A year as a Narnian || 365 Narnia one shots (Part two)

284: Traumatised

October 11th - Prompt: Evil

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Peter stopped outside the door to his and his brother's bedroom, bringing a hand up to rub at his eyes, yawning quietly and sniffing.

It had been a long day and he was absolutely exhausted. Only the third day of him being a King and he already wanted to sleep for a week. He guessed it would get easier and there would be a lot less work to do in the future, but at the moment everyone was trying to get Narnia back to the way it was before the witch, so there was plenty to be done.

"Peter."

He glanced up when he heard his sisters voice, smiling as she walked up to him. "You're looking tired." She said sympathetically.

Peter nodded slowly. "Tell me about it." He breathed. "I feel like I haven't stopped all day."

"Knowing you, you probably haven't." Susan teased gently, keeping her voice quiet as it was late.

Peter rolled his eyes playfully, before smiling again. "How's Lucy?" He asked, knowing Susan had taken her to bed that night.

"Tired." Susan chuckled softly. "She's had an exciting day."

Peter nodded a little. "She's had fun over the last few days." He agreed. "Narnia's good for her."

"I think it's good for all of us if I'm honest." Susan said thoughtfully.

Peter agreed with her, and nodded slowly.

"How's Ed?" Susan asked slowly, and a little hesitantly.

Peter sighed, leaning against the door. "He's determined to do everything I'm doing, he's determined to help out as much as he can." He told her. "But he still hasn't had a full night's sleep since he got here, whether that's from nightmares or just not wanting to sleep because of the nightmares. I know he's pushing himself too much, and he's gonna make himself sick if he carries on." He paused for a moment, before sighing again. "It wouldn't be so bad if he was just getting enough sleep, I believe him when he says he's recovered from - from Beruna enough, but he's still having nightmares, every night, and it's not good for him."

Susan looked really upset by this, but took a deep breath. "The nightmares will pass." She mumbled. "What he went through wasn't easy, I hate to say it, but it's true that he's traumatised, we can all see that. But he's recovering, he's getting there. He may still be having nightmares every night, but surely you've seen how much happier he is since moving to Cair Paravel."

Peter smiled weakly. "He's so much happier." He breathed. "But he does use that happiness to hide his tiredness sometimes... well, most of the time."

Susan placed a hand on Peter's shoulders. "All we can do is be there for him," She reminded him. "We'll help him get through this, and he will be okay."

Peter nodded a little, taking a deep breath. "Yeah." He breathed, and after a moment or so he smiled. "You should head to bed, it's getting late."

"Alright," Susan said gently, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Peter hugged her back when she gave him a hug, placing a kiss to the side of her head, before she carried on down the corridor a little and into her room.