Lance liked playing by the pond in the little abandoned garden that he had found on one of his many adventures.

A large willow tree, marked only with a carved heart and the letters "P & W" on the bark, cast a shadow over one half of the lake, the leaves weaving through the branches like thread would on a spindle.

Frogs would leap from the slippery slate rocks to the slowly budding lilypads and then dive into the surprisingly clear water. Insects would jump and crawl amongst the taller grass that grew on the small bank and butterflies would collect nectar from the flowers that were sprouting in the new beginning of spring as they always do.

The sun shone down on Lance's already tan skin as he sat by the edge of the pond, his nose in a book and his mind far away.

He had been coming here ever since he could remember to play but recently he had been using it as a little retreat to get away from his father and many siblings. They were overbearing sometimes, always going on about 'responsibilities' and 'being a man.'

Lance didn't want to be a man. He wanted to just live his life as a child for as long as he could. Being a child is fun, Lance never wanted it to end.

Lance turned a page of his book; Alice in Wonderland. It was his favourite, a parting gift from his mother who sadly passed away when he was just a baby, he had read it many times.

Lance began to get lost in his mind, thinking of his mother. What was she like?

Father, on the rare occasions that he spoke about her, said that she was gorgeous and loving but fiery when she needed to be. Lance smiled at the thought.

Suddenly there was a noise from behind Lance and he jumped, his book slipping from where it was resting on his lap and falling to the floor face down.

Lance whipped around and scanned the area with his eyes, looking for any sign of movement that could have caused the sound of a twig snapping those few seconds prior.

"Who's there?" Lance called out, his voice timid. 

A small figure peeked out at him from behind the trunk of the willow tree and Lance got to his feet slowly, edging towards the pair of eyes that had come to rest on him.

"What are you doing in my garden?" A soft voice returned and Lance stopped moving, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Your garden? This is my garden! I found it ages ago." He said, his tone defensive as his arms crossed his chest.

There was a pause and for a second Lance thought that the stranger had given up. Then the figure moved out into the light and a young boy a little bit shorter than Lance became fully visible.

"If you 'found' it, is it really yours?" The boy asked, using his fingers to make speech marks around the word found.

"Finders keepers!" The seven year old Lance replied back with a matter of fact tone.

The boy had long jet black hair that cascaded down to his shoulders in waves and somewhat contrasted with his pale skin and rosy lips. He had big bright eyes, dark cobalt blue with sparks of silver every so often and after Lance's childish remark they rolled slightly in exasperation.

"This is my garden... who are you?"

Lance huffed but figured that technically since he was in someone else's garden he should probably put his manners to good use.

"Lance McClain." He said, reaching a hand out towards the boy in introduction, just as his father Peter had taught him.

The boy eyed his outstretched hand for a second before smiling slightly and taking it in his own.

"Well I'm Keith Kogane." He said, remembering to lower his voice when talking to new people like his mother Wendy had constantly told him.

Lance nodded curtly and Keith retracted his hand before looking away sheepishly.

"So if this is your garden," Lance said, repositioning himself on the floor and picking up his book. "Why have I never seen you here before?" He asked gently.

There was silence for a few seconds and then he saw Keith sit next to him from his peripheral vision.

"I'm not usually allowed out of the house... my mama is always busy with work and stuff and my brother is really overprotective about where I go..." He confessed, pulling the grass from the ground and ripping it up before letting it go and reaching for more.

Lance nodded and hummed softly in answer.

"My pa mostly let's me do my own thing, but recently he's been talking to me about growing up and being a man and all that yucky stuff." He said, sticking his tongue out in disgust as the the words 'job' and 'bills' and 'wife' swam around his mind.

Keith made a face similar to Lance's.

"I never ever want to grow up! Growing up is for boring people like Shiro!"

"Shiro?" Lance questioned, quite happy that he had made a new friend who shared his opinion on becoming an adult. 

"My older brother. He's so serious since he got older and he never wants to play with me anymore..." the boy grumbled with a slight pout.

Lance looked over to the child beside him and smiled.

"That's okay, you can play with me!" He said, a sudden surge of excitement coursing through him at the thought of a companion to accompany him on his adventures. 

Keith's face brightened and his eyes grew a little wider.

"Really? You mean it?"

Lance nodded vigorously. He stood up and dusted himself off before leaning down and pulling Keith up with him. 

"Come on! Let's go on an adventure!" He said, his eyes bright and shining with hope and a childlike playfulness. 

Keith gave a toothy grin and nodded with just as much urgency.

"Okay!"

Meanwhile back at Keith's house a knock suddenly startled Shiro from the coursework he was doing at the kitchen table. He got up and made his way to the front door before opening it, being met with a tall man with dark brown hair and hazelnut eyes.

"Hello, awfully sorry to bother you, it's just I'm trying to find my son... I know he tends to come around this area a lot but he's usually always home by now and if I don't find him soon I'll have to call the police and tell them that I've lost my little boy and-"

"Sir please try and calm down... what does your son look like?" Shiro asked with a reassuring smile. 

The male smiled back nervously and readjusted the green cap that was on his head before opening his mouth to speak again.

As he was in the middle of his description of the little minx that he called his son, there were soft footsteps from behind Shiro.

"Who's at the door Takashi dear?" A soft voice called before his mother appeared next to him.

The male stopped talking abruptly and looked at the newcomer in awe. 

Shiro sensed his mother tense up a little and he turned to look at her fully. 

She was starting wide eyed at the stranger, her mouth slightly agape in what he could only guess was disbelief. 

"Peter...?" She whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Wendy..." The male replied just as softly. 

