Friends Apart

Chapter 3

Hours after being captured and escaping from the human, Wendy found herself wandering through the walls of the her childhood home. She'd been hoping to get some time to herself to think everything over... The revelation of her friend's return had all her emotions twisted in a ball and scraped against a splintered wall. She was having trouble distancing herself from the problem like she usually did. If it was her friend, she didn't see any other path. She wasn't willing to let Peter just leave, lose her only chance at reuniting with her only friend. No matter Peter's size. Despite everything that had happened, she knew in her heart if Peter knew who she was, he'd never let anything happen to Wendy. Even though Wendy couldn't even be called a human anymore. At the same time, she could still feel those huge fingers wrapped around her, crushing her ruthlessly, helplessly into the fist. Anything could have happened... Anything at all. Peter was a fighter, after all. If he'd seen Wendy as a threat, it would have been all over. The way she was now, Wendy couldn't hope to stop a human. Even after all her learning growing up, and her years learning how to survive down at this size during the rest of her life, she was simply outsized.She just kept a look out for any mouse traps and made sure to step lightly while she traveled. She found herself traveling in the direction of the human's - of her old room. She couldn't stop herself. Under the dresser she could observe the human without fear. She wouldn't have to worry about being captured again so long as she stayed there out of reach. Far above her, she could see the human sitting calmly at the table in the window seat. At the moment the human was scribbling away in a journal. He didn't seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. Wendy sighed gratefully. She'd been worried the human would be able to hear even that, after the way Wendy had been caught earlier. The man was perceptive and fast for someone that size. Wendy sat down there for a long time, watching the human read while lost in thoughts of her own. It had to be her friend... Occasionally she could overhear the human mutter to himself while he read... sometimes on what he was reading, other times snippets of familiar song lyrics that teased at the edge of Wendy's memory. Wendy could feel herself relaxing. It all felt so familiar. Like coming home again. But she couldn't think that way. The human was still dangerous, Peter or not, especially if he thought Wendy was a threat. She needed to keep that in mind so she didn't end up captured again. She had a feeling it wouldn't be so easy to escape the human the second time around. Eventually, the human got up. Wendy ducked out of sight, not wanting to tempt fate any more than she already was. After looking at a few items from around the room, the human left. A familiar tune came from the another room. 'Peter's flute,' Wendy thought to herself excitedly. 'No other instrument sounds like that.' It was the same sound she heard in her memories, from that one night, only louder and more rumbling at this size. She hadn't expected to hear that sound ever again. It has to be Peter... Wendy got up, grabbing her satchel and pulling away from the dresser. She NEEDED to talk to the human. There was nothing else she could do. She needed to know the truth, even if it meant risking her life. While waiting, she'd made sure she was prepared to confront the human, putting her needle sword in an easier to reach place, just in case. At the same time, she knew it was impossible to really prepare for this. What could she honestly do if she got caught again? Stab a hand that could envelop her entire body with a needle sword? She'd be kidding herself if she thought she'd have a chance if it came to that. She just had to hope this didn't go south... From where she was hiding, she watched as the human's massive shoes clomped across the floor, shaking the ground under Wendy's feet. She shivered, unable to believe for a few moments that she had once been a human herself. They were so ridiculously huge! Distances that would take Wendy minutes to cross took the human mere seconds, reminding her how hard escaping would be if she was wrong. She felt so small and outsized, standing all the way down on the floor like this. She was having trouble gathering her courage enough to actually confront the human. She hadn't talked to her adopted parents about what she was doing. She didn't want to alarm them, but there was no way she was going to let what might be the one chance she'd ever have to reunite with her friend slip through her fingers because she was too scared to find out. And, she knew in her heart her adopted father would flip out the moment she so much as mentioned talking to a human, any human. Didn't matter that human happened to be her friend. Wendy would end up locked in her room until the human was far away, and she couldn't risk that. Couldn't risk losing the only chance she might have