Shadow of my Dreams
by Ridley Silverlake

He wandered in the darkness once again, hoping to finally get what he came here for. For years, he'd been after the one thing—the only thing—that had belonged to him. Peter Pan had been on Earth for way too long, but this time, he was determined to finally get his shadow back. If not, then this would have been just like every other attempt he'd made over the past four years. Or so he thought.

Peter flew up to the window he stealthily watched the infamous shadow enter. As worried as he was about this, why anyone would sleep with their window unlocked wasn't exactly his number one concern right now. He needed his shadow back because without it, he'd never be able to return to his home.

Sure, Earth wasn't that bad a place, but he was Peter Pan and he sure as hell wasn't going to spend another day growing old.

Upon entering what he very recently learned was a dormitory, he quietly closed the window and walked around the room, looking around closely for his shadow. Just when he thought he'd been careful enough not to get caught, he felt a light tap on his back. Slowly, he looked behind him and saw two dark blue eyes glaring at him.

"I can explain," he said quickly before the tall figure could raise what looked like a baseball bat to hit him. Peter stepped back as fast as he could and lifted himself up as close as he could to the ceiling.

The stranger then lowered his weapon and looked at him like he was harmless. He then set the bat aside and turned on the lights to take a better look at the young intruder.

Peter squinted his eyes from the sudden brightness, and slowly lowered himself back to the floor. When his vision returned to normal, he took a look at the man who was nice enough not to beat him up despite his breaking into his room. The red-head stood there, dumbstruck—other times he'd broken into other people's houses to catch his shadow, they first tried to beat him up then they went mad upon seeing him fly; most times, however, he wasn't caught.

The older boy looked a lot nicer under the light than he did in the dark.

"Do you study here?" The boy asked with a smile that accented a small star tattoo under his eye.

"Err… No." Peter blinked.

"Oh." The boy said, tilting his head. "But you have an Alice, so you must have been sent here, right?"

"Err… No." Peter said once more, scratching the back of his neck. "Alice?" He asked.

"Alice… a power. You can fly," the boy replied.

"Oh… Well, you see, it's not entirely my power as much as it is a friend's pixie dust on me," he tried to explain, only to receive a puzzled look from the taller one.

"Uhh… Well… Oh, my name's Tsubasa, by the way," the dark haired boy said as he held out a hand. "Tsubasa Andou. Nice to meet you."

"Peter," said the younger one, reluctantly taking Tsubasa's hand and shaking it. "Peter Pan."

"Strange name," Tsubasa gave off a light laugh. "So what brings you to my room, Peter Pan?"

"My shadow," Peter started to look around once more, remembering what he entered the room for in the first place. "I've been chasing after it in this world for years."

"Your shadow? This world? Years?" Tsubasa asked, confused. "I'm sorry, but… what?"

"I lost my shadow, see?" Peter gestured towards the carpeted floor where he stood, showing Tsubasa no signs of a shadow.

"Huh," Tsubasa raised his eyebrows. "Well, lucky for you I am master of the shadows. I can help you catch your shadow in no time." He said with much pride in his voice.

"Master of the shadows?" Peter snickered.

"Don't laugh. It's a real thing if you must know," Tsubasa frowned. "If you can fly, then I can manipulate people with their shadows.

"I haven't tried capturing a detached shadow, though, but it's bound to work out well."

This time, it was Peter's turn to raise his eyebrows. He wasn't sure what this guy was trying to prove, but it sounded like a load of garbage to him. Before he could come up with a witty comeback, however, something moved on the other side of the room, catching his eye.

"Behind your bed," Peter whispered.

"What?" Tsubasa asked.

"Shush!" Peter said, putting a finger over his lips. "My shadow, he's behind your bed," he whispered again.

"Oh," Tsubasa looked towards his bed beside the window. Tsubasa walked quietly towards it while Peter took the quieter route and flew himself forward.

Three feet away from the bed, almost reaching their target, Tsubasa found himself falling to the floor after shamefully losing his balance. The loud thud caused the shadow to panic and come out from under the bed then glide through the floor. Peter dove towards it, but missed. When the shadow made its way out the window, Tsubasa got up on his feet and jumped head first towards it, only to find himself face flat on the glass.

"Master of the shadows, huh?" Peter chuckled as he lowered himself and sat on Tsubasa's study table. "Smooth."

To be continued…


Author's Notes: For a really long time, I've wondered what it'd be like if Tsubasa, a shadow Alice, met Peter Pan, a boy who could lose his shadow. Took me long enough to write about it though.

Oh, and sorry for the crappy first chapter. XD

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