Are We Looking at the Same Sky?
Summary: Set during the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Edmund can't sleep one night, so he does some star-gazing and soul-searching. As he misses his brother, he wonders if they're looking up at the same night sky. No slash, just brotherly fluff. One-shot.
Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia or any of the characters in this story- it all belongs to C.S. Lewis.
Author's Note: This may be considered slightly AU because I do know that somewhere in the chronicles, the children talk about the constellations of Narnia and how they are different from ours. Please just take the suggestion of the same sky with a grain of salt.
The gentle waves rocked the boat back and forth, its rhythm creating a soothing lullaby for most of the inhabitants on board. But tonight, Edmund Pevensie could do nothing except lay in the hammock and look up at the wooden ceiling.
He truly did not mind having to room with Caspian and Eustace, for Caspian was a friend and fellow royal of Narnia, and there was no quarrel he had with Eustace that Narnia could not placate, but tonight, he just felt the need to be alone for a while.
He sat up, quietly, trying not to hit his head on the low ceiling(his head was already very bruised from such encounters, and he didn't want to wake anyone.) The door creaked slightly as he closed it, and he winced. As he glanced inside the small cabin, both Caspian and Eustace were still asleep. This eased his conscience, and he walked up to the deck.
The crewmen that were working ignored him. There were fewer of them at night than there was in the day, and with no distractions, their focus was solely at the job on hand. Edmund knew that focusing would keep your mind awake when the rest of your body just wanted to sleep, as it had been a lesson he quickly learned in long battles. He made his way through them, without his usual polite hellos. He didn't want to be a nuisance.
Edmund made his way to the end of the boat, trying to get away from everyone else around, though that task was rather difficult as the ship was quite small. His dark eyes glanced up at the dark sky, and the brightness and intensity of the stars pierced him. The Narnia night sky was always clearer and brighter than the sky in England.
How many times had he looked at this same sky? It was beautiful and bold, splattering light and brilliance across a dark canvas. Edmund could remember the first time he had even taken to exploring Narnia's night.
Like this night, it had been a night of insomnia for Edmund. It had been the night of the Pevensie's coronation.
/
The festivities had lasted long into the night, but they had slowly tapered off. Both Lucy and Susan had already gone to bed, and Peter . . . well, Edmund didn't know where Peter was.
The music and dancing that seem to encircle him had been joyous, but the laughter was temporary, and now Edmund had only his own thoughts for company. He stood at the balcony, looking up to the night sky.
It was clear and beautiful, like everything else in this magical land now that spring and freedom had arrived. Edmund, being the practical boy he was, had never been one for stargazing at home, but here . . . the sky was alive, and the stars were dancing a dance of joy. It was if the very earth and sky were also celebrating Narnia's newfound freedom.
"They're beautiful," said a soft voice behind him. Edmund jumped, then turned his face back to the night when he realized it was Peter. He wasn't sure what to say, as him and Peter had not had a real conversation yet, not since they had arrived in this land.
Peter sighed. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, but he was determined to try. He took his place besides Edmund, still not looking directly at his younger brother.
"I couldn't see them before," Edmund replied, his cracking voice giving away the emotion that stirred deep within him.
What Peter did took Edmund off his guard. Peter leaned forward, and gave Edmund a tight embrace, a hug not made out of fear in the heat of battle or the polite hug of a high king, but the warm embrace of a brother who simply loved his younger brother.
They didn't say anything after that, but continued to gaze at the stars, and even with the lack of words, it was the first true conversation the pair ever had.
/
Edmund allowed a sigh to escape his lips. He loved Narnia and felt more at home here than anywhere else, but home was not quite home without his older brother and best friend, and the stars held many memories of late-night conversations between the two brothers.
Edmund knew it was a foolish thought, but he couldn't help thinking that maybe there was something that was connecting him and his brother at this moment, something more than the love for their family that was eternally in their hearts, and maybe that something was the stars. As Edmund looked up, he couldn't help but to wonder if maybe Peter was looking at the same sky.
--
Peter Pevensie was exhausted, but sleep was being evasive tonight. He was very fond of the professor, and he was happy to be where he was, but tonight he was missing his family, particularly Edmund.
A smile flittered over Peter's face as he recounted in his head all the memories he had looking at a sky so familiar, yet so vastly different from the one he stared at now, with his brother. Almost every meaningful conversation they ever had took place under a blanket of stars.
"Sleep well, my younger brother," Peter thought in his head, "And know that we're looking at the same sky."
-Finished-