This was just some random Peter Pan story I came up with a while ago. It's not finished, but I decided to publish it anyways. I do not own the Peter Pan characters - just my own character, Lyric.
Lyric's POV
"Father, no!" I ran into my room and slammed the door. I knew my father was right behind me but I didn't care. I am only 18, how can he expect me to marry a man 20 years my senior? I am only 18, how can he expect me to marry at all?
"Lyric, open this door at once!" His voice was harsh but not loud. I know he was only thinking about my future. Ever since my mother died, he's done nothing but try to secure my future.
"I'm sorry, Father, but I won't marry him!" Tears stung my eyes as I tried to get him to understand. He didn't; he couldn't. He'd forgotten the stories that my aunt told me when I was a little girl. He'd forgotten that he'd once lived a great adventure in another world. A world where pirates, mermaids, and fairies existed; a world where there was a boy who refused to grow up.
"You will marry James, and that's final." Father turned on his heal and left me to my thoughts. The name alone sent chills down my spine. Every time I heard that name, a one-handed pirate captain popped into my head. A man Aunt Wendy referred to as Captain Hook. It was another thing Father had forgotten. There were a great many things that he had forgotten since my mother died… but he'd always been there for me. He made sure that he was home every night for dinner and we'd spend holidays with Aunt Wendy and Uncle Michael. That's right, my father is John Darling. My mother Charlotte was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen—of course maybe I am a little biased.
"I'm going to spend the holiday with Aunt Wendy, Father. I know you have a big business deal and wanted me to stay home, but I think it's best if we spend some time apart. It will also give me some time to think about this marriage thing." I stood in the doorway of his study. So many thoughts running through my head; the sound of tiny wings flapping drowned everything else out. Silver Mist. I thought to myself as an image of the water fairy appeared in my mind.
"Alright, I'll send for the car in the morning." He sighed. He sounded defeated. "You are so much like your mother…" He walked over to me and kissed the top of my head. "Behave yourself and don't annoy your aunt too much." He smiled a little and then I turned and headed to my room.
"Silver Mist?" I whispered for the fairy. She flew slowly to my shoulder. "We're going to see Aunt Wendy tomorrow. I can't stay here and let him think that I can marry that man."
"Can we leave for Neverland?" She said in her fairy tongue. I had been able to understand her from the first day we met. Apparently, when a fairy finds the voice of the baby whose laughter gave it life, that person is able to understand. Silver Mist and I have been friends for 10 years now. She found me lying near a stream in the backyard of my aunt's house. I had been crying over the death of my mother.
"Silver Mist, you know I can't. I don't even want to think what that would do to my father. If he thought he lost me too…" My voice trailed off as I thought about my mother.
"Lyric, he's waiting for you." She flew to the window. "He's been waiting for you. He grew up for you, you know that right? He gave up being a boy forever, for you. Lyric, if you stay here you're going to end up marrying that man. You will because you don't want to upset your father." Silver Mist was right with that last part. I had walked on eggshells around Father ever since Mother died. I was so afraid that I would disappoint him if I ever disobeyed him. Oh, I had lied to him. Peter Pan, the boy who would never grow up, has in fact grown up… a little anyways. But I just wasn't sure if he really grew up for me or if he grew up when he discovered I was his Wendy's niece.
"Silver Mist, I don't think he grew up for me." I walked to the window. "Mist, did he grow up for me or did he grow up because I'm Wendy's niece?"
"If it's the latter why didn't he grow up for Wendy's daughter? She is older than you and closer to Wendy." Silver Mist sat on the window ledge.
"Cousin Jane didn't believe her mother's stories were real. I always believed that Father lived some great adventure. I could see it in his eyes before he lost my mother; it was then that he truly and fully grew up." I opened the window and then climbed out on to the roof. I gazed at the distant sky and thought about the boy, now man, who had stolen my heart so long ago. I thought back to the day that I had first laid eyes on Peter Pan.
-flashback; general POV-
Lyric had spent the past few months living with her Aunt Wendy and Cousin Jane. Jane had teased her younger cousin relentlessly, regardless of the fact that the poor girl had just lost her mother. Even then, Lyric loved to listen to her Aunt's stories. Tales of a land where kids never grew up and the only grown-ups were pirates; tales of a boy named Peter Pan who lived in Neverland. Lyric could listen to the stories of Peter Pan and Tinker Bell for hours at a time and never get bored.
