Hey there! Sorry I took so long, I just kept editing this because it was too long.

I think I'm mistaking it for the concept of a star given in "Stardust", but I somehow had the belief that stars can see what's in people's hearts, so just roll with me on this one xD. Now, don't be fooled by a few parts of this, I'm still shipping Caspian/Susan that's not going to change anytime soon.

I think this is all about inversed roles, just when Caspian starts to get some peace, Susan stars to crumble.

This is kind of a filler, but really I hope you like it all the same!

Sooner than he expected, yet long past seeing enough calamity for a lifetime, their mission was done and they were heading home. The sky cleared, the ferocious waves died down, the fog dissipated, the water was sweet again, the smell of lilies overwhelmed their senses and all was well in the world.

The moon looked so round, so big in the starless sky, it was almost within his reach. So close yet so far, and no matter how much he wanted it all for himself, it was needed up there, to make the night a bit more bearable. The night sky couldn't be moonless just as the day sky couldn't be sunless. She was needed in that foreign land they called England, and he was needed in Narnia.

The moon can't leave her stars and stay with the sun, the sun can't leave his clouds and follow the moon. They came from different worlds, of course it wasn't meant to be.

And since he couldn't have his moon, he would have to content himself with a star.

Lilliandil was so beautiful, so gentle, so radiant... literally. Almost enough to make up for her. Caspian brought her back to Narnia and married her, and not long after, she gave him the heir his council had insisted so much upon. They named him Rillian, thinking it inappropriate to continue the tradition of kings named Caspian.

Caspian cared enough for her to think about her happiness, and so he ordered for the tallest tower of the palace to be turned into a nursery. Lilliandil, being a star, enjoyed being the closest possible to her previous home, the sky. She spent hours on the balcony, little Rillian nestled in her arms, telling him stories of her time up there, and of the things she had witnessed throughout the centuries from her privileged place.

Caspian always imagined himself having a large family, as he had been an only and very lonely child, but after giving her her own tower, Lilliandil detracted herself, immersed in her son. She and Caspian barely ever saw each other, and when they did cross the other's path, they had nothing but amicable words and gentle gestures, sometimes they even laughed together. They never argued, never had anything to reproach each other.

Sometimes, Caspian wished he could miss her enough to go fetch her from her tower and spend sometime with her, maybe talking, maybe in silence, at least he wouldn't be left to his own devices. But as it was, he was the busiest man in the kingdom, and his duties where usually enough to keep him distracted.

Late at night, though, alone in his chambers and staring at the ceiling, his mind wanders off to many places, and no matter how much he tries to go the other way, it keeps going back to her soft curls, her sweet lips against his own. At least when Lilliandil was around he could forget.

Lilliandil knew that Caspian didn't love her, not in a husband and wife manner anyway, but she didn't mind. She had her little Rillian, her golden treasure, and she couldn't ask for more. He was her every thought and word, he was the most wonderful thing in the world, and just because of him, she never regretted marrying a man that was anything but a husband to her.

Caspian too loved his son deeply. He relished in the times he could sneak away from his kingly duties and teach him how to handle a sword, or taking him horseback riding to the furthest places of the kingdom. It was in times like these that Lilliandil took her real form and followed them in the sky, she was always worried for her son. Caspian had found this slightly annoying, the fact that she couldn't trust him to take care of their son, and that was by far the only complaint he ever had about her.

Not that he ever voiced it, of course.

Rillian grew into a brave young prince, and Caspian couldn't be prouder. He cared for the kingdom, for the people. He was an excellent swordsman – not nearly as good as the Just King had been, but he would've been had Edmund been there to train him himself. He was polite to his elders, even the ones in lower ranks, he was grateful for the things he was given and he was undyingly loyal to his friends.

He would be such a great king, so much better than himself, Caspian always thought.

"His hair is longer," Lucy said amusedly. "And he usually pulls it up in a half ponytail."

Peter snickered. "How manly," he muttered under his breath

"He now has a very thick and kingly beard too, you know?" Edmund intervened, shooting Peter and his hair-free face a mocking smirk. Peter glared, huffed, then crossed his arms and leaned back on his seat.

