Title: Spirited Away
Author: Squeezynz
Chapter: Five - Something Old, Something New
Rating: PG15-sexual references (nothing toooooo graphic and mostly above the belt-but beware, deals with dawning sexuality between our dynamic duo)
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Lunch was a strange affair with Kirano seated between Peter and Wendy, the tiny man quite content with the sparse fare, the mushrooms eaten uncooked as they proved exceedingly tasty eaten au naturale.
At the end of the meal he announced that he had places to be and things to do, then before either of his hosts could object he was gone, down the ladder and outside, vanishing into the trees before Peter could do more than rise from his seat to pursue.
"Gracious..what a funny little man." Wendy remarked when Peter returned from his brief search.
"Funny or not, he knows what is going on here...with us...with you."
"He know's how I came here? How I can go home?"
Peter shot her a hard look, his brows drawn together in a scowl.
"Always with you it's about going home!" He shouted suddenly angry with her, his heart thumping painfully. Wendy appeared taken aback at his vehemence for a second before her own temper rose.
"Well I didn't ask to be brought here, Peter Pan. I was happy to be growing up at my own pace, and anyway...you-you...you never came back, so what was I supposed to do?"
"I don't know...I didn't know you existed until a few days ago!"
"Oh you are impossible!" Wendy shouted, getting up from the bench and standing toe to toe with him, jabbing a finger at his forehead. "It's all in there...you just have to remember...but you're too pig-headed to use the brains God gave you!"
"I'm not pig-headed!" Peter shouted back, his hand swiping at her finger, smacking it away.
"Ow!" Wendy yelped, glaring daggers at him, her chest heaving as she raised her hand to box his ears. Peter was too quick, his own hand capturing hers before she could deliver the blow, his eyes flashing sparks as he pulled her against him, his own breathing ragged.
"You little she-cat...you were going to hit me!"
"So...you deserve it for being such a horrid...horrid boy!"
"Is that the worst you can call me?" Peter laughed at her, infuriating her further.
"No...Its not...being who you are, the worst thing I can call you...is a MAN!"
"What?"
"A Man...a big, boorish, overbearing, grown-up-never-to-play-again man!"
Staring down furiously into her flushed face, Peter felt something build up inside him until he had to act or explode. Keeping his long fingers wrapped around her weakly flailing wrist he kept her other arm pinned to her side when he circled his arm around her then Peter bent his head and pressed his lips to hers. It was more effective than he'd ever imagined, Wendy freezing into immobility as he moved his mouth over hers, her own at first stiff and unresponsive but quickly softening as he continued to kiss her.
As the seconds passed Wendy could feel all her resistance melt into nothing as his lips explored hers, the tip of his tongue hesitantly touching the seam of her lips until she parted them, as curious as him to find out how it felt to share so intimate a sensation. Her arm had quickly lowered, Peter still loosely circling her wrist until he let go altogether, resting his free hand on her hip. Wendy raised hers to hesitantly wrap her fingers about the back of his neck, those same questing fingers brushing the short hairs on his head producing sparks behind his closed eyes.
As Peter pressed harder, she opened her mouth wider, his tongue darting inside, inviting hers to explore as well. Shyly she did so, almost jerking in surprise when they met tip to moist tip, her body suddenly becoming aware of the lean length of his pressed closely to her, squashing her tender breasts against his chest.
After a minute or more, which to the oblivious pair seemed to last an eternity, they parted, pulling away with a clinging of lips and a blinking of lashes until they stood for a second staring at each other, both with the same look of wonderment in their depths.
"Good grief..." Wendy breathed, loosening her hold on his neck, a tide of colour flooding her face before she hastily disengaged herself and stepped away. As surprised as she, Peter let her go, his hands falling to hang by his side, his chest suddenly tight and his heart jumping about erratically.
"I-I...er...I have to go...um..." Peter stuttered and stammered, his expression one of baffled amazement as he turned to leave her.
"Yes...I think you should...er.. go, that is." Wendy marveled that she was able to string two words together and even more marvelous, remain coherent. Her heart was drumming a tatoo that threatened to deafen her, her lips tingling from the kiss, her fingers already wandering up to touch them in wonder.
"Right...I'll go..." Peter continued to back away, almost falling down the hatch before he twisted and found the first rung. As he descended he risked a brief look up at Wendy and surprised a dreamy look on her face, provoking a smug smile to crease his own before he disappeared from view and out of the tree, his blood singing in his veins.
