As promised, here is the new chapter! Thanks for waiting and sticking around all~ I can't wait to finish up the next chapter;) Again, I apologize if there are errors.

–TheLonelybard

Chapter 11

Is it Peter? Wendy could not help but think.

However, when aunt Millicent handed the invitation to her, she saw that it was from Edmund Benmore, the polite young man who had danced with her not too long ago.

Trying to shake off her unwelcome disappointment, Wendy started to read the short note, which told her that she was a very welcome guest and that her attendance was highly anticipated.

Aunt Millicent looked proud of her and began to talk more and more about preparations for the girl. "It would seem that the prestigious Benmore family likes our acquaintance. We must not disappoint."

Later that week, Wendy was standing in the exact same dress emporium, having her measurements taken. She was having two dresses made for the events happening the next few weeks and since Mrs. Mather knew aunt Millicent personally, she agreed to give them a fair price if they bought two dresses.

That night, the tired girl climbed into bed with ribbons still on her soft brown hair. She was too jaded to even comb her lovely locks. Her thoughts flew to the time when everything was simple… when pirates and princes were part of her world…

She wanted to at least be doing something more with her life now that she is quite grown up. Instead, a life of endless parties seemed to be the apparent future.

A sudden gloom crept into her chest at the thought. She then surrendered her mind to wander to thoughts about Peter Palliser, as she had done for the past few weeks. It seemed that she could not get him off of her mind. Mostly because it intrigued her that he seemed so familiar. Just like Peter Pan from Neverland, the old bedtime story she used to tell her brothers. Even so, she believed deep in her heart that he was real and that they shared memories in Neverland. She remembered some of their bold adventures and smiled.

As Wendy started to drift into a dreamless sleep, a flicker of warm light appeared yet again outside her white bedroom window; the light sometimes floated outside her bedroom on warmer nights and was usually gone in a few minutes. Tonight, it had caught her attention since her day was nothing but dresses and dance lessons.

The bright yellowish bubble flickered once as Wendy approached her window.

It looked like a firefly, She thought.

Strange. What was a firefly doing here on its own?

And just as she thought that, the creature's light faded and it flew away. Unsatisfied, Wendy opened her window, welcoming the cold night air, and looked towards the tiny creature. She saw wings fluttering in the dry wind, and squinted to see further… But all she saw were little limbs on the insect. They looked odd though, almost like–

The moon, revealing itself from the clouds, cut off the girl's thoughts.

It was a full moon!

Wendy could not help but smile.

She leaned her head on her palm, which rested on the windowsill.

She then let her imagination run wild, weaving old stories about flying ships and bloodthirsty pirates in the night sky. And then, there he was: Peter Pan and… and his loyal friend… who was it again? A pixie! Yes, a feisty little pixie. Her pixie dust left a faint trail in the air as Peter battled against Captain Hook, his archenemy.

Just then, a gust of wind blew into Wendy's room. Shivering, the girl sighed and climbed into bed.

Then, remembering that her window was left open, Wendy grumpily strode across the room to close it. Just as she did, something climbed on her toes.

She yelped and ran into her bed once more, thinking that a spider had climbed on her feet. Turning on the table lamp, Wendy examined the floor of her room in search of any small critters. She saw the glimmer of a pair of tiny wings.

The firefly! She thought.

The strong winds must have swept it back here.

Quietly, the girl made her way to where she saw the insect. The pair of wings moved sluggishly, probably to get back on its feet… Feet?

Wendy could not help but rub her eyes. She saw a pair of legs hidden behind translucent wings…then arms…and a face.

It looked back at her with a very faint glow.

"Hello there." She whispered to the pixie, unable to think of anything else to say. The girl could not believe her eyes! A pixie, right in front of her, in her bedroom!

"No, this can't be. I must be dreaming!" The girl laughed weakly at herself. "You must be my imagination. Oh heavens, I must be too tired today."

Just as the words came out of her mouth, the tiny creature in front of her seemed to grow paler. It hugged its arms as if very cold.

Seeing this, Wendy reached out to touch her. What she felt was skin as real as her own. Startled, the girl took a few steps back… But, the pixie seemed to glow brighter then.

As it dawned to Wendy that the tiny person in her room was not a figment of her imagination, she whispered more to herself than to anyone in particular, "You're real. A fairy. In my room… I can't believe that I actually believe this."

Tinkerbell looked up. She stood proud and faced Wendy without any fear or malice. Relieve washed over the pixie. She had travelled so far… been through so much…

Wendy looked into the pixie's eyes. It then made voices that tinkled like bells. Tinkle… Tink… "Tink!" She shouted. "Tinkerbell! I would never– Are you…I don't know what to think! You're here. And real. And alive, and…and you're alone." Her voice trailed off. She realized that if Tinkerbell was real, then chances were, Peter Pan…

As if hearing her thoughts, Tinkerbell started furiously talking and odd enough, Wendy could understand bits of what she was saying.

Wendy picked her up into her palm, her tiny hair bun bobbing as she ranted about how hard her life had been ever since her friend left her. She talked about an evil mermaid deceiving her and her dear friend, and how she was captured until a few weeks ago when she quietly escaped and travelled all the way from Neverland alone to find him.

She suddenly stopped telling her story to demand that Wendy announce that she did believe in fairies. When Wendy did, Tinkerbell's light shone brighter and warmer. She smirked. The pixie complained about how nobody in London seemed to believe in fairies and how hard she had tried to reach Wendy and Peter.

"Wait, hold on there. Did you say Peter? As in Peter Pan? Here, in London?" Wendy felt her heart skip a beat.

The fairy nodded and gave Wendy time to let everything sink in.

Everything I thought was a dream really happened… And something seemed to have transpired while I was here, busy growing up.

And Peter Palliser! He must be Peter Pan; I can feel it in my bones.

No wonder.

It was all very overwhelming. And to be honest, Tinkerbell was not slow in telling her part. Wendy's mind went into a series of flashbacks, where she had her first meeting with a brilliant boy who taught her how to fly…where she thought she was missing someone who never existed.

Wendy then giggled, followed by a hearty laugh. She brought Tink close to her face for a hug and kissed the tiny thing on the head. Tinkerbell looked rather annoyed, but chose to smile back at the human girl.

Their conversation ran late into the night as Tinkerbell explained her current predicament to the wide-eyed girl. After all this time, Wendy thought.

Something that she couldn't quite explain came over her heart; something that felt like a mix of realization, hope, fear, anger, nostalgia, gloom, excitement, and most of all, happiness.

With Tinkerbell still on her palm, the blue-eyed girl stood up, her back straight and determined.

"Well, then. What do you propose we do, Tink?"

To be continued...