Sequel to 'The Daughter'.
"They mocked me, called me Anne the Miserable, and oh how I was miserable"
The Pevensies were home merely a year before they got transported back to Narnia: a place they held dear to them, and helped create a safe, peaceful...
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"Ew," 16-year-old Anne Pevensie walks down a London Street, her hair in a long braid down her back, her foot on top of a used cigarette. She sighs and keeps walking, scraping the bottom of her shoe on the edge of a puddle, and wiping away the tobacco. London streets never seemed to get cleaner, even after the streets were often deserted during the war.
St. Finbars School was relatively nice, Anne had been going there a year or so by now, she still had her best friend June, but she preferred to stare off across the road at the boy's school, where she could sometimes catch glances of Peter - Anne was disgusted when she discovered the crush she had on her brother. She finds her friend leaning on a brick wall near the train station, her uniform pristine, but a cigarette hangs loosely from her fingers.
"Want one?"
"You always ask, and I always say no," Anne smiles, leaning next to her, breathing in the second-hand smoke
"I'll make a rebel of you yet Ms Pevensie," Anne snorts
"Sure," she goes to make another comment but sees a familiar figure run down the street towards them.
"Anne! He's in a fight again!" Lucy exclaims, Anne knew who she was talking about - Peter.
It'd been hard for the Pevensies to adjust to their life back home, they were used to being in charge, used to being adults, yet they were getting on a train every day and going to school - Anne supposed they did need an education, they hadn't got that in Narnia, she'd adjusted better than the other though, having been treated differently in Narnia.
"Oh, let me see," June puts out her cigarette on the brick behind her and drops it on the floor, Anne glares disapprovingly but June doesn't seem to care much, she groans, going to pocket her pack and lighter "Ugh! My brother has my bag!" she opens up Anne's satchel and slips them in there.
"You-!"
"Come on," Lucy takes Anne's hand, pulling her away "I'll get Susan,"
The girls follow Lucy down into the underground, where they're greeted with chants of "Fight!Fight!Fight!" Anne pushes past the crowd and sees Peter fighting four boys. Although smaller than him, they seem to be doing most of the damage, he gets pulled up briefly to lock eyes with Anne before being pushed against a wall.
"Go Peter!" June shouts
"Don't encourage it," Susan scolds and June shrugs, smirking at Anne, her shoulder gets knocked by Edmund running down the stairs. He punches one of the boys in the face, and now they have two targets.
"Edmund!" Lucy exclaims
"Screw it," Anne mutters, she cups her hands around her mouth "Get 'em Ed!" If they were back in Narnia, Anne would join in, jumping on one of the boy's backs, her mother wouldn't appreciate that here.
Eventually, two soldiers run down, whistling "Break it up! Come on lads!" once the crowd dissipated, a soldier looks disapprovingly at Peter "Act your age! "
June speaks up "I'm going for a smoke," she walks off, and Anne helps Edmund stand, Lucy, helping Peter, Susan grumbles under her breath and leads them to a bench where Edmund sets down some luggage.
"You're welcome," he huffs, sitting on the bench
"I had it sorted!" Peter defends
"Looked like it yeah," Anne rolls her eyes
"What was it this time?" Susan groans
"He bumped me,"
"So you hit him?!" Lucy sounds like an exhausted housewife and Anne laughs, her siblings didn't need her as much anymore, ruling a country does that to people
"No. After he bumped me, he tried to get to apologize. That's when I hit him,"
"Why can't you just walk away?"
"I shouldn't have to! Don't you ever get tired of being treated like a kid?"
"Uh, we are kids," Edmund reminds him
"Well, I wasn't always!"
"We weren't always," Anne reminds him, he sits next to her on the small bench
"It's been a year. How long does he expect us to wait?"
"I think it's time to accept the fact that we live here. It's no use pretending any different," Susan looks up and notices a geeky boy approaching. "Oh no. ... Pretend like you're talking to me!"
"We are talking to you," Ed mutters, Susan gives him a sarcastic look before Lucy suddenly stands
"Ow!"
"Be quiet, Lucy,"
"Something pinched me!"
"Hey, stop pulling!" Peter stands as well, noticing Lucy's dramatics.
"I'm not touching you!"
"You lot are always messing up my hair!" Anne joins in, and Susan rolls her eyes, pretending to scold them all.
Suddenly, a train rushes past without stopping, it causes a large wind to run through the tunnel and Susan stands up
"What is that?"
"It feels like magic!" Lucy's hat has fallen off
"Quick, everybody hold hands!" Susan grabs Anne and Lucy's
"I'm not holding your hand!" Edmund says to his brother, Peter grabs it forcefully while Anne grabs his other one. The wind continues as the train passes, Anne's ears feel like they're going to pop and posters fly off the wall, along with the brickwork. Through the train windows, the children can see glimpses of a sand beach.
Anne blinks, and when she opens her eyes, the platform is gone, and she's staring out to clear water. A gentle breeze runs through her hair and she can smell salt, she hears Lucy laugh, and watches Susan and her run off towards the water, her brothers follow, stripping their clothing as they go.
"Be carefu-" she goes to scold them, but grins, running after them and throwing her tie and bag behind her. She discards her blazer on top of Lucy's and rips off her shoes and socks, she runs into the sea and gets splashed by Edmund.
The children throw water at each other, and Anne trips and falls backwards, she screams, feeling the cool water on her back. Whilst her younger siblings laugh, Peter rushes to help her up. Anne flicks her now soaking wet braid at Lucy who bumps into Susan. Anne goes to attack Edmund but sees him looking away from them and into the forest above them.
"What?"
"Where do you suppose we are?"
"Well, where do you think?" Peter laughs
"Well, I don't remember any ruins in Narnia,".
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(notes: a reminder on the ages I've given the Pevensie Siblings: Peter is 17, Anne is 16, Susan is 15, Edmund is 14 and Lucy's 10. Comments really mean a lot!)
