Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Everything belongs to C.S. Lewis, Walden Media, Disney, and Fox.

Title: Crossroads of the Heart

Summary: Post-VotDT, Caspian learns his people want him to choose a queen. Lilliandil seems like the obvious choice, but his feelings for Susan still tug at his heartstrings. When Aslan decides to bring both women forward, Caspian is left to choose between the two.

Rating: T (PG-13)

Pairings/Characters: Susan/Caspian/Lilliandil, Aslan, Doctor Cornelius, Trumpkin, Trufflehunter, Peter, Lucy, Edmund, and possible others later on

A/N: Okay, so I just saw Voyage of the Dawn Treader for the first time yesterday. I thought the film was absolutely amazing, but being a die-hard Suspian fan, I couldn't help but miss having Susan in Narnia this time around. With that in mind, an idea for a Susan/Caspian/Lilliandil love triangle fanfic came to me during my drive home from the movie theater. For those of you who already read my other AU Narnia fanfic "Changing Destiny," don't worry, because I still plan to write a sequel for that story. Anyways, I hope all of you enjoy this opening chapter and will continue reading the story—assuming I receive some feedback telling me you want me to continue the fanfic.

Happy reading!

Chapter One: Crossroads

The journey was over. King Edmund and Queen Lucy, along with their younger cousin Eustace, were gone, back to England, their home. The seven swords bestowed to the lords Miraz had banished from Narnia were where they belonged on Ramandu's Island.

Thinking of the enchanted island, his thoughts drifted back to its keeper, a beautiful Star named Lilliandil.

"You are most beautiful."

And she was. The fair beauty was everything a man could ask for. Her kindness alone would make any king want to make her his queen. Not a single soul in the land could surpass her beauty, kindness, and spirit.

Except one.

Queen Susan.

The first girl—woman—he ever loved.

"You're just… You're not exactly what I expected."

Thinking of the Gentle Queen who stole his heart from the first moment they locked eyes, it almost brought tears to his eyes just knowing that it had been three years since he last saw her beautiful face. Three years since he saw her coy smile. Three years since he looked into her crystal blue eyes. Three years since he, in a love-struck gaze, watched her chestnut brown hair blowing in the wind. Three years since he felt her full lips pressed against his own…

It was no secret that he and Queen Susan shared a mutual affection for one another during her last return. But how could any man, with just one look at the Gentle Queen, not fall madly in love with her? Professor Cornelius once told him in their private lessons about Old Narnia and its Golden Age that all men who met her found Susan to be the most beautiful woman in the world. In fact, it was her stunning beauty that drove cruel Prince Rabadash of Calormen to prepare an army for war and attempt to kidnap Queen Susan in Archenland after she rejected his offer to marry him. And as he saw throughout his long journey in the Lone Islands, even Lucy was envious of her sister's timeless beauty.

He had been King of Narnia for three years. Three years without a queen. He wanted Susan to be his queen, to be by his side while they jointly ruled the magical land with her three siblings. But she was gone, and with it went his dreams of peacefully ruling Narnia together. And now his people felt it was time he move on and choose someone else to be his queen.

In spite of the fact that he had only spent a few moments with Lilliandil, he was immediately drawn to her, like he was once with Susan. She was so incredibly beautiful. So much so that he did not want to see her leave.

"I hope we meet again."

But like his beloved Susan, her place was somewhere else.

"So your people have decided it's time that you settle down and choose a queen?" a familiar voice said from behind him.

Dressed in his typical nightwear, a long-sleeved, cotton white shirt and black leggings, Caspian looked into the full-length mirror in front of him and saw Aslan standing behind him, just to the right.

"You're not surprised by their request, though, are you?" the wise Lion continued.

"How could I be after everything my uncle went through to have a son?"

"But you will marry and have children for the right reasons, my son."

"I'm not even sure if I want to marry," he spoke sadly, his thoughts drifting back to Susan's memory.

"You have thought of Ramandu's daughter often since your first encounter with her. You know she could make a wonderful queen, wife, and mother to your future children."

"Yes."

"And yet your heart still goes out to Queen Susan."

"Forgive me, Aslan," he whispered in shame, lowering his head in defeat. "I know I should not dwell on the past—"

"There is nothing to forgive, Your Majesty," the Great Lion interjected, causing Caspian to look back up at him through the mirror. "It is only natural to feel pain when you have lost someone you care about."

