Adventures in Narnia

Ch. 8 We Can't!

Virginia woke up late on that morning, praying that there wasn't some Royal Meeting she had to go to that she was horrible late to. As she got up and knocked on her maids' quarters, she realized that said maid would be long awake and cleaning downstairs, so Virginia decided to attempt to put on her own long-frilly dress, something she had not yet achieved.

Yawning while attempting this major feat, Virginia though about the events since she came to Narnia. How much they had changed herself, changed her brother, and changed her friends. But the changes were good in everyone- except for her love. Except Peter.

He was more distant from her than normal, and didn't show any sings of being less distant from her. Virginia was downtrodden because of this. Did he not like her as a friend anymore? Was he just being her friend to keep up appearances? Did he know that he was slowly breaking her heart?

It was her darkest fear.

But Virginia knew to be reasonable. After all, she and Susan were very close now. She had friends. Losing Peter wasn't a very terrible loss.

Oh, who was she kidding? She loved Peter. If they stopped being friends, her world would crumble. Maybe even be permanently destroyed.

Because she had always loved him, even before she met him. She just had a grudge on him, those 3 years of hatred. But when Peter had come to her defense on her 8th birthday, she knew.

And was afraid.

She didn't know why she had been afraid, probably because she feared he didn't return the feeling. Or she was scared of falling in love in general. Whatever it was, it didn't bother her anymore, because she was no longer afraid.

But now, ever since the recent change in Peter, she was. She was yet again afraid, but now she knew why. She was afraid of…

Heartbreak.

Leaving a note on her dresser, Virginia had left soon before lunch, Peter found out when entering her quarters.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am going out to the creek near the lamppost until dinner. I have food and a book. If anyone needs to reach me, I'll be there all afternoon. Don't disturb me if its not necessary.

Sincerely,

Lady Virginia.

Peter scowled and kicked the foot of her bed. He wished he could kick himself. After his sudden realization that took only a dance a few weeks ago, he had been raging an internal battle with himself. This battle was over whether to tell Virginia that he loved her- or keep it quiet.

Maybe… you should just go tell her about the meeting tomorrow, just to see her-especially if you aren't' going to see her all day. Peter knew that he was just giving himself an excuse to see her. He didn't feel one bit ashamed about it- love apparently did things like that, at least to him. It also made his legs feel like jelly whenever he was around her, and his voice catch in his throat, and when it came out it was wobbly and slightly emotional, and his heart pounded more than what was considered normal.

So Peter left the bed chambers to the stable, where his horse was waiting.

All the stable boys were off to lunch, apparently, so Peter saddled his horse himself. It wasn't a problem-not like he hadn't ever done it before- and rode off towards the creek.

It wasn't that long of a journey on horseback, and was there in a heartbeat. It seems that Virginia had walked.

He found her, sitting at the edge of the creek, her feet in the water, her shoes off and her hair pulled back into braids. She was munching on an apple and reading her book, Dragons of Narnia, Dinosaurs of Archenland. Peter tethered his horse to a tree, and sat down quietly beside her.

She didn't notice until she looked up to throw away her apple core, and was startled by the sight of Peter, his feet also bare and soaking in the creek, basking in the fall glow of the sun combined with the brilliantly colored leaves.

"Oh Peter, you startled me!" Virginia gasped, setting down her book.

"Sorry, Virginia, I just figured you didn't want to be disturbed, so I just enjoyed your presence."

"Well that's alright, as long as we don't talk about royalty things."

"Good idea, get away from it all," Peter nodded as they rested.

"What do you want to get away from, Peter?" Virginia asked softly, scooting closer to him so they were side by side.

"Tons of things. This new war, the clone witch, the fact that Lucy and Mr. Tumnus have something more than friendship but Lucy's too young and Mr. Tumnus is too old, and…"

"What else?" Virginia's head was now on Peter's shoulder, causing his heart to pound out of his chest rapidly.

"Nothing else," he squeaked.

Virginia didn't seem to want to take no for an answer, and opened her moth to retort, but then closed it again, just to play with Peter's hand.

Oh Virginia, please, stop, before I do something I'm going to regret, PLEASE stop…

But Virginia didn't stop; she even turned to face Peter, a serious look on her face, her mouth open and poised to say something…

"Virginia!" Peter stood up suddenly, dragging Virginia up with him, "I… we… can't do this!"

"Do what?" Virginia had a confused look on her face.

"Be…lovers! We're too young, we're rulers over a very important and vast land, we have a valuable friendship I don't want to loose," Peter exclaimed, his voice hoarse.

Virginia dropped his hand, "PETER PEVENSIE! Listen to me! Yes we can! None of it really matters! I know you feel something too- I know it and you know it! Our godforsaken teachers knew it- why do you think we were always paired together in classes and for projects when we couldn't control it? Its not irrational, our pairing would be logical, and right!"

"We can't—not just before a war! What if I die, I don't want to leave you heartbroken! I don't want you to die and my heart to break!"

"You're breaking my heart right now!" Virginia's eyes were glistening-and leaking- with tears, her hands were shaking, "don't you get it, Peter?"

Peter closed his eyes tightly, "I know we can't do this, however much we want to do it…"

"Peter, we can! Peter, please," her voice was pleading and shaking. Peter, now too, was crying heavily.

"Peter, please, I love you!" Virginia cried and cried it twice more.

That's when things became unbearable for Peter. Damn his logic, damn his reasoning, damn his duties- he couldn't bear to see Virginia in pain, especially because he had caused it. Peter grabbed Virginia gently by the waist and brought her towards him, and kissed her. Very passionately.

Virginia kissed back for a moment before breaking away.

"Pet-" but Peter pressed a finger to her lips.

"Silence, Virginia," Peter's voice was thick with emotion, and he kissed her again. They continued kissing, their arms wrapped around each other, until Peter broke away.

"Virginia," Peter's voice was shaking with passion and emotion, "I love you."

This time Virginia kissed Peter, making his head spin. They continued kissing until the sounds of people calling their names broke them apart.

"Oh no," Peter whispered, his voice still shaking.

"Virginia! It's Susan! There's an urgent meeting for Peter, do you know where he is?" Susan called from far off.

Peter grabbed Virginia's hand over to his horse.

"Peter, why are we running away?" she gasped and grabbed her book.

"I don't want to leave you," he mumbled, helping her onto the horse.

"Aww," she smiled and held tightly to Peter's waist as they rode away. Peter's legs felt like jelly as they rode, she was holding tightly to his waist and her chin was on his shoulder, sometimes kissing his cheek. They rode all the way to a small clearing, probably out of Narnia. (Although they didn't go through the wardrobe.) He tethered his horse in the clearing, helped Virginia down, and they immediately kissed once more.

"Peter?" Virginia moaned as they pulled away slowly, "why did you change your mind so rapidly?"

"I couldn't bear to see you in pain," Peter murmured. Virginia then threw her arms around Peter, and smothered him in kisses.

(1,407 Words) This chapter is so… heartwarming. I moved a depressing section from it to make it just happy. So REVIEW.