It wasn't long before Peter found him on the windowsill of his room, looking for all the world like someone had just died.

The 'Magnificent' approached carefully. Edmund was still.

"It was pretty obvious, wasn't it?" he spoke softly.

He placed a hand on the younger boy's forehead, causing him to look up.

"Sort of."

Peter kneeled down in front of him and rested his forearms on Edmund's knees.

"I'm sorry," he said for the second time that day. "I'm sorry for being such an idiot."

This didn't really satisfy Edmund or make him feel any better. In fact, he was more embarrassed now.

"You're not an idiot," he told his brother quietly. "I'm the stupid one for getting so worked up about this all by myself."

Peter moved to sit beside him and shook his head in earnest.

"Do you really think this isn't difficult for me too?"

If it had been, he certainly hadn't shown it.

"It is."

He paused to explain himself.

"It's just...I haven't been thinking about it, I suppose. We hadn't talked about it either, not even once. It's been there - in the back of my head - but never real like it is now. I've gotten the acceptance letter only today so..."

Seeing that his brother was ignoring his words, Peter turned his shoulders so that they were facing each other.

"...do you understand what I'm saying? I snapped out of the daydream and I'm awake now. Fully awake, Ed - I do understand what this means for all of us."

Edmund fought to keep a neutral expression on his face, not willing to concede.

"Don't you dare think that I don't care. Look me in the eye and just try to say that I don't," he ordered calmly.

Part of Edmund wanted to be obstinate and say that he didn't, but another part recognized the gravity in the blonde's severe gaze and couldn't bring himself to do it. His expression softened and he pulled the boy, who was blinking rapidly now, into a secure embrace, keeping his head tucked under his chin.

"I wouldn't go if I didn't think it was best for everyone. You know that. We'll all be adults someday and we can't live off of Mum forever. I have to find a decent job now so that I can support you three - no matter what happens."

"The King of Narnia needs to find a job," Edmund mused aloud, thinking that it was just as odd as it sounded.

"Yes, he most certainly does."

There was a profound silence and the mood was more somber than before.

The Pevensie family had never been by any means especially wealthy, but lately it seemed to Edmund that they were nearing a new financial low. Late at night, he could sometimes hear his mother and Peter discussing how many bills could be paid that month. With their father coming back home, all of this would be most likely resolved, of course, but he, who had lived a luxuriously comfortable life where he hadn't had to spare a second thought about money, was a little disturbed to see that these were things that they would now have to worry quite seriously about.

His brother seemed to be thinking to himself.

"It isn't as if we haven't been apart before," he murmured. "It just seems worse because the situation's a bit different now-"

Edmund snorted into his chest.

"'A bit'?"

"-I'll just be away for a little longer than you're used to, that's all."

This was an outrageous understatement and he thought that his brother should know.

"In case you've forgotten, 'your magnificence', I haven't lived for two weeks without you in the last twenty years we've been together."

Peter was quiet for a second and then began to burst into laughter.

"What in the world are you talking about, you ridiculous person? That's all wrong. Don't you remember all those campaigns-"

"It doesn't count. They weren't often."

"-and that time you went with Eustace and Lucy-"

"Doesn't count either."

"Edmund."

Peter released his tight hold, sat back and threw him a playful smile.

"Are you going to continue being this nonsensical for the rest of the holiday? I must say, I'm looking forward to it. It's been very amusing so far."

Edmund grumbled incoherently in response and leaned back into the previous hug, subtly demanding physical affection.

"It's felt like that to me anyways," he finally settled on.

A hand came up to stroke his hair.

"No, I expect you're right. I've always had the means to make sure that you were never far away from me if the situation allowed it."

It was true. Even when the situation had been far from ideal, Peter had a knack of getting things arranged exactly as he liked them.

At the beginning of their first term of boarding school together, Edmund had almost been roomed with a large, unpleasantly tempered fellow before his brother had put in a few, charming words with the normally immovable secretary and she hadn't been able to refuse his wishes.

