Prologue: Rainbow in the Making

As the Shadow carried her off her window, Wendy couldn't help feeling excited. She was going to Neverland; a land she had heard of to be a paradise, a land where no one would ever order you around, or told you what to do and a place where you'd get to be a child forever. There would be a lot of adventure. Bae had told her about pirates, the Injuns and mermaids! What could Baelfire possibly see of it to be horrid? He had warned her of Neverland. But what harm could it do when you only wanted to know?

London was beautiful at night. Especially now since she was seeing London from the top; she was flying. The lights were beautiful, as if they were stars in the land. She passed by the clock that had always woke her up in the early morning, and even her school.

I guess I should say farewell to you now, she thought. School was the horrid place to be. She doubted that Bae had went to the same school as she did—so he never knew how awful it was to be there; to be laughed at by the other children, to be scorned and ordered around by the demanding teachers. She wanted to get away from all of it.

Moments later, the view of London was all but a blur. She saw lights, different shades and varieties of color, as if a rainbow in the making. She giggled as she tried to reach out and touch them. She looked over at the Shadow, who seemed too preoccupied in something; it didn't seem to mind the beauty of the rainbow.

Then suddenly, it was dark again. There was a sky now, and stars that bespeckled its dark skin. She looked down and saw water. A sea. Looking further, she saw an island. She was filled excitement, she turned to the Shadow.

"Is that Neverland?" she asked.

The Shadow only looked over its shoulder and looked at her. Then it turned its head back to flying.

But Wendy knew it was Neverland.

They flew nearer toward the island, the more Wendy's excitement grew. They were drawing near to the ground that she expected to land. The Shadow took one look at her and dropped her. They were no more than thirty feet from the ground that Wendy did not expect that. She was falling, a scream got away from her throat.

She felt the air and the emptiness beneath her.

With a swift moment, she thought this was it for her. All she wanted was to live in Neverland, even just for a day, and here she was; been here not even by an hour and she was going to die.

She closed her eyes and waited.

Then she felt arms catching her. A warm hand was on her back and the back of her legs. And she could hear the beating of a heart; slow and relaxed. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up.

It was a boy.

Wendy looked around and realized they were still flying. Unlike the Shadow, the boy who caught her had her tightly, and she knew that he wouldn't let her go.

He smelled like dirt and fresh leaves, but it was a comforting scent.

They were nearing ground now. The boy who caught her didn't drop her like the Shadow did. He flew toward the ground and gracefully landed there. That was when he slowly let her go.

Wendy was relieved to feel solid ground beneath her feet, she smiled. "Thank you."

He didn't say anything, but he stared at her.

"Am I in Neverland?" she asked. She thought of it as a stupid question for her to ask. Where else can the Shadow take her? He continued staring at her and that gave her the opportunity to stare back. He had light brown hair, and surprisingly, for a boy who looked as if he lived in the wilderness for a long time, his hair was neatly fixed. He had blue eyes that were now looking at her. He was good-looking, she thought that she felt herself flush.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Girls shouldn't be here."

She was taken aback, "Why shouldn't I be?"

He chuckled, "You're in Neverland. It's not a place for girls."

"But the mermaids—"

He laughed, "Mermaids are monsters." He crossed his arms. "What on earth can the Shadow be thinking? Bringing in a girl? Now why don't I take you back?"

"No. I have only just got here and I refuse to go back."

He clicked his tongue, "You're a feisty one, are you? A feisty bird, falling in the sky. What's the bird's name then?"

Baffled, Wendy blinked. She took a step backward and stood straight, "Wendy. Wendy Darling."

He smiled, "Now then, Wendy-bird, now is the time for you to fly to wherever you came from."

She frowned, "Why, if you don't want me here, then why on earth bring me here?! You could've just flown me back to where I came from when you caught me and instead you brought me here!"

His smile vanished. But Wendy still had it pictured in her mind. He faced her and took a step forward, "You want to stay then?"

Leaves begun to rustle everywhere, Wendy held her breath. There were boys coming out holding wooden spears and bows and quivers of arrows at their belts. She looked around, they were surrounding them. She glanced back at the boy who had caught her.

"Oh, you can stay, but you should know that everything comes with a price, Wendy-bird."

"Who are you?"

The sides of his twitched up, now he was grinning at her, "I go by many names, but here, I'm known as Pan. Peter Pan."