Susan quickly settled into a dull, monotone life. She found a British family looking for an au pair to help their children improve their English. It was colorless and tedious life, but she was glad to be away for awhile. In the mornings when the children were at their other lessons, she liked to go for walks through the streets to get to know the area. Today though, she decided to wander a bit farther, now used to the town. It quickly became less populated the further she wandered out.
She hummed to herself absentmindedly. She eventually realized she had gone from humming songs from her childhood to songs the Fauns and Dryads had taught her. She froze when she realized it, shaking her head side to side in an attempt to clear it. She had left to get all that Narnian silliness behind her, not to start humming Narnian lullabies the first moment she was really alone.
She suddenly realized something was rubbing against her leg. She carefully looked, using only her upper body so that no sudden movements might startle it. But then she had to stifle a scream when she saw it.
It was some sort of scaly reptile, perhaps as tall as to her knee. The scales had a greenish tinge, but managed to catch the light all the same. But what truly shocked her was that the creature had wings. Wings! Great, maroon wings, larger than the creature itself. As much as she wanted to deny it, there was no mistaking it: this was a dragon.
Susan crouched down, carefully reaching an arm out. "Hello there," she said cautiously, unsure what to do. If distant memories of Narnian dragons were anything to go by, baby dragons were not nearly as dangerous. So perhaps this dragon really was as nonthreatening as it appeared to be. When the dragon did not respond, she knew it was not a Talking Dragon. But she still could not understand how a dragon was here, in Romania of all places! But as ever, she stayed composed. She looked around to make sure there was no one else present. She cupped her hands to pick it up. It tottled over, favoring its right side.
"What's wrong?" Susan mused, her gentle side winning out over any fear. The dragon hopped onto her hand. She winced as it breathed a tiny burst of fire, rapidly patting it out. She would have to treat that later, but she had managed far worse before. "Hey, hey. I just want to help." She quickly became frantic, not knowing how to help it. But she looked it over more closely and saw that its wing was ripped. "Poor thing."
She carefully removed her coat to make a sling out of it to hide the dragon in. "Just stay quiet there, baby," she said in a soothing voice, desperately hoping the dragon would not suddenly decide to breath fire again, particularly in a crowded town square where it was sure to cause a panic. She decided to take as many unusual streets as possible to avoid the crowds. She managed to make it back to the family's house. They were nice enough to offer for her to make one-long distance call of their phone a month and she had not yet called her family in her attempt to distance herself from them.
"Hello?" a familiar, confused voice said. "Who is this?"
"Peter!" Susan said in relief.
"Susan?" Peter said, his voice incredulous, but Susan could perhaps hear some excitement in his voice. "Where are you? You took off! Without a goodbye! Barely even a note!"
"I know, I know. I – had to get away, but – "
"From what? From the truth? You're still denying Narnia, aren't you?" he accused hotly. "First you hurt Edmund and Lucy by denying Narnia and then you just leave them? How could you?"
"I know, I know! Peter, listen – "
"No, you listen. Get back here!"
"No," Susan said instantly. She never responded well to orders. If he had plead or even just asked, she might have. But she would not give in to his orders.
"No?" Peter said, the High King returning to his voice.
"No. I will not return. But...tell them I believe in Narnia now," Susan decided, her mind made up. If Peter was refusing to listen to her, she would go to someone who would.
"What is this, sister mine?" Peter demanded. Susan cringed at the almost courtly way of speaking. It might frighten subjects in Narnia, but even if she had ever been that easily cowed in Narnia, it truly held no sway here. "Are you toying with them now?"
"No, no. I need to go. Goodbye, brother," Susan said curtly, ending the call abruptly. She chewed on her lip, her eyes watching the slowly tottering dragon youth make its way across the table. She slowly walked over to it, careful not to disturb it. "Come here, little dragon. There you go. Right here into my arms."
She petted it lightly as it slowly breathed on her neck, its thin fumes only just barely scorching her neck. "Now what am I going to do with you, hm? My siblings, they are the adventurous ones; they'd know what to do. But I can't call them again. And who knows what they'd say anyways? They aren't going to believe I found a dragon! In this world, I mean. They'd believe it in Narnia, sure. But you? Here? That might be hard for anyone to believe. So just what am I to do with you?"
Her eyes fell on her bag in the corner. She suddenly strode over, feeling for a slip of paper in the pocket. For a moment, she felt only air until her fingers finally curled around Charlie's address. She found a map and headed on her way, hoping she could return it before the family even knew it was missing.
She was grateful that it turned out Charlie was not too far by bus. Sneaking the dragon onto the bus was another problem. Terrified it would move or otherwise be obvious, she dropped the dragon in her bag as she stepped onboard.
"Is that a dog in your bag?" the bus driver demanded, pointing at her blue satchel.
"Ah...it's shy?" Susan asked hopefully.
The bus driver just snorted. "No dogs on my bus."
"It...it's lost and I'm trying to return it to the address on its collar," Susan lied. To her fright, the dragon decided them to scorch a hole in the bag from the inside out. She shuffled it to her side, her hand absently rising to cover it better.
"Fine. Just make sure it doesn't cause trouble," the bus driver finally said. She quickly sat down, cuddling the dragon in her arms, hoping it would not be noticed. She scampered off the bus as fast as she could the moment she got to her stop, rushing out.
She found the building listed, the door locked. She pressed the button listed next to Charlie's name.
"Helloooooo?" he drawled.
"Charlie? It's me, Susan. From the train. It's...it's an emergency."
"Well, how could I say no to that?" Charlie said, buzzing her in. Susan ran up the stairs as quickly as she could without disturbing the dragon.
He was leaning against his doorframe when she made it to his floor. His blue eyes took her in, and indecipherable grin on his face. "Hello, dragon-girl! So what emergency have you concocted for the chance to see me again?" he teased with a playful wink.
Susan scowled at the transparent flirting. Boys in this world never could quite flirt the way courtiers could in Narnia. "It's a real emergency," she reprimanded.
Charlie sighed and straightened up, becoming serious when he realized she was not in the mood for teasing. "What is it, Susan?"
"So, just how serious were you about the dragon thing?" she said, suddenly unusually shy.
He frowned, his eyes flickering up and down to size her up. "What do you mean?"
"I – Do you really believe in dragons?" she asked.
He suddenly grinned again. "Are you teasing me? Making up an emergency about dragons? You know, I really meant you could drop by or write me a letter, dragon emergency or no. Though if it was dragons, all the better."
"Well, I hope you really mean that," Susan said, deciding to just go for it already and gingerly removing the petite dragon from her bag. "Since I really do have, ah, a dragon emergency."
