Disclaimer: None of the characters in the story belong to me! They belong to J.M Barrie. Enjoy! Sorry about the delay in updating, school started again. Sigh, so busy now. Well, hope you like this! I'll probably go back to one-shots soon. Stories are too pressurizing, haha! And thank you all for the amazing review you left me when I woke up this morning. You made my day, not kidding! :)~Nightingalelynx
Summary: In which a new problem arises, and Neverland mourns its losses. Or rather, loss.
Of Tigerlilys and Wendys (Part 3)
Wendy felt an emptiness inside of her chest, an emptiness that she'd heard of countless times in fairy tales but never felt it for herself. She remembered when she told John and Michael stories of broken-hearted heroines, and they all laughed at the sheer stupidity of sitting and moping around.
"If he doesn't love her back then he's not worth her loving him." John had said once, scoffing at the heroine.
"Quite moping, stupid princess," Michael mused once. "Do something to prove yourself."
Now, Wendy felt as if each and every of their careless comments were directed towards her, like purposeful stabs in the back from the ones you love.
She tried to approach Peter at first, thinking that he was angry at himself for losing to Hook and therefore taking it out on those around him. But he was fine with the Lost Boys, if not a little sulky, and he was also fine with Tinkerbell.
No, he was angry at her, no doubt about it.
What had she ever done? Wendy started sinking back into her depressed, moping state of mind that no-one was able to drag her out of. Only Peter. But he didn't care.
Wendy started her third round of tears that morning.
Tinkerbell couldn't think of anything to do. The tension in the hideout was rising to a peak that she really couldn't bear. She needed a plan, fast, but she had no clue of what could solve this situation. If only Wendy would just disappear! Tinkerbell thought bitterly.
Her fairy glow brightened just a bit, lighting up like a light bulb. Disappear… that's it! The tiny fairy girl thought.
Flapping her wings, the little jealous fairy made her way towards Wendy Darling's room, where she knew the girl would be crying her eyes out like every morning.
"Wendy?" The fairy tinkled pleasantly, trying to hide her nervousness, and something else, something deep inside her gut that squirmed and told her over and over again that this was wrong.
"Y-Yes?" A pair of tired, red, blue eyes met the fairy's gaze. The thing in her gut punched her stomach again.
"I'm so sorry, Wendy. About everything." Tinkerbell started carefully. She was never a good communicator… or a good faker. "If you ever want a back-up plan… I'm always here." She tried to seep some sympathy into her voice, but failed. Luckily, Wendy was too busy wiping away her tears to notice.
"Thanks, Tink. I appreciate it," Wendy sniffled, smiling gratefully up at the floating girl who was feeling worse by every word her rival let out. Her honest, kind, caring, pretty, harmless rival.
"-But I don't think anything could help me now." Wendy Darling's voice dragged the common pots-and-pans fairy back to reality.
Tinkerbell stared at the girl solemnly. She flew around the girl in a perfect, golden circle, sprinkling fairy dust, creating a honey-colored tornado. The girl gasped delightfully as she was lifted up into the air, happiness trickling into her at the mere sensation of flying. Then she dropped with a thud.
"Oh, Tink!" Wendy cried, hot tears building up in her eyes, finally spilling over and running down the well-worn paths down her pale face.
The girl and the fairy cried together, for the same reason; Neverland's bright-eyed prince along with all of his charm, cockiness, selfishness, naivety, childishness, and stubbornness.
When Wendy woke up that night, Tinkerbell wasn't in the hideout anymore, neither were any of the boys. They were out having adventures without her. She made up her mind. Steeling herself, the girl packed the little things she had in Neverland, laid out a delightful, wonderful, bountiful feast for the boys along with a note, crying the whole time. Her hand shook as she wrote her goodbye letter.
Her hand slipped, accidentally writing 'Peter' at the end. But it didn't really matter, did it? They would never see each other again. Carefully, she folded the letter up and addressed it.
Lost Boys' Hideout
Neverland
Second star to the right, straight on 'til morning
To: The Lost Boys, John Darling, Michael Darling, Tinkerbell, and Peter Pan.
From: Wendy
Wendy put it on top of the cake she made, so the boys would not miss it.
Wendy put a gift for each child on their beds.
Wendy picked up her bags.
Wendy tried to think of a happy thought.
And tried.
And tried.
And finally, she got one: Peter and Wendy, living happily ever after.
Too bad it was only a wish that would never come true.
Wendy lifted into the air, a little wobbly at first, but making it out of the hideout and into the beautiful, starry night sky of Neverland. She flew, straight on 'til morning.
