Wendy is stricken with fear, and she decides that she and her brothers must return home that very night. She is not sure Peter is right about mothers, but she is afraid nonetheless. Peter is very hurt, but he pretends not to care. He heard that breathing very fast kills grown-ups, so he breathes as fast as he can.

After Peter saves Tiger Lily’s life, the redskins unite with the lost boys. The redskins begin to refer to Peter as “Peter the Great White Father,” and Peter relishes their admiration of him. Together, the groups are awaiting the pirates’ inevitable attack. Wendy has grown frustrated with the lost boys and their mischievous behavior; however, because the boys respect her as their mother, they follow her rules. After Wendy refers to Peter as “father,” the boys have a discussion about who should be father; this boils over into an argument, with the boys complaining about each other.

Peter listens to the mermaids going to their homes and feels the water rising at his feet. Then he sees something small moving toward him through the water: it is the Never bird sitting on its nest. She wants to save Peter by giving him the nest, even though her eggs are still inside.

Hook is sentimental, and wants a mother like any other boy. Hook asks about Princess Tiger Lily, and he is enraged to hear that the others let her go by his own orders. He thinks nervously that the order must have come from a ghost. Hook addresses the ghost, and Peter responds in Hook's own voice and manner.

Wendy does not think too much about her parents, because she is sure they will always keep the window open for her and her brothers if they decide to return. But she is worried that John and Michael seem to be forgetting them, so she gives the boys quizzes on their old home to try to stir their memories.

Peter believes that not wanting a mother sets him apart from the others. When Tootles takes responsibility for the death, Peter Pan almost stabs him with an arrow. But Wendy's hand holds him back. She is alive: Peter's button, which she wears as a necklace, stopped the arrow from hurting her too badly.

When Peter is away from Neverland, everything becomes quite peaceful and lazy, and nobody fights very much. But now that Peter has returned, the island has become lively. Everyone is hunting someone else: the pirates hunt the lost boys, the indians hunt the pirates, and the wild animals hunt the indians. “They were going round and round the island, but they did not meet because all were going at the same rate.”

Wendy, John and Michael fly for many days and nights in the direction of Neverland. They don’t know where they are but they closely follow Peter, who steals food for them out of birds’ mouths. They fly easily, though when they happen to fall asleep they drop straight down. Peter saves them carelessly at the last minute, to show off. They are even a little afraid that he might forget about them and abandon them, and they wouldn’t know how to find their way. He often seems to forget them after going off on an adventure, and they have to remind him who they are.

The light flickering around Peter Pan is a tiny fairy named Tinker Bell, who begins looking for Peter’s shadow as soon as they fly into the nursery. When she speaks it sounds like many little bells, and it is incomprehensible to ordinary humans. She tells Peter that his shadow is in the chest of drawers. But when he tries to put his shadow back on, it will not stick. He begins to cry in frustration.

With his shadow captured, Peter is forced to return to the Darling home and face Nana.