Happy new year 2016 everybody! I hope you all celebrated well! :D

I was dreading the writing of this chapter, really, I'd been putting it off for a while as we're returning to dealing with seven or eight character all at once, and I've sort of lost my knack at it. But then again, poor Edmund and Fili have been separated from their families since chapter 11 or so (poor boys :p), I think it was about time to have them return to the main group, and what better time than the new year for that? :)

Ironically though, this was definitely one of the chapters I had the most fun writing, maybe taking a break from all the angst does that to you (oh but don't worry, it'll surely come back ^^).


As the sun seeped into the open flap of the tent he'd been offered, Peter was the first to wake up. Peering around pavilion that had been assigned to him, he could make out both Thorin and Kili's still slumbering forms, the younger snoring slightly as he listened a little more carefully. As he watched the younger dwarf, Peter could recall times when he'd done the same with Edmund, just watch him as he slept, looking over his baby brother in his rest. He missed those days, when he would be able to do anything with his younger sibling, he missed the times when they wouldn't fight and argue over petty things, when they were brothers like Kili and Fili had been.

He smiled slightly, as he could make out Kili's hand clutching the front of Thorn's shirt, displaying just how young he must really be. While he hadn't inquired about it to Thorin, Peter had seen that the elder dwarf cared for both the blonde and the brunet, and that while the two brothers were years older than he, Peter, was himself, Thorin still viewed them as small children sometimes, when he thought nobody would be looking. Peter had noticed a few wry smiles the once dwarf king had sent to Kili over their little adventure to get all the way here, whether it was in amusement at the younger's incomprehension of the notion "Christmas", relief when he'd found him after having nearly drowned himself in the river, or having managed to escape safely from Maugrim's jaws just yesterday, and Peter had a hard time imagining that that uncle had once been a king when he acted so affectionnally towards his youngest nephew. But Thorin had proven himself a skilled dwarf, and Peter doubted they'd have managed to get all the way here without both his and Kili's help, even if it was only encouraging words either had given him, it had really supported him in his moments of doubt.

The elder of the two shifted slightly, only indication Peter had that the other was awake before sleepy blue eyes peered up at him from the floor.

"Are you all right? The floor wasn't too uncomfortable?" Peter asked, still not sure whether Thorin's expression implied that the dwarf had slept so well that he wasn't fully awake yet or the opposite, that he'd need to go and hibernate for the day to make up for the lack of rest.

"Well, except for this little leech" he started, referring to Kili, who stubbornly refused to let his Uncle go "I don't think I've had such a good night's sleep in a long while." Thorin laughed lightly, ruffling his younger nephew's hair lovingly, earning him groans of protest as the smaller dwarf tried moving out of his hands' range. "Come on Kili, I thought you were to show Susan how to use her bow today." He nudged the other on the shoulder slightly, resulting in Kili finally leaning on his elbows, brown hair an entangled mess that would certainly need looking-after.

"Oww, but my arms are all stiff, how am I supposed to be able to shoot anything with a wobbly aim?" And Kili, who'd always been a good actor, feigned a mock expression of desperation to his uncle, earning him a laugh from both Thorin and Peter, before getting to his feet and following them outside into the fresh morning.

It didn't take Kili long before he found himself trapped within Lucy's small arms, as the girl and her sister rushed over, the younger one imprisoning the dwarf in a warm hug. All things considered, Kili didn't think it was a bad way to start the day off, and smirked at his uncle, well intent on displaying how he was the one Lucy favored. Thorin just shook his head in defeat, smiling fondly at his nephew's antiques, sometimes wondering what on earth went through his head. Lucy and the younger Durin stayed like that for a while, until one of the centaurs, Oreus Peter recognized, passed them by, stopping to observe the slightly awkward hug before looking at something behind him, catching Peter's attention.

As first the elder, and quickly, the four others glanced in the same direction, they all felt a smile break on their features, as they spotted Aslan, there on one of the high rocks, and with him-

"Edmund!" Lucy cried, already trying to run to her second brother, Peter's arms gently stopping her from barreling her way to the other, but sighing in relief as, indeed, he saw that both Edmund and Fili had managed to finally make it back to them. The young girl looked up, slightly taken aback at her brother's action, but seeing the wry smile he gave her, she knew Peter was more than happy that the other two were back.

