Although this is posted in a 'books' category, I have to admit that it's been years since I read the Narnia books and so this fic really is based more on the characters and situations as depicted in the Walden/Disney movies.
Hence, I don't own any of said characters and situations. I expect that they belong to C.S. Lewis' estate and the aforementioned Walden & Disney production companies. But no profit made, nor harm intended.
Feedback of all kinds is appreciated (and yes, that does mean that you can tell me how and why you don't like it).
Edmund Pevensie turns and walks back along the Strand. Not able to stand the prospect of being cooped up in that crowded station any longer than absolutely necessary, he's taken the opportunity to wander off for a minute or two, as has always been his wont. The habit doesn't seem to worry his brother and sisters as much as it used to. He's not the magnet for trouble that he once was. But although their train isn't due until quarter to, it's time he headed back because it really wouldn't do to let them start thinking of even the possibility that he might miss it. Not with the way both Peter and Susan have been on edge lately.
His sisters dart across the road, as he nears the station, Lucy tugging on Susan's arm with an urgency that definitely does not bode well. They disappear into the Underground and Edmund dodges traffic to catch up, making it to the station entrance little more than a minute behind them. Even so, he still loses sight of them amongst the mob of shouting kids that has gathered on the platform at the base of the stairs. It's deductive reasoning, more than instinct, that makes him determinedly push his way through the crowd. After all, why would Lucy have franticly fetched Susan, if Peter wasn't somehow involved in all this?
Nonetheless, he's vaguely aware, as he passes his sisters in the crowd, that each of them are responding with instincts shaped by their position in the family. Lucy, the youngest child, has immediately turned to Susan with inherent faith that somehow her older sister will be able to fix things. Susan, so much cleverer than people give her credit for and yet always expected to follow Peter's lead, quickly assesses the scene and frowns, with a small shake of her head that's halfway between disbelief and resignation.
Peter is being held down by two other boys. A third is picking himself up off the ground and looks about to re-enter the fray.
Edmund does what any brother would do. He dives straight in, tackling Peter's nearest assailant to the ground without stopping to even consider what the fight might be about. His opponent goes down like the proverbial sack of spuds. Yeah, let's see how they like it now, when the odds are evened up a bit. They still seem to be concentrating on Peter, which gives Edmund more of a free hand. First threat dealt with, he throws himself at another, but before he can properly subdue his new opponent, a whistles sounds and one of the wardens pulls him off. A few stern words of authority and the fight breaks up almost immediately. The crowd disappears in haste and neither Peter nor either of the girls say anything as they collect their bags and move down the platform to wait for the train.
Edmund tells himself that he doesn't really expect any acknowledgement. Backing each other up in a fight is just one of those things that brothers do. Yet, he can't help throwing a quietly sarcastic "You're welcome" at his brother, as Peter slumps onto the bench beside him.
"I had it sorted," Peter replies and Edmund almost blinks. Well, he supposes that is an acknowledgement of sorts.
The girls start in on Peter almost immediately, wanting to know what on earth started the fight, and while Edmund can understand Peter's refusal to back down from some idiot's attempt to intimidate him, he can also see his sisters' point of view that turning things into a full on brawl didn't really accomplish much.
Edmund does understand his brother's frustration. Peter doesn't want to be treated like a kid anymore, which is really quite inconvenient since he is a kid now and his younger brother can't resist pointing out that rather obvious fact. As far as this world is concerned, they never have been anything else, but Peter has memories of leading soldiers into battle and a hundred and one other "life or death" decisions made on behalf of an entire country. He has known and experienced things that the adults around them couldn't even dream of and it grates when they patronisingly tell him that he'll understand when he's older.
Peter and Lucy are convinced that someday they'll return to Narnia and constantly speculate on when and how. Susan doesn't think it will happen and is determined to ground herself in the reality of living in England. Edmund doesn't think he's really formed a firm opinion either way and so, he's neither pining for something that he used to have nor clinging to what he has now. It probably gives him distance enough to view the tensions pulling at his brother and sisters from an impartial and more balanced perspective.
But speaking of tensions pulling at them, what the hell was that? One by one, all four of them shoot to their feet, trying to get away from the strange otherworldly sensation. Lucy says something about it being magic and Susan shouts that they should all hold hands. Edmund protests loudly when Peter grabs hold of his, like they're also girls or something. He is certainly not going to admit that it helps in grounding him against the disorientation of watching the entire station platform appear to melt away in the wind rush from a passing train. Suddenly, they are no longer standing in a man made tunnel of bricks and concrete, but instead staring out of a rocky cave onto a brightly sunlit beach.
Okay, magic it is, then.
The girls are already laughing and running along the beach, when Peter shoves his brother back a pace, an absurdly childish ploy to get a headstart in the race to the water's edge. Apparently being a kid again isn't such a bad thing anymore. Not for any of them.
Edmund grins, as he sets off in pursuit.