Growing Away From Me

Many moons passed, and Peter Pan had so many more adventures. Hook was no longer, this was true, but the land of the never more was always full of peril and fun. He did however, feel rather lonely at times, and so he traveled back down to London, in search of more children, unwilling to grow up as he. However, his plans were always forgotten as he would find himself flying above the Darling household, although it was not always on his way. Often, he would peak through the window next to the nursery, where his Wendy then slept. She had decided to grow up, and her parents could not be happier. They moved her out of the nursery, and put away all her childish things. Peter stared through her window for hours at a time, and although it was never locked, he never dared to enter. The feeling at the pit of his stomach grew stronger the closer he was to her, and it frightened every bone in his body to think that it could take complete hold of him. Yet, there he remained, outside her window, watching her sleep as peacefully as an angel.

She never noticed he was around, although he was always in her thoughts. The golden boy with the piercing green eyes, full of mischief and promise of magic and wonder. A kiss from the wind, a whisper in her ear, the fragrance of summer and spring. It all reminded her of him. But to her, it all seemed like a drifting dream, for she was surely by now, a ghost at the back of the mind of a carefree child, riding the wind's back and laughing ever so happily along the way. For Peter Pan was the lighthearted youth, with no worries or concerns, and with a memory as white as the winter's first snow. Such a thought gave her comfort in an otherwise heart breaking situation. For although she knew she loved him, she wanted him to be happy...and if his happiness was never having to grow up...then she wished him to remain a child forever. For her, on the other hand...happiness was intertwined with the troubles of growing older. It was of course, partly his fault, for the night that he held out his hand for a dance amongst the golden glitter of the fairies and the silver glow of the moonlight, stirred the woman within her, and alerted her to all the wonderful things she could expect with age. Love was a great adventure, and being loved in turn would be the greatest adventure of all. Peter Pan could never give her that.

Aunt Millicent began her instruction on proper social etiquette a few days after her arrival from the Neverland, as soon as she settled her new son in their home. A prim and proper lady, she was to be, so as to gain her place in the highest of society. She accompanied her aunt to every social gathering imaginable, and was introduced to every single individual her aunt deemed worth her becoming of acquaintance with. Aunt Millicent was particularly enthralled with finding her a suitor, and being as lovely as she was, there was never a shortage of young men to answer the call.

Her parents noted the need for their daughter to marry well, and so did not intervene. The other males of the family, however, were a different story altogether. Seeing the countless number of young men parading in and out of their home with the hope of winning the fair Wendy's affections, the boys felt a sort of resentment. Nibbs and Slightly constantly concocted devious plans to be rid of the most annoying of the young men, while the rest simply stared with eyes so frightfully menacing, that some simply did not bother to return. John and Michael loved their only sister with all their hearts, and hated the prospect of loosing her to any unworthy boy.

After a particularly devilish plan that succeeded in scarring away Sir Quidder Couch's oldest son, Aunt Millicent lined them all up from tallest to small and demanded the reason for their actions. All remained quiet, confused and unable to say, except for Slightly, who simply replied, "Mother, no ordinary boy will do."

Wendy, however, tried with all her might to take interest in them. She smiled pleasantly, and listened quietly to their arrogance and self praise, and even felt an attraction for some, but it was all in vain, for her heart remained in the Neverland.

Sometimes, when Peter arrived early enough, he followed Wendy and her aunt as they attended parties and visits to homes of grandeur. On one particular evening, he almost did not have the strength to keep himself from barging in through the window and claiming what his heart knew belonged to him:

Perched outside the highest window in the dance hall, Peter stared at the fair Wendy, noting that she looked particularly lovely that evening. Her golden brown locks softly pulled back with a pink ribbon, dressed in a satin pink dress, which flowed gently to her mid shin, and wearing a smile that lightened up the entire room, she was expectably the center of all attention.

But as his eyes were lost in her beauty, a raven haired lad, dressed in the fanciest of tales walked up to his Wendy. "Good evening" He bowed to her as Wendy curtsied and smiled warmly at the handsome boy. "Would you care to dance?" he said as he extended his hand to her.

"Of course" she said and she took his hand and he led her onto the dance floor. Smiling at each other, he turned to face her and placed his other hand on her waist .

Peter felt a growing anger in the pit of his stomach. 'How dare he dance with my Wendy. I should slit his throat', he thought as he pulled out his dagger. He fumed as he stared at the boy, when he suddenly noticed a giggle escape Wendy's lips in response to the boy's whisper in her ear.

"Wendy..."

'She...she's...leaving me... all over again...'

The faint melody and quiet night sounds slowly faded as Captain Hook's voice slithered into his thoughts. 'She can't hear you....she can't see you...she's forgotten all about you...'

"Oh Wendy..." he said in a defeated tone. Eyes of green shine, drowning in the sadness of his soul. He slowly drifted up and away from the window sill and up towards the dim London night.

Unknown to all around her, Wendy's whole was not in attendance that night, or for that matter, any other night. Her thoughts were always in another instant and place, detached from all that is real, and frozen in time. No earthly dance could ever bestow the enchantment of the feel of a warm summer's wind at your heals and the light of a thousand fairies meant only for two. No ordinary boy could ever compare to the golden haired boy that lived in her dreams. It just could not be. 'Oh Peter...how I do miss you...'

Peter flew back to her bedroom that night, while she was still out. He opened the window and stepped into the room. His eyes, normally glittered with mischief, where shadowed with sadness and resignation. He slowly paced within it's walls, noting the grown up things that were placed all around. There, at the corner, should stand her doll house. Now, a simple neat desk occupied the spot. His eyes traveled to the book shelf once overflowing with storybooks and fairytales, but now, all he saw were school books with subjects that he had never heard of neatly stacked. Her closet was filled with a lady's evening attire, not her play clothes and costumes. He walked over to her vanity, where not much more than her jewelry box use to rest. Now, he saw mountains of the weird lady powders and face colors that women wore.

"Oh Wendy...no longer MY Wendy...You shouldn't grow up..." He said as he lowered his head and cried. In his hand, he held her kiss tightly. She was no longer the perfect image of girl's childhood. There was no denying it. With every day's passing she was maturing and resembling her mother. He looked up and stared at the reflection in the mirror, but did not see. All those nights he spent away from the protective arms of his Neverland, in vigil at her window had taken their toll on him. He was not as young as he thought he was. He too had grown a bit. He should have noticed when he constantly found himself in need of more leaves to sow on his trousers. A child's plump features were melting away into a young man's hardened exterior. He was taller, his shoulders were broader and his chest was wider. His muscles had thickened and protruded below his golden tanned skin. His golden locks had grown out so much that he had had Tink cut it down twice already. He stared at the young man in the mirror, still unable to notice the changes, although deep down, he felt something was not quite normal.

He opened his hand and looked at her kiss. "Wendy...you have forgotten all about me...why not...I am...just a boy...and you...you're...a young lady..." 'I don't want to see you grow any older...I do not wish to see you when you meet 'husband.'' He put the kiss back in its pouch and with a sad sigh, he forced himself to place it on the cold wooden top. A moment of silent mourning, and then he turned back towards the window walking away from the memory left on her vanity.

'Peter...you wont forget me...will you?' he turned back around, but she was no where in sight. He closed his eyes shut, to hinder the tears and floated to the window.

A drop of sorrow escaped his left eye, as he prepared to leave it all behind. "Good bye, Wendy" he whispered as he slowly pushed down the window, and floated up and away towards the stars.