AN: Thank you to MCH, my only reviewer so far! It's because of you I decided to post the second chapter! Thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Chronicles of Narnia or anything included within the pages of said book series.

Chapter 2: Water Break

I walked along a rotten log that had little bugs crawling in and out of it, making their homes in its soft bark. Little Lucy walked about 20 feet away, while her brothers and sister sat and chatted about their oh-so-magical kingdom. She was watching me. I think she was trying to be sneaky. It most definitely wasn't working. I put up with this for a good ten minutes before I started to get extremely agitated.

"What?" I snapped a bit too harshly, turning away from the little insects in the log. She just smiled sweetly.

"Sorry," she said, in her British accent, "I was just thinking how strange it is for you to be here… from another time, I mean…"

I stood with my mouth hanging open a little. "So you're telling me that you're just fine and dandy with seeing giants and unicorns randomly walking around, and you're okay with the fact that you were ripped from your world and set down here, against your will, but a normal girl from the twenty-first century is just… beyond your little brain's comprehension?" I said a little sarcastically. I wasn't usually this rude, but I had a tendency to get a smart mouth when I was panicked, and I was indeed panicked. Plus, my natural sarcastic sense of humor was not helping things at all.

Lucy blushed a bit. "Well it seems a bit silly when you put it like that," she said, a little flustered.

I blinked at her, "That's because it is silly."

She was getting ready to say something else when her brother called her over. "Lucy, we need you over here," Peter called. His eyes passed her and met mine for a moment before turning quickly back to his little sister, his face a little red from being caught staring. And, of course, me being the teenage girl I was, I automatically asked myself if it meant anything. I wasn't really looking for anything like that right now. After all, I had my music. But it was always nice to be wanted.

You know, its times like these that make you think "gee, I wish I knew if he was staring at me because he liked me, or if he was staring because I'm a freak from the next century. Yup, that'd be nice to know."

Great. There goes that sarcasm again.

Lucy bounced over to her siblings, happy to get away from me, I guessed. Edmund wrapped his arm around her shoulders and turned them away from me and I automatically knew where I stood. I sat down on my old log and waited. What I was waiting for, I had no idea, but I waited nonetheless.

-()-()-()-

Several hours later, I awoke to a gentle hand shaking me awake. I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep.

"Hey," a small voice said, touching my shoulder. "Hey," the voice got a little louder, probably trying to wake me. I blinked a couple of times, my eyes heavy with sleep and my neck aching from sleeping at a funny angle on the log. When my eyes finally opened, there, standing in front of me, was heaven itself.

Oh, don't be ridiculous, I thought to myself. It's just Peter.

I blinked a few more times, blushing in embarrassment at my own sleepy delusions. I looked up at him and he held out an old canteen made out of some kind of animal skin. Was it bear? I looked at it suspiciously.

"What is it?" I asked, backing up just a hair. He laughed quietly.

"It's water. Calm down," he said with a breathy laugh.

I took the canteen gingerly and put it to my lips to taste it. It tasted fine. In fact it tasted better than fine. It was the best water I had ever tasted. I put the container back to my lips for a larger drink.

Peter laughed again. "Are all Yanks as paranoid as you?" he asked holding his hand back out for the canteen.

"Hey, I resent that comment! I'm just being careful," I said back, with a small smile and handed him the canteen. I was always good with playful joking.

He laughed and shook his head slightly, taking a drink.

"Besides, aren't all Brits supposed to be overly well-mannered and snooty?" I asked with another smile.

He gave me a sideways grin, like he couldn't quite figure me out, and then raised his container like he was making a toast and said, "Touché."

We laughed together for a while before I realized how late it was getting. I looked around the darkening forest.

"So who's this 'Aslan' you people are waiting for and what's he 'gonna do to help us," I asked Peter.

He smiled and poked the ground with a stick he had picked up a while back.

"Would you believe me if I told you he was a giant, talking lion and was the King of Narnia?" he said with a hopeful smile on his face.

I just rolled my eyes and said, "Of course he is. What else would he be? A human being? Oh no. That would be too strange around here."

Edmund laughed a little at my bitterness. "Believe it or not, I know what you're going through."

