SCENE II

(Jane enters to see Wendy sitting on the sofa, holding Peter's dusty green hat in her hands.)

JANE: You wanted to see me mother? (there is a pause as Wendy places the hat on the coffee table and turns to Jane)

WENDY: Come sit by me, darling. (Jane crosses and sits next to her mother. Wendy puts her arm around her, and takes her hand) Jane, dear, do you remember how Peter came to us?

JANE: Through the window, Mother.

WENDY: Yes dear, that's right. And I adopted him, remember, because you both came to me one day, and asked me to. That's when I first began to suspect.

JANE: (knowing what her mother is getting at) Suspect what, Mother?

WENDY: Jane, (it is hard to say) Peter has to go home.

JANE: (outraged) Home?! To Neverland?! That's not his home anymore, London is, with you and me, here!

WENDY: You're wrong, Jane. I used to think like you did, that if I could bring him here, and force him to grow up, then--

JANE: (standing and crossing away from her) What's wrong, Mother? Can't you love someone who isn't one of your own children? Is it so hard for you to love Peter, Mother? (Turning to her in tears) He's your son!

WENDY: (crossing to her) No, Jane. He isn't my son. He belongs to all the children out there in the world who still believe in him. He was never ours to keep, and it was selfish of us to think we could try! (pause as Jane turns from her) I have loved Peter since the day I was born. I have always believed in him. But he was Peter Pan, the Peter of Never Neverland, not our Peter! Jane, Peter is beginning to forget who he was. He stopped flying and crowing within days of the adoption. I tried to tell him a few moments ago, and he just said I was making up another story. (pleading) You have to help me! We have to make him remember, before it's too late!

JANE: (turning to her with tears in her eyes) Too late for what, Mother! Too late for him to become a man!

WENDY: Yes!

JANE: Well, I won't do it! (coaxing) Peter is happy with us here, Mother. He's growing up to be a fine young man.

WENDY: (angrily) Don't you know anything about him yet, even after all these year? He came here as a game! He knows nothing about what is happening inside of him! When I look in his eyes, I can still see that twinkle, that spark. It hasn't faded out yet, but it will unless he remembers his true self! Unless he finds the remains of the old Peter! (there is a long pause)

JANE: I can't help you, Mother.

WENDY: Why?

JANE: (with great pain) Don't you understand. (drawing her close to her) Look, at me. Look deep into my eyes. Don't you see the way I look at him, the way I feel for him? (pause as Wendy goes weak in the knees, she stumbles and falls into a chair) MOTHER! (Jane eases her into the chair) Mother, are you all right? Should I call, Peter, what's wrong?

WENDY: (to herself) She loves him. (to Jane) You love him.

JANE: (calmly with little emotion) Yes, I do.

WENDY: Jane, dear, you need to get rid of these feelings right away. Forget them!

JANE: (bewildered) What? I won't! I'm going to tell him how I feel!

WENDY: (rising and pleading with her daughter) You can't!

JANE: Why?

WENDY: Because he will never love you back! (Jane stands dumbfounded)

JANE: No, no, that's not true! You're Lying!

WENDY: Jane, darling, don't DO this to yourself! He can't love you because he doesn't understand! He will never be able to fall in love, because he is just a boy! Not matter what we do, his heart will always remain the same! He will forever be incapable of passionate feelings, and especially love making.

JANE: (outraged and defensive) These stories you tell us shows how you tried. You loved him, but he didn't feel the same. He was in a different world then, but he's not now! You're just jealous, because he never loved you back!

WENDY: (aghast) What?

JANE: You loved him, and he denied you!

WENDY: (standing) Exactly, he did not understand, he cannot understand! (moving to take her in her arms) Jane, he will never have these same feelings. I just want to protect you from getting hurt. (trying to embrace her) We must send him back.

JANE: (pulling away from her attempted embrace) NO! I won't let you take him away from me!

WENDY: Jane, I have seen signs that things are going wrong in Neverland.

JANE: Oh, more of your stories, Mother (Jane crosses to chair and sits down. she turns her head from her mother)

WENDY: No, these are not stories! Why do you think he has been having these horrible nightmares? He knows deep inside something is wrong, and Neverland is beckoning to him the only way it knows how, through the realm that always was his...(she crosses over to Jane, and kneels at her side) I can see it in his eyes. He needs to go back home. He has to fly through the trees once more, crow, play games, captain his band, and go on treasure hunts. It was part of him long before we ever were. He needs his home!

JANE: (in tears) This is his home, Mother! Right here! This is where he belongs now! (Jane runs out of the room)

WENDY: Oh, Jane, darling. You must understand. He must believe, if any of us ever hope to believe again.

Blackout.