"You know those stories are made-up. Mother only tells them to amuse you." Jane was mean. "There's no such place as Neverland. Everyone has to grow up someday and there's no such thing as fairies." With that Jane bounded down the street to visit a friend's house. Aunt Wendy had been running errands that day so Lyric found herself alone. That was typical these days. Her father was too lost in grief to be around his only child. He could barely take care of himself right now; an eight year old girl was asking too much. Wendy had been happy to take her niece in until John could pull himself together.
"Mother, why did you leave me? Father, why did you send me away?" These were the questions that had no answers. Lyric, once again, found herself crying by the stream that ran through her Aunt's backyard. It was her crying that alerted a nearby fairy. Silver Mist and Tinker Bell, along with many other fairies, were getting ready for the changing of the seasons.
"What is that?" Silver Mist asked as the girl's cry rang through her ears. She had been gathering water for the morning frost when something seemed to pierce her heart. Tinker Bell knew that look. She watched a boy fly overhead and land in a nearby tree. It seemed so long ago that Tinker Bell had found the child who had given her life.
"Ignore it, Silver Mist." Tinker Bell tried to discourage the water fairy from following the sound, but it didn't work. Soon she found herself following Silver Mist and Peter Pan was following them.
"I know this house." Peter Pan said as they neared the place where the noise was coming from. "I've visited here many times. Wendy lives here with her husband and daughter." He had watched his Wendy grow up. He had watched as his Wendy found another to love and be loved by; something Peter hadn't been able to do so many years ago. He wasn't too upset by Wendy finding another; she had never really forgotten about Neverland, Tinker Bell, and Peter Pan. He had watched as Wendy's daughter grew and stopped believing in the magic of her mother's stories.
"The noise is coming from the backyard." Silver Mist followed the sound with her two companions following her. The three stopped when they saw a little girl sitting by a stream. It wasn't Wendy's daughter, Peter knew that much.
"Who is she?" Tinker Bell asked and looked at Peter.
"Lyric!" Wendy's voice was heard inside the house. As she headed outside, she froze. She couldn't believe her eyes. Peter Pan and two fairies were standing in her backyard. After the initial shock wore off she heard the muffled sobs of her niece. "Lyric? What's wrong?"
"Aunt Wendy, why did Father send me here?" Lyric popped her head up and looked straight at her aunt. The three strangers were not yet noticed.
"Oh, sweetheart, your father is going through a lot right now. He thought it would be best for you to live with me for a little while until he could get things settled. He didn't want you to worry about him." Wendy knelt beside her niece; acutely aware of the three pairs of eyes watching them. Suddenly, one of the fairies came closer. She had a bluish tint to her light.
"Don't cry little one; I'm sure things are not all that bad." Silver Mist's voice sounded like Tinker Bell's voice to Wendy but Lyric looked at the fairy with eyes wide. "Cheer up, things will get better soon."
"Who are you? How do you know things will get better?" Lyric watched as the little fairy flitted to her open hand.
"My name is Silver Mist. I'm a water fairy and I come from Neverland." Silver Mist replied. Wendy sat in awe as she realized that her niece could understand what the fairy was saying. "I know things will get better because I'm your friend and you'll never be alone again."
"It's nice to meet you, Silver Mist. My name is Lyric Darling. My Aunt Wendy tells me stories of Neverland all the time; of the adventures that her, my father, and my Uncle Michael had there as children. She always tells of a boy who refuses to grow up; a boy named Peter…" Lyric's voice trailed off as she finally noticed the other two strangers standing but a few feet away. "Peter Pan."
"You said you would never forget about me, Wendy, and you kept your word." Peter Pan smiled when he looked at Wendy. She was no longer the girl he remembered her to be. There was still that child-like gleam in her eyes, but it was clear that she was all grown-up now. "Hello, I'm Peter Pan. I guess you've heard of me." He's gaze shifted to the little girl sitting beside Wendy. She smiled brightly at him. Something clicked the moment Peter looked into the girl's eyes.
"Lyric! Wendy!" A man's voice was heard from the driveway.
"Daddy!" Lyric jumped up and ran to the front of the house. Peter watched from a distance as the little girl leapt into her father's open arms. John hadn't changed too much over the years; but he had stopped believing in the magic of Neverland.
"Peter, are you ever going to grow up? Do you think there will ever be someone you would be willing to grow up for?" He heard her words but his eyes were still fixed on the eight year old girl named Lyric Darling.
-end of flashback- Lyric's POV