"As you look at Wendy, you may see her hair becoming white, and her figure little again, for all this happened long ago. Jane is now a common grown-up, with a daughter called Margaret; and every spring cleaning time, except when he forgets, Peter comes for Margaret and takes her to the Neverland, where she tells him stories about himself, to which he listens eagerly. When Margaret grows up she will have a daughter, who is to be Peter's mother in turn; and thus it will go on, so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless.
The end."
The elderly woman closed the book with a wistful sigh and placed it in her lap, surveying the boys sitting at her feet and scattered about the room, watching her with unwavering interest.
One boy, a twelve year-old with brunette hair and a chubby face, frowned and scrunched his eyebrows together.
"That's how it ends?" He asked with skepticism. "What happened to Peter?"
"Weren't you listening, you dolt?" Another boy with red hair and freckles asked. "He stayed on Neverland except when he came back to get Wendy's grand-daughter."
"I heard," the first boy quickly defended himself. "I just expected a more exciting ending for 'Peter Pan'."
"Alright, boys. Settle down," the elderly woman scolded lightly. "It's time for bed. We'll start on a new book tomorrow night. Off you go."
A few of the boys moaned and groaned just as they did every night in the orphanage, stating they weren't in the least bit tired but the woman would hear nothing of it.
An older blonde male that had been leaning against a door frame in the back of the room during the reading just as he did every night, turned to the hallway behind him with a slight smirk at the younger ones' complaints. He made his way down the corridor towards a small bedroom at the end of the hall with his hands stuffed in his pants' pockets. He shut the door quietly behind him as other boys began filing down the hallway towards their own respective rooms.
Once inside, the boy leaned back against the door for a moment, gazing at the large window that looked out over the city street. He thought about it for only a second before smirking a little to himself once again and making his way over to the window. He cracked it open just enough for a boy to be able to squeeze through and then glanced up at the clear, starry sky.
He knew it was incredibly silly but every night for as long as he could remember the boy would go back to his room after Mrs. Howl's chapter reading and open his window a little before crawling into bed. He had heard the story of 'Peter Pan' several times since he had been at the orphanage for so long and it had always been his favorite. He wasn't sure if he still believed in the story the way he had when he was a child or if he had just grown accustomed to the night air but he still held onto this very small, childlike part of him that secretly hoped it wasn't just a story. That perhaps there really was a magical, beautiful boy flying around the world looking for lost souls.
Yes, it was rather silly but the blonde still smiled a little to himself as he turned away from the window and got into bed, pulling the dark green blanket over the top of him. He cast one last glance at the open window before rolling over and closing his eyes.
\
On the other side of the street hovering just behind the very top point of the roof sat a brunette boy that appeared seventeen, at the most, clad in green with bright, mischievous blue eyes, who was watching the building intently.
"I know I saw it come over here," he muttered to the blonde woman sitting beside him.
The woman's hair was pulled up into a tight little bun and her short, green dress perfectly matched the boy's outfit. She glanced over at the building before turning her narrowed eyes back onto the male.
"This is a waste of time," she stated with slight annoyance, the clear, dragonfly-like wings sticking out of her back fluttering a little. "We're not going to find it. Especially not in this part of the city. There are far too many people around."
The boy's eyes widened as a dark shadowy figure suddenly shot across the street, up the side of the building and through a slightly opened window on the third floor.
"There it is!" The brunette exclaimed before quickly swooping down from the rooftop and over to the window.
The woman barely had time to register what had happened as she hurried from the roof herself to try and catch up.
The boy easily slid through the cracked window, landing inside the tiny bedroom silently. The woman was able to slip halfway through before suddenly coming to a halt. She craned her head around to see her bottom half trapped on the other side of the glass. She pushed on the windowsill in an attempt to squeeze through but to no avail.
The boy was already sneaking about the room, completely unaware of the predicament the woman was in. He got down on all fours beside the small bed where a figure lay still and looked underneath. Shadows love hiding in dark places, after all.
"Peter," the woman called out quietly from the window. "Peter."
The boy's eyebrows furrowed together as he leaned back, balancing carefully on his toes, and glanced around the room. If the shadow wasn't under the bed, where else could it be? There wasn't exactly much furniture for it to hide behind.
"Peter," the woman called out again, slightly louder.
The boy's eyebrows suddenly shot up on his forehead as his gaze fell upon the wool blanket covering the figure on the bed. Shadows love hiding under blankets!