"And he doesn't have an accent anymore."

"What?" It was the first time Susan had spoken. Lucy and Edmund were nervous, they were used to Susan being very open to talk about Narnia, but they didn't think she could handle it when she was told of events she wasn't present at. They hoped, with a very heavy heart, that this would bring her fantasy barricade down, and that she would finally allow herself to cry at least a little.

"He must've picked up on the narnians' accent," Lucy answered, shrugging. Susan's face fell a little. The Caspian she knew, her Caspian, was clearly changing.

"And he's certainly happier." Edmund added, turning to give Lucy a meaningful look. They wordlessly dwelt on whether to mention a certain person or not. Lucy bit her lips, lowering her gaze for a moment. Susan would ask eventually, when she was ready to hear it.

"Of course he's happy. From what you've been saying, everything seems to be falling into place for him," Peter said, somewhat bitterly.

"I think they mean something else," Susan whispered, drawing all eyes to her. "Has he found a queen?"

Lucy and Edmund looked at each other again. Edmund was seriously considering lying.

"When we got there, Lucy asked the same question, and he said 'not one to compare with your sister'..." Beside him, Lucy nodded eagerly, thinking that cutting the story right there might be the best thing to do. Technically, they wouldn't be lying.

But Susan smiled knowingly and said: "Not one that can compare, but he has found one, hasn't he?"

Lucy sighed in defeat, Edmund made a little pout trying to stop himself, but eventually found it impossible not to speak. "We don't know for sure that he married her, but there was someone. Her name was Lilliandil," he explained, "and she was stun-ning!, I mean she was a star so she literally casted this blue glow, like an aura of beauty..." Lucy nudged Edmund on the ribs, seeing as he was getting a little too carried away.

Susan nodded, the smile didn't leave her face but there was moisture in her eyes.

"Seems like Caspian wasn't the only one fond of her..." Peter teased. Edmund blushed deeply, earning a few chuckles, even a small one from Susan.

"You would be fond of her too, had you seen her. She was beautiful." Edmund retorted matter-of-factly, wishing the blush away. He was determined not to let that be teasing material. So he liked her, big deal. Everyone liked her, she was a star.

"And she seemed like a very nice person," Lucy added halfheartedly, for Susan's sake. Lucy liked to believe Susan would find relief in knowing that Caspian had a nice person by his side. And as it was, Susan was delighted. Well, as delighted as 'the love of your life found someone else' gets. But she smiled none-the-less, trusting that, somewhere deep inside, he would always save a place for her.

There was nothing she could do now. She wasn't really in England, anyways, not wholly. She had willingly left her soul with him, and she had expected nothing in return, which was exactly what she was getting.

Time took its tool, and Caspian grew old. His forehead gathered creases through the years, his hair turned as white as his wife's, his irises became a smoky black colour and wrinkles surrounded his eyes, while the corners of his lips fell into a constant frown.

Lilliandil, to comfort him, aged too, but Caspian always new she was a shape-shift away from being young again. Still, he thanked her for not leaving him alone in such a frustrating process.

His health was affected too, and there were days when his bones hurt so much he just couldn't find it in himself to get up. He was suffering the consequences of a life filled with adventures but shadowed by sorrow.

The people were worried for their king, as were his family, his friends and his council. They were always trying to make him at ease, and they stressed excessively when he got any common illness. And while he appreciated their worry, he knew he was old and that he probably didn't have much time left, and this didn't faze him.

He had both enough contentment and enough despair for a lifetime, and he was as satisfied as he could; he was fairly at peace with his losses, he had done his best to rule a kingdom and had raised a heir to follow on his steps. He couldn't see what was left for him to do.

So one morning Caspian decided he just wouldn't get up that day. He entertained himself staring out the balcony at the village, or just laying down with his mind completely blank. That night, for the first time in many decades, he fell asleep just as the sun was setting. The next morning he decided to do the same. Rillian and Trumpkin (who was somehow still up and about even though he was older than Caspian) had come and gone during the day, trying to get him to take interest on some very boring royal matters. He insisted on not felling well and wanting to be left alone.

