Susan Was Always First

Dreams of a Couple

Susan watched Lucy carefully, noting the way her sister acted with Lust in the room. It was clear there was never anything remotely true between them, but her sister looked positively appalled whenever her eyes fixed on the man. Susan was never found of him, or the way his eyes lingered. He had been silent since Peter had shown no reaction to his words, though he seemed almost at ease even in a position where he was not in power. In the past hour or so, Susan didn't even recall seeing him move. 

It did surprise Susan that no one else had appeared see what had happened to Lust. Had Lust come down here without anyone else's knowledge? Or was he meant to have someone else join him, only for something to go amiss...? Susan prayed that things were crumbling, and that soon she and her family would be free.

"You should get some rest, Su." Lucy spoke quietly right as Susan yawned. It was true she was tired- the baby kept waking her through the night and she had woken up early in the day to wait for Lucy to wake. But Susan did not yet want to sleep, not with Lust in the room. 

"I'll rest in a bit. I'm not all that tired yet."

A slight kick from her child seemed to protest her resolve to stay awake, and the look on both her siblings faces showed they didn't believe her about not being tired. 

"Ah, and here I was hoping I'd get to see your beautiful face in slumber once again." Lust spoke, and Susan saw the corners of his mouth twitch into an all too familiar smirk. 

Peter raised a brow, still holding Lust down. "So now you can speak to harass my sister, but yet you refuse to answer any questions I pose to you?"

"What did you expect?" Lust chuckled. "I'm a man with a vice of many other handsome men. And I think my silence is important in keeping my handsome face just that, as I know what Greed is capable of when angry. Wrath looked pretty blue when Greed punished her, and that was just a minor offence. Sharing secrets? I'd lose my life and my looks."

Lust closed his eyes and went back to his silence, and soon Susan could no longer keep her eyes open either. Rubbing small circles on her stomach, Susan found herself drifting off to sleep. 

---

Envy rocked her daughter, trying to lull the girl to sleep. Her daughter's eyes were still held wide, red and filled with tears. 

"Why did Greed hurt daddy?" Jealousy whispered over and over, and Envy had yet to try to answer. 

It had been a dream of her and her husband to see their daughter rule, to see her get everything in life that she desired. They had been penniless when Greed first approached them years ago, having no means to start a family. Greed had taken them in, and they had been happy, able to have a daughter in place that felt safe. Now... now Envy was a widow, with a daughter caught up in violence she never imagined her seeing. 

They had all tried to shelter Jealousy from the horrors committed, and they all had succeeded. The girl, until Greed showed her the horrific scene of her father's body, had been clueless to the horrors of this place. Her sweet daughter had thought they were good, that they were heroes and helping people. Now... now Jealousy knew the truth. 

"Momma, did you hurt people too?" The change in question startled Envy. Trying to mask her surprise, Envy shook her head. 

"Not like that, sweetheart."

"But you did hurt people, then?" Jealousy rubbed her eyes, her face betraying nothing to her mother as to her thoughts at the current revelation. 

Sighing, Envy answered. "Yes, sweetheart. Your daddy and I did a lot of things that aren't the nicest but everything we did, we did to help make the world better for you."

"But hurting people is bad!" Jealousy wiggled out of her mother's arms and hopped onto her bed, pulling the blankets around her. 

Envy stood from the rocking chair and felt tears form in her eyes as she saw the hurt in her daughter's eyes.

This was not the dream she and her husband shared...

---

The gentle queen could tell she was dreaming at this moment, as the bed she was resting on was soft and familiar. Susan grinned as she stretched out on the bed, eyes fluttering open to see her husband sitting at the foot of their bed, lost in thought. She sat up slowly, though this did not seem to stir him one bit. 

"Hello, love." Susan's voice startled her husband, and he turned towards her. 

"Susan?" Caspian's eyes grew wide, and soon she found his arms wrapped tightly around her, pulling her as close as her stomach would allow while he wept and whispered loving words to her. In that moment it struck Susan that this dream felt very, very real. Yet she knew, deep down, that no matter how real it felt, it was still just a dream. 

But if it was just a normal dream, why did she feel herself weeping as well, clinging to him as if she feared he might vanish at any moment?

Breaking away from her, Caspian seemed to be studying her, taking all of her in. Susan found herself doing the same, noticing the little changes since she had last seen him. Her hand reached out to trace along his jaw, and he seemed to melt to her touch as she wiped the tears that had gotten caught in his stubble. 

"Susan, I've missed you so much." His voice broke with sobs as he spoke. "Even if I'm dreaming, if this is just my mind weaving this together, I need to tell you that and how much I love you."

"I love you too, Caspian, and I've missed you too." She pulled him in for a kiss, a kiss which seemed to convey everything between them that needed to be said. Both of their faces were wet with tears, and the desperation of this reunion would have been clear to anyone who saw it, longing and want and pure love conveyed in one lasting kiss. The kiss only broke when Susan shifted her back out of habit from carrying so much extra weight on her body due to the child, and even when it did break, their eyes locked and shone with those same emotions.

 "Our baby has missed you as well." Susan took one of his hands when the moment felt right and placed it on her stomach. The baby seemed to know its father, for it gave a kick right below his hand as soon as it was placed. Caspian's eyes grew wide and his face broke into a grin. He bent down and placed a kiss on that very spot. 

"Don't worry, little one. I promise I'll see you and your mother very soon and get you both home safely."

Susan smiled and pulled her husband in for another kiss, savoring the fact that he was at her side. "We know you will, love. We've never stopped believing in you."

"And I will never give up on you." Caspian pulled her into his arms and held her as time passed on.

Susan woke with a smile on her face, even if the bed below her was uncomfortable and smaller than the one she and her husband shared. The dream of reuniting with Caspian had felt so real that she half expected to still feel his arms wrapped around her. Soon she would be back with him. She knew it in her heart. 

However, she could not dwell on this happy reunion long, as an unfamiliar feminine voice floated in to the room.

"What have you gotten yourself into now, Lust?"

---

Caspian's eyes snapped open, a wide smile on his face even though the bed was empty on the other side. He had seen Susan, even if it all had just been a dream, and that reunion felt as if it had renewed his spirit. Today was the day he would be leading a select few of the most trusted Narnian generals to a secret meeting with both Aslan and his not-so deceased  brother-in-law Edmund to finalize their strategy  as to best get into the ruins and rescue the three kidnapped Pevensies safely.

Then, tomorrow, he would have Susan back in his arms to stay.