Wendy sat in her rocking chair working on her stitchery when a cold breeze flowed across the back of her neck. She shivered and pulled her shawl closer around herself.
"Wendy." The voice came softly from behind her.
She froze as it came again, "Wendy."
"Peter?" She still refused to turn around.
"Hello, Wendy."
"I haven't seen you in a while."
"Sorry."
"No you're not!" She spoke to the stitchery in her lap. "You probably forgot all about me, and just need me for something."
"It's not like that…"
"It's been four years, Peter! I mean, you came in the beginning, but then you just disappeared! How do you explain that?" Still, she refused to look at him, and he stayed by the window.
"I'm sorry Wendy."
"That's rich Peter, real rich. Apologize and make it all better."
"I want you to come back to Neverland with me." There was a hint of desperation in his voice.
"It's too late. I've gotten too old."
"No! Don't say that."
"It's true. I'm 18 Peter; I've forgotten how to fly."
"Wendy."
"Just go away."
"But Wendy…"
"Peter! Stop, just stop… I'm engaged."
"Engaged?"
"To be married. You know, to a man."
"No!"
"You weren't around. And besides, you're a boy Peter, and you don't have feelings." She fussed with her stitchery for a moment while he leaned his head against the window frame.
"You're mine, Wendy. You've always been mine."
"Not anymore."
"You gave me your kiss."
"I was 13, I didn't know what I was giving away."
"You gave it to me, and it's no longer yours to take back."
"Well, I'm taking it back!"
"That's not fair Wendy! It's mine!"
"No it's not Peter!" She whirled in her chair, only to realize the room behind her was empty, and the window, closed. She looked on her other side, then back down at her lap. He was being unreasonable and the sooner he realized it the better.
"Wendy?" A familiar, grating voice came through the door.
"Yes, Aunt Millicent?""Who are you talking to?"
"No one, Aunt."
"Well, you better start getting ready, Richard will be here soon, and I want you to be ready."
"Yes, Aunt Millicent."
Those green eyes watched her as she made her way to the dressing table and sat there pondering the acorn on a necklace that still had a place in her jewelry box. She no longer wore the trinket, it was replaced instead by pearls and jewels, given to her by a doting fiancée.
She put on a sapphire necklace that exactly matched her eyes, it was Richard's favorite. Then she changed into his favorite dress and spent the evening acting charming and ladylike. It was agony.
After she had gone to bed that night and was asleep, he came through the window again.
As she shivered in the cold air, he placed the extra blanket from the end of her bed over her. When he pulled the blanket underneath her chin, his hand brushed her cheek, causing her nuzzle against him slightly. He let his hand linger on her cheek for a moment before he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Can I keep you?"She murmured something incomprehensible and shifted slightly.
He knelt on the bed beside her, placing a hand on either side of her shoulders, as he did so many years before. He murmured to her, "One girl is worth more than 20 boys."
Her eyes fluttered slightly before she murmured, "Do you really mean that?"
"Yes." He whispered back and brushed his lips against hers.
She murmured something and shifted in the bed, her eyes fluttering again. He hastily backed away, hiding in the shadows.
When Wendy woke in the morning, she was tired. It was as if she had hardly slept all night. She dragged herself out of bed and over to her dressing table.
As she looked at herself in the mirror, she'd never looked worse. Dark circles under her eyes, pale skin (and not in a good way), and hair that looked like it'd been through a windstorm. She sighed, it'd been a bad night. Her dreams had been full of flying boys with green eyes and smirking lips. With a moan, she willed herself to get dressed.
Hours later, she was falling asleep while reading, the book dropping into her lap every time her head bobbed. She shivered and sleepily raised her head. To Wendy's shock and horror, standing against the wall was a young man, dressed plainly in a shirt and breeches. She abruptly stood up from her chair and he took a step away from the wall, holding a hand out. "Wendy."
She took a step away from him.
He said it again, "Wendy."
Something in his eyes caused her to take a step closer; it was as if she knew him.
"Wendy." His lips curved up into a familiar smirk, as he took yet another step to her, "Wendy-bird."
Her eyes widened, but she kept moving toward him.
"How did my kiss end up back in the corner of your mouth?"
Her breathing quickened.
"Or should I say, thimble?"
She raised her chin to him.
"I thought it was mine always."
With every word he moved closer.
"I assume you think you can keep it."
He reached out a hand and brushed a strand of hair out of her face.
"Well, I'm just going to have to take it back."
She opened her mouth to protest, but he put a hand over it.
"I won't right now, but in time."
Words finally found her again. "Peter?"
"I thought we already established it was me."
"But…but…but you're all grown up!"
"That's right."
"But how…how is that possible?" She finally reached up and ran her hand down his cheek, just to see if he was real.
"I'll explain later." His eyes glinted. "Right now, I need you to come back to Neverland with me."
"Peter I can't!"
"Yes, you can! Come away with me." He took her hand, pulling her towards the window. "Second star on the right and then straight on 'til morning."
"But, I can't fly!"
"You'll remember. It's like riding a bike, you never forget!"
"But, Peter…"
He put a finger over her lips, "No more buts." He stood there, as if transfixed by her mouth. Finally, he shook his head. "Come." They had reached the window, open to the night.
She was powerless to stop herself as he walked out the window backwards, pulling her with him, eyes locked together.
It wasn't until she realized there was nothing below her feet, that she looked down. With a gasp she saw that she was in fact standing on air. Wendy pulled herself to Peter as he merely smiled at her.
Before she knew it, they were gliding over the crystal waters of Neverland, with dawn just breaking over the emerald mountains, and the snow melting on the shore.