Author's Note: Here it is... (drumroll) the kiss! Oh, and a bit more story too. =) I hadn't planned on this being so involved, but there you are. Please review!

Narnia and the characters (etc.) are still not mine (nor will they ever be, sigh), but I've kept them busy all the same.


~Chapter 9~

Edmund

I AM EUSTACE

Edmund, who had until that instant thought (mistakenly) that he could not be in a greater state of shock than he already was, gaped in horror at the fiery words burning in the volcanic landscape below him.

"You have got to be joking!" he twisted around in the dragon's clutch to look at the scaly head above him. "Eustace!"

His cousin (as it was) made a sort of nodding motion with his great, horrible head and somehow managed to look apologetic.

"Well that's just ace," Edmund grumbled, but decided that, considering how his morning had gone, it wouldn't be fair to keep going on about it.

Eustace the dragon glided back down to the shore where Caspian, Lucy, and all the men that could fit into the two boats were frantically scanning the skies. Lucy had an arrow nocked in Susan's bow and most of the others were armed with crossbows or swords. Rhince and two other men had cleverly rigged a sort of catapult device and loaded it with a large boulder. Drinian was first to spot Eustace swooping towards them and raised the alarm. Edmund's mind, which was still wrapping itself around the fact that his cousin was a dragon, just barely registered the fact that there was a good deal of weaponry aimed at them.

"Stop!" he waved his arms like a drowning man, "STOP! Caspian! Lucy! It's okay! It's Eustace! IT'S EUSTACE!"

Initially, there was some puzzlement on the ground. Several of the men, Caspian included, thought that Edmund was screaming 'It's useless!' Apart from this statement being a very un-Edmundish thing to say, it did not quite seem to fit. It was Reepicheep with his keen ears that first realized what Edmund was shouting and tugged on Caspian's sleeve, echoing Edmund's cry. Every single pair of eyes lifted upwards in astonishment and more than a few jaws dropped. Eustace landed rather bumpily on the ground and Edmund was deposited arse-over-elbow onto the sand where he sprang to his feet and rounded on the dragon.

"Never. Do. That. Again."

Eustace bobbed his head in assent and there was a full minute and a half of dead silence before several things happened all at once. Lucy rushed forward to lay her hand on her cousin's scaly, shimmering arm and Reepicheep hopped forward with her.

"What in tarnation…" Drinian growled, and there was an accompanying chorus of "By the Lion!"s and "Sweet Lady of the Sea!"s and even one or two "Blimey!"s (which the men had picked up from Edmund) from the crew.

"Oh, Eustace!" Lucy sighed in a tone that reminded Edmund very strongly of Susan.

Under cover of all this commotion, Caspian grasped Edmund's arm in a relieved fashion and his eyes twinkled warmly at his friend. Edmund desired nothing more than to be in Caspian's arms again, but the situation at hand demanded attention and there was no opportunity for any private moments. The best he could do was return the gaze and subtly brush his hand over the Telmarine's back as he moved to join his sister and cousin.


"I've never seen these constellations before," Edmund observed, surveying the unfamiliar night sky. He had searched for formations that he remembered from old Narnia, during the Golden Age: the Hammer or the Leopard, but none of the stars above him drew any recognition.

Despite everything that had transpired, he felt a great sense of contentment as he lay on his back at Caspian's side. A steadily burning fire, courtesy of one Eustace Scrubbs, crackled comfortingly at his feet. Rhince dozed a few yards to their right and Lucy lay on a blanket on the other side of the fire, talking quietly with Gael (who had threatened to swim ashore if they would not permit her on the boats) Reepicheep was curled into a ball close in to the blaze and further back from him Eustace had sprawled his immense form along the sand.

"Me neither. We're a long way from home," Caspian replied softly from his perch beside Edmund, "When I was a boy I used to imagine sailing to the End of the World… finding my father there."

Edmund tilted his head to view Caspian, half his face bathed in silvery moonlight and the other half glowing in the light of the fire. "Maybe you will."

Caspian lowered his gaze from the heavens to meet Edmund's. As if by predetermined action, Edmund raised his hand at the same time that Caspian lowered his own to meet it. Hand in hand, they returned to contemplating the stars in quiet bliss, listening as the conversations of their companions came and went. Reepicheep, having finished telling a fantastic tale of dragons to a gloomy Eustace, curled once more into a furry knot and his whistling snores soon joined the lower, softer sounds of slumber that issued from Rhince and the girls. Not long after, Eustace's grunting snores (not unlike, Edmund thought, the sounds that he made while sleeping in human form) echoed out over the makeshift camp and onto the water.

Edmund attempted to hold onto his contented, peaceful state of mind, but a niggling thought in the back of his mind began to creep into his consciousness. Despite their earlier reconciliation, Edmund could not entirely forget the hurt look on Caspian's face from that morning. The image hovered in front of him and stained the inside of his eyelids. Almost as though he sensed that he was being thought of, the older boy glanced down at Edmund.

