Hey, guys. Sorry I haven't written for a long time. I've been caught up in my Avengers high, since I've been a Marvel geek for as long as I can remember, and that movie was freaking amazing.
Also, if you liked the Avengers and you thought Loki was a cool villain or you're a Loki fangirl or whatever, I'm writing a Loki fanfiction called Change. If you want to read it, by all means, do. And of course leave a few reviews for me. ;)
For now, enjoy chapter 9!

LUCY'S POV

I woke up the next morning feeling so much better than I had yesterday. The storm had passed, the skies were a clear blue, and I was able to go up on deck without being tossed about in rough waves. Caspian was busy talking with Drinian and figuring out if they were still on course, so I didn't see him much.

I did see Tristan quite a bit. I still had mixed feelings about the blond. I knew how I felt about Caspian, of course, but Tristan was a mystery. He caught her gaze and smiled, waving quickly before going back to work. On his break, he headed over to her.

"Good morning, Lucy," he said, grinning and pushing his messy blond hair out of his cerulean eyes.

"Good morning," I answered cheerfully, handing him a glass of water. "I can see how busy you all are after yesterday's storm."

"Yeah, we are," he replied, taking a drink of water. "But I have a fifteen minute break, which means it's not as bad as it looks."

"You don't have breaks normally?"

"Not really," he answered. "After a bad storm, everyone tries to get everyone running smoothly again as quick as possible. I've seen ships in much worse state than this out on the sea after storms like the one we had yesterday." He paused to take another drink. "We're lucky we have such a fine captain."

"And a fine king to command him," I added. I expected Tristan to tense up, his eyes to go hard. But he simply shrugged in reply.

"Yeah, I guess."

"I know you don't like to talk about it," I began carefully, "but what exactly happened with Caspian that you hate him so much?" I was surprised when he pulled me aside to speak to me rather than walking away and avoiding the subject yet again. He's in a much better mood today, I thought.

"There was this girl…her name was Sorra. She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever met. She had the greatest sense of humor, and could always be counted on to break the tension between two people."

"You fell in love with her."

"Yes, I did. I fell madly in love with her…but I was too frightened to say so. By the time I did work up the nerve to tell her I loved her, she told me she met this really nice man that she fancied." He sighed and looked out over the railing at the water before continuing. "I found out it was King Caspian. I was hurt, yes, but I wanted her to be happy, so I never said anything.

"About a year ago, she came to me crying, saying that she'd tried confessing her love for the king, and he'd said he hadn't felt the same way. I thought she'd get over it, move on. I thought when she did move on that I could tell her how I felt about her." His voice trailed off.

"What happened?" I asked.

"She fell into this deep, dark depression. Her mother had hoped that Sorra would marry the king and give them status. After a long time, she stopped talking to everybody, even me. Because she didn't say anything, we had no idea what happened to her when she disappeared until her body was found in the woods outside her house."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah."

"You can't blame Caspian for that, Tristan. He was being honest with her. He didn't know how her family would treat her if he said no."

"Maybe you're right," Tristan offered. "And at first, it wasn't him I blamed. But when Sorra's mother fell ill because of her daughter's death, I felt I couldn't blame her."

"Does Caspian know why you hate him so much?"

"Yes. I made a point of telling him when I first met him. If there's one thing I can say, it's that he wasn't ignorant of who Sorra was when I mentioned her name."

"It really isn't his fault."

"Maybe not. But grudges are difficult to let go of." I took a deep breath and nodded. I knew the feeling. I was sure everyone in the world knew the feeling at one point in their lives.

"Why'd you want to know, anyway?" he asked. "I'm not asking to be rude, I'm just curious." She shrugged.

"I just wanted to understand," I answered. I looked out over the railing into the ocean that swayed beneath the ship, wondering what it would be like to jump from the deck and swim in that water. I was almost tempted to try it. I looked back at Tristan, who was studying me closely.

"What?" I asked. He shook his head and reached out, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

"Nothing," he answered. "I guess I just…want to understand you."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," he repeated.

"Tristan! We need you back over here," one of the other men shouted. Tristan paused, looking at me again and leaning in, pressing a kiss to my forehead briefly before walking away. I stood frozen with shock in my spot.

I turned around and stared out across the ocean. I can't possibly fancy them both, I thought. And yet I did. This was going to be a long trip.

Once again, sorry for taking so long in my update. Hope you enjoyed. I figured since last chapter was all Caspian/Lucy, I ought to balance it out with Tristan/Lucy. Also again, if you want to read my story "Change," please do. In the meantime, review for me!