Forget? Never.

This was the beginning, of what she wasn't exactly sure but Shego knew it had to be better than what they were leaving behind. Echo Isle would always be there to return to but the mainland offered possibilities she'd almost forgotten existed. A smile had creased the lips that often wore a frown that even Shego had found something good in the world she claimed to hate. He stopped her even then to catch a moment of genuineness to which she obliged, though silence offering him a smile that spoke what they needn't. After being alone for all this time Shego hadn't realized how lonely it had become and the space which he filled in her life. "You ready to blow this popsicle stand?" Her voice reached out into the silence of the vast world in front of them and hands intertwined they were off to see what it held for them.

It wasn't too long before the sounds of his stomach were interfering with their conversation. "You're always hungry," she quipped giving him a brief glance out of the side of her eye, already beginning to look for somewhere to stop to get their fill. "You're buying? Why didn't you say so?" A joke based on truth, Shego never being one to turn down a free meal, especially when the company was even better. The scent of meat sizzling on an open fire grill was what drew her in but the fact the sign was missing a letter or two became a no-brainer. "Come on, let's get you fed before you get all hangry," she teased nodding towards the establishment that caught her eye.

"But seriously," he continued, his gaze softening as it met hers, "I’ve got enough money to treat you for a lifetime." He paused dramatically before smirking. "That is, if we die next weekend." His chuckle rang out again, the weight of money and the future dismissed with a wave of his hand. Thinking ahead wasn’t exactly Peter’s strong suit, and right now, he didn’t care.

As she tugged him into the establishment, the aroma of sizzling food greeted them, and the menus arrived soon after. Predictably, Peter ordered the heartiest serving of meat he could find, while the first round of drinks was placed before them. Taking a sip, he smacked his lips in satisfaction. "Not bad at all," he admitted, leaning back in his chair with an air of contentment. He glanced at her, his smile softening into something deeper. "I love this life. Leaving was the best decision I ever made."

He set the glass down, "We’ll find a place soon, somewhere to call our own. You and me. And when we’re ready, we’ll move again—until we’ve seen everything there is to see." Perhaps Peter wasn’t just running toward adventure—he was running toward a future with her, one step at a time.

She'd half expected it to be harder to convince him, knowing that her counterpart had a life here on the Isle that she lacked. There wasn't anyone Shego would need to tell or leave behind but that was how she had lived her entire life. Connections created complications, at least they had in her past. "Well then, good, we'll take it on together," the dark-headed girl said with a satisfied hum to follow. It allowed her the comfort to follow suit and relax on the ground with her arms behind her head. "Alright Eager Beaver, you've got it."

A genuine smile had actually formed, surprising even Shego, unable to remember the last time she'd felt this content while also being fueled by what was to come. This was the first time in years she'd felt that drive again, the same kind as when she'd met Drakken and knew her life would change forever. "Afraid?" Her eyes cracked open to look over at the skygazer beside her. "I'm more afraid to stay here these days," a joke that was far too true but somehow the only way she'd been able to cope. "I actually think I'm... excited?" Words even Shego was stunned had come out of her mouth.

With nothing but a large bag slung over his back, Peter stood beside her on the hilltop, gazing down at the life he was leaving behind. The view stretched endlessly before them, promising the unknown, and for the first time, Peter felt the bittersweet sting of goodbye. He was leaving his friends, the only world he’d ever known, trading it all for a taste of something new.

But it wasn’t entirely sad. She was beside him.

Unlike him, she stood with a confidence that outshone even the bravado Peter was known for. He glanced at her, a smile tugging at his lips as he drew in a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," he said softly, taking her hand in his.

As she prepared to take flight, she felt him tug her back. Turning, she saw the uncharacteristic hesitance in his eyes as he brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it. Words, he realized, weren’t enough to express his gratitude. He needed her to understand how much it meant that she was here, that he wasn’t doing this alone.

When they finally took off, the adventure began in earnest. No maps, no plan—just instinct, luck, and two misfits chasing the unknown. "I’m so hungry, I could eat a whole buffalo," Peter groaned dramatically, clutching his stomach in exaggerated agony. He glanced at her with a playful pout. "We should eat," he said again, a glint of mischief in his eyes. "My treat."

