Prologue: All children must grow up. Many know this by the time they are two years old, for two is the beginning of the end of childhood. But growing up doesn't mean you can stop being young.

There is a tale of one boy who lived among the fairies and though he may look like an adult, he still is just a boy of eighteen who doesn't know how to not have fun. Why, if he were any younger, he would be the very picture of youth.

Some think they see him flying through the night sky to go back to Neverland, where the Lost Boys live. The Lost Boys are children who fall out of their carriage when they are alone, and they are sent to Neverland if they are not claimed in seven days and this boy is their Leader: Alfred Jones.

Neverland is a small island full of animals and majestic creatures, a land of adventure; however, it is also a land of many dangers…

Chapter 1

Our story begins in the city of London, England. In this city live two partners; Roger 'Rome' Empyro and Jerome 'Germania' Beilschmidt. They called each other by their nicknames often because of their love of history, which was how they met. They had the same World History class in college and they were assigned to do a report about a certain country or Empire.

Of course, Roger chose the Roman Empire and Jerome chose Germania. Since both countries were very close in history they ran into each other a lot in the library. This led to talking about the countries they were studying, to what they liked to do, to getting together more and more, and…well, you get the picture.

Together, they lived in a large house where they have three children whom they adopted; Arthur Kirkland, Im Yong Soo, and Matthew Williams.

Matthew was the youngest, about ten years of age. He was adopted in Canada and is a very quiet boy. He constantly carries around his stuffed white bear that he calls Kumajiro and hardly ever yells or screams. He is well-behaved and gets along well with his brothers and loves hearing stories.

Im Yong, the next oldest, was about sixteen at the time. His family supposedly moved to London from Korea, but that's all we really know about him. He tries his very best to act like a gentleman and loves to have the right answers. Whenever he goes out, he takes a black top hat with him, perhaps to attempt to hide the strange curl on his head. Just like Matthew, he adores hearing stories and dreams of having a real adventure someday.

Finally, we have the oldest, Arthur Kirkland, who was born right here in London and who had just turned eighteen. Despite his age, he loved stories as much as his brothers, but he loved telling stories even more. Yong and Matthew were always excited whenever he told them stories; especially when they were about Alfred Jones and Neverland.

Whenever they could, the boys would imagine that they were in Neverland, fighting Indians and pirates and pretend to live there in their own tiny forts. They wished that they could never grow up; that was what fascinated them the most about Neverland. But then again, every child at some point in their life wishes the very same thing. To be innocent and youthful for all eternity; it's every child's dream, and no one knew this better than Arthur.

He knew that he would be 'grown up' very soon and would no longer be considered a boy. Deep down, he dreaded his eventual transformation, but he always tried to enjoy childhood as much as he could.

Yong and Matthew didn't want Arthur to grow up either; if he did he might not be able to tell them stories about Neverland or Alfred Jones anymore.

Rome and Germania had listened to Arthur's stories about Alfred Jones with interest. Germania, being the serious man that he is, dismissed it as just another silly made up story.

Rome on the other hand was a bit concerned; he didn't believe that there was a place called Neverland, but after what had happened one night, he was beginning to wonder if there really was a boy named Alfred.

One night, he had been sitting by the fireplace with their dog Aster. Aster was a Golden Retriever whose job was to help look after the children when they were young. Even though they don't need much help anymore, Aster always makes sure that the boys were safe from intruders since they tended to sleep with their window wide open. He was somewhat of a nanny to the boys.

Anyway, Rome and Aster were sitting in the boy's bedroom as they slept. It was a rather large room with three beds, a small fireplace, an armchair and a night-light above each bed. Each bed was placed in a different corner and in the middle was a large carpeted area, perfect for playing. On the back wall was a large double window that opened and shut easily and right below it was a small doghouse for Aster. The window was wide open to let in a cool summer breeze.

Rome was beginning to doze off in the armchair when he heard a rustle outside. He looked up just in time to see a figure kneeling on the windowsill with an orb of light about the size of a fist floating beside him. The figure stepped inside, not noticing Rome and had a devious smile on his face.