Of course, Wendy wished to say truthfully that she never looked back, but she did. Many times. Again and again, until Neverland was out of sight. After that, she looked back anyways, wishing this didn't ever happen, didn't need to happen.
Back in the hideout, the boys streamed in, followed by a jubilant and very dirty Peter Pan and a nervous, guilty Tinkerbell, who already knew what had happened.
"Mother! Mother!" The Lost Boys cried, expecting a welcoming hug from their Mother.
A mass search for their missing Mother ensued when no brown-haired girl with hurting, pure blue eyes came to answer their call.
"Mother left us a surprise!" Tootles called, bumping into the dining table stacked high with food.
"I know! We'll make Mother proud by eating dinner, cleaning up, drinking our medicine, and getting ready for bed by ourselves!" Curly cried.
The Lost Boys chorused their approval, causing a scowl to appear on Peter's face.
"I don't care if she's so disappointed in us that she leaves," Peter yelled above the din. "We'll eat dinner and go play again, since she's not here to tell us not to. I'm only going to clean up when she comes back to tell us to. What type of Mother leaves her children?" A mother intending to be something else, Peter thought darkly. Peter Pan really isn't so spiteful, really, but he was still hurting over her betrayal, long after he'd gotten over Tigerlily's similar betrayal.
They ate dinner, tension in the room slowly rising. Where was their mother? It wasn't like her to come home so late. The food was very, very good, though.
"Maybe she got kidnapped by Hook!" The twins suddenly spoke up, causing the table to go deathly quiet.
"Maybe… she's with the Indians!" Nibs consoled Michael, who had started to cry at that thought.
"Maybe she's with the fairies," Curly guessed. "She loves their parties."
Tinkerbell shook her head 'no' at their inquiring gazes. No, she was not at a fairy party. Tinkerbell was pretty sure she knew where Wendy was.
Slightly gasped. "There's only one possibility left; Mother was drowned by the mermaids!"
"NO!" Peter yelled, showing his first true, deep emotion since the defeat at Hook's hands, and the realization of his Wendy-lady's betrayal. He was horrified. He knew he wouldn't be able to bear if it were true, not if he didn't even be able to see her face one last time.
Tinkerbell pulled on Peter's hair, tinkling for him to calm down. He smacked her away like a common fly, and the poor fairy landed on the cake. But to her surprise, she didn't get mushy, sweet cake all over her pretty outfit. No, she'd landed on… a note.
The tiny fairy thought briefly of hiding it, but quickly dismissed the thought when a cannon fired from her gut, hitting her full on and flooding her with guilt. No, Wendy Darling was already gone, there was no need to dishonour her kind, caring, gentle-hearted rival's last wish in Neverland. After all, Tinkerbell wasn't all bad.
"Hey! What's this?" Nibs announced, discover the note. The Lost Boys clambered up around Nibs, fighting for the note.
"Stop it!" John Darling cried with an air of superiority. "Since you all can't read, let me have it, and I shall read it to you all."
The boys grumbled, but consented.
"It's addressed to us," John began. "It says… It's from Wendy!" He said excitedly. "And it's addressed to us, this very hideout!"
"Let me see! Let me see!" The boys started fighting over it again. When the Lost Boys finally calmed down again, John began reading the letter. Everyone crowded around the boy excitedly.
"Dear Lost Boys, Tinkerbell, John, Michael, Peter,
I have decided that Neverland isn't for me, and that I would like to return to London, to my real mother and father.—"Everyone gasped. Peter's eyes grew very wide.
"Do you still remember them, John, Michael? H-How father is brave because he puts his dreams away, in a drawer, and m-mother's calm and gentleness throughout the most horrid things, like-like when I was sick?" John stuttered slightly as he read this.
"I've forgotten my parents!" Michael exclaimed, feeling mute horror. John continued, eyes wide. No one else spoke.
"I hope you like the last dinner I'd made you all, maybe it will cheer you up when you've discovered that I'm gone?" A sob escaped Tootles, but everyone else was still deathly still and silent, hanging on to every word.
"Yes, I'll grow up, but no, I won't forget any of you." John continued, his eyes reading ahead.
No. No, no, no, no, Peter thought mutely. He shoved all the other boys aside and stood beside Wendy Darling's brother to see for himself. The other boys quietly re-positioned themselves.
"Don't forget me, ever, please. Before I go, I'd like to tell my darling boys one last story, just so you'll remember me as your storyteller." Tears pooled in all of the inhabitants of the Hideout's eyes, even Tinkerbell's.
