1901:

Even though a few days had passed since his fight with Hook ended, Peter still couldn’t believe where he was. He was now sitting in the captain’s chair of Hook’s ship, the Joly Roger! Tink flew up to his shoulder. “Still think you can control this baby? Quite an upgrade from our last ship.”

“In just a few moments I will have finished uploading all my data so I may operate with ease.”

“This ship is way better than the old one!” John yelled from behind. Peter turned to see Michael and John sparring with the swords he got them. Each one had their name branded on the hilt, a type of going away gift.

“Yeah that one was kind of smelly!” Michael yelled as he slashed toward John.

“Hey!” Peter yelled offended. “Sure it wasn’t as big as this ship, or as advanced, and this one has less rats, but that was my home! This one…not sure if it feels like it yet.”

“You’re just upset that it doesn’t have that guy smell your old ship was so famous for.” Wendy appeared from the cargo bay, still wearing her blue tactical armor Peter picked out for her earlier. Though she was only 14, she now had the attitude and presence of an older warrior. Even though she didn’t want to say it, the past few adventures they had really made her grow up.

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll get that smell back in no time!”

“That’s not something to be proud of,” she remarked.

“Why are you still in your gear?” Michael asked. Michael and John had already changed back into their pajamas from when they first left, but Wendy was still in her normal everyday wear for Neverland.

“Yeah, by the time we wake up we’ll be back in London. Wait, are you letting her keep that Peter?” John asked.

“What? That’s not fair! You won’t even let us keep these swords!”

“Whoa! Chill out!” Peter attempted to walk back the argument.

“Yeah I’m just wearing it a bit longer,” Wendy explained. “I want to enjoy these memories. We won’t be back for quite a while.”

“And trust me, when I come back to get you, your swords will be waiting,” Peter reassured them.

“Ugh!” Michael groaned. “Why do we have to go back? We just fought in a war! Real life is going to be so boring!”

“Yes, I agree,” John said. “Why can’t we stay aboard?”

“You can take that up with your sister, boys.” Peter playfully eyed Wendy. “If it were up to me, we’d go on more adventures.”

“Always making me the bad guy I see,” Wendy said rolling her eyes.

“Well if the shoe fits,” Peter grinned.

“We’re going back because it’s the right thing to do. Come here boys.” Wendy knelt down to eye level as the Michael and John approached. “You remember mum and dad, right?”

“Of course!” Michael yelped.

“Why would we forget, it’s only been two days!”

"Well for us it’s been two days, but for mum and dad, it’s been two months. Two months of them thinking we ran away, or were kidnapped. Do you really want them to think that?” Michael and John both frowned, feeling quite ashamed they hadn’t really thought of them. “I don’t even want to imagine the stress we put them under.”

“I guess you’re right.” John agreed. Michael tried to hide a tear that escaped his eye.

“Oh Michael, it’s alright.” Wendy said as she brushed away his tear. “Once we’re back after a day or two, it will be like we never left.” She turned back to Peter. “You said you were going to figure out a reason we were gone for so long, correct?”

“Yeah I’ll figure something out.” Peter clearly hadn’t. To be honest, he didn’t think he actually would have to figure something out. He hadn’t thought they would actually go through with their plan and leave.

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“Don’t worry Wendy,” Tink flew in. “I have already configured a plan that should have a 98% chance of working in our favor.

“See? Tink always figures it out.” Peter accidentally let a small frown come across his face. Wendy caught it, however, causing him to he reverse it. Hopefully he won’t have to explain that later. She looked a tad concerned at him. “How about we go down to the lower deck? Have one last meal before I take you home yeah?” Peter said hoping the change in subject would work.

“Yeah!” the boys screamed luckily. Wendy eyed Peter as the boys darted past him to the ladder taking them to the lower deck. He produced a confused expression, giving the hint that everything was alright and then quickly followed the boys.

Peter enjoyed the dinner as if it would be the last with them. Though they already had spoken about how he would return and take them on another adventure, he had doubts. When he picked them up, he was certain they would never want to return. After all, that’s how he felt when he first came to Neverland.

Michael slurped his soup as John crammed so much meat into his mouth he started choking. Wendy was politely cutting her meat with her utensils, then quickly dropped them coming to John’s aid. He was obviously fine, but her sisterly instincts kicked in.