A month went on like this, and Caspian became weaker and weaker.

Everyone had a different opinion on just what was the king's illness, some said it was a flu gotten out of control, some said it was an evil spell casted over him by the White Witch, some said it was because he wasn't eating enough meat. Caspian would shake his head in amusement, and though it bothered him that he was hurting the people closest to him, he was overjoyed that he was finally able to let his body get the rest it needed.

Maids and physicians would visit him a lot, giving him endless foul-tasting potions and herbal beverages. Glenstorm, who wasn't getting any younger either, spent the nights up trying to decipher the king's fate from the constellations. Rillian spent the day by his side, complaining about how unready he was to become king. Everyone was trying to get him to feel better.

Caspian merely humoured them, having already made his choice. He was going to die some day, and he'd rather not wait a lot longer.

A year had gone by, after Edmund and Lucy's last adventure, and the four Pevensie 'children' were finally going to spend a summer together again. Their last summer as children, actually.

Peter was 19 and had been going to college for a year, Susan was 17 going on 18 and getting trained to become a nurse, Edmund had barely turned 16 and was finally able to join the army, his sisters and brother had begged him to wait until after the summer. And little Lucy was 15 and trying to get used to being a girly girl, with lots of help from Susan, that is.

Yes, the Pevensie children were not children anymore, but they could leave the world behind for a while and pretend they still were.

Professor Kirke had invited them back to his house in the country, and they couldn't be more eager to lay down in the grass or play rugby, maybe even guess words from the dictionary, anything. They chatted happily in the train, their stories somehow always going back to their time in Narnia. Secretly, Peter, Lucy and Edmund feared the effect that house would have on Susan.

Would she ask them to play hide and seek, so she could hide in the wardrobe? Would she gush about Caspian with the professor? He would certainly want to know everything about their other adventures, and they didn't put it past him to be interested in the epic love story Susan had made of the whole ordeal.

Maybe she would finally break down, when she entered the wardrobe to discover coats instead of a magical land. Maybe Professor Kirke could talk some sense into her. Maybe what she needed was to be reminded that it was all over.

Lilliandil had visited him very few times. She would sit by him in the bed and watch him in silence. He watched her back, trying to decipher what was going through her mind. He eventually decided to confess his plans to her.

"I don't have much longer left..."

"I figured." She said coldly. He was taken aback, for she had not once, in so many years of marriage, expressed any negative feelings. "You're not ill, you just don't want to live anymore," she explained. "You may fool them, but you seem to forget I can quite literally see what's in your heart."

Caspian remained silent, suddenly ashamed. "So you've known all this time?" She nodded solemnly, her expression still hard. "Why have you not told them the truth, then?"

"For the same reason you didn't have the courage to tell them. You don't want to be the king who hid himself from the world and went to die alone, not after the legend you have become. You want to be remembered as brave King Caspian the Tenth, the one who died from a strange illness no one ever could understand, you want the many legends that will arise about your mysterious death."

She stared him square in the eye, and he could not bring himself to deny what she was saying. If his life hadn't been the happiest, if he hadn't made the most of every moment, then the only thing he had left was his legacy, not only through his son, but through history. He was indeed a legend, a man every one looked up to; he couldn't stain that with a pathetic, self-imposed death.

"And if that's your wish, it shall be mine too." With that, she stood and made her way to the door.

"I'm sorry" he called after her. She stopped and turned to him, some hurt finally showing in her light eyes.

"Truth to be told, I'm not doing this for you," she whispered lowly, her voice wavered a little. Caspian had never seen her express this kind of emotions, he couldn't even recall ever seeing her frown. "I'm doing this for Rillian, do you have any idea what it would do to him if he knew your intentions?" Now she was showing him a subtle anger, and with just the fierce look in her eyes she was managing to sound threatening. "Did you think of him when you decided it was time to let yourself die?" she reproached.

And even in her turmoil, she was ever-so-graceful, ever-so-regal. Caspian was speechless, ashamed beyond apologies for his selfish ways, and amazed beyond words by her fierceness. After she understood that he wasn't going to reply, she took a calming breath and without another word left the room.