"Are you sleeping?" Caspian murmured, his larger hand squeezing Edmund's gently.

"No," Edmund whispered, "I don't feel as if I can just yet."

"Let's walk," Caspian rose and pulled Edmund lightly to his feet. "The moon is bright enough that we can wander for a little."

For the first hundred yards or so, they walked in silence, still joined at the hand and shoulders ghosting against each other. The volcanic island stayed warm even in the late hours and the salty breeze from the sea felt cool and refreshing. The boys' boots crunched along at a relaxed, unhurried pace and presently they stopped to look out at the moon hanging brilliantly above the shadow of the Dawn Treader.

"Caspian," Edmund began, still half-whispering even though they were well away from the others, "I feel like I should explain myself. What I said down there… you know I didn't mean any of it. Not truly, but…" He hesitated, but now that he'd started, Edmund felt a pressing need to keep going – to make Caspian understand. He proceeded haltingly. "I have felt, I dunno… a bitterness towards you. Before, you know. I can't help it – I don't mean to. It's not just the enchantment - there's a part of me that's… worse. Darker. Ever since the first time I came to Narnia, I've realized it. I'm not a good person, Caspian."

He chanced a look up at Caspian, who had listened to all of this in silence. The taller boy stood with his back to the moon so that his face was in shadow and Edmund could not read the expression on his face, but he imagined it was disgusted, or even worse, hurt. Edmund hung his head in shame and made to turn back towards the camp. But then, miraculously, the warm hand that had held his came to the side of his face and Caspian's broad thumb swept over his cheek.

"Did I not say that we should forget about that?" he asked sadly, continuing to stroke the younger man's milky skin. "There are dark pieces in everyone, Ed; the soul is not a thing of black and white. Good men strive to not let the darker parts overcome the lighter ones, and you, King Edmund… you are a lighter shade of grey than the majority. I could not care for you as I do if you were an evil man."

Edmund clung to Caspian's words, yearning to believe them, but not quite able to. "If you care for me, Caspian, then you do so wrongly." He wrenched himself away from the older boy and tried once more to walk away, but Caspian caught him by both shoulders and held him there.

"No, Edmund. I'm not wrong; you are not a bad person, not by far. And I do care for you, more than I should, perhaps." Caspian's eyes pierced Edmund to the core and he could not have looked away now even if he had wanted to. "It's… different, Ed. I don't quite know what it is that I feel for you, but I know that it's real and it's powerful. I would be a lesser man, a lesser King, if I'd never met you. By Aslan, I wouldn't be King at all. Edmund, the reason I think you were not High King is that the high rulers need someone to support them – someone to steer them right when they go astray, someone to be their strength when they are weak and their eyes when they are blind. That's what you are to me. I need you, Ed."

Before Edmund could reply, Caspian pulled him in and their lips met in a powerful yet heartbreakingly sweet kiss. Edmund took one arm around Caspian's muscular back and his free hand landed gently at the nape of the older King's neck. Caspian's strong hands sent electric chills running down every nerve pathway in his body as they caressed his face. Edmund breathed in and drowned in the smell of Caspian. For the rest of his life, Edmund would remember that scent and it would always remind him of Caspian and happiness and everything that he loved about Narnia.


Caspian

He had not intended to do it, but as he brought his mouth down to Edmund's, Caspian could not imagine anything ever feeling more right. The tingling sensation that spread from his lips to the rest of his body was more powerful than any surge of adrenaline that he had ever experienced, the taste of Edmund was sweeter than the juice of any fruit he had ever eaten, and the heady rush that overcame him was more potent than the effect of any wine he had ever drunk.

Caspian felt as if his heart would burst from his chest as Edmund's arms wrapped around him and he could think of nothing but that warm presence entwined with his. Presently, he leaned back gently and looked down at Edmund, still cradling the younger man's face in his hands.

"Do you believe me now?" he searched the face that had been twisted in torment moments earlier. Edmund's eyes reflected the moonlight and he now wore an expression of wonderment.

"Caspian…" he did not answer, but Caspian did not need him to.

Their lips met once more and lingered softly. Caspian rested his forehead against Edmund's and they stood like that, with breaths mingling, for an indeterminable amount of time. The waves lapped gently at the rocky shore and the pair felt almost as if they were suspended in a dream. The moon sank low over the sea and the sky began to lighten to a softer grey. With a great amount of effort, the two peeled apart and slowly walked back towards the camp with their arms encircling one another.

Edmund lay with his back nestled into Caspian, and the older boy settled his chin on the shoulder in front of him. Eventually, the other inhabitants of the camp began to rustle with pre-waking noises and the couple shared a tender kiss before relocating to separate spots. Caspian immediately missed the warmth of the smaller body snuggled against his, but he closed his eyes and lay back on his hands with a peaceful sigh.