"Peter," Edmund says.

"What?" Peter asks back harshly.

He was sitting on his bed back in his private room, but no candle was lit and none of the curtains at his windows were open. He was sitting alone in the dark.

"Dinner is going to be a little late tonight. Because of everything." Edmund explains.

He found it hard to say the last three words, but he's always been quick to recover from certain things. Other things he took much longer to recover from. This was falling into the latter category.

"Tell the others that I'm not hungry." Peter says.

"You tell them." Edmund gestures his hands towards the door.

"Why?"

"It's your stomach."

Peter looks back down at his feet. Edmund takes a careful step toward him.

"What are you doing in the dark?" He asks.

"Nothing." Peter mumbles, "Close the door."

Edmund presses his lips together and then sighs gently. He turns around and leaves Peter alone in his room. The oldest Pevensie turns to look at the door once it's shut, and he stares at it for a long time. He becomes lost in silence. No thoughts run through his mind, no feeling plagues his heart, he just stares at the wood and all remains quiet.

After a moment, Peter leans down on his bed. He's tired after everything and all the alcohol he consumed earlier that day isn't doing him much good. But as he rests his elbow on his bed, it touches something firm. Peter pulls back his sheets to see what he's just touched, and his eyes land on the book (R/1) had written their love story in.

The love story Peter had wished was real.

He takes the book in his hands and stares down at the drawn flowers on the cover. (R/1) couldn't have forgotten this. It wasn't like she had many possessions with her anyway, and this is so important to her. No. It was no mistake. (R/1) had left it here for a reason.

She had left it for Peter to remember.

xxx

Edmund's knuckles tap at the wooden door as he stands in the warm night air. It wasn't cold out, Edmund was happy to find, but rather a pleasant temperature that allowed him to walk about without his cloak on. Although he loves being a King, he's always hated some of the things that he being a King has to wear. Tonight he was in his normal attire. Tonight he was Edmund Pevensie, not the Just King of Narnia.

The door swings open and Edmund is met by an older woman with thick hair curled at her shoulders.

"Edmund." She smiles, "Come in."

"It's alright, madam." Edmund speaks, "Is (R/2) home?"

"Just a moment."

The woman steps back inside of her house and Edmund waits on the doorstep. He looks around the outside of the house, even though he's been here so many times before. He almost chuckles when he looks over at the broken bench outside one of the windows. He had sat there with (R/2) when the two of them had no plans and wanted some company, but the weight didn't hold well and the wood snapped in two. He and (R/2) had laughed so hard he had felt his stomach tighten.

Footsteps sound nearer as Edmund sees the shadow of his favorite woman nearing the door. He smiles instantly upon seeing (R/2) in the doorway, but then his smile fades as he notices that she has been crying.

"Edmund." (R/2) says with a weak smile, "What is it?"

"I came to see if you were alright." Edmund speaks.

He had heard from Susan rather than his brother that (R/2) had broken off their courtship. Susan didn't know all the details and Peter was too much in a gloom-filled state to say anything about it, so Edmund had wanted to come and see (R/2) personally. He knows how much Peter means to her, whether she accepted it or not.

"I'm fine." (R/2) says, brushing her hair out of her face.

And Edmund believes her. She said it so heartfelt, so how could he not? But it was more than that. He's known her for practically his entire life in Narnia and so he could always tell when she was lying or if something was wrong. Right now, she had spoken the truth.

"(R/1)'s gone and..." Edmund starts his sentence but can't seem to finish it.

(R/2) takes a step forward so that she's on the doorstep with him.

"Where's Peter?" She asks.

And there she is, always caring about the other person even when she herself needs the attention more. It's one of the many things Edmund loves about her.

"He's stuck in his room like a sack of misery." Edmund sighs, "I thought if you weren't doing anything and wanted to come around for dinner, then we could all go and see a play. I hear that the play about the Gladiators is performing tonight. I remember you saying you were interested in it."

(R/2) smiles at Edmund, but then a soft sound escapes her lips. She's sobbing. 

"Oh, princess." Edmund says, stepping closer to her and placing his hand on her arm.

She whimpers into the palm of her hand before brushing the tears away from her eyes.

"I'm fine." She says. "Edmund, really. I'm fine."

But this time Edmund can tell that she's lying.

"I was just thinking of Peter, that's all. I'm sorry." He admits.

