Title: Edmund and Elanor
Summary: Set after VotDT. As Lucy celebrates her 16th birthday she wishes for one last visit to Narnia for the four Pevensie Children. Sure enough, they are granted one final visit to Narnia. Times have changed and there is someone who might just make the Just King want to remain in Narnia forever.
Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia.
A/N: NO FLAMES! Not accepted.
2nd A/N: This was originally about the Voyage of the Dawn Treader but I decided to change it. It didn't work, so this is new version.
Chapter One
Lucy Pevensie sat with her elbow on the table top and her chin in her palm. She was bored, her history period was dragging by slower than usual. Tomorrow was Saturday and her brothers and sister were going to take her back to the first place they were when they first went to Narnia for her 16th birthday. Back to Professor Kirke's house.
The Professor had passed in the year gone and in remembrance of the four Children whom he'd had in his house during the first bombing from Germany, he had left the house to them. They knew they couldn't get back to Narnia but the house had been left to them to do as they pleased and now that Peter was 22, during the leave he took from University between semesters and exams, he would be found in Professor Kirke's old study.
The Wardrobe became Lucy's and they made that spare room, her room. Edmund had the room next door and Susan and Peter had rooms downstairs. Although Susan was accepting that they lived in England now she still missed Narnia very much. Lucy sighed for the umpteenth time her eyes flickered to the large clock face on the wall and noticed that her history period still had 30 minutes to go. One of her friend, Charlotte, passed over a sheet of paper from her desk.
Do you really have to spend your birthday with your brothers and sister? Can't you spend the weekend with them another time? Evelyn, Lucinda and I had the best party planned for you! Oh I guess we'll have to do it for the next birthday then.
Lucy gave Charlotte a small smile and shrugged lightly. None of her friends would ever understand why Lucy would rather spend time with her siblings rather than her friends. She'd rather spend time with her cousin, Eustace, rather than with her friends, and that was saying something. But Lucy knew that her friends had planned a lovely party for her and she was going up to the house that she partly owned with her siblings. She was looking for to it. The idea of reliving her best childhood memory was exciting.
Lucy remembered the countryside, even if last time she'd seen it from the window of a train instead of Peter's car. He'd gone all out with the money he'd saved from working as a waiter in a small diner in London and had bought a Volvo PV60 Sedan. Susan sat up front next to Peter and Edmund sat looking out the opposite window to Lucy.
It had been weeks since they'd last been to the house, but Lucy hadn't looked at the scenery last time. She wished time would pass faster, but then she'd also wished that when they had first gone to Professor Kirke's beautiful large house in the countryside. Lucy let a smile cross her face; she was going to be 16 tomorrow. The small party they'd had in Narnia hen she'd first turned 16 had been wonderful. And small in Narnia was big in their world. There had been two whole table laden with food and wine, there was dancing, Lucy had danced with Mr Tumnus several times along with a several other Fauns, she danced with her brothers and with Susan.
Lucy sighed softly as the sky began to darken and Peter pulled off the road to go up the dirt path towards the large house. Edmund reach over to her and squeezed her hand, she turned to him with a smile which he returned. Edmund was 18 now, his birthday just three months before. They were going to enjoy this weekend…at least Lucy hoped so. She was going to wish for what she always wished for. Every year since the Dawn Treader she had wished for the same thing. Yet it had never happened. She hoped because this year was special and they were where it had all started it might just happen. Maybe, if Aslan would let them come back.
Lucy sat at the table the next morning waiting for Edmund to come downstairs. He was a notorious late sleeper as Susan and Peter had been up before Lucy got up. Peter retreated upstairs to wake Edmund and Susan had gone to the kitchen to cook breakfast. Soon enough two sets of footsteps sounded on the stairs one a lot slower than the other. Peter came in to the dining room first and gifted Lucy with a kiss on the cheek before going to check on Susan and breakfast. Edmund plopped down next to Lucy at the table and yawned.
"Did you not sleep well?" She asked, he gave her a weak, tired smile but shrugged.
"I slept fine. It's just different from home." He said, Lucy smiled and nodded agreeing, it sure was different from home. But then if it was like home, they'd live here. Lucy liked the idea but knew that it was impossible until they were old enough to leave home themselves. Peter already lived here and Susan was planning on moving in as well when she finished her studies. Edmund would be next to move in and then it would be Lucy. Edmund placed a brightly wrapped gift on the table in front of her, before Peter returned with two more.
"Don't open Sue's til she gets here, she wanted to see your face." Peter said, placing a thin gift further away. His was tiny as was Edmund's but when she unwrapped them they were quite different. Edmund's was a bracelet, but when she looked at a smile spread across her face. It had three charms on it. A crown, a lion and a ship. She looked up at her youngest big brother and thanked him, saying she couldn't believe he'd thought of it. Peter's was next. His was a necklace. With a the flat shape of a lion on it with the words Queen Lucy the Valiant engraved on it.
"You might not want to wear it to school. But when you're with us. Just to remind you of who you are." He said. Susan came into the room and put Lucy's plate down then went back for the others. When they had all sat down to their breakfast Lucy got to open Susan's gift. Susan had been studying Art at school and she had been gifted with a set of art supplies for Christmas the year before. Lucy slowly tore the paper away and realized it was picture. Susan's memory was good. It was portrait of Lucy, Edmund, Peter, Susan herself and Caspian. All standing in a pose that Susan had made up together, Lucy in front with her dagger in hand, her healing cordial visible on her belt, Susan had her bow drawn, Peter and Edmund stood back-to-back both looking like the Kings they were, swords drawn and Caspian was in the back, he too had his sword drawn and he looked quite regal as well.
"Oh Susan!" Lucy said as she took in the colour that Susan had added, "It's beautiful!"
"I thought you'd like a reminder. As you might have noticed, all the gifts we gave you have something to do with Narnia. This is where it all began. This is where you discovered Narnia." Susan pointed out. Lucy nodded; it was true her brothers and sister would have not known Narnia had it not been for her.
She sat on her bed after blowing out the candles on her cake and wishing to go back to Narnia and she was still stuck here in England. She hated it. She hated that she had to stay here and grow up. She'd grown up in Narnia. Why couldn't she go back there and grow up again?
Lucy sighed and later that night when she got ready for bed, she set the picture Susan had given her against the far wall of her room so she could see it when she woke up. She could hear Peter and Edmund talking downstairs and Susan telling them to be quiet because Lucy had gone to bed. The boys were talking football scores and Lucy and Susan found it quite boring. Lucy just hoped that tomorrow would make her forget that she was never going back to Narnia. Tomorrow she would wake up still in England and she would realize and accept that they were never going back to Narnia. It was foolish of her to even think that they could. Narnia was not theirs anymore. It belonged to Caspian and they had to believe he would look after it. And maybe he would. Maybe Narnia was a better place than it had been when they had it. Caspian had told her and Edmund on the Dawn Treader that there was peace all across Narnia. So why wouldn't it be find under his rule. Even Peter had said that Caspian seemed to be doing a fine job of running the world that he had once ruled over.
But still Lucy wished with one last effort that she could go back to Narnia with her siblings, just one last time to see Caspian one more time to tell him that they were proud of what he was doing. So Peter could talk shop with Caspian and together they could do good and be friends more than just Kings. Maybe Lucy's wish was a little out there, maybe it was a little whimsical but she wanted it to happen, so with everything in her she whispered out to the night.
"Please, Aslan. Let us come back just once more. Just for one more time." She closed her eyes then and fell into a peaceful dreamless sleep.
