A/N: Just a short chapter to keep the story moving. I added a flashback (italicized) to try and show the relationship between Peter and Aubrey. This particular one is just about how they met. I'll probably do one or more in each chapter. Okay so . . . enjoy! =)
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The morning sun rose brightly in the sky, shinning directly through the tent flap and into Aubrey's face. She scrunched her nose and flipped over to her other side, still asleep. She was having an amazing dream and refused to awake from it. Well, it was more of a memory . . .
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Aubrey was 6 years old when she first met the Pevensie's. She stood out front of their house, one hand tightly secured in her fathers, the other fussing with her new dress. She looked up at her father, her hazel eyes shinning.
"Daddy, why are we here?" She asked him sweetly. He smiled down at his little girl.
"I told you, Mr. Pevensie is a very good friend of mine that I haven't seen in years. He invited us over for dinner and I accepted."
"So why did I have to come?" She asked, looking up at him. He felt his heart melt whenever he looked into her eyes, the eyes of her mother.
"I thought you would have fun, sweetie." Aubrey rolled her eyes, her disbelief evident. She looked down at her shoes, as though she were inspecting them. Mr. Butler put his finger under his daughters chin and lifted it so that their eyes met.
"You know, they have a daughter your age. Maybe you two will be friends." Aubrey looked at him skeptically. Mr. Butler laughed, that was a look her mother had given him countless times. She looked more and more like her everyday. "Try it, for me?" He pleaded with her. Aubrey sighed and nodded her head. Mr. Butler reached up and rapped his hand on the hardwood door. A few minutes later, a figure appeared there. He was a tall man, about the same height as her father, maybe a little taller. He had light brown, almost golden hair and hazel eyes. Mr. Butler smiled warmly at the man, shaking his hand.
"John, it's good to see you." Mr. Butler said, smiling like the Cheshire cat.
"It's good to see you too." Mr. Pevensie looked down at Aubrey with a warm, fatherly smile. "And who do we have here?" He asked. Mr. Butler smiled proudly.
"This is my daughter, Aubrey." He said. Aubrey smiled sweetly and curtsied to the man. Mr. Pevensie's smile grew even bigger.
"Well isn't she just adorable." He remarked, looking at Mr. Butler. "She looks so much like Melinda." Mr. Butler nodded.
"Are you just going to leave them on the porch all night? Invite them in John." A voice said loudly from inside the house. A beautiful woman was standing just behind Mr. Pevensie. She had dark, chestnut colored hair and bright blue eyes. She smiled at the newcomers.
"Hello Terrence." She said briskly. She looked down at Aubrey. "My, she looks just like Melinda." Aubrey smiled at the woman. "Well, the children are in the family room. Why don't we go there?" She suggested while leading the way.
Aubrey looked worriedly up at her father. He smiled reassuringly back at her and took her hand, following Mr. and Mrs. Pevensie through the house. They arrived in a small and cozy room with a couch in the center and a radio underneath the window. In the farthest corner sat two young children, one, a little girl, had a tuft of golden blonde hair just like her fathers, the other, a little boy, had the dark chestnut hair of his mother. The two of them were playing quietly with a set of wooden blocks, building what looked like a castle. The little girl had a block in her mouth and was sucking on it profusely. In the center of the room, a little girl who looked to be about Aubrey's age was lying on her stomach on the floor, flipping through a book. This girl had dark brown curls that matched her mother and younger brother. Aubrey looked around and saw a boy either her age or a little older walking towards the two younger children, his hands full of blocks. He also had golden blond hair like his father and youngest sister. He dumped his pile in front of the dark haired boy and pulled the block out of his sisters' mouth. Mrs. Pevensie cleared her throat and all of the children looked up at her.
"Children, this is Mr. Butler and his daughter, Aubrey." They looked at the two newcomers. The two youngest, having lost interest right away, resumed their play. The other two children were staring at Aubrey. The three adults smiled, made up some excuse, and left the room. Aubrey stood awkwardly staring at the ground. She looked up shyly.
"I'm Aubrey." She said quietly, just above a whisper.
"We know that much already." The girl said. Aubrey felt stupid and looked down at her feet. Tears were welling in her eyes. She didn't want to come in the first place and now they were going to be mean to her. She felt someone standing next to her and looked up. She was met with bright blue eyes.
"Don't mind Susan." He told her. "She can be mean sometimes, she doesn't mean it." He smiled warmly at her. Aubrey instantly felt better. "My names Peter. That there," he said pointing to his younger siblings, "is Lucy and Edmund. Were building a castle, want to help?" He offered her his hand. Aubrey stared at it for a few minutes before placing her own in it. She smiled brightly at him.
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Aubrey awoke with a start. She looked around the tent and saw that both Lucy and Susan were missing. With the memory of her dream fresh in her mind, she quickly got dressed and headed outside to meet up with the others. When she reached the makeshift table, she was met with a pleasant surprise. Edmund was sitting there, next to Lucy, eating so quickly Aubrey thought for sure he would hurl. She smiled and rushed forward to the boy.
"Edmund!" She said breathlessly and happily. Edmund looked up at her and smiled. But his smile quickly fell. Confused, Aubrey walked up next to him. He stood up, but would not meet her eyes.
"I'm sorry." He whispered. Aubrey felt her heart swell with happiness. With all the years she spent with the Pevensie's, she grew to know them and love them like family. She felt that they were all her brothers and sisters. She pulled Edmund into a tight hug, one which he returned.
