Disclaimer: Peter Pan, all characters, places, and related terms belong to J.M. Barrie.

Genre: General/Romance.

Written in the Stars

One: A New Future

The small town is bursting with unusual excitement at this early morning hour. Shouts, orders, laughter, greetings fill the main square. The regiment is preparing to leave to join the rest of the army headquartered at the capital. All the townspeople have come out to see the officers off, filled with fevered patriotic pride. The men in blue say goodbye to family, friends, and loved ones.

Among the bustling crowd are Wendy and her brother John, fifteen and fourteen, respectively. They easily slip away from their Aunt Millicent in all the excitement to get a close look at the cannon in the middle of the square, which will be taken into battle. The two are hailed by friends already admiring the weapon. It is so big, dark, solemn, seeming to understand more than anyone present of the task before it. A few of the foolish boys proudly rest their hands on it before being shooed away by the soldiers readying the cannon.

Wendy's attention is drawn from admiring the cannon when a familiar crow pierces the air amidst all the noise. It only takes the girl a few moments to pick out a certain youth among the sea of soldiers: while he is nearly as tall as her brother, his face, framed by unruly blond curls, appears younger, his smile always cocky and twinkling eyes greener than the grass she loves to run through. A second time he throws his head back as a proud crow escapes his lips. And (of course) the girls surrounding him clap with delight and vie to gain his sole attention.

He seems so excited by the order to leave, to march to the capital, his manner cocky and conceited. He can barely keep still; if he were able, she thinks, he would fly to the capital. He basks in the attention of the village girls who shamelessly flirt and praise him, admiring him in his blue uniform.

Wendy cannot identify what it is that makes her watch him. Ever since he arrived, at the head of his group, little over a fortnight ago, her gaze has lingered on him more and more. Observed how he beholds the world with unbounded gayness. Takes part in the younger children's games of tag and pretend. Tells the older girls and boys about the adventures he's had. Jokes with his friends. Perhaps it is the air about him she has sensed at times... Like he is above all this...

Yet, naturally, he has never seen her, always at her aunt's side, her hands buried in her plain blue frock, watching the bolder girls come up to him with their bright smiles and sparking eyes. Shake his hand, ask his name, make him laugh, praise his crow. She has never had the courage to approach him. She could not act like the other girls. But if she were brave enough to speak to him, she would ask him about the drawings hes made for the children, of small beings peeking out of flowers or sitting on blades of grass, the tips of their ears pointy and wings on their shoulders. "Fairies..." one of her girl friends had breathed, showing her a drawing her little sister had been given. And a foreign, wonderful thrill had raced through Wendy's body at the word. (And that very afternoon instead of making crowns out of daises as she wove stories for her friends, she unsuccessfully attempted to make a winged being with the flowers.) The memory causes the girl to now shiver.

A sudden call for the troops to assemble is heard, and a roar goes up from the crowd. Wendy jumps, brought back to earth by the shout and her brother impatiently tugging on her arm to get her attention.

"Hurry, Wendy!" John cries. They must be quick to be sure to have a good view as the regiment marches off, and so they run toward where Aunt Millicent stands, holding the hand of their little brother, Michael.

Filled with renewed excitement regarding the present, Wendy follows John quickly, running by officers and villagers, only to suddenly stumble a step or two back as her hand is unexpectedly grasped. She whirls around and freezes, surprised. That soldier - boy - is swinging their clasped hands back and forth, gazing at her with a small smile, and clear eyes that take in everything. Returning his gaze, she feels like she is falling into a sweet abyss. Her blue eyes widen when he draws her nearer to him and brings his face close to hers, his smile growing.

"Do not forget me!"

"Please be careful," she stammers, having trouble swallowing, the world spinning around her, them.

His expression becomes almost offended. "I shall be back," he promises. "Then I'll show you-"

"Captain Pan!"

The boy lifts his head with a scowl and nods stiffly to a commander standing nearby. Uncertainly Wendy tries to free her hand from his only for him to tighten his hold. His scowl melts away as he focuses on her once more. The girl cannot interpret the expression on his face as he studies her for a moment before nodding. She looks down when she feels something pressed into her free hand and discovers a small parchment with a drawing of a tiny girl with wings and pointy ears.

"Oh," and her blue eyes meet waiting green ones. "Thank you, Captain Pan."

"Peter," he corrects.

"Thank you, Peter," she says shyly.

His face glows and he tucks some wayward brown strands of hair behind her ear. "I'll return for you, Wendy-lady," his tone is assuring.

Then he inclines his head, gently kissing her cheek. Drawing back, he observes her shining eyes and rosy cheeks. And he smiles, reading her answer in that blush.