By the end of that day, Edmund had been transporting his scant belongings into a highly pleased Peter's dormitory room. Edmund was sure that this was a result of the charismatic presence that he had learned to project onto other people while he had been 'High King'.

Whatever it was, it certainly never failed.

"You don't think you could convince those Oxford people to let me move in with you?" Edmund suggested with a tiny bit of hope.

It could work.

After all, this was Peter. His King, his leader, the one person that he admired the most.

What couldn't he do?

"Not this time, Eddy."

Hearing those low, gentle words along with the affection-filled nickname at the end, seemed to open the floodgates of pent-up emotion.

Edmund was no crybaby - he should have been old enough to be over that phase by now - but, when there was good enough reason, he hadn't had much sleep and he was an emotionally jumbled mess, he had no qualms about bawling into his older brother's shirt. It wasn't as if he hadn't done it before.

"We're still in the same country, aren't we? I'm not going to a different planet, am I?"

Peter's voice had faltered and it sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather than Edmund that everything was going to be fine.

"Think of it as I'm going away for a short trip to slay a giant. I always came back to you from those just the same, didn't I?"

This was a comforting idea and, between sobs, Edmund thought to himself that it was decidedly strange that he was more upset about his brother going off to live in a perfectly safe although unknown institution than a situation within which he was away and in actual, potentially fatal danger for a short period of time as long as they still technically lived together. Then again, maybe this was because he had seen enough to be confident that it would take much more than even ten giants to defeat his High King.

"I'll call you every chance I can and I'll visit even more. An entire army couldn't keep me away."

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he could have sworn that he felt Peter's hand tremble for a second where it was brushing back and forth across his scalp.

"It'll be like nothing's changed at all. You'll see."

Edmund nodded and swallowed, hoping that he would be right.

Two weeks passed and there was a certain tension within the household - the sort of tension that could break at any sudden moment and cause someone to crack, resulting in hysterical bouts of tears and insane laughter. Two important things were about to happen and the anticipation was setting everyone on edge.

One was happening sooner than the other and this was the reason why Edmund was carrying Lucy's water pail as she continued to clean the floor with a wet rag. He had also rolled up his pants and was helping her to give their wooden floorboards a 'heavenly shine', as their mother had termed their goal.

"Mum seems excited, doesn't she?" Lucy commented lightly.

Edmund threw his sister a wry look.

"A bit over-excited, I would say."

They had just undertaken a house cleaning a short while ago and he had thought that they had done a more than sufficient job. He hardly thought that this was necessary now.

She shook her head at him.

"Oh, don't be like that. I can't imagine how nerve-wracking this must be for her."

Edmund stopped scrubbing and studied the surface of the wood. It was nerve-wracking for all of them.

"It's only two days away now," she continued, her voice sounding peculiarly distant. "Can you believe that? Two days until Dad is home."

For their mother, it had been five years since she had seen her darling husband, but for the Pevensie children it had been much longer than that. There were many questions that arose in their minds that did not exist in their mother's. Even Susan, who stubbornly insisted that she was exactly seventeen and not one year more, appeared to be uneasy when the topic came up.

"Lucy...do you..."

He frowned and she looked at him expectantly.

"...do you remember...much...about him?"

The question made Edmund feel ashamed and he regretted asking at all. She sat up slowly from where she was bending over and crinkled her nose.

"He wore spectacles at times...when he was reading and -"

She tried to end on an optimistic note.

"- he was nice?"

Edmund sighed.

"Yeah, I thought so. I'm just as bad. I bet Su isn't much better either."

Lucy winced.

"I know what you're getting at. That is a bit of a problem, isn't it?"

In the beginning, it had been difficult to get into a halfway normal relationship again with their mother as well, but they had never fully regained the mindset and memories from the time before. With their father, it was even worse because he had spent less time at home than their mother, seeing as he had to go out and work.

"Well," she exhaled. "We'll just have to deal with it somehow - just like with everything else."

"Of course," he agreed. "It's going to be fine. Mum was fine - this can't be too different."

With that problem aired out, he dunked his sponge into the bucket, but the worry didn't completely leave his mind for the rest of that afternoon.

