Forgotten - for lettersandliars
Title: Forgotten
Author: angel_in_tears
Recipient: lettersandliars
Rating: PG
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: The Last Battle/Mentions Character Deaths
Summary: Susan struggled to deal with her loss, losing herself in memories.
The first few weeks passed in a blur. Relatives that she never knew existed, coming from nowhere. Lawyers, trying to execute her parents’ wills, were advising her that she now owned everything. It was all too much to process. As the coffins were lowered into the ground on that wet and gloomy morning, Susan did not cry. It wasn't real, it couldn't be real. This was just another battle. They would come back to her, smiling and laughing as if they had never been apart. Everyone would see. They would come back.
But they didn't.
Every day, from dawn until dusk, Susan would sit in the chair by the fireplace. Staring out the window, she would jump up if any one walked past the gate. The slightest flash of red - was that Lucy's cloak? Was it Peter's tunic? Perhaps it was Edmund’s jacket? People shook their heads when they saw her doing this, but gave allowance for her grief. She would recover in time, they told each other. It was all part of the grieving process.
Susan would dream sometimes. Dreams of another time, another place. Beautiful gowns rustling, Lucy giggling uncontrollably. Centaurs and fauns and beavers, all celebrating, all dancing with them. Battles waged and battles won, Peter and Edmund leading from the front. Herself, clad in armour, her bow and arrow in her hands. Arguing with Peter and Edmund about herself and Lucy fighting.
“Gentle doesn’t mean weak!” she had screamed at them, storming off. She had fought so hard, and proven herself to them eventually. Back home, it would be expected for the women to stay behind and look after the soldiers. Narnia was another place. Another time. There, they made their own rules.
Then had come the day where Aslan had told them that they wouldn’t be coming back. That they had learned all they could in Narnia and now was their time to leave, to live back in their own world. Lucy and Edmund would still return, but Peter and Susan would have to give up their life here. It was almost more than they could take, but they hid it well to spare Lucy and Edmund.
When they had returned to their world, Susan had found it hard to adjust. Other girls her age thought her strange, for her regal bearing and her wise manner. She made no friends and struggled with school, dreaming day in and out of Narnia, of the beautiful gowns and the screams of battle.
Her parents despaired of what to do with her. They couldn’t find fault as such, she was just no longer their child, no longer saw joy in things. And this frightened them. At their wits end, they decided to send her to stay with her Uncle and Aunt in the fashionable end of the city, hoping that this would distract her out of her strange mood.
It worked almost at once. Susan was introduced to society, and found that in a way, it was close to being back in Narnia. She threw her energies into the rigours and etiquette of social life and found it to be a battle. A battle of a different sort, waged with red lipstick and nylon stockings. But it was better than the calm before. She had been a warrior Queen. She would never be the sort of person to sit still, and be a good housewife. The intrigues and games of life here suited her perfectly.
And then had come the day when her parents and siblings had decided to take a trip to the beach. A short vacation, a little break before Peter joined the army and headed off to another war, a war in which he shouldn’t be fighting. Susan was angry at him, running off again to be a hero. Why couldn’t he understand that he wasn’t a King anymore, that he didn’t have his shield and sword and a whole army willing to die to protect him? This would be real, with guns and many men dying every day. She had yelled at him and they had parted angrily, Susan refusing to travel with them to the beach.
She threw herself into preparations for a huge party that was to be held that night, angrily muttering about Peter and Narnia and how he needed to grow up. She had grown up, had learnt that some battles couldn’t be won, and that she was stuck here. She had forgotten Narnia as best as she could. Why couldn’t Peter do the same?
Sirens had sounded that afternoon and Susan had thought nothing of them until her Aunt had returned home, tears streaming down her face. Uncle had rushed to her and caught her as she collapsed, mouthing wordlessly and staring at Susan with complete devastation. Susan had rushed to organise tea for her Aunt and brought it to her in the drawing room. It was in that drawing room, that her life changes forever. There, she learnt that she was alone, alone in this wide world. Her mother and father, her brothers and sister, were gone. The train had derailed. They were no longer with her.
How long she had wept, she didn’t know. She knew that she was carried from the drawing room into the lounge area and placed in the chair there, and from there, she barely moved. She stopped crying and stared at the flames, imagining the fires they had in Narnia. Mr Tumnus playing the flute and causing images to appear. Peter giggling and chasing her around the castle. Dancing with Edmund at their coronation ball. Splashing with Lucy in the ocean near Cair Paravel.
Susan stopped crying and steeled her way through their funerals. She sat in the chair, and watched for them to return, crying that it was all a mistake, that they were alright. That they were together again. That they forgave her for forgetting, for turning to such insignificant things as lipstick and stockings. That they loved her. It was all she needed.
One day, Susan woke up in the early hours of the morning, still in her chair, the fire smouldering behind her. The first rays of light were starting to shimmer in the horizon and movement on the pathway caught her eye. There, she could have sworn that she saw Peter, Edmund and Lucy. Crowns shimmered on their head and they smiled to her and beckoned. Susan smiled at last, and her heart felt at ease.
She would see them again.
In Narnia.
Original Prompt:
What I want: post-TLB Susan, dealing with it or falling apart, any ships are okay.
Prompt words/objects/quotes/whatever: Dorothy Parker: "They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm."