Peter reached forward slowly, his hand just hovering above the blanket that was tucked in beside the sleeping figure's head.
Peter's eyes grazed over the blonde male's peaceful expression, his heart quickening a little at the appealing curves of his face.
As he just watched the blonde he thought he saw an eyelid twitch. Peter's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion when an annoyed voice suddenly caused him to startle.
"Peter!"
"What?" Peter demanded quietly, retracting his hand.
"I'm stuck. Come over here and pull me out." The woman commanded, holding her arms out towards the boy, her expression annoyed.
"Well, if your butt wasn't so big, Tinkerbell," Peter commented with equal annoyance, glancing back over at the blonde male.
The woman gave him a steely glare.
"My butt is perfectly proportioned to the rest of my body. Now, hurry up before somebody sees us."
Peter watched the boy for a moment longer before finally rising to his feet with a smirk.
"I suppose we'll just have to cut you in half then," he stated with a sly grin as he dusted off his pants.
Tinkerbell gave him an unamused expression.
"Peter, this is no time for jokes. Do you want your shadow back or not?"
"Alright, alright," Peter relented sourly before snapping his fingers.
The window suddenly popped open all the way and Tinkerbell tumbled over onto the floor with a loud thump.
"Shh!" Peter hissed, glancing back down at the still figure.
Tinkerbell sat up and grimaced, rubbing at her sore back.
"I always forget you can do that," she whispered.
Sudden movement out of the corner of his eye caught Peter's attention. He whipped his head around just in time to see a black form spring out from behind the small nightstand and zip along the wall over to the dark closet at the other end of the room.
"There it is!" Peter called out rather loudly as he dove for the open doorway and crashed into the back of the closet.
"Shh!" It was Tinkerbell's turn to hiss, holding a finger to her lips.
The shadowy form raced back along the wall over towards the bed but Peter was right behind it, slapping the wall every so often when he got close enough to almost catch it. The small lamp on the nightstand rocked precariously as Peter zoomed by. Tinkerbell quickly dove for the object as it came within inches of hitting the floor. She let out a small sigh of relief as she held the lamp in her hands but then turned a glare onto the boy again.
"Peter!" The fairy shouted a little too loudly. "Be more careful! You're going to wake someone!"
The shadow dove behind the headboard as Peter pounced onto the bed landing on all fours over the no longer sleeping figure. The blonde male's eyes suddenly popped open as the two boys came face-to-face. Their eyes locked for only a brief moment as the shadow appeared once more out from behind the bed. Peter growled audibly and slammed his hands against the wall behind the headboard, just barely missing the black form.
As the shadow raced across the room towards the closet once more, Peter jumped off the bed and chased after it. Tinkerbell was busy setting the lamp back up on its stand properly.
The blonde male sat up in the bed, watching the boy dive into his closet again. He couldn't see the three, he thought there were three, people in the room very well, so he reached over onto the small table beside him and picked up the glass encased candle that was there, striking a match in order to light it.
As the room was suddenly flooded in a warm, golden glow, a dark form was slowly dragged from the closet's depths. Peter's head appeared from around the doorframe, one eyebrow raised slightly with interest. Even Tinkerbell had turned to watch with wide eyes as the shadow was pulled towards the candle's light. It clawed desperately at the floor before finally being sucked into the glass container.
Peter and Tinkerbell just stared at the boy for a moment as he held the candle in his hand, his eyebrows knitting together with a bit of confusion.
Peter leapt from the closet and landed beside the bed, leaning over the candle with a cocked eyebrow.
"How in the world did you think to do that?" He asked curiously.
"I'm not really sure," the blonde replied, still confused.
Peter held his hand out expectantly and the boy immediately placed the candle in it, instinctively knowing what the other wanted.
Peter studied the object for a moment. He could see the shadowy form flickering in and out in the candle's flame. Peter looked over the top of the glass with eyes narrowed as he studied the blonde.
The boy didn't appear to be anything special. Pale skin, ruffled blonde hair, observant silver eyes, lanky yet well built frame. He was appealing but nothing special. Although, he HAD managed to capture the extremely elusive shadow. He even did it in a way Peter had never thought about. Clearly the boy was more intelligent than he was letting on.
"What's your name?" Peter asked with authority, lowering the candle in order to stare harder at the boy.
"James," the blonde responded, meeting Peter's gaze evenly.
"James," Peter repeated and then mouthed the word to himself again before wrinkling his nose in disgust. "What a dull and completely uninteresting name." Certainly not befitting the person that had just captured his shadow.
