[for Pevensies, Eustace, Jon]

[onceaqueen]

Susan was still rather upset about Jon's leaving her to go off with the Dawn Treader crew, but she had put that aside for the time being, thinking about how excited Lucy and Edmund would be--especially Lucy--that Peter had arrived. They were due back any time now, and as Susan was both dreading and anticipating it, she kept herself busy, going out

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[youngestqueen]

Lucy had practically run the last way to the house. She'd missed her sister a great deal, and worried about her some as well, alone at the house. Yes the Starks weren't far and Susan had said it was all well, but the longer they'd been gone the more she'd thought of her sister and Rickon. Seeing Susan outside she picked up her pace, calling out her sister's name.

[eldestking]

He heard her voice as if from a dream and he stepped out the front door, seeing Susan's figure heading toward him with the basket of vegetables, and then a familiar, smaller figure in the distance. Oh, god-- Lucy. He watched her small frame heading for him, the long auburn hair shining. It had been months since he'd seen her, since he'd seen any of his siblings. She looked older, even from this distance. My little sister. Our youngest queen.

He grinned widely and stood at the doorframe, waiting.

[youngestqueen]

Lucy was so focussed on her sister that at first she paid no attention to the man in the door. Only after a few more steps she could see it was not Robb or Ned, none of the Starks. It was a face she new and a face she had missed, dearly.

Her movement slowed until she'd come to a complete stop, staring at the man in the door from across the fire. "Peter?" Her heart had jumped even as she said the name. If it weren't her brother, her disappointment would be fierce she thought. "Is it- Is it you?"

[eldestking]

He slid his hands in the pockets of his trousers, smiling crookedly. "It's me, Lu." There wasn't much else to say; he'd missed her terribly over the past couple months, but if Susan was right, Lucy'd been there nearly a year. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for-- tears, rage, disbelief... He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and just... waited.

[eldestking]

Peter had gotten quite used to Rickon's howls, and had been more than happy to spend the afternoon tending to him while Susan went to the garden. Rickon may only be six weeks old, but that was six weeks of catching up with his nephew.

Rickon had gotten particularly fussy and so Peter had lifted him carefully to his shoulder, leaning back and swaying gently, humming quietly and rubbing Rickon's back. He had learned quite quickly that Rickon was a fussy, fussy little prat, but that didn't mean he wasn't about to try and soothe him. He had been High King. He wasn't about to let his nephew get the best of him. He'd gotten Rickon quiet the last few times he'd tried, and thankfully, whatever magic he did worked again.

He settled Rickon back in his crib carefully, the face usually bright pink and screwed up in wails finally soft and sweet, those blue eyes closed in sleep.

[giftless]

Edmund had tarried at the dock, helping Caspian and Bush clean up after the voyage. He wasn't especially eager to go home, you see, and Lucy had already run ahead so it wasn't as if someone needed to tell Susan that they were back. Edmund wanted to find out when they were going out to sea again, and postponing reality seemed the smart way to go about it.

Eventually he did head home though, feeling ravenous and wanting to give Su a proper hug. Bursting through the door, the only thing that stopped Edmund was the silence and the sight of a familiar blond head turned away from him.

He didn't know what to say, and for two seconds stood there in the doorway, dumb and surprised and waiting for something.

[eldestking]

He heard the commotion at the door and finished getting Rickon tucked in, smiling softly. It was good to feel like Rickon knew him, even though he just barely knew his nephew existed in the first place. He started speaking quietly as he finished tucking the blanket in around Rickon, straightening up as he did so. "I think I've just got him quiet, Su, so he--" He stopped dead as he registered the figure in the doorway, his mouth still somewhat open, his breathing not quite so even as it was before.

His lips closed softly into a smile. "Hi, Ed."

[giftless]

The voice confirmed it all for Edmund, but he waited until Peter had turned around and seen him, because even a hug could be awful if you're being quiet and are not prepared for it at all.

His smile strained to burst from his face so that his cheeks hurt, but he still smiled. Striding forward with long, confident steps, Edmund flung his arms around his brother for a quick, firm hug. It was a little stiff, as they did not hug terribly often and Ed didn't want to come off silly, but it was a good hug even though he stepped back soon.

"Welcome to the island. I say, that's odd to hear from me since I've only been here a few weeks, and I only saw you a few months ago. But it's good to see you, Peter."

[bothereustace]

Eustace was very relieved indeed to at last find himself on the island proper. Adventures were all well and good, he thought, but he had arrived in a rather unusual fashion and was quite looking forward to a decent night's rest after all of the excitement (though he was admittedly unsure as to where this night's rest would be taking place).

