My Neverland

~5~

My bed was moving. Why was it moving?

"Come on, Wendy! We're gonna go meet Micky Mouse!" Lia whined, jumping on my bed.

Right. Disneyworld. We were actually going there today. "Calm down, Lia. We're getting there just in time for the parade, so you can see a lot of people at once!" I gently pushed her off the bed. "Can I get dressed now?"

Lia skipped away. I sighed and stared at my outfit possibilities.

We were going downstairs for the buffet breakfast the hotel provided, then get to know the hotel better. We were eating at the attached restaurant for lunch, and arriving at Disneyworld a couple minutes before the 3:00 parade so we could get good seats.

There was a small knock at the door. "Wendy? You almost ready?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, just give me a second." I threw on denim shorts and a long sleeved white shirt with Peter Pan and Wendy flying off to Neverland together. Grabbing grey sandals, I walked out to where everyone was waiting. "Let's get this vacation started."

After a delicious lunch of spaghetti and an outfit change for Lia, we were ready to go to Disneyworld. I grabbed my sunglasses and we loaded into the car. I carried a small bag with a shoulder strap. It contained money, my phone, my iPod, and a small water bottle to battle the heat. "Now Lia, I need you to stay by either me, Daddy, or Wendy at all times, okay? No running off. There are a lot of people here and we don't want to lose you." My mom was explaining all the rules. "Wendy, if you want, you can look around by yourself while we're looking at stuff for Lia's age, but don't get lost, and keep your phone on at all times." Mom now addressed me.

I nodded. "Got it." We slowed slightly to look at the entrance, a giant sculpture of Micky and all his friends. We were finally there. "Have fun, Lia!" I waved as I plugged in my earbuds and had a look around. I had about 15 minutes until the parade started, so I went to grab some ice cream. Paying for my Minnie cone, I sat on the curb and watched as families walked around happily. Closing my eyes, I lost track of time until I saw the floats pass by. I had no chance of finding my family, so I stayed where I was to watch.

It was getting hot, and the surrounding people didn't know me and couldn't judge, so I rolled up my sleeves. I saw the main Disney characters go by, followed by the princesses with their respective princes.

Then came Peter Pan. Sadly, I went up and stood by the five year olds to see him walk by. Well, not right by them. That would be strange. I found a sunny spot by myself. While he was high fiving the children, I took the opportunity to allow the underside of my arms some time in the sun. They were insanely pale.

Peter Pan chose that awkward moment to come over and see me. He immediately grabbed my arm and traced the scars with his fingertip. I blushed deeply. Of course, it had to be him who discovered first. I chanced a glance at his face. He was surprisingly angry. "What is it?" I quietly asked.

"Are those scars from pirates? That old Captain Hook can be so thoughtless sometimes. Doesn't even realize what he does hurts! You can come to Neverland with me, and I won't let any marks find your arms ever again." He said quietly, only to me. Did I detect a slight English accent?

"Why do you care?" I whispered.

He leaned in close to my ear. "Scars like that make a person grow up too fast." He gently squeezed my hand and walked away, continuing his parade route, only looking back once. He looked seriously into my eyes before going.

I stumbled backwards, stunned. I pulled my sleeves down. No one else needed to notice. Not caring that I was missing the rest of the parade, I called my mom. "Honey? What is it? I'm missing the parade." She answered hurriedly.

"I know, I just wanted to know where you were so I could watch it with you." I said quickly.

"We're right in front of the key chain place. Oh, Honey, you just missed it! Peter Pan came by and kissed Lia on the back of her hand! She wished you were there to see him, too." Mom gushed.

I panicked. "Oh, that's okay. There'll be more parades." I kind of wanted to see him again, but not with my family. "I found you, bye."

I saw them standing right where she said they were. Lia was getting a hug from the Genie. "Wendy!" She jumped up and hugged me when she saw me standing there. "We got you an autograph book!" She handed me a small book with, you guessed it, Peter Pan on the cover.

I smiled and hugged her tight. "Thanks, kiddo. I love it."

Not much later, the parade ended. We all clapped, then turned to each other. "What do you girls want to do first?" Mom asked.

Lia jumped into my arms. "I wanna go get autographs!" I held her princess autograph book.

"Let's go!" I laughed at her enthusiasm.

First we saw Micky and Minnie, the Donald and Daisy, then Goofy, then Cinderella and some other princesses. Then Lia spotted Pixie Hollow. "I wanna meet Tinkerbell!"

I was scared of who we would find nearby, but I followed her happy voice anyway. After we met Tinkerbell, Silvermist, Fawn, Vidia, Rosetta, and the other fairies, we looked next door and found Neverland. His voice rang through my head. "You can come to Neverland with me, and I won't let any marks find your arms ever again."

I bit my lip, seeing the long line it took to meet him. As much as I wanted to run away and never look back, something made me get in line. I'm guessing it was that same something that made him look up at that moment and smile. I shuffled awkwardly and picked up Lia. She squirmed impatiently until we reached the front.

"Hey there! What's your name?" He crouched down to be on the same level with Lia as I set her down.

Suddenly she was shy, hiding behind my legs. "Come on, he won't bite." I coaxed. When she didn't move, I sighed, handing him her autograph book. "That's Lia."

He scribbled something in her book. "Here you go, Lia." He stood up and looked into my eyes. "Do you have an autograph book for me to sign?" I slowly handed over the book with his picture on the cover. He smirked. "Nice choice."

Lia chose then to talk. "You're her favorite." She piped up.

I blushed, patting her head. He just grinned. "Really? Well thank you." He took a bit longer on my book before returning to look at Lia. "Is your mommy gonna take a picture of you with me?" Behind us, Mom was waiting, camera in hand. I smiled and backed out of the way as he picked her up and sat her on his hip. She grinned big and wide for the picture before begging her way back into my arms.

"Say thank you." I told her and started to leave, but he grabbed my arm, gently, I noticed.

"Don't you get a picture too?" He joked.

Turning around, I saw Mom still had the camera raised. "Fine." I huffed. I awkwardly stood beside him, but I wasn't getting away with that. Mom motioned for me to move closer, and he replied by wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my cheek. It didn't matter how shocked I was, it didn't stop Mom from snapping the precious photo. "Mom!" I protested.

Peter Pan just laughed. I started walking away again, but once again, I was stopped. "Wait." He said. "What's your name?"

"Wendy." I said quietly.

He smirked and moved on to the next person in line. "Well he was nice!" Mom cooed. I ignored her and looked through my autographs. When I got to where he had signed, I stopped dead in my tracks.

"(***) ***-****

Text me if you ever feel like you need to do it again.

~Peter Pan"