Peter Pan
Summary: Based on the recent film; Peter Pan was notorious for never wanting to grow up. He wanted to stay young and play with the Lost Boys on the enchanting island of Never Land. However, after being separated from his Wendy once Hook had gone, Peter began to realise that he couldn't stay a child forever, neither could he stand the thought of Wendy growing up without him … can he give up the life of Never Land for Wendy? What happens when he returns to London to grow up in secret? Will she even recognise him? But something happens, which causes his need to return to his homeland … without him, Neverland will never survive …
Disclaimer: I do not own the book by JM Barrie, nor do I own the film.
Author's Note: I have seen the movie again! Yes, second time lucky. I loved it. Lil Jeremy is so … sweet! Anyway, thanks again for the reviews! Here is Chapter 3.
- - - Chapter Three - - -
Wendy blinked. She actually screwed up her eyes and shook her head to make sure that she was not dreaming, as she had dreamt of this for so long. It was the most curious sensation that she had ever felt; she knew it had been Peter, all along she knew, but the single idea of it had been so inconceivably impossible that she had dismissed it immediately without even thinking about it. But here he stood, with his eyes the same as ever, older.
"Peter …"
Peter's breathing was erratic, as though he had not expected her to fight back. His eyes were wide, frightened.
"Peter, what … what on earth – ?"
"Wendy," he breathed, his breathing slowing down, his shoulders relaxing slightly. "That's who you are … isn't it?"
"Yes, yes it is, Peter … what's happened … you've …"
Peter's brow was furrowed.
"You've grown up," she finished in a small voice.
Peter's eyes widened again instantly, as though the notion of what had happened offended him. "Not really!" he said.
Wendy looked at him more closely. The baby fat around his cheeks had gone, his chin slightly more defined than it had once been perhaps, his shoulders a little fuller, but his eyes and hair were still the same as they had always been.
"Well, maybe not all the way … but you have changed!"
Peter frowned. "Only a little," he added, defiant, as always. "You are different to how you were."
Wendy moved forwards slightly, to look at him more closely. Slowly, she reached her hand out towards him to touch his face, test his realness, but he moved back like a frightened animal away from her.
"How?" she said distantly, looking at the boy who was now roughly still the same age as herself; it seemed impossible, yet somehow it had happened. "How when you've been in Neverland all this time?"
Peter looked away. "I … I haven't."
"You haven't …"
"Been in Neverland."
Wendy stared at him. "You've … you've not been in Neverland?"
Peter shook his head.
Wendy looked away, towards the veil she had passed through minutes before. "But – where then have you been?"
Peter shrugged, to prove her indifference meant nothing to him. "Here."
"Here? As in London?"
"Is there another here?" he asked, genuinely, not aware of his surroundings nor that what he had said sounded remotely sarcastic.
"Why have you been here, Peter? And for how long?" she said, surprised at this sudden revelation which, realising that had she known before, would have changed her entire life.
"Just a little while. Just after you left Neverland."
He retreated further into the darkness and sat down on what looked like an upturned bucket, his knees hugged up to his chest, playing with his cutlass, like a boy. Wendy braced herself with the shock of what must have happened, and moved slowly over to him.
"Peter … that was a very long time ago."
"No, it was not," was his retort. "Just long enough. We are the same age and that was my plan."
"Peter … I left Neverland six years ago."
The weight of this sentence fell heavy on the two of them, Wendy coming to terms with it herself, Peter staring up at her as though she were a pirate. Sympathy filled her like a jug filling with water, increasing all the while; he must have had no sense of time at all … he did not really know how much he had grown up.
"No, you did not," he said flatly, as though he were always right and there was no changing that.
"Y – yes, I did …"
"No, you did not! You must not lie; not when I have come back here! For you –"
"Peter, it's been six years … you've grown up … you must have forgotten, or you will have known how long you have been here …"
"I have not forgotten! I remember Neverland! I remember Captain Hook, and how I killed him, and the Indians and the Lost Boys and –" He broke off.
"And what?" Wendy prompted gently, not wanting to disrupt his sudden outburst, breaking what must have been a long silence before she came.
"And they are not there anymore. They are all gone – there was no fun."
Wendy blinked. "Is that why you came here?"
"Yes … for adventure – but I couldn't find your window."
"But you must remember it so well – "
"No. I thought if I waited for a while, and grew up, I would find it again, or … you would find me …"
Wendy's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Peter, I'm so sorry … I didn't know you were here!"
Peter rubbed his face and stood up, throwing his cutlass up into the air. "It does not matter," though he knew very well it did matter. His pride was bursting out beyond reason, as it had done so much when he was younger.
Wendy reached into her pocket, and pulled out a very small, ruby encrusted mirror, entrusted to her by Aunt Millicent. She never used it for herself, not being vain, yet now it may come in useful, and bring some reality to Peter.
She held it out in her hands.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Look into it Peter," she said. "And see for yourself."
He moved slowly towards her, as though it were some trick, but as he became closer, he saw his reflection; only it was not his reflection. The person starring back at him was almost a man. Peter blinked to clear the image, to see his boyish face once again, as he had done so many times in the reflection of the water in Neverland, but it did not come back. The man was still there. He gingerly touched his face, his hair and leapt backwards.
"That is not me."
"Yes, it is Peter."
"I will not look at it! You think you know who I am, now? Now you are here? You think you can show me things and make me believe tricks?"
