Lu heaved one last ragged, shuddering breath before her knees buckled, leaving her sprawled under an alcove by some shallow, murky watering hole in the middle of the dense forest. It may not have been the best of hiding places, but the epic battle against gravity had been lost and getting back up again was completely out of the question. Besides, it was pretty good under the circumstances.

Suddenly these mundane, trivial thoughts evaporated as the reality of the situation crashed over her like a tidal wave, leaving her swamped in mental agony and gasping for air. Lu's legs and arms curled around her body in a futile attempt to shield herself from the memories now flooding her mind. In the last few days her perfect little world had been blown apart, piece by piece. It had started with the disappearance of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy; then those monsters had come with they're war machines and killed all of the creatures under her protection. It felt as if her own children had been slaughtered. And how could Peter, of all people, have left her? She'd thought they'd had an understanding!

An unexpected bittersweet memory entered Lu's mind, and she surrendered to it's numbing presence. It wasn't something she would really like to remember under the circumstances, but it was better than anything else trying to surface in her head.

She was watching Peter from behind one of the numerous red and gold tents that were scattered throughout the Narnian's campsite. The area seemed completely deserted in the glow of pre-dawn with everyone still asleep, including Lucy and Susan. Lu had heard Peter slip from the tent he was meant to share with Edmund, and decided to follow him out to the rock he was now sitting on. She was to far away to see his expression, but his head was bowed in either grief or concentration. Probably both.

He was definitely worried about his family. Lu had known that he would take Edmund's betrayal personally, and on top of that they were all stuck in the middle of a Narnian war. That was too much for any child to handle. She wished she could help him, but what did she know about anything? She was just a child too!

Suddenly something on Peter's face caught the sunlight and sparkled, drawing Lu's direct attention. If the toughest boy she had ever known was really crying, then she had to find some way to help. Deciding to wing it, as usual, Lu left her hiding place and picked her way over to the boy, hoping her mind would come up with something before she reached him.

" Oh, Lu! What are you doing out of bed this early?" her appearance caused him to hastily wipe under his eyes, just as Lu's frantically working mind churned out an idea so completely insane, it made her cringe just thinking about it. But she couldn't allow him to suffer any longer, and at least now she had a plan.

" I got it!" She exclaimed, waving her arms around in childish delight.

" Got what?" Peter stood up and gazed down at her confusedly. Even though he was still young, Peter towered over her as she stood in front of him.

" The answer to your problem!" Explained Lu impatiently. " The problem."

" I'm afraid I don't follow you." Peter's patience was still a little choked with grief, but she pretended not to notice.

" Your parents are gone!" She said solumnly. " And your trying to raise the rest of them by yourself!"

" I guess you don't learn to be tactful in Narnia." muttered Peter. " What's your point?"

" Your doing all the worrying of two parents and an older brother! You can't handle that. Your just one person, and a kid at that. That's why people get married before they have children! So they have someone else to do half of the worrying." Despite the situation, Lu was ecstatic at having solved what she considered to be one of the worlds greatest mysteries.

Peter blinked down at the naive child in front of him.

" Er, Lu. I don't think that's why people get married." Lu swished her hand dismissively.

" Why else could it be?" Peter sighed.

" Maybe it's because they love each other Lu." He explained wearily. Lu eyed him incredulously.

" Love doesn't exist." She stated matter of factly, "It's obviously because of shared worrying and responsibility. If your gonna have kids, you have to get married."

" If you say so." Lu stared up at him expectantly.

" And you're worrying too much.." She whispered, reaching up to rest a hand on one of his shoulders.

" Oh, I get it." Peter layed a hand on her cheek and leaned forward until their foreheads were resting against each other. Though Lu was still young and extremely naïve, fear clutched at her stomach. For some reason she felt the need to run away, like she had accidentally stumbled upon some unknown, forbidden territory.

" Lucifer, will you be my wife?" asked Peter, his eyes suddenly shining brighter than usual.

" Of course I will, what are friends for?" Lu's voice came out weaker than she expected. " There, see? Now I can worry for you." Peter wrapped his arms around her and drew her against him. Lu rested her head on his chest and smiled, unease forgotten. Now he wouldn't have quite so many troubles to weigh him down cause she would share them, and if he was happy, she was happy.

" Why do I have to be the wife?" Lu questioned indignantly, " I thought that was the one who spent more time with the kids!"

" Lu-"

" We're partners now." She interrupted him, moving against his chest to look up at his eyes. " Don't ever leave me, okay?"

" I won't ever." promised Peter, " why would you even think that?"

" People leave me a lot."

After days of holding herself together under impossible stress, Lu cracked. Not even she could withstand the horrors fate had seen fit to burden her with. The tears started as a trickle, but grew into a full fledged storm as Lu lashed out at nothing with tiny, fisted hands and kicking feet, trying to find some release for her pain through violence. When she had used up the last reserves of her already depleted strength, sleep rescued her overwhelmed mind.

*Smash*

"Damn, who put that there!" Lu cringed and wrapped bruised arms around her now pounding head. "Stupid rock thing!" She growled, kicking the rock overhang above her and ending up in even more pain.

After spending what felt like an hour nursing a crushing headache and a big toe that had turned purple, Lu realized that it was still night, pitch black, and therefore, she couldn't see a thing. Fear crept up her spine as she pushed her back against the side of the rocky alcove, pulling out a jewel hilted hunting knife and holding it in front of herself defensively. When she was certain her cries of pain had not attracted anything dangerous, she relaxed and sheathed the blade, still watching for any sign of a threat. As her mind became dazed from exhaustion, the wall of darkness seemed to pull thoughts out of her head through wide, staring eyes. Memories already etched in her skull forever started playing out on the pitch black canvas.

Perhaps her eye's had been stained red. Surely witnessing such carnage left a tangible mark? Or would all evidence of her suffering reside purely in the non-physical?