A familiar knock on her window jerked Wendy from her seat on her bed, the only face she'd expected to see behind it cracking it open to let in the night air. "A carnival, at this hour? You're sure they're still open?" she asked quietly, looking toward her bedroom door to be sure no one had heard him arrive. "Do you want to come in, while I finish this chapter? It's awfully warm outside," she offered, opening the window a crack larger.

Perhaps it was the unspoken weight of knowing that tomorrow might be the last time he’d see her. Or perhaps it was the faint ache of longing that tugged at him, stirring thoughts he rarely entertained. Peter was never one to dwell on the past or the future; his life was an endless present. But tonight, he wondered. What could have been?

If he had realized his feelings sooner, would things have been different? Could the tides of fate have shifted, forcing him to reconsider everything, even his decision to leave? For the first time, the weight of what he was leaving behind felt heavier.

But still, he already made a decision.

"Alright," he said finally, stepping through her window with practiced ease. He paused, his gaze sweeping across her room, drinking in the sight of it—the trinkets, the books, the small details that made it hers. "I’ll miss this place," he murmured to himself, the words barely above a whisper. Memories of knocking on her window in the dead of night flashed through his mind, each one bittersweet.

Peter turned to her and offered a small smile as he pulled up a chair beside her. "What’s the chapter about this time?" he asked, his curiosity genuine as he settled in to watch.

A brief pause just to take a breath and she’s shaking her head, refusing to let herself get overwhelmed by this. Anger she could handle, that she understood - but the beginnings of a hole developing her chest was new. Twice now in the past handful of weeks, Tink has been left standing in front of the person that mattered the most to her in the whole world, fighting back tears as he broke her heart. “You can’t leave us. The lost boys, your other friends, hell even fucking Wendy - we need you. We can’t all just pick up our lives and run away, Peter. You shouldn’t be able to either. Do we really mean so little to you that you’ll just leave us all?”

And yet, he hesitated. His gaze dropped for a moment, a sigh escaping him as he struggled to put the weight in his chest into words. "If I don’t leave," he began, his voice steady but laden with conviction, "I’ll always feel like something’s missing. Like my life is hollow. I’ll regret even being alive, Tink."

He wasn’t being dramatic. Every fiber of his being ached for the unknown, for the pull of adventure beyond the familiar. To stay meant betraying that part of himself. To stay meant suffocating.

"You can come with me, if you want," he added, the faintest hint of hope threading through his tone. He meant it—she could. But deep down, he knew better. The life Tink had built in the Isle, the roots she had dug into its society, was everything he despised. It was a cage, and she thrived within it in ways he never could.

"But I know you won’t," he admitted, his voice softer now, tinged with both understanding and resignation. "And I won’t force you." Peter stepped closer, his eyes meeting hers one last time, a bittersweet smile pulling at his lips. "I’ll see you again, Tink. But let me live. Please."

Bursting into the home, she doesn’t even register if anyone else is hanging around the living room or kitchen, just makes her way straight back to Peter’s room and enters with a bang. “What the fuck?” she snaps, not caring at all that he isn’t even awake. As he starts to become more aware of what’s happening, Tink lets out a scream of frustration and picks up a shirt from the ground to throw right at his face. It’s obviously not enough to hurt him, and she had no intentions of doing that, but she just needed to throw something. To hit him in some way because she couldn’t think of what else she’s supposed to do. “Don’t huh me! What the fuck, Peter? You’re fucking leaving? And you thought the best way to say goodbye was a fucking letter? No. Fuck that. You aren’t going anywhere.”

"What do you mean I’m not going anywhere? You can’t do that!" he argued, growing more confused by the second. "If you want to come, then come. But I won’t stay here, you know I won’t stay here!"

The possibilities were endless past the borders of the Isle, places she'd only dreamed of or seen passing in a getaway car with Drakken. For the first time in her life, she felt like the world was actually at her fingertips. It was a sentiment that the boy understood without any explanation needed on her end. Peter had been the first breath of fresh air and she'd been smoking his high ever since. "You'd really run and not look back?" A hopeful tone crept into her voice along with a raise of her dark brow. She'd seen a world that she wanted to explore without the fear of return and it seemed that he saw the same image as clear as she. "I've always wanted to just go," Shego paused for a moment to think if she wanted to share the intimate details of her life, ultimately deciding he could be trusted with this side of her. "I used to sit on the roof as a kid and look at the city lights, pretending that I could fly over them and off to somewhere better. A place where I could just... be." She shook the thoughts loose in her head before they were able to stick. Those being times Shego chose not to think about anymore.

