Susan was miffed with her brother Peter. She couldn't understand why he insisted on playing games still with the younger children. It was one thing for Lucy and Edmund to still believe in the game they played as children and to pass it onto other children, but Peter was older then her, so he should have come to realize by now, there was no way that Narnia had been real. It was a figment of their imaginations as children.

As much as Susan had enjoyed playing the games, when her she had mentioned it to some of her friends at school and spoken to them like it was a real place, they had told her it was time to grow up and to stop believing in childish dreams. There would be no way she would be able to meet a husband if she kept up these fantasies.

So, to Peter's disappointment, she began to forget about their memories. Well, not fully forget, because she remembered them. She just didn't believe they were real any more. Peter began to wonder where the sister he had known had gone. His tone to her whenever he was around her was bitter. Susan very well remembered her conversation with Peter only a while ago when he had asked her to come with him to the Professor's for a get together.

M

"Susan," Peter knocked on the door to her room. It was open, but he was still too polite to just walk in on his sister. If it had been Edmund or their cousin, it would have been for a get together. "I am heading out with our siblings and cousin to visit the Professor."

"What ever for," Susan turned from the mirror where she had been admiring herself. She gave a look to Peter that said she knew where this was going and that she wished that it wasn't.

"To talk about Narnia. What else do we all have in common?" Peter said, trying to force the issue that Susan had been avoiding talking to him about.

"Peter… why do you insist on playing these games with them. I mean, Edmund is closing in on the age himself where he has to accept that was just a silly game we made up. And as for the Professor, I am starting to wonder if he is sane in the head." Susan commented.

"Susan! Don't say that you don't believe anymore. You lived through it as well as I did." Peter snapped at her. He then closed his eyes. "Sue, I am sorry I snapped at you."

"Maybe… you know, you could go to the dances with me. There are a few girls who have said that they think you would make good husband material." Susan said, hoping to get her brother on her side.

"Those dances you are going to, they are not considered very becoming to anyone our age. They defy the social standards mother and father set up for us. Sue… please reconsider," Peter looked at her pleadingly.

"You reconsider Peter, the fact that you are willing to believe a fantasy." Susan snapped at him. She didn't bother to apologize like he had. "I want you to leave me alone now!"

M

Susan had just begun to grow frustrated at her brother. It had grown worse then she could imagine. Peter came to her later with the craziest story she had ever heard. She began to then wonder for her brother's sanity, and that of her other siblings. What he told could in no way be real. But Peter had told her anyways.

M

"Susan, this young man, he was in need of help, and he appeared in front of us. Please, you'll help us too." Peter stated. "Our cousin and his friend have already gone to Narnia."

Susan turned to Peter in a rage. "You're telling me that you believe all this? There must have been something in this house for grown people to believe this. Some toxic chemical from the war, something that didn't affect me. That would explain why the other two have come to be affected. Perhaps the Professor's Uncle was the developer."

"Don't be silly! We are heading to the site of the mansion to dig up the rings. They really need our help Sue!" Peter pleaded with her. She thought she saw insanity in his eye, but it may have really been desperation to get her to believe again.

"No wonder they are tearing down the mansion. It is making people see things." Susan commented back. "I was defiantly right in what I said before."

"Sue…" Peter started, but then he backed down. "Sue, I hope this isn't something that you regret later.

M

Susan Pevensie was sitting at one of the dance halls. She had left a note with her brother, hoping he would see the light on the whole matter. She had many a time wanted him to come with her to this place, but he had refused. She had asked in her letter for him to join her tonight after they finished their trip out to the mansion. They should be back tonight when they realized that there was no way to get to Narnia. They would then be discussing how to find the other two.

Smoke filled the air as young men smoked their cigarettes at the bar. A few of her friends were busy sitting with them, drinking away. Susan herself had bought herself one drink and was slowly sipping it, waiting for her brother. She knew that he would be crushed, but she would do her best to make him fill better. A man suddenly came and sat across from her at the table.

"Are you Susan Pevensie?" The man said. Susan glanced up in concern as he was a complete stranger. "No need to worry, I just need to ask you a few questions about … Narnia."

"Narnia… you must be a friend of Peter's who is convinced that it is real," Susan said, her tone filled with ire.

"Just a few questions, please… I need to know is a message I have to deliver is true or not. And… if I can publish then into a book format."

