"Professor, I'm worried about Peter," Susan admitted bluntly one morning shortly after breakfast.
"And why exactly are you worried about him?"
She hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure. I have a feeling that he's hiding something. I suspected it when we were in Narnia too. When we returned, I thought that perhaps everything would go back to normal. It seems as if things have only gotten worse since Sophie came, though. She was likely to be the only one who he might open up to, but he's always avoiding her."
Professor Kirke stayed silent for a few moments as he debated how to handle this delicate situation. "I think," he began, "that we should let time work this out. I know it may seem like a lot of time has already passed, but this really is something he must figure out on his own."
"Thank you, Professor," Susan replied. She left the Professor's study, taking her time in returning to the room that she shared with Lucy to think. There had to be something that they could do before Peter became even more of a wreck.
"Well?" Lucy asked as soon as her sister entered their room. The older girl slumped into the chair by the window and stared outside. "Well?" she asked again. "What did he say, Su?"
"He said to let time work things out," was the bitter reply. She sighed in frustration. "I can't just stand by and let two people I love hurt each other. I have to do something about it!"
"Have Peter and Edmund had a row again?" asked Sophie, coming in with fresh blankets in her arms.
"Er, yes," Susan lied. It wasn't a very big lie, though. Peter and Edmund were always fighting.
"What a shame," the other girl replied. She stuck the linen in the closet. "It's too bad they went back to all that bickering after Ed seemed to grow up." A shadow flitted across her eyes. "I'll be in my room if you need me."
Lucy and Susan stared after her. Such a great change had come over Sophie and it wasn't at all for the better.
"Catch!" Lucy shrieked. She chucked the wicker ball to Sophie, but Peter darted in front of her and snatched it out of the air.
"Hey! That wasn't fair!" Sophie complained breathlessly, brushing her hair out of her face. A few strands had escaped her braid and the sweat on her forehead was making them stick. Susan, Ed, and Lucy laughed, equally breathless from what had started as a simple game of catch.
"It was so," Peter replied, tossing the ball up. Sophie made a move for it then, but he got it first. She stuck her tongue out at him and gave him a mighty shove. As he fell he grabbed her hand, bringing her down with him. With a soft gasp she landed on top of him. Taking advantage of their disorienting position, she tried to grab the ball from him again.
"Peter! Give us the ball back!" she cried as he held it away from her.
"You could at least say please, Lady Sophie," he teased.
She rolled her eyes. "Please may I have the ball back, High King Peter the Magnificent, sir?" she asked, batting her eyelashes and leaning against him. She could see color working its way onto his cheeks.
"Well since you asked so politely…no, I don't think so," he said, rolling her off of him and getting up quickly. "Ed! Catch!"
"Are you alright, Sophie?" Lucy asked. The older girl lay on her back laughing.
"I think she's fine, Lu," Susan chuckled.
Susan watched Sophie tell Lucy a bedtime story. The two were buried under Lucy and Sophie's blankets like they used to do in Narnia. She smiled, wishing for the peace of their first years in Narnia. Or at least, the peace between the five of them. They had spent those years squashing out the remains of the White Witch's army.
"Those were the days," she murmured softly.
"What were the days?" Edmund asked curiously from behind her.
"When we were in Narnia and things were good," Susan explained. She leaned her head against the doorframe, smiling wistfully.
"Things are still good," said Peter, joining his siblings.
Susan scoffed. "Well they could be better," she said pointedly.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Su," he replied. "Things are still good." He went on to his room, Susan's sad eyes on his back.
"What's going on around here?" muttered Ed. He shook his head before giving his sister a quick hug. "G'night, Su." Then he headed off after Peter.
"Good night, Ed." Susan looked back into her room when she heard a trickle of laughter escape from Lucy's bed. "Come now, you two. It's time for bed already."
"But Susan," Lucy whined, her head emerging from the lump of linen.
"I'm almost done," Sophie added, not emerging.
"You need to be off to your own room, Miss Andrews," Susan reprimanded teasingly.
"But Governess, I've already brought my blankets over." Sophie's head appeared with a grin that said she wasn't going anywhere any time soon.
"Oh, honestly, Sophie," Susan sighed, climbing into her bed.
"What are you two doing?" Susan hissed. It was two o'clock in the morning and laughter was sounding from Sophie's bedchambers.
"Sorry, Su," Lucy giggled. Sophie snorted loudly.
"What is going on over here?" Peter asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Sorry, Peter," Sophie apologized, appearing at the door. "Go back to sleep."
"Why are there still lights on in your room, Sophie?" he asked.
"I couldn't sleep," Lucy answered. "Why don't you two come in?"
Peter shrugged and followed Sophie inside. Susan grumbled and went back to her own rooms, leaving the three to their own devices. Lucy sat before the fire in a nest of blankets. A similar one, previously occupied by Sophie, was constructed next to her. Sophie came in with more blankets and made a nest for Peter.
"I hope his High Kingliness finds his nest to his liking," she laughed. She had a very beautiful laugh in Peter's mind, even at two o'clock in the morning.
"I think it's perfect, Lady Sophie," he replied, settling into his.
"Now what is it that has you two fair maidens giggling like mad this early in the morning?" he asked, quite seriously. Or so he tried to appear.
Lucy looked at Sophie, who bit her lip. The younger girl began giggling, which set Sophie off. Soon the latter was snorting, which caused Peter to start laughing as well. Eventually Susan came back again. This time, she didn't even bother knocking, but let herself in.
"Honestly, you three!" she cried, throwing her hands up in the air. "Is this how royalty behaves?"
"Well," Sophie managed to say through her laughter. "Well, technically I'm not royalty."
The look on the other girl's face set the three of them off again.
Peter woke up in the middle of the night, quite suddenly. He shook his head and peered groggily at the clock. It was one thirty in the morning. As his head cleared he heard the distinct laughs of his sisters and Sophie. Slipping out of bed, he went down the hall to investigate.
"I don't even remember what got us laughing in the first place!" he heard Lucy exclaim.
"I do!" Sophie whispered excitedly. "I was telling you a story and then…"
He opened the door in time to see her make the wildest face he had ever seen. The three girls were sent into another bout of laughter. "I seem to recall a night very similar to this," he remarked when they had quieted.
"Oh, did we wake you, Peter?" Lucy asked.
"Not really. I couldn't sleep anyway," he answered. He was as surprised as they were that he was so level headed after just waking up. He sat on Lucy's bed, which was occupied by Sophie. Lucy was under the covers with Susan.
"I'm sorry anyway," Sophie apologized, taking the blame. She smoothed the blankets out around her to busy her hands.
"We really ought to quite down. Mrs. MacReady might come bite our heads off," Susan said sullenly. Lucy wiggled farther under her sister's bedcovers.
"It wouldn't hurt to stay up a little later," said Peter, shrugging his shoulders.
"Should I go wake Ed?" Lucy asked, hoping that they would say no. She was already very comfortable as she was.
"I wouldn't," replied Sophie. She shuddered at the thought."He's a bear when he's woken up."
"You shouldn't be one to complain. You never wake him up," Susan stated.
"Well I used to," the other girl defended. "I still have the scar on my arm from when he threw things at me for waking him up."
"Sophie, that's because you poured a bucket of water on him!" Susan exclaimed. They continued to reminisce until they all nodded off and the candle flickered out.