Title: Fears Unknown

Author: Jenn

Summary: Movie & Book based. Peter reflects about different things in his life. But during all of this, Edmund has a nightmare. Peter puts his own worries aside to comfort his brother. Set before SC.

Rating: PG

Timeline: A few months after the events of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and shortly before The Silver Chair.

Spoilers: For the 2005 movie and the 2008 movie and minor ones for VDT and SC.

Category: Angst. Non slash. No Incest.

Feedback: Always happy to hear what readers have to say.

Archive: Anywhere, but please ask me first. I would like to know where it's going and to make sure it will have my name on it.

Disclaimers: They're not mine, they're copyrighted to and belong to C.S. Lewis. The movie is based off of Lewis' work and copyrights also go to Walt Disney and Walden Media. Not making any money for this story. This fic is just for enjoyment.

Thoughts, dream, and/or quotes from the books are in italics.


London, 1942

The book was left untouched, open to at a random page. The sixteen-year-old at the study window had long ago lost interest in the adventure story. Peter Pevensie looked up at the moonless sky. There seemed to be a million stars to make up for the lack of a moon.

Sighing, Peter thought about everything that had happened the past few weeks. Mostly he thought about Edmund and Lucy's third trip to Narnia. He knew that Aslan had meant for his younger brother and sister to go back to Narnia. But it did hurt a bit anyway after hearing about the voyage they, along with Caspian, Reepicheep, and the crew of the Dawn Treader, had made. What Peter couldn't get over was that his young cousin, Eustace Scrubb had gone too. Or even yet the changes his cousin had made. Or at least the changes Edmund and Lucy had said he had made. But after the changes Edmund himself had gone through their first time to Narnia, was it really that hard to believe?

Yawning, Peter looked overat the clock over on the mantle. It was getting late, but he wasn't going to move from his spot. I'm not going to bed until- Hearing something, Peter forgot his thoughts and turned his gaze back out the window.

Looking toward the street, Peter saw Susan get out of a car and come up the front steps. The car drove off. Most likely it belonged to one of Susan's friends. Or rather, it belonged to one of her friends' older brothers.

He let out another weary breath. Susan hadn't spent much time with the family, mainly her siblings, since returning from America, even though they had only been home for two weeks. The last time Susan had done something with the family was on Edmund's thirteenth birthday, which had been a couple days ago.

Susan had not only changed recently, but over the past year. She would never say, but Peter wondered if leaving Narnia that second time was harder on her then it had been on him. As angry and temperamental as he had been before, Peter had finally accepted Aslan's words to them about not coming back. Though it was hard.

Could Susan's reason not only be of Aslan, but because of Caspian? Peter thought, and frowned at that. He did not know, nor did understand how a girl's mind worked, least of all his sister's.

He let his mind think of the week previous instead.

Peter had taken an exam the week before. It was an exam that Professor Kirke had tutored him for during the holidays. Peter wouldn't know how he did on his exam until after he and his siblings began school in another week. This was going to be his final year.

He saw Susan walk by the door. Peter saw with a glance that she was wiping off lipstick. If his parents would allow Susan to wear it, she wouldn't be wiping it off. But their parents thought she was still too young. But at nearly fifteen, Susan did not think so.

But she stopped and peeked her head in when she saw her older brother, then asked, "Where are Mum and Dad?"

So Su's going to act like I didn't see her with the makeup, Peter wondered to himself. But all he said was, "They went out to visit some friends for a few hours."

Susan came into the room. Her short dark brown hair didn't move because of the spray she had put in it. Why she had cut her hair in America, Peter didn't know. She was always was the beauty of the family. But now the shoulder length hair made her look older, and yet… With the haircut and makeup, it seemed to hinder her beauty not help it.

"So they had you watch Ed and Lu?" Susan asked, breaking into Peter's thoughts. She took a chair across from Peter, who had turned to his own chair.

Peter would hardly describe staying home with their brother and sister as 'watching them.' Edmund would find that appalling, because Peter knew that his younger brother would feel he was old enough to be on his own without his older siblings there. Lucy wouldn't care for it either, but she just wanted company. Mostly because her siblings where the only ones that she could talk about Narnia with.

"I wasn't really watching them, but if that is what you want to call it, fine."

"You must be glad that the exam is finally over."

Peter smiled. "I'm glad, but this new school year is going to be challenging."

"And then you are going off to the university."

Chuckling, Peter said, "I think that's getting ahead of ourselves. Though I would like to go to Oxford." Peter let out a breath, and said, "But I don't know."

"Don't know about what? Of course you can get into Oxford, or any other university." Susan said, but her eyes looked at him questioningly.

Peter had been thinking off and on about what he was going to do after he finished school, but he hadn't shared his thoughts with anyone. Now that Susan asked, he felt that maybe he could share some of his concerns with her.

"Oh, I don't doubt that, Su. It's just with the war and all that, I don't know if I might have to fight. I mean, if-" But Peter didn't get to finish what he was going to say.

"What are you talking about, Peter? Why would you want to join the war? Look at what happened to Dad."

Their father had been wounded in the war some months ago. He was fortunate that he didn't lose a limb, but he would never have full use of his right arm again. Not only that, his hearing wasn't as good as it used to be.

"There is no knowing how long the war is going to last. And it is not a matter of whether I want to go, I have to. In Narnia, I was younger than I am now-"

Once again Susan interrupted her older brother, her eyes full of worry. "Why? Because you thought there was something worth dying for in Narnia? But this isn't Narnia!" Susan lowered her voice, "Maybe it was nothing but a wonderful dream. And this place that we live in is the real world. Which has machine guns and gas that kill a man faster than a sword. But there is no honor in death, real or make believe."

Make believe? ...Nothing but a dream? What...?

Peter hadn't expected this passionate and sober, but terrified reaction from Susan. Even when they had been in Narnia in the Golden Age, she never was this fearful for his life. His brother and sisters would fight by his side in most of the battles they had foulght. Even when they had returned to Narnia they year before, to help Caspian reclaim his throne, Susan as well as Edmund had been by his side iin the battles they had fought. But then too, she did have a point, the weapons of their world were more deadly than in Narnia.

But it wasn't just that. Peter would never forget seeing all those soldiers, as he boarded the train going to the Professor's house two years ago. And how this past summer the soldiers had looked younger still.

But before he could reply, could explain his thoughts to Susan, there was a scream from upstairs.

Notes: Well, like, don't like? Sorry about the cliffhanger…but necessary.

Even though the fic is in third person, it's going to switch from Peter and Edmund's POV trough out the story.

Also, I don't have a dedication to this fic to anyone, but I'd like to say that Franienyc's fics and Sentimental Star's fics helped inspire this one.

Thanks for reading. Please Review. Jenn