AN: Hey everyone! This new story, "Four Steps" is co-written by me and my buddy, WondaGal! You should go check out her stories! They're awesome! This is my first try at a Narnia Fic, so be nice. :) Oh...and I'm DIEHARD Suspian! :) Reviews are appreciated!
*Susan POV*
Why was he doing this to me? I'm not one of those mushy, girly, cries all the time kind of girl, but could he really do this? Was Aslan really taking me away form the only place I've ever felt at home? The one place I felt loved by someone other than Pete, Ed and Lu? Could he really do that to me?
I was a queen of Narnia, and I had to appear stoical, even if I was going through a heart-wrenching, gut-twisting battle inside me. I heard Aslan and Caspian give their speeches. Had it just been minutes before that Aslan had tole me I had to leave him? My one true love? Yes, I Queen Susan the Gentle, was in love with King Caspian X. There was nothing I could do about it. It was his fault really. Why did he have to charm me with his gorgeous hair, kind and witty sense of humor, and that luscious Spanish accent. Who wouldn't fall for him?
I heard Peter give his sword to Caspian, and heard Caspian swear those words that pained me to hear, "I will look after it until you return." Didn't he know? Why was I the one to have to tell him. I began...
"I'm afraid that's just..." I trailed off. "I can't do it," I said, and turned and ran from the town square. I'd seen a field just within the forest on the way here. I would go there, and sort myself out.
*Lucy POV*
I saw Susan run. I saw the tears begin to flood her face. She'd actually done it. What she'd warned me about all those years ago. "Lu, don't forget to look before you fall." She'd fallen. Hard. She'd fallen for King Caspian the X much harder than any of us thought she had. She couldn't leave him. Not like this.
"Ed, Pete. Come on. We've got to go to her. She needs us. I'm sorry everyone. We'll be back soon." The three of us headed out to the place we'd seen Susan run to. I heard the padding of footsteps behind us, and knew Aslan was following us.
*Aslan POV*
I hadn't forseen this. I saw in Susan's thoughts her conflicting feelings of love for her family and love for our new King. I hadn't seen this coming. This on rush of feelings from our young Queen, but then I looked into her sibling's minds, and discovered that they felt nothing but sorrow and compassion for their sister, and wanted nothing but for her to be happy. That's when I knew. That's when I knew that our young Queen had a decision to make.
*Susan POV*
I knew my siblings would follow me. I knew it. I heard their running footsteps before I saw them.
"Susan! Are you alright? What happened back there?" These were the collective sentences that were being hurled at me by my siblings.
"I'm so sorry you guys. I was trying to be logical. Trying to listen to my logical side, but something else took over. I can't leave. Not now. Not when I've finally felt like a part of something real. I can't" I waited for their reply.
"Very well said dear one." I hadn't seen the Great Lion enter the clearing. He looked puzzling. Like he was trying to decipher something. He looked at me with those deep eyes of his. "If you three wouldn't mind," Aslan said turning his head to Peter, Edmund, and Lucy, "but I would like to have a moment alone with your sister. You may go back to the meeting, and tell Caspian that we will be along shortly." My siblings were going to protest, but one look from those contemplating eyes of his, and they had backed away graciously, and turned to run back to the Town Square.
Aslan turned to me. "Oh my dear one. I never envisioned this happening for you. I never realized what strong feelings you had towards Caspian. I don't see how you can live in your own world now, what with everything new you've learned here." A smile broke out on my face. Was this really happening? Was he really giving me this chance? He looked at me again. "But that is not all dear one. You have a choice to make. You can live here in Narnia, and love out your days as High Queen of Narnia with Caspian, or you can return home with your siblings. You can only choose one, and I'm very sorry about that, but things never happen the same way twice dear one." He repeated the words he'd said to Lucy only days ago, and I felt my eyes well up. "Let's go back to the meeting. You can decide there."
We walked back to the town square, and saw that everyone was looking at me with a strange expression on their face. I smiled back at them, using my best queenly facade. I stood in the middle of my two choices.
Four steps. Either way, it was four steps to my fate. Four steps to the portal and back to England, or four steps to the only man who has ever touched my heart in such a way. Whenever I'm with him it's that "can't-eat, can't-sleep, reach-for-the-stars, over- the-fence, world-series kind of stuff." (Quote from It Takes Two! Great Movie! ) But am I willing to give up my entire family for that, I didn't know. Either way, it's four steps. This is it, and I walked those four steps...straight into my destiny.
AN: I know! I know! You want to kill me right now! What will Susan choose? True love? Or the family she's always known and loved? You'll find out in the next chapter of our story! The next chapter will be Susan's choice, and its aftermath. (This will be written by WondaGal!)
