Fight or Walk Away
Edmund's POV
"Edmund! There is blood all over you! What did you do now?!" I heard Susan say in exasperation. I shook my head. I would hardly, at this point, tell Peter all the specifics of my fights, much less my sisters. Okay, so this whole lay low, don't attract undue attention thing wasn't really working for me. I had been with the wrong crowd of people before we left. After we came back, I was different, and those old "friends" did not like that change. So fights often occurred. Tonight's fight had been the worst. I was pretty beat up. I slipped into the other room, hoping to clean up a bit before Mum came home. I heard the door open and close, and Susan talking in the other room. Oh great, Peter's home to give me another lecture on fighting, I thought. I braced myself as Peter walked in. He took one look at me and grabbed my arm, dragging me into the other room. For a moment, he just looked at me. The he started talking. (Don't ask me which is worse.)
"How long? Hm? How long are you going to keep this up?"
"Pete, you know these guys. I am different now and they don't like it. They are just going to..."
"You know you can leave the fight. Besides, how long will it be until Lucy goes off and does something?"
For a moment I was terrified, remembering how Lucy used to fight just as good as any (if not better than most) trained men. Then I shook my head. "No. Lucy wouldn't. She has just turned nine again. She knows better than to go off fighting like she used to."
"Yes. Just like you do." Peter said with a bit of sarcasm. "I have seen it in her eyes when she sees you like this. She is going to do something, and soon."
I was a bit worried about this. I shook it off though. Lucy wouldn't go and get into a fight with those boys. I should have listened to Peter.
Next day, when I came home, no one was home but Susan. She said that Mum had been called to the Head's office at the school the girls attended. A little bubble of worry started to swell up. I forced it down. The bubble exploded into fury when Mum and Lucy came home.
When I saw Lucy walk through the door, lip split and bruise forming around her eye, I could not believe it. Peter had been right.
"What on earth did you do, Lucy?" I asked.
She looked at me and said "You should see the other guys."
I recognized one of my own lines that I frequently used when I didn't want to talk about a fight.
Mum came in and by the look on her face I knew we were all about to hear a long talk. I was right. Soon as she put away her hat and purse, we all got a long and very serious lecture about fighting. After the talk, the rest of the evening, I avoided everyone. I had a plan. I knew what I was going to do and didn't want anyone to tell me not to do it. Mum found me in the kitchen and looked at me for a moment. She sat down at the table and said, "I know what you're going to do. And I am here to tell you not to do it."
I looked at her. She knew. I am sure they all knew; but she knew. I sat down. "Mum, I have to. They beat up my little sister. She's only just turned nine. Even if she wasn't my sister, I couldn't let that go."
Mum sighed. "I know you love your sister, but the teachers are handling the situation. It is not right for you to go and fight them. I forbid it."
She hugged me and I sighed into her hair. "I have to do it, Mum."
"Then I will have to punish you." she said.
"All right, Mum. I won't go to them. But if they come for me, I will fight them." I stepped back. "I'm sorry, Mum." And then I left.
Helen's POV
After my big talk about fighting, Edmund dodged everyone. I knew what he was going to do and I needed to tell him not to do it. I found him in the kitchen.
I sat down and told him not to fight the boys. He argued for Lucy, saying they beat her up. I didn't tell him, but she actually beat them up. I forbade him from fighting. I held my boy in my arms as he told me he had to fight them. I told him that I would have to punish him if he did. He told me that he would not go to them, but if they came to him, he would fight. I knew that he would. I knew that those boys really should stay away, for their own sakes as much as Edmund's. He told me he was sorry. I love him so much, but he had to learn. I was very worried about him.
Edmund's POV
After the fight
Sitting in the Head's office, bloody and beaten, I anticipated what Mum would think when she came in. I knew what was probably going to happen, and I didn't want that to happen.
Just then, Mum came in. She looked so sad, and so beautiful. I was sorry that she had to go through this. She looked at me so very mournfully. I tried to tell her, but the Head started talking. I really didn't hear much of what he said. I suppose that it was the usual stuff about no fighting in school. I knew that the real version of what happened would not be told. I settled in and resigned myself to my fate. Just when I thought that things were sealed and done, I heard someone's voice that I had not really expected. It was just some kid, Billy, I think his name was. I didn't really know him.
"But he didn't, sir. He didn't hit Jack when he had the advantage. Pevensie didn't want to fight, even. He was trying to avoid them. They came to him. He tried to get away from them, but they kept hitting him. He fought back and fought them off. He had the advantage at the end. He had Jack pinned against the wall. He had his hand up like he was going to hit him. I thought he was going to because of what happened to his sister and all. I would have hit him. But any way, he didn't. He just sort of laughed and walked away. He didn't hit him."
I looked up, surprised that some stranger would speak in my defense. What was the kid doing here, anyway? I really had laughed. Yeah, I know that it was weird. I had been thinking about all the things that Mum had said. I looked over at my Mum. She smiled at me, and at that moment, I felt better than I had for quite some time. Things with the Head and the boys got settled, my life fell back into its normal routine. About a year after our return from Narnia, right before we went back, Peter started to fight like I had. He was different than me though. He had been so used to everyone following him and treating him like the High King that he is. We didn't really help the situation much by treating him like he was still our leader. I am not saying that that is wrong, on the contrary, it is right, but it didn't help. At the underground station, he got into another fight. I came in and helped in the fight, like I almost always do. Afterwards, Susan asked him if it was really that hard to just walk away. I didn't say anything¸ but Lucy and I met eyes and we both knew what the other was thinking. Yes, sometimes it is hard to make the choice. Do you fight, or walk away?