Hiraeth: Return to Neverland #1 (a darlinghook fanfic)

1 | memories

And that's my home where dreams are born,

And time is never planned.

Just think of lovely things,

And your heart will fly on wings,

Forever in Never Never Land.

Every morning it was the same as it had been for the past few years; the fuzziness of slowly waking up followed by that familiar pang of melancholy. In the beginning, Wendy wasn't even sure where it came from, that feeling in her chest that she was missing something. Something important.

On the morning of her eighteenth birthday, the feeling was accompanied by a name. Neverland. And with that one name, more and more started coming back to her, bits and pieces of memories slowly stitching themselves together. The adventures she and her brothers had had there. The Lost Boys. Tiger Lily and the natives. Captain Hook and the pirates.

And Peter.

How could she have forgotten Peter? Thinking back, he was the first boy that she really loved, and yet he had somehow slipped her mind. Still, he had forgotten about her. It took her some time to realize this, but she remembered him promising to come get her for every spring cleaning, and as hard as she tried, she could not remember ever returning to Neverland with him.

What she could remember was waiting for him. In the spring, she used to wait at the window for Peter to come get her. Every night she hoped that he hadn't forgotten, and when she could no longer pretend that it was still spring, she would be disappointed, but hopeful for the next year. After about three years of fruitless waiting, she had given up.

She had loved him, and he had forgotten her.

Then she had grown up, or at least, had wanted to and had acted as if she was. High school began and the memories of the boy who never grew up were pushed to the back of her mind.

Until now.

Wendy smiled as she drove up the driveway of her childhood home. Little had changed over the years, it was still the same small gray-brick house with light blue doors and window shutters. Maybe she could get some more answers here, it was at this house, after all, that all her adventures in Neverland had begun. She grabbed her duffel bag and purse from the passenger's seat and stepped out of the car. As she made her way to the door, her mother came outside to greet her.

"Wendy!" she said, enveloping her in a hug.

"Hi, Mom," Wendy replied, embracing her mother tightly.

Inside Michael was happy to see her. "Hey, Wendy!" he exclaimed, jumping up from the couch where he had been watching TV and running to give her a hug.

"Hi, Michael," Wendy said, smiling as she hugged him back. Releasing him, she asked, "Where's John?"

"I'm right here," John said as he came down the stairs.

"John, you've grown!" Wendy said, seeing that John was now almost a head taller than her.

Happily reunited, the three siblings made their way upstairs, Michael insisting on carrying Wendy's duffel bag for her. In the hallway, Nana, the family dog, slowly ambled her way toward them. At nine years old, Nana was not as fast as she used to be. The three children petted the dog and then continued to the bedroom.

What had once been the bedroom they all shared when they were younger was now the bedroom that Wendy used when she was home. While she was away, Nana had the entire room to herself.