"O-Once upon a time, there was a girl. She was a regular E-English girl, destined to g-grow up to be a proper English l-lady. B-But inside, secretly, she didn't want to grow up. So when a flying boy appeared at her w-window one night, offering to take her to a place where children will never have to g-grow up, she w-went. She had many exciting, wonderful, indescribable adventures there, with the flying, p-proud boy." John kept faltering as he fought back tears.
At this point, John had very much figured out what the story was about, but he kept silent, not wanting to wait to read the rest of the goodbye letter. Oh, yes, the boys knew it was a goodbye letter by now, even the dumbest, slowest of them. Ten noses breathed heavy air onto the slightly soggy paper.
"She stayed as the role of M-Mother to a band of delightful, perfectly sweet boys, called Tootles, Nibs, Slightly, Curly, the Twins, and Peter Pan." With each name, the mentioned boy would give a smile through their tears, delighted that they're in a story, but then they'd burst into tears when they realized why they were named, and what their Mother had called them. Six delightful, perfectly sweet boys were now crying their eyes out onto the outfits their mother had carefully sown for them. John, Michael, Peter, and Tinkerbell stayed in control of themselves, though they were sobbing their hearts out inside.
"There was a slight skirmish with the fairy T-Tinkerbell, who is a good friend to Peter Pan, but she soon realized that the fairy was really quite kind underneath her jealous cover." Tinkerbell sucked in a breath, feeling like a worthless, dirty worm with the whole world weighing on its shoulders.
"I-It was a f-fairy-tale experience." Michael gave in, and began crying just the other boys were.
"But one day, it was so c-clear to the girl that it was time for her to r-return to her h-home and, perhaps, one day, g-grow up." The boys finally realized that the story was about their beloved Mother herself. Tinkerbell crept into her hollow to cry on her own, feeling suffocated under the weight this—this guilt gave her.
"It was in-e-evitable. B-Because one of the a-adventures the girl had in N-Neverland was, well, falling in l-love." The Lost Boys gasped in unison, but fell silent right after, waiting, pleading for the rest of the letter.
"But the boy didn't love her. He refused to grow up, he refused to relent, so he broke her heart. He was oh so very cold and unforgiving towards her, therefore driving her away." John's voice grew harder as he realized what his sister had gone through.
"She returned to London, much to the delight of her real p-parents. She would grow up, she would get a job, she would get… m-married." Peter's heart gave a painful squeeze, and he shut his eyes tight, hoping to drive away this nightmare. "No," he muttered. "Wendy-lady, my Wendy," he moaned painfully. John gave Peter a searching, confused look before returning to the letter.
"But not now. For now, the girl would cry over the boy who refused to love her.
And they lived happily ever after."
The Lost Boys wailed in despair as they realized that was the end of the last story their Mother would ever tell them, and also because the ending… well, it didn't sound very happy at all.
"I'm so sorry I have to grow up," John read, skipping the one crossed out word in the letter. Peter.
"I'm sorry, Wendy Moira Angela Darling."
Neverland grew silent for one fleeting minute as the Lost Boys digested what they had heard.
"NO!" Peter screamed, his pained, broken voice reverberating through all the inhabitants of Neverlands' heads. Hook slipped and dropped his treasure, Smee woke up on his watch and banged his head on a wooden bar, the Chief was shocked out of his calm meditation, Tigerlily missed the rabbit she was trying to shoot, the Mermaids sucked in a mouthful of water in a rare fit of un-gracefulness…
But none of them were as badly affected as Peter. The others saw the change in him almost immediately. His bright eyes grew dull with grief, his proud shoulders slumped, and the poor boy curled up into himself, crying over something he caused.
"Wait," John choked out through his tears. "There's one more word to the end of the sentence. It actually reads… I'm so sorry I have to grow up, Peter."
The mentioned boy's head jerked upwards, revealing his tear-streaked, once-careless and heartless face. The ones left behind mourned. Far away, in London, in her room, Wendy Darling also mourned.
Poor Tinkerbell. She really just wanted to have Peter's attention, and when that ended in a disaster, she really just wanted to fix what she caused, but it keeps spiralling down… Nothing the little fairy did seemed to work!
To fix it, or not to fix this disaster, Tinkerbell thought, wanting to scream in frustration.
Oh no! How will things get better between Peter and Wendy if she's not even there!
Woot woot! 2,640 words! That's 9 pages on Microsoft Word!
Apologies if you think this chapter is too dark, but I promise it'll get better in the next chapter, which will be up in a few days. I just needed to add a little hopelessness into the story. Thanks for reading! Drop a review if you have time, even if you've reviewed before!
Thanks again, ~ Nightingalelynx