Peter Pan: a happily ever after
„Watch out!" Peter screamed as he saw the long-haired pirate approaching Tiger Lily with his shiny sword.
A few years have passed since Wendy Darling and her two brothers left Neverland forever. Even though their last night resulted in the slaughter of pirates, Neverland was the kind of place that would always recover. Of course it was, it is a place inside every child's little head. So it is no wonder that at this very moment Peter Pan and his ally, Tiger Lily were fighting none other than pirates.
Tiger Lily, followed by Peter's warning, turned around and fastly stabbed the pirate without even blinking.
„The captain!" squeeled the familliar voice. It was Smee, the former boatswain of the Jolly Roger, who managed to cowardly escape in the night of the battle. Now he was a member of the new generation of pirates which encamped the ship called Neptune's Doom.
Peter and Tiger Lily just now realised they defeated the captain of Neptune's Doom. The members of his crew stood in shock, staring at the pair.
„What are you looking at?" Peter asked impudently. „I know I'm pretty."
„Well" , studdered Smee. „I think we should leave now."
Peter knew this team of cowards was nothing without their captain. He pulled out his knife and placed it under Smee's chin.
„Leave" , he whispered. „And never come back."
Peter could feel Smee stiffened. „As you wish, boy." he said in a high-pitched tone. His voice would always get that high when he was scared.
The crew turned around and headed to the west shore of the island, where Neptune's Doom was anchored. The Jolly Roger, which now belonged to Peter, was anchored on the south side.
„Good job Tiger Lily" , Peter reluctantly admitted. He was bothered by the fact he didn't kill the captain himself, but comforted by the fact he contributed to his death.
Tiger Lily looked at Peter, covered and uncovered her mouth fastly and repeatedly while making a savage noise. It was the Native American salute. Peter merrily laughed, showing his full set of baby teeth. Tiger Lily laughed too, of course, because every time she would see him smile or laugh, she would unconsiusly do the same.
„Do you want to go to the Jolly Roger?" Peter asked his ally. They would often go there to rest and relax, and in the summertime they would swim in the sea.
Tiger Lily positively nodded her head which brought up a smug look on Peter's face. Yes, she was his ally, but they weren't excatly equals. Peter could make her do anything. That wasn't ordinary for a Native American girl that was raised as a savage. She had rebel ways in her blood. Peter had never given much thought to her behaviour around him, it just fed his ego too much.
They just started to walk towards the shore when Tiger Lily noticed something.
„What that?" she asked with her finger pointing on the ground.
Peter noticed a small odd thing, something he never saw in his life. At least he thought he'd never seen it before. He reached out and grabbed the thing, studying it carefully. It was a thimble.
„I don't know what this is" , Peter said and soon lost interest in the odd thing.
He threw it away heartlessly and it got lost between the leeves of the jungle plants surrounding them. Oh, he was such a forgetful creature. The odd thing he once knew as a kiss and carried around with him all these years to remind him of his beloved Wendy, didn't actually do its part. He had forgotten all about her.
Peter and Tiger Lily reached the south shore of Neverland, took a swim and climbed to the Jolly Roger. Peter couldn't remember how he got the ship, but he sure as hell thought he deserved to have it. He sat on the stairs that parted the deck and the rudder. Tiger Lily sat one stair below him.
„Peter" , she called him. Her eyes, decorated with red make up, suddenly got bigger. „What I to you?"
Most people wouldn't understand what she was saying, but Peter knew her too well.
„You are my ally, of course!" he replied happily.
„I want be something" , she struggled with her English. „something more."
„What more is there?" Peter wondered.
„More." Tiger Lily repeated.
„Do you want to be my mother?" Peter asked with a frown on his face. The frown immidiately turned into a mocking look. „I don't need a mother."
Peter resented the idea of a mother. He was sure he had a bad experience with one, he just couldn't remember what it was. He was doing just fine without a mother, anyway.
„No" , Tiger Lily denied. „I no want be your mother."
