A Long Goodbye
The Queen tried to stare him down, thinking that this decision was not a decision at all, but a whim of his careless mind. She watched his every movement for a sign of play but she really couldn't find one. He stood before her on one knee and a hand on his dagger as determined as never seen.
"You do realize that all children must grow up."
"Yes."
"Except one."
"Yes."
"So no matter if you exist beyond the confines of the Never Never Land, you will not age."
His answer, although not as immediate, was the same as before. "Yes."
The Queen sighed a sigh of power, anger and misery. "My boy. She will grow and you will not. She will shrivel up and wither away, and you will not."
"I know all that well."
"And even though your mind is as slippery as rocks at the bottom of the Mermaid's Lagoon, so many years will stay buried in your heart."
That, he did not know and the Queen grew hopeful when she saw the wave of doubt flash on his face and settle in his eyes. But he took a breath and it was gone. "If it has to be."
"This is not at all like you." The Queen stomped her scepter's tip on the ground. Although but a tiny twig to Peter's ear, the sound was as deep and heavy as a log shattering the iced lake. "Have you been bewitched?"
"No, I have not."
But she knew better. Yes he had. By a sorceress that knew not the full hold of her powers. "If you wish it, then I cannot keep you. Your world will be here for you when you return, but I fear that its never changing surfs and forests, mountains and waters will never feel the same again."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Peter bowed his head and left. That night, he arrived at No. 14 and knocked not on the window, but on the door. Wendy's eyes sparkled with delight as she hugged him most inappropriately according to her father.
"Peter, will you always stay with me then?" Wendy asked later in the night as the two sat on the rooftop of the sleeping house.
"For as long as you stay with me."
Wendy gave him one of those simple smiles he had grown to need, but he did not use it. He stored it away for later, when there would be none to ease him into sleep.
A/N My little doggy passed away this Thursday. I only had him for a year and he came into my life quite unexpectedly. He need a home and I couldn't turn him away. His death was so sudden and I feel cheated out of so many more confused looks and tail wags and flopping ears. But that's the risk all us pet owners take, for we can live up to a century if we're lucky...or unlucky enough, but our dogs and cats and such only have about a decade.