Dancing in the Darkness and the Shadows
AN: Hey guys! Long time no read, I've been struggling a lot over these past few weeks as well as having a terrible writers block. Don't worry though as soon as I've recovered I'll be back in the game with my other stories. But until then here is as two-three shot dedicated to Susan and Edmund Pevensie with Peter and Lucy included of course.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Chronicles of Narnia
Summary: It was always so easy for them...treading the lighter path. Without ever slipping into darkness and welcoming the cool embrace that followed. Well Peter and Lucy did anyway. Susan and Edmund couldn't help it; they just liked playing in the shadows. Mentions Suspian as well as Ed/Su sibling stuff.
Note: Try listening to the song Dark side by Kelly Clarkson or Arms by Christina Perri, both beautiful songs. Just a suggestion.
Edmund always hated the fact that Peter and Lucy seemed to be loved more, that feeling of always being second best made him feel a slightly bitter inside. After his experience with Jadis, Edmund decided that it was better if he became what everyone expected him to be, second fiddle. Never mind. It made it all the more fun when he wiped the smirk of the enemies faces
Susan felt the same; everyone always thought that the younger siblings would be envious of the older siblings. Living up to their strength, intelligence and achievements but Susan knew better, nobody liked rational one, who stayed calm and showed no emotion. They thought her heartless and weak. After becoming tired of trying to prove herself to her Parents, subjects and Aslan himself, she decided to follow the lead of her younger brother and fade into the role of second fiddle. Never mind. It made it all the more exciting when she shoved her arrow into her someone's skull.
He may be the Just king but there are times when he is biased in his judgment. When Peter and Lucy are convinced of someone's innocence, he will try twice as hard to prove their guilt. He will dance in the shadows and get the evidence he needs, criticising the two on the naivety he has never been allowed to have. They will be shocked and try and find a missing link in Edmunds well planned evidence but none will be found as there isn't one there. Susan will smirk; she never doubted him, she even helps sometimes. Lucy will cry and Peter will calm her and for a single moment Edmund will pity the two. Until he remembers and the pity turns to anger at their vulnerability, what would they do without him?
She may be the Gentle Queen but there are times when she is anything but. When Peter and Lucy laugh at her demands to go into battle she feels her blood boil, and she will rage. She will dance in the shadows until they leave and she sneaks out of her room, bow and arrows across her back. She will arrive at the battle field and Peter will scold and Lucy will chastise. Edmund will smirk and later she thanks him for the rope he hid under her sheets. As they four monarchs fight for their county she will watch Lucy avoid the kill by stabbing the leg and knocking them out and she will watch Peter close his eyes as he thrusts in his sword. For a moment she will pity them and then she remembers that she looks her enemies in the eyes and the pity turns to anger. They should at least lock eyes with their opponents. She curses their weakness and turns her azure eyes on the soldier in front, never mind she'll do their job for them, as usual, what would they do without her?
After fifteen years they fall back through the wardrobe door and Edmund knows that there is no going back until Aslan calls them. He slides back in using his new found wisdom and acting skills to become the typical English school boy. He is different, and a small hopeful part of him hopes that people will appreciate him more but they never do and he is angry at himself for trying. But he is still there when Peter and Lucy struggle to slide back into normalcy, he takes care of Peter.
Constantly jumping into fights with boys three years older than him, ending up with black eyes and busted lips, but it becomes worth it when he see's Susan at home and she explodes towards Peter calling him reckless and moronic. Lucy will then yell at Susan for yelling at Peter but Edmund will jump to his older Sisters aid before the other two can say Narnia and the four will split into two sets of two and Lucy and Peter will go outside into the garden and the light. But Susan and Edmund will stay inside and wait for night to fall before they sneak out and play under the stars.
As they slip though the wardrobe and into war-torn England, Susan knows that there is no returning home until Aslan calls once more. She quickly adapts by using her intelligence and acting skills to become the usual English school girl. She has changed, and there is a small part of her that hopes people will love her some, but they never do and she is angry that she took down her walls. But she is there, as the only Mother they know. Lucy struggles and Susan comes to her aid when the older girls try to attack her for "acting up".