Wendy put the mirror back in her pocket, thinking herself a tad insensitive. It was silly showing that; she knew it would have been a shock. If she knew Peter, denying what he did not want to believe was the easiest option. And he was right; she had no right to make things worse.
"Why did you not return to Neverland, when you could not find the house?"
"I wanted to wait … until I grew up a little. Then we would be the same age."
"Peter, this does not make sense –"
"I could not bear the thought of you becoming older than me."
This lay heavy in the air, silence returning. Wendy bit her lip – he was so lost …
"But I became more lost. And now … now I –"
"Forgot?" she whispered.
"Never," he said harshly.
Wendy looked away. He would never admit it, but the thought occurred to her that perhaps he could not fly. This filled her with sadness.
"What now, Peter?" she asked him, thought she knew he would have no answer. Though older physically, he obviously still had his twelve year old mind, not knowing he had grown up.
"I don't know."
"Will you not come back to the house? I can give you some clothes, and food – "
"I will not ruin a happy family," he said bluntly.
"But Peter, you wouldn't be ruining it –"
"No."
"But …" Wendy felt selfish for asking, but she had to. "Did you not come back for me also?" she said quietly.
For the first time since their meeting, Peter looked her directly in the eye. Sadness and regret flashed within them.
"Yes."
"So will you not come?"
He sighed and shook his head. "No. I shall return to Neverland. Now we are the same age."
"If you go back, we won't stay the same age, Peter. You know that –"
"Yes, we shall. If we wish it."
"But … I thought you could not f-"
"I can! Do not say that."
Wendy shook her head. "Must I say goodbye to you all over again?"
Peter put his cutlass down. "Come with me."
Wendy opened her mouth. "But – but I cannot fly either."
Peter turned his back on her.
"Fine. Go then. I do not care."
"Peter, I think you do care –"
"Please leave."
Wendy turned slowly, tears in her eyes, and left the house only because she knew Peter would still be there tomorrow, when she returned with food, clothes and the Lost Boys.
* * * * *
Wendy did not eat anything that evening. She had proposed to tell the Lost Boys the second she returned home, yet when about to, found her mouth constricted, as she could not think what to say. What she knew almost seemed ridiculously … private. She should be the one to bring Peter back to the way he was; grown up or not, he was still Peter Pan.
When the time came to turn in and sleep for the night, Wendy did not sleep. Instead, she waited until her mother had left the room, and lit the candle still smoking. A drawer in the corner was still filled with things of Michael and John's, since they had moved out. There was simply not enough room in the house to keep all of their clothes, so much of it remained in Wendy's room. They hardly wore any of these clothes now anyway, so it would not matter if she took some for Peter …
She had not bargained on a small fairy hurtling in through her open window and crashing in to her candle, sending them both into the dark. Wendy regained herself enough not to cry out and alert the entire household, as a small part of her brain had known she would always see a fairy again, and although surprised, she knew what it was at once.
Tinkerbell straightened up and dusted herself off, lighting the candle in one breath. Wendy blinked.
"Tinkerbell?" she asked.
Tink made an unmissable "duh" face and nodded. She then flew up to Wendy's ear and tugged slightly on her hair.
"Ouch!" Wendy exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
Tinkerbell had no answer for pulling Wendy's hair; even though it must have been quite obvious she only did it because she wanted to. But Tink didn't have room for that particular feeling also. She crept closer and whispered in Wendy's ear, barely loud enough for her to hear.
Badness in Neverland … Peter come home!
Wendy frowned. "What do you mean, 'badness in Neverland'"?
Tink shushed her and continued to whisper.
Enemy back! Neverland in trouble!
"Neverland is in trouble? But Tink, why now? Why have you come back now?"
Peter must come home! Or all will be lost! Must fly! Must fight!
"Tinkerbell, I know you are small, but you have to tell me more! I know Peter must go back, but he shall hardly listen to me if I simply repeat myself again!"
Tink sighed deeply as though she could not believe that Wendy could be so stupid, yet took a deep breath, as much as she could, and spoke as quickly as possible to get it all out in one.
Evil enemy back! Neverland will fall if Pan does not come home! Must do it quickly! Must remember! Not much time – fairies dying, Indians dying, Mermaids drowning in poison waters! Peter must come home and face enemy or be too late! Yes, 'tis a trap, 'tis what enemy wants to destroy Peter, but must be done!
Wendy's mouth suddenly went dry as she realised whom Tinkerbell meant by evil enemy. She looked at Tinkerbell as directly as she could, for the fairies' eyes were so small, and blinked.
"Tink, you don't mean … you don't mean when you say … Captain Hook?"
Tinkerbell raised her hands in exasperation and fluttered about. Wendy took it solemnly as a 'yes'.
"B – but, how?"
Tink rushed to Wendy and pulled her hair. There was clearly no time to lose.
"But I can't go now!" she said. "I shall go in the morning, with the Lost Boys and John and Michael, OK?"
Tinkerbell rolled her eyes and fluttered out of the window.
Wendy's heart was thumping. Peter's return and Captain Hook's all in one day? This was not something she had been bargaining on.
Realising that sleep was out of the question, Wendy sat on her bed and tried to think of a thousand ways to make Peter Pan remember.
A/N: Tootsies! Please oh please review this badger as I really enjoyed writing it!