Would it really be fine?

He didn't know.

In the evening, he found Peter in their father's study, already poring over one of the books that he had purchased for university, which was a mere week away.

"You really are happy about going, aren't you?" Edmund called from the doorway.

Peter's head shot up from the pages and he smiled widely.

"All that rot about not wanting to leave was a lie. You're all set to get up and abandon us, aren't you, Mr. Oxford?" he further questioned, not seriously accusing, but rather teasing.

Peter leaned back into the chair, crossed his legs and laughed.

"Don't be so dramatic! I'm not going to abandon you, Edmund Pevensie."

A side of his mouth quirked upwards against his own will and he strolled over to the desk, lightly tapping a binding.

"But you are happy, aren't you? Don't try to deny it. You would absolutely love the idea of spending the rest of your life in a stuffy classroom."

Peter scowled at him playfully.

"I happen to value learning and it doesn't torture me to study an ancient text - so, yes, dearest brother, it does make the sacrifice a bit easier."

His voice had softened around the word 'sacrifice' and Edmund could see the sincerity in his eyes. He looked around at the bookshelves and cleared his throat, hoping to steer the conversation into an area that was less emotional.

"So, you've been holed up in here all day while we were preparing the house for the arrival of the King of England?"

Peter rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Edmund. I've been lazing about for hours because there was nothing to do, nobody bothered with me and Mother specifically only wanted to bend you three to her whims."

Edmund enjoyed the sarcasm.

"Thought so."

He played with a pen.

"I was outside, in case you didn't know. The grass suddenly needed to be cut and the bushes needed trimming."

"Everything suddenly needs to be fixed around here, doesn't it?"

Peter leaned an elbow on the table, looking up at him.

"You don't think that Mum is going to wear herself out, do you?"

"Lucy and Su are making her relax," Edmund replied. "I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"I won't."

He blurted out his next thought.

"You're not going to be able to use this place as much as you used to, you know -"

The next word was difficult for his lips to form.

"- Dad...Dad will want his study back."

How incredibly weird it was to say that to Peter's face!

What had possessed him to utter it?

The eighteen year old's expression was unfathomable for a second, but then it cleared and he shrugged.

"He can have it then."

The words were light, but Edmund caught the slightest something behind his blue eyes that made him shiver. It was definitely not a good idea to be joking about that right now and he resolved not to venture into those waters in the near future.

Peter stood up and closed the book.

"Should we go down for dinner then?"

Edmund exaggeratedly gestured a hand towards the door.

"Lead the way and I will follow, sire."

His brother ruffled his dark hair and hooked an arm around his shoulder.

"What will I ever do without you, Ed?"

"Absolutely nothing," he responded smartly.

"I think that you may be right about that."

The grin was wiped off of his face when Peter decided do something completely unfair and kissed him right on the crown of his head. Edmund was almost quite certain that he did this with the express intent of shocking him.

He was blushing scarlet from head to toe and ducked out from under his brother's hold, indignant.

"You're too sodding sentimental, did you know that? You can't just do stuff like that out of the blue!"

"But, I want to," Peter protested innocently.

He gave him a long, suspicious look and grumpily went away without another word while the High King chuckled to himself.

Eventually, the day dawned upon which Frank Pevensie would come home and nobody was prepared for it. His mother was rushing about the kitchen, making a big fuss over little details, such as whether there was dust on the counter or not, when they had all contributed to making the house look better than it had in years, even in the time when their father had been in England.

Edmund ate his breakfast slowly, his nervous stomach revolting at the idea of consuming food. Peter, already finished with his bacon and eggs, sat beside him and absentmindedly rested a hand on his brother's neck, knowing that it would slightly calm him.

"Arriving in an hour at the latest," Helen Pevensie mumbled to herself. "He'll want to rest right away, to be sure. No telling when the last time was that he had a good night's sleep..."

"Mum, sit down," Lucy suggested. "He won't come any faster if you keep pacing like that."

"Exactly," Susan agreed, waving a fork about in the air.

