A Heart Never Forgets: Narnia Fan Fiction/ AU

Narnia AU Fan-Fic: A Heart Never Forgets

I wrote this to explore another side of Gael (the little stow-away from the Voyage of the Dawn Treader Movie). The story includes the mention- and -or- appearance of several Nrp/ Canon- and Original characters the way they had been rped in the NRPMasterlist. 

"This is the list of soldiers that are not coming home…" a faun started, as he made his way to the front of the crowded room.

  Ten year old Gael had only listened to his words with an air of half interest. That is, until the sound of familiar names rang through the room.

"Lord Darrin and Lord Dar of Archenland…." came his hollow and almost monotoned announcement. 

Gael looked up in bewilderment at the solemn looking speaker. Immediately, she felt the sting of alarm curling through her veins as the news sank in. The faun quickly continued with the laundry list of names, as if Darrin and Dar’s fate didn’t concern him in the slightest.

"Darrin and Dar aren’t coming back?" She breathed in disbelief, the corners of her eyes flooding with tears.

All the color drained from her young face as she dolefully studied the faun, still dutifully reading from the casualty list. The list was a mere collection of  names of those who did not survive a dangerous mission to some, and to others it was a terrible earthquake; shaking the very foundations upon which, lives had been built and sustained.

 Her brothers, Darrin and Dar had said they would explain the complicated missions they went on to her when she grew old enough to understand. They had always returned before and they had given their promise to do so again this time. Gael knew Darrin and Dar would never lie to her- not about something as vital as returning home.

"No! Sir faun! You… you don’t understand…" Gael abruptly shouted, feeling her voice shake as an astonished hush fell over the crowd.

Weaving through the crowd, she bravely continued, “that… that list…. it can’t…. it can’t be right. My br…brothers said they would come back for me. Darrin and Dar…. the lords…from Archenland…. they…they promised. Don’t you see? They promised! They… they can’t be..dea…dead!”  She fought to maintain her composure as tears started to slip down her face.

A few Narnian’s in the background began to sob and whisper as she repeated, “they promised…” The corners of her once smiling lips twitched and then dragged lower into the most heart breakingly painful expression.

After a few moments of silence, she loudly cried, “didn’t you hear me…. mister?! My brothers….they…. they have to come back……”

Still he said nothing, causing her to grow more desperate. The faun refused to meet her gaze and that caused a heated flame of anger to form in the pit of her stomach. 

Taking his arm tightly in her smaller hands, she sorrowfully whispered, “please…. tell me…. that…. they… they will come home. I can’t be alone! I don’t..don’t want to be… all alone…again! Please…please!”

The word “alone” seemed to loom in the air like a misty fog after a heavy and cooling rain. The implication of suffering and abandonment saturated the glum atmosphere with a stunning force.  The loss of the two lords suddenly became a thousand times more personal to everyone present. For there was a silent acknowledgement that everyone, at one point in their lives, had feared being left to navigate life alone… among a sea of strangers. 

The faun himself, found it hard not to tear up at her display. He opened his mouth to whisper condolences but no words departed his trembling lips.

From the crowd emerged an elder raven-haired girl. “Gael! Oh my….Gael…. darling, I’m…. I’m sorry,” Aldara choked.

Aldara threw her arms around Gael’s shoulders tightly, as if by doing so, she could hold her younger cousin’s quivering figure together.  

"I….I…." Gael sobbed, in a barely audible tone.

She never felt such a sharp pain raging through her body before and the sudden shock of grief had left it’s stain upon the white table cloth of innocent youth. 

In a tired and sorrowful gasp Gael confessed, “my heart…. it… it hurts…”

"I know I.. I know….sweetheart. It’s okay to cry… but… but…. rem..remember they …they are with… Aslan now. They aren’t in any more pain," Aldara breathed understandingly into Gael’s ears.

Subconsciously, Gael let out a few gutteral screams and loud sobs. The pain burst free of her chest like wild lightning and it did just as much damage to her soul as a full blown f-4 tornado might a town. Gael didn’t mean to make a scene, but she couldn’t stop her heart from shattering- any more than she could stop news of her brother’s deaths from causing the world to crumble around her.

Just as Aldara was about to lead Gael out of the room, a soldier stepped forward to block the door. 

"You must be the little one…they call… Gael…." the dark haired man reverently began.

Aldara relaxed her grasp on Gael as they both met the soldier’s gaze. 

Sniveling the ten year old brunette wiped her runny nose and eyes. With a nod of the head she indicated that he was correct.

"I… I think Darrin…. and Dar…. would want you to have these…" he picked up two battered and war-worn cloaks with the Archenland lord’s distinctive clasps… still clinging to the fabric.

"I… I recognize those! They… they…are… are…. my…. my brother’s," she choked, jealously snatching the familiar fabric from the soldier’s grasp. 

The young girl repressed her sobs for a moment to thank the kind soldier. When he slowly backed away from them, Gael found herself tracing her fingers along every inch of her brother’s clasps.

Pressing the fabric (which to Gael’s comfort still held the scent of her brother’s soaps) to her cheeks she began to weep again.

"Come on, dear cousin… let us go…go home," Aldara cooed gently. She wanted to take Gael away from the terrible mourning crowds to give her some privacy.

Hesitantly and gently, Aldara wrapped Gael in her brother’s cloaks before pulling the younger girl into her side. Gently the older cousin reassured Gael, “I won’t let you be alone. I’m here with you… and unless Aslan calls me home… I will always be here for you.” 

And though the sun shone brilliantly in the sky, the land was encompassed by the invisible blanket of darkness known as mourning and sorrow. Life wouldn’t be the same for anyone who had been in attendance, but the more drastic imprint had been left upon Gael. It was the first time she felt the weight of the world crushing down on her young shoulders. Heavens knew, it wouldn’t be the last time that death would weave it’s dark threads into the fabric of her life. One thing was for certain, she would never forget the way she loved Darrin and Dar. 

Darrin had rescued her the day she had wondered into Narnia— so alone, scared, and lost. Dar had gone on a few adventures with her and his wisdom and gentility made Gael feel like she was truly at home. Accepting Darrin and Dar as brothers, had been a great blessing in her life- even if it was short lived. She would dream about the day she would be reunited with them in Aslan’s country.   When the day comes for the three of them to be reunited, Gael vowed she would never again let them out of  her sight.