Ok I did my homework for the night so…I'm writing :D
Here's the next chapter!
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EDMUND'S POV
Oh yes…I KNEW this day way coming. I knew it for a LONG time and yet…the knowledge this was coming didn't make this moment any easier.
There she stood. My daughter, Endirah, dressed in pure white, the biggest smile that I've seen since the day I gave her that colt to raise as her own was plastered across her face. Her hair was done up in an intricate style with the thin silver tiara that held her veil weaved right into it. I gulped down the lump that had forced its way up my throat and gave her my best smile as she walked toward me, but she wasn't fooled.
"Oh, daddy," she whispered, hugging me tightly. She felt just like my little baby girl I had held nineteen years ago as I held onto her now. "You know you'll always be the greatest man in my life."
I closed my eyes and just…held her for as long as I could as my little girl.
But the music started and I knew I had to let her go. I took a steadying breath and I offered my arm to my daughter. We stepped through the door and I looked up at the front of the rows of Narnians to where the thief of my daughter's heart stood watching our approach. And I saw in his eyes the joy I knew so well, the feeling I got whenever I saw Natani, the love I felt that day when I had been the young man standing in that very spot. And, suddenly, even though this was the hardest thing I had ever had to do, I trusted that young man with one of the most precious things I had; my daughter. I knew he was going to take care of her.
I kissed Endirah's cheek gently and blinked back the tears I felt threatening to be my undoing. Then I looked right into those blue eyes of the young man I was handing her over to and nodded. He nodded back and I saw the fear, excitement, and faith that this would be the best decision he ever made shining in those eyes.
I stood next to Natani on the right side of the room. She clasped my hand and I looked at her gratefully. She smiled back at me, she was crying slightly, but the smile that shone on her face told me she was reliving the same moment I was…our own wedding.
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NATANI'S POV
Those doors opened and my heart jumped painfully. There was my daughter, looking like an angel in her flowing white dress, walking down that long aisle between the Narnian people. Her face was radiant and fearless, her eyes were fixed on the young man waiting for her at the other end. I saw the look I remember having on my own face so long ago when that had been me in her place and I smiled widely at the memory. And there, beside my beautiful baby girl, was the man who had caused me such happiness as Endirah was feeling now. Aslan had blessed us from the very beginning and all of our love, all of our arguments and bad days right along with the wonderful ones had led to this point where a parent's job is a whole new thing entirely. She was no longer my little baby girl, she was the wife of young man with plans and aspirations just like mine had been and still was. I watched Edmund let go of Endira's hand with shaking fingers and he stepped back to stand beside me. I heard him sniff quietly and swallow loudly, and I knew he was fighting back tears.
I grabbed his hand tightly and held on for dear life. There was one girl he would always have…this girl. This woman by his side.
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EDMUND'S POV
I had done this before…so why, why oh why, wasn't this time any easier? Lucy was wearing her mother's wedding dress and it looked just as good on her as it had on Natani. Lucy was never one for being emotional or sappy, but today I saw something new in my daughter. She was afraid, nervous, and unsure.
"Lucy," I said quietly as we sat in the hall outside the doors. The pre-processional music was being played by the Fauns and we were waiting for the cue to walk in. We had some time. "Why are you so worried?"
"Daddy," Lucy asked me softly, "Will you and mom be alright?"
I looked at her incredulously.
"Of course we will, Lucy!" I assured her, "Baby, you can't hold back because you worry about everyone else. There are some things you must do for you and you alone. This…this is one of them."
She nodded and her shoulders pulled back in confidence.
"I love him, daddy," she said.
"I know you do, Lucy," I replied with a grin, "I know you do. And you know that I've given my approval so you…you go in there and you strut down that aisle like the brave daughter your mother and I have raised and you…make me proud."
"Daddy, you said you'd always be proud of me no matter what," Lucy reminded me with a grin.
"And so I shall, Lucy," I assured her, standing as the processional prelude started. I offered my arm and Lucy took it firmly, not like Endirah's ginger hold. We walked in and Lucy gave me a mischievous grin, then I felt her tug me and she took off at a brisk jog down the aisle, the whole crowd erupted in laughter and the groom looked…like he was in Heaven. Once again…I knew how he felt and I envied him a little. He took Lucy's hand and he whispered a "Thank you, sir" to me and turned back to the centaur doing the service. I nodded slowly, knowing this young man was in for the ride of his life trying to tame my wild younger daughter. Good luck.
Natani met me at my side and threaded her finger through mine. I noticed they seemed a little more frail than they had at the last wedding we had been to and I looked at her with a smile. I noticed the line on her face were more obvious and her hair was getting a little…altered in shade. But she was beautiful. She always would be to me because I still felt like I had the day I had said the words that young man was now saying to my daughter.
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NATANI'S POV
Oh, Lucy…I shook my head with a smile as she pulled her father down the aisle. Edmund's eyes twinkled with laughter as they came to a halt by the groom and he handed her hand to him with a nod, and I knew he was feeling just the way he had with Endirah.
So I did the job I had always loved, I took his hand and squeezed it gently. His hands were strong, but there was something a bit rougher about them than there used to be. Still as strong and sure as always but…somehow not as smooth. I looked up at him and noticed the little patches of grey starting in his dark hair above his ears, I smiled at the mature look he had acquired and I realized how much we had been through together. I had been twenty four years ago they we had been in this very room on our knees making those vows we still clung to but it seemed like yesterday even though the time showed in the laugh lines I had predicted would cling to the corners of his eyes. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed those lines, remembering the laughter and the smiles that had put them there.
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Yep, time is going by. Halfway to the end, although there are not too many chapters to go.
Let me know what you think, feedback is loved :D