Startled, Peter broke the kiss. 'Where had that come from?' he wondered. "Wendy," he asked, calling her out of her thoughts, "are you ready to go?"
"Uh…yes…yes I am." Wendy replied, shakily.
Peter felt her eyes searching his, searching for some sign that he had changed his mind about staying in London. But Peter was being stubborn. "I'll be back, Tink," he called, and then they took off into the night.
Peter refused to come inside once they reached the Darling house.
"I'll be back, Wendy," he promised. "I'll see you soon."
Wendy shook her head as she watched him fly off towards the second star to the right. "Peter, Peter, Peter," she whispered softly, "what am I to make of you?" Then she shook off her melancholy and went down to greet her family.
"Wendy Moira Angela Darling," her mother proclaimed as she descended the stairs, "you are in heaps of trouble." She caught her daughter in a hug, then held her out at arms' length.
"Heaps," shouted Nibs.
"Heaps and heaps," shouted the twins.
"Yes, quite," said Mr. Darling.
"I truly am sorry," Wendy said, hugging her mother, "I just had unfinished business that I needed to attend to. I'm sorry for worrying you."
"We shall deliver her punishment, Mother," Michael stated seriously. "Come on, lads. Bring the prisoner up the stairs."
Mr. and Mrs. Darling laughed as they watched the rambunctious boys dragged their sister up the stairs to their room.
"She's in for it now," Mrs. Darling said.
"They'll give her quite the lecture for going off without them, and then will make her tell story after story."
"She'll love it just as much as the boys will."
"Should we be worried, my dear?" Mr. Darling asked. "About her leaving again."
"I don't think so. Oh she might go back for a visit, but I know my daughter. The adventures she seeks are much like mine, only with a little more travel thrown in. I don't think we have anything to fear," she said, smiling at her husband and kissing his cheek in adoration.
"Well then, let's go enjoy her stories. Shall we?" And with that, Mr. Darling escorted his wife up the stairs to join their children.
Peter, meanwhile, was struggling. He felt like he was at war with himself. He knew that he was happy…was content at home in Neverland, but…something told him that content was not enough. But still, Peter was stubborn, and refused to even consider giving an inch.
However, while Peter was refusing to deal with his inner turmoil, Nick was experiencing the opposite. He knew what he wanted and set about getting it: that very same evening, he and his crew set sail for London.