to see her friend again.The human walked by her, holding a bowl in his hand.The floor trembled under Wendy's feet with each impact from the massive shoes. Taking in a few deep breaths, she tried to gather enough courage to at least talk to the human with, now that they were alone. Last thing she needed was any other giants figuring into the problem. A huge thudding sound knocked her out of her thoughts. Wendy backed up towards the hidden entrance she'd come through for a few seconds before seeing that the human had just sat in the window seat. Wendy crept back to the edge of the dresser, peering out again. She watched the human dip a spoon into a bowl, before sticking it in his mouth while he read a book that was held open in his lap that Wendy could barely see peeking up from where she was standing. The smell of the soup wafted over to where Wendy was standing. Her stomach growled at her, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since waking up early in the morning, and it was almost night. And the smell of the soup... it had been one of her favorite foods when she was a child. She could feel herself practically start to smile like a fool. A huge voice yanked her out of her day dreams, almost making her dash back out of sight again. "So, you gonna just stand there and lurk all night or do you want some of this soup." Wendy gasped, fear filling her again. She backed farther under the dresser, feeling safer there, out of reach. How did he hear me? I haven't made a sound... She realized the human was peeking at her from the corner of his eye, making it hard to tell he was actually looking at Wendy. A smile twitched at the edge of his mouth. This time, Wendy didn't feel any fear at the look. The massive shoes scraped against the ground as the human turned towards Wendy, leaning down to see her better. Almost as though he was reading Wendy's mind, the human commented, "If I hadn't known you existed from earlier, I would have never heard you. So have no fear, your ninja skills are intact. And... I was hoping you'd come back..." Wendy went to back away, worried the human would lunge for her again. Seeing this, the human's eyebrows shot up. "Wait! Please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Really." He held his hands out beseechingly, probably not realizing that his hands were exactly what Wendy was afraid of. "I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise. And I won't grab you like that again. You have my word." Startled by the pleading she heard in the voice, Wendy paused, uncertain. The last time she'd been near this human, she'd nearly been crushed. Her hand started to ache with sympathy pain at the thought. But still... Can't find out who he is if you run away the second he starts talking to you... isn't this what you came here for in the first place? To talk to him? Emboldened for a moment, she came to the edge of the dresser. She was still having trouble getting past how BIG the human was. But... she didn't feel like she was in any danger. And staying in hiding wasn't going to get her any answers. More than anything, she NEEDED to know. She took her first brave step out into the light of the room, the carpet thick beneath her boots. Away from the safety and security of the dresser. She felt... exposed, with nothing over her head. Everything was so high up from where she was standing, towering over her. She paused once she was out from under the dresser, unwilling to go farther before she knew it was safe. She cleared her throat tremulously, trying to not think about how close she was to those massive, crushing shoes. "Who...who are you?" She called up, "and where did you get that thimble?" The human glanced down at the thimble, face softening for a moment while he looked at it. "A friend of mine gave it to me." He smiled, "a long time ago." He raised his eyes back to Wendy, "but then, you already knew that... didn't you, Wendy?" Wendy froze in the human's gaze when she heard her name slip through those lips. It really is him... "Peter? Is it really you?" She said, half praying, half fearing the answer. She took another step away from the safety of the dresser, without realizing what she was doing. The edge of Peter's mouth twitched. "Yeah. It's just me, Wendy-bird." Wendy jumped at the sound of her nickname the Lost Boys gave her, startled. She hadn't heard that name in so many years... since the last time she'd seen Peter, in fact. She took in the huge man before her, unable to believe it was really her friend after all this time. "Peter... but... how? Why... what are you doing here? How did you...grow up?" Cautiously, Peter stood up from the window seat, kneeling down in front of his little friend. His littlest friend. Wendy didn't miss the irony there, since she was now most likely smaller than Peter's fairy companion. The whole time he was moving, Wendy stayed frozen, uncertain if she should run away, body pumped full of adrenaline from the uncomfortable proximity to a human. But Peter moved slowly