Her head hurt. That was the first thing that registered in Wendy's mind when she woke again in yet again a strange new place. She raised her aching arms to her head to find both her wrists and forehead bandaged in clean linen cloth. She was greatly relieved to see that the shackles had been removed but as memories of what had happened before she was stuck on the ship came flooding back she became frightened again. She chanced moving about to assess the extent of her injuries. Sitting up caused a small amount of vertigo but nothing unmanageable. Feeling through the bandages she could feel a large knot formed on the temple which had taken the brunt of the hit but drawing back she was thankful to see there was no blood on her fingertips. Her wrists seemed to have fared worse. As gentle as her movements had been, the bandages were showing a faint pink line as blood seeped through the fabric. Deeming none of her injuries critical she turned her attention to her new surroundings.

The room seemed to be a perfect circle and carved out of wood. She was lying on a large round bed raised on a platform about 6 feet off the main floor that covered about a quarter of the room. Two staircases that hugged the walls lead to the lower portion. She turned to look behind her and to her surprise found a ledge under a large window covered in bouquets of flowers and a small tray with food and beverage. There were berries, tea, water, biscuits and a warm bowl of some sort of porridge. Too famished for caution she devoured the food quickly. But the Englishwoman in her demanded that she take time with her tea. While she sipped she examined the flowers. There were 6 large bouquets of wild flowers, 1 incredibly small bouquet of baby's breath, another of tiger lilies and 1 that seemed to be made up of seaweed and water lilies. The last was a bouquet of 10 of the most perfect white roses she had ever seen. Placing the rough pottery tea cup down she decided it was time to explore the rest of the room to see if there were any clues if this new place belonged to a friend or foe. She slowly slid out of her bed taking her time to not exacerbate any of her injuries.

She wobbled down one of the staircases gripping the handrails hard. Everything in the room appeared to be carved out of a solid block of wood which she knew had to be impossible. Along the right wall of the room there was a small writing desk and on the left a table with two chairs. In the center of the room was an incredible thing. Placed into the floor was a circular pool of water 5 feet in diameter. Behind the pool was a curtained area under the platform where the bed was located. She glanced behind the curtain and found a small dressing area with a collection of dresses and a mirror. Chancing a look at herself she shuttered to see that she was disheveled with blood stains on her nightgown. She bit her lip and looked at the dresses hanging in the room. The all appeared to be in her size. She longed to clean herself but needed to discover who brought her here. She remembered the flying men and the ship. Did they bring her here? If so, were they her rescuers or her new captors? Beginning to panic she whipped around to search for a door.

She found it across the room. Skirting the indoor pond she hurried to her freedom. She pulled the door open and was greeted with the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. A lush green island stretched before her. There was a huge waterfall at the center of the island with a rainbow hovering over it. There were white sand beaches with palm trees, and on the far side in the distance there were snowy white mountains. And surrounding the entire thing was an ocean of pure aqua water. Without even noticing she began to walk toward the beautiful sight. At her third step she lost her balance and began to fall. Only then did she notice the room she had been in was the top of an impossibly tall tree on a cliff. Finally realizing what was happening she let out a futile scream. An iron band wrapped around her waist and she again gazed into the eyes that spoke of knowledge she never knew she had. Her plummet had stopped and the flying man lifted her into his arms and started to fly back toward the tree.

"Wendy are you alright?" He asked landing on a lower branch.

The man was tall, lean but exceptionally strong. A thick shock of curled copper hair spilled across his forehead and about his ears. He was tanned and wore a garment that seemed to be made of only leaves and vines fastened together into trousers. He appeared to be close to Wendy's age.

"Who are you?" Wendy whispered.

The man closed his eyes as if he was in pain.

"So it's true, you don't remember anything." Pausing, he opened his eyes. "I'm Peter."

Peter. Of course he was. Hundreds of hazy images flew through Wendy's mind. Pirates, lost boys, mermaids, fairies, Indians, great beasts. Neverland…

As if he might vanish into mist she tentatively reached her hand up to touch her fingertips to his face. Peter watched her warily but could not help pressing his cheek into her palm.

"Peter Pan." Wendy stated simply.

"Yes." He breathed.

"How do I know you? How do I know this place? And it seems, different. Why does it seem different?"

"That, is a very long story, one that I do not tell as well as Nibs." He looked at her now with a combination of hope and weariness.

