(A/N: Perhaps just a little steamier, after all they have showers in London, but still nothing explicit. April's POV - Chapter song: You And I - Bing Crosby, 1941)

April wondered if she and Peter were doing the right thing by staying physically intimate. If she hadn't had the miscarriage maybe they would have gotten married as soon as they came back, but it was pointless to wonder about those kind of 'what ifs'. Her parents had left the decision up to them and obviously Peter's parents did too. She wondered if they had talked of it together, she was sure they had.

In her heart she knew she and Peter wouldn't be able to stay away from each other, they had been too close, too 'married' in Narnia. There was no way they could go back to doing nothing, and perhaps their parents were wise not to force them to stay apart. She could see where it might do damage to their physical relationship later.

She smiled a slow dreamy smile thinking about this morning. She had missed his touch so much and he been so gentle and understanding of her misgivings. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back under the water. She ran a hand down her body reliving his touch. Where was he? He was supposed to join her.

"Peter?" she called with her eyes still closed.

"Here," he said, much closer than she expected.

Her eyes flew open and she jumped, almost slipping. He was standing at the edge of the shower watching her with a very contented look on his face. He stepped into the tub and drew her close.

"You are a beautiful sight for these very sore eyes."

She sighed, "I have missed looking at you too."

He pushed her back under the water and kissed her long and deep. She melted against him awash with sensation. The shower was a long one full of intimate touches and kisses. He washed her hair which was absolutely lovely, and then he washed the rest of her. She washed him as well. It was different than bathing with him in the small pits of hot springs that had been carved out of the rock under the castle at Cair Paravel in Narnia. That had been wonderful in its own way, but this shower, meant they were back in England, together. It was helping to cement her to him, here, in this world, something she had really struggled with and needed desperately. There was much they still needed to discuss and the adjustments to being back in Spare Oom was one of them.

It was wonderful to be alone, really alone with him. Privacy in Narnia was merely an illusion, although the good beasts were kind and sensitive enough to pretend they didn't see or hear anything.

Peter broke into her thoughts by softly singing into her ear. "Darling, you and I, know the reason why, a summer sky is blue, and why all birds in the trees sing melodies too. And my love will grow from the first hullo until the last goodbye. So to sweet romance, there is just one answer, you and I."

"Oh Peter! You have a beautiful voice!"

He knew just how to make her melt, and his singing to her was on her list of things she had always dreamed of him doing.

"It's nothing special," he said almost embarrassed.

"Don't be silly, you should sing more, especially to me."

He smiled and hugged her close. She started humming the tune, a popular one by Bing Crosby called 'You and I'. He sung the song again, and soon they were singing together in the shower. It was so much fun and amazingly made her feel even closer to him. Life, at least in this moment, was absolutely wonderful, even perfect!

~~0~~

She walked into his bedroom as he was pulling his t-shirt over his head.

"You're getting dressed?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

His own eyebrows shot up, "You're not?"

She held out her hand and he looked confused for a millisecond then grinned and handed her the shirt. She put it on and he groaned.

"You really know how to push my buttons, but I'm starving!"

She smiled a sweet but knowing smile at him, "I know," she simply said.

She loved being able to please and tease him at the same time. Why not just wear his t-shirt? They were alone after all. She looked at him, he bent down to grab the trousers of his pajamas, and the muscles actually rippled in his shoulders and upper back. She had noticed in the shower that he looked even more built.

"Peter? What have you been doing while we were apart?"

"What?"

She looked at his chest and walked over and traced some of the new definitions. He caught his breath.

"Oh...martial arts. Come on, let's go fix breakfast and I will explain. We have a lot of catching up to do."

He took her hand and led her down the stairs, into the kitchen. His parents had left the house as if no one would be there, the shades were mostly pulled and the lights off. She started moving around the kitchen turning on small lights and getting ready to fix breakfast. She had spent some time in this kitchen and knew her way around. She stopped and looked at him, he was staring at her.

"Peter...if you want to eat, you are going to have to help and not just enjoy the view." She laughed, pleased that he liked to look at her.

"Oh, right...yes."

He started to help and as they worked he began to talk.

