Wow! So many reviews, I'm touched. Thank you to all of you.


Both teenagers jumped out of their chairs and headed for the door. Peter bolted up the stairs, he said over his shoulder to Susan, who was following behind him, "Check on Lucy."

But he needn't have said this. Lucy, in her nightgown, was standing in her bedroom doorway, one that she shared with Susan. Looking a bit sleepy, for being woken up, she was now very wide wake.

"Lucy," Peter started to say, but another scream came from his room that he shared with Edmund. This time it was the word, "No!"

Quickly going into the bedroom, Peter tried to get over to his younger brother. He was thankful when Susan or Lucy had a mind to turn the light on.

Edmund was thrashing around in his bed. His covers were tangled around his body, acting like binds, trapping him. Edmund was mumbling about something.

Reaching his brother's bed, Peter could hear what Edmund was saying. He was sure he heard something like "Can't be."

Not wanting Edmund to be trapped in his nightmare any longer, Peter shook his shoulder and said, "Ed, wake up!"

Edmund's eyes flew open at his brother's touch and voice. He shot up in his bed, sitting upright. If Peter hadn't drawn back, they would have banged heads.

The room was completely quiet save for Edmund's gasps of breath. They were slowing down, his breathing becoming more even. He eyed the room for a foe only he could see, or remember. But the only ones there were his brother and two sisters watching him.

"Uh, I'm sorry if I woke everyone up," Edmund said. It was the first thing that came to his mind.

"Don't be," Peter said, but not unkindly. "Su and I were still awake."

"Oh."

Sitting on the side of his bed, Peter looked his younger brother in the eye. "Did you have a nightmare?"

It wasn't so much whether he had had one, it was if he could remember any of it.

Edmund nodded and then said, "I can't remember the dream, yet it seems to be larking in the back of my mind out of reach."

Susan took a seat on Peter's bed, but Lucy made a place for herself at the foot of Edmund's bed. Studying her younger brother, Susan said, "You haven't had a nightmare in a long time, Ed."

That was true, Edmund, and even the others had had nightmares after their first time in Narnia. Even after their second trip, there were a few dreams, but Edmund seemed to have the most night demons haunt his sleep.

"That's not true." Lucy stated quietly.

"What do you mean, Lu?" After Peter asked this, he looked quickly at Susan and Edmund. No one was more surprised by this fact than his younger brother. But before Lucy could answer, there was a noise from downstairs.

The four siblings became silent. They very faintly heard the front door close.

"Mum and Dad," Susan stated the obvious. "I'll go down and talk to them." She got up and walked out of the room before any of them had time to say anything.


Edmund's forehead furrowed some, but his dark bangs hid most of it. Didn't Susan care about what they talked about anymore?

Whether it was because, in a sense, she was a woman in a girl's body or it was just in her childlike nature, but at only ten, Lucy could understand things beyond her years. She asked Edmund's unspoken question to her brothers in general. "What is going on with Susan?"

"I'm not sure," Peter answered. "Maybe Su will distract Mum and Dad."

"They expect us to be in bed." Lucy looked a bit worried. She hated to get in trouble.

"But, what is this you talking about Ed's nightmares?" Peter looked at Lucy as he questioned her, changing the subject.

"Edmund had a few dreams over the summer. Or at least, two that I know of, from Eustace."

"Eustace?" Edmund asked, as he frowned. "What did you hear from him, Lu?"

"I don't know any specific dreams. It was partly my doing. I asked Eustace to let me know if you had any trouble sleeping," Lucy said looking Edmund, her eyes telling him that she was sorry for going behind his back.

Edmund wasn't happy, but he supposed his sister meant well. He himself didn't remember any dreams he had had over the summer. It wasn't like he had been able to tell his cousin anything and to have Eustace to say anything to Lucy.

"When were these times?" he asked his sister.

"The first one was while we were on the Dawn Treader, after we had been to the Dark Island. After Eustace told me about the first time you had trouble sleeping, I asked him to let me know if you an more trouble with your sleep after that. But the only other time was sometime after we had been in Narnia," Lucy said explaining why she did what she did.

Edmund let out a weary breath. The Dark Island. One of the parts of their voyage he would have liked to forget. Peter knew about the Dark Island from Lucy's description, but Edmund had never told anyone what his 'dreams' were.

Peter looked back at his younger brother and asked, "Do you remember those times, Ed?"

With a quick shake of his head, Edmund said a quiet "No."

It was true that Edmund didn't remember the two dreams to which Eustace must have mentioned that he must have had. Edmund knew very well what had happened on the Dawn Treader when they had been trying to sail away from the Dark Island. Everyone had appeared to be made of stone during those agonizing few moments they had really been there. There had also been someone else who was there…

That memory triggered a replaying of the dream he had just had, like one of the shows from the cinema.

Both Peter and Lucy could tell that their brother had something on his mind. They weren't sure if it would be wise to ask him his thoughts, but they never got a chance to.

"I suspected all of you would be awake," their mother said from the doorway. She continued, "Peter, have Edmund and Lucy been up this entire time?" Her tone was less then pleased.

"No, Mum. Edmund had a bad dream." Lucy, always the truthful one, answered for her brother.

Their mother's gaze instinctively locked on Edmund. Though she didn't know what the dreams were about, or about the children's trips to Narnia, she knew that her youngest son had nightmares. "Edmund?"

"I'm fine, Mum. It was just a dream. I should be able to get to sleep again." Edmund knew very well that everything he just said was a lie. He didn't want to worry his mother, though.

"Helen?" their father called.

"In the boys' room."

A minute latter their father came and stood next to their mother. "What? Still up at this hour?" His voice didn't gave anything way, but his blue eyes had a twinkle in them.

"Apparently so," Mum answered. "Lucy, dear, I think it's best to get to bed. There is much to do tomorrow, like your packing."

Lucy didn't protest, though Peter was pretty sure she partly wanted to. All she said was, "Yes, Mum."

Before leaving she gave her brothers hugs, and a "Good night." Lucy also gave her parents hugs as well as kisses and went off to her room. That done, 'Good night's were exchanged between parents and sons, as well as the boys being told to have the lights out very soon.

"Now Ed," Peter asked once their parents left, "you were thinking about something before Mum and Dad came in. Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was the dream I had. I can't understand it fully. But there are some things I'm sure about."

"What do you remember of it?"

"Almost everything. There was a man, who I think was in trouble. He looked like he was in a place of some kind. And there was a lady in green…"

I know most of you are curious about Susan in this story. I hadn't planned to do much on her. But don't worry she'll be coming back into the fic.

Thanks for reading. Please Review. Jenn


Notes: The dream is coming up in the next part. How was everyone, in character?