This is very true to Susan. I belive that she just wasn't ready to be found, in the end.

The Narnia books, movies and fanfics are the ones that speak most easily to me. I'm not Christian because this is just one side of Christianity and even a very few of the principles in Narnia I don't believe in, but the good fics of this genre, in my opinion, are more than most, all feel very true and real to me.

You make good points. Thank you for sharing this!

Beautiful fic.

"They know the truth, as Susan does here, but they don't want to be found by God."

That seems to be the real "trick" in every faith I have studied. The major roadblock on the path to salvation is that humans cannot easily give up their selfish attachments to this world in favor of compasion towards others and love for the Ultimate Good. The Hebrew V'ahavta states that one must love the Lord with all one's soul and heart. Jesus taught that attachment to possessions, and even attachment to one's relatives over one's duty to the Lord was a barrier to salvation. Zen Buddhists believe that achieving Nirvana means not just knowing but UNDESTANDING that your individual self is an illusion, while Pure Land Buddhists believe that you must have complete and total faith in Amitabha Buddha's ability to ensure that your next incarnation will be born in the Pure Land where that realization is possible.

Susan reminds me of a section from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxay. Man points out that the amazing Babel Fish proves God's existence, after God had explained that it is faith and not belief that allows Him to exist, and as a result God disappears in a poof of logic.

And, of course, in Prince Caspien, Susan confessed to an amazing ability to lie to herself even when she was in Narnia. While we do not hear much about Susan in The Last Battle, I sure that the act of denying Aslan must have wounded her very soul.

I know what you mean and it is heartbreaking.

I dont know what to say. It is sad but butifuly writen.

Lovely piece! :D I love it - the common bond shared by Edmund and Susan... especially when Edmund's my favourite character! In any case, it's really wonderful! Don't ever stop writing! :D

R.B.

I knew, when you didn't mention Edmund in the paragraph with Peter and Lucy, that he would be the one to effect her most deeply. The reasoning behind his powerful effect on her is positively brilliant. He has experienced something real - he has been redeemed, changed; he's not the same Edmund he once was, and it's not by anything he has done - and Susan knows it. What a powerful truth.

“If Narnia is a game, then Aslan is but a dream, both there and here, and then His forgiveness means nothing. And without His mercy and love I am forever lost. We are forever lost.” His eyes had been sad, but not hopeless. “Susan, when you are ready to be found, He is here to find you…as He once found me.” /bawls/

Hmm. So true, and very poignant. I really liked the conclusion you drew with Susan, because that's always what I thought too. She really fell away from her faith, like so many truly do, and didn't want to be found. But, "once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia," just like our own promise at the end of Romans 8. I think Lewis left Susan's storyline open for that very reason. After all, she was not on the train...

Beautiful story. It really resonates.

Oh, bugger. I was toying with an idea for a story right along these lines - Edmund's appealing to Susan on the grounds that he was the first traitor to Narnia - but then I find that you've not only done it already, but done it better than I had planned. Ah well. Kudos to you, and I'm off to read some more of your stuff, because this was great.

Wow, that was really stunning. I loved the relationship you described between Edmund and Susan. Really wonderful.

Wow, this is just perfect. The emotion this fic gives off is just wonderful. Susan and Edmund being similar and connected, I just love it.

Dude. That was one of the best stories i have read in a long, long time. that was awesome. you've got it all down pat perfectly. Wow that was good.

My favourite part was edmund's bit:

" “If Narnia is a game, then Aslan is but a dream, both there and here, and then His forgiveness means nothing. And without His mercy and love I am forever lost. *We* are forever lost.” His eyes had been sad, but not hopeless. “Susan, when you are ready to be found, He is here to find you…as He once found me.” "

That was great. could i put that in my profile? I'll acredit it to you obviously, but i really, really liked that line. it's so, so true. if God doesnt exist, then neither does His forgiveness, and without God's forgiveness, we're pretty much stuffed. royally stuffed.

i really hope that this story challenges some of the people who read it who may be in the same boat as Susan or some of your friends. Some of my friends too, come to think of it. They know the truth, but they'd have to change their lives too much to *accept* the truth.

one of them actually said pretty much exactly that to me once. she said "Yeah, but if i became a Christian i'd have to change like, *everything.*" I was like, yeah, thats kinda the point.

But yes, this was really great. awesome work. :) It challenged me too, to be honest. i dont think i've been as good recently as i could be.

Thanks for that. This story literally made my day. you're a legend.

Love Bundi

Well, this shows that Susan is not really as shallow as her supposed friends doesn't it? I liked especially how she seems affected more by Edmund than by the rest. It is Edmund who was bettered by Narnia (his statement to Susan about that is so moving), and his change is something that cannot be explained otherwise; therefore he is a more powerful witness than his siblings.

You see, I have seen this quite often in real life, as you say, and I agree with you that sometimes words only worsen things. You can only pray for them so that one day they will be ready to be found.

Moving work.

This has such emotional power. You make Susan a sympathetic character, thoughtful rather than shallow. I love the way you use Edmund's experience rather than Lucy's faith as the most convincing element in the Pevensies' attempt to bring Susan back to belief. When I read your description of the Something that had changed Edmund so profoundly, I thought (laugh if you like) about the way people first began to suspect the existence of Pluto: something they couldn't see was affecting the orbital path of Neptune. That same idea of an irresistibe Force moving Edmund into a new orbit give's Susan's thought process a haunting quality that gives me hope for her future sometime beyond the events of The Last Battle.