Hullo! It's been a while, hasn't it?

So, yes. I've started yet another story. What else is new?

This one, I got the sudden inspiration for while talking to a friend. So, I took her character, Crystal, and shipped her off to Narnia with the Pevensies. WOO.

The faster you review, the faster I update! ;)

I glanced at either end of the street briefly, then sprinted across, toward the train station. Apparently, I wasn't fast enough, because a car had to stop right in front of me.

"Watch where you're goin', lass!" the driver shouted.

I smiled at him sheepishly. "I'm sorry!" I threw the apology over my shoulder as I ran into the station. In one hand was a brown leather suitcase. I was in a red and gold St. Finbars uniform, my hair was in a low ponytail, resting on one shoulder.

Before I was even that far into the train station, I could hear the shouts of, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" A boy with sandy blonde hair and a blue and gold Hendon House uniform was being pretty much pulverized by the unanimous David Crowler, Hendon House's worst student. He was a jerk, and, well, an idiot.

Before long, another boy in a Hendon House uniform jumped on David, freeing the blonde boy from his grasp. A few of David's followers joined the fight, slamming the blonde boy into the station walls. The dark haired boy that had rescued the blonde bore a slight resemblance to him, him and someone else I knew, but I just couldn't place the name. It occurred to me that they must've been brothers, or related in some way.

It wasn't long until a group of soldiers rushed over and broke up the fight. "Darn," I muttered to myself, smirking.

"Crystal!"

I turned at the sound of my name, facing a little girl- well, littler, with shoulder length brow hair in braided pigtails and a smile on her face, dimples and everything. She, too, wore a St. Finbars uniform.

"Hey, Luce," I said, grinning at her. She and I had been great friends since we'd met about a month ago at some school registration meeting in London.

You see, I'm not English. Technically. Sure, I sound like it, and can speak English, but I'm actually from France. My mother sent me to an English boarding school during the war, since France had been taken by the Axis Powers, and my father had accompanied me to England- but not to stay, to register and a soldier and fight with the British army. So, here I was. During the holidays, since I couldn't very well go to Paris, I'd stayed with a close school friend, Marjorie Preston- through whom I'd met Lucy Pevensie.

Speaking of Marjorie. "D'you know if Marjorie's coming this term?" I asked her.

Lucy shook her head. "Nasty bout of the flu. She'll be arriving late."

"A pity," I said, shaking my head. "And your siblings?"

"They're over there," she said, pointing to a bench off to the side, where the blonde and dark haired boys, accompanied by a dark haired girl, were setting down their suitcases and things.

"So that was your brothers in that fight..." I trailed off with a small smirk.

Lucy giggled. "They're quite the fighters, aren't they?"

I nodded my response. Lucy then asked- whether out of politeness or a genuine drive to introduce me to her siblings, I didn't know- if I'd like to meet them. I said yes.

Lucy led me over to the bench, smiling up at the three. "This is my friend, Crystal. Crystal, this is Edmund-" Lucy pointed to the dark haired boy, and he nodded, "Susan-" The dark haired girl nodded, smiling fondly, "- and Peter." The blonde nodded, sitting down. Lucy sat next to him, and Susan sat next to her.

"Here, have a seat," Susan said, moving over. I smiled, thanked her, and sat down, setting my suitcase to the side.

The dark haired boy- or, rather, Edmund- sat next to Peter, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You're welcome." I smirked at him.

Peter scowled. "I had it sorted." He walked to the edge of the platform, pacing, almost.

"What was it this time?" Susan asked.

I nudged Susan lightly. "This time?" I whispered.

"This isn't the first," she whispered back, glancing at Peter.

Peter turned to us. "He bumped me."

Lucy looked appalled. "So you hit him?"

He shook his head. "No. After he bumped me, he tried to make me apologize. That's when I hit him."

Susan frowned. "Really, Peter, is it so hard just to walk away?"

"I shouldn't have to!" he exclaimed. "Don't you ever get tired of being treated like a kid?"

I raised my hand jokingly. "I do, on a daily basis." Peter tossed a smile in my direction.

Edmund looked a little confused. "Uh... we are kids?" My smile melted.

"Yeah, so what's your point?" I asked. "They don't have to treat us like two year olds."

"Exactly!" Peter agreed. "Besides, we weren't always!"

I arched my eyebrows, thoroughly puzzled. "Alright, you've officially lost me."

Susan shook her head. "It's nothing."

"Oh, no, it's something, Su." Peter said gravely, sitting between Edmund and Lucy. "It's been a year. How long does he expect us to wait?"

"How long does who expect you to wait?" I inquired. But my question was avoided by all four.

Susan let out a sigh. "I just think that you should accept the fact that we live here now. It does no good to pretend otherwise."

That was it. I was completely lost.

Out of nowhere, Lucy stood with an, "Ow!"

"Luce, be quiet!" Susan hushed her, brow furrowed.

"Something pinched me!" Lucy exclaimed, rubbing her arm.

Peter turned to Edmund. "Quit tugging my arm, would you?"

"I'm not touching you!" Edmund defended, holding up his hands.

Both Susan and I stood at the same time, but not because we'd wanted to stand. We'd been pushed from our seats.

Lucy grinned widely. "It feels like magic!"

"Magic?" I asked. "What are you talking about-"

I was interrupted by a sudden breeze, caused by an unexpected train speeding across the railway, moving far too fast than any normal train would drive. The gust of wind was so powerful that it was near impossible to see without squinting.

"Quick! Look sharp, catch hands!" Edmund called out. "Lucy's right- this is magic. I can tell by the feeling!"

Pretty soon we were all holding hands, narrowing our eyes at the speeding train. Suddenly, the wind started blowing all over the place, catching signs and metal gates in its wake. Even the brickwork of the station itself went flying past. The paint chipped off of the walls, leaving bare, rugged stone. The floor beneath us shifted, becoming suddenly slippery, but grainy at the same time. Through the windows of train, glimpses of a beach could be seen.

Almost immediately after the first glimpse of the ocean could be seen, the train disappeared into the distance. The station was long since gone, leaving us in- of all places- a cave, illuminated just barely with the sunlight that poured into the mouth of the cave.

The four of them started walking forward, letting go of each others hands, and I, of course, followed. Something about them had changed- their faces, the way they moved. It was different. If I knew better at the time, I would've said that they'd become regal and defined. They knew what they were doing.

Lucy suddenly turned to us, grinning, then broke into a run toward the beach. With returned grins, the rest of us followed, kicking off our shoes, taking off our jackets and ties, undoing our hair- well, us girls did- and immediately rushed into the ocean, splashing one another playfully. It became a sort of water war after a while, to see who could get the most soaked faster.

Edmund was the ultimate winner, for he had zoned out a bit, staring at a large, sloping hillside, dotted with the remainders of what must've once been beautiful stonework.

"What is it, Ed?" Susan asked.

"Well," he asked slowly. "Where d'you suppose we are?"

Peter laughed. "Where d'you think?"

"Of course, but... well, I don't remember any ruins in Narnia." We all followed Edmund's gaze to the ruins ahead.

My brow furrowed suddenly. "Narnia? What's that?"

Lucy turned to me. "Why, we're in it right now! It's another world entirely. We four were here a year ago, and became kings and queens, and ruled here for Narnian years, for what was known as the Golden Age of Narnia-"

"Wait," I paused her. "Years? I thought you said you'd been here a year ago."

"Yes," she said. "Narnian years and years on Earth are quite different. When you're in Narnia, no time passes on Earth."

"So we still have to go back to school?" I groaned. Lucy could only laugh.