Confused Wendy drew her hand away from Peter's face. His expression changed to concern as he noticed the linen on her wrists quickly staining red.

"We need to have the twins look at you. Is it alright if I fly us there? It will go faster."

Completely baffled by what he was talking about Wendy nodded her consent.

He stood with Wendy in his arms and pushed off from the branch. With the grace of a feather caught in a breeze he floated up into the maze of branches protruding from the tree. He stopped at a particularly densely branched area and pushed through an impressively hidden door in the trunk. 4 young men were scattered around a large circular room similar to the one she had woken in. One was thin with long unkempt brown hair and was sitting at a table completely covered with papers scratching away at a scroll with a large quill. Another younger man with a huge mop of curly blond hair was standing in front of a large blackboard writing a series of equations. The other two who were obviously identical twins with hair like rust were bent over a work bench grinding plants with a mortar and pestle. All looked up as Peter entered with Wendy in his grasp.

"Wendy!" They exclaimed.

"The wounds on her wrists have opened." Peter growled at the twins setting her in a chair at the center of the room.

One of the duo instantly splashed his hands with a clear liquid from a bottle and hurried over while the other started plucking items off a shelf near the work area. Moving quickly but gently the first twin began unwrapping her right wrist. She hissed as the last wrapping fell away and exposed her raw skin to the air.

"We are going to need carbolic acid brother. These wounds are deeper than we anticipated." He said gently probing at the cut. Satisfied with the inspection he looked up at her with a smile. "Do you have any numbness in your fingertips?"

"I do not believe so."

"Excellent! None of your nerves have been damaged then." He chirped as he began unwrapping her second wrist.

The second brother came over with a basket of medical equipment and handed the first twin a small bottle and a square of gauze.

"This will sting a great deal but we need to make sure the wound is clean before we stitch it." Explained the second man.

Wendy gritted her teeth as the brothers cleaned her cuts with the stinging liquid and gauze. They also applied a paste that thankfully made the sensation in her burning skin vanish. She watched in awe as they stitched her numb skin together. She was too intrigued by the process to remember to ask questions of who they were or what they were doing. They wrapped both wrists back up with linen and some small wooden dowels immobilizing her hands. "To hold your wrists steady as to not pull the stitches out." They explained together. The entire process had taken less than an hour. All the time Peter stood in the back of the room speaking in hushed tones to the other 2 men. As the twins finished their ministrations the curly headed boy walked out the door they had entered and leapt into the air from the branch. Wendy gasped but then remembered the boys could fly. Hazy memories continued to attempt to resurface.

"Thank you." She said to the twins as they collected their equipment and began returning it to their work space.

"You are very welcome." Replied the first twin, and then turning to Peter said. "She is better now. This should hold much better and heal faster."

"Good." Peter said walking to Wendy.

As he crouched down and softly stroked one of her newly bandaged hands Wendy pleaded "Please Peter. I need answers. I have been nothing but frightened or woefully confused since I was taken from my home. I am not entirely sure that this isn't a dream. I need to know what is happening."

"Sadly you are not hallucinating any of this Wendy. This place and we are very real. We are all happy to provide you with all of the answers we can. There are some things that may not make sense to you but we will make every effort to explain things. Curly is gathering everyone now."

As if by cue 3 men entered the room at that moment. The first was the boy that had left shortly before.

"If it is alright I think we should start with reintroductions." The 7 men gathered around her and sat on the floor.

"Alright."

"As I told you before I am Peter. Some call me Peter Pan." Peter began to gesture about the group. "This is Curly" the blonde that had been working at the blackboard. "Nibs" the thin man that had been writing. "Slightly" this time he gestured to a muscular redhead who was grinning at her. "Tootles" a portly short lad with cropped brown hair who looked up shyly at Wendy behind his long eyelashes. "And then the twins."

"Have you no individual names?" Wendy asked the twin boys.

"We have never needed them," replied the first. "As we are never apart," finished the second.

"Oh, I see." Though she could not imagine being without a name of one's own.

"The rest of the story I will leave to Nibs as he is our chronicler." Peter said stretching his arms out behind him.

Nibs stood and retrieved a large bound book from a shelf on the wall. He returned to his spot on the floor and settled the book in his lap. Opening the first pages he smiled wistfully and glanced up at Wendy, speaking in a low voice he began.

"Once upon a time, there was a boy who would never grow up…"