only love held her daughter in her arms and gave her kiss to her husband. Peter's heart had been broken for a long time, but he felt as if it had just broken again.
Then, in the silent night, Peter whispered to himself, "To live would be an awfully great adventure." He sighed, knowing that he would forever be barred from the one thing in his life that could have been consistent and good.
"I love you, Wendy."