Perhaps this is why they don’t want to stay, Peter thought. They still have a family, and Peter didn’t. He smiled at them, being a family. He couldn’t mess this up. In the short amount of time he had with them, he had fallen in love with all of them. He thought about their parents and how much they must miss them. Probably more than he will mess them. As much as he hated to admit it, they had to go back.

After their dinner, Peter and Wendy put the boys to bed. He had treated this as a goodbye. By the time they got back to Earth, they would still be passed out and Peter would put them back in their own beds, without ever knowing they left the quarters of the Jolly Roger. It was sad, but he was still remained hopeful he would see them again.

Peter and Wendy walked down the hall. Peter was ready to say goodnight, when Wendy spoke first. “Peter, I need to talk to you.”

“Okay…”

“I noticed you’ve been quite sad lately. Ever since we made the decision to leave.”

“Sad! What? No way! You guys have fun back home. I have a lot to do here. Now that I have this ship and Hook is on the run. I’ll be way too busy for you guys!” Peter felt like a fraud as those words came out of his mouth. Throughout his whole life he never had to mask his emotions. Something about it made Peter feel…off.

“Peter, I can tell you’re lying.”

“Lying? Silly old me? Never!”

“Peter…” Wendy could see right through him and there was nothing he could do about it. “Are you upset that we have to leave?”

“I guess I thought you would stay,” Peter sighed.

“You didn’t expect us to run away from our lives back home did you?”

“Kind of. It’s just when I picked you up, you were so over your parents and your life and I thought you wanted to leave it.”

“God that felt like ages ago. Yes, I did want to leave, but I can’t. Even though it’s only been two days, I see the world differently now. And it wouldn’t be fair to my parents.”

“I know. I’m not upset or anything. I didn’t have anything when I left, so I can’t really imagine what you’re going through.”

“I always wondered, if you don’t mind me asking?” Wendy looked as if she had been wanting to ask this question for years. Peter shrugged, not really knowing what she was going to ask. “Why did you come back? After all those years you were away? Why now and why my house? I guess I was too swooped up in the fascination of the ship and yourself that I never really thought about it.”

“It’s hard to explain. I don’t know. I guess I was upset with Hook and what he turned into. And thought about a life without all of that. Without the pain of what happened with us. And thought back to when I wasn’t aware Neverland existed. So, I returned back to the place I grew up. Back to fun and no worries. Your home was a lot different when I went there. Giant window was still there though.” Wendy took in all that Peter said and knew exactly what he felt. She wanted a getaway and she got hers. But she wasn’t positive Peter did.

“I’m sorry about what happened with you and Hook.”

“Me too.” As Peter spoke, Wendy got a tad closer to him, making him slightly uncomfortable.

“You know, this isn’t goodbye between us,” she said as she got closer.

“I know.” Peter grew increasingly uneasy. Wendy bit her lip and kissed him. Peter quickly broke away and stepped back.

“Whoa whoa Wendy stop!”

“Oh my god I’m so sorry,” Wendy exclaimed as her eyes went wide with bewilderment. “I just thought that. Forget it!” Wendy tried to run away in embarrassment, but Peter pulled her back and kept her at a distance.

“Wendy it’s fine! It’s just that, you’re 14.”

“Yeah I just figured it would be alright. You’re what 17ish?” Peter had to think about that for a moment. He had completely forgotten how old he was.

“It doesn’t matter. It would be inappropriate of me.”

“It’s not that inappropriate. In twenty years, our age difference will mean nothing.”

“I guess, but sorry I can’t,” Peter explained. To be honest he had always viewed Wendy as a sister, but he didn’t want to break that to her. He knew it may hurt her too much. And if enough time had passed between them, hopefully she would forget about it. He felt weird. Just a few moments ago, he would do anything to make Wendy stay. But now, he had hoped she would continue on with her life on Earth, and forget about all of her feelings toward him.

“It’s fine Peter. I’m going to go to bed now. Wake me when we get there?” Peter nodded.

“Goodnight Wendy Darling.” She gave an embarrassed smile and then left to her quarters. Peter felt horrible about what just happened. Maybe he should have just let it happen and lie to her. After all, she’s only a teenager and would surely find someone new on Earth. It would have saved her the grief. He hated that he was thinking about lying to her. But perhaps that would be the best thing to protect her. It would be something that Peter would be very used to doing in the coming years.