the girl from archenland | narnia

Chapter Fifteen

"Nenya?" Edmund asked, his eyes closed as he lay in the soft, green grass.

"Mmhm?" mumbled Nenya, half asleep in the sunlight. 

"Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you lived in a different world?"

Nenya laughed, opening her eyes and rolling over to face Edmund. "I can't say that I have. I suppose there must be other worlds since you yourself came from one, but I've always just thought of different ways my life could go in this world."

Edmund's hazel eyes met her gray ones. "Do you think people from this world could get into the world I came from, just like Peter, Susan, Lucy and I came here?"

"I've never really thought about it."

"Does it really matter?" Asked Lucy from where she was perched in the limbs of a tree above their heads. "I mean we're here now so why should we bother about anyone from here getting into that world?"

Edmund shrugged. "I was just wondering about it you know, I mean maybe one day Aslan will send us back to our world, and I just think it would be rotten luck if we could never see any of our friends from here again."

Susan sat up now, quite awake. "I do say, Ed, you really think of the most depressing things."

"Sorry."

Peter sighed. "I'm sure Aslan would think about that sort of thing, wouldn't he? I mean he wouldn't do something horrible on purpose. He's too wise and good for that."

"But sometimes horrible things grow us," said Edmund. "I know that better than any of you."

"Let do stop talking about it!" said Lucy, "It's so dreadful and today is too lovely to spoil by talking about such things."

"Fair enough." Peter closed his eyes and lay back down.

                                                   *                            *                           *

Later that day Nenya found herself walking alone through one of her favorite parts of the Narnian forest. It felt good to be back here.

"Nenya?"

Nenya turned around to find Peter behind her.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Sure." Nenya nodded and stopped so he could catch up to her.

The two walked in silence for a while, neither wanting to be the first to talk.

"So," Nenya finally said, breaking the silence. "How has it been being High King?"

"Good," Peter said. "Well... That isn't entirely honest. It's... hard sometimes. Everyone is counting on you.. and sometimes I'm afraid I'll never be enough. What if Aslan was wrong, what if I'm not the right one to be ruling here."

Nenya looked at him skeptically. "Aslan doesn't make mistakes." It was strange for him to be sharing so much, especially since the two had grown apart in recent months.

"Sorry," Peter said. "You're right."

Nenya stopped. "What's actually wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You wouldn't be here and you wouldn't be talking to me if it wasn't pretty important to you."

"Maybe I just wanted to take a nice walk."

"Peter James Pevensie, I know you, what's going on? just tell me!"

Peter sighed. "It's nothing, really. I should have just left you alone." he turned as if to walk back to the palace.

"Nice try." Nenya grabbed his arm. "What's going on?"

Peter let her stop him and his blue eyes met her gray ones.

Nenya held his gaze, waiting for him to speak.

"It's just..." Peter grabbed both of Nenya's hands. "I hate things being like this. I miss being friends, even if that's all you want to be, I miss having that."

"I miss it too." Nenya's voice was soft and quiet, barely above a whisper.

"Can we be friends again?"

Nenya didn't move, didn't speak, she barely reacted to the sentence.

"Nenya?"

"I want to," Nenya said after a moment. "I really do."

"Then we will."

"But Peter,"

"Yes?"

"Only friends."

"Of course."

Nenya nodded and smiled a bit, "Alright then, friends it is."