Author's Note: I am terribly sorry that it took SO LONG for me to update, as I'm sure everyone has been wondering how this story will end. I've just been very busy this past month with papers since it's getting down to the end of the year for me.

Well, is chapter 20, the last chapter of Sailing to the Stars. I honestly can't believe that I'm done with story already! I've had fun writing it and I'm glad so many people enjoyed reading it.

So, I guess I can't deny the inevitable, please enjoy as much as you can and as always please review!

Chapter 20

This is Home

As much as Peter wanted to wake Wendy and begin their new life together, he had to admit that he wasn't exactly sure how to do it. He had never put anyone to sleep with fairy dust before. He did manage to find Tinker Bell early (she had been avoiding him since she had woken him up the previous day) and asked her about it and she replied rather stiffly that once he thought about it he would figure out how to wake her.

Frustrated because of her jealousy and the fact that she would not help her because of it, Peter flew off to the underground home and sat down next to the sleeping Wendy in her little house and thought about the matter. He considered every possible solution when an idea occurred to him. He wasn't even sure that it would work but considering that she was in a magical sleep, it seemed plausible.

Peter moved so that he was now on his hands and knees and leaned over Wendy. She was in the exact same position since when he had laid on the ground the previous night. He reached forward and tilted her face up to better face his and then he slowly lowered his head towards hers and kissed her fully on the lips.

It was a bit uncomfortable for a moment, considering that she did not kiss him back but he didn't let this bother him too much and continued to kiss her.

Then, he felt her lips move underneath his and he couldn't help but smile. His idea had worked! He eagerly pressed his lips harder against hers and in turn felt her lips move hesitantly against his and happiness flooded through him in his delight that she was waking up…

Until she slapped him, that is.

"Ow!" Peter yelled in alarm and pain, grabbing at his stinging cheek. He scooted away from her as she sprang up and looked wide eyed at him.

"Oh, Peter, I'm sorry!" she cried when she realized what she had done.

"Gosh, you sure can smack someone when you want to," said Peter as he rubbed his cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Peter, really," she told him sincerely. "It's just not every day that I get woken up by someone kissing me."

Peter smiled. "Then, I'm quite happy to have fulfilled that task."

"And I think I was having a dream about you kissing me for the first time and then when I felt you actually kissing me, I had to see if it was real."

"You could have just opened your eyes or you know, kissed me back," said Peter in mock anger. Then he sighed and fingered his cheek which had ceased hurting as much and then crawled over to her and added, "But it doesn't matter anymore because you're awake and I can show you Neverland!"

"Oh, is this it?"

"Well, this is the little house the boys built for you while I figured out how to fix it," Peter explained and Wendy promptly cuffed him on the head. "Ow!" he yelled again, grabbing his head. "Now, what was that for?!"

"Peter, are you telling me that you left me here in this unsafe shelter, completely unguarded while you went running around the island?!"

"Er…yes," Peter admitted. "But there's nothing that could've attacked you here!" he added quickly when she opened her mouth to yell at him some more. "There's just you and me and the Lost Boys and the fairies now. Besides, I slept beside you at night to make sure that nothing hurt you and because I felt guilty for leaving you all day."

"You did?"

"Yes."

"Well, that is very honorable of you, Peter and in that case, I'm sorry for hitting you again."

"I suppose I did deserve it in a way," said Peter with a shrug. Then he stood up and offered her his hand. "Now, would you like to see your new home, Wendy lady?"

A smile split across her face as she accepted his hand and he pulled her to her feet. Then, together they walked out of the little house and into the sun.

They had not gone far when the Lost Boys found them and seeing that Wendy was awake, immediately attacked her with hugs and kisses. When Peter managed to pull them off of her, they all lead the way to the House Under the Ground and showed her her new living quarters.

Wendy was delighted with the cozy home (even though it was in desperate need of cleaning) and with Peter calling out orders, began to clean it with the Lost Boys. It took them the rest of the morning but when they were done, Peter declared that their home had never looked cleaner. As a way of celebrating, they had a scrumptious lunch even though it was comprised of nothing but fruit.

