Wendy opened her eyes, they were crusted with another nights tears and her whole body ached. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to sleep restfully. Every night since the accident was a night full of terror and fear. Her dreams were swam with images of Peter's final day and every morning she woke wishing that it was just a dream and that she would wake up with him next to her. Every morning however was a fresh dose of hell as she reached across the makeshift bed they used to share to find it cold and empty.
She drug herself from bed over to the wash basin, dampening the last vestiges from her former life, the tattered remains of a blue nightgown she once wore, to wash her face and try to and ready herself for the day to come. Today marked one year since Peter had died, she could hardly believe that it had been that long, had it really been that long? Some days she felt like time was flying by without so much as a moments nod to the fact that she was a standing still in the hurricane of her grief. Still other days felt like time stood still with her, yearning for one more second to bask in the glory that was his smile. There was to be a memorial, she had organized it herself, in which everyone would come say their respects and remember Peter for the amazing person he had been in life. She had to explain it to them, none of them understood what it meant when she first proposed the idea, eventually they understood. It was to be a celebration of Peter's life.
His death had led to ever lasting peace with the pirates. The lost boys had actually matured a bit since Peter's death. They didn't play tricks on anyone any more, and were most helpful when she asked for their help. The mermaids always left her gifts, they used their grief to cultivate pearls of unparalleled beauty in Peter's name. Even the fairies went out of their wait to make sure that she could see his body any time she wished, they left small satchels of fairy dust for her. But Wendy could hardly conjure up a happy memory to make it work; it had been so long since she'd been able to fly that she couldn't remember what it felt like any more.
On the mountain encased in a glass coffin sat Peter's body still impaled the blade that killed him. Wendy tried to drown out the sound of his strangled scream, but the memory of it took her to her knees. The tears which always seemed ready to fall from her eyes washed over her cheeks and fell on the floor. Today was going to be impossible to get through if she couldn't get a handle on her emotions. Oh how she wished she had never come here, for if she had chosen to go back home to London Peter would still be here, still breathing. The guilt she felt over having caused his death wretched a sob from her which rocked her body. A light knock on the door brought Wendy back to herself even if for just a moment. When she was with people she could handle the pain, but when she was alone the silence was crushing. On shaky knees she staggered to the door and opened it. The sunlight was warm on her skin and it was a beautiful day outside, the perfect day for an adventure Peter would say before flying off with her chasing after him. But now before her stood the broken remains of the man who had killed the most important person in her live, the love of her existence, the reason she stayed in Neverland. Captain Hook.
Anger welled up within her and she felt her cheeks flush with heat as her blood nearly boiled in her veins. She had made it clear to everyone that she did not want him invited to the memorial. She made it clear that he was never to approach her. She had made it clear that if ever given the opportunity she would gladly kill him herself. And now, one year after taking the only person in the world that she loved more than herself he stood before her. His hair had greyed significantly, his suit was dirty and torn, and he smelled as if he hadn't bathed in some time. Hook's eyes were blood shot, and the dark bags of sleeplessness were clearly visible. His entire appearance was fractured, he was ghost of the man he had been previously. Tears hung in his eyes and his breathing was labored as he stood in front of her.
"Begging your pardon Miss Wendy, might I speak with you a moment if you please?" He was hoarse, from what Wendy did not know and did not care. She made to slam the door in his face but thought better of it. Peter's dagger was just out of reach and if she acted accordingly she might finally have her revenge. In one sweeping gesture she move aside and invited him into her home. He quietly shuffled into the small room, the effort to move his frame which she could see was must slighter than she remember gave her pause for only a second. She would not miss this opportunity no matter how pitiful the man before her appeared to be. He killed Peter and she would kill him of that she was perfectly sure.
"Speak." Her tone was dead, no emotion reflected in her tone lest she give away her plan. Moving around him so that she would be in reach of Peter's dagger she noted that Hook was hunched over, clearly showing the he spent most of his time bent over something or in a fetal position. His skin sagged on his bones and his feet here bare. His trademark hook was gone and all that remained was the scarred skin that ended at his wrist. This once vibrant, charismatic man she knew was broken in more ways than one and she was glad for his pain.
"I know that you have planned to remember…" The crack of his voice ignited her anger once more; he had no right to feel emotional when it came to Peter, her Peter! Wendy's hand seemed to have acted of its own accord but the crack of the slap sounding as her hand connected with his face was pleasurable beyond compare.
"How dare you try to speak his name!" She roared. "You have no right to even be here, by rights it should be you dead on the mountain side!" Wendy raged. How dare he try to talk to her about Peter especially today! But she was nearly to the dagger now, just one more step and she would have it within reach.
"I deserve that and much more Miss Wendy, that I know." The tears that had been hanging in his eyes fell with the force the slap, and a visible hand print was beginning to develop on his cheek. "I have spent the many days since…since…" he choked on a sob and with visible effort to control his breathing went on. "I have spent many days trying to work up the courage to come to you, to ask you to forgive me. I did not know that I would…" His words melted into sobs as he buried his face into his one remaining hand the stub of the other.
Hook cried for a good while, and seeing her chance Wendy reached for the dagger. Once it was in her hand all she had to do was wait for her moment. He was already on his knees before her and the coolness of the blade in her hand steadied her for the coming slaughter. Today was going to be a great day after all and she smiled at the thought of Peter sleeping on the mountain side. She would go see him after this; she would finally have a happy memory on which to glide. She would have the memory of avenging his death.
"Wendy…" Hook's voice took her off guard, she was too lost in thought but now he shook with terror as he saw the blade in her hand. "Please, I mean you no…" But his words were cut off by Wendy thrusting the blade through his skull. With one hard thrust she shoved the blade down through the top of his head and out the underside of his chin. Hook's hands flew upward to try and grasp the blade to remove the source of the blinding agony felt but Wendy was not done with him. From under her dress she pulled another dagger, the one Peter had crafted for her before he died and plunged it into Hook's heart. Within a moment the fear in his eyes began to fade away replaced by a type of calm that Wendy had never seen before, and then all at once the life drained from Hook's eyes and his body fell forward in an unrefined thump.
Wendy collapsed next to him, her breathing coming quick and shaky. She did it! She finally did it! Vengeance was hers once and for all; she finally took from Hook what he had taken from her. And now she was going to see Peter, she was going to tell him that she had avenged him, she was going to tell him all the things that she had meant to tell him when he was alive but hadn't. She pulled herself to her feet and stepped over the body of Hook to get to the cupboard where she kept the fairy dust. She poured the entire pouch over her head and with a sigh and smile in her heart ran the door which was still open. The cliffs were not too far from her little home, from there she could see the mountain where Peter's body lay and she wanted to be able to use that as her guiding star to him. She ran to her destination but took note of how much warmer the sun felt on her skin, how the dew of the morning sparkled like diamonds and how the birds seemed to be singing the sweetest tunes. Wendy's heart was so light and so full of elation that she barely stopped when she reached the cliff side; she plunged head first onto the rocks below.
The mermaids found her later at the bottom of the sea, and she was placed beside Peter on the mountain side. Hook's body found and in not knowing what to do with him he was buried in an unmarked grave in a section of the forest that was rarely visited. His former crew offered to bury him and not tell a soul where his final resting place was to help everyone move forward without the stain that had been his rage in life. Without knowing it Captain Hook had forced those living in the unchanging world to change in way that moved time forward, Neverland was no longer the land that never grew up, but rather the land that rejoined the rest of the world in time.