In the tree house, Wendy had collapsed back onto the bench, her eyes wide.
"Oh dear...what would Mother say?" She mused to herself before a smile crept over her face, her eyes dancing.
The brief kiss, or thimble as she'd called it back then, that she'd shared with Peter aboard the pirate ship had been so sweet and yielded so unexpected a result that she'd thought all kisses would be like that. But what she'd just shared with him had been vastly different, more raw, more intense, more everything. Every nerve ending seemed to have sparked into life, her awareness of every contour of his body etched on her memory, her fingers almost itching to touch the short, silky hairs at the back of his neck again.
"Oh dear me..."
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Peter was on fire, his pulse thrumming from that all too brief contact with Wendy. Unaware of his direction, he found himself standing on the beach, the water blue and sparkling in front of him. Suddenly feeling the need to cool off he stripped off his shirt and shucked his trousers before diving head first into the sea, his body slicing through the waves until he surfaced some distance into the lagoon.
The sea cooled his body but did little to still his thoughts. Uppermost was the overwhelming desire to rush back and kiss Wendy again, this time not to stop but to keep going and explore the feelings that had been welling up inside him. As he trod water, he licked his lips, tasting the brine from the sea but also remembering the feel of her against his mouth, the slick touch of her tongue as it tangled with his.
Groaning aloud he lay back in the calm sea and floated, staring up at the clouds scudding across the blue sky, the sun heating his skin as he wallowed. For long minutes he just reveled in the freedom of swimming in the sea, the clamoring of his body pushed to the back of his mind for a brief moment, but eventually he had to take notice that some parts of his body were not subsiding at all. Treading water once more he tentatively reached down under the surface and wrapped his hands around his hardness, his lips parting on a long moan as his hand started to move provoking the same reactions as before. Finding it distracting to have to tread water at the same time he let go of his body and struck out for the shallows. When it was became shallow enough for him to rest on his knees but still have the water up to his shoulders, he once more employed his hand around his manhood and started to stroke, the small waves buffeting him as he panted to draw breath, the unbearable tightness coiling in his belly as before until he threw his head back, mouth open and spilled his essence into the sea, a waves almost knocking him over as he shuddered and twitched, knees grating against the sandy bottom of the lagoon.
Panting heavily he released his grip on his body and flopped forward, coming to rest on his hands, his nose barely above the rolling waves.
Crawling forward so that half of him stayed in the water and half out, he lay on his side with his eyes closed as the waves rolled over him, pushing and pulling at his legs and lower body.
He wished now that he'd had the foresight to ask Kirano about what was happening to him, why his body seemed to be taking over whenever he got close to her, touched her, kissed her.
Groaning aloud, Peter rolled onto his front and cradled his head on his arms, the sun burning a hole between his shoulder blades and on back of his now exposed neck. Feeling exhausted and gritty he pushed himself to his feet and lurched up the beach, snagging his clothes and tugging them on.
He was already wondering when he could kiss her again.
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The afternoon was drawing to a close when he finally returned to the tree house bearing a selection of fruits for their supper. He found Wendy sitting on the bench by the open window, the fading sunlight falling on her lap where a needle flashed as she darned the ragged hole in the shirt she'd worn that morning. Peter dumped his load of fruit on the table and approached her, not at all sure of her mood.
"I found needles and some thread in one of the chest." She spoke hurriedly, not giving him the chance to speak first. "I figured we didn't have enough to be wasteful, so I'm going to darn this tear then start on my dress and those trousers." She pointed to the pile of fabric at her feet. "I'm supposing, given that most of the shirts are either made from silk or the finest cotton, that they belonged to Captain Hook...but I don't think it really matters who they belonged to. Do you?"
Peter could only look at her as if she'd run mad.
"What are you talking about?"
Wendy stopped her sewing to look up at him, noting the water darkening his short hair, a drip snaking down the side of his neck.
"Did you go for a swim?"
Remembering what he did during the first swim caused a hot blush to colour his face. Ignoring her enquiring look, Peter went back to the table and grabbed one of the rounded coconuts and pulled out his knife. Winkling out the holes in the end, he carefully poured out the juice into one of the cups before bringing the hilt of his knife down on the nut and cracking it open. With his face no longer flaming, he turned and offered a piece to Wendy who refused, holding up the sewing as an excuse. Shrugging Peter picked up a couple of pieces and carried them over, sitting himself down cross legged beside the bench.
