Author Note: I came up with this idea late last night, so I decided to go with it. The story will be a one-shot, set five years after Wendy's return from Neverland, and any feedback you can give me would be great. Hearing from readers always brightens my day! I hope you enjoy it. Thanks in advance!
Someone Else's Arms
If anybody from her past were to take a good look at Wendy Moira Angela Darling at this point in her life, they would realize that more than merely her appearance had changed.
Each night, she stood in the nursery, long after the boys had gone to bed, and waited by the lonely, open window, though nobody ever came. She was certain that he had forgotten her, and if not, had reduced her to merely a fragment of his thoughts. She would only see his playful smile again in her dreams.
She was no longer the lively young girl with a thirst for adventure. She had evolved into the most dazzling of all beauties, as her family had always expected of her. She was beginning to come of age, and attending balls and other events often occupied her evenings. Young men were very much intrigued by her wit and charm, but little did they know that behind those pretty brown eyes were tears just waiting to fall. Marriage proposals from the finest and undoubtedly the worthiest of all men would soon be made; one day, she knew, she would have to choose between them.
But she longed for more than the life she currently led; more than the glamour and the parties and the need for perfection. Every night before sleeping, she wondered if, nearly five years before, she had made the correct decision in returning to this regal, wretched place. Only one man held the key to her heart, but he was no man – he was only a boy; a wonderful flying boy.
She stood beside her window, watching the stars for any irregularities. Second star to the right, and straight on till morning, she often thought to herself, as she waited for the boy she loved to whisk her off to the place he called home, to bring her back to the land of fairies and pirates and flying and enchantment – but he never came. After what seemed like an eternity, standing and waiting and yearning, she would always sigh and sit down at her youngest brother Michael's bedside. There she would stroke his hair and wish in her heart that he never lose that sense of innocence he still held inside.
That night, as she underwent her usual routine, she looked up for a moment, and noticed an extra shimmer in the sky. She sat still to watch for a recurrence of this, and when it did take place, she returned to the window in hopes of seeing it again.
As she waited, she sensed the hands of time coaxing her back toward her own room to sleep, but she disregarded them and closed her eyes here. In her imagination, she could picture the grandeur of that place where it all began, every detail strong and beautiful as it had forever been.
She felt the sensations of this world of purity and youth as her mind relived every blissful moment she spent there. Even now, she could feel herself being lifted toward the sky, as though flying.
"Don't cry, Wendy," a voice whispered to her, and only then did she realize that her eyes had, indeed, welled up with tears. "Please don't cry."
She opened them then to find herself floating outside the nursery window, a gold glistening light surrounding her and a familiar flying boy. Though she could not believe the sight as anything more than wishful thinking, she wrapped her arms around him tightly, and then moved back to take a good look at him.
He was the same as she remembered him; nothing had changed in his countenance. The difference between then and now was that before, they were both young – but this time, she was nearly a woman. The thought of this was not so much disturbing as it was saddening for her.
She felt her eyes water again, but she did not want to cry this time. "Is- is it really you?" she asked him finally, studying his face for any discrepancies. Please don't let this be a dream, she pleaded in her mind, as this was the very person she longed to be with for the past five years.
He tossed her a sly grin and nodded. "I'm the best there ever was!" he told her, taking her hands as they ascended higher into the sky and out of plan view. They flew up to the roof of a lofty building, and sat there together. He wanted to take her to sword-fight or to tell him stories, but when he saw her heart breaking in her eyes, he pulled her close to him. "Why are you sad?" he asked, thoroughly confused.
She smiled bitterly and sighed. "Because of everything," she replied, remembering the wondrous times they endured together, and how her life had proceeded to fall apart shortly after her return. "Mostly because of you, Peter, because I've missed you so."
He tilted his head to the side and really looked at her. "Aw, Wendy!" he exclaimed. "You don't have to be sad now! You don't have to miss me! I'm here."
She sighed again and squeezed his hand for comfort. "But why, Peter? Why now, after all of this time?"
"Neverland is lonely with just me and Tink," he responded, his voice now serious. "I wanted you to come away with me. I wanted to see you again."
She cocked her head to the side. "Five years have gone by, Peter. I've changed."
He squinted at her, and shook his head. "You'll always be the same Wendy to me."
In his eyes, she now saw her own reflection in a brighter light – and oddly enough, she saw herself five years younger once more. She smiled. "You make me young, Peter Pan."
"You are young!" he laughed, and suddenly they heard the stars beckon them with their twinkling song. He slowly rose from the rooftop, and into the air, where he bowed to his friend. "May I have this dance, my lady?"
She giggled, as she might have done as a young girl. She stood up slowly and swept into a graceful curtsy, one she had perfected over the years. "You may," she replied, holding out her hand. As their dance led them into the night sky, she closed her eyes and let the magic take them away.
They waltzed, and he felt perfectly at ease. "I understand now," he said finally.
She opened her eyes to find them back at the nursery window. "What do you understand?" she inquired, unsure of what he was speaking of.
He smiled. "I understand that you can't come away with me to Neverland as much as I can't stay here and grow up. And I know this is where you need to be."
Her eyes welled with tears once more. "I want to go with you, Peter. You must know that I do. I would love to leave this and just go with you, but I feel somewhat close to this wretched place. And I-"
"You've got," he interrupted, "my Lost Boys to take care of, along with your brothers."
She smiled slightly. "Perhaps that is what binds me here."
He held her hand tight in his. "I also wanted you to know – even when I'm not here, I'm always with you. You know that, right?"
As they hovered outside the nursery window, somehow in her heart she knew his words would hold true throughout her life.