A tiny smirk formed on the blonde's lips. An uninteresting name for an uninteresting boy.
"No," Peter continued as if reading his thoughts. "You don't look like a James. You look more like a..." He trailed off, placing his free hand to his chin and squinting hard at the boy. "You look like a... Like a... Well, like a Felix."
Tinkerbell's eyes suddenly widened with realization at what was happening and she quickly jumped to her feet in-between the two in order to block Peter's view. The brunette's eyes narrowed with displeasure as he leaned back a little away from the woman's stern face.
"No! Absolutely not!" She said firmly, her wings fluttering with agitation. "If you name him you'll just want to keep him and we have enough problems to deal with as it is."
"Don't be ridiculous," Peter scoffed, turning with his back to the fairy. "... Although," he added, slightly angling himself towards her again and gazing down at the candle. "He DID manage to capture my shadow which nobody except me has ever been able to do."
"It doesn't matter. He doesn't belong in our world," Tinkerbell argued, glaring at the brunette.
"And he belongs here in this dingy little room?" Peter asked, motioning at the small space.
"This is his home," Tinkerbell countered. "If we leave now, he'll wake up in the morning and assume this was all just a crazy dream... Because it is," she quickly added, glancing over her shoulder at the blonde.
"I say we let the pipes decide where his home is," Peter responded with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk as he pulled out the small, wooden, pan pipes from his pocket.
Tinkerbell gasped quietly and glanced over at the blonde again who was watching the two curiously.
"You brought those with you?" The woman hissed quietly.
"Of course," Peter scoffed, his eyebrows crinkling. "I never leave the island without them."
"You can't be serious," Tinkerbell countered in disbelief. "Peter, he doesn't belong with us. No matter what happens with the pipes, this is his home. He's just a simple, human boy. He wouldn't survive two days in our world of magic. We got your shadow and that's what we came for. Let's just leave it at that and-"
"Females talk too much," Peter interrupted with a wrinkle of his nose.
Tinkerbell's mouth hung open, suspended in shock, before she quickly snapped it shut and gave the boy a pleasant smile.
"Very well then. I won't say another word on the subject," she snipped, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Finally you're doing something useful," Peter remarked.
The woman simply narrowed her eyes as Peter turned back to the blonde.
"Felix," he began.
"James," Tinkerbell corrected.
"Peter," Peter corrected her with a smirk. Tinkerbell rolled her eyes, unamused.
"Would you mind if I played you something?" Peter asked innocently, motioning towards the pipes with the candle still in his hand.
The blonde shrugged a shoulder, still a little confused. "Sure."
Peter passed Tinkerbell the candle, the fairy none too pleased, before putting the instrument to his lips and beginning to play. The music was beautiful and somber, completely mesmerizing to those who heard it. It was a melody that could coax any lost soul into the light. The blonde found himself transfixed on Peter's dazzling blue eyes and the way his lips curved around the pipes.
The song halted after just a few moments. Peter merely wanted to check the other's reaction, not send the boy into fits. The blonde blinked and shook his head slightly as if coming back to reality.
"You play beautifully," he remarked.
"So, you can hear it then?" Peter asked, the edges of his lips slowly curving upwards.
"Of course," the blonde responded, his eyebrows crinkling together a bit in confusion.
Peter turned a devilish grin onto the fairy who merely huffed.
"I don't believe we've introduced ourselves properly," Peter said cheerfully, smiling at the blonde. "My name is Peter. Peter Pan. And this here is Tinkerbell. She's a fairy."
Tinkerbell huffed again and turned her back on the blonde, her wings fluttering in annoyance.
"She's a little difficult at warming up to people," Peter explained with a hand up to the side of his mouth. Tinkerbell stuck her tongue out at him over her shoulder.
'Peter Pan?' The blonde thought, his eyes widening ever so slightly in surprise. THIS was the person he had been hearing about ever since he was a child? It couldn't be. This Peter Pan was much older than the one in the story. So much older in fact that the blonde was actually a little attracted to the boy.
"How would you like to come home with me?" Peter asked, extending his hand a little towards the blonde. "Felix."
The blonde was actually taken aback by the offer. He had fantasized numerous times about this exact thing happening ever since he was a child. Now that it was finally occurring it was rather hard to believe.
"And where exactly is this home?" The boy asked, an eyebrow raised slightly in amusement at what the answer would be.
"Why, Neverland, of course," Peter responded with a flourish of his hand.
The blonde allowed a smirk to play on his lips.