The figure looked like a boy, almost about Arthur's age. Aster began to growl and leapt at the figure. The boy leapt backwards out the window in surprise and felt something get ripped off his feet. Aster had grabbed the boy's shadow in his fangs and yanked it clean off of him.

Rome's eyes widened in horror as the boy tumbled out the window from the sudden release of his shadow. He ran to the window and looked down, thinking he would see the boy's body, but nothing was there. He ran downstairs and out the door, but nothing moved except a star shooting across the sky.

Rome carefully took the boy's shadow from Aster and tucked it away neatly inside a drawer in the boy's room, in case the boy should come back for it. Ever since that night, Rome thought about that boy, but decided to just forget about it.

A week later that night, Rome and Germania were going to a party and planned to stay out late. While they got ready, Aster got the boys ready for bed. Rome was in the boys' bedroom, making sure he had everything when his eyes fell on that same drawer. He slowly walked over and opened it to reveal the shadow, still neatly folded inside.

"Dad?" a voice said.

Rome closed the drawer as Arthur walked into the room, wearing his light blue nightgown and slippers.

"Is something wrong?" Arthur asked.

Rome smiled and nodded, "Just making sure I didn't forget anything," he said.

Elizaveta, or Liza, one of the servants of the house followed Arthur into the room, "The boys are almost all ready for bed," she said.

"Thank you Liza," Rome said.

"I'll be downstairs if you need me sir," Liza said with a slight bow and walked out of the room.

Yong entered the room shortly after, wearing royal blue pajamas, "Better watch out, Papa's on his way up," he said, "He's in one of his moods." He whispered dangerously.

Germania entered the room right on cue, his face twisted with anger causing Arthur and Yong to almost shudder. He wore a black tuxedo and held a black bow tie in his fist, "What's the matter Germania?" Rome asked.

"What's the matter?" Said man repeated harshly, "No matter what I do, I can't get this damn tie on!" he yelled.

Normally when Matthew was in the room he wouldn't resort to cursing; but not this time. "I'm warning you Rome; if I can't get this god damn thing on we won't go to the party, and if I don't go to the party I can't go to the office, and if I don't-"

"Here, let me try," Rome said quickly, cutting his rant short. Germania's famous rants were known to go on and on until someone stopped him; and Rome knew that they didn't have time for one tonight.

Rome easily tied the bow tie neatly around his neck, "Is that better?" he asked.

Germania looked at the bow and sighed, "It will do,"

Arthur and Yong smiled and literally a second later, Matthew bounded into the room in his sky blue pajamas with Aster right behind, "No! I won't take that nasty stuff!" he cried and hid behind Arthur.

Aster held a bottle of red liquid in his mouth and stretched it out to Matthew; Matthew, being as young as he is, had to take medicine every night so he wouldn't get fatally ill (it apparently happened a lot in England). Arthur and Yong had to take the same stuff when they were little and now it was Matthew's turn. But as you would expect, that medicine tasted horrible, yet he was required to drink a whole cup full every other night.

Germania took Matthew from behind Arthur and looked him in the eye, "You have to take it; it's good for you,"

But Matthew frowned and shook his head, "You have to take medicine too, why don't you take yours?" the boy shot back.

Germania rubbed the back of his head, "I would…but I'm afraid I lost it," he said.

In truth he had hidden it so he wouldn't have to take it, but Arthur quickly ruined that plan, "Don't worry Papa; I found it this morning, I'll go get it!" he said and ran out of the room.

He returned shortly with another bottle that was full of brown liquid. Arthur filled two cups with the medicines; one for Matthew and one for Germania. Matthew looked at his cup of red liquid and looked at Germania, "You do it first," he said.

Germania frowned, "You take yours first!" he shot back.

Arthur sighed, "Just drink the bleeding stuff together!"

Matthew nodded in agreement and Arthur began a countdown, "One…two…three!"