"Peter...about what happened."
Concentrating on the white flesh of the coconut, Peter grunted a reply.
"Well...I don't think we should do that again."
Choking, Peter put the back of one hand to his mouth, swallowing hard.
"What?"
"I don't think we should...er...kiss again."
"Why not...you enjoyed it...I...er..enjoyed it..what's wrong with kissing?"
A little taken aback by his enthusiasm, Wendy couldn't help a smile from tilting her lips. "You liked it?"
"Didn't you?" Peter retorted, not meeting her eye.
"Well...I suppose I...well, yes...of course I did...I just..."
"So when can we do it again?"
Startled Wendy dropped the needle and the shirt and they all slithered to the floor.
"But...again...?"
"Yes...but this time without all the shouting before hand."
"Oh...yes, I suppose so...but..um...I have to finish this sewing first." Wendy said hurriedly, grabbing the clothing from the floor and bending her head to continue darning.
"Good...later then." Peter reiterated, chewing happily, still not meeting her eyes.
"If you say so Peter."
Despite her calm voice, Wendy felt hot and fidgety inside, her fingers only shaking a little as she plied the needle, her mind not at all convinced that she should have agreed to Peter's suggestion, sure that it would all end in disaster or at least the end of the world. Working herself into a fine state of nerves, she managed to prick herself on the needle three times before she heaved a sigh and gave up the darning, blaming the failing light as the excuse.
Hearing her comment, Peter rose to light the lamps, discarding the now empty coconut shell out of the window to land down below with a hollow thump. As Wendy bundled up the sewing to set it aside, he gathered up the small barrel that held their fresh water and tucked it under his arm.
"I'll just go fill this."
"Yes...of course...take your time." Wendy called as Peter disappeared down the ladder. Pulling the bench back to the table, she sat down and regarded the selection of fruit. Picking up a large, yellowy-green fruit she used a small paring knife she'd unearthed along with the sewing kit and cut the fruit open. Inside densely packed, round black seeds glinted in the lamp light, the flesh already oozing beads of juice as she scooped the seeds out. Cutting the flesh into slices she took a bite and found it sweet and delicious.
Her appetite engaged, Wendy consumed the fruit with relish, consuming two banana's on top of the papaya, her hands and mouth sweet and sticky with juice.
Peter had returned with the barrel and she asked him to pour some into the bucket so she could wash off the stickiness. That done, she disposed of the rinds and skins out of the window, grimacing as they disappeared from view.
"There has to be a better way of disposing of our rubbish than out the window."
Peter was sitting at the table with a short stick, wittling away at the wood and sending chips flying over the table.
"It's worked fine so far...why bother?"
"Because eventually it will smell and it makes a dreadful mess down there."
Peter raised his head and sniffed. "I can't smell anything."
"Oh good grief." Wendy grumbled, flopping down on the mattress and putting an arm over her face.
Peter instantly put down his knife and the half-whittled stick and sauntered over to the bed, flopping down on his stomach beside her.
Apart from a slight tensing of her muscles, Wendy didn't move.
"Wendy?"
"Yes Peter?"
"Do you think...could we try that...kissing again?"
Wendy slowly lowered her arm and turned her head to look over at him, noting that his bottom lip was pulled in under his teeth and a light seemed to be shining in his eyes.
"I suppose so...but nothing else mind...just...kissing."
"Cross my heart..." Peter tried to match action with words but nearly overbalanced, causing Wendy to giggle nervously. Shuffling over using his elbows, Peter positioned himself so that his head could easily lean over hers without putting any weight on her. The side of his body was pressed up against hers, her arms resting bent at the elbow, fingers interlaced across her rib cage.
Wendy was staring up at him looking slightly apprehensive, her wide blue eyes as fathomless as the ocean, the long lashes blinking slowly as she returned stare for stare with him. Keeping his eyes open he lowered his head until there was only a hairs-breadth of space between them. He was close enough to see his reflection mirrored in her dark pupils before he closed the distance and pressed his lips to hers. This time his tongue came out immediately, licking at the softness of her lips, tasting the lingering sweetness of the fruit juice before begging entry to her mouth. Wendy's eyes had slid shut at that first contact, the lashes like dark smudges against her cheeks. At his insistence she parted her lips and allowed him entrance, his explorations taking in her teeth and gums before tangling with her own tongue. Peter angled his head to give him greater access and deepened the kiss, Wendy arching her neck to greatly increase the pressure as their lips slid over one another, tongues dipping and delving and discovering what each tasted like.
