I dedicate this to my older brother Matthew, who went off to college this morning. I miss him so much, and decided that the best thing to do is write something especially for him. Love you Matt!

Disclaimer: If I owned the Chronicles of Narnia, then I probably wouldn't be writing a fanfiction for the Chronicles of Narnia.

She woke up, and knew that it was going to be the worst day of her many, many years of life. Peter, her oldest brother, her protector, her best friend, was going off to university for an entire year before coming to visit home. That meant an entire year without one of her brothers. She sighed, got out of bed, and walked over to her drawers, choosing a black skirt, and a clean, white blouse. She could have worn vibrant reds, beautiful oranges. But why bother even wearing something happen when something so dreary was to occur. The night before, Lucy had sat quietly in a corner of the living room, reading a book as the rest of the family joked around and told stories of when Peter was a child. She coudn't bring herself to join in with the festivities. Sure, her brother had been accepted to Harvard Medical School. Lucy was immensely proud of her brother, but to her it didn't really matter what college he went to. The dreadful fact remained that in a few short hours, her brother would be on a boat to America, and there was absolutely nothing that she could do about it. Since she was up very early, Lucy padded as softly as she could down the carpeted stairs, and turned into the living room. She sat dejectedly down on to the worn couch, and rested her head against the back.

"Lu?" murmured a soft voice from the darkest corner of the room.

With a small gasp, Lucy swiftly stood up and her hand flew to her right hip to draw a dagger that wasn't there. She breathed a sigh of relief, however, when she recognized who it was.

"Peter!" she gasped, "Don't do that!"

A warm smile broke across her brother's face, and he laughed, quietly.

"Oh, Lucy. You always were scared of things that popped out at you."

She nodded, "That would be because most normal human beings do not enjoy it when their brothers pop out at them at five in the morning!"

Peter's smile grew, and then faded, "What are you doing up at five in the morning Lu?"

Uh-oh. What was she going to tell Peter?

"Um, well... I wasn't tired, and I- I- I wanted some water!"

He raised his golden eyebrows, "Then why did you come to the living room?"

Shoot.

"Well- um- I-"

With a defeated groan, Lucy sat back down on the couch. A crease appeared on Peter's brow, and he walked over to sit next to her.

"What's wrong, Lucy?"

She bit her lip, and felt the stinging in her eyes that predicted tears to come. For a long time, Lucy sat quietly. Then,

"You're going to be gone for an entire year Peter. And I won't see you. And I'm worried that you will go off to university, and completely forget about Narnia, and about me, and I wouldn't be able to stand you ending up like Susan, and-"

Her speech was cut off when the tears unexpectedly began pouring down her face. She cried bitterly into her hands for a few minutes, until she felt large, smooth hands pull her head towards her brother's chest. Peter allowed her to rest her head there for an entire ten minutes, as the salt from her tears slowly ruined his shirt. He smoothed her hair, and her cries were the only sound that filled the empty room. She sobbed and sobbed, remembering the horrible, horrible things that had happened in Susan, and knowing that all she could do was pray that the same would not happen to Peter. After a while, Peter lifted her chin, and wiped the salty tears from her cheeks. He kissed her forehead, and, gentler than she had ever heard, declared,

"I could never forget you Lu. You're my baby sister, and I love you more than even Narnia itself. I would never, ever be so cruel as to forget the land that you and I love so much, and I will pray every night to Aslan to keep my faith strong. Now, Lucy, look at me- look at me!"

Along with his last words, Peter lifted her chin and forced green to meet blue.

"You are my sister, and I love you. Me being away will not be as terrible as you make it out to be. I'm coming to visit for Christmas, and that is a mere three month's wait. And when I do come, I will bring you a new sketch book, and some pastels. You were telling me just the other day how much you wanted them. And then, you and I can draw a picture together, of Narnia, and we'll enter it in that big contest going on downtown. Does that sound fun?"

She nodded, and he wiped the remainder of the tears from her cheeks.

When the time came, Lucy stood quietly as Peter knelt and kissed her forehead a final time.

"See you at Christmas, kiddo."

For those of you who are wondering, that last sentence was the oh-so loving goodbye that I received from my brother before he left. Even though it was brief, my brother let me sob ridiculously on him for three hours yesterday, so I could only expect so much. Love you Matthew!