"Right. I suppose so..."

Peter yawned for what seemed to be the hundredth time and Susan threw him an accusing look.

"What the devil did you two do until some godforsaken hour in the morning? You both look like exhausted wrecks!"

Peter smiled slightly at her.

"Ed and I had a rough night."

It was generally known within the family that eight times out of ten Edmund slept in Peter's bedroom - firstly, because the bed was more spacious than Edmund's, secondly, it was a long-held habit and thirdly, wherever Peter was, was where Edmund wanted to be and vice versa. It was very rare to see them spending the night in separate bedrooms and when they chose to do so it was easily assumed that there had been an argument.

Edmund, hearing his name, looked up blearily and Peter turned to him with amusement, gently brushing the hair away from his forehead.

"Isn't that right, Eddy?"

He snorted and waved off the hand, not in the mood. The sight of his brother's drooping eyelids still made him feel massively guilty.

"Did you two have nightmares?" Lucy asked worriedly.

She knew from experience that these could be quite intense. Peter dismissed it with a shake of his head.

"Nothing like that - just couldn't fall asleep."

Edmund might have corrected that it was he who couldn't fall asleep and not Peter, but was too tired. He had been tossing and turning for most of the late hours, anxious about the next day. His older brother had been woken up multiple times by his shifting.

Edmund had offered earlier on to get up and move to his own bedroom so that at least one of them could rest, but his idiotically selfless sibling had refused, saying that he wouldn't be able to have peace of mind if Edmund was somewhere else, and even stayed awake so that he could softly scratch his back until Edmund drifted off. Naturally, when Edmund had finally understood what Peter had in mind, he tried with all his might to escape, but was promptly pinned down before he could get far.

It was odd that a large part of their most trivial arguments went like this. Edmund disagreed, they wrestled, in which Peter was stronger, and things were resolved. Now, if they had been dueling that would have been entirely different. He had always been the best swordsman. Then again, where does one find a pair of proper swords in the middle of the night?

Edmund was lost in these thoughts and had also failed to follow the conversation.

"What will you say, Edmund?"

This came from Lucy, who was staring at him.

"Wha-?"

"What will your first words to Dad be?"

He felt the weight of all of the eyes around the table upon him and blinked.

"Um, 'hullo', I guess?"

His mother laughed for the first time.

"Yes! That's always the first thing to say, isn't it?"

Edmund was embarrassed, but happy that she was smiling.

"Well, let's all clean the dishes before he gets here, shall we?"

They did and he felt like he was going to be driven bonkers if their father didn't already show up.

Peter, who hadn't shown the least sign of being disturbed before, seemed to be contemplating something very deeply with his brow scrunched up in all seriousness. Edmund approached him from where he was looking out of the window.

"What is it?"

There was no response. Concerned, Edmund laid a hand on his arm.

"What's wrong?"

Peter shook himself out of his stupor.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Edmund didn't believe a word of it, but also didn't see the use in pushing him.

A car honked outside and he jumped, startled. From his mother's yells, he knew who it was.

"Go outside," Peter told him, facing the window again.

Edmund hesitated.

"Don't worry - I'll come soon as well."

What he really would have liked was for his older brother to go with him to face their newest challenge, but he didn't want to be a coward either so he obeyed and numbly left.

He lingered by the open doorway, watching Susan be embraced by a man of middling height with a frame that wasn't quite broad and wasn't quite thin. Squinting, he could make out the dark brown eyes that he had inherited. In fact, it seemed that Edmund took after their father's facial features the most. Walking until he was close enough to see him clearly, the fifteen-year-old stopped.

Frank Pevensie had now caught sight of him and traversed the distance between them eagerly.

He had remembered this man's appearance vaguely, but the memory contrasted with what he saw now. His ten-year-old mind had been filled with the idea of the huge, admirable stature of a hero-like man who was infallibly right and someone with whom he constantly wanted to spend time with although most of the time Mr. Pevensie had not been available to the young Edmund.

His biological father didn't seem so big now and he, himself, wasn't so small anymore.