"Then it looks like you've got a lifetime of adventures ahead of you," she said overlooking the world that would soon await them. "Bitches aren't going to know what hit them." A smile was forming naturally as her eyes scanned what could be where she next stood with him. For the first time, there was actual hope that the Isle wasn't suffocating but Shego knew there would be challenges. Nothing good ever came easy. "Yeah, but he's Hopper he's got like the whole Isle in a chokehold," she said matter-of-factly, never having known her boss to not get his way. "I think there's some political chick involved doing the lifting on that end. Something about not wanting all of us to be here because we're like easier to attack, you know since we're the hottest thing on the black market." While she gave a laugh Shego knew the truth behind her words, that they were all prizes the hunters wanted to win. "It sounds like they're finally seeing our side of things." After being trapped in this fish tank in the first place, she was waiting for the chance to spread her wings.

"We're leaving the moment those borders go down. I'll have my bags ready," he added. "Not like I have much to bring anyway," he chuckled, leaning back and lying on the ground. His eyes gazed up at the sky, where the blue was softly merging with the orange hues of sunset. "We'll see bigger skies, Shebangs." He chuckled softly, then asked, "Are you afraid?"

“You say it’s like someone’s ripped out your heart just to give it a beating?” she echoes his words, shaking her head as a hand comes up to wipe at her eyes before she finally looks back up at him. “Well, welcome to my world. Now you know exactly how I’ve always felt every single time I’ve seen you around her.” A part of her supposes that it was necessary, Peter explaining the difference between his feelings for Wendy versus Tink herself in a way that only he could, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. “I – I can’t do this tonight, Peter. I… I’ll see you around.” And with that she turned on her heel, leaving him behind in a similar manner that he had done to her the last time they had shared a dance, when all of this mess began.

Peter didn't really know how to break the news to Tink. This was by far the biggest decision he had ever made, and it meant he wasn't going to be with her this time. Tink had finally made a life for herself on the Isle. Unlike Peter, who was motivated by novelty, Tink had friends, school, and the Lost Boys needed her too. He spent days thinking of better ways to tell her, but there wasn't any. The simplest solution was to just tell her and hope for the best. He knew she had been hurting because of all that had happened between them, and yet, Peter felt like this news would only make everything worse.

Thinking it was best not to confront her directly, as was typical of a childish boy, he wrote her a letter, indicating that he was leaving the Isle soon. His handwriting looked that of a child, and he wrote the simplest sentence he could muster: "I'm leaving town. I don't know when I'll be back. I'm sorry, Tink. Be happy. Love, Peter." And that was it.

The next day, as Peter lay snoring in his room, he was jolted awake by the thud of a door and an angry blonde standing over him, demanding answers. "Wha- what? Huh?" he stammered, obviously confused and half-awake.

"No! No, not on the computer, on my phone. She's, like … she does the Internet for a living. So, I found her profile, and I thought she was really pretty," he explained. There was a shift in Peter as he introduced the idea of taking a more definitive step forward with Colette; maybe he shouldn't have brought up something so serious when it was obvious that Peter was trying to steer as far away from that as he could. "Really?" Sam asked, feeling the relief that came with Peter's approval. "Well, the thing is, some of them don't like her, 'cause we've broken up, and gotten back together, a few times. But, I promise, she's great. I like her a lot, and I think, maybe, this time, it'll work out better."

"Some don't like her? Who doesn't like her?" Peter asked, tilting his head with curiosity. "If you really like her, why would other people's opinions matter?" he continued. "No one's opinion ever mattered to us as long as we were happy. We're the Lost Boys. You know that," Peter reassured him.