Caspian stared after her, for the first time realizing that maybe he did love that woman after all.

Edmund had been sleeping profoundly, being physically drained from the wonderful days they had had. For the first time in so long, they had been a family again, and for the first time in an even longer time, his dreams didn't take place in Narnia, but in the backyard of Professor Kirke's house.

It was slightly bittersweet, for it was their last night there. The next morning they would be driven to the abandoned 'station' –which by now was just a platform and a white wall- to wait for the train that would take them back to London.

He was awoken by the ghost of a strange sound, one he wasn't sure he had heard before.

Dwelling on whether to wake Peter up, he paced around the room, trying to make out the source of the faint wailing. It took him a while to put two and two together. Grabbing the candle in his nightstand, he tiptoed around the halls of house, having forgotten exactly in which room the wardrobe was. Anyway, he was guided by the sound.

As he turned on the knob, there was a gasp, and the sobbing was trying (and failing) to be controlled.

He found her sitting inside the open wardrobe, her knees up to her chest and one of the coats was wrapped around her frame.

"Sue..." he whispered. She looked at him pleadingly, though he wasn't sure what exactly she was pleading for. A way back to Narnia? That wasn't anywhere near being within his power. Some privacy? That seemed more like it, she wasn't one to take comfort on provoking pity. Or maybe she was pleading for a shoulder to cry on. That, he most certainly could provide.

Closing the door after himself, he placed the candle in the center of the room and approached her. She hid her tear-stained face in her legs and waited for him to put his arms around her, and when he did, the waterworks began all over again.

The day – or more acutely, the night – came in which Caspian asked his family and most loyal friend, Trumpkin, to gather in his chamber, for he thought he might not live see another day.

He had a rather strange request to make.

"Help me stand up, Rillian, I want to go to my old room."

Complaints arose about how dusty and unventilated that place was, but Caspian insisted. Then he was asked to wait while a few maids tidied up a little, and a little fire came back to his eyes as he ordered that nothing was touched, moved or cleaned.

Balancing most of his weight on Rillian, and with Trumpkin trailing behind loyally, Caspian made his tortuous way back to the only place worth seeing one last time.

Indeed, the air was thick with 30 years of gathered dust, as well as every surface of the room. Everyone coughed and batted their hands in front of themselves to clear the atmosphere. All but Caspian. He took in big lungfuls of the contaminated air, finding in there a scent no body else could ever recognize.

He was helped onto the bed, and he laid his head against the pillows with a sigh. Memories were instantly unlocked, and he felt his heart sting again. Now though, after years of feeling nothing, the pain was very much welcome.

"Father?" Rillian whispered. Caspian hadn't moved in a long time and they were fearing for the worst.

"I'm here" Caspian answered, a little smile making it's way to his chapped lips. Rillian nodded, going to seat by his side. None of them would ever understand how much he desired a moment to be alone with his memories, but Caspian couldn't find it in himself to send them away. This was hurting them a lot already, and not allowing them to be with him in his last hours would be just plain cruel.

"Where's your mother?" he asked after a while, true curiousity showing in his rough voice.

"In the tower," Rillian said gloomily.

"Send for her."

Rillian nodded and just when he was about to ask, Trumpkin nodded and made his way out wordlessly. Caspian chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

"Father, why was this room locked up?"

Now that was the question Caspian was fearing.

"This was my chamber when I was still a prince."

"Everyone knows that..." Rillian muttered, looking around for some clues as to what made this place so meaningful. "Is that..." he trailed off, pointing toward the sword that was lying carelessly on the floor, just beside the opposite side of the bed. He stood and went around to lift it, then he unsheathed it and gasped. "The High King's sword?"

Caspian sighed again, nodding. "Rhindon. High King Peter gave it to me, but I never felt entitled to claim it as mine." Rillian just stared down at the shiny weapon, marveling at its beauty. "I've been keeping it for him, for the day in which he returns. And now, it is yours to keep. You might do as you wish with it, after all, King Peter always wanted me to put it to good use."