The small group waited patiently for Aslan and the two runaways to make their way over, noticing how they looked more than a little exhausted, and Peter's heart clenched as he immediately spotted the split lip on one and the cut cheek of the other, regretting once again that he hadn't run after them, hadn't been able to just be there, prevent all this from happening. While the elder was glad their troubles were finally over, shoulders sagging slightly as he sighed in relief, Edmund and Fili seemed to definitely have had a harder time then they had.

Edmund was shaking. What if Peter and the others rejected him? What if, after all, he didn't want to see his little brother again? He stopped abruptly, earning a puzzled glance from both Aslan and Fili, but didn't feel like his feet could bring him any further.

"I can't', I can't go back." His whole talk in the Witches' dungeons came flooding back, except that this time, he couldn't feel any of the reassurance Fili had given him back then. He wanted to, he wanted Peter to open up to him, accept him back like nothing had happened, but then, that would be a lie, wouldn't it? Because Edmund, while having learnt that nothing could ever replace his siblings, not even rooms full of Turkish Delight, was afraid. He'd tried not to be, especially after having seen how Mister Tumnus, Fili and the fox had stood up to the Witch, but now that he was back, Peter not even ten feet away from him, Emdund didn't know if he could go back. The idea that his elder brother would reject him, and rightfully so, terrified him, and while the younger Pevensie desperately hoped that Peter wouldn't scold him for what he'd done, the fact remained that Edmund had done it, and Peter was entirely within his rights to point it out.

Fili couldn't know what it felt like, he hadn't been the one to literally betray his own family and nearly get them all killed, he couldn't understand what Edmund was going through, the black haired-boy knew as such already, and yet, the blonde had never resented Edmund for taking the course of actions that he had, if anything he'd been understanding, and Edmund had been incredibly grateful for that, but would his own siblings be able to do the same? Would they be able to look over his actions? Edmund wasn't so sure, especially when it came to Peter. While Edmund had been particularly resentful of his elder brother, he'd come to see how invaluable the blonde was to him now, and were Peter ever to offer to make peace between them, Edmund knew already that he would. But Peter had to offer first, and the tiny doubt Edmund had that his elder brother ever would made him incredibly uneasy.

"It'll be all right, Edmund." Fili had an idea of the dilemma Edmund was facing, and while he would have liked to reassure the other that Peter would accept him back instantly, he couldn't be absolutely certain. Despite having seen the tension between the two brothers, he hadn't talked much with the elder blonde, and he probably hadn't gotten to know him as much as Kili had, but surely Peter wouldn't turn away from his own brother now that he was back, right?

Edmund didn't dare look at the others, afraid he'd read both resentment and rejection upon their faces were he to ever lift his gaze, and he knew that if he saw it, he'd break. Instead, he clenched his hands by his side, trying to focus on anything but the dreaded meeting this reunion had become, and insisted on keeping his gaze locked on the grass, suddenly very interested in the nice shades of green he could see there.

"What's done is done, there is no need to speak to Edmund about what is past." And all of a sudden, the comfort the Great Lion's presence had given to him was gone, and Edmund felt very bare under the others' gazes. The silence didn't help at all, and the boy started having second thoughts on the initial good that was to come out of his rescue. Looking up slightly, he couldn't read any of the expressions, not one, as each face seemed blank to him, Peter's face being the most unreadable. The brother he ought to have known inside out seemed so far out of reach now.

"Hello." It was a little lame, especially considering everything they'd all been through, but it seemed to ease the atmosphere almost instantly, as Lucy literally jumped into her brother's arms, latching onto him like there was no tomorrow.

The others watched on, Edmund's first step in regaining their acceptance taken, and they all saw the young brother smile, reveling in his little sister's embrace like it was the most precious gem he'd ever had. This was definitely not the boy he'd seen at the beaver's home, Thorin thought. Whatever he'd been through, it seemed to have changed him, and for the better, seen as how he hugged his little sister back, and gave them all the first smile they'd seen in a long while.

