In Which Jill is Momentarily Stunned

A/N: This is a gift fic for Morohtar, who asked for the proposal scene between Jill and Eustace in his universe- "King Edmund's Crusade" and "The Redemption of Sulva", that is. If you haven't read those fics, I recommend that you go read them now, because they are excellent!

At any rate, I have done my best to try to write within his intricate Narnia universe. I hope that you can read this proposal scene, followed by chapter 18 of "The Redemption of Sulva, and see some semblance of continuity! I apologise for the dodgy title, I will probably change it when my muses stop being so lazy.

Merry Christmas Morohtar!

He watched her spinning around in the sunlight, her long, brown hair curling haphazardly in the wind. Her eyes were closed, and her face was uplifted to the cloudless sky. In the distance, far behind, he could see the outline of London- St Paul's cathedral, Westminster Abbey. But if he blurred his vision, and allowed the bright sun to turn the horizon into tiny dots, he could almost imagine that they were mountains, and that Hampstead Heath was only a figment of his imagination, an invisible blanket on which he was being blown far away, blown through the sky- (to Narnia).

A laugh broke him from his reverie, and he turned around to see Jill fall dramatically beside him.

"I still don't see why you wouldn't dance with me," she said playfully, and poked him. "I'm pretty sure I can remember that Narnian dance, the one they were doing when we finally found the Overland."

Eustace took in her flushed face, her bright eyes (and felt for the umpteenth time that he could drown in their depths) and felt a smile fill his face.

"What, with the snowballs and everything? It's autumn, Pole."

She laughed, a low, gentle laugh, and nestled her head against his shoulder. Almost of its own accord, he shifted his arm to make space for her, his hand resting on the small of her back. He was half afraid she would stiffen, or pull back, but instead, he felt her relax, and lean in ever closer- just like every other time.

They had been like this for some months now, Eustace realised, as Jill's breath gently seared into his neck. It was an intricate dance with neither one speaking, as if afraid to end it- whatever it was. It was like a game that filled him with both anticipation- and, as his gaze slowly trailed down the (woman) beside him- longing.

In short, it was somewhat unsustainable.

"I miss Narnia," Jill whispered, once again breaking through his thoughts. "I wish Aslan would call us back- or that Christ would come here, and return soon."

Eustace shifted slightly so he could see here face.

"You know that Aslan and Christ are not quite the same, though, Jill, don't you?" he asked, seriously. "Christ revealed himself to us through Aslan so that we might know him better as Christ. And then there're all those... Those-" he paused. "Well, Edmund has tried to explain to me. And I have tried to listen. But it's all rather confusing."

Jill laughed, nestling her face against his neck. Eustace felt a wave of heat surge through his body that he only managed to control at the last moment. It took him almost a moment to realise that Jill was speaking.

"Edmund is wonderful," she was saying cheerfully. "But he is so serious! It's strange to think that he's not so much older than either of us." Then she, too, paused, and pulled away slightly. Eustace felt both relief and regret at that.

"But I do know what you're saying," she sighed, "I know and I agree. But I just hate that we have won the war and yet we're still so... Uncertain. I know that we are not meant to know anyone's story but ours, but isn't there anything I can be certain of?"

"You can be certain of me," said Eustace, immediately.

Jill smiled at him, her face so full of warmth it almost startled him.

A couple walked past them.

"So, Mo, what is it you don't like about the NICE?" the man said, and the woman hurriedly placed her gloved hand over the man's lips.

"Not here, not so loudly," she murmured, but both Jill and Eustace caught the pleading tone in her voice.

The warmth and colour faded from Jill's face. She curled her arms around her knees and stared into the distance. She looked so fragile, so tired, that it scared him. Jill should never look fragile or tired.

A thought flitted through Eustace's mind and he immediately grasped it. It was not yet fully formed, but he knew, instinctively, that it was solid, that it could grow.

Jill stared into the distance, a lost expression in her eyes. She should never look lost.

"Marry me," he said abruptly, and she whirled around to face him, her mouth in a little 'o'. "Marry me, Jill."

For a moment, she gaped at him, then she quickly coloured and laughed shakily.

"I didn't think you were much of a joker, Scrubb," she stammered.

Eustace shook his head and grasped her hand.

"Jill," he said, "I'm not joking. Will you marry me?"

She opened her mouth to retort, but something in his gaze must have caught her attention, for she slowly closed her mouth, and tremulously raised her eyes to his.

"What," she whispered, "now? But- Eustace- we're only- only sixteen! And-"

"And we've got to be adults someplace. What about, say, Gretna Green?" Eustace countered quickly, afraid that she would pull away if he did not speak. "And I love you, you've got to know that by now, Jill- I love you, I've loved you for years. And it could work- we could work."

His voice had trailed off by the end, and he reached out a hand to tenderly cup Jill's cheek.

"Marry me, Jill," he whispered. "Please."

She did not turn to him for so long that he began to be afraid that she would say no, that they were too young, that he was just being silly, and the seconds seemed to pass like hours.

Just as his hand fell, and he began to wish that this were all a dream or some horrid nightmare from which he could awake, she turned her face, and he skipped a breath. The warmth on her face was impossible to mistake, and those eyes- her eyes seemed to pierce right through him, filling him till he thought he would burst.

With a triumphant laugh, he caught her, pressed her to him, claimed her mouth with his own.

After a delicious silence, they broke apart. A sudden, impish smile crossed her face. Eustace debated for a moment whether he should catch it with a kiss, but the moment immediately passed.

"What is it?" he murmured, and she laughed, a full-throated laugh that made him want to kiss her all over again.

"Oh," she said, throwing him a sly, amused glance, "I was just remembering what happened when you got confirmed."

"Why?" Eustace asked, baffled, and she looked at him and laughed again.

"Oh, nothing," she said, through giggles, "it's just that you can be the one to tell your mother, that's all."

As Eustace winced, she laughed and leaned in towards him once more. And in that moment, looking at her beside him, he knew they would stand together in the future, no matter what lay ahead. And in the fading afternoon light, as she raised her eyes to meet his, it seemed (for a moment), that all would be right.