enough that if Wendy wanted to run from him, she could. Those huge brown eyes stayed locked on Wendy's the whole time he was moving, somehow reassuring Wendy with their steady gaze. A massive hand landed on the ground less than a foot away from her, supporting the human's weight as he lowered himself down to Wendy's level. Heart pounding, Wendy's eyes flashed from the hand near her and back to Peter's eyes, afraid all over again. There was no way she could run fast enough to get away now if the human really wanted to grab her. She took a hesitant step away. Peter smiled down at her softly, eyes shining. "Before we start firing off questions, why don't you come have some soup with me. I could hear your stomach growling from across the room. I'll need to find something for you to use though." Wendy froze for a few long moments, trying to gather her courage before answering. "Ummm.... ahhh... s-sure, I guess," her voice trembling with nerves. She surprised herself by stepping a little farther out into the room, closer to Peter. Any fear she had was slowly starting to leave. Once upon a time, Peter was the one person she'd trusted more than anyone. "But..." She glanced up at how high up the table was, towering over where she was standing. Normally she wouldn't have a problem scaling it, but with her wrist injured like this... Following Wendy's line of sight, Peter frowned at how high up the table was to his little friend. His eyes chanced across Wendy's hand. Feeling a tightness in his chest when he saw the bandaged hand, Peter couldn't stop the wave of guilt that crashed over him. He must have squeezed too hard when he'd grabbed Wendy earlier. Hurting one of his friends... Stubbornly, he pushed away the guilt and focused on Wendy. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Do... do you want me to help?" He asked uncomfortably, nervous about the idea of holding Wendy after how close he'd come to squashing her not so long ago. Wendy felt a bit of the irrational fear creep back into her at the idea. To willingly give a human permission to pick her up... it would be a death wish. But... this was Peter. And somewhere deep inside, Wendy knew Peter would never have hurt her intentionally, no matter his size or age. Now that Peter knew who she was, she'd be safe with him. "As... as long as you don't grab me again," she managed to stutter out. "And... this is only because my wrist is brusied. I can get around fine on my own otherwise." Peter nodded solemnly at that, brown eyes not leaving Wendy, as though he was afraid Wendy might disappear again if he so much as blinked. Still moving slow enough to not startle Wendy back into hiding, he carefully flattened his hand on the carpet nearby, long fingers brushing against the thick strands that reached past Wendy's boots. Wendy gulped at the size of the hand sitting so calmly next to her, remembering how helpless she had been not too long ago in it. She was barely taller than the length of one of Peter's fingers now. She'd be completely helpless if she was wrong about any of this. Trying to push away her doubts and the memories of being grabbed so recently, she stepped onto the palm. Her boots sank into the skin, which despite its apparent thickness was surprisingly soft. A lifeline more than twice her size stretched out under her boot. Heat radiated up from the hand, and the second her boot made contact, one of the callused fingers next to her twitched in reaction. Wendy felt herself jump in surprise at the unexpected movement, heart in her throat, afraid Peter was going to go back on their deal and grab her anyway. She glared up at Peter, briefly forgetting the size difference in her momentary annoyance. Her glare melted away when she saw the apology etched on her friend's face. Once she was settled in the center of the palm, the fingers curled up around her. Wendy knew why Peter did it - so he wouldn't have to worry about Wendy falling off - but she still shivered at the sight, feeling smaller than ever. She was surrounded like this, with nowhere to go. There was no way for her to stop Peter if he decided to close the fist. These thoughts faded away when the ground dropped out from under the hand. The second hand came up as a wall around the edge so she couldn't fall off. The hand that was holding Wendy was tucked against Peter's stomach for support as he stood up to walk them both over to the table, his shirt rising up behind her like a wall. Held like this, Wendy felt the little confidence she had sap away. The sheer size of the chest behind her was a sharp reminder that her safety was out of her hands in this situation - and in Peter's, literally. Someone she'd seen today for the first time in over eight years. Someone she hadn't seen since they'd been the same size, so long ago. Wendy let out a gasp as she felt the air rush past her when the human started walking... 