Winston grabbed her arm, leading her into the sky. Erin felt the wind tickle her neck and then brush past her hair. Watching the ground diminish quickly beneath her, Erin felt a touch of nervousness. What of the pixie dust di9dn't work on her? Would she fall, losing control of the little hope that she still had? But Winston's firm grip on her arm reassured her. He gently tugged Erin up to be level with him, slowly letting go of his gently grip on her wrist. Teetering for only a second, Erin realized how easy flying was. Smiling, she turned Winston. "Winston, I- " "I'll reace you to that cloud!" he interrupted. "Readysetgo!" Winston shot off like an arrow. Erin laughed, and gave a few fast kicks, following Winston close behind. "That was not fair, starting without any warning. Are you afraid I'll beat you?" "No, not really." Winston crossed his legs, with his hands behind his head. "Well, I'll race you to that cloud over there." Erin pointed. "On your marks, get set, go!" Erin flung her hands forward to get some momentum. She blasted through the air, wind whistling in her ears and making them tingle. Erin's eyelids were forced closed, to protect her eyes from the fast-moving currents. She reached the cloud panting for breath. Winston was leaned up against the cloud, twiddling his thumbs. "What took you so long?" he asked innocently. Erin smiled through her gasps for air. After resting a few moments, Erin and Winston started to sail through the night sky. "What happened to Peter Pan, anyway?" asked Erin as she and Winston floated among the clouds. "And why does everyone try not to mention his name?" "Well, it's a long story." "I've heard a lot, you know. There was a book; I finished it just before Tinkerbell brought me here." "Really? What was it called?" "Peter Pan. Creative, isn't it?" Erin replied sarcastically. Smiling, Winston shook his head. "Well, most the lost boys of the time went to live with Wendy and her mother, though a few of us, like Tucker, stayed here because we refused to leave. Tucker's been here the longest; none of the rest of us were here before Wendy. But Tinkerbell was lonely with just the three of us; she's been going around the world ever since and trying to find someone who will care for her like Peter Pan did. Some of us have left and grown up, a handful of us have stayed. Every so often Tinkerbell brings us someone else." "I never heard about Tucker in the book." "Tucker was never very fond of Wendy and her brothers, and he was also pretty distant from the other Lost Boys. Pan was his favorite and he was Pan's. Most of the other Lost Boys were jealous of him, maybe Wendy, too. Maybe when they left and had their adventures chronicled, they held a grudge against Tucker and so left him out of the book. I dunno." "Oh." "We all knew that Peter was devastated when Wendy left. She still came every year to do his spring-cleaning, but he didn't like her to know that he missed her so much. So sometimes, he would pretend that he never thought about her. A few times he even didn't go, trying to break his attachment to her. And it worked, a little bit. He tried not to think about her, and finally she grew up and he was still in love with the little girl who had been his mother so many years ago." "But when Wendy grew up, Peter had her daughter do his spring-cleaning." "Right. Her name was Jane. Pan lost himself over her, too, but it was the same as it had been with Wendy, and eventually she grew up, too. She had a daughter named Margaret and it was the same story. We never quite knew if he loved each girl for herself or just for being a girl. But with Margaret's daughter, it was different. Her name was Eleanor. She completely stole Peter's heart away. By this time, there was a fair band of lost boys. Tucker and Jon were second to Peter-" P"Yeah, but what about Eleanor?" Erin cut in.P "I'm getting to it! Stop interrupting!" "Sorry." Erin sheepishly did a somersault in the air. "So, anyway, Peter would bring Eleanor to Neverland. We called her Ella, because she reminded us of Cinderella." "Hmm.Cinderella was the first story Wendy told Peter, right? My mother loved that story, too, because she was called Ellie.oops. Sorry. Keep going." Winston glared at Erin as she stared uncomfortably at her hands. "The difference was that Ella really adored us back.all of us, but Pan in particular. You see, Wendy and Jane and Margaret had all regarded Pan as almost just fiction, made of stories and make-believe. They never believed that Pan was quite capable of love, so they never returned his affections. After having his heart broken three times, another time would have probably destroyed him. But Ella was different in that she saw what Peter needed and she could give it to him. P"Ella never regarded us differently because we were of Neverland and she wasn't, like her mother and grandmother and great-grandmother had. She would tell us story after story. She never did anything to make Peter angry. She would always keep her head in battle, never screamed or ran away. Like you." Winston glanced at Erin, seeing how she would take the compliment. Erin's cheeks grew hot as she stared into the lightening sky. She smiled, urging Winston to continue. He smiled hesitantly back. "Well, Peter finally realized that he really loved Ella, and you could see when she looked at him that she loved him back. Peter was horrified when he realized that his love could be growing up, and he ran away. Well, actually, he escorted Ella back to her house one time and never came back. We all knew it was going to happen, but it was still a shock when it finally did. That's the last we ever heard of Peter Pan: that the legendary kid who will never grow up finally did. Everyone couldn't realize that it was Peter's choice as much as Ella's; they always thought that it was Ella's fault that Peter was so mystified. But I. that's why they are so against girls; think that they're traitors and all that." Winston paused, closely watching Erin's reaction to the tale. pp*********A/N************* Thank you for all your reviews. The story does keep going, as you can tell. Also, I agree that without the paragraphs it is hard to read, and I'll try to put more in. Sorry. ENJOY!! ****