"I understand."

With the two of them standing so close to each other and Edmund's hand on her arm, the two of them stop feeling like individuals and start to feel connected.

xxx

Edmund's fingers drum on the wooden table in the dining room as he looks down at his sisters, Caspian, and (R/2). She's sitting directly at his right and he realizes that it's been some time since the two of them have sat next to each other like this. If it happened so, they would sit next to each other when watching a play. But Peter was always usually between them.

The door down the hallway opens and shuts and footsteps near the room. Peter steps inside with his head looking down at the ground, but when he looks up he suddenly stops in his tracks. His eyes meet (R/2)'s and they look at each other in silence.

"Hi, Peter." She says after a moment.

"Hi, (R/2)." He replies.

His voice isn't harsh or broken. It's steady. (R/2) and Peter are going to be just fine.

"You could have started." Peter says, walking over to an empty chair, "You didn't have to wait for me."

"Of course we did." Susan says sincerely, "Eat, Peter. You have to eat."

Lucy passes down a bowl of food after she has taken her share and Caspian begins to fill his plate. Peter sits down and pours himself some water from the jug. Everyone puts some food on their plate to eat, but no one talks. Edmund looks over at (R/2) and she looks back at him.

"The play about the Gladiators is performing tonight." She says, after clearing her throat.

"Oh really?" Edmund asks, pretending to not have known.

"Would you like to go?" (R/2) gestures around to the whole table.

"Isn't that actor going to be performing?" Edmund asks, "Peter, the one you like."

"Yes. He's Italian, isn't he?" Lucy says.

"I think so. He changed his name, didn't he? Caspian, did he change his name?"

Caspian looks up from his plate with food on his fork. He looks around the table and then back at Edmund.

"He must have." He shrugs, taking a bite out of his food.

Susan kicks Caspian's shin under the table and he almost drops his fork.

"So, it's a plan." (R/2) smiles.

"Yes. Right, Peter?" Edmund asks.

He looks over at his brother.

"Sure." He nods.

His voice was almost broken that time.

xxx

The play was going well so far. Edmund found himself really enjoying it. Maybe it was because he felt he hadn't enjoyed something so much in a long time, but either way, he was happy that he had suggested for everyone to come. He's sitting next to (R/2) and Peter is sitting next to her. Then Susan, Lucy, and Caspian.

The two actors on the stage voiced their lines with such sincerity that Peter could feel himself in their words. They were saying that they couldn't live without each other and that their love was all that they needed to survive. Peter swallows and then turns to look over at (R/2) and his brother.

"I've got a headache." He says.

Edmund leans forward in his seat, readying himself to get up.

"It's alright." Peter says, waving Edmund to sit back down, "Stay."

As Peter gets up and shuffles down the aisle, Susan looks down at Edmund and gives him a look. He shrugs and then sits back down. He wouldn't be able to stop Peter even if he tried right now. And maybe it was best for Peter to get some fresh air and think in a space where there wasn't a lot of noise.

After the play, everyone talked about how much they loved it. Lucy and Susan seemed to have the same points on the play, as they always usually do. Caspian said he enjoyed it, but everyone could tell he would have rather something with a bit more story to it. Susan laughed at him and he decided to take her for a walk at the docks, so everyone said goodnight.

And then, surprisingly, Lucy decided to leave as well.

"You two walk home." She said, "I want to roam the forest for a bit."

Edmund had tried to talk her out of it, saying that it would be better if they all stuck together. It wasn't because he felt that it would be too dangerous if Lucy was alone-- even though she was more than capable of handling herself-- but for the fact that he wanted the company. Lucy merely shook her head and said goodnight.

And so now he and (R/2) walk down the cobblestone roads that lead to her home. 

"It's strange, but I never felt as if Peter really did love me." (R/2) says, having opened up to Edmund about what had happened between her and his brother, some minutes before. "I thought that maybe it was because I wasn't royal. Maybe it was because I'm not interesting."

"But you are." Edmund says, "It doesn't matter that your family doesn't live in a castle. You're interesting because you're true to yourself."

"With parents who both work under royal authority, it's hard to deny."

"Why would you want to deny it?"

Edmund looks over at (R/2), having his gaze been previously on the ground. 

"Peasant. Sharecropper. Yokel." (R/2) says the names she has been called, walking directly in front of Edmund.

