A/N: Ok, so it's finally up.

Everyone who has reviewed and read this story has my gratitude forever. I love that people won't give up on this story. Don't, because there is more coming. I'm not going to back out of this story, even if it takes me a full year to finish. I've hit on a small snag called writer's block- so don't be surprised if the next chapter is a while in coming. Thanks again for reading.

Lucy hadn’t intended to wake Susan up when she entered her room, of that Susan was certain. But Susan had never been a very deep sleeper, not since… well, best not to think of that.

And how, pray tell, was she not to think about it? She had just had a dream, the most ridiculously wonderful dream she could have ever imagined. He had been there. He was there. And it was like she’d never left. They talked, for hours… and somehow it hadn’t mattered that he was getting married, or that it had been a year. It had just been a comfortable talk; none of the awkwardness that she was sure would have accompanied such a talk in reality.

Which, of course, told her the truth: It hadn’t been real. It had been a dream. Of course it had been a dream. She’d been asleep, hadn’t she? But how could it be a dream when everything seemed so real?

“Susan?” Lucy’s voice was quite, afraid to wake her. “Susan, are you awake?”

Susan learned long ago that if Lucy wanted to wake her, she would. It was no good pretending that she was still asleep. And even if she was asleep, Lucy would wake her up. She remembered one time in particular when Lucy had bounced on the edge of the bed for something accumulating to three quarters of an hour to wake her up. But then, it had been Peter’s birthday.

“Are you awake?” Lucy’s voice was a little louder now. Susan turned over to see sunlight streaming through her windows.

Wait. Sunlight?

“Lucy, what time is it?” Her voice didn’t sound scratchy, as she had expected it to after talking all night long. But she hadn’t talked at all during the night. It was a dream.

“It’s a quarter to ten.” Lucy was smiling at her. “You don’t normally sleep so late. Ed was all for dumping a tub of water on you, but me and Peter stopped him.”

“Well, I’m very grateful to you for stopping him,” Susan murmured as she hurriedly searched for her stockings. Where had she put them? It wasn’t like there were very many places to lose something in a room this small…

“Peter helped too,” Lucy insisted. She was always eager to make sure everyone’s role was told fairly.

“Oh, Peter.” Susan shrugged as she searched in the drawer for her hat. “I’m sure that he,” She pulled the hat out of the drawer with an air of triumph. “He probably was encouraging Ed to make it ice water.” She could see Lucy’s smile, a smile that brightened the whole room. What she didn’t know was that her own face radiated happiness, happiness Lucy rarely saw on Susan’s face nowadays. Lucy couldn’t help but wonder why it was there now. But she wouldn’t ruin the moment by mentioning it.

“Lu, why were Ed and Peter up here anyway?” Susan was adjusting the hat on her head. She looked over at Lucy, who was looking at her in a way that said what a stupid question it was. Right. So the answer must be something obvious. Disaster? Didn’t seem likely. She saw nothing out the window which was out of the ordinary. Family trouble? Possibly, but why would Lucy be smiling then? She knew all of her siblings’ birthdays. She was pretty sure it wasn’t a national holiday. They had no final exams.

Final exams… holiday… Of course! Today was the start of break in the term. All the Pevensies left for their mother’s at the start of break. But today was different. Today, they would travel to Peter’s new house for the week. A house none of them had ever seen. And on top of that, she’d overslept so they had missed the early morning train, which meant taking the late train which everyone took in the heat of the day.

Peter, who had entered as soon as he heard Susan talking to Lucy, was watching this play out on Susan’s face. Her emotions had always been very easy to read, and it was like watching a drama in action to see her finally realize what today was, and to see her expression settle into one of… anger? Uh-oh.

“Peter Pevensie why on earth didn’t you wake me? We’re moving into a new house today, and all you can think about is letting me sleep? There’s work to do!”

“Well, technically, there’s not.” His voice was bored, but it was just a cover. Nothing was worse than vengeful Susan in the morning (Unless perhaps it was a vengeful Susan just after he had woken her up from a nap. He had been pole-vaulting in the yard with a very flimsy pole and which gave out and caused him to land on top of Susan. He shuddered at the memory). “We’re all packed; we’re just waiting for you.”