'Peter, it's Peter... just your friend... you're gonna be fine...' Unprepared for the sensation of vertigo, something she'd never felt before. Each step shook her to the bone. She stumbled back against Peter's stomach, bracing herself against the solid surface with an arm. Peter didn't even seem to notice, which Wendy was grateful for. She didn't want to appear any weaker than she already was in this situation. The ride was thankfully brief, as she was quickly lowered to the table next to a few scattered books and the bowl of soup. The second hand lifted out of Wendy's way as she scrambled off the huge palm, glad to be back on solid ground. She took a few cautious steps away from Peter as the human sat back down in the window seat. She'd never felt so vulnerable and exposed like this, with nowhere to hide and so close to a human who knew exactly where she was. There was no hope of hiding here. Glancing towards the edge of the table Peter was sitting beside, Wendy shivered at the fact that her friend's chest formed a massive wall in front of her, blocking the bed and the nightstand and a good portion of the room from Wendy's point of view. While Peter got settled back in the window seat, Wendy distracted herself from where she was, checking out her old books scattered casually around where she was standing. She was amazed at how many she had before. Maybe if she was lucky, she could read a few before Peter put them away. She never had much opportunity for reading anymore, but when she was growing up it had been one of her first great loves in life. "It's fresh, can't get much better than" Peter said, unintentionally clapping his hands together and startling Wendy away from the books. Holding in the desire to jump back from the sudden sound and motion, Wendy nodded mutely in response, barely able to believe that any of this was real. Her childhood friend coming back, sitting with a human that was trying to not frighten her. She took in the sight of the bowl by Peter's hand. All her years since being shrunk, her new family had always lived off scraps. Anything forgotten or left behind by humans was up for grabs. The human grabbed the bowl, moving it closer to wendy. Wendy kept a careful eye out the whole time, still unable to bring herself to fully trust Peter yet. She was just too vulnerable like this. Wendy stared at it for a minute, wide-eyed at the simple size of the bowl. It was more than twice her size! Her entire family could live off something like that for a month! She glanced up at Peter, unable to believe it was really all for him. Peter seemed to understand her unasked question. "Help yourself. I've got plenty more where that came from," he smirked, gesturing at the bowl "T-thank you," Wendy's managed to respond finally. She pulled out a dollhouse bowl and spoon out of her satchel, when something brown caught Peter's eye. "Is that what I think it is?" Confused for a moment, Wendy glanced up at Peter and saw him staring wide-eyed at the acorn around her neck. Realizing why Peter was looking at it, she smiled, holding it up. Any doubts of who Peter was disappeared like morning dew in the sun. "Yeah, it's the kiss you gave me." She tilted it in the light so Peter could see. Peter leaned down, reaching his hand forward slowly. "May I?" At first, Wendy backed away from the approaching hand, still nervous about the whole situation. When she realized Peter wasn't about to snatch her up, she took a few steps forward, gently putting the acorn down on one of the outstretched fingers. There was such a huge difference in size between them now, it barely filled the tip of Peter's finger. During all these years separated from her true family, the acorn had become her prize possession. The only reminder of a life lost in time. As for weapons, her kind was forced to rely on simple objects like needles and tacks for protection, but no one could weild a needle sword as good as Wendy. She used Peter's sword lessons to get out of situations many times, even had her life saved once by it. But Peter had always been clever with his hands, able to weild swords like a master swordsman... Wendy had always wished she was half as good at any of those things. She'd been calm collected and used her head... pretty much the polar opposite of Peter. That acorn, for so long, had been the only connection she had to her friend. The only reminder of a life lost in time. Wendy watched as Peter lifted the tiny acorn and a keldiescope up to his shining eyes almost reverently, huge brown taking in every detail through the spy glass like scope. He smiled down at the microscopic acorn. "I almost forgot about this," he said, almost like a kid again from the way his face lit up with excitement. He raised his eyes to Wendy again, giving her a gentle smile. "You kept it all this time?" Wendy accepted it back from the finger when Peter lowered it back down to her. She snorted. "Of COURSE I kept it, you silly boy. It's the only thing from the past I have." She relaxed feeling truly safe at last where she was. Peter's gentle laughter rumbling through her body, made Wendy feel safer than she had been in a long time.