》》

Keith and Lance were having the time of their lives.

Being small had its perks... for example, everything seems bigger, especially an already gigantic garden.

Lance collapsed on the bench that was positioned a little way away from the willow tree, a small yawn stretching his mouth wide.

"You tired already Sharpshooter Lance?" Keith said, referencing the game that they had been playing seconds before.

"No way Samurai! Lancey Lance doesn't get tired." He said, rubbing at his eyes which were starting to feel heavy.

Keith yawned as well and clambered up onto the bench, he was only six and was unfortunately smaller than Lance so it took him a few seconds before he could actually plonk his bottom on the sun warmed wood.

"The universe needs us Lance, we can't give up..." He said softly as he saw Lance's eyes begin to droop a little.

Lance jumped at the sudden voice so close to him and turned to look at Keith with a smile.

"The universe can wait, voltron is having nap time." He said just as softly, scooching closer to Keith and laying his head on the boy's shoulder.

Keith nodded slightly and got comfortable, his head soon coming to rest atop Lance's.

And slowly, the two children let their eyes shut and sleep overtake them.

》》

Wendy had told many stories of Peter Pan when Shiro was small. He spent many nights waiting up way past his bed time to see if Peter would come and visit him. He wanted to fly, he wanted to meet the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell. But alas, Peter never came and Shiro grew out of his small fantasies...

Now that the Peter Pan was sitting at his kitchen table, Shiro felt something rekindle deep within his chest. He tried to keep his composure though as the male talked about his son, which Wendy was quite surprised yet excited to hear about.

"Lance, the little troublemaker is always out doing something he shouldn't be. Like causing me to worry of his whereabouts. He's a good kid though, very polite but cocky as heck at the same time..."

"I wonder where he gets that from." Wendy said with a small smirk.

Peter rolled his eyes but smiled and nodded.

"He reminds me a lot of me when I was his age... he doesn't want to grow up either..."

The talk soon changed as they talked about Wendy's son.

"So Shiro, I hope you're looking after my little Wendy bird. She needs a strong lad like you to take care of her." He said with a smile.

Shiro smiled in return and nodded.

"I try my best, but with Keith running around she's always rushed off her feet, though she doesn't seem to mind."

"Keith?" Peter asked.

"My little brother..." Shiro paused, having a sudden realisation that he hasn't seen Keith at all today "who is unusually quiet. Excuse me just a moment." Shiro said before rushing from the kitchen and dashing up the stairs towards Keith's room.

He opened the door only to find that the boy was gone. His toys long abandoned on the floor.

Shiro went into full panic mode.

"Mama! Keith is gone!" He called from the landing, looking over the banister where he could now see his mother's face.

"What do you mean he's gone!?" She asked, a small look of horror on her face.

"I mean he's gone, he's not in his room and I haven't seen him all day!"

Peter could be seen now. He looked to Wendy and then to Shiro before putting a finger to his chin in thought.

"Hmmm, two little mischief makers go missing at the same time... I wonder what they could be up to." He wondered aloud.

Shiro began to recall the many times that Keith asked to go in the garden. He promised that he'd take him out there the next day but alas he was always caught up with something.

After explaining this, Shiro made his way downstairs and slipped out of the back door, Wendy and Peter not far behind him.

They searched the whole garden and soon came to stand in a line in front of the old wooden bench.

Keith lay with his head in Lance's lap, sucking on his thumb in his sleep. Lance was sitting upright with a hand in Keith's hair and drool running from his mouth. Small snores escaped the two children and Shiro had to stifle a squeal at how cute they were.

"Oh gosh, they're so adorable." Wendy gushed, trying to keep her voice down. 

Peter nodded in agreement, a small smile adorning his lips.

"They are." He said gently. 

Keith began to stir slowly, he tried to sit up but Lance just pulled him closer again until his own eyes began to open slowly. 

When Keith realised that they were no longer alone, being the more awake of the two, he eyed the three people up and down. One more than the other two. His eyes widened to a comical size and his jaw dropped.

"YOU'RE PETER PAN!" He said in disbelief, jumping up and down now in his excitement. 

Shiro chuckled at Peter's confused expression.

"Mama tells me about you every night! She's good at telling stories!"

Peter looked to Wendy, a small light shining in his eyes as he reminisced on his days where Wendy would tell him stories.

"Is that so little one?" He asked, leaning down to ruffle Keith's hair. 

Now whenever Shiro had tried to do this, Keith would nearly bite his hand off in annoyance, now though he just froze and stared up at Peter in admiration.

Lance was awake now and watching this whole scene with a furrowed brow. 

"Daddy, stop stealing my friend! Keef is mine!" He said suddenly, standing up on the bench and stamping his foot with a pout. 

Peter turned to his son and chuckled.

"Ah, there you are you little tyke." He said, running over and picking Lance up before spinning him in the air and making the boy squeal in delight. 

"I'm not stealing Keith, Lancey. You can have him... but don't you dare run off like that again okay? Do you know how worried I was?" He said, kissing Lance's forehead when they were standing still again, the boy positioned on his hip.

"Okay daddy. I won't and I'm sorry, it won't happen again..."

But of course it did, Peter found himself on Wendy's doorstep more than his own because of his little troublemaker sneaking off to see Keith when he was supposed to be grounded.

He never complained much though. He wasn't even that mad really. 

As long as Lance was happy with Keith he would try not to get in their way.

He let them have their fun while they were still young.

Afterall,

Everybody needs to grow up at some point...

•••

Part 2??

Yay, nay?

~Max
  Xx