I scoffed quietly. "You sure don't look like you know what I'm going through."

"Oh, believe me, I know," he said firmly, and I could feel the emotion seeping out of him, and despite myself, my heart went out to him.

He looked away for a few moments and then continued talking while scanning the forest, "Almost five years ago, my brother and sisters and I came here…. another way… and I couldn't believe it at first either. I did some pretty stupid stuff and Aslan saved me and my family. Twice. He was the only one who could save us…"

I leaned closer to him and whispered, "What did you do?" He blinked a little and then looked at me as if seeing me there for the first time. He looked around uncomfortably and then stood up reaching his hand down for me to take. "That's a story for another time. Shall we?"

I looked at his hand suspiciously and then up at his face with a raised eyebrow. He rolled his eyes and smiled. "What? Is the Yank afraid of a little adventure?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me. I laughed at him, rolled my eyes and then took his hand.

We walked only about 20 feet, but with the dense forest, it could have been a thousand. As we turned around a patch of trees, I saw a fire with the other three Pevensies gathered around it, eating some berries I assumed they found in the jungle. Each either had the jackets from their old style school uniforms wrapped around their shoulders or laid under them as a cushion against the rocky Earth. Peter led me carefully over to a spot in the clearing and sat a couple feet away, picking up a couple of berries and popping them into his mouth.

"So, Jessica," Susan said, leaning toward me, "What is it like in America?" She seemed genuinely interested.

"What? Then or now?" I asked, sounding now only slightly indignant after my talk with Peter.

They all eyed me curiously. "Hmm… then," Susan finally decided, smiling at me.

I thought about US History class for a few moments and what I had learned about the Home front during WWII. "Hmm… Well…. It was very… patriotic. Women were starting to move into the workforce. Everyone was really into the war. Then right after the war, when all the men came home, the women moved back to the home so that the men can have jobs. But eventually, women get their rights."

Susan's eyes were all lit up. "You mean women don't have to be homemakers? They can do anything they want?"

I laughed, "Well, pretty much. We can join the military, too." I seriously thought Susan was going to burst with excitement. "But we can't fight on the front lines." And just like that, all her excitement drained. "Yeah, I know. It sucks."

"Sucks?" she asked curiously.

I laughed. "It's a bummer. Unpleasant? Get it?"

Understanding lit up her face. "Ah. Yes. Sorry, I'm just not used to your language."

I shook my head, "Forget about it."

"Oh, she will," Peter said teasingly.

Susan rolled her eyes and looked at me. "Don't mind my brother. He just likes attention," she said, lightly.

After a second, Peter began coughing awkwardly, as if he wasn't actually coughing, but trying to cover something up. I looked at him curiously.

"Are you alright, Peter?" Lucy asked, anxiously. He nodded slightly and shot me a look of embarrassment. I didn't understand it at all.

I looked around and realized that Edmund hadn't said one word all night. He eyed his brother with suspicion, as if he understood perfectly. I was utterly confused.

-()-()-()-

Later that evening, we were all settled into sleep and I awoke suddenly. I heard soft voices coming from the other side of the dying fire. I only caught bits and pieces of the conversation. It sounded like Edmund and Peter talking. I didn't want to interrupt so I listened in, pretending to be asleep.

"Don't talk about her like that. She's not like that," Peter's voice was rising.

"Shhh!" Edmund hushed him. I wondered who they were talking about. Maybe Peter had a girl friend back in England. That thought put a gross feeling in the pit of my stomach, though I didn't know why. We had just met. That and he was 65 years older than me.

"You just met her," Edmund continued. Maybe Peter had met someone before they left England. "Besides, you can't trust her. She's a Yank." Well, that was awfully coincidental.

"I know, but it feels like… like I've known her forever." I pictured the fair-haired beauty he must be talking about and felt like puking.

This is why you don't get involved with guys, I thought to myslef. Stick with your music. There's no chance it will betray you.

And with that thought, I curled up and fell back into a dreamless sleep.

AN: Well there's Chapter Two! Please review! If I get enough reviews maybe I'll keep going. I already know for the next chapter, part of it is going to be parts of this chapter in Edmund's POV. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :D