"Mr. Pan?" Pastor Randall questioned upon their entrance into the church. The kids ran through the building and immediately started playing tag and lava monster on the furniture in the atrium.
"Yes, hello Pastor," Peter looked around at his kids. They were sure to throw them out of the building before they found Miss. Turner. "I'm sorry about them," Randall looked at Hook wide eyed, who was still chained and in Peter's strong grip. "Is Lacey Turner here?" Peter questioned as he searched the atrium, Henry stayed at Peter's side. It had been so long, Henry didn't know if he would even recognize his own mother.
"Um, yes she is but," Randall starred at Hook who was now smiling a stiff, manipulative grin, "who is-"
"Lacey darling!" Hook called out. At that ear pinching sound Lacey turned away from her classroom door towards Hook's voice and felt evil staring right into her soul. Peter yanked Hook back, trying to silence him but Hook was far too pleased to stay quiet. He didn't care that his crew was sacked and he was in chains, he only wanted to see the pain he brought on to others. Unfortunately for Lacey she was one of his first victims and he was sure to enjoy seeing her in torment. "Oh, how I've missed you," his voice was as smooth as a slug as he held his cuffed hands out to her.
"You," she cast an accusatory finger at as she charged towards him, but froze mid walk, as her eyes landed on Henry. "You," she said softly, slowly moving to Henry. "You look just like-"
"It's me mom," Henry said and lunged in to her arms. "It's me." She stood frozen for a moment as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I can't believe you are really here, really alive." Henry cried tears of joy as his mother wrapped her arms around him and cried out.
"My boy," she pulled him away from her so she could see his young handsome face. "You haven't aged a day," she scanned him. This must be a trick, a horrible trick. "My Henry would be 19, almost 20 years old now." She kept her hands on his shoulders not wanting him to disappear.
"It's really him." Peter said while removing his sock and shoving it in Hook's loud mouth. Hook scuffed in disgust. "It's hard to explain, but trust me I will explain everything, but it's him. This is your Henry."
Henry only smiled the widest of smiles as he climbed back into his mothers arms and hugged her until he thought she might pop.
"My boy, my Henry," she said over and over as her tears spilled down onto Henry's greasy tangled hair.
"Dad," Penny called coming back from jumping on the couch, "what are we going to do with that one?" She jutted out a finger at Hook who was still angrily trying to remove the sock from his mouth.
"He kidnapped Laceys' son, kept Henry a prisoner for years, he is definately going to go to jail." Hook finally removed the sock, and in outrage screamed his complaints.
"You won't be able to put me in jail!" He screeched, "I am Captain Hook, I outlasted Black Beard the great, and I bested you many a times Peter boy..." Hook looked at Lacey who possessively held her son as Pastor Randall examined all the kids running around his once clean church. "You think a jail can hold me?" His crooked wicked laugh spread throughout the church.
"You took my son away from me!" Lacey said clutching Henry's hand, she was never going to let Henry out of her sight again, especially not with Hook breathing the same air. "You deserve to die for what you did!" Henry nodded in agreement but Peter took a wavering step in front of Hook.
"Here to protect me? Are you Peter?"
"Shut up, I'm not doing this for you," Peter looked at Lacey her puffy eyes red with anger. "He deserves to die for what he did-" Peter started.
"Hey I thought we were friends," Hook joked while pulling gingerly on his chains.
"But death would be too kind, he deserves to be punished for the rest of his miserable life," Hook still prying at his chains made small noises of disgust and agony. "Knowing that you and Henry are going to be happy, together, will be one of the worst punishment of all for Hook." Lacey smiled through her tears of joy but with rage as she walked up to Hook her small heels clicking on the marble floors. She opened her mouth wanting to say everything that she had been thinking for the past 12 years, all the pain and suffering, all the empty prayers, she wanted to beat this evil man senseless but she did none of these things. She closed her mouth, opened her hand and smacked it across his already slashed cheek. With that touch Hook pried his hands apart and broke free of the chains. He went to grab her, to drag her with him to hell, if he couldn't be happy, no one else deserved to be happy. But Peter, knowing Hook's ways pulled Lacey out of the way and sent Hook falling face first into the ground, breaking his nose in the progress. When Peter pulled Hook back up right his already long, crooked nose seemed to be more disfigured and bleeding. Peter snapped back on the cuffs, tightening them around Hook's thin wrists.
"You won't steal their happiness." Peter specified as he dragged Hook back to the prison. Peter directed his attention to Lacey. "I'm sorry if I upset you by bringing Hook here. I just thought that if it were me..."
"Thank you Peter," Lacey said as she held tight to her son, still unable to believe her eyes.
As they walked Hook back to the jailhouse Hook cursed and screamed bloody murder the entire walk back. As Peter kept Hook on a closer, tighter leash, the lost kids ran the streets, climbing on railings and hoping out of trees. The sky seemed to part and the sun blazed through the clouds and the light shone an aurora of colors across the sky. The change in weather only made the sky look like it climbed higher and jump farther.
