Wendy awoke to frantic voices, and someone tapping her face lightly with the palm of their hand.
"Wendy, Wendy darling, what happened?" Mary Darling was kneeling over her, and her father above her. Wendy opened her eyes and Mary sighed a breath of relief and stood.
Wendy sat up, and looked around the empty nursery, and it all came flooding back. Jane and Peter! They were still gone, and it wasn't a dream!
She ran about the room, tears streaming down her face calling for them. "Peter! Answer me! Jane! Oh God! Oh mercy!" She stopped for a moment. The boys! Where were they?!
"Michael! Curly! Tim! Oh God!" She ran to their room, but it was empty too. Mary followed close behind.
"Wendy! What's going on? Where are they?!"
"I don't know! I don't know! They're gone!" She collapsed to the floor. "They're gone."
Mary knelt beside Wendy and put her arms around her, and they wept together. George stood motionless in the hallway. Not again. His worst fear was being realized. His children were gone again. And there was nothing he could have done to stop it.
"They disappeared!" Wendy was screaming. "There was a flash, and they were gone!"
She was inconsolable. Every ounce of hope she might have had was gone in the same flash of light that stole Peter and Jane from her.
George stared at them, completely shell shocked. What should he do? He put his face in his hand. But then he heard a fluttering outside the nursery on the balcony. He turned and saw the latch to the window unhooking itself, then the shutters flew open and the curtains sprang to life. A tiny green light flew in sputtering this way and that, searching the room it seemed. It stopped when it noticed him standing there, and made a beeline for his face.
"Ahh!" he yelled, as the light flew right up to his nose. He barely opened his eyes, and there was a tiny face, haloed in a glow of green, looking him up and down.
"Mary!" he yelled. The fairy was pushing him out into the hall, and Mary and Wendy looked up to see what the commotion was about.
Wendy's eyes lit up at the sight of the tiny glowing orb and struggled to her feet, "Tinker Bell!"
The fairy turned her tiny head, and flew to Wendy, chiming at her furiously. She began to tug at her sleeve, and pull her into the nursery.
"Tinker Bell! What? What's going on? Where's Peter?!"
She chimed at her again, and flew over her, doing a pirouette in the air above Wendy's head, as fairy dust rained down on her.
Just then, a shadow fell over the nursery floor, and a figure stood on the window sill. Wendy looked up startled, but her heart filled with hope. She would recognize that boy anywhere.
"Nibs!" she cried.
"Wendy!" he jumped down into the room, and they ran to each other. Wendy held his head to her stomach, and he squeezed her as hard as he could.
"I've missed you so much!" she began to cry again.
"I've missed you too!" He looked up into her face. "You grew up!" he said in wonder, but then grew serious again. "But we don't have much time to talk! Has Hook come? Has he been here yet?"
"Hook? But he's trapped. He's as good as dead!"
"He escaped. He's got control of something, and he's swearing revenge!"
"What? Peter. Jane! He's got them! He has them doesn't he?!"
"I don't know. I came here to find Peter and bring him back. Never Land needs him. But you'll do just as well Wendy," he smiled a small smile.
"Alright, let's go," she said without hesitation.
Mary, who had been surveying all of this silently suddenly burst forth. "No! Wendy, don't go!" She ran to her, and knelt at her feet clutching her skirts. "I can't lose you again, I won't!" She wept into the fabric.
Wendy went to the ground beside her mother. "I must. Mother, I love you, but I can't abandon Jane."
Mary shook her head, conflicted. "No, of course not, but you're all I have left!"
Wendy lifted her mother's chin. "You would do it for me. If you could have saved me, you would have come for me."
Mary sat silent for a while, weighing Wendy's words. She would have, without question.
"Mother, we've defeated him before. Peter, John, Tiger Lily and I. I know it's hard to believe, but I know we can do it again. I have to go, I have to try. And then we'll come back. I won't leave for how long I did before."
Mary stared at her through puffy eyes.
"Swear to me Wendy. Swear that you'll come back. Swear you'll find my boys, Jane and Peter, and bring them back to me."
Wendy looked her mother dead in the face. "I swear," she said.
Mary nodded her head slowly. "Alright."
George stood in the doorway, Tinker Bell hovering at his right. He turned to her, still a little uneasy at finding that fairies were real, but overcame his trepidation and whispered something to her, hoping she would understand what he was asking. She turned to him, her little face registering surprise. But she nodded at him.
"She won't be alone Mary," he said walking over to them.
Mary looked up at him in surprise. "What are you talking about George?"
"I'm gong with her."
His wife stood, clenching her fists. She looked like she was about to slap him, but instead, threw herself around his neck, and jumped into his arms. "George, George…" she said into his neck.
"Mary. I love you, Mary." He held her head to his with his hand, and kissed her deeply and passionately.
Wendy felt her heart move toward her parents. She knew they loved each other, but now she knew that they were more like her and Peter than she'd imagined. Mary drew away from him.
"Protect our daughter," she said.
"I intend to."
Nibs watched the whole scene with wonder, but he had a bigger task at hand. "Wendy, there's not much time," he said. "We need to fly away from here."
"You're right Nibs. Papa? Are you coming? We need to get a few things."
"Like what kind of things?" he asked.
Wendy tugged at his jacket. "It's not autumn in Never Land."