AN: Thank you SO much to my sweet reviewers :* You're awesome! And thank you to the lurkers as well :P Hope you enjoyed.

Now again

He sounded like an injured animal. It broke Peter's heart to have to sit and listen, but he knew his brother. Even after a year of expanding estrangement he found it almost laughably easy to predict the repercussions it would have on Edmund should he discover his brother watching him from the bushes.

Should he discover him now.

So Peter kneeled among trees and low shrubbery to watch Edmund fall apart and piece himself back together, and wondered how poorly he had forgotten his brother to indirectly cause such a reaction. Peter had silent tears running down his face as he watched, and had to swallow convulsively to avoid putting sound to his guilt. His heart broke for his brother. He hadn't paid very close attention to the one person who perhaps needed his attention the most and the least. Edmund had always drifted towards extremes, be it complete independence or complete dependence. Often asking the boy would do no good, because as a general rule Peter knew that whatever was said was the opposite of truth.

At his worst, right before Narnia, Edmund had needed his big brother more than ever.

At his best, time and time again, Edmund had been the one who'd been needed for his poise and contemplation, and Peter longed back to those days as he watched his brother push his feet under him. He swallowed and stood from his crouch very, very slowly. Careful not to jar twig or leaf. Feeling an inkling of his old, familiar, protective self returning.

Edmund looked empty, though less lost than before. He had wiped his face and seemed slightly settled, but it jarred something fragile within to see his younger brother behave so out of character. Not in a great many years had Edmund hidden away from him, and it made Peter wonder how many consequences his actions would continue to have.

Edmund's head suddenly snapped in his direction, and Peter knew it would be only seconds until his brother figured it out. The elder uncurled the last inch and took a few steps towards the How, hoping to inspire his brother to follow even if they didn't have a clear line of sight to each other.

He made sure to keep his head down. Even though he knew he'd been discovered he hoped he hadn't yet been identified; one could only go hunting with another so many times before one learned to recognize the other's outline even through dense shrubbery. By the tread of their feet or the scent in the air.

Peter felt both warmed and unsure at the thought, and wondered if he'd made a mistake following. Did he deserve to be around his brother at all, just then? Would they both be better off with more distance? Would Edmund even want to speak to him?

In a second Peter felt his heart stop at the thought of simply allowing the distance between them to grow, but Edmund had never complained; he'd always followed Peter's lead and he wondered what right – if any – he had to reclaim what he'd so willingly given away.

He looked over through the ferns, but Edmund's eyes were on his feet. His face was hidden and suddenly Peter felt the very real urge to grab hold just for a chance to meet his eyes. There was something very vital happening within his brother just then. Something Peter should have seen, but hadn't. "Edmund,"

His call didn't seem to faze the younger, as he very deliberately came to a halt and turned in Peter's direction.

Peter stepped clear of the shrubbery. "Did you know it was me?"

Edmund glanced down, and Peter took it as a yes.

"I'm sorry," halting briefly when Edmund's eyes almost made it all the way to his with the hint of an almost indignant expression. "Not for that."

Edmund looked very briefly puzzled before he apparantly decided it wasn't worth asking, and simply nodded at the ground.

"For eavesdropping."

Then his dark eyes came back up in surprise, and he watched Peter with unerring intensity until once again seemingly settling something with himself. "Alright."

The word stretched through the air between them until it had swallowed all Peter's thoughts and questions. He darted a look around, but found nothing worth taking note of, and in finally just turned back. "Edmund, please talk to me," He took a step forward with a hand out as though begging. "Please," The more he repeated it the less he cared. "Please, tell me what's happening with you."

It was the bloody wrong thing to say and he knew it the second Edmund's eyes alit on his own. "Nothing."

It was pointed, but civil. Lion forbid he showed any kind of emotion. Any kind of rage.

"Are you sure?" And Peter suddenly realized quite astutely what needed to happen, and felt surprised when Edmund didn't seem to share the epiphany. It spoke to his brother's state of mind and drove Peter to progress. "Because you seem awfully cavalier about all of this."

Edmund's eyes darted away, breathing through his nostrils. Hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

Peter knew exactly what his brother needed at that moment. "It seems like you're…" Arms out, "ok, with all our failures."

Black eyes cut back to blue, and his head lowered, but instead of telling Peter what he knew he deserved he shook his head, backed away and decidedly didn't look in Peter's direction.

"Edmund!"

"What?" he finally, finally shouted.

"Tell me," Peter came closer and felt like he was almost close enough to reach out. Edmund kept trying to avoid him, and Peter kept ducking to see. He was met with a heartbreakingly lost expression, and a young man suddenly on the verge of tears. "What don't you want me to see?" He thought it might be the way his voice has softened, but whatever it was Edmund responded.

His lower lip wobbled as his eyes filled up. He still wouldn't look at Peter, but had stopped backing away as though afraid of being touched. "Ev-Everything jus' came back," His voice broke on the last word, and a ravishing anger consumed Peter, but was doused in an instant.

He surged forward, halting a hair's breadth from actually touching his brother, and stayed there until he saw Edmund's aborted attempt to reach up and grab hold in return. Then it was as if a dam broke within the elder of the two, and all he'd pent up during their year away, or buried because of fear, demanded acknowledgement once again. A brother he'd neglected after they spent so many years rebuilding and strengthening their relationship suddenly once again demanded contact, and Peter could've cried in gratitude.

"Are you alright?" he whispered into his brother's hair. The question seemed inane, but was one he'd been asked by this very person for so long that it was automatic.

And to Peter's never ending grace, and faith, and love, and trust, and everything else in Aslan, his family and the worlds in general his embrace seemed to make Edmund reconsider the situation in all seriousness. "I don't know," was his whispered answer.

It was good enough, and for some reason it made Peter huff through a small smile. His hand began to smooth out the unruly, black hair, and tears unexpectedly burned in his eyes. For too long he'd missed this part of himself. He tightened his embrace. It was the proud protector that once was the guiding force behind every decision he made.

Their mighty world stood still as everything around them woke up to take a deep breath. A breeze rattled the leaves and light caught the forests secrets like souls taking flight. "Oh, Edmund I'm so sorry," Peter breathed deep and held his brother a while longer. Something in his chest loosened and gave completely, allowing for a deeply rooted tremor to work its way out through his body and into his brother's.

Edmund never spoke, but his grip tightened for the barest of seconds in what seemed like a silent response. For a young Son of Adam such as himself, Peter felt the relief that flooded through him almost bring him to his knees. His breath hitched and two tears left cool trails down his cheeks.

It felt like coming home.

And through it all Edmund stayed exactly where he was, with his head against his brother's shoulder, one hand caressing the fabric on his brother's back. "It's alright, Pete," was the last thing whispered between them.

Peter felt that perhaps no more needed to be said.

The end - though I can expand on it if there's a demand :-)