There will be no girl falling into a wardrobe in this story. She will not be in Narnia at all, actually. She is not a Mary Sue, I hope.
I bring you: Inside Out the tale of an observant girl.
War changes people. It's not an opinion or an argument—it's a fact to anyone who has ever had to experience the horrors of war. Linda Scott's life had changed because of World War II but hers was not the only one. Her best friend since the very first day of school, Susan Pevensie, had also had her life change because of the war. By extension it only made sense that her siblings lives changed as well. In the midst of childhood the concept of change is daunting and something that children aren't capable of accepting right away. Linda was especially having trouble with this fact.
Peter Pevensie was not the same boy she remembered. Neither was Edmund (Lucy or Susan) for that matter but Linda seemed to notice it more in Peter than any of the other Pevensie's. She had never been particularly close to Peter. Linda had no siblings and so the concept of a brother—let alone an older one—was completely foreign to her. She spent most of her time with Susan and Lucy playing at their home. At that age Edmund was not too fond of girls and monopolized Peter's attention. Linda hadn't been able to understand Peter then and she wasn't having much luck with it now.
This new Peter was no boy—he was acting more like a man than he ever had. Linda had seen Peter walking in his father's too big shoes beforehand trying to act like a father figure to his siblings. She saw the resentment that brewed inside of Edmund and the annoyance it sometimes sparked in Susan. Lucy as innocent as ever seemed unfazed. That Peter was gone now and Linda wasn't so sure how she felt about it. This new Peter, he made her extremely uneasy when he was around.
She had never felt nervous around Peter before save that one afternoon when she was eleven and he had just turned thirteen the previous day. The only time Peter and Linda were alone together were the times his parents would ask him to walk Linda the block to her house. His mother used to make Peter hold her hand when they crossed the street. She never told him to do so that afternoon and she hadn't said to for almost a month but he did it anyway because he felt that it was the right thing to do.
Linda had asked a very innocent question on their usually silent walk to her house that day. It was one of the few times she spoke on those walks. She was usually too tired to be talkative and she never knew what to say to Peter. The only time they spoke was when he brought her to her door and she told him goodbye and thanked him for walking her home. It wasn't anything spectacular because her mother or father usually said the same thing to Peter when they answered the door.
But this day had been different. She squeezed his hand and looked up at him with all the innocence in the world.
"Peter," she was timid when she said his name. He hummed and smiled to encourage her to go on though he wasn't very interested in what she was going to say. Linda stopped walking and so did Peter. It took her a long time to find the right words and gather the courage to ask the older boy what she wanted to know.
"Do you know what kissing is like?" Peter stood taller and flushed deeply at her question. His first attempts at speech were riddled with stammers and choked noises.
"It's um, well, when two... ah, it's like... well..." Peter had pride and he didn't want to seem like he didn't know what he was talking about. He wanted to keep up the appearance of knowing everything as boys that age were prone to doing. The truth was that Peter had never experienced kissing and had no idea how to go about answering this question. Feeling like she had done something wrong Linda silenced Peter with an explanation.
"I saw it in a movie my mum took me to and my parents kiss and I was just curious." Peter and Linda lapsed into a silence still holding hands. Peter's hands had become sweaty but Linda hadn't minded one bit. She liked how his hand was warm and big around hers—it made her feel delicate.
After a moment she looked up at Peter through her lashes and deliberated asking him another question. Blushing more deeply still she decided to ask. Her mother had always told her that there were no stupid questions only stupid answers.
"Can you show me?" Peter looked down at Linda with his jaw slack and his body feeling overheated.
"Can I show you what?" He asked aghast.
"How to kiss," Linda stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It left Peter torn. He had never kissed anyone before and didn't know if it was the proper thing to do. The only people Peter had seen kiss was his parents and he had always had it in his mind that he would kiss when he was married. He and Linda were not married and not old enough in his opinion. Yet he wanted to keep on the pretence that he knew all about kissing.
"Oh," was all Peter managed to say. Linda stood staring up at him expectantly and Peter stared down at her with a guarded expression. This went on for a long time before Linda grew impatient with the situation.
"Well are you going to kiss me or what?" She demanded. Peter swallowed nervously and bent down capturing Linda's lower lip between his. He felt her smile and giggle and pulled back immediately feeling embarrassed. That hadn't gone at all as he had expected it to and now Linda would know that he knew nothing about kissing.
But Linda was pressing a tentative finger to her lower lip and was frowning. She shook her head lightly and mumbled to herself before she stepped forward and stood on the very tips of her toes. Peter was at a loss of what was going on when her hands gently captured his face and she pressed her mouth to his again. He did nothing as the younger girl leaned into him to stay close enough to press her lips onto his. What he did next could only be called instinct as he began to gently move his mouth against hers.
Linda fell back onto her feet not too long after that before smiling brightly at a stunned Peter.
"I don't see what the big deal about kissing is." She commented before beginning to lead the way to her house. And just like that the nerves were gone.
This new Peter though—he could make her feel like she was about to die—all it took was one look for the nerves to come alive. She had thought she had known him but he had returned after the air raids feeling like a stranger to her. All of the Pevensie's did. They looked the same—albeit Edmund and Peter had grown taller—but they still seemed different. The change was most obvious in their eyes—even bright and cheerful Lucy's eyes seemed dull in comparison to Linda's memories.
Linda had to wonder if her friends felt the same way about her. Had she been changed so much by the war that she looked herself but felt like a stranger?
The answer was unstable, uncertain and uncommitted; perhaps she had changed.