She didn't know how to make Peter understand her feelings towards him, because she couldn't even understand it herself. Instead of trying to explain with words, she leaned in and gently pressed her beautiful full lips against his.
Peter was shocked at first, but then the occurance felt extremely familliar. As if he had already done it with someone he once knew. Tiger Lily pulled away from him and tried to read his face. That beautiful face was the mixture of confusion, gloominess and just a bit of sadness.
„Ayor ano" , Tiger Lily whispered looking straight into Peter's eyes. He looked away, now seeming a bit angry.
Tiger Lily stood up, looked at her ally one more time. Yes, her ally, because he once saved her life. She was disappointed to discover that is all he will ever be. She turned around, and jumped off the Jolly Roger into the sea.
Peter stayed on the ship. He was a forgetful creature, but he sure has remembered what ayor ano means. He felt his chest tightening. It means I love you.
Wendy Darling was all grown up, now with a child of her own. It was a beautiful girl named Jane, and she looked a lot like her mother. Even though Wendy was now a wife and a mother, she never forgot the boy that cried sitting next to her bed. She never forgot her beloved Peter Pan.
Not only she didn't forget him, she hoped to see him again.
Every day at 8:30 am when Wendy would greet her husband to work and send Jane to school, she would allow herself to open a drawer. The drawer contained all her memories of Peter, down to the last one. It also contained sadness because the boy wasn't in her life anymore. The hope. The melancholy. The inner child. The ache.
But something was way bigger than those things. Something occupied the majority of Wendy's drawer. It was her eternal love for the boy.
When the clock would struck 5, Wendy knew she had to close the drawer and put it away. Soon her husband and daughter would come home, and she had to go back to being a good wife and a good mother. There was no room for Peter Pan in her life anymore, but she still kept him in the stories she tells Jane every night before she goes to sleep.
It was one of those peaceful London nights and Wendy was tucking in Jane in her old childhood bed, placed in her old childhood nursery.
„Tell me the story of Peter Pan!" Jane requested, as she did every night.
„Oh, there are so many" , Wendy said with gloomily. „Which one do you want to hear?"
„The one when Peter cut off Captain's Hook right hand" , Jane replied with a dramatic voice. „and fed it to the crocodile."
Wendy started the requested story and just when she reached the most exciting part of it, she noticed her baby was drifting off to sleep. Wendy smiled, feeling blessed.
Just as she was about to leave the nursery, she noticed something odd. The window was closed.
It must always be open, she thought to herself and opened the window. If Peter ever finds his way back, he should know he is welcome.
Wendy shut the lights and stepped out the nursery when she heard a noise, as if something – or someone, had fallen on the floor. She turned around and opened her mouth in shock, not making a noise.
It was the boy.
It really was him, her Peter Pan. The room was dark, with only blinking light that was coming from the fireplace, but Wendy could see Peter hasn't changed a bit. She suddenly felt ashamed. Ashamed that she is standing here all grown up in front of the boy that still has his baby teeth.
Wendy could clearely see he was confused and just a bit scared, as if he didn't know how he got there. She turned on the light and was unpleasantly surprised when she saw no sign of recongition on Peter's face. Could it be that he forgot all about her, while he never left her thoughts all these years? While she was opening the drawer every single day?
„Who are you?" Peter asked. „What am I doing here?"
Wendy felt a sudden pain in her chest. She had felt the sensation a couple of times before – yes, that was definetly the pain of her heart breaking to pieces.
„Don't you remember me?" she asked with obvious ache showing in her voice.
„No" , Peter replied indifferently.
„My name is Wendy. Wendy Moira Angela Darling."
„Well, Wendy Moira Angela Darling, could you tell me where am I?"
Even though she was broken, Wendy couldn't help but grin at his cockiness.
„You are in England."
„Why am I here?"
„I suppose all the stories I tell about you every night drew you here."
„There are stories about me?"
„Of course there are."
