Even a traitor may mend || The chronicles of narnia

He understood

"Su?" Peter asked, his voice shaking just slightly.
"Hmm?" Susan asked, looking up from whatever it was she was doing.
"Where's Ed?" Peter asked, a slight frown on his face.
Susan frowned back. "I thought he was with you?" She questioned.
Peter shook his head. "A while after the witch left he just seemed to slip away." He mumbled. "I haven't seen him since."
"Have you tried your tent?" Susan asked.
Peter nodded. "He's not there." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Why don't you try down by the river?" Susan suggested.
Peter hesitated a little but nodded. "Alright." He breathed. "Thanks."
And with that he turned and ran off in the direction of the river.
Walking the short way through the woods, he kept a firm grip on his sword, just incase... he couldn't say he quite trusted this witch.
He reached the waters edge, on the other side instead of the side they'd all been on that morning.
"Dammit." Peter muttered under his breath, shaking his head a little.
And that's when he heard it.
A scream.
Peter's eyes went wide. "Ed." He choked, before drawing his sword and rushing across the river, not caring in the slightest that he was soaked by the time he reached the other side.
Back on dry land again, he scanned the surrounding area, and his heart picked up speed when he didn't see his brother.
But he could hear him.
Another cry reached his ear, followed by a shout of: "Please don't."
Finaly Peter figured out where the sound was coming from, and ran up the small hill and around the tree.
His face fell and he actually relaxed considerably when he saw his brother sat against the tree, eyes closed, obviously asleep.
Asleep and trapped in a nightmare.
Falling to his knees beside him, Peter dropped his sword and grabbed Edmund's shoulders, just as Edmund gasped sharply.
"Ed come on." Peter said quickly, shaking his brothers shoulders slightly. "It's just a dream. You're safe. Ed wake up!"
Edmund's eyes snapped open at this, and he sat up straight, a cry of Peter's name dying on his lips.
"I'm here Ed." Peter said quickly. "I'm right here. You're safe, I promise you're safe."
Edmund stared at him for a moment before swallowing hard and taking a deep breath. "You - You..."
Peter waited patiently for Edmund to talk, sitting down properly and keeping one hand on his shoulder.
"You're dead." Edmund choked suddenly. "She - she killed you. All of you."
Peter's eyes stung with tears. "It was just a dream Ed." He breathed. "It wasn't real. I'm fine, and so are Susan and Lucy. She never once had us Ed. It was just a dream."
Edmund stared at him for a while, swallowing hard at times, before he did something extremely unexpected.
Peter almost fell backwards when Edmund lunged at him, flinging his arms around his neck and holding on as tight as he could, burying his face against his shoulder.
Peter didn't know what to do for a moment, it had been so long since Edmund had actually hugged him, actually willingly hugged him, that it came as quite a shock.
After a moment or two, Edmund began crying, burying his face instead against Peter's neck and clinging on so tightly his arms were starting to go dead.
Peter swallowed hard at this and wrapped his arms carefully around his brothers shoulders, staying well clear of his back.
The hug was awkward on Peter's part, and he hated himself for it, but he just couldn't bring himself to properly hug his brother yet, and he didn't know why.
But Edmund didn't seem to think that way about Peter. "I'm sorry." He sobbed, tightening his grip. "I'm so, so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen."
Peter bit his lip against his tears, placing an awkward kiss to the top of Edmund's head. "It's alright Ed." He murmered. "You don't need to be sorry. It's all over, we're all safe."
"But what if she comes back?" Edmund choked, his sobs starting to slow.
"She's not going to come back." Peter told him, feeling Edmund sink into his arms just a little bit more."I promise you she's never gonna touch you again."
"What - What about during the battle?" Edmund mumbled, sniffing loudly.
Peter took a deep breath. "You're - You're not fighting in the battle." He said as firmly as he could.
Edmund slowly pulled away at this, looking shocked. "What?" He asked.
Peter sighed, letting his arms drop back to his sides. "You're in no fit state to fight Ed." He explained. "And you're only twelve!"
"I need to fight Peter." Edmund choked. "You don't understand, I need to. I'm practically the cause of this war!"
Peter stared at him before sighing. "Let's not talk about this right now." He muttered. "It's getting late and I'm getting hungry. And I'm sure you are too."
Edmund nodded a little. "Maybe a little." He whispered.
Peter raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as Edmund rested his head against his shoulder.
"Why are you so wet?" Edmund muttered after a moment or two of silence.
Peter chuckled as he stood and helped Edmund to his feet as well. "I ran across the river." He said with a shrug. "I was on the wrong side."
Edmund grinned a little at this as they began walking, along the side of the river back towards the camp.
"But you're wet too." Peter said, something of a smirk making its way onto his face.
Edmund frowned. "What do you mean?" He asked. "I'm not-"
But he didn't get to finish his sentence, for he was all of a sudden splashed with water, almost completely soaking him just like that.
"Well you are now!"
Edmund stood there with his mouth hanging open, Peter's laughter reaching his ears as he was splashed again.
Edmund glared playfully up at Peter, who after a moment made a run for it, still laughing as he did.
"Oh no you don't!" Edmund cried and ran after him.
Peter wasn't really running too fast, so it didn't surprise him when Edmund caught up.
He wrapped his arms around his waist and tackled him to the floor, sending them both into the water.
Peter couldn't help but notice that his brother winced when they hit the floor, but smiled when Edmund sat up and grinned at him. "Payback." He muttered.
Peter sighed warmly and sat up too, running a hand through his now wet hair and glaring playing at Edmund.
"I should've seen that coming." He muttered, shaking his head.
Edmund snorted. "You really should've." He laughed.
"Come on." Peter said after a moment, climbing slowly to his feet. "We better get back before it gets dark."
Edmund stared up at him before standing himself, nodding his head as they left the river. "Susan's gonna kill us." He muttered as they reached their tent. "Look how wet we both are!"
Peter grinned. "Don't worry." He said. "We'll dry. And anyway, Susan and Lucy got into a watertight too."
"Susan? Got into a waterfight? With Lucy?" Edmund asked, sounding shocked.
Peter laughed. "Yes she did." He answered.
Edmund smirked. "Wow." He breathed.
"There you are!"
Looking ahead they both saw Lucy, who ran over and stopped in front of them. "You're soaked!" She cried.
Peter shook his head with a chuckle. "Hey, you cant tell us off." He said playfully. "You got into a waterfight too."
"Who told you?" Lucy asked.
"Susan did." Peter said with a grin.
Lucy laughed before grabbing Edmund's hand. "Come on." She said. "Dinners ready."