"What about what you said ... about joining the force, and all that? I thought you were--I just didn't think this was, um, something you wanted, was all." Wendy wasn't sure if she'd be able to convince him to stay, but, as his friend, it was her job to point out the things she wasn't sure he'd considered. "And what about the boys? Are any of them going with you? You know they look up to you, Peter, even though they might not say it." She didn't want to go so far as to say that they needed him, because she knew they'd be fine, but it was maybe her who did think she needed him around the most.

Peter looked at his sorry backpack—beaten down, stained, and with rough edges that needed stitching. Despite its sorry state, it held everything he owned. In that bag in front of him was his whole life. He forced a smile, hands on his sides, and let out one final sigh. “Alright, let’s go!” he mumbled to himself before leaving it in his room, knowing it would be one less person crowded. He wouldn't be there in the future to make a mess of it.

Of course, the day before leaving, he knew he wanted to bid farewell to Wendy. She was the last on the list, and no one actually knew when he was leaving. It was better this way, Peter thought, so they wouldn’t worry about him. With a familiar knock on her window, Peter greeted her with a smile. “I hope you’re not busy tonight,” he said with a mischievous grin. “Let’s hang around the small carnival. It’s their last day today,” he added, hoping she'd say yes.

She shook her head at him, certain that he was wrong. "No, you won't. You'll always have me, I promise," she disagreed, her words as sincere as his were. "Just because we want different things out of life doesn't mean that we won't have each other." Wendy could tell he was hurting, that he didn't want to talk about this, but it had been weighing on her ever since she and Phil had started dating: he had to know that she wasn't going anywhere. Perhaps it wasn't the relationship he wanted from her, but it was the most she could give. Instinctively, she stopped his movement, taking his hand to keep his attention. "I'm serious, Peter. I'm here as long as you'll have me."

"Before I tell anyone," he began, needing to share this with her first. He wanted her to hear it from him. "I hear borders will open and," he hesitated, knowing this might surprise her. "I'm going. I'm leaving the Isle," he admitted. "I don’t know when I'll be back, but I have to… I must."

The raven-haired girl was billowing out smoke with each laugh but it was impossible to not crack one around him. A nod was her initial response, enjoying watching his excitement at the news. There weren't many people who she felt comfortable enough around to show a side of her actually hopeful for the future. It had been ingrained in her to be pessimistic about what was to come when there was a target on her back for simply being different. Peter knew it firsthand, having been one of the few to see her in her entirety. "I know, right? I almost didn't believe it when I heard it but the big man doesn't lie," Shego pipped up again after pushing the hit from her lungs.

"Think of everything we could do and see, Flyboy." There had been a world she only saw through Drakken's eyes and now she saw an opportunity for her to see it herself. Perhaps there could be a co-pilot to this plan if he chose to come along, not just anyone being able to keep up with her. "They can do whatever they want to do too. Besides, we can always come back and see them. Escaping doesn't mean gone forever," she replied, her eyes now falling into his. For a second she sat in his gaze before her smile became evident and she glanced back to the horizon line. "I think half of the fun is seeing what happens, you know? For once, I don't think I want to have all the answers and just want to find out when I get there."

"That's how I like my life to be," he said, a smile curling on his lips. "Surprises, mysteries, adventure. There's nothing greater than that." This was the essence of Peter's soul, and perhaps it was what people meant when they said he refused to grow up. There was an entire world to explore, endless wonders to uncover. He could never imagine himself anchored, unless someone was willing to soar with him. "How will they open it?" he mused. "I don't think it's going to be easy."

At the mention of growing up, Wendy could only offer him what must've been a melancholy version of a smile. It seemed he still hadn't wrapped his head around the necessary steps that were in front of him, even if she and the rest of their friends had begun to. "You're not losing her. I don't think you know how much you mean to her, if that's what you're afraid of." She paused, suddenly disinterested in the meal in front of her as she watched him attempt to swallow the truth. "And, you know, you're not going to lose me either, right? Even if I have to do ... grown up things, every now and again. They're not as fun as anything I do with you."

Peter forced a smile, biting his lip as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I don't know, Wendy. There’s plenty I don’t know," he admitted. Life had been unfolding in ways he couldn’t control, and no matter how much he wanted things to remain the same, everything was slipping away. "You say that now, but one day, you’ll find yourself elsewhere with another boy, making big moves, creating a family," he sighed, looking down at his nearly finished burger. "And then I’ll be a memory." He lifted his head, meeting her eyes with a serious look. After a moment of pause, he shrugged and chuckled slightly, his hands already moving to finish the burger. "But ah well, we still got time for tea, don’t we?"

