Disclaimer : Do you really think I'd be writing on this site if I owned Narnia?
This seems to be a fairly common idea, but I'm going to do it anyway. It never seemed right to me that the Pevensies just let Susan go like that. It's also the first time I've tried an angst fic, so be nice. And here it is, the next installment of my genius (yeah right!).
Last of the Great
Susan laughed at a joke her friend had made. She thought briefly of her siblings, especially about the fact that they had gone to the Professor's house in the country. In the middle of June, as well! When there was so much to do in London, so many parties and friends. They must be mad.
Flashback :
Susan entered her parents' house with a little apprehension. She was back later than she was supposed to have been, and she didn't want to be caught by her parents. They were supposed to be having a family dinner, and she hadn't been there. She smiled as Lucy came out of the dining room to greet her. Lucy had lost none of her innocence in the years since they had been evacuated. She was still the same girl, even though she was seventeen now and more worthy of the term 'young woman' than 'girl'. She still had bright blue eyes that sparkled and lit up whenever she was happy. She was the only one of her siblings that Susan was in any way close to.
Peter followed his little sister. He had grown tall since the war, and he was the pride of the family, perfect at everything he did, simply because he tried harder than anyone else. He still had blond hair, and blue eyes, and was still the protector of his younger siblings. He had grown more and more distant from Susan ever since she had started growing up and rejecting that stupid game that they had played when they were children, the one that her siblings had held onto so hard, never forgetting and always talking about it, but he had always been there for her when she needed him. He had looked at Susan with those sorrowful blue eyes when she had first voiced her opinion on Narnia, but he, unlike his younger brother and sister, didn't try to change her mind. He seemed to know her mind was made up and nothing would change it.
Edmund came out after Peter. His eyes darkened when he saw his older sister. Of all the Pevensies, he had tried hardest to make her remember Narnia, to admit that it wasn't a game. She had pushed him away every time. Peter had accepted her decision, Lucy had thought that Susan was joking, that she didn't really mean it. Edmund had tried, but failed.He didn't sulk like he used to, and was altogether a much more pleasant person to know. But Susan had forgotten why he had changed. She thought, as did their parents, that it was his stay in the country that had changed him. He, Peter and Lucy knew better.He too had grown since the war, and his brown eyes, so different from the rest of his family, held the same light that was in Peter's and Lucy's eyes. But not Susan's.
Lucy smiled impulsively. « Susan, you'll never guess! Professor Kirke has invited us to go visit him in the country again! We'll be able to talk about Narnia, about everything! Do come, please come! »
At this plea from her sister, Susan's heart wavered, but held firm. « Don't be silly, Lu. Narnia was just a game we played to pass the time when we were evacuated. How would that interest the Professor? Anyway, I can't come. I've been invited to stay at a friend's house for a week, I won't have time to go up to see the Professor. You go, and enjoy it. I'm happier here. »
It nearly broke Susan's heart to see her little sister's face fall as it did. Lucy's eyes filled with tears. « You really don't remember, do you? Please come, Susan. Please. »
« No, Lucy! I told you I'm too busy. » And Susan had stormed up to her room, barely knowing why she was so upset.
End Flashback.
The telephone rang and Susan ran throughtothe kitchen to answer it.
« Miss Pevensie? »
Susan's heart plummeted, even though she didn't know why. « Y-yes? »
« I'm very sorry, ma'am. Your family were killed in a train crash today. All but your two brothers, who were on the platform, were in the first carriage and when the train crashed it killed the two waiting to board... I'm so sorry... »
Susan felt her heart stop beating. Her family... train crash... dead... no, it wasn't possible. She had seen her parents yesterday. How could they... Her mind was a whirl, she couldn't think straight. She heard the officer on the other end hang up as if from a million miles away. Her blood pounded in her ears, she put the telephone down as if in a trance... She returned to the front room.
« Su? Are you alright? What was it? »
Barely knowing what she was saying, Susan answered. « My family died in a train crash... » Then, as if the words had unblocked something inside her, she collapsed onto the sofa as the full reality of it came crashing down on her. They were dead. They weren't coming back. Sobs racked her slender frame as her mind struggled to take it in.
Her friend's voice sounded dimly in the background, weak as a leaf in the wind. « I'll... I'll leave then. See you later. » The front door slammed behind the girl as she left the Pevensie house.
Susan barely noticed. Her mind was fixed on the fact that they were gone, all of them.
Peter, so serious and irritatingly protective of his siblings, yet always there when she needed a shoulder to cry on.
Edmund, persistent yet easily pushed away, who had always tried to bring her back into the family.
Mother and Father, always telling her what to do, but always for her own good, always to help her.
And Lucy... Lucy who had always looked up to her sister, who had loved everything in the world despite anything they had done to her... Lucy who had believed in Susan til the last. Susan felt she could have coped if only Lucy had survived as well. But she hadn't, and now she was gone forever.
Lucy Pevensie watched her sister from Aslan's realm. She felt the great Lion himself join her, watching through the window that allowed her to see back to the Shadowlands, as Aslan called it. She turned to face him, tears in her eyes, as they had been the last time she had seen her sister.
« Please, Aslan. Bring her back. She doesn't deserve this. No-one does. »
The Lion shook his mane and answered. « Child, she does not believe anymore. I cannot help her if she does not believe. »
« But you can! The first time we all came to Narnia together Peter and Susan came too even though they didn't believe me when I told them! »
« That is different, child. They had not then seen Narnia. They had no reason to believe apart from your word. » Aslan seemed to consider for a moment. « I also believe Susan is strong enough to go on by herself in your world. But we shall see. »
Susan moved as if under water, accomplishing each action slowly and without really paying attention to it. She finally went up to bed, pulling back the covers and climbing in as slowly as everything else. As she lay back on her pillow, however, something sharp poked her in the neck. She reached her hand under the pillow, and pulled out a letter. The front of the envelope was marked To Susan... In Lucy's writing. She opened it with fumbling fingers. Eventually it lay open in front of her.
Voilà! Part one finished. I'll probably write Part two tomorrow during school. Reviews are welcome, as is constructive criticism. Flames aren't.
Carline