A/N: Wow, you guys like the story. That's awesome! So my muse (which has a fairly evil side) has decided to continue this. It is finished on my hard drive, now, it's just posting and tightening it up.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Narnia books except a Narnia omnibus and the DVDs. NArnia is the property of C.S. Lewis, who I love and adore. Anyway, without further ado...

Enjoy the tale!

The Wants We Can't Deny

He knows the choice he WANTS her to make.

Caspian stands by the mast, looking at Lucy as she calms the tears of one of the Mist's youngest "sacrifices". He, for once, doesn't really care if anyone sees him staring at the young Queen of Narnia. This time.

He has always cared for Lucy, of course, ever since he first met her. They had been friends, when his encounters with everyone else (well, Peter and Susan) had been wary (Peter) and hopeful (Susan). She love the other Pevensies, but his Lucy didn't care WHAT people or her siblings thought about her friends (Well she CARED. It just didn't stand in her way). She gave her friendship freely, and she was ever loyal to those she cared for.

(It does his heart good to see that part of her hasn't changed. Even though she has grown up, her kind and stubborn nature was still there.)

He knows she cares for him, just as he knows the sun will rise in the morning. It's that much a part of his knowledge. He just doesn't know if she has figured out that she loves him.

But the important thing… was she aware that he loves her.

Whether SHE knows it or not, she's an open book to him.

Well, most of the time.

She has not confided in him of this matter of their hearts, of course. (He was fairly certain he'd be doing something about it if she had.)

Caspian knows the choice she must make…stay in Narnia or go back to her "England." He's not stupid. She let it slip during their "talk" the night before. If there was a decision that's "not easy" to be made, it was not what outfit to wear the following day. Lucy was not vain or bubble-headed. If this choice was causing her to lose sleep for a WEEK, it was a pretty big decision, and it HAD to be stay or go.

The fact that Aslan has obviously offered this choice is of such magnitude it has caused her great loss of sleep is what bothers him. That implies she has to CONSIDER the choice. And that hurts a little, that she didn't feel she could tell him. Of course, she hasn't told Edmund or Eustace either, or even Reepicheep. So he is trying VERY hard not to take it personally.

After all, as stated before, he's not stupid.

Caspian jolts back to reality for a moment, looking around. She sits there, in borrowed clothing, looking like the Queen she is. He relaxes. She's near him and for Caspian, at least right now, that's all that matters.

He knows he's got it bad, when just the presence of Lucy can cause him such contentment.

But he really doesn't care to examine that too closely. The contentment is well worth the knowledge that she has him wrapped tightly around those slender fingers.

Caspian knows she's young, 16 compared to his 21. But he can't forget that she was one the Queens of old, and approximately his age when she returned to England the first time. She has fought in wars before she left and the two times she came back were no picnic either. And he could wait for her to grow up further... to decide if he was whom she wanted to be with forever… if she would just stay.

He is unable to figure out WHEN he first realized he loved her, or when he first loved her. It was probably between the time he told her he hadn't been able to find a queen like Susan (and he hadn't. Lucy was her own Queen, and probably the better for it,) and right now. And he doesn't really WANT to figure it out either. All he knows is, seeing her in danger in the Lone Islands, and in such turmoil now, turns his heart over in his chest…and clarified his heart's confusion.

He would give his kingdom to stop her hurt if he could. He'd give considerably more if she'd stay in Narnia.

With him.

He knows his Lucy. But she is trying to make the decision with only most of the facts. Trying to weigh who would hurt less if she is gone, and probably trying to take herself out of the equation. She would always give everything she had to those she loves, leaving nothing for herself.

He has to make her see that she HAS to consider herself first to some extent, because she can only help others when she is healthy and happy.

And he is terribly afraid that he'd come out the loser, because though HE knows he loves her, SHE does not. She can't possibly be sure and not be in his arms right now.

Of course his admiration at the star's beauty hadn't helped his case any. But, at the time, he hadn't known of his feelings. And he is afraid THAT issue will cause him harm with the woman he loves.

And he knows he has to figure out a way to tell her, because though Lucy is remarkably clearheaded and clear-sighted, she is almost deliberately blind on this matter of the heart.

Caspian knows why. If she doesn't know he loves her, she can make the decision to go or stay based on other factors, like how badly her brothers, sister and parents would hurt if she was no longer there.

Caspian leans against the mast, smiling upon hearing Lucy's giggles as she teases the child. The giggle lightens his mind. He needs that to think, to plan battle strategy.

He is known as a fair King, prides himself on such a description.

But right now, he's not a regent. He's a man in love.

And he is no position or mood to play fair.

He can wait as long as she likes to tell her what they both want to say… if she stays.

Because he knows he'll lose so much more than the love they (quietly, for now) share if she goes.

He'll lose his best friend. And, he is fairly sure, most of the ability to love another person.

If he thought she'd be happier in her world, he'd tell her to go. No matter how it would shred HIS heart. But somehow he doesn't think she will be. His heart (and mind to some extent) are telling him that this choice will change EVERYTHING. Never has Aslan offered the decision to stay with anyone. For him to offer it to Caspian's little Queen, the youngest and most loved of the Pevensies, means something vitally important.

No, Caspian the Tenth, King of Narnia, is in no position to let Lucy walk out of his life without a fight.

He knows the decision will ultimately be based on love… how much she loves her family.

How much she loves him.

Even how much she loves Aslan.

He intends to give her something to REALLY think about.

He hates to weigh his Lucy down with another factor in this choice of hers. But he has to try everything he can to get her to stay by his side.

Where she belongs.

End The Wants we Can't Deny