Rillian was simply speechless. "I thought it was all a myth..." was all he was able to say. There was a solemn silence as Caspian waited for the weight of the responsibility to settle in, he still remembered how difficult it was to accept that he had to rule a kingdom. "Father, I don't want to be king just yet..."

"I'm sorry, Rillian, but if it serves as comfort, I was ten years younger than you when I had to step up to the throne." Caspian was trying to be lighthearted about the whole situation, he didn't see why people had to be sad he was going to die, they all knew it had to happen one day.

Rillian kept nodding, trying to prove himself strong in front of his father.

"What else have you kept in this room?"

Caspian hesitated, his eyes slipping to the drawer in the nightstand beside his bed.

"There is something most especial, and I think it might be time for you to have it."

Rillian couldn't believe his eyes, as they were presented with the ivory horn.

"Queen S-"

"Yes" Caspian hurried to interrupt. It was alright to reminisce, but he wasn't yet sure he could stand hearing her name again. "You may have it, but I must advert you that there is no use in blowing it. It will not bring the Monarchs of Old back, not for a second time. I guess I already used up that one call." He tried to chuckle but his chest was growing heavier and heavier by the minute.

Lilliandil entered then, looking serious and collected. Her glow chased away the darkness, and suddenly Caspian was able to see every inch of the room.

It was almost too much for his old, tired heart.

He started breathing rapidly, feeling a little faint. Trumpkin was just about to call for the doctor, but Caspian insisted that it was too late, that it was time to let nature take its course. Trumpkin had been quiet, feeling slightly out of place. He, being the closest to the king, had been the one less allowed to mention the Kings and Queens of Old, and Caspian felt somewhat guilty, for he knew the dwarf too missed a particular one of them.

"Dear Little Friend, I think it was, right?" Caspian spoke towards him, earning confused glances from his wife and son, but a bittersweet smile from his friend.

"DLF" he whispered, his green eyes gleaming like they hadn't in decades. Caspian smiled too.

"Trumpkin, I have a dying wish." At the mention of the word 'dying', Rillian bit his lips and straightened up, Lilliandil closed her eyes and gave a quiet sigh, and Trumpkin nodded solemnly, gesturing for the king to continue. "I want you to restore Cair Paravel" Caspian said, and Trumpkin tried to hide a gasp of surprise. "I want you to remind Narnia of their past, of their Golden Age. I didn't want to be another Telmarine King suppressing the tales and culture of the narnians but I ended up betraying my own convictions. Please, guide Rillian into doing what I was too much of a coward to do..."

Trumpkin found he had a lot of things he could say, he mainly wanted to say how unforgiving and cruel Caspian was being to himself, and that he had been the best king they had had in 1300 years. But the man was dying, and Trumpkin understood that he wasn't about to change his mind now. So Trumpkin nodded yet again, words failing him to express the gratitude he felt.

Laying back down, Caspian closed his eyes for a moment, allowing himself to imagine Cair Paravel standing by the ocean in all its majesty.

Silently, Trumpkin made his way out, figuring that the whole 'dying wish' issue was Caspian's way of saying goodbye to him. It was now time to leave him alone with his family.

By now, Rillian could barely hold in his tears.

"Do cry if that's what you need to do, son." Caspian whispered, slowly opening his eyes. "I've learned that keeping things to yourself is far more hurtful," and as he said this, his eyes moved to Lilliandil.

She was determined not to shed a single tear over him, and Caspian appreciated her for it. "Lilliandil... When I..."

"There's no need for that, dear. I can see what's in your heart, remember?" She finally smiled a little, and he figured she could see just how much he truly loved her, even if not in the traditional way a husband loves his wife. Caspian smiled back at her, feeling as though he was more connected to her than ever.

The door swinged open and the sound of paws in hardwood floor filled the space.

Caspian's smile grew even wider, and so did Lilliandil's, as Aslan bowed to them and made his way to Caspian's bedside.

I got a little carried away with this, but I really couldn't resist, I have a thing for describing sad situations.

Stay tuned, the plot is just beginning and will make itself pretty evident next chapter (if it isn't evident enough already xD)

Thank you for reading!