Title: Separation Anxiety

Author: Monker

Genre: Romance/general

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I don't own Princess Diaries or its characters. I'm only borrowing them for a short time so I can use them in this story. I don't get paid for this work of fiction…unless of course you consider reviews…which I happen to find very rewarding indeed (hint, hint; wink, wink; nudge, nudge)!!

Summery: This is a C&J story that takes place a year after the first film during one of Mia's summertime visits to Genovia. Joseph takes a group of his men on a month long getaway for some extra security training. Clarisse and Joseph have to deal with being away from each other for an entire month while they are each being tested by their own separate frustrations.

Author's Note: It's sort of been a while since I've written anything for the Princess Diaries fan fiction world. But recently my friend (and yours) Annette-Rose began writing a new story ("Sacrifices"…I highly recommend it. Only three chapters in and I love it already) and reading it has inspired me to once again try my hand at another C&J story. I don't think this one will be as long as some of my other stories, but I wanted to write it out anyway. I hope you enjoy it and I welcome you to leave a review if you'd like.

Ok…deep breath in…deep breath out…here we go!

"Your Majesty, here are the forms you asked for," Charlotte said as she entered the Queen's office, "and I took the liberty of ordering some tea for you and the Princess. Olivia should be bringing it up shortly."

"Thank you, Charlotte," said the Queen with a genuine smile at her assistant's thoughtfulness. Clarisse took the papers from Charlotte and began reading through them.

Mia poked her head over the back of the large couch and smiled at her friend, "Yeah, thanks Charlotte!" she said before falling back onto the soft cushions.

Charlotte walked around the couch and the Princess moved her legs so Charlotte could sit. "What are you reading?" asked Charlotte.

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis," Mia said while holding up the book so Charlotte could see the cover. "I was one of those freaky kids who read nonstop. So I grew up reading stuff like the Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia, you know…fantasy type stuff. But the Narnia books were always my favorite; and out of all seven books, the Dawn Treader was always my favorite. But I hadn't read it since I was 12 or so. Then I realized Grandma kept a set of the books on her bookshelf over there so I just started reading."

"Your Majesty, I never realized you kept those books in here. I didn't even know you read them," stated Charlotte, glancing back at the Queen's desk as Clarisse continued to read over those forms.

"I love those books; of course I have been reading them a lot longer than Mia. As a matter of fact…Rupert and I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Lewis once," Clarisse said without even looking up from the papers.

"What?" Mia shouted, sitting up into a kneeling position and resting her elbows on the back of the couch, "You never told me you met C.S. Lewis! When did this happen?"

Clarisse looked up at her granddaughter, and then she looked up towards the ceiling and sighed. "Oh, let's see…" she said, taking off her glasses and thinking, "That would have been the…summer of '58. I was quite young still; only in my early 20's I should think. Rupert and I had only been married a few years. Anyway, the man was visiting Genovia; Rupert and I heard he was in the country and invited him over for dinner."

"That is so cool," said the excited Princess, "What was he like?"

"Oh, quite charming indeed. Nice old world manners, sharp wit about him as well."

Mia snorted and slumped back into her original position, "Leave it to grandma to be vague. She met one of the greatest writers in history and all she remembers about the man is his manners!"

Charlotte chuckled along with Mia as the Queen began to protest, "I said he was witty, didn't I?" When the two other women in the room didn't curtail their snickers Clarisse gave a simple, "Oh…tush!" and got back to her reading. When Clarisse reached the last of the twelve pages she signed her name at the bottom and then laid her pen next to the document.

Just then, Olivia arrived with the tea. "Where shall I put this, your Majesty?" asked Olivia.

"Right over there will be fine," Clarisse said, standing and pointing to the sitting area where Mia and Charlotte were currently located. "And Olivia? Would you be so kind as to bring up two more cups as well?"

"Of course your Majesty, right away." Olivia delivered the tray to Charlotte and then turned to exit the room.

"Thank you," said Clarisse.

"Why the extra cups, Grandma?" Mia asked once Olivia had left.

Clarisse joined the other women in the sitting area and began to prepare her cup, "I thought Charlotte and Joseph might like to join us, Mia."

"Oh, I'd love to, your Majesty. But I don't think Joe will be able to join," said Charlotte.

"Oh? Why not?"

"He's packing right now for his trip to Aberdeen. It's almost June, remember?"

"Oh, yes of course. I had forgotten," the Queen said, nodding her head.

"Aberdeen? Isn't that in Scotland? Why is Joe going there?" Mia asked as she too began pouring some tea.

"Every other year—around this time—Joe takes a group of his men to a security training camp in Aberdeen. They're there for a month, doing training drills and workouts and things like that," explained Charlotte.

"The Palace is without security for a whole month?" Mia asked surprised.

"Oh heavens no!" said Clarisse, "Joseph only takes about twenty men or so. And Scott—or 'Shades' as you call him—stays behind to act as Head of Security in Joseph's absence. The palace remains quite safe while they're gone."

"Oh."

"At any rate, with the exception of a few appearances that must be made, June is a relatively slow month for us all. I think that's why Joseph always schedules his trips during this part of the year," Clarisse said as she sipped calmly on her tea.

"Speaking of," said Mia as she turned to look at Charlotte, "Exactly how many 'appearances' do we have this month?"

"Three definites and one maybe," was Charlotte's automatic response.

Then the two younger women began to talk about the various outings and some ideas as to what they should do during the spare time the month allowed. Clarisse was grateful for the change of subject and only half listened as the others talked on. Joseph's semiannual trip had completely slipped her mind this year and she didn't care much to be reminded of it. She strongly disliked June because of this trip. She would never say a word about it to anyone, but she truly hated the idea of being separated from Joseph for an entire month. They were still able to talk to each other on the phone, and they were faithful to write to one another during the month, but a couple letters and a few twenty minute phone calls hardly made up for the constant physical absence that lasted all through the month.

She loathed the trip so much she actually had the audacity to ask Joseph to veto the usual retreat one year. His response was something like, "But darling, it's trips like these that keep my men in top physical and mental condition so they can protect you best when it's needed. If it's a contest between your safety and my pleasure, I'm going to choose your safety every time. Besides, it's only a month."

'Only a month' Clarisse thought inwardly, 'Simple enough for him to say. I, however, am stuck here for an entire month without anything to do!' Clarisse sighed to herself. She was being childish. She knew that the separation was just as hard on Joseph as it was on her. Actually, come to think of it, it was probably a lot harder on him because he'd be doing draining drills and workouts the whole time. At any rate, she was not looking forward to the impending month at all.

Well, there's the first chapter. I'm sorry it's a bit short. The next one will be a bit longer, I promise.

Author's Note: I'm a huge Narnia fan, I've grown up reading those books or having them read to me. So the opening scene to this chapter was all just sheer delight for me. I usually try to leave my own opinions or preferences out of my characterizations because I want to be writing a story about my characters and not about me. But this time I disregarded my own little rule and made both Mia and Clarisse fans of the series. The Dawn Treader is my favorite of the seven books...and now I guess it's Mia's favorite too! lol!

Please review if you'd like. I'm not sure if this story will really take off so I'd like to have your input on the matter. Let me know what you think, what you liked and didn't like.

Thanks always!

Monker