In secret we met, In silence I grieve,
That thy heart could forget, Thy spirit deceive
If I should meet thee, After long years,
How should I greet thee? With silence and tears.
~Bryon
Narnia, Unknown Date
At the Gateway
His throat closed as the gateway did the same, washing away the image of his friends like watercolors on a canvas. Washing away the last visage of the Pevensies.
Or more accurately, Susan.
He had no strong feelings: just confusion and the general want to impress her. But that last move- the kiss- that confused him.
And now, as suddenly as his walls were broken down, they were whisked away into some land he knew nothing of. Away with a lady.
His brow seemed furrowed the following weeks as he adjusted to his kingly place, and his eyes troubled as he viewed his kingdom.
Though he would not know how troubled he would be.
Because he was about to learn the truth about Susan's disappearance.
Present day- 2013
Trinity College, Dublin
Ireland
His footsteps were light as he jogged down the staircase into the classroom, the college kids leaving in a whoosh around him with rustling papers and noisy dispositions. He slid in between them all, fixing the hood about his face to obscure his features. What seemed to be an empty desk revealed itself to have already been claimed, but he grabbed the notebook anyway and continued walking, purposely re-directing his path to cross in front of the teacher's desk.
As she stood from her bent place behind the desk, presumably organizing papers, he gently nudged the stapler on the edge of the desk to fall onto the hardwood, causing a loud crash to resound through the room. She spun around as he stared defiantly at her.
'Well? Are you going to pick it up?"
He stared.
She placed her hands on her hips, giving him an incredulous glare. "May I help you?"
Again, he stayed silent, dark brown eyes roving down her frame in scrutiny.
She huffed. "Never mind. Just go. I have papers to grade and essays to review and…"She waved her hand at him in dismissal. "Go."
With that she turned back to her filing cabinet and continued pulling out drawers, the metal squeal the only sound in the room. But he stayed, staring.
He could hardly believe it was her. But he couldn't deny it. The red hair surely threw off his perception, but the eyes… the eyes were the same. The same sparkling brown that bore into him so deeply. The same ruby lips that seemed to always be curved in some sensuous smile. The way her hands landed on her hips, the way her left foot was cocked as if as light as a leaf…
It had to be her.
He cleared his throat. "Miss?"
It came out as more of a question than he intended, but it got her attention anyway. She spun around, a kind light to her eyes that died instantly upon alighting on his still-there form, only to be replace with an annoyed curiosity.
"May I help you, sir? I thought I asked you to leave."
"Is it Ashley Webb, now?" he said abruptly.
She looked surprised. "I'm…sorry?"
"Do you remember, all those years ago? Our battles?"
She gave a nervous, confused smile, and a wary sparkle broke into her eyes. "Ah, I'm sorry, you must have the wrong person…"
"Narnia, Susan. Narnia."
She gave him a glare as her voice rose. "Who are you?"
He grumbled and jerked the tip of the hood back, revealing his face.
She gasped.
"C…Caspian?"
Because all of us Suspian fans know how badly the movies ended this awesome romance... and then hearts are broken as we read the book and realized Susan 'is no longer a friend of Narnia'. Here I am, my first venture into the Narnia FF world, to put a new spin on why Susan never landed in Aslan's Country.
And what she really ended up doing after 'Prince Caspian', instead of forgetting Narnia.
By the way, the theme song for this story is 'Princess Toyotomi' by Celtic Woman... Seriously, it sounds like it was written for this story. I love it. It could fit for just about any fantasy story. Link is in my profile.