She uttered an inaudible scream to the heavens. “Just hold the suitcase while I pack it, will you?”

“Why can’t I just put it on the bed?”

“Peter, I don’t think it’s too much to ask that—”

Lucy slipped out quietly and closed the door. She knew that they wouldn’t argue for long, but she didn’t want to have Susan’s wrath directed at her. But what was funny was… Lucy got the feeling it had all been for show. Susan hadn’t seemed angry, not really. She was putting on an act. Why? For Peter? Or because she, herself, hadn’t realized it was an act? Couldn’t she see the change?

“So you left the poor fellow to his fate.” Lucy smiled at Edmund, who was standing beside her. She noticed with a start how much taller he was than her. It was a little unsettling. “You know, a true queen would not leave her brother in there.” He jerked his head to Susan’s room, where the sound of the argument between the two siblings was loud. Of course, Ed didn’t offer to go in.

“I may be valiant, Edmund, but I’m not that brave.” He chuckled briefly. Lucy thought for a moment, and then decided to ask Ed’s opinion. “Edmund—”

He held up a hand. “No, I will not go into that room. Besides, they’re almost done arguing.” It was true; the argument had died down a little.

“No, Edmund. Listen to me. Something’s different about Susan. She’s… She’s happier, I don’t understand it. It’s like she’s a different person from who she was last night.”

Edmund examined his fingernails. “She sounds like the same person to me.”

Lucy started towards him, but stopped herself. Edmund really wanted to know more, she could tell by his supreme nonchalance. But he couldn’t act like that in front of her. She would never understand boys. “Edmund.” He smiled at her, all bland innocence. “If you don’t listen to me, I swear by Aslan’s mane that I will tell Susan about the last fight you got into and what it was about and the fact that the bruises haven’t gone away yet.” Just like that, she had his full attention. It was probably a little mean to hold his fights over his head, but honestly! Ed could just be so ridiculous sometimes. “What do you think?”

He looked at her. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s got to be something about him.”

“Do you mean…” She was almost too shocked to speak. “Do you mean she went back to Narnia?”

He shook his head. “No, no, I can’t explain it. It must be… she made peace with it or something. But then…” There was a long pause, in which Ed muttered under his breath and Lucy waited patiently. “Oh, I don’t know! But it’s got to have something to do with him.”

“How do you know that?” Lucy was a bit miffed with his analysis of the situation.

“What has made Susan act so unlike herself? Why did she hit that boy when he kissed her? Why doesn’t she care about boys anymore? Who does she miss so badly she cries herself to sleep about him?” Ed’s face was angry, explosive. “Because of him. So she won’t, or can’t, find peace without him.”

Somewhere in Lucy’s mind, she stored away the fact that Edmund knew that Susan cried over losing Narnia. Susan, she knew, was always very careful not to seem weak or upset in front of any of her siblings. Especially Edmund and Peter… probably because they just ended up getting mad like Edmund was now.

“Ed, why don’t you like Caspian?” Her words, spoken quietly, jolted him like an electric shock. It was an unspoken rule that he was never spoken of by name. No one had said as much, but they all secretly worried about the effect it would have on Susan. Or at least, that’s what Lucy had thought. But to Edmund, it seemed that he didn’t say the name because he hated Caspian. Why?

Edmund was currently staring at the floor, looking as if he would never answer. But he would, Lucy knew. For though Edmund might tease her and joke and argue with her, he had never failed her when something was serious. He always trusted her to tell the truth, and when something was important, he always came through for her. He believed her no matter what anyone else, even his own eyes, told him. So she knew he would answer her question.

“Lucy.” She looked him straight in the face. His eyes were tortured, burdened with too much knowledge of too many mistakes. “He broke her heart. He should never have kissed her, never have tried to have a relationship with her, never looked at her because he knew she couldn’t stay! But instead he chose to be selfish and try so that he could be happy in the time they had. Now Susan’s here, never going back. She’ll always wonder about him. And nothing, nothing we can do will change that. Of course I don’t like him.”

