Hello Guys,
this is the first story ever I wrote in English. I tried my best remembering all those grammar stuff. So please be gentle and feel free to correct ANY sentence if necessary.
Well, as I've been reading a lot CoN lately I had this picture of Lucy and Ed in mind who would comfort each other while back in England. Hopefully you can imagine it, too.
Please read and review.
Sharing a Moment of Peace
It was nearly 9 o'clock in the evening when Edmund came home from work nearly starving. With an exhausted sigh he opened the door. "Lucy? It's me. I'm home!", he called into the darkness of the big old house where the two younger Pevensies stayed while Peter was away to university and Susan had returned to America.
He found her in the kitchen cleaning the dishes left from dinner. Hopefully there would be at least some food left for him, too. His sister hadn't noticed his presence yet. Edmund felt somehow relieved watching her silent contentedness. As he knew she suffered the most being not allowed to return to their beloved Narnia and he often wondered if she only pretended to be alright to ease his sorrows.
Suddenly Lucy started humming an all too familiar tune. It was one of the songs she had learned on board of the Dawn Treader. Although the lyrics were quite sad themselves, it was the melody that made his heart overflowing with endless joy and unbearable pain at the same time. Unnoticed of his youngest sister Edmund stepped behind her and whispered in her ear: "That's a nice one, Lu."
She nearly screamed and dropped the plate she was drying. Fortunately it fell back into the water. "Edmund!" Lucy turned around looking really pale. "You scared me to death! When did you return?"
The older one chuckled slightly as he pulled her into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry, Lu. I didn't mean to frighten you. At least not that much", he added as she snorted in disbelief. "Truth to be said, I came back a while ago but obviously you were too wrapped up in your own thoughts to realize."
"I'm sorry", she murmured into his shirt squeezing her brother tightly before she broke away from him. "You must be starving by now. As promised I kept the best parts for you." She smiled widely as she put the plate in front of him.
"That was a really nice song", Edmund managed to say while bolting the food. "I didn't remember Caspian taught you this one, too." Lucy's smile deepened. "In fact, it was Reepicheep who did." A sad sigh escaped her lips as she remembered the noble mouse. "Oh, Ed, I miss him – all of them! It's been nearly five years by now." She rushed through her long hair. A gesture she often used when unsure how to continue. "It's all so far apart. Sometimes it feels like Narnia is slipping through my fingers. Sometimes..." she whispered, "sometimes I can't remember what the first flowers in spring smelled like anymore", she confessed with a hurt look. "Or I forget the lines of the last song Mr. Tumnus sang to us at the coronation ball. From time to time I'm even unsure if the colour of Aslan's mane was like the sun or of a richer shade of gold..."
Edmund gave her a rather confused look. "Lucy – nobody can! I mean, I don't even remember WHAT Mr. Tumnus sang at the coronation ball let alone the lyrics. It's been a lifetime, more than 20 years ago. And I highly doubt Aslan Himself could recall the lyrics." His sister suppressed a laughter. "As for Him, how are you even able to concentrate on the colour of His mane when He looks at you?" He shook his head in disbelief which made Lucy giggle.
Edmund noticed his sister's amusement and realization sunk in. "Lucy?" he looked at her not sure if he should be pleased or angry. "You did that on purpose, right?" She giggled even louder. "I'm sorry, Ed. But I can't believe you're still afraid of Him."
The older ones cheeks turned slightly pink as he shrugged his shoulders. "That's so NOT true! But He is a lion after all and not a tame one if I may remind you", he defended himself embarrassed.
"Of course not", Lucy answered highly amused. "Good for you to stay with the Valiant, my dear King Edmund."
"As you pointed out correctly YOU are the Valiant and I AM the Just one. It is your job to be brave and mine to be fair which sometimes needs even more courage." His sister snorted. "Sure. That's why some of our trading partners called you the Cunning."
"If you say so, Queen Lucy the Mischievous." The conversation had reached a point where he could hardly hide the amusement sparkling in his eyes. "I wonder how they call Caspian. Maybe something like The Adventurous – or The Reckless as Drinian would say."
"Or the Handsome – if you ask the ladies that is." Lucy chuckled as Edmund gave her a puzzled stare. The youngest Pevensie shook her head in disbelief. "How could I forget your blindness when it comes to women's affection? Well, he was quite a sight when we first met and had grown even more handsome at our last visit. I'm sure he left a lot of broken hearts behind him when he married the star's daughter." The girl could barely hide a grin as she continued. "Mr. Tumnus once said the same about you."
Edmunds bewildered "What?" let the youngest queen burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. It needed several minutes and a lot of menacing glares to stop her before she could explain.
"As you may remember, dear brother, we held a lot of balls at Cair Paravell during the Golden Age." He nodded in agreement. "And of course there were many beautiful ladies, too." The Just shrugged his shoulders: "If you say so."
Lucy chuckled again trying to fight another outburst of laughter. "See. That's what I meant. You never even realized!", she accused him. "Mr. Tumnus often heard the noblewomen talk about it. It seems you never had an eye for any woman but your sisters. I mean, you were quite the handsome one. Brave, rich, a gentleman and on top of it a king. That alone made women fall for you. But this ignorance made you even more attractive and somehow mysterious – don't ask me why." She sighed in annoyance and raised her eyebrow in disbelief. "I'm serious. Don't ask me why!"
Edmund studied her curiously while she went on with the story. "Never mind, Mr. Tumnus witnessed a lot of this lovesickness and wrote a poem about your lady-killer abilities. It's rather nice if you ask me. I believe he called it 'The (sheer endless) list of broken-hearted'. Or was it 'The crushed women who had the cruel fate to fall for King Edmund'?" She couldn't held it anymore and burst out laughing once more.
Her brother watched in amazement, her beautiful laughter ringing in his ears like the sweetest melody. Edmund wasn't sure if this was serious or just some kind of joke she invented to tease him. But he would find out at any rate!
Being aware of her brothers piercing gaze, Lucy promptly rose from her chair. "It's late, Ed. We should go to bed and I'll recite it to you some other time soon", she promised and headed for the kitchen door.
"Oh no, sweet little sister of mine. You'll definitely tell me NOW!" He jumped up and chased her down the halls trying to catch this giggling little brat before she could reach her room. It nearly felt like they were back in Narnia, running around the corridors of Cair Paravell.
Even if she was a little annoying from time to time he couldn't help but thank Aslan for her presence. It were moments like this, when she lifted his spirit before he knew he needed to be cheered up, he loved her even more. Lucy was his breathing ray of hope – sometimes even his Narnia – and he loved nothing more than sharing such moments of peace with her.