Needing to draw breath Peter lifted his head and broke the kiss, but almost instantly returned to lick and suckle the plump morsels parted so temptingly for him to explore. Wendy tried to capture those busy lips, her own wanting him to stop darting about and press against her. Reaching up she cradled his face in her hands to keep him still then pressed her advantage, returning his biting kisses until he groaned and once more sealed his lips over hers, his tongue hot and silky against her own.
Somewhere along the way she registered that Peter was no longer laying beside her propped up on his elbows but had his body half over hers, their legs entangled, hip to hip, his forearms bracketing her head, fingers buried in her hair as his mouth pressed kisses against her lips, cheeks and chin, progressing in slow degrees to her neck. His weight felt so right on hers, her own body arching against him, her feet running up the back of his legs and down again, her arms wrapped around the back of his neck, keeping him close to her. Despite still being fully clothed, heat seemed to spring at every point of contact. Peter wanted to strip off his clothes, and Wendy's too, to feel skin on skin to relieve the ache building in his bones, his flesh needing to feel the coolness of the air to stop the fire consuming him.
Wrenching herself away with difficulty Wendy drew in a gasping breath, Peter's lips still mapping the skin of her neck, inexperience no barrier to his mounting desire to explore every inch of her.
"Peter...stop...please...oh...you have to stop!"
Only half hearing her breathless words, Peter returned his attention to her mouth, cutting off further protests, Wendy giving into his demands until they broke apart again minutes later. This time she pushed against his shoulders.
"Peter...stop...NOW!"
Finally registering her voice, Peter lifted his head and stared down at her, his own eyes glazed with swirling emotions.
"Stop?"
"Yes stop...this is going too fast...you said we were only going to kiss..."
Peter grinned. "We are kissing."
"Peter!"
"What's wrong...this is nice...kissing you is nice...isn't it?"
"It's perfectly nice...but I just feel...oh I can't explain..." Pushing herself out from under him, Wendy rolled onto her hands and knees, tugging her shirt down and pushing her hair out of her face. Peter lay on his side, his expression one of frustrated bafflement as he watched her scramble to her feet and go over to the window, her back to the room.
Scrubbing at his cropped head, Peter sighed gustily and sat upright, his body still clamoring for more while his head acknowledged that things might have been going along a path they were neither of them ready for.
Peter decided to break the silence hanging heavily between them. "I'm sorry...I thought you were enjoying it."
"I was..it was very...pleasant. It's just...oh you don't understand."
"No..I don't understand...what did I do wrong?"
"Peter...only a week ago I was just on the brink of growing up, still a child to look at even if, in my heart, I was already all grown up. Now I'm back here in Neverland...somehow I have to return you to the way you were, which I have no idea how, and my body has aged so much that I hardly recognize myself. Everything is moving too fast...I don't know..." Wendy gestured helplessly. "I don't know what to do, what to feel."
"You want to go home." Peter stated flatly.
"Yes...no...I don't know...please understand." She gestured to encompass the room. " All this...I thought it...you...had been left behind...a nice dream but destined to be forgotten in time. I never expected to see you, or this island ever again."
Hurt by her words, despite acknowledging the raw truth behind them, Peter lurched to his feet, scrubbing his hand across his mouth.
"Well I wish you'd never come here either...I was fine without you here...I was fine!" Lashing out, Peter caught the edge of the bench with his foot and sent it flying to crash against the wall. "I don't need you to remember for me...I don't need you and your stupid make-believe...go home...go back to where you came from...and take your stupid kisses with you."
Flinging away from her, Peter made for the hatch and shinned down the ladder before Wendy could articulate a reply to his outburst. Outside he dashed his hand across his eyes to stop the moisture pooling on his lower lashes from spilling over.
"Stupid girl and her stupid mouth...to hell with them all!"
Setting off at a run Peter disappeared into the trees, his feet carrying him along the dark and shadowed path, leaping over fallen branches until he eventually tripped and fell on his hands and knees somewhere deep in the forest, his chest heaving, the tears finally falling.