"It's just… she's still so much a part of me. Whenever I pick up her ivory horn…or stare at her bow and arrows, I can almost feel her presence beside me. It's been three years since she left us, and she still haunts me in my dreams…my every private thought. Queen Susan was the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on, and she would have helped me create a second Golden Age in Narnia as my wife if she and her siblings had been allowed to stay here."

"Do you resent my decision to send her back?"

"It did not please me then, nor does it now, but I could never defy your wise counsel, my King. The Pevensies were the closest thing I ever had to a real family, but I know Narnia is not their home world."

"And that was exactly why I had to send them back. On their own, each of them knew when their time here was done. They will use what they have learned from their experiences in Narnia and make a difference where they are now. I have no doubt of that."

Caspian remained quiet for a moment, staring down at the fur rug beneath his feet with an expression of uncertainty, unsure if he should speak his mind in front of Aslan or not.

"I only wish I had time more with Queen Susan before she left," he finally whispered out seconds later, a look of sadness spread across his handsome features.

"May I speak frankly with you, Your Majesty?"

"Of course," he nodded softly. "I would never reject listening to your words of wisdom."

"With the demand that's been placed in front of you, you have reached a crossroads in your life. You have met two extraordinary women, both of whom you believe could make you a very happy man, but only one of them can stand by your side until death. If Queen Susan truly is your heart's desire, as you are hers, then perhaps sending her back was the wrong thing to do, in which case I will allow her to stay. However, if Ramandu's daughter proves to be the one you're meant to spend the rest of your life with, Susan will return to her world and remember nothing from what's about to take place. I want you to spend time with both of them and choose wisely, Your Majesty, for once you've made a choice, you can never undo it. Farewell until we meet again next time."

Still looking at Aslan through the mirror in his private bedchambers, Caspian's forest brown eyes widened in shock, as a thousand questions started going through his mind about what the great Lion meant by all of this. But when he turned around to face him, Aslan was gone…vanished into thin air like he had done so many times before with the Pevensies. He was left alone once again, wondering what Aslan had just done. Did it mean that both Susan and Lilliandil were somewhere in Narnia, waiting for him to find and eventually choose one of them to be his queen?

Unable to control her own movements, Lilliandil found herself racing through the night's sky and soon plummeting towards the earth like never before, petrified that she was going to crash and be killed once she reached the ground surface.

But she wasn't.

Despite the high speed of being taken away from the night's sky, she was unharmed. Yet while she made sure nothing was broken or in need of attention, the beautiful Star gasped out when she saw the crystal blue light from her magical form disappearing. She was becoming human! Once the transformation was complete, she ran through the dark woods to a nearby lake and saw with her own eyes what had become of her. Her platinum blonde hair was shining in the moonlight; her smoky blue eyes were more noticeable than ever; her pale skin was as fair and delicate as porcelain. She was a woman now. A real woman.

But how did this happen? And more importantly…why did it happen?

Slowly coming to, Susan found herself waking up with her head on top of a table covered in dozens of leatherback books. A little frightened at first, the last thing the seventeen-year-old girl remembered doing was getting ready to take a small nap, as she was tired from another party she had just attended to support the troops. She was currently wearing a midnight blue day dress that went down to her ankles, stockings, a pair of simple black heels that used to belong to her mother, some powder on her face, cherry red lipstick, mascara, pearl earrings, and her hair was pinned up in soft curls. Getting up from the wooden chair she was previously sitting in, Susan looked around and immediately noticed—despite how little light there was in the room—how familiar this library was. She had been in it before. She looked down at the books in front of her and one in particular quickly caught her eye. The open pages had a picture of her, Peter, Edmund and Lucy sitting in the throne room together at Cair Paravel during their Golden Age, which could only mean one thing—!

"I'm in Narnia!"

"Queen Susan!" a voice yelped out from behind her.

She turned around to find Doctor Cornelius, Caspian's half-Dwarf tutor and father-like figure, holding three large books in his arms and a shocked expression across his face.

"Your—Your Majesty, what are you doing here? I mean—"

"Cornelius, what's all the racket about this time?" Trumpkin started complaining when the red Dwarf entered the library. But with one look at the Gentle Queen's face, he turned as ghost white as the professor and exclaimed, "Tubs and tortoise shells! Susan! You're back!"

A/N: With Susan already inside the castle, who do you think Caspian will run into first? *wink*

Is my story worth continuing?

Please review! And don't forget to cast your vote for who should end up with Caspian! Susan or Lilliandil?