The other alternative ending to 'Saying Goodbye'.
Ending 1: They leave.
Ending 2: They don't. (this is it.)
Aslan looked at her, and it seemed he read her heart. His gaze was filled with unaccountable sadness. "Would you, even though you may never return, Daughter of Eve? To never see your brother the High King again?"
She looked back at Caspian, and then around her at all the Animals, their eyes wide and surprised. And she drew breath, and it was filled with the scent that was uniquely Narnia. She could not bear to leave.
"I would, Aslan."
"And you, Caspian? Would you have her stay and bear your heirs and help rule your country?"
They shared a brief glance. "I would, Aslan."
He turned back to Susan. "Then remain. And bid your siblings goodbye."
The goodbye was hard, especially Peter. "May we meet in Aslan's Country," he said for her ears alone. And to Caspian, "Be good to her."
It seemed only an instant before they were gone, vanished from her sight, a long snake of humanity, and when she turned back from watching them go the only human eyes watching were the compassionate ones of Caspian.
She did not return to kiss him, or to his embrace. She no longer needed it so desperately, at this moment - he was part of home, not a treasured, last memory of a place she must now leave. There was no time limit anymore. By her actions she had betrothed herself to him, and she did not regret that. Because after all, a thread of excitement flashed through her every time she met his gaze.
She loved him, after all.
She must.
As time passed it became abundantly clear to both of them just why Susan had bestowed her love on Caspian where it had been withheld from so many others. It was not him, at all: it was Narnia. He was a tool, and she had used him.
And he only realised when it was too late.
They tried to keep up public appearances, but both suspected the Animals all knew, for far too many of their guards had walked in on them, not to find them busily engaged in the creation of an heir, but glaring tensely at one another while tightly contained words shot like bullets across the room.
Surely, if all was well, they would have welcomed an heir by now.
They had married barely a month after the return of her family to England, but by the time the first year was up they both knew the truth, and it made them sick. She had used him for an excuse to remain in Narnia; he had used her as a way to stop the inevitable matchmaking when the world heard that Caspian the Fugitive had become King Caspian the Tenth. And their twin betrayal made both disgusted with themselves and the other.
They were not alike.
Susan never regretted using him to stay in Narnia; she only wished she could have cast off that fetter and they could have gone their separate ways. Maybe they could have, if only the wedding had been delayed. If they had become acquainted with themselves before expecting to understand another.
Susan, wife of Caspian the King and Queen in her own right, stood at the edge of the ship and stared out into the waves. She sensed, more than heard, someone coming up behind her. And because they were there, in the open, his arms slid around her.
A chill ran through her.
Astonishingly, all might not be lost. He had gone, once before, on a six-months trip on the boat that was then his largest. It was scarcely able to fit three comfortably, and she had been glad to stay home. And yet when Caspian returned Susan felt a surge of gladness, and she realised she was beginning to forgive him. She still hated him, but in time that hatred could subside.
As she saw a head break the surface of the water, and felt Caspian pull sharply away from her, Susan wondered what her life would have been like, if she had heeded the unspoken warning in Aslan's eyes three years before.
Definitely not my best work. I still like the idea, I just couldn't execute it properly. :( Thoughts? Please give them to me. Harsh criticisms? I love them (well, I don't, but I love getting decent criticisms). (No flames without explanation, please, as to WHAT didn't work)
Please review!