What I definitely don't want in my fic: Anything's fair game!
Author: angel_in_tears
Recipient: lettersandliars
Rating: PG
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: The Last Battle/Mentions Character Deaths
Summary: Susan struggled to deal with her loss, losing herself in memories.
The first few weeks passed in a blur. Relatives that she never knew existed, coming from nowhere. Lawyers, trying to execute her parents’ wills, were advising her that she now owned everything. It was all too much to process. As the coffins were lowered into the ground on that wet and gloomy morning, Susan did not cry. It wasn't real, it couldn't be real. This was just another battle. They would come back to her, smiling and laughing as if they had never been apart. Everyone would see. They would come back.
But they didn't.
Every day, from dawn until dusk, Susan would sit in the chair by the fireplace. Staring out the window, she would jump up if any one walked past the gate. The slightest flash of red - was that Lucy's cloak? Was it Peter's tunic? Perhaps it was Edmund’s jacket? People shook their heads when they saw her doing this, but gave allowance for her grief. She would recover in time, they told each other. It was all part of the grieving process.
Susan would dream sometimes. Dreams of another time, another place. Beautiful gowns rustling, Lucy giggling uncontrollably. Centaurs and fauns and beavers, all celebrating, all dancing with them. Battles waged and battles won, Peter and Edmund leading from the front. Herself, clad in armour, her bow and arrow in her hands. Arguing with Peter and Edmund about herself and Lucy fighting.
“Gentle doesn’t mean weak!” she had screamed at them, storming off. She had fought so hard, and proven herself to them eventually. Back home, it would be expected for the women to stay behind and look after the soldiers. Narnia was another place. Another time. There, they made their own rules.
Then had come the day where Aslan had told them that they wouldn’t be coming back. That they had learned all they could in Narnia and now was their time to leave, to live back in their own world. Lucy and Edmund would still return, but Peter and Susan would have to give up their life here. It was almost more than they could take, but they hid it well to spare Lucy and Edmund.
When they had returned to their world, Susan had found it hard to adjust. Other girls her age thought her strange, for her regal bearing and her wise manner. She made no friends and struggled with school, dreaming day in and out of Narnia, of the beautiful gowns and the screams of battle.
Her parents despaired of what to do with her. They couldn’t find fault as such, she was just no longer their child, no longer saw joy in things. And this frightened them. At their wits end, they decided to send her to stay with her Uncle and Aunt in the fashionable end of the city, hoping that this would distract her out of her strange mood.
It worked almost at once. Susan was introduced to society, and found that in a way, it was close to being back in Narnia. She threw her energies into the rigours and etiquette of social life and found it to be a battle. A battle of a different sort, waged with red lipstick and nylon stockings. But it was better than the calm before. She had been a warrior Queen. She would never be the sort of person to sit still, and be a good housewife. The intrigues and games of life here suited her perfectly.
And then had come the day when her parents and siblings had decided to take a trip to the beach. A short vacation, a little break before Peter joined the army and headed off to another war, a war in which he shouldn’t be fighting. Susan was angry at him, running off again to be a hero. Why couldn’t he understand that he wasn’t a King anymore, that he didn’t have his shield and sword and a whole army willing to die to protect him? This would be real, with guns and many men dying every day. She had yelled at him and they had parted angrily, Susan refusing to travel with them to the beach.
She threw herself into preparations for a huge party that was to be held that night, angrily muttering about Peter and Narnia and how he needed to grow up. She had grown up, had learnt that some battles couldn’t be won, and that she was stuck here. She had forgotten Narnia as best as she could. Why couldn’t Peter do the same?
Sirens had sounded that afternoon and Susan had thought nothing of them until her Aunt had returned home, tears streaming down her face. Uncle had rushed to her and caught her as she collapsed, mouthing wordlessly and staring at Susan with complete devastation. Susan had rushed to organise tea for her Aunt and brought it to her in the drawing room. It was in that drawing room, that her life changes forever. There, she learnt that she was alone, alone in this wide world. Her mother and father, her brothers and sister, were gone. The train had derailed. They were no longer with her.
How long she had wept, she didn’t know. She knew that she was carried from the drawing room into the lounge area and placed in the chair there, and from there, she barely moved. She stopped crying and stared at the flames, imagining the fires they had in Narnia. Mr Tumnus playing the flute and causing images to appear. Peter giggling and chasing her around the castle. Dancing with Edmund at their coronation ball. Splashing with Lucy in the ocean near Cair Paravel.
Susan stopped crying and steeled her way through their funerals. She sat in the chair, and watched for them to return, crying that it was all a mistake, that they were alright. That they were together again. That they forgave her for forgetting, for turning to such insignificant things as lipstick and stockings. That they loved her. It was all she needed.
One day, Susan woke up in the early hours of the morning, still in her chair, the fire smouldering behind her. The first rays of light were starting to shimmer in the horizon and movement on the pathway caught her eye. There, she could have sworn that she saw Peter, Edmund and Lucy. Crowns shimmered on their head and they smiled to her and beckoned. Susan smiled at last, and her heart felt at ease.
She would see them again.
In Narnia.
Original Prompt:
What I want: post-TLB Susan, dealing with it or falling apart, any ships are okay.
Prompt words/objects/quotes/whatever: Dorothy Parker: "They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm."
What I definitely don't want in my fic: Anything's fair game!