Brief Interlude

It had been about 2 months since Astrid's first day, and she was enjoying her new home and friends. She had made other friends besides the Pevensies, but they were her favorite people to spend time with. She had grown close to them, and each had their own qualities that she loved about them.

Astrid loved Peter's sturdiness and constant support for anything his siblings did. He could be overprotective and stubborn, but it was only because he worried about his siblings' safety. But Peter tried his hardest to always help his siblings and other. He was unbelievably smart, and though teachers said he was a know-it-all and called him arrogant, he was very humble. Astrid heard some teachers speaking about Peter one day, and it had made her wonder about how her friends were before she met them.

xxXxx

"What do you think of the oldest Pevensie, Peter?"

"He's very smart for his age, I must say."

"Yes, he is, but he's terribly arrogant. The way he answers questions and carries himself, like he expects us all to bow to him. Peter is strange, to say the least."

"Hmm yes, Peter does have a sort of..air of command about him. But you know all the Pevensie children have been acting extremely different since they came back from the countryside when they were shipped off during the air raids."

"That's very true, Edmund used to be a foul little boy, always with a bad attitude. Now look at him, he's completely different. He doesn't bully any one; he's smart and kind to everyone, and very fair. Although still quiet as ever."

"It doesn't make you wonder though..? Something happened while they were away in the countryside.."

xxXxx

Since the day they had met, Astrid and Susan had been close, and now they shared everything with each other. Well, almost everything, of course Astrid hadn't told anyone her secret. They just wouldn't understand, they'd tell everyone. She would lose all she had built for herself in this new world. Though Astrid had banished those fears as time went on, she kept this secret from them. Susan was very open about herself though, but she wasn't obnoxious about it. She tried her best to always be kind to everyone, but she could stand up for herself. Her sharp voice and ice-like glare could make anyone fear her when she was angry.

Although they had gotten off to a weird start, Astrid and Edmund hadn't gotten much closer. They talked, and shared books, discussed subjects they had in common, but they didn't have the same closeness Astrid had with the other Pevensies. And she was alright with that. They were too different in personality. Edmund was quiet, smart, and fair. Astrid saw him as the mediator in the group, he always listened to both sides of an argument before coming to a decision, and he did everything he could to make sure his siblings and herself were happy. He was the kind of person who put everyone else's happiness above his own, but received no recognition for it. Astrid knew he wasn't doing good things in the hope of being thanked or praised, he did these because he was selfless, and it almost seemed like he was trying to make up for something he did in the past. She admired Edmund greatly; he was the exact opposite of her when she was in her other 'human' body.

Astrid knew acting like a human was going to be hard, but she never imagined emotions would actually influence her. It was getting hard; there was nothing more she wanted than to go back to her old self. But she knew that she had to do this to fit in with everyone else, though was strange and unsettling for Astrid, being in an actual human body and not in her 'human' body.

She loved little Lucy Pevensie and her constant joy, it put her at ease and made her feel accepted. Though Lucy was small, she was very smart and witty for a girl her age. Even though Lucy could handle things on her own, her brothers and sister still treated her like a small child. She could handle herself, but everyone was too overprotective or scared that 'Little Lucy' would get hurt. Astrid knew that the youngest Pevensie was capable of handling herself, but the others refused to see it. Lucy complained to Astrid every now and then about her siblings, but most of the time she was like a ball of energy.

As the weeks went by, Astrid slowly saw the Pevensies becoming more and more depressed. Susan and Lucy would become quiet more often, Peter started getting into fights, which Edmund usually jumped into to help Peter. But when she questioned them, they would all say that nothing was wrong, they were fine, it was nothing to worry about, etc. Soon it seemed the only thing that kept them going was the fact that holidays were coming up and they'd all get to go home to Finchely. They had invited Astrid to go with them, since it was too much money to go back to America for only a few weeks. She was excited and grateful to be going with them to their house, and none of them could wait.