Disclaimer: I do not own Peter Pan. Or any of the film versions of it. If I did, would I really be writing any fanfiction stories?
Wendy dreamt, as she had so often, of Neverland and the Lost Boys and Peter Pan. But it was so long ago, and she'd had so many, many dreams. She tossed and turned in her sleep. The corner of her mouth ached with for its hidden kiss which had been half-missing for so many years. Wendy's heart ached for the holder of that kiss. Her dreams made this longing no easier to bear. She was grown now. She could never go back, never. Not that Peter would want her anymore…
"Come away with me, Wendy. To Neverland" Peter whispered into her ear as they stood at the edge of the nursery window.
"To die will be an awfully big adventure" Peter said once…he had been so close to death and laughed in its face…
"Mother. Are you alright?" Jane asked as she sat next to her ailing mother's bed.
"Where is Margaret?" Wendy whispered, too tired to have the strength to ask any louder.
Life had been an awfully big adventure.
"Right down the street, mother, in her own house, remember? Would you like me to fetch her?" Jane offered.
"Yes, I would like that very much. I have to – I have to ask her a question." Wendy mumbled.
As soon as her daughter left the room, Wendy stood up unsteadily and slowly made her way over to the nursery, fingering the acorn on her necklace. Her kiss.
"Peter…" Wendy sighed.
"To die will be an awfully big adventure," Peter said, once, long ago, before Wendy left Neverland. Before they all forgot Peter and before he forgot about them and before Wendy grew up. And now I will know if his words were true, Wendy thought to herself as she settled herself by the nursery window. She closed her eyes, knowing that the end was very, very near.
To live would be an awfully big adventure.
Life had been quite a big adventure. She had married a wonderful, kind man, who loved her and had a beautiful daughter with that man, and her daughter had a lovely granddaughter. But, there, in the right hand corner of her mouth, sat the empty space of a kiss that her husband would never own. That kiss, always hiding, the kiss which Peter had taken, the kiss that had always, always belonged to him. And without Peter the absence of that kiss made Wendy's heart hurt beyond belief.
Life had been an awfully big adventure.
The end was coming for her. She could almost feel the Death coming toward her. She almost rejoiced in the closeness of her death. She would see her parents again. And Nana. And John and Michael and all the others who had gone into Death's welcoming arms. All of the Lost Boys, all of whom had grown up and had such wonderful lives and been taken away, one by one, by death. Wendy was the only one left. A tear trailed down her face as she looked through the open window of the nursery.
"Peter…" she sighed mournfully as she lay upon the window sill.
"Second star to the right and straight on till morning, wasn't it? To die… will be an awfully big adventure." she murmured aloud as her eyes drifted shut, tears sliding down her face ever faster. The end was so close. Her fingers unconsciously went to touch the acorn adorning her necklace.
Peter's kiss…
Oh, what an adventure, this life of mine has been…Wendy thought to herself as her tears fell down her face. Her eyes closed for the last time, her heart beat its last beats, her last breath quietly taken in and exhaled. Wendy's spirit flew out the open window as her old, grown-up body slumped against the window sill of the nursery, head toward the stars.
A young boy flew through the window, his shadow dancing merrily throughout the nursery.
He looked around. The beds were empty.
Where was Wendy? She promised she'd come for spring cleaning, didn't she…? Did I come too late?
There was an old woman, lying upon the window sill. The boy could see the tears that streaked her face.
"Lady, why are you crying?" he asked the old woman lying on the window sill, with drying tears upon her face.
She did not answer.
"Lady, why are you crying?" the boy asked again, a small part of him begging her to open her eyes and answer him.
She did not answer.
"Lady –" he began, but when he touched her arm, it felt cool beneath his hand and some small part of Peter Pan knew what that meant.
The boy slowly turned the face of the woman towards him, seeing upon her neck a small chain with –
"My kiss! Wendy! No!" the boy cried as he searched through his pockets. Tears streaming down his face, he pulled out a small silver thimble and mourned his Wendy.
He sat down next to the girl who had enchanted him with her stories, and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep, his heart breaking as its beats slowed until it stopped completely. Peter Pan died of a broken heart with an open palm and smile on his face and one last word on his lips.
Wendy…
"Mother! Mother, where are you?" Jane cried, frantic.
"Grandmother?" Margaret called as the two searched through the house for Wendy, who had wandered out of bed and was not answering her daughter or her granddaughter's cries.
Jane walked into the nursery only to find her mother laying on the edge of the open window sill, a young boy lying next to her.
"Mother –" Jane gasped as she raced up to her mother, only to find that both she and the boy lying next to her were both stone cold. If she didn't know better, the two could have been sleeping.
"Mother…" Jane sobbed as her grief hit her.
"Mother? Did you find her?" Margaret called out.
Perhaps they are in the nursery Margaret thought to herself as she turned toward the nursery door, pushing it open.
She found her mother hunched over, quietly crying. As Margaret looked past her mother, she saw a boy she thought she'd never see again, lying next to her grandmother – Peter Pan. In his open palm lay a small silver thimble.
As Wendy opened her eyes, she could have sworn she was dreaming.
She was back in the nursery, in her old night gown. She was small enough to fit in it – why, she was merely a girl again!
"Where am I?" she asked the empty room "I suppose I am dead now, aren't I?"
She got up and made her way to John and Michael's beds. They were empty. There was no one here but her and…
"The window's closed! No! It must always, always be open!" she cried, unbarring the window and opening it to let in the fresh night air. She stuck her head out of the window, hoping that a boy who never grew up would fly through. He was a special boy, the boy who held her first kiss, her special kiss. It was a kiss that had been hidden in the right hand corner of her mouth for decades, and even her husband had been unable to find and catch and keep it.
After several long minutes, it seemed he was not coming.
Frustrated, Wendy ran back to her bed, turned away from the window and began to cry.
"Girl, why are you crying?" a voice asked from by the window.
"Peter!" Wendy cried, turning around to see the boy standing next to the window sill. He looked the same as he always did. She flung herself into his arms.
"Death will be an awfully big adventure, don't you think, Peter?" Wendy said.
"Fly away with me to Neverland, Wendy?" Peter asked.
"Yes." Wendy replied.
"Will you stay with me always?" Peter asked uncertainly, pulling Wendy closer.
"Forever." Wendy answered.
"Forever is an awfully long time." Peter whispered into her ear.
"I know." Wendy said as she lifted her face up to Peter, giving him a sweet, gentle kiss.
And away they flew.