Matthew closed his eyes and gulped down his medicine; Germania on the other hand tilted his cup just far enough so he wouldn't drink it.

"HEY!" Matthew yelled, pointing accusingly at Germania, "You cheated!"

Arthur frowned, "Honestly Papa, why didn't you just drink it?" he asked with a huff.

Germania hesitated for a minute, feeling a bit guilty in the process, "B-because I wanted to try something funny; I'm going to play a little trick on Aster."

Germania walked over and poured his medicine into Aster's bowl, "Here Aster, try some of this," he said.

Aster walked over and sniffed the bowl; he took a few licks and his eyes widened. He coughed and hacked at the taste, his eyes watering.

"What did you do that for?" Arthur demanded as he and his brothers crowded around the panting dog,

"Poor Aster!" Matthew cried. "Poor Aster!" Arthur and Yong agreed as they all hugged and pet the poor dog lovingly.

"Poor Aster? What about poor Papa?" Germania asked feeling a bit unloved.

The boys responded by glaring daggers at the man causing him to flinch. Germania's face went back to a frown and grabbed onto Aster's collar; he wasn't going to stand there like a fool while his own children favored the dog's well-being over his, "That's it; I'm bringing the dog outside where he belongs!"

The boy's faces turned to shock and horror, "No Papa!" they cried.

"Germania, I don't think that's a good idea…" Rome began, but Germania cut him off, "No; this is the last straw! Aster is sleeping outside tonight!" he declared.

The boys stared sadly as the dog was led out of the room and outside to his doghouse where he was chained to a stake. Finally, the boys got themselves into bed and Rome came to bid them good-night and to turn on the night lights; Aster let out a long howl.

Arthur faced the window from his bed, "Isn't that the noise Aster makes when he smells danger nearby?" he wondered out loud.

Rome's eyes widened as he opened the large bedroom window, "Are you sure Arthur?" he asked.

Arthur nodded, "Yes, I've heard it before."

"Dad?" Matthew called.

Rome went over and helped tuck him in, "Will anything hurt us if the night lights are on?" he asked with a hint of worry as he hugged his bear, Kumajiro, tightly.

Rome ran a hand through Matthew's hair, "No son; night lights are the eyes that parents leave behind to watch their children sleep." He answered.

Matthew smiled and hugged him, "I love you dad," he said quietly.

Rome smiled and hugged back; little did he know that those would be the last words he heard from the small child in a long time.

Rome exited the room and the boys slowly drifted off to sleep. Rome and Germania put on their coats and walked out the door. The minute the two men were out of sight a small familiar orb of light the size of a fist stopped at the open window. The small light was indeed a small fairy boy.

The boy had ashy blond hair, dark blue eyes, and wore a sailor outfit. The fairy flew soundlessly around the room, scanning everything until his eyes fell on a dresser drawer. He smiled and flew down to it. He peeped into the keyhole and found what he was looking for.

At that moment a strong gust of wind blew through the window. The fairy turned around as a tall figure entered and knelt on the windowsill.

He stepped onto the ground and smiled broadly; he looked to be about eighteen, had dirty blond hair, glasses and he wore a sleeveless tunic made of bright green leaves with belt around his waist that only held a dagger and wore brown pants; and his name? Alfred Jones.

And the awesomeness begins! I know, but I HAD to write a fan fic for this! It just fits so perfectly! This will obviously follow the original story and I'll add in a few tid bits from some of the movie adaptions like the 2003 live-action movie.

I got inspired on deviantart after seeing some awesome artwork by user TriaElf9 which is where I got the cast from!

Oh yeah, and Aster, according to the internet, is one of Germany's dogs and he was the only one who seemed kid friendly enough. The other two dogs were a german shepard and a doberman, so it works.

If you want to see go to #/d22q8p2 (type in .com in front of the # in the browser) or search deviantart (if the link doesn't work) to see more of her awesome pictures and please give her full credit!

Thank you for the inspiration TriaElf9! I know this story will be awesome!