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"Hey, why are you crying?"

A voice of a young boy can be heard in front of her as she opened her eyes and looked up. She blinked a few times as her eyes slowly widened at what she's seeing in front of her.

"H-how...how..", she mumbled as she founds herself facing an unfamiliar boy who is currently floating in mid air, staring back at her with a calm, emotionless expression.

"How are you....doing that?", she suddenly asked as the boy tilted his head at her.

"Doing what exactly?", the boy answered in monotone, his red hair getting slightly messed up due to the wind blowing against it.

"F-floating...Flying..", she answered absent-mindedly, still loss for words as the boy lightly shrugged.

"I just can. Now, your turn to answer me.", he straightforwardly said, making Jane frown and let out a soft sigh, looking away from him.

"It...doesn't matter much...plus you probably wouldn't be interested in those---"

"I asked, didn't I?", the boy cuts her off mid sentence, his tone obviously sounding off and slightly disrespectful for a child.

She looked at him in disbelief as she was loss for words again.

"Who are you--"

"Answer me first.", he cuts her off once again, getting slightly impatient and annoyed by her ways of avoiding the question.

Jane pursed her lips as she let out another deep sigh.

"Fine....", she mumbled, taking a deep breath before letting the boy know the reason of her cries.

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As Jane continued her story while the boy listened quietly with the same expression on his face, she didn't knew that letting out everything off her chest to someone other than herself is the main thing she needed the most at that time.

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"I see, he's blinded by his own emotions, and it looks like it has gotten permanent.", the boy straightforwardly stated, making Jane feel that her heart was suddenly shattered by the hidden truth that she can't accept from the boy's words.

"Permanent....", she thought as she repeated the last word on the boy's sentence.

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"Well, what do you plan now?", he suddenly asked, making her snap out of her thoughts and look back at him.

"What do you m-mean...?", she asked, confused on what he meant.

"Do you tend to run away with your daughter? Or remain in the house living with a monster?", he asked straightforwardly again, making her instantly furrow her eyebrows by the word 'MONSTER'.

"He isn't a monster.", she instantly answered as the boy raised an eyebrow and retorted,

"Seems to me and judging from your story, he is now."

Jane's eyebrows furrowed even more, getting slightly annoyed by his way of expressing his words.

But...

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At some point, she hated to admit it on her own that the boy's words were already a sign for her that she NEEDS to fully accept the painful truth that should've been pierced onto her ever since from the start.

She took in a deep breath and stared at the boy with an unreadable expression.

Which made the boy raise an eyebrow in response.

"What?", he bluntly let out as Jane cleared her throat before speaking up.

"Sorry, but can I now be the one who'll a-ask you some q-questions...? It's actually unusual for me to see....well...this..", Jane gestured to him as the boy stayed silent for a moment before answering a plain;

"Hm. Go ahead."

As soon as he said that, the woman bombarded him questions.

"How old are you? Who are you exactly..? What were you even doing before showing up in front of me? And why out of all the houses, you chose to come here and randomly talk freely in front of me? ", she straightforwardly asked this time.

The boy's eyes slightly widened as he was taken aback by the sudden burst of questions for a moment, but then tilted his head to the side as he look at her.

"Slow down.", he said, giving her a slight annoyed look.

Jane pursed her lips, thinking that she went overboard with the questions until she watched him facepalm before letting out a sigh.

"Well...since I was the one who sort of disturbed your privacy...", he started off.

The boy calmly raised one of his hands and placed it on his chest while bending his upper body as if he's making a slight bow while floating in mid air.

"I...deeply apologize for interrupting something that I shouldn't have seen from the first place, that's quite disrespectful on my part.", he calmly confessed/apologized, forcing out a small smile when he raise his head to look at her.

Jane was about to say something until he spoke up again.

"On the other hand...", he started off again, straightening his back from bowing and letting his arms rest at both of his sides.

"My age....is quite older than you think despite of my young appearance. It might be unusual for you to see or believe, but it's up to you whether you believe me or not, I care less about it anyway.", he stated as he looked at her with a blank expression.

Jane on the other hand, who's obviously taken aback by his mature way of speaking and the sudden smile he gave earlier, is currently staring at him in awe.

As soon as she saw it, she already knew that he was forcing himself to give such a small smile....yet, it somehow looked sincere as it can be as if he wanted to show how much he really meant his apology.

"It's...fine..."

She slowly said, disregarding her thoughts in the process as the boy nodded in response by her answer before continuing to answer her remaining questions earlier.

