Morologus | narnia

12.

   Aslan's people stood tall as they marched back into the gates of their castle. The victory of the war brought a sense of pride to the nation. That night they remembered the fallen, the wounded, and those who fought, it was a quiet victory. The songs of celebration were not sung by the people, instead they all stood tall, with heads held high, silently thanking their lost soldiers for their service.

Days had gone by since they had found the girl unconscious on the battlefield. Enne and the Pevensie's, with the exception of Peter, were all in Nia's room like usual. Enne told her stories of their day, Susan read to her, Lucy drew pictures to brighten the room and Ed would kinda just be awkward as usual. Peter hadn't visited once since he found her amongst the rubble of the war. As much as they hated to even think it, the hope that their friend would wake up was starting to slip from their hands.
Peter stood outside the doorway, debating whether to enter or not. Sighing he turned around and walked away, this wasn't the first time he had done this. The first day Nia got out of medical care, he did the same thing, opting to walk away instead.
"You need to visit her," Susan insisted that evening
"She wouldn't want me there" Peter mumbled out lamely
"Thats bullshit!" Susan called her brother out. It was bullshit, Peter knew that. Truth was that Peter couldn't face Nia, not after leaving her to die like that. He couldn't see her unconscious in that bed as a result of what he'd done. His hands still shook slightly as the memory of finding her on that field came to mind. Cold and unconscious, he thought she was dead. The king didn't sleep that night, over and over it played through his mind, the things he could've done, the things he should've done to save her.

Enne, Susan and Lucy were all in Nia's room, just like they usually would be.
"Hey I brought tea" Ed called walking in with a tray. A yawn was heard, but not from any of them. They all stopped what they were doing, turning to the girl in the bed. Nia yawned and stretched again, "Y'all wouldn't BELIEVE how good of a sleep I got" Suddenly she was tackled in a massive group hug from everyone in the room
"Hey now what the fuck is up with you guys" Nia laughed and hugged them back
"We thought you were gunna die" Lucy cried as Nia pulled the child to her lap to comfort her
"You guys seriously thought I would go out that easily" She gasped in mock offence lightening the mood.
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"Peter! She's awake!" Ed called to his brother
"Wait what?!" Peter said, not knowing what to do, he decided it was finally time to face her.

Evening fell and all the visitors had left the girl to rest. There was a quiet knock on the door, opening the door slightly was a tired looking king
"Hey wassup" Nia nodded, she paused taking in his appearance, "Peter what's wrong" she lifted herself into a sitting position to see him better. Scanning his face as his walked towards the chair by the bed. He didn't say a word as he sat down, avoiding her eyes. She sighed, "This isn't your fault"
He looked up at her, first in shock, then in guilt.
"Peter," she rested her hand over his to get his attention, "I'm an adult I made my own decision. You had nothing to do with that, and if you thought you could've stopped me, well you and I both know you couldn't" Peter let out a soft laugh and a small "Yea I guess" turning his hand over to interlock their fingers, gently tracing the small tattoo she had with his thumb.
Smiling to herself, proud of getting the boy to feel better, she continued "Plus that was the best sleep I've gotten in years" She said in mock seriousness. Peter laughed again, "You look like a zombie"
She let go of his hand to lightly punch him in the arm, "Dude, you don't visit me for a week and the first thing you say is "you look like a zombie"??" With that, balance was restored. Peter felt as though a large weight was lifted off his shoulders.
"So, what happened when I was out? I heard you were all sad because you missed me" Nia teased, laughing as the king shoved her jokingly.
"I was depressed at how much your funeral would cost" Peter stuck out his tongue
"Wow your majesty that is Not how you treat respected guests of your kingdom"
Peter rolled his eyes. The two stayed up late into the night. Nia forced Peter to go get them snacks and together they sat in her bed, mostly insulting each other, and trying to play chess, which honestly neither of them were good at.

The next morning the Pevensie sisters and Enne walked into Nia's room to find them both fully awake throwing chess pieces at each other
"Checkmate!" Nia yelled and threw her king piece at Peters head
"Ow! I already told you that's not how the fucking game works!" Peter yelled back from across the room, attempting to dodge the pieces and using the board as a shield.

"Peter were you here all night?!" Susan yelled clearly angry
"You're the one who said to visit her!" Peter tried to justify
"Ooh you're in toubleee" Nia said from her bed laughing
"You," She said gesturing between the two, "Both of you better get to sleep right now! Nia you need to rest and Peter you're a high king for goodness sake, you have duties you need to be awake for" Susan scolded them. Lucy and Enne both left to get breakfast because they were trying not to laugh and didn't want Susan to get mad at them too.

"she said duty" Peter whispered, sending the two of them into suppressed laughter again.
"oh my god you guys are CHILDREN" Susan groaned.