As she shoos Lucy away she uses their miscalculation of her to her advantage. Good thing Corin taught her how to throw a proper punch, and with a couple of well aimed kicks they never go near her or Lucy again, but she doesn't ever get a thank you. She gets tired of watching Edmund come back with bruises everyday; she only got a busted lip and cracked rib. She snaps and yells at Peter, Lucy will then come to their brother's aid and before anyone can say Aslan Edmund it by her side. They will go bathe in the sunlight but she and Edmund will wait until they can sneak out and dance under the darkness and the stars.
One day they arrive at the train station. Edmund waits outside spotting a statue of a lion as he does, knowing He is here in some shape or form helps Edmund cope with the fact that returning is taking longer than he hoped. His walls are built so strongly and carefully- Susan always said he was good at strategy- that he can pretend to cope even though he is slowly breaking. He takes a deep breath and prays for the day to pass quickly so the darkness can wrap him in its comforting embrace. He knows that even though he will not be with Susan, he will still be able to uphold their connection for she will be dancing in similar shadows under the same stars and the same night sky. He looks over to the newspaper stand across the street, spotting the familiar long, curly, dark brown hair. He sniggers as he watches her being chatted up by some random boy, he knows she will be tell him a fake name and he knows that she will be begging for the darkness too. Suddenly their youngest comes rushing over and Edmund waits for the girls to run past him before leaping into action, time to save Peter's ass...again.
Susan is tired of pretending. When they arrive at the Train station they all head their separate ways, she begs for the darkness and the shadows. Longing for them to hold her in their cool embrace as she dances with her brother underneath the stars once more, she knows it will be different. There will be no Edmund dancing with her this time but she finds comfort in the fact that upholding their strong bond is the blackened night sky which they dance under simultaneously. She wants to seek him out with her eyes but is stopped when she feels and unfamiliar presence next to her, as he begins to speak she longs for the night's presence even more. She tells him her name is Phyllis and he believes her but her youngest runs over and she runs to her older brother. Even though she is tired of helping and getting nothing back she runs because no matter how different the paths they tread, hers and Edmund's is covered by the night sky and dark shadows but Peter and Lucy's is covered in sunlight and a bright blue sky. Her siblings are the one thing she can never stop loving.
He jumps into the fight, pushing past Susan and Lucy on the way in. He knocks one of the boys over and punches another one. For the first time in a long time he feels his age showing in more than wisdom, it makes him ache. He is tired of being second best, he is tired of trying so hard and not getting some credit, he is tired of helping Peter out because he can't cope. He is so, so, tired and for the first time in his life he is ready to fall onto his knees and pray for home.
She watches Edmund jump into the fray. Locking eyes with Peter she gets hit with a sudden wave of tiredness. She feels her age in more than intelligence and understanding, it makes her ache and she feel it, really feels the pain and tiredness she has been suppressing. She is tired of being second best, it hurts. She is tired of giving everything and getting nothing back, it hurts. She is tired of trying to stay in control, it hurts. For the first time in a long time Susan is ready to fall to the floor and sob before getting up onto her knees and praying for her home.
Suddenly there back and Edmund can feel joy. It is the first time in a long time he hasn't been praying for the darkness to come and wash away his fears. As he looks around the landscape from the soft sand, to the beautiful ocean, Edmund makes a decision. Last time he faded into the background, well no longer. He was done with not being heard, like the dark sky he dances under King Edmund the Just was going to spread his wisdom across all of Narnia.
They have returned and Susan can feel hope. For the first time in a long time she hasn't been praying for the embrace of the shadows to enclose her tightly. As she looks over the area, from the silky sand to the very inviting ocean waters, Susan makes a choice. Last time she faded into the background, not anymore. She was done with being ignored, like the stars she danced under Queen Susan the Gentle was going to shine, and she would shine over all of Narnia.
AN2: Well that's Chapter 1 done with. Hopefully you will all like it and please review if you can I would like to know what you thought and how I could improve.