At her sibling's obvious change, Susan was the next to step forward, wrapping him in one of her motherly hugs, just glad to have him back safe and sound. Kili shot his own brother a quick smile, but it was all the pair needed to know everything was fine, it was how they worked, after all. Thorin wasn't as light though, as, stepping forward, Fili found his own smaller frame engulfed in that of his Uncle, caught in an embrace he knew Thorin needed, if only for reassurance.

"Don't run off like that again, you gave us all a scare." He said (and just lightly understating the whole affair), looking both between Edmund and Fili, knowing Edmund's disappearance had also terrified his own siblings. But they were both –finally- back now, and besides the few cuts, neither of the two seemed to have suffered irreversible damage, which felt like a weight lifted off the Uncle's shoulders. Yes, they were finally back together again, and they would not be separating from each other anytime soon.

"Are you both all right?" Susan inquired, after she finally managed to disentangle her arms, looking over the two of them again, to be sure she wasn't missing any bruise they might have concealed.

"Well a little tired would be putting things mildly, but we're relatively okay." Fili didn't trust Edmund would be ready to say much on what they'd been through, so decided to spare the younger and reassure the others. Yes, they might have acquired a few scrapes and bruises, but they could definitely be dealt with later, once they'd gotten enough time to catch up with what had happened to the others.

"Maybe you two should go rest for a while?" Kili suggested earnestly, just now noticing the large bags under the returning duo's eyes, testifying that they had not had a good night's sleep ever since they'd left the beaver's home, but a rumbling stomach coming from his brother changed their minds rather quickly.

"You're lucky! We were about to have breakfast, do you want to join us?" Lucy asked, eagerly pointing to the table they'd set up a little earlier, knowing she'd have to find a few extra plates for their unexpected arrivals.

Edmund's light laugh made Peter smile, and the elder reveled in the fact that his younger sibling was back with them, not the selfish boy who'd left them in the beaver's home. Edmund was finally with them again, and if his little brother had managed to discard the greedy boy he once had been, then surely Peter could show him that he appreciated the gesture.

"Wait, am I not getting a hug?" He tried hesitantly, hoping that Edmund might, just might, accept it.

The others had all stopped dead in their tracks, all eyes now focusing on the younger Pevensie as he was left to decide what he wanted to do about the tentative peace offer his brother was giving him.

Edmund looked up at Peter's words, hardly daring to believe it, that Peter was actually asking him for a hug, something he hadn't shared with his sibling in what felt like years. But Peter wanted things to get better between them, and if an awkward hug was the first step they had to take, then Edmund would gladly make it, and before he could even answer yes, his arms found his brother's back, and Edmund buried his head in Peter's chest, thankful beyond recognition that things had turned out so well for him, that his family still accepted him, despite his wrongs.

"I'm sorry." He managed to mumble into the blue shirt, knowing he also had a part of responsibility in the torn relationship they'd had, and wanting to begin mending it as soon as he could, and now seemed like a good time to start.

"Me too." Peter hadn't expected Edmund to be so open about starting anew, but the fact that he had meant everything, it meant that they could be brothers again, and God knew how much Peter wanted that, and the blond's arms tightened around his younger sibling, well intent on showing him that he did care.

"Come on, let's get you something to eat." Peter winked, wrapping one arm around Edmund's shoulder, making his little brother finally feel safe, protected, and home where he belonged before steering him and the others to where their breakfast awaited them, picking up a plate for both the darker-haired boy and Fili as they went.

As he set himself down, Edmund felt his mouth water at the sight of such a feast, just for them, and he didn't need to be told twice before he literally dived into what was offered. Slice after slice, the boy relished in the taste of the warm bread and boiled eggs, the food a thousand times better than the stale crusts the Witch had spared for him and Fili during their imprisonment.

"Wow, Edmund's even putting Bombur to shame!" Kili laughed between two mouthfuls of sliced bacon, eyes widening at the quantities the young boy was devouring. Even on his hungry days, Kili didn't think he'd be able to stuff that much up, but if Edmund was hungry, then he ought to ease the call of the stomach, as their dwarven cook had called it.