An intelligent observer might have noticed that the Just King’s eyes were over bright as he spoke. The powerful, hypnotic stare was somewhat dulled by the presence of unshed tears.

The door to Susan’s room opened at that point, sparing Lucy from having to respond. She didn’t know what she would have said, anyway. Edmund always made acute observations. But he let his personal feelings and prejudices cloud his judgment. He could twist anything so that what he wanted to believe was true sounded true from the angle he put it on. And the worst part was that he didn’t even realize it. So Lucy was glad not to have to answer Edmund, not yet.

Susan and Peter had emerged, Peter carrying a packed suitcase and Susan holding a satchel filled to the brim. Both bags had obviously been packed in a hurry, yet Lucy knew that the contents would be neatly folded as always. Susan was the neatest person she knew.

Susan herself was flushed and smiling. “Come on, Peter! Let’s see this new house.”

“I can’t continue,” Peter gasped, dramatizing the weight of the suitcase. “It’s too heavy.” He set the suitcase down and fell dramatically to the ground. “Carry on without me.”

“Well, we certainly weren’t planning on carrying you as well as the suitcase,” Edmund said. “That would be just too heavy.”

Peter’s pride was affronted. “Just what are you implying about me there Ed?”

Edmund snickered, and picked up the suitcase with one hand (just to show he could). “Come on, lazybones!”

Peter accepted the hand Lucy offered up, and checked his watch. “The train leaves in about a quarter of an hour. We’d better get down to the station.”

“A quarter of an hour?” Susan was upset again. “Peter, that’s barely time to walk there and buy tickets! We’ve got to run, and quickly.”

So run they did, down the hallways of boarding school. Secretly, Lucy had always wanted to run down the long corridor slamming the door on her way out, and now she could. She didn’t even pause to take a look at the dormitory she had lived in for almost a year. Eyes straight ahead, she flew out the door.

--

Susan was quite looking forward to seeing this new home that Peter had bought. At the same time, she was nervous. It wasn’t as though she truly enjoyed going into London, especially not these days. There was a constant threat of bombs and death immanent that made it rather hard to enjoy yourself. Harder than the bombs, though, was seeing the wreckage that London had become. Rubble from buildings occasionally littered the streets, and there were no city lights because of the blackouts. Everything was grey, dreary and getting worse. Necessities like food, gasoline, clothing and coal were rationed. The city, like her jacket, was patched and worn.

Still, coming to London was going away from boarding school. Susan was glad for that.

Peter obviously knew where he was going. He headed down a street, then across another one, all the while at a quick pace. Susan grew more and more apprehensive as she saw the neighborhood become less well upkept. Thankfully, Peter turned down a lane and entered in a little gate. He pulled a key out of his pocket and fiddled with the lock, all the while talking about how the house was not finished yet, and would be nicer later.

Finally, the door opened onto a stairwell. Susan trudged up it, pulling her suitcase behind her. Peter was fiddling with another lock. Eventually, the door opened.

The first thing that struck Susan was how bare it looked. There were basic furnishings, it was true. But the wooden floor was bare, and the walls were made of uncompromising wood as well. There were no paintings or wallpaper. The curtains were faded grey.

She turned to Peter. She was absolutely sure her disbelief was written all over her face.

“It’ll look better in the morning, I promise,” he said, shifting nervously. She simply nodded mutely.

Strangely enough, she wasn’t angry at Peter for telling her that the house was better. After all, she should have known no house could be so nice in the middle of wartime. Peter had done the best he could. And for that, she was grateful.

She leaned over to Peter. “I know you did the best you could. Thank you.”

He looked shocked. She could see his mind working, trying to figure out if she meant it. Then his face broke into a smile. “Thanks.”

The rest of the evening went by fairly quickly. Susan would never admit it, but she was hurrying through the evening just so she could sleep. Sleep… and maybe dream. Please, she thought as she climbed into bed. Please.

Coming next- Caspian's reaction to the dream and another dream. And possibly I-don't-know-what-else.

Please leave a review!