"Wendy, slow down!" he laughed as he watched her eat with as much messiness as the boys.

"I haven't eaten in two days, Peter!" she yelled back when she finally paused in her gorging. "Well, except for that broth they gave me on the Caparthia and well, I didn't feel hungry when I was asleep but still, I am very hungry you know." And with this explanation she turned back to her food while Peter rolled his eyes at her.

When the meal was over, Peter wanted to spend some time alone with Wendy so he told the Lost Boys to go and see if any of the wild beasts had returned to the island. They readily agreed to this and scurried up the tunnel. When they were gone and a welcomed silence had descended upon them, Peter asked. "So, Wendy, would you like a tour of Neverland?"

"Er…well, actually Peter, I was wondering…could I take a bath first?"

Peter snorted with mirth. "Of course, you silly girl! C'mon, if I remember correctly there is a pool not far from here."

He did remember correctly because a short distance away from their home was a small pool fed by a short waterfall. Wendy ran towards the edge at the sight of it and Peter, being the gentleman that he was, turned and flew up into a tree. There, he settled himself on a branch with his back toward her and waited.

Nearly thirty minutes later, he heard her call out for him and he immediately flew down to the pool where he found her, albeit soaking wet, just as beautiful as before. He took her in his arms then and kissed her and to his great joy she kissed him back and when they broke apart, she did not smack him like before.

"Peter, what was that for?" she asked.

"Considering my first try was so suddenly interrupted, I decided to try again," he replied with a smile. Then, he kissed her nose and asked, "Now would you like me to teach you how to fly?"

Any flying lesson that Peter had been planned proved to be unnecessary since as soon as he had thrown the fairy dust on her and told her to think of her happiest thought, she automatically rose into the air and flew in a perfect circle around him. Peter laughed along with her in her sheer happiness that she was flying and when he was floating next to her, he took her hand and proceeded to give her a tour of the island from the air.

The smile on his lips could not be erased even if he wanted it to as Peter watched Wendy gaze in awe at the beauty of his home. He himself really couldn't believe it, he supposed that he had always taken it for granted that it was so beautiful but since its 'death' and now full restoration, he felt even more appreciative of it, especially now that Wendy was with him.

Elation swept over him then and feeling it bubble up inside and beg to be released, he flew higher into the sky and shouted, "I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!" Then, his first crow in a long time, he dived back down to where Wendy was floating, scooped her up in his arms and spun her around.

"Peter, what in the world was that for?" she laughed when he had stopped.

He merely smirked and shrugged. "Oh, I don't know, just something I felt I needed to do."

They spent the rest of the day flying around the island and discovering all that had come to life again. When it was early evening and the golden sun was beginning to set, Peter, Wendy and the boys shared an even more delicious dinner than they had breakfast because it included freshly caught fish.

Yet, throughout the meal, Peter couldn't help but notice that Wendy's face went from glowing delight to gray sadness. He wondered what could possibly be perturbing her but didn't want to ask in front of the boys. He was even more alarmed when the meal was finished and everything had been cleared away that she immediately left through the tunnel. Peter saw her go and frowned at her sudden exit but he made sure that the boys got into bed shortly afterward and made sure that Tinker Bell was in her little apartment near their bed. Once this was done, he went out to find Wendy.

It was nearing twilight when he finally found her. She was sitting at the very edge of a cliff that looked out over the ocean. Her head was bent and he wasn't sure if she was crying or not but nevertheless, he sighed with relief at the sight of her.

Then, he strode up the incline to her and lightly laid a hand on her shoulder so as not to startle her. "Wendy, are you alright?" He inquired gently.

Slowly she raised her face and Peter saw that it was streaked with tears and he immediately sat down next to her. "Wendy, what is it? Why are you crying?"

"Peter," she choked through her tears. "This was the—the hap—happiest day of m-my life."

"Well, it was the happiest day of my life too and it doesn't seem like something to be so sad about," said Peter sincerely.

