Chapter Text
Rain streamed down in rivulets against the window where she sat, her open book discarded on her lap. Behind her, a door opened, and the soft, ever familiar voice drifted to her. "Susan," Lucy whispered. "Are you in here?" Only then did Susan notice that in her daydreams it had grown dark and she had not turned on the lamps. For a brief moment she debated allowing Lucy to leave without speaking. "Susan?" Lucy persisted, "I need to speak to you. Please, are you in here?"
"Yes, Lu," Susan replied, rising to her feet. She reached over and turned on the lamp. "What do you need?"
Lucy glanced around the now lighted room, taking in the chair where Susan had been resting. "What ever are you doing locked up in your room, Sue?" she asked cautiously.
"Reading," Susan supplied, holding up her book. "What did you need to speak to me about?"
Her younger sister decided to refrain from mentioning that the lamps were off and the curtains half drawn against the rain. "I have been thinking about things recently. Do you think that they are all right?"
Glancing at her, Susan sat on the bed but did not immediately reply. Lucy came and sat beside her, taking her hand. "I think that they are as well as they could be, given the tools we provided them," Susan finally replied. Lucy nodded.
For the last two weeks there had been a weight in their house, shrouding the siblings in silence and deep thought. Even their parents had noticed it. When they strolled into the room and the children grew still and motionless. The parents would question each other in the privacy of their bedchambers as to whether they had heard mention of any of the things that were vexing their children.
Holding her sister's hand, in the bright lights of her bedroom, Susan slipped back into her ever-familiar daydreams. In the two weeks since they had left Narnia, almost sixty years had passed. This was more than enough time for there to be a massive downfall, and another war. It was enough time for everyone they had met and befriended during this visit to have lived and died. It was long enough for Caspian to have married, had children and died, and she, Susan, was only fourteen days older.
"Do you miss him, Susan?" Lucy asked softly, squeezing her hand.
"Who?" Susan asked, almost automatically.
Lucy glanced at her, leveling her gaze. "You know who," she replied, with wisdom broader than her nine years.
"Sometimes, Lu," Susan replied. "But I barely knew him, after all. A month together is not long enough, I suppose. Even if we had been together longer… I do not believe anything would have come of it. He was a prince, born to be king."
"It may have worked out," Lucy replied. "You are a queen."
Susan glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "Not anymore," she said. "I am no more a queen in this world than Aslan is a human in his." Lucy stared at the hardwood floor of the bedroom. Outside, the rain pelted down against the glass windows, wind howling around the house. Lightning flashed brightly in the sky. "I'm tired, Lucy. I'll see you in the morning." Lucy nodded and rose to her feet, leaving her elder sister alone in the lighted room. She knew in her heart that Susan would not sleep tonight; she had not slept since they had returned.
Downstairs, Peter and Edmund sat silently in the parlor, the eldest of the two staring at the fire, the younger brother sitting at his chess board. On the other side of the chess board sat an empty seat, Edmund no longer played against the family. He had not since their first return from Narnia. Lucy entered through the arched doorway, taking in the scene of her two brothers. She finally sat beside Peter and whispered, "I'm worried for her, Pete."
"She needs to be left alone, Pete," Edmund said softly, so as not to be heard in the echoing house. "She will heal. She always does. It was a brief moment in time for us, but a second. We have not been the same since the first visit. This one will not be easy to overcome either…" He trailed off for a moment. "Especially with all that we did this time around."
Peter and Lucy both looked at their hands, as if they would be able to see the blood. They had been though so much in the last sixteen years, and they were still considered children in their world. So much had happened in this visit, and it had been hard to return this time, knowing what was coming when they returned to their time and place.
Footsteps echoed in the hall, heavy footed steps that stopped at the door to the parlor. The children all turned to greet their father with a silent nod. "Children," he said, stepping in. "I have news for you. Where is Susan?" Peter glanced to Lucy, Lucy in turn glanced to Edmund.
"Susan retired early this evening, Father," Edmund said. "She complained of a headache."
"Ah," their father replied, "Well, then I shall trust that you will give her the news in the morning." Peter and Edmund swiftly nodded their agreement. "Then, without delay, I shall explain. Your mother and I shall be leaving tomorrow at dawn for Paris. I have business that must be attended to. We have arranged for Mrs. Kelly to keep the kitchen stocked while we are away, and your mother has asked Mrs. Wright to check on you after school each evening."
"When shall you return, Father?" Peter asked, turning in his chair to face him.
The man shifted his gaze from Peter to Edmund. They were suddenly very attentive, his children. "We suspect that it will be a few weeks. Perhaps a month."
"I see," Peter said. "Well, I speak for all of us when I say that I hope you have safe and wonderful trip. We will be perfectly fine on our own." Lucy and Edmund heard the words that Peter spoke and the words that Peter meant. They had performed in two battles to the death and created two peaceful dynasty from war; they could survive for a month without parents. It might even be easier to bring Susan around without their parents constantly listening in on their whispered conversations, and asking them all sorts of questions. Susan had all but shut herself up in her room to escape the bombardment.
Their father stood there for a long moment, looking at the three of them staring back at him. "Peter," he said, finally. "When I return, I would like to see the children I remember. If not from before the war, then from a few weeks ago." Edmund glanced back at his chess board. "Yes, Edmund," their father said, glancing at him. "I have noticed that something has changed in the last few weeks. I will not push, though your mother wants me to. Something was different when you came back from Professor Kirke's after the war, but we understood that. But this is different." Lucy rose to her feet. "Well, I'll bid you good night, and farewell. We will be away before you leave for classes." Peter, Edmund and Lucy nodded to their father; he turned and vanished from the room.
The four Pevensie children made their way across the street to the underground station. This station was where their return to Narnia had taken place. Peter and Susan stood to one side while Lucy and Edmund stepped up closer to the tracks. A boy bumped Peter, shoving him into Susan. Susan stumbled, her books falling from her arms. Lucy swiveled at her outcry while Edmund reached instinctively for his sword. The boy that bumped him turned, it was the same boy that Peter had gotten in a fight with on the day they returned.
He smirked. "Watch where you're going, Pevensie," he snorted. His friends flanked him, "You should apologize."
Without blinking, Peter replied, "Terribly sorry." He turned to them. "Excuse me." He turned away and knelt to help Susan scoop up her books. The boys exchanged glances behind Peter's back, Edmund watched with curiosity, his hand still placed to his sword hip. Susan's books were back in her arms when the boy who bumped him, a boy named Jonathan, tapped Peter on the shoulder.
"You're in my way, Pevensie," Jonathan said hotly.
Peter glanced between Jonathan and Susan. Susan's brown eyes implored him, and for the first time Peter took a step back. "Pardon me, I was assisting my sister. Please, proceed." He gestured for Jonathan and his cronies to pass. The boy did so, glaring at Peter along the way. As soon as they were passed, he turned to Susan. "Are you ok?"
For the first time since they returned, she was beaming up at him. "That was wonderful, Peter!" she exclaimed, flinging her arms around him. He held her tight, reveling in the joyful radiance that she used to extrude on a regular basis, before losing herself in the first return from Narnia. The train screeched into the station, drowning out their thoughts. When the sound finally ended, the train was stopped before them.
Lucy and Edmond stepped through the doors, and turned back to watch their siblings slip out of their embrace and move toward them. Susan was still beaming as Lucy reached out and took her hand. Maybe things would be normal soon.