"So, Mother, you see why I must go," Wendy concluded.
Mrs. Darling stared extendedly at her daughter after hearing the complete tales of Neverland for the first time. Having a rather sour impression of Peter, mostly because of the mood Wendy was in at the time, she said, "You will avoid that Peter, won't you? Imagine, kidnapping children from their parents and raising them in ways of carelessness!"
"At any cost," James replied, smiling.
"Well," Mrs. Darling said, "We probably should wait until your father gets back."
"We don't have the time," Wendy implored.
"You promise to contact us frequently?" Mrs. Darling relented.
"Oh, thank you," Wendy said, throwing her arms about her mother and dashing up the stairs, leaving James and her mother in an uncomfortable silence.
"So," Mrs. Darling attempted to break the awkward silence, "You have spent your life in this, um, Neverland?"
"Hardly," James replied. "My mother and I left when I was still an infant, and I have only returned this last year after the death of my father to take over the family business."
"Family business? Piracy is quite an odd tradition," Mrs. Darling said.
"Well, yes, but I think of it as keeping the balance," James replied.
She nodded, "That does make it sound a bit more noble."
Neither could find any more words to offer and so they kept their peace until Wendy descended the stairs carrying two pieces of luggage.
Mrs. Darling looked at her curiously, "And how long will you be gone?"
Wendy smiled, "Don't worry, it won't be so long. I just like to be prepared."
With that they said their goodbyes and walked outside the house, sighing in relief.
"Well that went better than I thought it would," Wendy said, smiling.
"Better than I thought, too," James said, returning the smile. "If I had known that it was that simple, I would have just asked at the start."
Wendy smiled and asked, "So, what do we do now?"
"Well, we could go get Kiley from my house and take off right away," James suggested.
"Kiley?" Wendy repeated.
"Oh, he's my fairy," James explained. "He was assigned to me when I was born in Neverland. He even came here when we left that world."
"So, how is it that you have a fairy but your father did not?" Wendy asked.
"You'd have to ask the fairies, not that I think that they will give you a straight answer," James chuckled. "They are as mysterious as the mermaids in that way. Probably they'll hand you some line about destiny."
Wendy sighed, "Seems all I get is lines these days. Is your house close enough to walk?"
"Yeah, it's just down a block or so," James said, taking in hand both articles of luggage.