Lacey was terrified that the kids would hurt themselves but Peter didn't seem to worry, so she tried to focus on Henry, and only on Henry. They watched outside as Peter brought Hook back into the prison. Henry wanted to join in the celebration but also wanted to spend every moment he could with his mom. So, as they walked hand in hand he told her of Neverland. This brought Lacey's memory back to Penny's presentation and everything Penny had said about Neverland.
"It was all true," she said down to her scuffed heels.
"What Mom?" Henry asked and she broke down in tears again, she never thought she would hear him call her Mom again. But here he was, healthy and happy and still her little boy.
"Neverland is real." Peter said reappearing from the prison. "And they put Hook in maximum security by the way... for child abduction and the minor fact that he is also a lunatic, he's not going anywhere." Peter did also request that they send him out of state, far away just in case.
"Mom that's great news, why are you crying? He can't hurt us anymore." She wasn't crying because she was sad about Hook, she was thrilled that she never had to see his face again. She wanted nothing more than to fly away and spend the rest of her life with Henry, but she still had so many questions, so many lies to evaluate.
"It's great honey," she looked to Peter, Penny was now climbing onto his back, the rest of the children chanting 'Pizza, pizza, pizza'. "I'm so happy," she kissed Henry's head and pulled him in close. She had to be dreaming, she had to.
"Neverland is real." Peter said again as if reassuring her that this was really happening. "We will take you there."
"After Pizza." Penny interrupted, boosting herself higher on Peters back.
"After pizza, we will show you everything... if you want."
"Please mom, you will really like it and then we can come home."
"Or not," Penny said dropping down off of Peter, "I really liked having you around," she stated marching towards Henry.
"I like you too."
"So you should both stay in Neverland." Penny had her mind made up, she wanted them to live in Neverland and that's how it was going to be.
"Pen" Peter warned as he started to walk towards the pizzeria.
"I would love that," Lacey said turning as well. "I would love to see Neverland."
"You believed me," Penny said while grabbing Lacey's other hand. "I knew you believed me."
"Believed you when?"
"When I did my presentation, and I told the class about Neverland. You didn't make fun of me, or tell me I was crazy like everyone else."
"I never thought you were crazy, I thought you had an active imagination but..."
"But what?" Penny demanded as she stopped walking pausing everyone in their step.
"Your mom would tell me about Neverland when she was cleaning up, telling me all about Peter. She was a wonderful woman, your mother. I thought she just loved fairy tales but the way she talked of Neverland..."
"You believed that it might have been real?"
"So when you thought of Neverland as real..." Penny looked back at Peter who was now struggling to carry four lost kids on his back. "I suppose I believed in the possibility of it being real." Lacey added and that was enough for them. They made it to the pizzeria and ate 12 extra large deep dish pizza's while the staff worked nonstop to keep their drinks full and keep the kids in their seats, instead of climbing the walls.
"When do you want to go to Neverland?" Penny asked Lacey as Peter paid the extremely large bill.
"Oh, I don't know." Lacey looked to her son, she still couldn't believe he was here with her.
"How does now sound?" Penny's innocent voice rang out in the night as the rest of the kids gathered around them, Lacey didn't object so when Tinkerbell appeared. Just like that, they were ready to fly home and leave this mundane world behind.
"Think happy thoughts Mom." Henry said as if he had done this a million times, when in reality he had only flown once just an hour before.
"I can't think of anything happier then you, Henry," she said as Tinkerbell coated them in a thin layer of dust. Lacey sneezed a few times getting the dust out of her nose. As she sneezed her eyes closed and she pictured her son and herself living a life together, the life that they should have had originally, the life they deserved. They rose from the ground and made a train in the sky connecting hands as they flew back to Neverland. Lacey looked as amazed and confused as Darla once had when flying to Neverland for the first time.
"This is amazing," she screamed through the whipping wind.
While a large herd of the lost kids helped bring the pirates back to the mainland others cleaned up the camp, put out the fires and readied for the best party ever. From down below Neverland had never looked so distorted. Everything was a mess and not the good kind. But as the kids looked up to the sky anxiously awaiting Peter and Penny's return they saw specks in the sky. As the tiny dots in the sky came closer to Neverland and the dots became humans flying towards them, the lost kids and Indians started to cheer so loudly that Peter and all his kids cheering along with them.
"Well?" they questioned when Peter was in ear shot. Peter didn't have to say anything, from the smile on his face and the laughter of the others, they knew that Hook would never be bothering them, ever again.
"Hi, hi, hello," Lacey tried to introduce herself to everyone but there were too many children, "hey, oh, hi," they swarmed her in confusion and interest.
"New Wendy?" One of them asked as she walked up to Peter and hooked herself around his good leg.
"No, this is..." he whistled getting everyones attention, "this is Lacey, and she is Henry's mom."
"Mom," a few voices said, eyes wide, even more intrigued with Lacey.
"Treat her with respect and kindness." The kids ran up to hug her again. Henry had saved Peter, so in their eyes Lacey was the mother of a hero.