"You can publish what you want into book form. There is no need to ask me. Narnia isn't real. It was just a game we played as a child. Lucy started it with creating Tumnus, that fawn, and then Edmund was drawn in, then Peter and me. Peter still believes." Her eyes turned to him, cold. "I don't need you to be pushing this with him, he is having enough problems accepting that it isn't true. What is your question?"

"No… you answered it by giving me details." The man sighed and stood up. "And I do have a message to deliver. I was hoping that you weren't how to put it, like you are, which is disappointing to say the least. But believe me, my message is true."

"What is your message?" Susan took a nice swig of her drink.

"Susan Pevensie, I am sorry to tell you this. Your parents, your siblings, the professor, the maid that used to work at the mansion, your cousin and his friend. They are all dead." The man stated.

Susan's face turned vividly rigid. "How dare you play such a joke on me? Did Peter put you up to this! I knew he had problems, but this is rediculice!"

"You can choose to believe me or not. It doesn't matter one bit at all." The man got up and headed out to leave. "But I think their story needs to be told… and the story of the other Susan. Remember, once a Queen of Narnia, always a Queen of Narnia."

M

Susan walked home by herself, angry that Peter had tried to play such a cruel trick on her. She opened the door to the apartment they shared. Their parents hadn't been thrilled about a young woman getting an apartment on her own. They had insisted that if she did, he would move in with her. Susan hadn't been pleased with the idea.

Susan put her purse down on the table and noticed that the letter she had left him was untouched and still in the same position. But the place she had gone was clear as a bell, written where he could see it without moving the letter. She went and knocked on the door to his room, but received no answer.

Suddenly, a knock came on the front door of her apartment and she went downstairs to answer it. She opened it to find that a police officer was standing there, his hat removed. "Ms. Susan Pevensie I believe?"

"Yes, that would be me?" Susan stated, confusion on her face.

"I am sorry to inform you that there has been an accident. There was a train crash today. Two trains collided together. Your siblings were on one train, your parents on another. None of them survived." The man said. Susan could only look at him in disbelief.

"What do you mean? My brother… he had to have come home. He's upstairs up in a room." Susan stated, denying what was happening.

"That isn't possible. The trains crashed earlier today." At this statement from the copper, Susan felt her knees buckle.

M

A few years passed for Susan. Her parents' estate and what was left of the Professors all went to her, making it so that she would be able to take care of herself for quite some time. She still went and got a job laundering clothing to take care of making sure it would last longer. It was also her way of washing away those feelings of hers.

The other way was to go out and have a drink each night at the place she had been the day that her family had died. She was looking for someone to take care of her. As her aunt said, husband material that wouldn't be after her money. Her Aunt had an idea of what she was doing and told her that she was going to find someone who would try to take all of her inheritance.

Susan could care less, as she could care less about the series of books that man who had confronted her was publishing. She wanted nothing to do with his as she figured he had spoken to Peter earlier about Narnia and, in seeing the train accident in the newspaper, had decided to play a cruel joke on her.

Susan had met a young man who had begun to treat her like she meant something to him. He was the kind of man though, in her subconscious, she knew that Peter would see for what he was really trying to do. Peter would have stirred up a fight with him to leave Susan alone or have chased him far away. But Peter wasn't around, nor was anyone else for that matter to keep an eye on her.

She had brought the young man to her Aunt's house only to have her Aunt become very upset. Her Aunt knew something about the young man, but Susan lost her temper and left before she could be told what her Aunt knew. The young man was also trying to make sure that Susan didn't find out.

Susan was sitting at the bar with him having a drink. He puffed a cigarette and blew it in a puff to impress her. He was the exact opposite of her brother and lived for thrills and hurting other people, but Susan didn't think that he would hurt her. He leaned over to her ear and whispered into her ear. "It wouldn't hurt to have a little fun once, would it Sue?"

Susan suddenly squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, not responding to him. He then whispered into her ear. "It isn't as if we aren't going to get married, no? Even your friends have been asking when the wedding will be."

This was true enough, Susan's current choice in friends were wondering when they were going to get married. They, like her didn't know much about this young man except that he was a charmer and a looker, someone who would seem to a young woman to be the perfect husband. He whispered some more things into her ear. Susan found her self being convinced.

M

It was soon after that she found she was regretting her choice. Once had not been a good thing for her. It had been painful and hurt. She had asked him to stop, but he had not. While he was doing this, he verbally abused her, telling her how much she was worth to him. He told her that all he had planned on doing was getting some of her money. When that didn't work, he would take what other fun he could of her. That was the way he was.