Peter smiled joyfully and some pieces of Wendy's broken heart came back into place.
„Oh Peter" , she yearningly called out his name.
„How do you know my name?" he was confused.
„I know you Peter Pan" , Wendy replied. „And you know me."
„That's impossible" , Peter dismissed her reply. „We don't know eachother. You live here, in England and I live – "
„In Neverland" , Wendy interrupted him.
Peter frowned. „How do you know that? From stories?"
„Yes" , Wendy confirmed. „I also lived there once. Remember?"
That few pieces of her heart that came back into place broke again when she realised Peter still doesn't recognize her.
She took a few steps towards him and he machinally pulled back and took out his knife.
„I'm not going to hurt you" , Wendy promised and sat down next to him. „Where is Tinkerbell?" she decided to turn the conversation on a lighter topic.
„Who?" , Peter asked the question Wendy had feared.
It seems like he forgot everything. The pieces of her heart just broke to another hundred of pieces.
„Okay, lady" , Peter addressed Wendy. „Do you know how I can get back to Neverland?"
„Of course", she replied. „Second star to the right and straight on 'till morning."
This coordinate seemed awfully familliar to Peter and two tiny pieces of Wendy's heart merged back together at this first sign of recognition.
„Well" , Peter said. „I should leave now."
„Wait" , Wendy squeeled desperatly. „Before you go, I'd like to show you something."
She got up and ran out of the room, just to come back a few seconds after with a drawer in her hands and an excited look on her face.
„This is a drawer" , she explained. „With all my memories of you. If you look at them, maybe you'll remember me."
Peter was a bit scared, but a lot more curious. So he agreed to look in the drawer. And he sure had something to see.
He saw Wendy's memories of the night they first met. How she sewed his disobedient shadow back on. How he tought her and her brothers to fly. How the three of them came with him to Neverland. How he built her a house. How they danced surrounded by fairies. How they fought the pirates. How she gave him her hidden kiss.
He also saw Tinkerbell, the Lost Boys and Captain Hook. It all started to come back to him. But the memory of Wendy was the most infatuating of all.
Peter smiled, not only with his lips, but with his eyes too. Of course he did, Wendy decided to show him all the happy memories. She decided there is no sense in showing the bad ones.
Peter looked at Wendy, his Wendy, and even though she was all grown up – and he hated adults – he decided to make an exception. After all, Wendy wasn't just anyone.
„Wendy" , he whispered softly lifting his head from the drawer and now looking at her. „I remember now."
A whole bunch of pieces fused back together and almost all of Wendy's heart was healed. There were only few rebellious pieces which still refused to come back.
„Why didn't you come?" Wendy asked a bit angrily. „For the spring cleaning."
„I forgot" , Peter's voice was breaking and he felt ashamed. „I'm so sorry."
Wendy saw two tears rolling out of Peter's eyes and she regretted the question immidiately. She embraced him as hard as she could, his head gently leaning on her chest. Wendy placed her head on Peter's and allowed herself to fill her nostrils with the beautiful smell of his hair. One tiny piece of her heart dropped the rebellious act and came back to place.
„Wendy" , Peter pulled away from her and looked her in the eyes. „There is so much I have to tell you."
Wendy just couldn't resist the excited look on Peter's face. „Go ahead, Peter, tell me."
They sat on the floor and he told her all about the adventures he had after she went away. Some of them he could remember clearly, some of them not so much, so he just made up the missing parts. Wendy listened to his interesting adventures, and felt a bit gloomy because she could have been a part of them, if she only made a different decision back then. It ached her a bit, but all the pieces of her heart stayed at place, because deep down she knew she made the right decision.
Peter talked about his life with joy, right until he came to the part that made his beautiful face twisted with pain. Wendy noticed that and three pieces of her heart separated again.
„What is wrong, Peter?" she asked worringly.