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The tree house was in darkness when he returned several hours later. Silently he climbed up to the room, lifting the hatch and securing it behind him. With only the slanting bars of the waning moon to light his way, he padded across to the mattress and the soft sounds emanating from the sleeper curled upon it.
Wendy lay on her side, her hair spread out around her head, her hands open against the sail cloth. The lips that had caused him such previously unknown pleasures were slightly parted and tilted at the corners as if their owner dreamt of beautiful things in her sleep.
Crouching down, Peter reached out a gentle finger and traced their outline in the air above her face, careful not to actually touch her.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry I don't remember you from before...I'm sorry I don't understand what's happening now...I'm sorry..."
As if hearing him even in her sleep, Wendy sighed and turned towards him, her eyes still tightly closed, her face illuminated by a weak bar of moonlight that stretched its long fingers across the bed.
As if finding the sight of her an unbearable torment, he rose to his feet and prepared to leave but a sound stopped him before he'd gone more than two steps. Restless in her dream, Wendy turned over, her hand now resting where Peter usually slept, the fingers spread wide as if questing for his warmth and substance. From her lips issued a name.
"Peter..." As soft as a breath but a clear as a crack of thunder, her utterance of his name froze him in place, his body responding to her call as if pulled by strings. Gritting his teeth he tried to resist only to hear her say his name again, the sigh so faint he had to strain to hear her.
"Peter...don't go...don't leave me..."
Convinced that she must be awake, Peter lowered himself to the bed and carefully crawled up beside her, laying down so that he faced her but didn't touch her.
"Wendy?"
His whisper didn't disturb the sleeper, her face still soft and unmarked with worry or anger. This time when he reached out for her shadowed features he allowed himself to touch her, finding her skin soft and warm, a spark shooting up his arm when he touched her parted lips. Groaning internally he curled his fingers into a fist to stop himself giving in to the desire to stroke the velvet of her cheek or tangle his hand in the long strands of her hair.
"I can't leave you...can I?" He asked himself, pillowing his face on his hands as staring at her shadowed face. "Not now...not ever..."
Pressing his lips tightly together, Peter shifted himself so that he was now on his side facing away from her and the temptation she presented to his body and mind. Feeling that he'd never sleep peacefully again he closed his eyes, images running like darting fish behind his eyelids before sleep dragged him unknowingly into the darkness.
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He was dreaming he was swimming underwater, the feel of the sea like silk caressing his naked skin as he twisted and turned, stretching his limbs to their fullest, feeling the muscles pull and strain, his blood thumping in his chest and a tingling starting low in his belly. He could see fish darting among the coral, their bright colors flashing like the sunlight on water, always just beyond his reach when he went to grab them. Laying on his back he could look up and see the surface of the sea far above him, waves rolling over it leaving bubbles and foam behind, his body not straining to breath as he floated unconcerned below, far from the air and sunlight above. He felt again the tingling down below and looked down at himself to see his body once more hard and wanting, the water doing little to cool or soften his overheated skin. Needing to touch himself he reached down but somehow he couldn't seem to connect, the heat starting to build unbearably as he tried again and again to grasp his own flesh to relieve the tension building up in his muscles. He started to panic, feeling long tendrils of seaweed wrap themselves around his legs, tethering him to the sea bed, more of the long whippy leaves wrapping around his torso and arms preventing him from touching anything let alone himself. Struggling he tried to free himself, his mouth opening wide to call for help but finding his voice gone, the seaweed turning into hands that held and stroked him until he thought he'd run mad with the sensations swamping him, the hands having no bodies that he could see, no faces that he could identify, just the feeling of fingers dancing over his skin, building the tension to a pitch while he squirmed to free himself, touch himself to relieve the burning need.
Then she was there, gliding towards him in the water, her hair streaming out behind her, rippling in the water. She circled him lazily, her blue eyes mocking him as he floated, trapped by the seaweed,only his head free to twist and turn as he followed her movements. He couldn't see her legs but did notice that she was not wearing a stitch anymore than he was, her rounded flesh teasing him as her hair covered her then was pushed out of the way by her twists and turns, always keeping her body facing him as she circled.