She had the next day run crying to her Aunt, who instantly became upset. Her Aunt then told her what she had been trying to tell her. That man was married and constantly cheated on his wife to get money from what he considered rich prospects. He would take all he could from the women and then not come back. Susan said she didn't want him to come back, not realizing that she would be wanting someone.

After a couple of weeks, Susan found herself unable to keep down her morning breakfast. She lay in bed for a few days thinking it was a sickness, but came to soon realize that it wasn't going to go away. This made her get up and move about, but her neighbors became conscious of what was going on and mumbled pities about the man having taken advantage of a girl in mourning. She didn't understand why they did so and just went on with her life.

She missed the thing she used to expect monthly. But no one had spoken to her about what that meant, missing it. She was relieved that she no longer had the pain she had used to have monthly and didn't think anything of it. She actually worked extra hard the first day she had realized she had missed the cramps in her lower back.

Susan had stopped going to that place and withdrew into herself other then her laundry because she didn't want the pain of what had happened that night to happen again. She tended to be very vain and even her customers noticed that, even with obviously having been taken advantage of by the man, for she had stopped speaking of him and it was obvious to all but her what was going on with her, that she kept her looks going strong.

So, it came to no surprise that two months later, she began to notice a small bulge in her stomach while she was dressing. She glanced at in confusion, her mind at such a state she was still not putting two and two together. She was pained still by her families' death and what the man had done to her. She ran a hand over her stomach, turning pale.

Susan's solution was to start eating less. As the next month progressed it became harder to do so as she had certain cravings for certain foods. But she kept eating a select amount of food each day. There was no way that she would continue growing fat, but she continued to do so, to her disbelief. It also seemed she was getting weak from lack of food.

At the end of the month, she finally went to her aunt. Her Aunt was glad to see her, as she hadn't visited in awhile. She then asked what Susan had come to her for. She was shocked to find out that Susan was upset that she was constantly growing fat. Her Aunt turned pale. "Susan, child, is all that you can think of is your looks, so that you can't see what is really going on."

"I don't understand, for the past three months, I've been throwing up in the mornings, not to mention eating little. Yet I am becoming fat in my midsection. I'll never find a husband this way." Susan stated.

"Susan, you foolish child… you're an adult, but you still act like a child! Your … sweetie, you're with child." Her Aunt stated, looking away.

"With child? How can that be? I am not married. I don't even know how a child is made." Susan stated.

"Child, what that man did to you; that is how a baby is made." Her Aunt said, causing Susan to turn pale."

"You're saying I have his child? Inside me?" Susan suddenly regained her composure. "It was only one night. There is no way that I have a … there is no way. I have some sort of disease. That is what the problem is."

Her Aunt decided to change the subject to something else. "Since you are ill, perhaps you would like to stay with us for awhile. You won't be able to continue your job if you are really ill."

Susan bit her lip and decided it was best to agree with her Aunt. Her Aunt sent her husband to go and get some things from Susan's parent's house, which she had moved back into after the death in the family. She was then placed in her Aunt's guest room with the painting of the sailing ship.

M

Six more months passed and Susan became listless. Her Aunt had a concoction for her each morning to take care of the sickness. Her stomach continued to grow and the doctor frequently visited her. When he had insisted the same thing as her Aunt, she denied it and would look out the window, so he just agreed with her. Her Aunt had brought her the concoction yet again. Susan gave it a disdained look.

"I want to lose this weight. When I was throwing up, I hadn't grown as fat each day as I am now. And, I think it is causing my body revolt on me, it feels like something is kicking me from the inside out." Susan didn't notice her Aunt's look. "And… the last few days…"

Her eyes went wide in pain. Her Aunt paled immensely. "Susan, you foolish, foolish girl! Why didn't you tell me!"

Her Aunt was suddenly calling down to her husband to run for the doctor. Susan slowly felt the pain increase. She turned to her Aunt, pale. "I think I am dieing as the pain just gets worse and worse and closer together. I didn't wish to worry you."

When the doctor came, he gave Susan something that made her drowsy and fall into a semi-consciousness state that would make it so that she would do what he said when he said it. Susan was only aware about him giving her instructions. She was furious that he was doing what he was doing, lifting her skirt and pulling away her underwear, but her Aunt and Uncle held her firm. She did as the doctor told her to do, crying from pain and humiliation.

