I walked through the hallways of Cair Paravel slowly, my bare feet silent against the cold stone floors, the deaf princess of the Cair. Oh how I wished I could hear. Su's logical explanations for every other thing in the world, Lu's tinkling giggles when Peter cracked a joke, Pete's booming voice, and Edmund. Just Ed saying my name. I sighed. Edmund would constantly forget that I was deaf and get frustrated or think I was mad at him when he said my name and I didn't respond. I wandered into my favorite courtyard and sat on a bench. Suddenly a majestic lion appeared beside me. I jumped slightly whe I heard Aslan's mighty voice in my head.
Hello, dear one, he thought.
Hello Aslan. I replied silently, sadly.
It's your birthday. Why so sad? He asked. I merely shook my head and shrugged as he continued, I've a present for you. That caught my attention.
What is it? I asked, suddenly very excited. He told me to stand and turn so my side was facing him. Confused, I did so. Aslan opened his mouth, and suddenly, the brook that ran into the pond began to babble, the birds began to sing, and I cried out in delight.
"I can hear!" I cried, "Oh, thank you, Aslan!" I threw my arms around the great lion and he chuckled.
"Don't stay here dear oe, find the others, celebrate your irthday!" he laughed.
"Oh I will!" I cried, already running towards the castle as it began to rain.
When I burst into the throne room, Peter and Susan jumped and Lucy looked up from her spot on the floor where she lay on her stomach in front of the fireplace with my battered old copy of William Goldman's The Princess Bride.
"Is she alright?" Peter asked looking at Susan.
"Oh, Peter! Your voice sounds exactly how I always imagined it would!" I cried happily, my auburn curls plastered to my face. Lucy was the first to react, jumping up and throwing her arms around me, shrieking happily the whole time.
"Cay! You can hear!" she cried, hugging me and nearly suffocating me. We began jumping up and down, shrieking. After a moment, Susan joined, followed quickly by Peter. The door banged open and in trudged a very wet and equally grumpy Edmund.
"Hello." He grumbled, frowning. Spotting me his face brightened just a little bit and he waved.
"Edmund!" I cried, bowling into him and slipping on the floor. Ed moved to catch me and I grabbed his hands, bringing us both down. I landed on my rear with a yelp and a gasp, and burst out laughing. After a moment, Ed joined in.
"Oh," I gasped when our laughs had finally subsided into giggles and gasps for air. I giggled again as Ed stood and offered me his hand, "I never thought I'd hear your voice, Ed," I smiled. Ed stood there, staring at me.
"You don't mean…" he finally muttered. A wide grin broke my face as I nodded, "Oh, Caylin!" he cried, scooping me into his arms and swinging me around. I clutched his neck and laughed. When he finally stopped spinning, he set me down and asked, "How?"
"How else?" I laughed, "Aslan!"
Later that night, I stood near my window alone and waswatching the rain when I heard a knock on my door.
"Come in," I called, leaving the window.
"Hello," said Edmund quietly, shutting my door. I smiled at him as he stood there staring at me.
"See something you like?" I teased walking around my bed to stand in front of him and taking his hands.
"Sorry…" he said, blushing, "I just… I'm still just… you can hear, Cay!" I smiled and hugged him. "It's going to take me a while to get used to the face that you can hear." He said into my hair.
"Me too," my voice was muffled by his shirt.
"So," he began, pulling out of the hug and led me to the sit in front of the fireplace, our favorite place to sit together. We'd sit together and drink hot chocolate, eat sweets, and just talk. "What's the best thing you've heard so far?" he finished, pulling a tray of hot chocolate and sweets closer to us.
"You," I replied, taking a sip of my hot chocolate, "saying my name."
"No, seriously." He said, giving me a look that said you're joking, right?
"Seriously." I replied, giving him the same look.
"Well, what if I said something different?" he asked seriously, looking into my eyes.
"Depends, what would you say?" I asked, staring right back. I could feel my cheeks begging to grow warm.
"What if…" he began, looking away, "What if I said I loved you? What would you do?" he finished, looking back at me. By the fire's glow, I could see his cheeks turn a lovely shade of scarlet that would've been the envy of even the lion on Peter's shield.
I leaned closer and closer until I could feel Ed's breath, warm on my lips. And when our lips met, all the butterflies in my stomach exploded and my heart soared. I smiled slightly at him as we pulled out of the kiss and rested our foreheads together before replying.
"Do you know how long I've waited to hear you say that?"
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A/N: so, originally, Cay was going to be a servant. dunno why i changed it.
anywho!!!!
R&R pleaseeee!!!
*pushes tray of hot chocolate & sweets towards loving reviewers*