"Bombur? Who's Bombur?" The dark-haired boy managed to ask between two mouthfuls, hand already reaching for the pot of jam, God it was wonderful to be able to eat nice food again!

"The fattest dwarf you'll ever meet, and even by dwarf standards, he's quite the sight." Thorin supplied, winking at the younger. Aye, Bombur was really a one-of-a-kind, nobody in Middle Earth could come close to ever beating the red-headed cook.

"You mean dwarves can actually get that big?" Susan inquired, leaning forward slightly.

"Oh yes, we're strong folk!" Fili stated proudly, as his brother made a mock-attempt to show off the lacking muscles of his right arm "but Bombur's an exception, he's really big, always had an extra pack of food or two when he could carry one."

"Oh, did you know a lot of dwarves? Ones like Bombur or even others?" Lucy eagerly asked, setting down her cup of hot chocolate and already wanting to know everything there was to know about dwarves.

"Well, we were a kind of unique bunch, on our way to Erebor," Kili remembered fondly, choosing to be the one who'd do a presentation of Thorin's old company, not that his Uncle minded, Thorin was too busy shaking his head in defeat, no doubt wondering what he was possibly going to do with his two silly nephews to go into a vivid description of the company. "Well, for starters there was Thorin, or the Majestic grumpy brooder as we liked to call him," and Thorin gave his nephew a slight whack on the back of his head, not being one of the titles he was too fond of being remembered for "and then obviously there were Fili and I-"

"Who weren't even capable of watching over a few ponies." Thorin added, deciding he'd pay Kili back his comment early, "Nearly got us eaten by trolls, those two imbeciles did."

"But the troll incident wasn't even our fault! How were we supposed to know that a bunch of those creatures would be stealing poor Myrtle and Minty?" Fili protested, as Lucy was already giggling, Edmund and Susan coming very close.

"And it's beside the point." Kili said, eager to get back to the Company and forget his Uncle's embarrassing stories about him and his brother, Mahal knew Thorin had a whole book of them! "Now where was I? Ah, yes, so there were me and Fili, and Dwalin and Balin, Uncle's close advisors, had a hard time with Uncle too, seen as how stubborn he is. Oh! And then there were Bifur and Bofur, Bombur's brothers, and Bofur has got to be the funniest dwarf I've ever met, unless you count Dwalin when he's drunk, but that doesn't happen very often. Then there were also the brothers Oin and Gloin, and then Ori, Dori and Nori, who had his hair shaped like a starfish, very elaborate if you ask me."

"How did he even manage to keep it like that?" Susan asked, trying to picture the middle Ri brother, but having a hard time conjuring up an accurate image, who went around wearing their hair in such a fashion anyway?

"We never knew, probably some kind of magic trick, well he was quite an elusive chap after all..." Kili replied off-handedly. After all, it had been something he'd wondered about with Bilbo, as they'd sometimes tried to uncover the secrets of Nori's hair, but unfortunately, the thief had always managed to evade their questions, and the two had been left quite at a loss, as the middle Ri brother's hair still remained a complete mystery.

"We were a bit of a rag-tag bunch, to be honest." Thorin tried phrasing it simply, knowing Kili could sometimes (well, often) get lost in the details "but they were good friends, despite their little mannerisms, I don't think we'd have gotten far without them, especially if I'd only had these two for company." He added, ruffling both of his nephews' hair and earning whines of protest from the brunet and the blonde, before stretching out an arm to reach for a third piece of toast.

"How long do you think you'll stay here?" Susan asked, a little suddenly. After all, the three of them hadn't anything to do with the prophecy, and now that they were reunited again, they were probably free to leave (not that Susan wanted them to leave yet, as she found herself quite enjoying their company), but they didn't have to help them if they didn't want to.

"Oh?" Kili asked, a little surprised at the question "Well we don't really know, and it's not like we have anybody waiting for us…" None of them had actually thought about what was to happen to them once their time in Narnia was up. Technically, he, his uncle and Fili had died, so the next logical place they would be going to would be Mahal's great halls, but then maybe they would be needed elsewhere? Kili sure hoped so, quite enjoying the second life he'd been granted up 'till now. "And what about you four?"

