I no...I'm horrible and evil...etc but I'm sooooooooooo sorry and I promise I have such a good excuse lol – at the end of July I had to go to California for a month or so on holiday (I live in England) and sadly I was without my computer...I came home a week ago to start school and this is the soonest I could post, forgive me?

I'll understand if every1 has lost interest in the story lol and if that's the case then I won't post anymore, but if I get reviews then I have some more chapters to put up...it's up you...

Btw thanx 2 every1 who continued reviewing while I was away and once again I apologise for my delay...please don't hate me lol

"Oh Peter...why did you come back...after all these years..."

A hush swept throughout the room as Wendy registered her mother's words. Her blue eyes grew wide and she placed her hand over her mouth as she slowly backed away from Mary, her face growing pale. Wendy's shocked gaze moved from her mother to Peter, seeking reassurance, but Peter did not look as she expected – taken aback – by her mother's words...no...he merely looked somewhat...sad...resigned even...

Wendy's brow puckered in confusion, when she spoke her voice was a dry whisper, heavy with anxiety, "Mother...what on earth do you mean? 'After all these years' I...I don't understand..." she looked at her mother, her expression pained.

Tears were now silently streaming down Mary's face, "Wendy darling..." she said, her voice breaking on each word. She stared towards her daughter, clasping Wendy's hands in her own. "Wendy...I want to tell you something...perhaps I should have told you before now...but...I may never get another chance..."

As Wendy stood still, bewildered, not understanding why her mother sounded so troubled, or why the hands that gently held her own trembled so. The expression on Mary's face suddenly, forcefully, reminded Wendy of the morning she was told to move out of the nursery, as if her mother had been about to reveal a secret – before she seemed to abruptly change her mind. Mary's eyes now appeared distant and faraway, as if lost in a memory...

"Mother?" Wendy prompted, her voice quivering with uncertainty. Mary's brown eyes focused on her daughter before her, as if only remembering she was not alone in the room. Still clutching Wendy's hands, Mary drew her over to sit on the edge of the bed. Sitting down offered some relief to Wendy, who felt her knees should give way if she had to remain standing. Seeing Peter withdraw into the shadows, Wendy looked at him searchingly; but he merely shook his head, his gaze fixed on her mother.

Wendy's questioning gaze moved to Mary, who at last seemed ready to speak, her voice began weak and unsteady, before gradually becoming stronger, unwavering in her tale. "You see Wendy...long ago...long before you were born...when I was a little girl – not much older than you are now...this very bedroom...was the bedroom which I grew up in..." she stopped briefly, gazing at Wendy fondly, she reached out a hand to gently touch her daughter's face.

"One night...on the eve of my thirteenth birthday...I awoke to the sound of scratching on my window, too startled to be afraid, I immediately ran across the room to peer out into the gloomy night...but what meet my gaze was not the stars and the moon...it was a pair of bright blue eyes..."

Mary paused, glancing over at the silent figure of Peter, understanding dawned on Wendy who felt the blood drain from her face, she opened her mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out.

Mary nodded gravely, "Yes...it was Peter who stood on the sill, such was my shock that I did not even hesitate to think before pulling open the window and letting him enter the room..."

Peter stepped into the light, "Aye Wendy, 'tis true, I did visit this very house when your mother was young...although to me...it does not seem that long ago..."

Wendy's eyes closed, the long, confusing night overpowering her, "What did...why did Peter come to you mama?" she whispered, resisting the urge to lie down and sleep.

"The very same reason Peter came to you my love, he sensed my reluctance to grow up and leave behind the nursery I cherished." Mary smiled at Peter, extending a hand to him, "he came to me on that night to take me away, faraway, to Neverland..."

Wendy's hand grew limp in her mother's grasp, her sleepy eyes opened wide as she fixed an unwavering gaze on Mary, "Did you go with him?"

"No darling, I didn't, though I was temped...I didn't go...not even for a little while...and that, Wendy, is the difference between us, when faced with the same choice as me – you chose a different path in life..." Mary's eyes were now shadowed with sadness. "When you left this house with Peter for the first time, you changed your future and your destiny...and when you returned home, despite the happiness it brought me, I could see you were never to be the same again...don't you see Wendy? You were never meant to leave Neverland – this world holds no future for you, not while you pine away for a different life..." Mary smiled now through her tears, she cupped Wendy's face in her hands, "Some children just aren't meant to grow up..."

So...what do ya all think? Want more? Then PLEASE review to let me know – if I receive no reviews then I'll assume no-1s reading it k?

Luv ya all lots n lots

XxX Bella XxX