"I'm not s-sad about th-that," Wendy sputtered as she struggled to stop crying. "I just kept thinking about how—how lucky I am to live with you in such an unbelievable place and all of those people in the water who never even had a chance."

Finally realizing the reason for her distress, Peter took both of her hands in his and said, "Wendy, please don't feel guilty that you survived. Feel happy about it. Remember what Mr. Andrews said? The sinking was mathematical certainty; it was going to be a disaster right from that moment."

"They also didn't have enough lifeboats," said Wendy softly.

"Exactly! So, hundreds of people were going to die anyway! All because everyone believed that the ship was unsinkable." Throughout this little explanation, Wendy had been staring down at their entwined fingers but here, Peter released one of his hands and lifted her chin up so that she was forced to look at him. "But we know that it was a sinkable ship, Wendy because we survived. We survived because we knew we weren't supposed to die then. So, maybe I had a little extra help with Tinker Bell but so what? I'm alive and so are you and we shouldn't feel guilty about that. Yes, it's horrible that so many people had to die so slowly and painfully and the sinking of the Titanic will probably be go down as one of the greatest disasters in history but it's one that we survived! Please, don't be sad, Wendy, Neverland is not a place for tears."

She smiled at this conclusion and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Peter, I don't how you do it but somehow you always manage to make me feel better."

"My pleasure, Wendy and you're quite welcome."

"I think I'm ready to go back to the tree now."

"Good."

Still holding her hand, Peter stood up and Wendy followed. They walked through for the forest in silence for awhile before Wendy asked, "I keep forgetting to ask you, Peter but how did you manage to bring Neverland back to life?"

"I don't really know exactly," Peter admitted. "I mean, everything started changing when we were still on the island but we were happy and I was happy. I control the weather, you know." He added with a slight smirk. "When it got so cold and dark, we didn't know what to make of it and as I worried about what was going on, it just kept getting worse and that's when we had to leave. But now that you've asked about it, I think the real reason was that I wasn't really and truly happy and that children weren't falling out of their prams as much as they used. I saw a lot of the world in those three years and I realized that everything was so…fast and new and everyone was so preoccupied with their lives that they had no time for fun…even the children! So I think Neverland itself was realizing that maybe…maybe it wasn't needed anymore and also since I wasn't happy, it wasn't happy. Does that make any sense?"

"Yes," said Wendy slowly, "but it seems strange that your own home would make you leave like that."

Here, Peter smiled a knowing smile. "I think you will find, Wendy, that Neverland is a very strange island. It was here long before me, I think, or at least that's what Solomon Caw told me and since I was the first child to ever live here permanently, I'm its natural caretaker, you might say."

"Who's Solomon Caw?"

"A crow I met in Kensington Gardens."

"Really? I don't think I've noticed any crows there before. You'll have to tell me about him sometime."

"Certainly. I think you'll like him because he was a very unusual crow."

Neither of them spoke after that as they continued onward to the House Under the Ground, occastionally Peter would gently squeeze Wendy's hand and smile when she would return it.

When they reached the tree, Peter stopped and put his hands on Wendy's shoulders. "You're not sad anymore are you, Wendy?"

"Well, I think I'll always feel sad for all of the people who died but no, I'm not sad anymore, Peter. After all, this is my home now and I couldn't be happier to be in such a place like this."

"Yes," Peter agreed as he drew her into his arms. "This is home and it will always be."

Author's Note: That's it! That's the end! I tried to not make it too cliché and I hope you liked it!

I guess there's really nothing more to say except: THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! To everyone who reviewed/read this story! This by far is my most popular story with over 100 reviews, you have no idea how floored I am that so many people loved this story and I'm so glad that you did!

A special shoutout to kasmira36, Leigh A. Sumpter and All the Pretty Horses, who I'm sure despite their hectic lives, kept with this story from beginning to end and reviewed every chapter when they could. Your comments meant so much to me!!

So once again, please review! Thank you all of you again for being so supportive of my first crossover.

Tschau!