A/N: I don't own Chronicles of Narnia, or any of the characters except my own. Enjoy, and tell me what you think. Any suggestions are welcome!

You're Short, You're Old, and You're Not Human

Everyone was walking towards the shore, trying to figure out where to go from this point. Astrid was glad they had split up; she could test her speed and race around the beach to tell the others if she saw anything. As she ran along the sand, Astrid listened for any sounds that would give her a sign of where to go. All she could hear was the sound of the waves; she couldn't even hear animals from far away. 'That's so odd.' she thought as she slowed to a walk. Soon she saw Edmund down by the water, who was just standing there, staring out into the waves. Astrid silently went to stand next to him before muttering, "I couldn't find anything, could you?" He jumped back and pulled his sword out, pointing it at Astrid. When he saw it was her, Edmund put his sword back into its sheath and said, "No, I couldn't find anything either." "Really? I passed by you twice already and you've been standing in the same exact spot." He chuckled, "Alright, you've caught me. I've just been thinking." Astrid nodded her head and the two looked out at the water.

"I've been meaning to ask..where are we? And how do you all seem to know this place?" Edmund sighed and said, "It's a very long story. You might not believe it, but the four of us lived here once. Lived a whole lifetime, in fact." She looked at him before saying, "Is that what you were thinking about? The last time you were here?" He nodded and said, "It's all so different from last time. Want to know what happened?" When Astrid eagerly nodded her head, Edmund laughed and began the story of the Pevensies' first time in Narnia. They walked along the shoreline as he told Astrid about how no one believed Lucy when she first told them about finding Narnia in the back of a wardrobe when they were playing hide-and-go-seek.

When he got to the part about him meeting some mad woman called the White Witch, his attitude completely changed. His face darkened and he spoke in short, clipped sentences. Astrid sensed that this was hard for Edmund to talk about, so she offered what comfort she could by putting a hand on his shoulder. He paused to look at her in surprise, then placed his hand over hers and gave a small squeeze, unknowingly causing Astrid's stomach to flutter, before continuing on with his story. Edmund had just got up to when he left his brother and sisters while at the Beavers' dam, when they heard Susan yell, "Drop him!"

The two ran to the eldest Pevensie girl and saw Peter and Lucy just getting to her. Edmund and Peter both drew their swords, while Susan already had her bow at the ready, pointing her arrow in the direction of what looked to be two soldiers drowning a small man in the river. They did drop him-unfortunately into the water, but hey, they dropped him. Susan shot one of the men, and the other jumped into the water and swam away. Peter and Edmund ran into the water, Peter soon came up with the small man, while Edmund struggled with pulling the boat to shore. Astrid ran to help him, and together they pulled the boat onto the sand. He threw her a smile in thanks, and she shakily returned it, as she had once again gotten butterflies in her stomach, this time when he flashed his grin.

The pair went to the others, who were standing around the dwarf that was currently coughing up water. Once he stood up he turned to Susan and exclaimed,

"'Drop him.' That's the best you could come up with."

A shocked Susan retorted, "A simple 'Thank you' would suffice."

The dwarf countered, "They were doing fine drowning me without your help."

"Maybe we should've let them." Interrupted Peter while shooting a glare towards the stranger.

"Why were they trying to kill you anyway?" Lucy asked.

With a sigh he said, "They're Telmarines. It's what they do."

Edmund spoke up this time, "Telmarines? In Narnia?"

"Where have you been the last for the last few hundred years?"

Lucy lightly joked, "It's a bit of a long story."

As Susan was handing Peter his sword, Astrid saw the dwarf's eyes widen before looking at the Pevensies. "Oh you've got to be kidding me." he groaned, "You're it? You're the Kings and Queens of Old." Astrid took their awkward silence as a time to interrupt. "Whoa! Hold on, you four were Kings and Queens?! But Edmund hadn't mentioned any of that." All of them turned to look at the slightly angered girl. "Way to ruin the story." She said as she sent a scowl towards the dwarf. Edmund smiled weakly and said, "Umm.. Long story short, we defeated the White Witch and became Kings and Queens of Narnia." Astrid huffed in annoyance; she had wanted to hear every part of the story. Peter looked at the dwarf before holding his hand out and introducing himself as, "High King Peter...the Magnificent." Astrid bit her lip to keep from laughing when the man looked at him as if to say, "Are you serious?" before Susan said, "You probably could've left off the last bit." She looked to see Edmund ducking his head as he smirked, he caught her eye and their grins widened as they shook with silent laughter.

The dwarf chuckled and agreed, "Probably." He looked at Astrid, studying her. When his eyes widened in shock and fear, she decided now was the time to see if her telepathy powers still worked. She reached into his mind in time to hear him think,

'What is this..? What sort of creature is this?! It..it's not human or Narnian!'

Before he could open his mouth, she fed the words, 'No, I'm not human, but I mean come on, you're short. Don't see what the big surprise is. Anyways, no one can know of this. It will ruin my chances. Please.

'Chances at what?' Trumpkin-Astrid had learned his name by looking deeper into his mind without him knowing-thought back at her.

'A normal life. Well, as normal as it can get with these four.'

She saw a smile in his eyes before he answered, 'Alright, you have my word. I won't say anything. But if they find out, it's your head.' She sent him a small smile in thanks before telling the others that she was going to check if the boat was tied securely to shore.

As she walked, Astrid wondered if she could really trust Trumpkin, how he knew that she wasn't really human, and if she could read the minds of the Pevensies. When Astrid got to the boat, she sat down on a rock to think about these questions.

'Maybe there is magic in this place...after all, not all worlds have dwarves in them. It would also explain why my powers are stronger. Not as strong as in my own world, but definitely getting there, and it could change the longer I stay here. Would it be invading the privacy of my friends if I read their thoughts? They wouldn't know, but what if I slipped up and answered a question that they were thinking to themselves? What would they think..? I'll hold off trying for now, just a while longer.'

Any reviews would be great