Despite Susan's harsh ending, I've always liked her, and thought of her as my favorite, although each king and queen holds a special place in my heart. So, this small story is about her pre TLB – post TLB. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not, nor never will, own the Chronicles of Narnia books, movies, video games, or action figures. It's really a shame.
We are never defeated unless we give up on God - Ronald Reagan
The dark grey clouds sat in the sky, covering the sun's beautiful rays. Everything was grey, from the concrete, to the buildings, to the farthest reaches of the skyline. Nobody took offense, however, merely chuckling and saying, 'Typical England.'
The clouds reflected Susan Pevensie, although she didn't know it yet. She didn't know anything yet, unless one counted the millions of lipstick brands as something. That frigid afternoon she was smearing the creamy tube over her lips, making them pop against her pale skin. Her beautiful midnight black hair was curled in the latest style, the locks falling elegantly on her shoulders, pinned back by a small blue bow. In her cerulean blue dress, Susan was the picture of elegance to any stranger on the street. Pouting at the mirror, she didn't notice someone standing by the door, staring at the way she flaunted her beauty.
Lucy Pevensie was not a stranger on the street. As she watched her elder sister giggle and spin, no tinge of envy clouded her eyes. Once upon a time, it did, but that a was different time, back when Susan was still happy and gentle. Now, covered in chemicals and fake silk, her sister never looked uglier. A rock of pity fell in her heart.
After several seconds, Susan turned her dark blue eyes to the door, and smiled when noticing Lucy.
"Don't you think I look lovely?" she said, her lips stretching into a grin. She did a twirl, and Lucy smiled back, although it didn't reach her eyes.
"You're beautiful," she whispered, fueling Susan's vain. The elder girl twisted the bottom of her lipstick tube, and pocketed it into a small bag.
It was only afternoon, Susan couldn't be going to a party, Lucy thought. She recalled how her mother said that Susan and her were going out to the bookstore, to pick up something for Edmund. Brows furrowing in confusion, she leant back against the doorframe.
"Aren't you going to the store?" Lucy asked curiously. Her elder sister couldn't have reached the point where she wore ball gowns to the store to flaunt her assets. That was mad, simply preposterous.
Susan nodded, her eyes still trained on her reflection into the mirror. "Yes, but there's nothing wrong with wanting to look nice," she drawled out, tugging her skirts slightly down.
After a second, Susan blushed and turned to Lucy with a knowing glance. "But...there's a new boy working at the bookstore, and you know how it is." Winking at her sister, she grabbed her coat which hung delicately over the chair.
Yes, Lucy completely understood how it was. Since she could remember, Susan was always in love with the idea of love, wanting to be looked after, instead of the other way around. She recalled how the older girl used to be like a mother hen when they were young, which grew into a deep motherly concern by the time they were adults ruling as kings and queens. Despite the dozens of suitors she had at each ball, Susan never laid the same love and attention on them as she did to her siblings. Looking back, her sister did everything to make sure that they didn't lose a mother's love. The first time she ever felt such a great affection for anyone outside of her family was the Great Lion. Lucy remembered how Aslan's amber eyes watched Susan sympathetically, how at each meeting, he breathed his soul into her. For the first time, she was reassured that others cared for her as well. It was a huge tear in her heart to leave behind Aslan, not only the first time, but the second as well. As time passed, Lucy began to see how Susan was trying to fill the tear Aslan made in her heart with different men, although all her courtships were in vain.
Susan scoffed at her reflection, shaking her head in disapproval. "Men are so superficial." Taking one last look of herself in the mirror, Susan's joking smile fell, her eyes blank and empty. Lucy saw the pain she felt, even if she didn't know it herself. All her memories were locked away, the key forgotten somewhere in the hidden confines of her mind.
She wanted to scream, shriek, and yell at her sister, beg her to tell poor Lucy where she had gone. But she didn't. The more she yelled, the more Susan reverted into herself. The Susan she loved was long gone, and yelling would not help.
Walking her way downstairs, her tiny hand gliding down the bannister, Susan joined her mother in the foyer, and began putting her heels on. Kissing Lucy quickly, she smiled at her. That smile never looked so fake, the young queen thought. Watching her mother and sister go, tears began to fall down her face.
How could Susan just give up? How could Susan just forget not only Aslan and everything she did, but who she was? How could the Gentle Queen completely forget what being gentle truly meant?
Author's Note: I always feel so bad for Susan. She's so misunderstood.