[fic] What You Leave Behind

[thistlerose]

What You Leave Behind

Fandom: The Chronicles of Narnia
Rating: if you're old enough to read the books and watch the movies, you're old enough to read this story
Characters/Ships: Peter and Susan, shipless
Summary: Peter tries, one last time.
A/N: This one is for many-miles-away, with gratitude and appreciation of her talent and generosity. Approx. 1,350 words

Comments

[muridae_x]

By a stunning coincidence I was eating strawberries when I stumbled upon this. There are a couple of tiny bits I'd probably Britpick for accuracy, but it's a nice mood piece: a lovely, lyrical, haunting moment that slips away.

Oh, poor Susan. I don't really think of the train accident and transplantation to the Narnia that's more real than the Narnia we know as an unqualified happy ending for the rest of them, but my heart still bleeds for her every time I think of what she lost. Her entire family, that is, because there's always hope that she can take the long road. Peter slipping her the rings is a really nice touch.

But mostly it's about a moment when she's not yet ready to move on from having moved on, and there being no time left for Peter and the others to wait for her to do so. I like that you have the encounter being with Peter, because the two of them are paired in terms of their encounters with Narnia. And I can entirely see why she wouldn't want to encounter Edmund: he was always the one who saw things clearest for what they really are, and at this time in her life she'd probably find that extremely uncomfortable.

[thistlerose]

Mmmm, strawberries. I had a craving, and they somehow found their way into the fic. *g*

I'm so glad that you liked this! Susan's fate is something I've thought about a lot, and written about a little, from a couple of different angles. The Last Battle troubles me. As much as I love Narnia, I feel for Susan - maybe more than any other character. In this story, I wanted to give her the means to follow her family, at least as far as the Wood Between the Worlds, since I think it's probably too late to use the rings to get to Narnia. But I kind of hope it will be a long time before she pursues them. I want her to grow up a little and become altogether fabulous in her own world.

[muridae_x]

I want her to grow up a little and become altogether fabulous in her own world.

Oh yes. Because she's the one of them all who most accepts their home world as having value too, there's no reason whatsoever why she shouldn't. She'll mourn her family, grow up one day at a time and find something worthwhile to do with her life, maybe marry and have kids, maybe not, and live on to experience all the ways that the world changes after the war.

And then, after she's lived to a ripe old age, it would be time to come back to her other home, ready for it at last and richer for the experiences she's had in the meantime.

That's my happy ending for Susan, anyway.

[thistlerose]

That's what I see happening too. I very much want her to fall in love with her own world and have a long, fulfilling life before going to join the rest of her family.