Hello lovelies! Just a quick note before takeoff...this little ditty is headed to its conclusion soon. Considering it was supposed to be a one-shot, I'm okay with that. ;) And I'm not going to apologize for the time it's taken to get this story finished. Real life sometimes gets in the way. Be patient, anonymous reviewers who demand an update.
Where were we? Yes, right here...
She worried. When Peter was gone, she wondered where he was-off without a word and back before dark. Wendy fiddled with unimportant things when he was in the hideout, rearranging the kitchen or the trying to keep the Boys from stamping in the dirt. Where would he disappear to in the day, without so much as an invitation for her to come along? Had Tiger Lily captivated his gaze? And for days, her tortured mind teased the worst.
"How was your day," she would ask the moment he dropped onto the wooden bench at the table.
"Oh, it was fine," he would reply, no hint as to his whereabouts or actions for the day.
On the fourth day after Peter had brought her home from her nest, Wendy could not, no-would not, stay cooped up for another moment. She waited for him to ask her to join him and was not impressed with his chaste kiss to her cheek, despite the tittering giggles from the Boys. Peter swung up out of the door and disappeared. Wendy waited half a minute before gathering a knife from the wall into her waistband. How odd the blade looked against the tattered her threadbare dress. She could be reclining in comfort, but looked to the grubby, small trio before her.
"Boys?"
"Yes, Mother?" They stretched their necks tall.
"We are going on an adventure today!" She pitched her voice up and clapped her hands. Wendy had to make them believe it was an adventure, not a spying expedition.
Bean gathered his slingshot and pouch of stones. Squish slung a bow and quiver across his back. Boo wielded his wooden sword.
"Away we go, my boys!"
They tromped through the forest, noisy feet and movements. Maybe Peter could hear them and would come. But he did not.
Wendy knew where she wanted to head for answers, but didn't know which direction. "Which one of you can get us to Captain Smee?"
"Why would we go see that hump-a-lump-a blubber?" Bean's face scrunched together.
This would not do. They needed...motivation. "If you can get me to Captain Smee before lunchtime, you will not have to scrub behind your ears before bed AND I'll tickle your backs when it is time to sleep." The Boys loved when she ghosted her nails across their brown backs, twisting and shuddering as the goosebumps raced down their arms, then legs.
With whoops of joy, the trio tore down a path, doubling back to make sure Mother had not lost her way. Although she tried to keep track of the turns, Wendy was utterly lost, completely dependent on the scampering boys who occasionally stopped to plop a mushroom into their mouths or argue about the quickest route.
"We should stop by the Lagoon first." Squish shot an arrow into the trunk of an innocent tree.
Boo swung at an invisible target. "He never goes there!"
"Skull Rock first," declared Bean, with an air of finality. "He hasn't left there in a long, long time."
Somewhere down a trail, as Wendy hiked her skirt over her knees to pass over a decaying log, Boo's lithe hand snaked into hers.
"Mother," he whispered, "Why do you need to go see Captain Smee? Peter doesn't know where we've gone."
Under John's top hat, Peter's haggard face tilted up from the table of the Captain's cabin. Even by the fading light, his eyes looked painfully bloodshot. "Wendy," he breathed, pushing his weight up from the chair with his arms.
"I...I'm sorry to disturb you." She'd come to find Hook's old books herself. "I had no idea you'd be here."
"Of course I have." Through the crack of exhaustion, his cockiness shone bright. "I needed to find something out."
"Oh? What were you looking for? Maybe I could help." Gone was her mission to find how to out how Hook traveled between both worlds. If Peter wasn't going to return any wealth to her family after she abandoned them, she would do it herself...later.
Peter's cheeks turned a brilliant pink and his words tumbled out in quick succession. "I've already found it, thank you."
"If you've found it, what were you reading?" Wendy advanced a step before he slapped the cover shut.
"Nothing."
"You are being difficult. Just show me."
His chin lifted. "Peter Pan doesn't have to show anything to anyone."
"Peter Pan certainly does if Peter Pan still plans on marrying Wendy Darling." She shoved her hands to her hips, pronouncing his name like a curse.
Shoulders drooping, Peter's chin dropped to his bare chest. He rolled his head back and forth, eyes closed. "I'm trying to learn how to become a proper husband."
The shock of his words made Wendy's snappish attitude melt away. "Peter," she whispered, moving to touch his elbow. "I had no idea. I just...you've left us alone for days now. I didn't know if you'd changed your mind or...maybe...gone to visit...Tiger Lily." The last two words nearly stuck in her throat. She felt so foolish.
He chuckled low in his chest. Dirty fingers traced the worn corners of the book before stilling. "She's got nothing on you. You're the girl from the window. Red-Handed Jill. My Wendy Bird." His thumb rose to stroke the inside of her wrist. "Why are you looking for?"
"Besides you?" She glanced to the book on the table. Wendy made out the word LOVE in scrolling calligraphy before Peter flipped it over. "I'd hoped to find a way to travel back to give my family a comfortable living."
"Oh that little thing? Smee told me that days ago."
"Yet here I am because I've been left at the hideout for days."
Behind them, through the door, miniature feet scrambled across the deck before Smee's muffled yells chased them. Peter looked at the door over Wendy's shoulder. "I've been trying to make it perfect."
Wendy crouched next to the table, her skirt pooling around her ankles. "To make what perfect?"
When Peter finally tore his gaze from the door and looked at Wendy, she was grateful to be near to the floor, for her heart started stammering. Or maybe it stopped. "I'm not very good at this," he finally offered, his head dipping towards hers.
Though she tried, Wendy could not keep her eyes open when their lips met. She leaned forward, her blind hands moving with her body until they snaked around his neck. Deep inside, something horrid yet perfectly wonderful prodded her on. When she finally broke for a gasp of air, Wendy breathed his name. Their foreheads tipped together and she chose to keep her eyes closed, in case the moment was spoiled. "I'd say you are much improved."
Even with her eyes closed, she felt Peter's smile and cracked her eyelids open in time to watch his Adam's apple bob up and down. "Not that," he rasped. "Though I think I'll get better with more practice."
Wendy dropped her head, if only to hide her smile. Truly, her lack of embarrassment was shocking. She didn't try to stop looking further down his chest, following the lines of his muscles, to the dips where his hips disappeared into the waistband.
"But we will have adventures, right?" Peter Pan's voice sounded very small at that moment.
Wendy looked up, their noses nearly touching. "Ever so many."
His eyes bounced between hers. "And you love me?"
"As long as I can remember."
He grin tipped sideways. "I've hypnotized you."
Wendy smiled back, her lips moving agonizingly close to his. "Oh, but I think you have it backwards, Peter." She reached and pulled John's hat from Peter's head.
"This grown-up stuff. It's harder than I thought it'd be."
She simply nodded, remembering, aching for the innocence of being thirteen again. Wendy leaned forward until her lips grazed his earlobe. "Forget them, Peter."
Peter held his breath.
"Forget them all. Come with me where we'll always do grown-up things together."
