Chapter 2 - Into Neverland

Wendy startled herself awake in the middle of the night when the sky was impossible to read for time. Not exactly black, but not blue, either. Instead, a translucent grey spread as far as she could see. It was the kind of sky that would blend into the sea if she was on a ship looking for the horizon. Even the stars only managed faint twinkles through the eerie night shade, but Wendy thought it beautiful. She shivered from the chilled air blowing through the open window, but she didn't move. She wanted to watch that sky forever, and even if she felt like getting up, sleeping in such a cramped position had left her sore.

But the aching in her limbs didn't stop her from sitting bolt upright when she saw a flash in the sky among the countless miles of stars. Her small hands clutched the sill until her knuckles whitened and she leaned dangerously far out the window as if, somehow, it would give her a better look at what had happened. Her mind buzzed with scenario after scenario: perhaps it was a star spirit falling from the window of her fiery carriage; or maybe it was a ship that could float in the air; could it be an angel?

Dozens of ideas crossed her mind, except the one that she barred. She avoided wondering if it was Peter, even though she knew the moment she saw the spark that it was familiar to her because she'd seen it only once before. Too many springs had passed without him honoring his promise for her to let that hope into her heart again. Trying to avoid thinking of things that would only sadden her, Wendy stood up to close the window. Her body felt stiff and she winced more out of aggravation than pain. Yawning, she allowed herself to stretch from toes to scalp and she raised her arms above her head. As her back arched and her bones cracked, she let out a sigh that quickly turned into a yelp when she heard a familiar voice ring through the greyness.

"Wow, Wendy, you make old person noises and everything!"

"Peter!"

In a magnificent display of agility, Peter Pan swooped in through the window, spun several times around the ceiling, and landed directly in front of Wendy. Chest out, arms bent, fists on his hips, he stood as proudly as ever, except for one thing: he looked extremely perplexed that, since Wendy had grown into a young woman, he'd had to crane his neck to peer up at her. "It's worse than I thought," he said, actually looking hurt.

Wendy, having already had her fill of other people appraising her, grated her teeth and crossed her arms at her chest. "I didn't do it on purpose, Peter. Growing up happens to all of us," she sighed, adding "except you" to please him. "What on earth are you doing here, Peter?"

"It's spring!" Extraordinarily pleased with himself, Peter did a backflip that landed him on her old bed and held his arms wide open. "I promised!"

"Peter…" Wendy felt her heart break a little at his innocence and her own all those springs ago when she was still little and full of hope that he'd return. Why couldn't she still be like that? Did she really want to be, though? She stepped closer to the bed, smiling softly. "Peter, it's summer; spring has passed. I'm afraid several springs have passed."

"It's spring in Neverland!" Peter's little body hummed with excitement; he flipped over her head onto the floor behind her, grabbing her hand to spin her around. "There are new Lost Boys you've not met. Please, Wendy. Please come back! We're all out of stories." Every inch of him quivered with excitement as he bounced from his heels to his toes and even the points of his ears twitched.

"Might I even be able to go back now, Peter? Am I not too old?"

"I say you're not, and I make the rules!" The look on Peter's face as he spoke was so confident and self-satisfied that Wendy almost admonished him for it, but that would only prove she was too grown up, and she wasn't willing to admit that to herself or to him. "Can you still fly, Wendy?"

"Oh," she said. "I don't know. I remember how to fly, er, the mechanics of it. But I don't know if I can still actually do it."

"All you need to do is remember. Think the happiest thought you have, and you'll be right up in the air again!" Peter made circles above her as he said this, hands behind his head and ankles crossed as if he were lying on a bench.

Wendy struggled to keep her composure. She could go back to Neverland if she wanted to. That was the trouble, of course, whether or not it was what she really wanted. Could she run away again? Her hesitation seemed to annoy Peter; he stood in front of her again, sulking and impatient. It occurred to Wendy that she might not want to go back for that very reason. Peter's tantrums and whims had been difficult enough when they were the same age. How would she manage them now?

"Come on, Wendy! You can come back, and we'll have adventures in the jungle, and fight pirates, and tease the mermaids, and—"

"Pirates?" Wendy leaned against a post on her old bed. "Are there still pirates?"

Peter grinned broadly and nodded his head. "Sure, loads of them! Hook didn't take long getting a—"

"Hook?"

"Grownups sure do interrupt a lot," huffed Peter, but he continued, "Hook is back. It seems he cut himself out of that croc before it could digest him. We found its body on the beach one day, and boy did it stink! You should have seen it, Wendy!"

Wendy grimaced and held up her hand to stop him from describing it, not only because it was disgusting, but also because she was much more interested in Hook's return. She wished the news that he was alive could do something to ease her remorse, but she almost felt worse. He'd been alive all along probably believing that she'd helped murdered him, and who was to say she hadn't?

Maybe it was silly of her to assume that Hook thought about her constantly, but he did have an obsessive personality. After all, he was out to get Peter, wasn't he? But that truth only begged the question of why he was so obsessed. Wendy wasn't willing to believe it was as simple as it seemed when she was twelve. She would like to ask Peter about it, but he wouldn't be very forthcoming, at least not with anything that wasn't extremely biased. If he even remembered. She doubted asking Hook was an option, but maybe she could find out somehow. More than anything having to do with Hook, though, Wendy realized she simply wanted to go, at least for a little while. If she found out more about her long-time interest, so be it, but at least she wouldn't have to deal with courtship. Not yet, anyway.

Peter's patience, the very small amount of it there was, had hit its limit. "Wennnndyyyyyy…"

"I'll go, Peter. I'll go back to Neverland with you."