"Every time I fly around here, the streets were always quiet.", he started and turned his back on her to look up at the moon for a moment.

"Well...it was until I heard someone crying nearby.", he suddenly said in a certain tone that Jane automatically assumed that he was disturbed by hearing it while he's minding his own business.

The woman instantly felt embarrassed of herself, knowing that she's obviously the one he heard crying and looked away from him.

"I...I thought I was quiet enough...", she mumbled to herself as Peter heard it.

"You were.", he simply answered, making the woman look up at him with a shock expression.

"What the... I didn't even said it out loud...", she thought as he watched the boy turned his head and body to the side to look back at her.

The boy instantly noticed an obvious expression from the woman's face, so he immediately knew what she's thinking at that exact moment.

"You must be confused on how can I still hear you even though your voice is as quiet as a whisper. ", the boy huffed, almost like a slight chuckle as the woman didn't say anything but nod her head in response, not finding any words to say.

"It might sound like a brag, but I can assure you that it isn't. My ears are just incredibly good at hearing.", he casually said as he finally faced her fully once again.

Hearing what the boy had just said, Jane's eyes suddenly trailed up to look at his ears, which took her by surprise.

"H-he has pointed ears?!", she thought as Peter stared at her shocked face.

He was confused at it at first, but then realized that she was looking at his ears. The boy exhaled through his nose and softly snorted as he found Jane's expression funny.

Well...

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Now it slightly feels bothersome due to her staring at it for a while now.

"Quit staring at my ears. It's starting to make me uncomfortable.", he said straightforwardly and making Jane apologize right away.

A short moment of silence occurred until Jane decided to speak up this time.

"Hey... If I'm not offending anything... may I ask what are you?", she asked as the boy tilted his head.

He wanted to find the right words for his answer, but the only answer he could think of is the type that a human can possibly understand and take in easily.

"Hm...I guess I'm somehow like some sort of 'monster'.", he calmly replied.

Jane raised an eyebrow by his answer.

"Are you really, though? Like, the kind that's violent or evil?", Jane stated as the boy hummed, thinking about her question while crossing his arms on his chest.

"I honestly couldn't say nor explain it in a way you would actually understand.", he simply said as Jane mouthed an 'o' in response.

"However... in another way of giving a simple answer to your question, it actually depends on how you see me in your perspective. What do you think I am?", he asked her, which suddenly made Jane go quiet as she thought of an answer, leaving another moment of silence.

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The silence continued to occur in the atmosphere for another short while until Jane finally said her answer to his question.

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"A child.", she simple said, witnessing the unknown expression appear on the boy's face.

That's honestly not the answer that the boy had in mind so he was slightly taken aback by it.

"...why..?", he asked while uncrossing his arms on his chest, confusion written on his face as Jane raised an eyebrow this time.

"Well, aren't you...?", she asked as 'a matter of fact' as Peter looked away this time, her answer really caught him off guard at some point.

"I'm older than you. Haven't I told you that earlier?", he said, avoiding her gaze as the woman let out a chuckle on his statement.

"Not really. What you told me earlier is that you're older than what you are.", she said, letting out a soft smile.

"I did...?", he asked all of the sudden, blinking a few times in disbelief as Jane let out a smile and nodded.

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".. Right.. I did..", he mumbled as if he finally realized it just now.

Jane couldn't help but burst a soft laugh, finding it funny to witness such a strange young boy who looked as if he's not fond of showing emotions in the first place, but now? He is somehow starting to show some of it without him knowing.

"Hey...", she called out, snapping the boy away from his slightly embarrassed state and looked at her.

"What is it?", he asked.

"You...have a name, am I right?", she asked as the boy tilted his head while staring at her for a moment before giving her a slight nod.

"May I know what it is?", she asked as she earned a hesitant look from the boy's face before he turned his head to look away from her.

"Its....not that much of an important thing to know...", he said as he avoided eye contact and placed his hands behind his back.

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"But I asked, didn't I?", Jane suddenly asked as the boy immediately turned his head to look at her due to hearing some familiar words from earlier.

Jane let out a soft smile, seeing that the boy's face showed the realization that it's the same words he said to her earlier.

The boy suddenly let out a slight smirk at the lowkey backfire as he chuckled.

"You're really quite something.", he said, slightly pouting as he crossed his hands behind his head while Jane laughed at his way of response.

"I'll take that as a compliment so thank you.", the woman grinned, completely forgetting the pain she's dealing earlier and feeling more comfortable on the boy's presence.