In truth, the man before him was a total stranger and Edmund felt rather foolish, standing there with nothing to say.

The stranger, however, seemed to have a lot to say, but couldn't get it out on account of the tears that were shining in his eyes.

"Eddy - Eddy, my boy!"

"Hullo," Edmund greeted uncomfortably.

Susan sighed with exasperation from where she watched on the sidelines.

"Just hug him already and be done with it, idiot," she muttered under her breath in his direction.

Edmund was actually grateful and took the hint, awkwardly reaching out an arm.

His father took the real initiative and fairly squeezed him to death while Edmund tried to breathe. Thankfully, Mr. Pevensie was soon distracted enough to drop him.

"Peter!"

He regained his wits and watched his brother allow himself also to be hugged in the same manner. Gone was the pensive boy that Edmund had seen inside and, much to his relief, it seemed that Peter was back to normal.

Finding that he was needed, he hurried off to help with the luggage.

After the bags were carried upstairs, they all gathered together in the sitting room for a short while with the specific purpose of talking to the estranged father that Edmund knew little to nothing about. Lucy sat on Peter's lap on the couch with Edmund beside them and a Susan perched on the arm of the sofa that his elbow was resting on. Their mother sat in a single chair across from Mr. Pevensie.

"You're all so grown-up now!" their father exclaimed, looking a little taken aback. "These aren't the children that I left five years ago, are they, Helen?"

Mrs. Pevensie laughed and shook her head.

"They're just the same ones, dear."

Frank shook his head in disbelief.

"What have you all been up to, then?"

No one answered immediately, not even Susan, who Edmund was surprised to see looked unsure of herself and kept glancing over at Peter. It was their mother who eventually took hold of the reigns of the conversation and started a brief summary of what had been happening while he had been away.

"You all went off to the Professor's then, did you? That must have been very hard to be separated from your mother," Mr. Pevensie remarked.

"Not too difficult," Peter replied with a winning smile. "The stay was...interesting enough that we were quite distracted."

Edmund held in a snort and exchanged an amused look with his brother. In his opinion, one was a great deal more than 'distracted' when you frequently forgot the name of the country that you used to live in or that you had ever even had a mother.

"Of course, of course," their father muttered to himself. "You, my brave man, wouldn't be bothered by any of that, would you?"

He beamed at his son.

"Well, it sounds like you've done a fine job of taking care of your brother and sisters in my place. You've kept your promise, after all."

Edmund had been watching Peter closely enough and recognized the moment when the mask of control faltered.

His lips had tightened for the briefest second. Lucy had seen it too and turned to Edmund. They both shared the same apprehension.

"Yes, I suppose I did."

Mrs. Pevensie continued with the story all the way to the end, concluding with what the present state of schooling for that year would be.

"Oxford! I'm going to have a son who goes to Oxford!" Frank thought out loud to himself.

"We're all very proud of him," their mother added.

"Isn't it absolutely marvelous?" Susan inquired to no one in particular.

Edmund nodded because it felt like it was the thing to do. He wanted to show his support in some way.

"We're going to miss him something awful though," Lucy quietly put out.

Peter sighed and rearranged his arms around her.

"I know that some of you-"

He gazed pointedly at Edmund, who looked back sheepishly.

"-don't believe me, but I really am going to miss you all much more terribly."

"How sweet you are!" their mother said, touched.

"I'm sure that it will become easier with time. You'll learn to like being on your own," their father commented, sipping his tea. "After all, a boy can't stay at home forever."

Peter didn't respond.

"And both Edmund and Lucy will be here for the rest of the year. It sounds like we three have some catching up to do!"

Mr. Pevensie smiled at the two of them and Edmund tried to return the expression convincingly.

"Of course, it's a pity that Susan is leaving, but I'm sure that we'll see enough of each other during the holidays."

Mrs. Pevensie stood up.

"We'll have enough time for talking later. I'm sure that you're tired from the journey, dear."

With this, their father took a nap and the Pevensie children were left to quietly ponder their newly returned family member.