Peter Pan Imagines (Once Upon a Time)

The Plan

You are alone in the forest when you first hear it. You know the woods and glens of Neverland like the back of your hand; there is no sound here that you do not recognize. All the same, the patter of these specific footsteps through the woods is somehow unfamiliar. It isn't Peter, it isn't Felix or any of the other Lost Boys. In fact, you have no idea who it could be.

You weren't anticipating any new arrivals to the island. Peter makes a point of telling you whenever someone new comes to Neverland, and you've received no word from him as of late. In fact, the island has been almost blissfully uneventful for the last few months. No one comes, no one goes. Neverland continues on.

It doesn't really matter, though. If there was anything on the island that meant you harm, anything new that you should know about, Peter would have told you. That's the way the two of you work. So, you return to your sitting position, lean back against the trunk of a gnarled oak tree, and resume your activities from before.

Right now, you're sharpening your knives, the whetstone the perfect size for your palm. You only have one blade left, and after you're certain that it's razor-sharp, you hurl it at a tree a matter of yards away from you, just to make sure. The knife thuds into the wood, precisely where you'd aimed it. Perfect.

The strangest part is that another sound echoes through the forest at the exact moment you throw the knife. It sounds a little like a gasp of surprise. Startled, you rise to your feet, whirling around to see the figure of a girl emerging from the woods behind you. At first, this sight makes no sense at all. You're the only girl amongst the Lost Boys, the only girl on the island.

Except that's not quite true, is it? There's another girl, albeit one you've forgotten about. Wendy Darling has been on the island for a while now, taken hostage to convince her brothers to help Peter with various plots and plans. All this time, she's been in a cage in the deeper thickets of Neverland, and although the girl standing before you is clearly not under lock and key, it's still Wendy.

You look at her suspiciously. You've been to visit Wendy a few times since she arrived on the island, mainly as requested by Peter to convince you that there are good people on Neverland, and she's never struck you as the type to escape. You don't think that she could have gotten out of her cage and over to you without Peter noticing, but you never know.

Wendy must be able to tell what you're thinking, because she laughs quietly, the sound as clear as a church bell. "Peter finally let me out. Isn't that wonderful? He said that he knew John and Michael would do just fine, even if I wasn't technically a hostage anymore."

You nod slowly. "So he just let you out?" Something about this seems odd. Peter Pan is not the type for reconciliation. Once he makes his choice, he keeps to it. There's no way he'd just let Wendy go, yet he did.

Wendy beams. "He did! I didn't know what to think at first, but it's true."

She looks at you with wide eyes, as if expecting you to tell her she's being foolish for trusting Peter's word. However, if she were a fool, you'd be madder than a Hatter. You've been following Peter for what must be years now, and he's never led you astray.

So, you just smile back at her. "That's excellent news, Wendy. I'm glad we get to move forward." As the words come out, you realize that you're being sincere. It would be nice to have another girl on the island, and as naïve as Wendy sometimes seems, her kindness is refreshing.

Wendy clasps her hands together. "Oh, I was hoping you'd say something like that. Shall we be friends?"

You laugh in spite of yourself. "We're going to be excellent friends. You just have to promise me one thing."