"Wendy?" He called to her, begging her to release him, to not leave him, to touch him. As if hearing him, she came closer, his body straining towards her as she floated closer until she was only a few inches from his face, her lips parting before she closed the distance and sealed her lips over his. Peter felt himself devoured by her, his heart rising in his chest to be swallowed whole, his body screaming for release as she continued to kiss and consume him. As they kissed he felt something wrap itself around his hardness, squeezing and caressing until he felt stars start to burst behind his eyelids, his body exploding into a thousand pieces with his release, the water, Wendy and seaweed all drifting into the ether, leaving him floating peacefully in nothing, his body still shuddering and trembling in the aftermath of his shattering climax.
With a sudden jerk he woke up.
For long seconds he lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling of the tree house, his body feeling tremors pass through it as he fought to come fully awake, the disturbing images of his dream parting like tendrils of fog as he blinked to clear his vision.
It was still early, the sun barely risen to cast a pink glow into the hut as he studied the thatch roof and tried to calm his thumping heart. As the dream released its grip he turned his head to find that sometime during the night Wendy had snuggled into his side, drawn by his warmth, laying with her arm across his chest and her leg thrown over his hips.
He lay tensely still until her even breathing soothed him and he relaxed, his free arm coming up to lay across his eyes as he let out a long breath. Wendy shifted and pressed closer, her leg bending to bring her knee up. Peter hissed as her leg brushed against his body which was up and eager for attention. Groaning softly he reached down to push her leg away, perforce leaning into her and feeling her soft contours mold to his torso, not helping to lower his level of arousal one whit.
Fearing that he would embarrass himself if he didn't do something and get away, Peter attempted to disengage Wendy from his side without waking her.
It proved harder than he thought.
As he shifted to turn on his side to face her, she shifted with him, clinging to his body, her hand dragging across his chest before clutching at his shirt to anchor herself. It brought her head to rest just under his chin, her hair tickling his face. The rest of her was now pressed against the length of him, her softness molded to him as if she was half of his whole, her curves fitting his hollows, her leg still crooked over his hip bringing her lower half in intimate contact with his.
No better off, Peter bit his lip in unbearable torment, his body impossibly hard and fighting the restraints of his clothes.
As if feeling the tension, Wendy squirmed against him, forcing him to groan again, the sound enough to wake her and make her stiffen in his arms.
"Peter? What are you doing?" Came her muffled voice against his shirt.
"Nothing..." He gritted out, fighting his bodies urges with all his strength.
Finding herself plastered to him, Wendy started to disentangle herself, unwittingly brushing against Peter and making him draw the air into his lungs with a hiss.
Thinking him in pain Wendy stopped, her eyes wide as she noted his tense features.
"What is it Peter? Are you hurt?"
"No...just watch what you do with that knee."
Startled Wendy glanced down between their bodies, noting the position of her leg poised so near his groin. As she stared she also noted the outline of his hardened body through his trousers and she blushed from head to toe.
Careful not to touch him unnecessarily, Wendy backed herself off the bed, Peter flopping onto his back in relief, his arm once more covering his eyes as he fought for control.
Wendy was panting slightly herself, trying to avert her eyes from his trousers but finding herself drawn to the outline of his body as if pulled by strings.
"Can't you do something...about that?"
Lifting his arm, Peter glared at her. "Nope...it's your fault it's there in the first place!"
"What?"
"Well what do you expect when you plaster yourself all over me...I'm only a male, after all."
"What?" Wendy's voice rose an octave, her mouth agape at his audacity to blame her for his body's behavior.
"I said..." Peter started to repeat but stopped when Wendy held up her hand.
"I heard what you said...I have to go and...do something." Pushing herself to her feet, her face still pink, Wendy backed away to the ladder and felt for the rungs with her bare feet. Her last view was of Peter, arm once more flung over his eyes, her own drawn irresistibly to his groin and the outline still clearly visible.
Gulping, she hurried down the ladder and out of the tree.
Peter listened to her departure and ground his teeth in frustration. Knowing only one way to meet his bodies needs, he thrust a hand down his trouser front and, being already on the brink, only needed a few strokes to leave him gasping and trembling, his body at last satisfied.
A little calmer he rolled onto his stomach and buried his face in his arms.
Continuing to live in close quarters with Wendy was obviously going to strain the limits of his endurance to the extreme. Groaning again he closed his eyes and gave into the pull of sleep once more.
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Wendy walked the short distance to the privy and took care of her immediate needs, shivering slightly as her bare feet came in to contact with the dew covered leaf litter of the forest.