A laugh emerged before he'd even finished talking, the joint reaching her lips once again. In the smoke, she found solace from reality and was able to sink into the feelings that filled her lungs. "Not yet, not until he stops paying me or someone else wants to pay me more," she quipped with a raise of her brow, a smoke cloud billowing out with her words. It wasn't quite as simple as he wanted it to be but Shego admired his constant optimism of a simpler world. While it wasn't Hopper's ideals that she aligned with, the money he gave her kept her allied with him. "Okay, eager beaver," she teased. "Word is Hopper's been working with someone to get the borders open and it's only a matter of time now until we can blow this popsicle stand." Shego inhaled another solace before holding out the joint for him to indulge in. "There's some fancy political lady he's in cahoots with but what it means is we might actually be able to see that side of things." Her eyes went to the horizon where they'd only spoken about seeing their rooftop from, wondering now if it could actually be a reality. Maybe then she wouldn't be stuck between a cockroach and a butterfly. "As long as the hunters don't catch wind of this we might actually be home free, can you believe it?"

“Oh wow, this—this is terrific,” he exclaimed, unable to contain his happiness. He grabbed Shego by the arm, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s beginning for us. We can do anything, be anything.” Peter spoke like an enthralled child, his eyes glinting with tantalizing hope. He paused for a moment, his eyes shifting to the ground as a thought captured him. “What happens to the ones we leave behind?” he asked, genuinely curious about her response.

"I care," she argued, "I've always cared about that." No matter how much she wanted to let it go, Wendy simply couldn't--Tink was an integral part of their found family. Her proximity to Peter was what had gotten Wendy to care so much in the beginning about the blonde liking her, as though her approval of Wendy would be what got Peter to like her, too. But, over time, it had simply become about the principle. "And that's very kind, but I care because she's your best friend, everyone's best friend, and, I don't know, it just seems such a waste. We could've been best friends, too, if we didn't--maybe if we hadn't started on such a bad foot. But, I fear it's too late now, even though I ... it doesn't matter. Perhaps you're right."

"Lately, Tink's been doing better, meeting new people, gaining new friends. It almost feels like I'm losing her," he admitted, pursing his lips before meeting Wendy's gaze. "But I guess that's growing up. Seeing them happy with someone else." The words slipped out unplanned, and as he looked into her eyes, it felt like the focus had shifted from Tink to Wendy. A familiar ache returned to his chest, a reminder of losing them both. Clearing his throat slightly, he tried to ease the heaviness growing within him. "How's the food?"

He'd always been a problem though it hadn't always been like this. From the beginning, he'd caught her off guard and even now it was against her own judgment that she came to him. She felt the most alive in the darkness of night, never knowing him the same in the daytime when he was surrounded by his friends. Only when the sun fell were they able to be completely themselves without the same fear of the world shooting them down. While most of the time she would've avoided using her powers so publically when Shego was around Flyboy a strange sort of confidence came over her, as if when they were together no one could've stood against them. "Is that your most recent phrase?" Shego l laughed, continuing on their path but glacing over to the boy following beside her. The girl dipped between buildings to take a protected route to her destination. The fewer eyes that saw them nosing around, the better, knowing if the wrong person caught wind she'd get scolded for her actions. "We're hiding from the Hopper colony, and we're running to something," she corrected before sliding around another store corner with him in tow. It wasn't until they popped out at the back Isle shore with a clear view to the side she referenced not that long ago from their secret rooftop. The beaches were far too rocky for anyone to visit and the store backings provided cover from anyone still wandering around town. It gave the perfect place for her to speak freely. "You can keep a secret, right? That includes all your friends. I would like to keep my head on if that's cool." If word got out that she was speaking to others about her work she imagined her boss wouldn't be pleased and she'd need to pay the price.

Once she made sure they were alone, Peter smiled at her, eagerly anticipating what was next. He had that look on his face that said he was down for anything, blind optimism radiating from him. "I do," he nodded, his curiosity piqued even more. "But why?" he continued. "What's the matter?"