"I was so angry when I left you. It turns out our physical education instructor had to leave due to the war and was replaced by a Mr. Kai. I have come to know him as Master Kai. My anger tinged everything I did, I rarely smiled or made eye contact. Edmund says that I had an edge to me that was razor sharp and people just shied away from me. Poor Ed, I really owe him an apology. I'm afraid he got the worse end of my grief."

She went over to him. "Are you angry now?"

"No, I feel better, more 'in balance' as Master Kai would say. In fact one day during the first week I was back. I pushed myself so much harder than the others, he pulled me aside and asked why I was angry. I couldn't believe it, no one else, who knew me before the spring holiday had noticed. For some reason I knew I could trust this stranger, so I told him my fiancée had a miscarriage and I wasn't dealing well with it. Just saying it out loud helped, all he did was nod and said meet him the next morning at 6:00 a.m."

He thought for moment, then continued, "And I did. I didn't care about classes, homework, other people, but I cared enough to show up. He started to train me in mostly in what people refer to Kung Fu, Chinese martial arts. It was very cathartic, and it helped me to focus the anger so I could function. I loved the discipline of it and worked at it harder than he expected. It reminded me of so many of our trainers in Narnia and it was a relief to use my body and not to have to think about you, or the...baby. So I guess there is evidence of the training."

She stopped what she was working on and came over placing her hands on his chest. "I'm glad you found something to help you. I was worried. You were so stoic those last few days. It was like you had locked away your emotions."

"I did. As I said last night, it was one of the reasons I couldn't come to see you. I couldn't face you and not think about it. I couldn't see how I would be able to function if I thought about it."

"What about now?" she asked cautiously.

"I needed to hash it out with you to make it better, I see that now. And I am so glad my family forced me to. Without you my world is so dark."

She moved her hands up his chest and around his neck thus raising the t-shirt up. He growled as his hands moved down.

"You are driving me crazy in this shirt, you know that don't you?"

"I'm sorry," she said in a way that said that she wasn't and pulled his head down to kiss her. His hands moved further down and around her. And, she found she was hungry, not only for breakfast but for his touch and his kiss. It was some time before they remembered the breakfast they were cooking. The smell of burning biscuits jolted them apart and she heard him chuckle as she rushed to rescue their food.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I was just thinking what I wouldn't give for a kitchen and service staff that would bring food to our door like before."

She smiled at that and agreed.

"Are you going to sit on my lap and feed me like before as well?"

She shot him a coquettish look that made him take steps toward her, and simply said, "Maybe..."

They ate mostly in silence, glancing at each other. When he caught her eye she could not look away. He was sending her a message that made her knees go weak. To regain her sense of balance she decided to tease him some more. She waited until he was almost done eating then stretched her leg out under the table and found his. His eyes opened wide.

She said in a low teasing voice, "You know, Peter, perhaps we should get out of the house a bit today, go shopping, and see the sights. Would you like that?"

"Perhaps someone should think about what they are doing before teasing so much?"

"Oh, is someone teasing you, your Majesty?" she smiled.

Looking at his eyes she saw them light and then turn glittery. She had seen them like that only a few times before, and it made her catch her breath. He slowly stood and came around to her side of the table. She stood up too and he quickly pulled her close.

Low into her ear he spoke. "Two can play at this game, and believe me when I say you will be begging the King for leniency before we are through."

Heat shot through her body and she was lost. Lost in his embrace, in his kiss, in the passion he poured into her. Barely aware of anything but his lips caressing hers, the touch of his warm strong hands running over her body, his whisper of words against her ear that spoke of the things he had planned for her, things meant to reduce her to putty in his adept hands. His strong arms lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him powerless to do anything but hold on. Eventfully he placed her on the couch and was relentless in his pursuit of her pleasure, and truly ruthless in his efforts to bring her to the brink that she did indeed have to beg him for release. With kingly bearing he granted her request proving as he had said in Narnia, he was indeed 'ruthless, but never cruel'.

He held her close as she floated languidly in his embrace. She laughed and turned to him, laughing again as his smug look turned to surprise at the change of her mood.

"I love your games, Peter Pevensie, and I love you. But you had better watch out, because you never know when I might exact this same vengeance upon you!"

He laughed and kissed her. "I look forward to it, my Queen."

(Part 2 of this chapter...coming soon.)