She didn't want to return immediately to the tree house so let her feet lead her down the path to the beach. There she sat herself down at the base of a palm tree and stared out at the sea.
Thinking back on what had just happened she couldn't repress a smile and a giggle from escaping her lips. Poor Peter. Wendy had brothers, she was not unaware of a boys anatomy, her brother John often caught out adjusting his trousers because of an embarrassment by his body, especially whenever Wendy had a friend over, the girls giggling together as the boys vied for their attention.
This was different. This was Peter, a grown up Peter with a body verging on manhood and all the accompanying needs of that state. But also a Peter that only a short time ago had been just a boy, with no understanding or desire for love and the intimacy involved with the physical side of love, that is until she kissed him.
Startled, Wendy thought again about that kiss, given in haste and despair aboard the Jolly Roger, a final farewell in expectation of the blood and death to shortly follow. Then is had given Peter a surge of life, invigorating him and freeing his spirit so that he soared into the air, an explosion of emotion that blew the pirates into the water and Hook into the rigging. But of course Peter remembered nothing of that, and now he couldn't even fly, let alone turn pink and explode.
Maybe all this was her fault, maybe that simple kiss had caused everything that had followed. How she didn't know, but maybe Kirano did.
Convinced that this was all her fault, Wendy trudged miserably back through the trees, too upset to notice the small, brown man standing in the middle of the path.
"You called for me?"
Taken unawares by his sudden appearance, Wendy gasped, her heart beating a rapid tatoo.
"Goodness, you frightened me." Catching her breath she stared at him. "Did you just say I called for you?"
"You were thinking that I could help you...were you not?"
"Well yes...but..."
"Then I am here. Come let us be seated." Indicating a fallen tree, Kirano seated himself on the mossy bark and waited for Wendy to follow.
"Firstly...this is not your fault...at least not in the way you perceive it to be."
"But my kiss..." Wendy interrupted only to have Kirano hold up his hand.
"That was inevitable from the moment the Pan first saw you. You were a creature he could not dismiss, or banish or ignore. You were what he had been waiting for."
"I was?"
"You are also what he needs now to 'fix', as Elosia put it so crudely, him now."
"But I don't know what to do."
Kirano caught her eye and gave her a level stare, Wendy finding herself abashed by his candid look. "All you have to do, Pan's Lady, is to love him."
"But surely..."
"Just love him...stay with him...be to him all that he has never had."
Feeling a lump in her throat, Wendy stared down at her hands. "I don't know if I can...I'm not old enough for all this."
"So you purport, and so you continue to excuse yourself...but is it really the truth? When you made the decision to leave him the first time and return to your world, was that the decision of a child? Did you wantonly want to hurt him, hurt yourself?"
"No...I-I felt it was the right thing to do."
"Then why are you fighting your heart now...you are not a fool. You have willingly embraced your decision to grow up, something men and women who reach their dotage are still unable to do...your body is a reflection of what you feel in here," He pointed towards her chest, "and in here..." He pointed to her head. "When the two are in harmony then what age you are is irrelevant."
Seeing the indecision still puckering her brow, Kirano huffed to himself. " Do you think that to be grown up is just about wearing elaborate clothes and having pretty manners? Growing up means accepting that you are not the only person in this world, that what you do impacts on everyone around you. Growing up is accepting responsibility for your deeds and your feelings, and the affect they have on those you love and care for." Kirano paused, letting his word sink in.
"What must I do?" Wendy asked, raising her head.
"Do you love him?"
"I...yes."
"Then you are already half way to bringing him back. His memory will return in time. The more he shares with you, the more he will trust you and come to love you. The Pan has had little to hold onto, you are his lodestone, his evening star."
"What happened Kirano...to Neverland, to the fairies to everything?"
"You race ahead of yourself Pan's Lady...suffice to know that you are already effecting a change and life is returning where once it was gone."
"I am...where, what has returned?"
Giving her a broad grin Kirano pointed to himself. "Do not underestimate the ability of one person to change a world."
Wendy tried to understand, her hands clasped in her lap and clenching convulsively.
"Will I ever go home again?"
The little man regarded her gravely, his brown eyes sympathetic.