The boy watched her smiling widely at him, as if she had totally forgotten how much she cried the few minutes before they met.

Normally it wouldn't matter much to him, but somehow...

He unexpectedly feels comfortable around this adult.

Is it because that she's the very first human adult that he got to talk with in a way?

OR...

Is it because of the fact that he somehow felt that she's kinda different than the rest of the humans he'd seen...?

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"..pete..r...p...n..", he hesitantly let out, making it inaudible for the woman to understand.

"Hm..?", she hummed in response, asking on what he had said just now.

The boy sighed and cleared his throat.

"My name...it's Peterpan. But if you may, just call me Peter for short. ", he said and lifted his right hand to scratch the back of his neck and slowly let out a sheepish smile at her.

Jane suddenly smiled and let out soft chuckle at his response.

"Peter? What a nice name..."

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"Why didn't you tell me that you met my mother before?", Madison asked as she sat at the side of her bed while listening to Peter.

"You didn't ask.", he simply replied as he sat on the floor, looking up at her and seeing her facepalm at his answer.

"Well... Is that the memory you remembered earlier?", she asked as Peter stood still before shaking his had in response.

"No...", he breathed out, looking straight at her eyes.

"It's...the memory of how your mother....", he answered, making Madison's eyes slowly widened while her heartbeat paced up.

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"B-but what about Madison?", Peter asked as Jane smiled even more sadly.

"I know...", she chuckled sadly and looked away from Peter to take a glance at her daughter.

As soon as Jane saw Madison sleeping peacefully, the corner of her lips curved up into small smile.

"Madison.... is still very young... yet....I can clearly see in her eyes that she's already feeling pain by seeing me like this everyday...and by that, it pained me even more...knowing that she had to witness every single thing in such a young age...I don't want her to see any of it anymore...."

"By ending it with your own death?", Peter said as he frowned while Jane suddenly felt her eyes water after hearing his words, feeling another set of tears stream down once again as she slowly nodded.

Silence.

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A short amount of silence had fell upon the room until Peter spoke up again.

"Jane.", he called, making the woman turn her head away from her daughter to look back at him.

"H-hm..?", she hummed in response.

"Please think this through."

Jane felt herself froze on her spot as she stared back on the boy's calm yet serious stare. She didn't say anything. Not even a hum that can stand as a response from the boy's statement.

For a split second, Peter frowned when Jane didn't even mutter a word. His eyebrows furrowed as he spoke up again.

"You're right. She's still young.... that it will probably be hard for her to cope with the fact that her mother will just vanish out of her life.", he said as Jane frowned and looked down, avoiding Peter's eyes and not saying anything once again.

Silence.

, Peter pleaded in his thoughts as he slowly decided to try to speak up again.

"Your daughter's pain there. You know how it feels to that is to you. Once you're gone, your daughter will feel the thing you're feeling right now. So please... Please think this th.", he pleaded once again as he emphasized some words that would hopefully knock some sense into her.

"Jane--"

, she suddenly said, looking up at him.

"This is already, Peter.", she said once again as she let out a soft smile at him.

Peter stood still, staring at her in disbelief as if he's the one that's now speechless.

, Peter thought as he stared at Jane, who's still smiling even though her eyes were still teary from crying.

"Pain....", Jane suddenly started off as Peter's eyebrow slightly raised in shock, thinking that she must've heard his own thoughts.

Assuming that it was a mere coincidence, he pursed his lips and waited for the next thing that she has to say.

"It can show two different things and can end in two different ways. It's either the one that pains you for a long time until you slowly feel numb about it...while the other one---"

"Still pains you even if a long period of time has finally passed. Because to you, the pain never fades away no matter how much you wanted it to.", Peter's voice slowly sounded sad at each word as he finished off her sentence while Jane smiled and nodded.

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"Why do you still smile even when you're in pain?"

Peter asked suddenly, making the woman's eyebrows slightly raise by the question. She looked down for a moment as she thought about it before looking up again to look and Peter.

Peter's raised an eyebrow as Jane let out another smile and shrugged at him.

"I've been smiling now and then....so I just gotten used to it... Even if it goes to a point that the smile that I gotten used to, now has a different reason."

Peter's face soften at her answer, he never knew he could meet someone like her that is kind-hearted, caring, innocent and a selfless person that just wanted to be happy.

He sighed.

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"Is this what you really want?"

Jane look up at him and saw a blank expression on his face while he expected an answer...

But...

He suddenly frowned when she answered the opposite of what he expected.

"Yes."

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