"Susan, Edmund and Lucy will have to go back."

None of them had noticed how Peter hadn't sat down with them, instead opting to lean against one of the rocks behind them, and the tone he'd taken immediately broke everyone's good time. The others gave him a quizzical look, none understanding what he was trying to imply, and Peter sighed, this wasn't going to be taken very well, but he didn't have a choice, Mother had made him swear to take care of his siblings, and he would uphold his promise, no matter what it took.

"What? Why?" Susan immediately countered, not seeing any problem with them staying here. The Narnians seemed to have taken a liking to them, and she was definitely enjoying her time here, so why leave? Especially now that they were all together again, it just didn't seem logical, but then Peter wasn't often one for logic either.

"I promised Mum I'd keep you three safe, but it doesn't mean I can't stay behind and help." Thorin already knew where this would end, and decided that this was not a conversation he or his nephews ought to take part in, so he silently nodded to the two younger ones to keep quiet. He understood Peter's reasoning, and while he knew that, were he in his place he would do exactly the same, Thorin saw that Peter's other siblings wouldn't be as quickly convinced, if anything the confused to hurt look Lucy was now wearing definitely proved that Peter was going to have a hard time talking his siblings into go home.

"But they need us, all four of us." Lucy tried reasoning with her brother. She knew deep down that Peter was only doing this because he didn't want to see any more of them hurt, but if she, Edmund and Susan left, then they would be leaving all of the Nanrians behind, all of their new friends, and without them, Peter and Lucy, Susan and Edmund, the White Witch would never truly be defeated, and the Narnians would never know real peace, which they deserved, especially after having suffered through a hundred-years of cold winter.

"It's much too dangerous. You and Thorin almost drowned, and Edmund and Fili were nearly killed! I can't let that happen again." No, as much as it hurt him to say no to his little sister, Peter couldn't endanger her more than she had been already, even if Lucy's intentions were good, and the mere thought of more harm befalling her and breaking his promise to Mother once again… No, Peter just couldn't go through with it.

"Which is why he have to stay." Edmund said gravely, stunning everyone into silence. For too long now, the black haired boy had felt like he hadn't managed to make up for what his actions had lead to, well no more, from now on, whatever he could do to help the Narnians and bring an end to the Witch, he would do it, regardless of whether Peter wanted him to or not. He couldn't leave knowing he'd left such a threat behind, especially when said threat would come to harm people and a country he'd come to care for deeply. "I've seen what the White Witch can do, and I've helped her do it, and we can't leave these people behind to suffer for it."

Any doubts Thorin had previously had regarding Edmund's loyalty and motivations were now gone, as the boy's words were enough to understand where he stood on the matter. If Edmund, a child of only eleven or so, was willing to fight her, then he'd lend him whatever help he could give, having come to respect the dark haired-youth as much as his brother.

The change in Edmund was heart-warming, and despite the gravity of their situation, Peter managed a small smile, knowing now that his brother had well and truly become somebody else entirely, that he'd finally gotten the person he'd been wishing for back. And if his little brother was so strongly willing to stand up against the wrongs of the White Witch, Peter doubted anything he'd say from now on would dissuade Edmund of ever standing out of the conflict. He felt proud then, proud that his little brother had finally matured into a young and responsible person, and if he wanted to fight for what he believed it, well Peter was maybe just a little more inclined to listen to Edmund's side of things too, it was time he started letting the others have a say in things that affected the whole family.

"Well I suppose that's it then." Susan said, standing up a little abruptly and leaving the others a slightly at a loss of what she intended to do.

"Where are you going?" Peter asked, a little confused at his sister's actions, as she came back to them, bow in hand.

"To get some practice." Susan smiled back, before Lucy sprang to her feat to accompany her elder sister, wanting to see her wield the gift Father Christmas had offered her and thinking this may just be an opportunity for her to try out her little dagger.

"Wait for me!" Kili cried out, before hastily running after them, and leaving the other four at the table a little dumbstruck. No way in hell was the younger Durin going to pass on the opportunity to handle a bow and arrow again!