"I'm sorry George, I was helping the boys with their homework," Mrs. Darling proclaimed as she entered the study. Mr. Darling looked up at her and frowned.

"Where is Wendy?"

"Didn't you tell her to start packing? She's probably up in her room doing just that." Mr. Darling sighed and rubbed his temples.

"You think I'm wrong to send her away."
"Of course I do. She's our daughter, George, and you're practically disowning her."

"I want her to learn her place. And some responsibility. She's been living in that make believe world for too long, ever since they came back from wherever the hell they went. Do you believe her stories? About some boy taking her away to an island?" Mrs. Darling's face softened and her eyes bore into her husband's.

"I do. Because she is my daughter and she would not lie to me. Besides, you yourself said we could keep the Lost Boys. Where do you think they came from? Not the streets of London, I assure you. Neverland and Peter Pan are very real, dear. As is Wendy's love for him." Mr. Darling rolled his eyes.

"You women with your fanciful ideas of love. How could a child fall in love? For that's what she was when she went. You think she's been in love with him all this time?"

"I know she has. She has never accepted a suitor, never showed any interest in the lads we hope would court her. She is a beautiful young woman and her virtue is spoken of around the town. George, she and Peter love each other and they deserve each other. Do you not wish to see your daughter happy?" Mr. Darling heaved a great sigh and nodded.

"Of course I do. I'll go up to her now and tell her so. Is Peter still in the kitchen with the boys?"

"I-I'm not sure. He might have…gone up to help Wendy pack." Mr. Darling left the study without another word and Mrs. Darling hurried after him.


Peter was leaning out the window, growing angrier by the minute.

"Tinkerbell, if you don't come this instant, I will banish you for a year!"

"That might not be the best way to get her attention, Peter," Wendy said, rolling her eyes. Peter turned away from the window angrily.

"I always have her with me so I never feel the need to carry extra fairy dust with me!"

"Could she be hurt?" Michael asked softly.

"If she were, I'd feel it. No, she's just sulking. Come ON you blasted fairy!" A ball of light zoomed in and around Peter's head, the bells ringing nonstop and Wendy had a feeling the red light was an indication of Tink's feelings at the moment.

"Ok, ok quit jingling! I'm sorry about this morning. But we need your help! I have to get Wendy out of here and back to Neverland." Tink jingled some more and Peter's face darkened.

"You can stop thinking like that right now! Wendy is my betrothed and is coming to live with us in Neverland. So you'd better get used to her!" More jingles. The boys all watched with wide eyes while Wendy stood off to the side, clutching her bag.

"Why can't we understand her anymore," Tootles said sadly. Peter looked quickly at him then back at Tink.

"You've forgotten how. Boys who grow up forget about Neverland and about Tink…and about me."

"We haven't forgotten you Peter! We remember it all." Peter smiled sadly.

"For now. Wait until you get older. People outgrow Neverland and me. It's just a fact of life, I'm afraid."

"Wendy didn't outgrow you," Curly said pointedly. Peter glanced at Wendy and smiled.

"No. My Wendy is loyal until the end." She returned the smile and grasped his hand. Peter turned to Tink impatiently. "Come on, Tink, let's get going. We'll have lots of adventures when we get back to Neverland but Wendy will be a part of those adventures from now on." Tink jingled something that made Peter's jaw drop and he swiped at the fairy. "Tinkerbell, that's not funny! Don't ever say that again."

"What did she say?" Wendy asked with a frown.

"Nothing. She's just being jealous," Peter said, his eyes narrowing at the fairy, though Wendy could see Peter had truly been troubled by the fairy's words. There was a knock at the door and Mr. Darling peered in.

"Wendy?" He frowned immediately, seeing that everyone seemed to be gathered around the window. "Running away, are we?"

Peter's jaw clenched and he stood in front of Wendy.

"I won't let you send her away." "

"Let me? You don't control what I do and don't do with my own daughter, young man," Mr. Darling's anger started to rise immediately. Peter flinched at the word 'man' and his fists curled at his side.

"You're no father, throwing away your own daughter! I'm taking her away so she can be happy."

"Peter, please," Wendy said quietly, her hand on his shoulder. Mr. Darling's brow rose incredulously.

"How dare you speak to me like that? It's obvious that you have grown up a savage, not knowing when to respect your betters."

"You're not better than me," Peter spat. Mr. Darling's eyes flashed and he searched the room for something to hit Peter with. Mrs. Darling was right behind her husband and she lay a hand on his shoulder.

"George, please. Now, everyone just calm down. We can speak to each other like a civilized family. That's what Peter is now, George. He has asked Wendy to marry him and she has agreed."

"Without our consent?!"

"What year do you think you live in, dear? You know as well as I that Wendy will marry whom she wishes, with or without our consent."

"Father," Wendy squeaked from behind Peter and she moved forward slightly. Peter watched her warily, ready to defend her at a moment's notice.

"Father, please. Please try to understand. I love Peter. I always have. I want to make you and Mother happy but I can't live your life. I won't. I don't want to run away like I'm ashamed of anything because I'm not. This is the life I choose. But I would rather leave with your blessing." Mr. Darling fumed for a moment, his eyes on the floor, his arms crossed over his chest, just as Peter's were. His eyes moved to Peter's and they merely glared at one another for a moment. He was about to speak, to tell Wendy to go with him, but his eyes fell on the bed.

