*I am currently (as of 2/02/2013) looking for someone who would be willing to Beta different (mostly) one-shots dealing with the Chronicles of Narnia. Updates are definitely going to be sporadic, maybe even non-existent sometimes, but I am just looking for someone who can be available whenever. PM me if you're interested! Thanks!*
Summary: Peter's first thoughts upon being hurled from Narnia back into England for the first time.
Peter found himself being shoved forward, followed by a chorus of voices.
"Susan, you're on my foot!" he grunted.
"Peter, get off!" Susan replied. How had the quarters become so cramped?
"Edmund, that was my toe!" There was Lucy. There was something off about the way the words sounded, but Peter couldn't quite place it.
"I'm not on your toe!" That was definitely Edmund, but... he sounded years younger...
The coats suddenly gave way, and Peter fell forward onto... hardwood? How was that possible? He heard grunts and thumps as his siblings fell around him. Instinct kicked in, and Peter rose immediately so that he was crouching protectively in front of Lucy. There was a dark flash in the corner of his eye, and he knew that Edmund was similarly positioned before Susan. He heard the girls gasp, but was distracted by the soud of footstepts approaching. He hurriedly ran his eyes over the room - there was something vaguely familiar about the suit of armor lying on the floor - but found no evidence of imminent danger, so he allowed himself to focus on the closed door. All eyes stared at it warily, each monarch mentallly preparing himself or herself for whatever the door might reveal.
The door opened.
"Ah, there you are." Peter felt his eyes widen farther than should have been possible. No - there was no way... "What were you all doing in the wardrobe?" The face that smiled wryly back at him left no room for denial... they were in Lucy's Spare Oom.
No, surely not... that had been such a distant part of their past, surely they couldn't be back in that Other Place... yet here was the Professor, his eyes gleaming mischievously behind shining glasses.
Everything came back then; suddenly, Peter knew exactly where they were. They weren't in Spare Oom - they were in the spare room at the Professor's house in the country. They had been evacuated there because of the air raids in London... that's right, Peter could remember shouting at Edmund for being reckless. A smile teased the High King's lips as he thought of his dear brother, and that same characteristic which had put them both in danger plenty of times over, both in England and in Narnia. Speaking of which...
"You wouldn't believe us if we told you, sir," Peter said. He noticed now that his own voice sounded younger, too.
"Try me," the Professor said, tossing a ball. Peter followed it's progress back to Edmund, who deftly reached out and snatched it from the air. Edmund was definitely younger - he looked to be a boy of ten once more! And Lucy was the same little girl who had come bursting into the halllway, so long ago, claiming to have found a magical land inside a Wardrobe... but it was Susan who really brought the situation home for Peter. She was staring at him, once again the insecure child trying to appear a woman. Peter could see the confusion in his Gentle sister's eyes, already beginning to water. For the first time in almost a lifetime, Peter felt the need to hold and protect his little sister, his small Susan.
"It... it's all gone," she whispered. She didn't look away from Peter. She sniffed quietly, effectively drawing the attention of her younger siblings, as well. Confusion turned to despair as the truth came crashing down upon the Magnificent King of Narnia.
They were no longer home.