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Edmund sighed a little as he headed back towards his and Peter's tent after dinner that evening, intending on finding Peter, who'd left with Susan about five minutes ago.
He wanted to find them both because Lucy had just told him that the Narnians were having bonfire that night, and she wanted them both to join them.
Wincing slightly when pain shot down his back, Edmund eventually reached his tent, and was just about to reach for the tent flaps when he heard voices from inside.
"Was Ed down by the river?" That was Susan.
"Yeah." Peter breathed in reply. "I found him asleep against one of the trees, and he was having a nightmare."
Edmund swallowed hard when he heard Peter's voice crack slightly, and listened in silence until Susan spoke again. "I understand the nightmares." She sighed sadly. "What he went through must've been awful."
Edmund bit his lip gently, feeling bad for listening, but he just couldn't bring himself to move.
"It - Its changed him." Peter choked a few seconds later.
"Of course it has Peter." Susan replied. "He's changed for the better."
"No, I dont mean changed him like that." Peter said slowly. "I mean... He's just so quiet, so jumpy, he does everything without a second thought, agrees with us instantly. He just seems so, withdrawn, and it actually scares me."
"He's in shock Peter." Susan said gently, and Edmund knew she was trying to hold back tears. "He's been through a lot and he just needs time to recover from that."
There was silence for a second before Peter spoke again. "I guess." He mumbled. "I'm also scared about the amount of pain he's in. What she's done to him, it's horrific, no one should have to go through that. And I'm only talking about what I know she's done, Aslan knows what else she's done."
"You - You know what she did?" Susan asked, and Edmund's heart skipped a beat, surely Peter wouldn't tell her?
"I do." He choked. "I know where those cuts on his back came from..."
Edmund held his breath, leaning closer to the tent.
"But I can't tell you." Peter mumbled, causing Edmund to sigh quietly in relief. "He - He wouldn't want me to tell you, and I don't think I can even repeat it. It was awful."
"It's okay Peter." Susan said gently. "I understand why you or him don't wanna talk about it."
Edmund was almost sure that Peter nodded at that point, but what he said next, Edmund would never of expected.
"Oh this is all my fault."
His fault? How an earth was it Peter's fault?
"Peter it's not your fault." Susan sighed.
"It is." Peter replied, voice choked. "I should never of been so hard on him. If I had just shown him the love I showed you and Lucy, maybe he wouldn't of gone to the witch."
"You don't know that though Peter." Susan murmered, and Edmund had to strain his ears to hear her. "It wasn't your fault."
Edmund swallowed hard. Learning that Peter blamed himself for everything that had happened, made his heart break.
Susan was right, it wasn't Peter's fault, it was his, he was the one who went to the witch, Peter didn't force him to.
"I should've been a better brother." Peter choked. "He's - He's my baby brother! And I couldn't protect him! He was hurt and I couldn't do anything about it."
"But I'm sure if you could've, you would've Peter." Susan told him.
"He's my brother!" Peter cried, and Edmund's heart broke at the desperation in his voice. "My baby brother! I couldn't protect him, couldn't look out for him, I couldn't even love him! And now look what's happened! He's broken Su, she broke him. She hurt him so, so much. She nearly killed him! He nearly died, I - I couldn't of lived with myself if that happened."
"He's back now Peter." Susan whispered. "We have him back, he's safe now, she can't hurt him again."
"Theres one more thing too." Peter choked, and Edmund was now stood right outside the tent flaps.
"What's that?" Susan asked gently but hesitantly.
"I - I don't know if I can forgive him." Peter choked. "It's stupid I know, after everything I've just said, but I - I don't know how!"
Edmund swallowed hard and took a few steps back, tears stinging his eyes.
But he understood. He understood why Peter couldn't forgive him, he really did.
So with a sigh, he wiped his eyes and headed off back to Lucy.

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