What brought Susan fully into her surrounding was that she felt something slipping from inside her, through the pain. She then suddenly heard a loud cry of a baby. She began to cry uncontrollably as the doctor held up the baby. He cut the cord that obviously attached in too her and put it to be disposed of. The baby was cleaned and then placed into her arms.

"Peter," Susan sobbed, calling out for her older brother who had always been there to protect her. She had wanted him many times over the years, but not so much as that night with that man or today. She couldn't stop calling out his name even when the doctor asked what the boys name would be. So her Aunt responded for her. "The child's name will be after his dead Uncle. He'll be Peter Christopher Pevensie the Second."

M

Susan, through the first three years of Peter's life had problems looking him in the face. Not only could he be compared to pictures of her dead brother at that age, but he could also be compared to look like him by her Aunt and Uncle. Thus her Aunt and Uncle gave more care to the boy then she did. It wasn't until her Aunt said something to her that she began to take an interest in the boy.

"It will be interesting to see what Peter would have looked like as an adult." Her Aunt had said, causing her to turn her head. "And to see if the boy has Peter's heart and courage."

Susan then began to take pride in the small child and care about him. She held him close to her and wouldn't let him leave her side. She told him about the made up land that she and her siblings had made as children. She also commented on how her Aunt thought her cousin had run away from a girl. Susan figured that was why her Aunt didn't come down hard on her for having a child out of wed lock.

When Peter was about to enter school, Susan was approached by a nightmare. The man came over to her, requesting that he see his son. He knew that the boy could only be his. He didn't just leach off women for money, he had money of his own. He felt that he could give the boy so much more then his lecher of a mother. He insisted that the boy have his name changed to his.

Susan ordered him to leave. The man had no physical shred that the child was his, which made the man angry. He stormed off, saying that he would have an effect on the boy whether he liked it or not. Susan then began to receive foreign money in the mail, which she tucked away. She was going to prove that she could take care of Peter herself.

M

The man publishing the stories was about to publish what he said would be the last book. He came over to see Susan one last time. He presented her with the idea that some of the money could go towards a college fund for her son, as the other Pensivie's would probably have wanted it to be done so. Susan refused, telling the man that there was no such place as Narnia and no such thing as magic. The man shook his head and disappeared.

Susan hadn't bothered to read any of the other books, but decided to borrow the last from a friend of hers. Her mouth dropped in dismay as it related everything. She was bitter, trying to figure out how the man had conned so much out of her older brother. Why was it that Peter and the others had to die. There was no way that they were somewhere special. They were gone. She quickly returned the book to her friend.

M

Meanwhile, Peter continued to grow. He was able to go to college and become a lawyer. He also married a nice young woman. His mother wasn't happy about him marring and wouldn't speak with him for six years. He then invited her over to meet his four children. She bitterly came over.

Two children, a boy and girl the same age were sitting against a tree reading a book. Her son nodded over to his eldest son and daughter. "My son Peter the third and his twin sister Susan. She is named after you and he, after uncle. I know you weren't twins with uncle, but I felt this was like a second life for them. I can't tell why."

"Peter… please tell me that you didn't name the other two after my other two siblings?" Susan asked, her face turning pale.

"Actually, I did. Edmund was born two years after that and Lucy a year later." Susan watched as two small children ran up the walk. The boy was three and the girl two. The boy was carrying something, quite upset.

"Papa, fix it," Edmund held out his hands. A bird that looked to be dead was in them and Susan shook her head in dismay. So like her younger brother to do something like that.

"I fix it Eddy," Lucy said, pulling her brother's hands down. She stroked the birds head and it jumped to life and flew out of the boys hands.

"Like magic…" He commented, staring after the bird.

"There is no such thing as magic child," Susan stated, shaking her head. "It is just that bird needed a little motivation to move."

The two children ran off. Susan's son shook his head at her. "Why do I get the feeling that you are mad at me?"

"Mad, no… I shouldn't have not spoken with you… it was about time you married, you were getting old… look at me, an old maid." Susan commented.

"You could have married mother," The young man said, for he defiantly was younger then her.

"I never wanted to live through that night again," Susan stated. She noticed the look on his face. "I made some major mistakes, even fought with my brother before he died. Yes, what I did with your father was part of my naivety about how the world really was. But, I would trade you for the world. You brought me back too life. And these children… for their sake I will try to get to know your wife. I will try."

Peter the second squeezed her hand. "Thank you mother. I love you dear, and I hope the children will too."