"I am so glad you're safe." She whispered in his ear. When she let go of him, she saw that he was smiling. His smile was contagious and before long she had one too. She settled herself down and started buttering some toast. She looked up and saw the rest around the table. All except Peter, who was standing a little ways off, leaning up against a rock. He had a pensive look on his face. She heard Lucy's tinkling laugh and looked up at the little girl. She was so happy to have her brother back.
"This food is so delicious." Aubrey commented out loud to no one in particular.
"Make sure you pack some up for the journey home." Peter said, looking at each of them in turn.
"We're leaving?" Susan asked. She seemed sad towards the idea. Narnia was beginning to grow on her.
"You four are." Peter said, refusing to look Aubrey in the eyes. He knew she would be furious. "I promised mum I would keep you safe, all of you." He said, looking deliberately at Aubrey. She stuck her tongue out at him.
"You can't do this without me!" Aubrey yelled at Peter, standing up to face him. He knew she hated to be left behind, so why would he suggest it now?
"But they need all of us." Lucy said, visibly on the verge of tears. Peter and Aubrey turned their attention to her.
"It's too dangerous Lu." Peter tried to reason. "You, Ed and Aubrey were almost killed."
"Almost being the key word." Aubrey said under her breath, causing a glare from Peter and a chuckle from Susan.
"But that's why we have to stay." Edmund spoke up for the first time. The other four looked at him curiously, silently encouraging him to continue. "I've seen and felt what the White Witch can do. And worse, I helped her do it. We have to help them." He was looking deliberately at Peter, begging him to see reason. Peter looked like he was struggling with the decision. Before he could reach one though, Susan, who had been quiet through the entire exchange, abruptly stood up and grabbed her bow and arrows. The others watched as she started to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Aubrey asked her.
"To practice." Susan stated simply and walked away toward the archery field. Lucy followed quickly behind her, pulling out her dagger along the way. Aubrey turned her attention to Peter and resumed glaring at him. He returned her stare just as heatedly. Edmund, sensing some tension, quietly excused himself and headed toward his tent to change into some appropriate clothes. With one last glare in her direction, Peter stood up and started to walk away.
"Oh no you don't!" Aubrey yelled to his retreating back. She ran to catch up with him. "What was that back there?" She asked him loudly. Peter spun around so they were face to face.
"What was what?" He asked, not meeting her eyes.
"That!" She yelled pointing to the spot behind the tents they had just come from. "You, trying to leave us behind." She placed her hands on her hips. Peter had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing. That was the last thing he needed, to make her angrier.
"I was just trying to protect you." He looked sheepishly at the ground. Aubrey felt instantly terrible at her sudden outburst. They stood there in an awkward silence for a while. Both had their eyes everywhere but at the others face.
"Sorry." Aubrey said quietly. "It's just, I would never let you face this on your own." Peter smiled and pulled her into a hug. Aubrey felt safe in his arms, when she was there, nothing mattered. There was no war, no one fighting for their lives. It was just her and her best friend. That was one thing she loved about Peter, no matter what, he always made her feel safe. Peter rested his chin on the top of her head.
"It's alright." He told her. "Besides, I never expected you to listen to me anyway." He could feel Aubrey smile. "You never have before." Aubrey gently pushed him in the chest. The two of them laughed.
"Well, since were staying, we might as well get some practice in." Aubrey ran back to her tent and grabbed the sword Father Christmas had given her. On her way back to meet Peter, she saw Edmund. He was walking back to the tents with a chestnut brown horse and a beautiful white unicorn following close behind him. Aubrey stood there, staring at the unicorn. After everything she has seen and experienced for the past couple of days, seeing something as simple as a unicorn should not have shocked her. Yet here she was, mouth hanging open just gazing at the creature. Edmund laughed at the look on her face.
"This is Phillip and Gwen. They've agreed to help us train on horseback." Edmund told her pointing to the horse and unicorn respectively. Aubrey just nodded silently.
"Um, yeah. Peter's waiting for us in that field over there." She pointed towards a small hill that rose to overlook the entire camp. They walked together silently. Just on the other side, Peter was waiting with the centaur, Oreius, to start their training.
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They worked hard training both on and off horseback. Aubrey liked the one-on-one combat better. She was able to gage what her enemy was going to do and as it turned out, she was not that bad with handling a sword. She and Peter were sparring as Edmund stood by and watched. Oreius had left long ago to talk strategy with the other Narnians. Aubrey could feel her muscles beginning to ache, Peter was drilling her hard, but she knew it was for the best.
"That's right." He told her. "Just like Oreius showed us." He brought his sword down in an arc-like swing. Aubrey dodged the attack and countered with her own aimed at his chest. "Remember to keep your sword point up." Peter told her. They tried the moves again, and this time Aubrey was able to disarm Peter. He smiled happily at her.
"Well done." She smiled back at him, but before she could respond, Mr. Beaver ran into the clearing. They looked at him curiously.
"The Witch . . . " he panted. "Aslan . . . camp . . . now." Aubrey, Peter and Edmund looked at each other, not quite understanding what he was trying to say.
"What?" Edmund asked him. Mr. Beaver sucked in a deep breath.
"The Witch has requested an audience with Aslan." The three of them exchanged worried looks. "She's on her way here now." He turned around and quickly ran down the hill, the others not far behind him. Aubrey was worried, if the Witch was coming here, she thought as she ran down the hill behind the boys and Mr. Beaver to the center of camp, she would bet her shield it wasn't to arrange a peace treaty. The White Witch was up to something.
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A/N: Don't forget to review and tell me what you think! =)