Once again in his own clothes and still carrying Caspian's second best sword, Eustace headed in the direction of what he had been told was the Snows' residence. However, for all that he looked forward to a proper bed, he walked relatively slowly. He was suddenly rather nervous, you see, as one often was when meeting relatives one wasn't particularly close to for the first time in many years. He was no fool, after all; before his first voyage aboard the Treader, he had not been especially well-liked by the Pevensies, nor had he liked them much in return (and, although things had changed between he and Edmund and Lucy, he was not so quick as to assume that everything would therefore be all right

[onceaqueen]

Susan had put on a large pot of soup, for it seemed there would be a great many mouths to feed tonight, but when Shadow began to bark she came out onto the porch to see who was coming up the path. "Eustace!" she called, waving at her cousin. Lucy had come back first and told them all about picking Eustace out of the sea, and since this seemed to be a week for reunions, she had it in mind to make Eustace feel welcome.

[bothereustace]

She was older than he had last seen her, but Eustace had expected as much, having been informed of such developments upon his arrival. However, being forewarned did not make it any less startling (she looked rather different than how he remembered) and he hesitated a moment before he waved in return.

"Susan!" he called back, smiling somewhat uncertainly as he got closer.

[onceaqueen]

Eustace looked uncertain, not that Susan could blame him. The little they had known each other at home, they hadn't gotten on very well. Susan had thought him rather strange and disagreeable, and she suspected Eustace found her boring and stuck-up. But Susan had learned in a rather roundabout way that Eustace really wasn't all that bad, and she meant to be nice to him, even if he didn't quite understand why. "Lucy said they found you out in the ocean," she said. "It seems you've come at a very interesting time."

[handandahalf]

Jon was the last to return to the house, having stayed to help Caspian put the ship to rights. He knew Sansa must be eagerly awaiting his return, and wanted to get back to his own home and family as well; even if the homecoming would be a boisterous one, what with welcoming Eustace into their midst. Jon was beginning to wonder where they were going to put all these family members; if it wouldn't be smarter simply to add a second floor to Snow House, or if they should revise the plans for how large Edmund's room was to be....

Occupied in thought, Jon's feet took him quickly home, so that he was practically at the door before he realized the crowd inside seemed larger than he'd expected it to be.

[onceaqueen]

Over the noise of everyone's chatter and hugs, Susan heard the sound of Jon's boots on the porch and Shadow eagerly scratching at the door. Susan's heart leapt, because she was glad he was home, but that was greatly tempered by the fact she hadn't wanted him to go in the first place. She was not quite sure what she wanted to say to him yet, so instead of going to the door to greet him, she gave the big pot of soup on the fire another stir and waited for him to come in.

[handandahalf]

Jon had known Susan did not want him to go on the Dawn Treader, of course; it had seemed she'd understood that he felt he had to go, but he knew it rankled her to be left behind. Reminding himself of this, he went round to the hibiscus vine growing at the side of the house, and picked a big pink blossom off it, before going back to the porch. Undoing his boots, he left them outside and went into the house barefoot, going straight to the hearth where Susan sat stirring a pot over the fire. Crouching beside her, he tucked the flower into her hair and kissed her softly on the mouth. "I missed you," he said quietly, offering her a small smile, his hand resting lightly on her shoulder.

[onceaqueen]

Susan stiffened a little when he tucked the flower into her hair; while she appreciated the gesture and thought it sweet, it also told her he knew good and well she hadn't wanted him to go and yet he'd gone and done it anyway. "I missed you, too," she said, and then added, "I was beginning to wonder if you were coming back."

[onceaqueen]

Much later in the evening, everyone had been fed and most of the stories had been told and the mess of dinner had been cleared away. Rickon was content in Lucy's arms and Susan was feeling the peculiar kind of tired that was tired but not sleepy, so she went out onto the porch and sat on the step with a cup of tea.

[giftless]

Edmund had volunteered to help clean up the dishes after dinner, so when he joined Susan on the porch, he had very clean hands and not very clean anything else. The salty scent of seawater still clung to him, mixed with the pure smell of sunshine heat trapped in his clothes.

He sat down gingerly beside Susan, not wanting to disturb her, but she looked rather peaceful and Edmund thought she might be willing to share a bit of that. "Everything happens rather quickly on this island, doesn't it?" he said quietly.

[onceaqueen]

"It does," Susan replied. "There will be long periods where nothing much happens, and then all of a sudden there is more going on than you can imagine at once." She cradled her cup of tea in her hands. "I expect you had a good time on the ship?"

[giftless]

"Brilliant," he answered enthusiastically before he could even think to stop himself. "Especially with the new island we've discovered. It was funny though," Edmund said, glancing off into the distance thoughtfully before turning to smile at Su again. "Finding it was terribly exciting, but leaving it was too. I wasn't sure if it was going to let us leave. Like when we left Calmor in the Splendour Hyaline, remember?"