A.N.: This is the first of a small series of short missing moments from Prince Caspian. They're between Lucy and Edmund. This first one is set after the failed raid at Miraz' castle. I found it very noble of Ed to keep circling the castle until the last of the warriors was dead. I saw it as King Edmund the Just never abandoning his men until the very end. After he watched Lucy heal Trumpkin, though, he just vanished until the Witch-scene. I think he needed a moment to compose himself and to mourn his soldiers. It was at that time that Lucy found him… Enjoy. Movie-verse.

Disclaimer: I just wish I owned something like Narnia…

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Lucy was halfway down the slide that led to the How, when she noticed Edmund wasn't with her, Peter and Susan. She stopped abruptly and turned around, scanning the open space around her. Her brother couldn't have gone far, he was next to her not two minutes ago! She started going back towards the grass.

"Lucy? Where are you going? You shouldn't-"

Lucy turned around and glared icily at Peter. He had the decency to look ashamed. Susan frowned and locked her eyes with Lucy's. The two girls had a moment of silent understanding. Susan nodded and grabbed Peter's arm.

"Come on. She's just going to get Edmund."

Peter nodded and followed her tiredly.

Lucy sighed. She was doing it a lot, recently. Edmund even more. She felt a bit guilty for getting angry at Peter, she knew he was already hating himself. He had to understand, though, he wasn't the only one who had regressed from adulthood to childhood in mere seconds. At the very least, he was still able to fight! She, on the other hand, Queen Lucy the Valiant, had been left home to wait. And nobody seemed to consider her opinion. Well, nobody but Edmund.

Where was Edmund?

Lucy tried to compose herself. She was of no use to her brother if she was too agitated to even find him. She just had to focus for a minute. Here in Narnia she had always been able to sense her siblings' spirit.

Lucy took a big breath and closed her eyes, trying to remember how Edmund's soul felt. Her mind started, subconsciously, to form a prayer:

'Aslan, please, as You love me, help me find my brother. He needs me, I can feel it, I can feel his despair. Point me in the right direction, my Lord, for I am so worried for him.'

The words had barely taken shape in her mind, when she felt a choked breath come from the ruins right in front of her.

"Ed!" She whispered breathlessly, and started running towards the sound. 'Thank you, Aslan.'

She found him sitting on the marble floor of the ruins, his knees bent to his chest, his back against a column. His eyes were shut firmly and he was biting his leather armguard viciously, to stop the anguished wail that threatened to leave his throat.

Lucy felt her heart break and it told her that, if she didn't fix this, it would never be in one piece again.

She knelt in front of her brother and took his face in her hands, her fingers sinking in his dark hair. Edmund gasped at the sudden contact with her cool hands and his eyes shot open. Lucy almost cried at the deep, raw pain she found in them.

"Oh, Edmund…" She lamented, one hand caressing his cheek, the other taking his arm away from his mouth and grabbing his hand. With her thumb, Lucy wiped the trickle of blood that was dripping from his lip. It was too fresh to be from the incursion. He had probably bitten through its flesh to stop the tears. "My sweet, beloved Edmund. Don't hide from me, my King. I cannot heal your heart, if you don't let me in. You know you can tell me anything. I love you, brother mine."

It was his Queen, talking to him, in her sweet, consoling voice and it was too much for Edmund. He swiftly got up and hauled her to her feet, pulling her small frame in his arms.

Lucy felt the first sob in his chest and gently drew his face to herself. Edmund sank gratefully in the crook between her neck and shoulder, unable to stop his desperate weeping anymore. His arms locked around her waist and, even if he was squeezing a bit too much to be comfortable, Lucy let him hold her, her fingers gently untangling his tousled hair. Warm tears made tracks on her cheeks and a sharp pain prevented her voice from coming out of her throat, but Lucy stayed there, immobile, being the pillar that prevented her brother from surrendering to the waves of his grief.

They stood there for what felt like hours, but were actually few minutes, for Edmund seldom cried and if he did, he was usually quick to collect himself. So Lucy wasn't surprised when she felt him take a big breath, that tickled her collarbone, and straighten himself. He was ready to talk. She took his hand and led him to the miraculously intact steps that stood facing the How. They sat down and Lucy waited for Edmund to begin talking. She didn't have to wait long.

"Someone gave the alarm before the troops could come into the grounds. I thought he would call it off." Lucy knew who 'he' was. Their stubborn brother… "But he didn't. We fought, valiantly, but there were just too many. The castle wasn't unprotected. At all. We were wrong. The archers surrounded us. One of them had his eyes on Peter, so I killed him. Next thing I know, he is shouting my name and ten archers are firing at me." Lucy gasped at this. Edmund gently kissed the back of her hand. "Don't worry, they didn't even scratch me. I'm much too fast for them!"

"Ed!" Lucy chided with a smile. Edmund let out a humourless laugh.

"I think that was what made him realize we couldn't do it. When he finally ordered to withdraw, though, it was already too late. It was just thanks to the sacrifice of a minotaur that the majority of the warriors were able to escape from the castle, or I would have been the only one able to flee. Part of them remained trapped inside, anyway." He finished in a whisper.

Lucy had to block the cry that wanted to come out of her throat, with a hand in front of her mouth.

"Oh, no… Oh Aslan, please! That can't be true." Edmund lowered his eyes. "What did you do, then?"

"There was nothing we could do. It was the end for them. But I stayed with them until the end, Lucy. Lahs, the griffin, circled the battleground until the last one died. They never stopped fighting…" A stray tear made its way down his cheek. Lucy wiped it away, not noticing she was crying, too.

"Why did you stay and look, Ed? You know it'll haunt you for years to come… I don't want you to suffer for something that wasn't your fault."

Edmund looked at her for a moment, then sighed.

"I couldn't leave them, Lu. Even if Peter and Caspian seem to have forgotten, I'm a King of Narnia, too. I've never left my soldiers on a battlefield, nor I ever will. You understand, don't you?"

"I do. I was always next to you, in battle." She whispered and hugged him with all her strength. "I'm so proud of you, Ed." He sniffed, moved by her words. "Would you like to pray with me for them?"

Edmund nodded and they both kneeled with their faces turned to the east.

"Aslan. Great Lion." Lucy began. "In this moment of despair, we pray to Thee: grant our beloved subjects, who died to bring freedom to the ever beloved Narnia, to be happy in Your love. Give us the strength to accept our limits and to face our sorrow. As You love us, welcome these soldiers who today gave their lives in Your reign. And grant us, one day, to see them again. So be it."

"So be it." Repeated Edmund. They stayed like that for a moment, letting Aslan's love consume their hearts.

"Do you feel better, now?" Lucy asked after a second, a serene smile on her lips, as they stood up.

"Much better. Thank you, Lucy. I just wish-"

But what he wished she didn't know, because at that moment Edmund gave a sharp cry, grabbing his side, just below his heart.

"Edmund!" Lucy cried in alarm, reaching out to him.

It lasted only a moment, but it was a feeling he had never been able to forget.

"Jadis!" He moaned, when the sharp pain subsided. Lucy gasped.

"Caspian!" She exclaimed, and the two siblings ran into the How as fast as their legs could carry them…