"And would you happen to have a gang of Lost Boys as well?" He drawled.
"Lost Boys?" Peter asked, furrowing his brows in confusion. He had never heard of such a thing.
He looked over at Tinkerbell who still had her back to the blonde but she merely shrugged in response. She had no idea what the boy was talking about either.
"Lost Boys," Peter repeated, staring at the green blanket on the bed in thought. "A gang of Lost Boys... Oh, that's good. I like the sound of that."
Peter grinned at the blonde, pleased by this new sign of the boy's clear intelligence. "You can be the first of this gang of Lost Boys. I'll even make you my right-hand man. What do you say, Felix?"
The blonde couldn't help but smile a little at the way Peter's blue eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect of this new future. Somehow the blonde knew he would never be able to refuse a request from those eyes.
"Sure," he finally replied with a slight shrug of his shoulder and a tiny smile. He had nothing to lose.
Peter's nose crinkled as he grinned and clasped his hands together.
"Terrific! Well then, we best be on our way! Come on."
Felix pushed the blanket off of him and got to his feet. Peter watched the boy, his eyes widening ever so slightly with interest as he had to tilt his head back in order to keep eye-contact.
"You're tall," Peter stated with raised eyebrows, unable to keep the delight from seeping into his voice.
"Great," Tinkerbell muttered to herself in annoyance. "Now we'll never get rid of him."
"How old are you?" Peter continued, as if he hadn't heard the fairy.
"Nineteen," Felix responded simply.
Peter's eyebrows shot up on his forehead for only a brief moment before he lowered them again and smiled warmly.
"Well then, Felix, I caught you at just the right time! You're a touch old for Neverland but I think I can make an exception."
'Oh, you would never let this one get away,' Tinkerbell thought with a roll of her eyes at the way Peter made it sound like he was doing the boy a great favor.
Peter placed his arm around Felix's back and led him over to the window.
"That's Neverland right up there," the brunette smiled warmly, pointing up at the night sky. "Second star to the right and straight on till morning. Not the first star. That'll take you someplace weird. All we need to get to Neverland is a little faith, trust and, um..." Peter trailed off, his brows scrunching together a bit as he tried to remember what the third thing was.
Felix felt a tiny smile tug at his lips when it occurred to him how cute Peter's confused expression was. He quickly squished those feelings down though.
"Fairy dust?" He finally suggested.
Peter's eyes widened a bit in surprise as he looked back up to meet Felix's gaze. One side of Peter's lips slowly curved upwards into a pleased smirk, his eyes filling with approval.
"That's it exactly. You really are very clever," he praised.
Felix glanced away for the briefest of moments, suddenly feeling a little shy, but managed to keep his expression neutral.
Peter reached over, taking hold of Tinkerbell's clear wings, and shook them vigorously, causing the fairy to nearly drop the glass candle in surprise. She turned a glare on the boy as he held a small amount of golden, sparkling power in his hand.
"Fairy dust," he stated to Felix with a smirk. He sucked in a breath and gently blew the powder onto the blonde male.
Felix watched as the dust settled over him, expecting to start floating immediately, yet nothing happened. He didn't even feel any different.
Peter snapped his fingers and the window swung open to the side as if it were always meant to do that. He placed one foot onto the windowsill before turning to hold a hand out to the other boy.
"Do you trust me?" He asked, the amused smirk that lit his soft face hiding the seriousness of the question.
Felix stared into Peter's bright, mischievous, blue eyes that seemed to hold all the excitement and danger of adventure in them and felt his stomach twist. Not in fear or apprehension but in longing. He smiled a tiny and confident smile, holding Peter's gaze unwaveringly, before grasping firmly onto his outstretched hand.
"Yes."
And Tinkerbell could have sworn she saw it.
That sudden flash of light she had seen in countless peoples' eyes when meeting their true love for the first time. She could have sworn she saw it in Peter's eyes then but it was so sudden and brief that it was gone before she could even process it. Then Peter was standing on the windowsill with Felix stepping up right beside him. And they leapt off without even the slightest hint of hesitation or fear, only exhilaration.
Tinkerbell merely stood there as she watched the two boys disappear into the night sky, wondering if perhaps Peter had been right. Peter was always right. Maybe the boy didn't belong in that dingy room, or even in this dingy world. Perhaps his home was with them on Neverland. Or at least with Peter.
Tinkerbell glanced down at the glass candle she still held in her hand before fluttering her wings and taking to the sky.