"Commoner." Edmund says in a funny accent, stepping close to (R/2) and then back to his usual pace.

(R/2) chuckles and then walks back beside Edmund, her shoulder almost touching his.

"They teased me all the time growing up. I hated it." (R/2) says, "I wanted to run away."

She looks over at Edmund who is already looking at her.

"When I was fifteen I started dying my hair. I wanted a change." She says.

Edmund almost widens his eyes at hearing this. He's heard of hair dye before, but he never thought he knew someone who had actually dyed their own hair, especially in Narnia. Edmund always thought (R/2)'s hair was the color he sees now.

"My mother wept." She continues, "And my father didn't speak to me for over a month."

She begins to laugh and Edmund smiles at her. He's happy that she's laughing. He hasn't heard that sweet sound come from her lips in a while.

"But it doesn't matter your status." Edmund says, "You should be proud of who you are. To be Narnian is to be proud. What would you rather, be a royal with a mountain of responsibilities to uphold or live a life of which you can decide?"

"But being a King is not all bad." (R/2) says, looking at Edmund more intently.

"No, of course not. I love being a King. But sometimes I wish I didn't have so many expectations of me."

"Well, I think you're an amazing King, Edmund."

He looks over at her and smiles warmly.

"Thank you, (R/2). That means a great deal to me." He says.

(R/2) smiles back at him and the two of them walk in a comfortable silence towards her home. Soon enough the two of them were standing in front of (R/2)'s house, but she made no move to walk inside. Not yet.

"I'll see you, Edmund." She smiles.

"Goodnight." Edmund says, stepping forward to kiss her on the cheek.

When he pulls back to look her in the eyes, he moves just that more forward so that he's nearer to her face.

"Princess." He whispers.

Then, all of the sudden, (R/2) moves closer even more and their lips touch softly. Neither of them deepen or continue the kiss, but they let each other stay like that for a little while. Just so that they can feel each other. And Edmund almost loses himself at how soft her lips feel against his.

(R/2) is the one to pull away. She looks between both of Edmund's eyes as he just looks at her without anything to say. He's never been kissed before.

"Goodnight, Edmund." She whispers.

Then she turns around and walks up the doorstep to open the door and step inside. When the door closes, Edmund blinks. The night air starts to feel warmer, and Edmund can feel his cheeks flush. His heart beats louder but still steady in his chest, and the world around him looks soft like the world does in a dream.

As Edmund walks back to the castle that night, he notices that (R/2) hadn't stopped him from calling her by the nickname he had given her. Usually, she told him that she felt uncomfortable by being called a princess when she isn't one, but tonight she had let him. And when he had called her it, she had kissed him. 

(R/2) didn't regret doing so. When her lips touched Edmund's lips her whole world fell into perspective. She had always wanted to see the attributes that Edmund has in Peter. She had always wanted Peter to act a little more like his younger brother. Could it have been that this entire time she had secretly wanted to be with Edmund rather than Peter?

Only when Edmund speaks to her or calls her nice compliments did she ever feel her heart flutter. She smiles to herself as she brushes her hair with her comb, thinking about the kiss over and over again. And as she looks at her reflection in the mirror, she wonders what she would look like if she had never dyed her hair.

She wonders what Edmund would say when he sees how she really looks.

xxx

The next morning Edmund opened up Peter's door to his private room to wake him as, seeing as he hadn't eaten breakfast yet.

"Are you alright?" He asks, seeing his brother lying on his bed in the same clothes he was wearing the night before. "What's this?"

Edmund points down to Peter's feet where he still has his shoes on.

"I was tried." Peter says, "I'm getting up. I'm getting up."

Peter throws the single sheet that laid on top of him off and onto the floor. Then he swings his feet off the side of his bed and walks out of the room. Edmund sighs as he watches his brother leave and looks back down at his bed. That's when he notices the edge of a book sticking out from under his pillow. He picks the book up in his hands and studies the drawn flowers on the cover.

xxx

The boat creaks as it sways from left to right on the ocean. It was still tied to the dock, but (R/1) had found that she couldn't sleep. There's a knock on the door to the room Caspian had let her sleep in, and then he steps inside after the door opens.

"It's time." He says.

(R/1) already has her bags next to her on the bed. She looks at Caspian and then nods.

It's time to leave Narnia.