"You do not ask the right question. If you are asking if you will see your parents and brothers again...only time will tell. If you are asking permission to run away and hide like a child from your feelings and your situation...to run away from the Pan? That will never be given. Nothing that has happened has been by chance and the future is not always clear...your future, and the future of this place and the Pan are, and always have been, in your own hands. Have a gentle touch."
Wendy regarded the calm brown eyes with a shrewd look.
"I think, Kirano...that you are a master of dissembling."
"Why do you say that, Pan's Lady?"
"You give me hope but tell me very little of what I should do. You expect me to accept that I can never go home, but say that I might see my family again...it's all so jumbled." Wendy raised her hands helplessly. "I need time to think about it all."
Hopping off the log, Kirano stood leaning against his staff looking up at Wendy.
"Just remember to listen to you heart Pan's Lady...it will guide you."
Turning on his heel Kirano marched off, his glossy top knot swaying as he walked. Glancing down at her hands Wendy looked up again and found him gone.
Surprised, Wendy slid from the trunk and stared in the direction she'd last seen him. There was nothing to see or hear to indicate the little savage man had been talking to her only seconds before.
A rumble from her stomach reminded her that the sun was climbing in the sky and the morning well advanced. She felt apprehensive facing Peter, but Kirano's words repeated themselves endlessly in her head. "All you have to do is love him." Feeling completely out of her depth, Wendy scuffed her way along the path towards the tree house, unaware that her slow progress was being keenly observed from above.
Before she had reached out a hand for the vine to open the door Peter let out a whoop and swung down to the ground, landing nimbly in front of her.
"Going somewhere?" He asked, adjusting his pack over one shoulder.
"Well...to get some breakfast actually."
"Nope...it's on the run this morning...have you forgotten I said I'd show you where the ship went down?"
"No...I hadn't forgotten...but after last night..." Wendy eyed him apprehensively. Lifting his free arm he ran his hand over his head in a gesture that was becoming familiar to Wendy as a sign that Peter was not entirely comfortable with the conversation.
"Well...last night was last night..." Peter said dismissively. "I've packed food and drink and a change of clothes...lets get going."
Shaking her head at his lightning change of mood, Wendy turned to follow him as he led the way out of the grove and along the path to the beach. Halfway along he veered to the left down a half hidden track which almost at once started to climb.
"This will take us over the headland and into the next bay." Peter explained, passing her a hand of banana's which she munched as she walked.
"Why didn't you build a home over there? Surely it must have been arduous carting all that stuff over to this side."
"I was able to ferry most of it on the outrigger, there's a narrow channel that you can't see unless you're on top of it."
"Oh...so you brought it all around by sea."
"And there were reasons why the other cove wasn't suitable...you'll see why."
They walked on in silence for a little way, the path opening out and leaving the trees to wind over the exposed headland and almost to the cliff edge. The view was magnificent, Wendy able to see all of Peter's cove clearly as well as the start of the mountain range behind them and a long stretched of the coastline in either direction. Breathing deeply she lifted her face to the sun, watching the flashes of white as sea birds hovered and swooped along the cliff edge before dipping down to fish in the sea below.
"This really is a beautiful place Peter...so clean and free."
"And empty..."
Hearing the note of sadness in his voice she impulsively reached for his free hand, curling her fingers around his. "It's not so empty Peter...I'm here...Kirano is here..."
"But for how long?" Peter retorted, looking away from her and out towards the expanse of ocean surrounding them.
Wendy drew in a deep breath and let it out. "I'm not leaving here...not leaving you Peter..."
"You said you wanted to go home...it's all you do seem to want."
Tugging at his hand she made him turn and face her. "Peter I had no choice about coming here... there was no warning, no preparation. Of course I'm upset about it and worried about my family...they will be worried about me, don't you see? But I...I think now...that I wanted to be here...have always wanted to return to this place...return to you. I just didn't realize how much before now."
"Do you really mean that? You want to be here?"
"Yes...yes I do...but I still also want to find out what happened...to you and the other creatures and people that used to be here."
Peter was staring at her intently, trying hard to read the truth in her face, in her eyes. "Then let's get moving...the tide will be on the way out when we get there, and at its lowest, the best time to search for the wreck."
Suddenly flashing a brilliant smile Peter turned and started to walk, Wendy's hand still held tightly in his own.
Slightly stunned and breathless from the force of that smile, Wendy could do no more than follow his lead, a smile lighting her own face as a great weight seemed to lift off her shoulders, her decision made.
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TBC...