„Do you remember Tiger Lily?" Peter wasn't sure how appropriate is to tell Wendy about what was troubling him, but he decided to tell her anyway. He was still a bit confused about his relationship with both Wendy and Tiger Lily. He simply couldn't understand what it was that they wanted of him.
„Yes, I do" , Wendy replied.
„She gave me something" , Peter said. „Something you gave me a while ago."
„Was it a kiss, Peter?" she asked, feeling just slightly jealous.
„I think it was" , he confirmed. „She also said something."
„What was it?"
„She loves me. I'm not sure what that means. I think she wants something of me, and she was sad when I didn't give it to her."
„Oh Peter" , Wendy whispered. She realised she will now have to show him the bad memories, too.
Of course, she could just play dumb and let him fly back to Neverland without ever realising what love is and forever losing Tiger Lily just like he lost her. But Wendy was a grown-up, she was brave and selfless. Besides, how could she say she loves this boy with every inch of her heart if she doesn't do what's best for him? That would be so unclassy, and she was an English lady. An English lady has to always be classy.
So she reached the drawer that Peter previously put on the floor and took out the bad memories.
„There is something more you need to see" , Wendy said.
Peter was now seeing him and Wendy talking in the jungle, with the lights of tiny fairies surrounding them. It all came back to him. How Wendy wanted to know his feelings. How he harshly replied he has none. How Wendy was hurt. How Wendy left him forever.
Peter threw the drawer in the corner of the nursery and covered his eyes with his hands. Almost half of Wendy's heart broke into pieces again.
„Peter, it's okay" , Wendy assured him. „I'm okay."
„Wendy, what does love mean?" Peter uncovered his eyes and asked.
Wendy realised she would have to show him the most precious part of her drawer.
„This is love" , she said pointing to the drawer. Peter followed her finger.
„Love is" , Wendy continued. „the way I prepared your meals for you. The way you asked me to dance in the moonlight. The way I gave your medicine to you every day. The way you were ready to die just to protect me."
As she talked, Peter stared at all those memories coming out of the drawer and spreading across the nursery.
„To die" , he said abstractedly. „would be an awfully big adventure."
Wendy smiled at the quote she remembered very well.
She then continued talking, feeling the clump forming in her throat and her heart aching, but not breaking.
„Love is the fact I still open this drawer every day."
Peter looked into Wendy's watery eyes.
„Did you love me, Wendy?" he asked.
„Oh yes" , she replied. „And you loved me."
„I think I did" , Peter said and looked at the burning fire in the fireplace.
„But you don't love me anymore" , Wendy finally said it, but not in a sad tone, it sounded more like a statement. „You love Tiger Lily."
„I think I do" , Peter confirmed.
„And she loves you. Don't let her get away like I did, Peter. Please let yourself be happy."
Peter leaned in and kissed Wendy in the forehead. „I'm going now."
„Goodbye, my beloved one." she stroke his hair.
Peter got up, looked at the girl he once loved one more time then elegantly flew out the window in a way only he can. While he was flying back to Neverland, he thought about Tiger Lily and his love for her. He thought about Wendy, the girl that once gave him a very special hidden kiss. He was hoping he'd never forget her again. He honestly did. But as we now, Peter is a very forgetful creature.
Wendy looked at the figure of a boy she loved getting smaller and smaller, then finally disapearring in the stars. She looked at her daughter Jane, who was sound asleep, and she felt all the pieces of her heart come back to place. Wendy put the drawer away and closed the window. She never opened either for the rest of her life.
Peter came back to Neverland and immidately started looking for Tiger Lily. He decided to listen to Wendy. Yes, he should be happy.
He found Tiger Lily on the meadow where they spent many days. She looked worn out, sad and worried. Peter sat next to her. He didn't know much about feelings, nor how to talk about them. So he simply looked in her dark brown eyes and said:
„Ayor ano."
Tiger Lily's face lighted up immidately and before she could say anything, Peter seeled her lips with the most sincere kiss he'd ever given a girl.
„I want my happily ever after" , Peter said playfully. „Just like Cinderella."