"Mary," he gasped. Mrs. Darling frowned at her husband's pale complexion and followed his eyes, also gasping.

"Oh Wendy," she said softly. Wendy and Peter turned around, looking puzzled. Mr. Darling looked like he would explode.

"Young man, what have you got to say for yourself?!"

"What now," Peter said exasperatedly. Wendy squeezed his hand quickly, making him fall silent. Mr. Darling crossed the room and ripped the sheets from the bed. Holding them up and shaking them, they could all see a tiny spot of something red there. Wendy gasped but Peter was baffled.

"You…you…degenerate, what have you done to my daughter!" He was walking toward Peter, his face redder than ever and his eyes looking very much like Hook's when he zeroed in for the kill. Peter backed away, holding his hands up.

"I didn't do anything!"

"Oh no?! Then explain this!" He shook the sheets in Peter's face and Peter glanced quickly at Wendy.

"I didn't…I didn't hurt her, I swear-"

"Oh you've done it now, you little ingrate! You've besmirched my daughter, you lowlife, you've ruined her!"

"Father, stop it," Wendy pleaded, tears welling in her eyes again. Peter was growing very tired of this man making his Wendy cry. He had been shocked to see the blood on the sheets and he tried to remember the previous night. She hadn't complained or told him to stop and she certainly hadn't said anything about him hurting her, except for when they had first started and she did say it was going to hurt. Could that be what the blood was from? So her father knew what they had done? Peter glanced at Wendy and looked uncertain for a moment. Mr. Darling was still fuming and Mrs. Darling stood back, watching her daughter sadly. The boys were all watching the scene with wide eyes and worried expressions.

"Father," Wendy said quietly, "what we did, we did because we love each other. I belong to Peter now, he asked me to be his and I gave him my heart and my everything. He didn't ruin me. He made me his. As I was meant to be." Mr. Darling looked ready to explode as he turned to his wife. Mrs. Darling, however, stepped forward and took her husband's hand.

"They are to be married, after all. What's done is done, George. Let it pass."

"Let it pass?! Let him come in and take what he wants—"

"He didn't take anything," Wendy said hotly, "I gave myself to him, willingly. He loves me and I love him. We'll go now and you can forget this whole thing ever happened. That you ever had a daughter." She grabbed Peter's hand and dragged him to the window. Her words had shocked everyone into silence and even Peter had stiffened slightly. He paused, holding Wendy back, and turned back to Mr. and Mrs. Darling.

"Sir," Peter said gently, "I can assure you I love Wendy with all my heart and will protect her with my life. She will have everything she needs and I will do my very best to make her happy. I am sorry if we've displeased you but I won't apologize for loving her. You daughter taught me what love is. And I fully intend to show her the extent of my love until my dying breath." Those are the words a father needs to hear, in spite of everything. Mr. Darling dropped the sheets and sighed deeply. He looked pained.

"I have only ever wanted what is best for you, Wendy," he said quietly. Wendy rushed into his arms and clung onto him as if she were a little girl again. Peter stood beside the boys staring at them with bemusement. Grown ups were strange. Yelling one reason and loving the next. He hoped he was never like that. No, he wasn't a grown up. And he wouldn't become a father…or would he? Peter bit his lip, thinking about it for the first time. Asking Wendy to be his and bringing her to Neverland might lead her into believing they would have a family at some point. And Peter didn't know how to feel about that. Sure, they had pretended to be Mother and Father to the Lost Boys when she had first come to Neverland but being a real father? He remembered the conversation they had had in the Fairies' Glade and he remembered his words clearly.

You see, it would make me seem so old to be a real father. He shook himself. He didn't want to be old. Therefore, he would not become a father. But he didn't know how Wendy would take this. Pushing it to the back of his mind, he decided he would reveal that to her once they got back to Neverland. Tink started pulling at his hair and he swiped at her quickly.

"I know, we'll go in a minute," he hissed. Wendy released her father and looked over at Peter.

"Are we in a hurry to get back?"

"No. Well, Tink gets uncomfortable if she's in your world for long. I can handle it a bit more because, well, I'm me."

"Tink?" Mr. Darling asked quietly.

"Peter's fairy," Wendy explained. Mr. Darling looked skeptical.

"There's no such thing—"

"STOP!"

"NO!"

"FATHER!" Peter and the Lost Boys had all cried out to cut him off and he looked surprised. Peter was glaring at Mr. Darling as if he had intentionally tried to murder his best friend.

"Anytime someone says those words, Father, a fairy falls down dead. And Tink is our friend," Curly explained patiently. Tink zoomed around Peter's head and she jingled in his ear.

"Yeah, I know," Peter replied.

"What did she say?" Wendy asked, her eyes on the fairy.

"She says she's hungry and we should get back to Neverland soon," he answered quickly but Wendy knew very well that was not what she had said. She was able to read Peter very well and it was one of the reasons she was the perfect match for him. Wendy grabbed her bag and took Peter's hand. She took one last look behind her at her family and blew them all a kiss.

"I love you all." The boys started to cry and Mrs. Darling held a handkerchief up to her eye. Tink zoomed around the two of them and Peter clutched Wendy's hand.

"Still have those happy thoughts?"

"You're my happy thought, Peter." Smiling, Peter knew that Wendy was his happy thought as well as they both rose into the air and drifted out the window. Wendy glanced once more behind her, at the house, family, and life she was leaving behind.