Together Forever - Edmund Pevensie x Reader

Chapter 5 - Aslan Appears

"I don't remember this way," Susan thought aloud.
"That's the problem with girls. You can't carry a map in your heads," Peter joked.
"That's because our heads have something in them," Lucy threw back.
Y/N chuckled at Lucy. The once 'little girl' she had known, had grown up. And although Y/N had watched Lucy grow up during their time in the Golden Age, this was different.
"I wish he'd just listened to the DLF in the first place," Susan said to Y/N and Lucy.
"DLF?" Edmund asked.
"Dear Little Friend." Lucy smiled.
"Oh, that's not at all patronising, is it?" Trumpkin said.
Edmund and Y/N laughed.

"I'm not lost," Peter said aloud, but Y/N felt more like he was talking to himself as a reassurance.
"No," Trumpkin said, "You're just going the wrong way."
"You last saw Caspian at the Shuddering Woods and the quickest way there is to cross at the River Rush," Peter argued.
"But unless I'm mistaken, there's no crossing in these parts," Trumpkin said.
"That explains it, then. You're mistaken," Peter said, clenching his teeth.

The argument was horrible to watch. Especially for Y/N. The other Pevensies had known about Peter's change in attitude after they went back home. But to Y/N, he wasn't Peter Pevensie anymore. He wasn't the same High King Peter she had known. He had changed. For the worse.

But when they arrived at the River Rush, there was indeed no crossing; just like Trumpkin had told them.
"You see, over time, water erodes the earth's soil, carving deeper-" Susan began to explain.
"Oh, shut up," Peter said.
"Is there a way down?" Y/N asked Trumpkin.
"Yeah. Falling," Trumpkin replied.
"Well, we weren't lost," Peter said, defending himself.
"There's a ford near Beruna. How do you feel about swimming?" Trumpkin asked.
"I'd rather that than walking," Susan said.

"Aslan?" Lucy suddenly spoke.
Y/N turned around to look at where Lucy was pointing.
"It's Aslan! It's Aslan over there!" Lucy rejoiced.
The others followed Y/N's gaze, but like her, they saw nothing.
"Don't you see? He right..." Lucy's smile began to fade, "...there."
"Do you see him now?" Trumpkin asked.
"I'm not crazy," Lucy said, "He was there. He wanted us to follow him."
"I'm sure there are any number of lions in this wood," Peter said, "Just like that bear."
"I think I know Aslan when I see him," Lucy said, hurt by her eldest brother's words.
"Look, I'm not about to jump off a cliff after someone who doesn't exist," Trumpkin said.

"I'm with Lucy. If she says she saw Aslan, then she did," Y/N said, smiling at Lucy.
"The last time I didn't believe Lucy, I ended up looking pretty stupid," Edmund agreed.
Peter thought for a while, before asking, "Why wouldn't I have seen him?"
"Maybe you weren't looking," Lucy answered.
"I'm sorry, Lu," Peter said, before walking back in the direction they had come.

Lucy's tear-brimmed eyes looked back to the opposite cliff one last time.
"But he was there," Lucy thought, wondering why he had disappeared.
She looked back at Edmund and Y/N, who gave her encouraging looks. She smiled a small smile back at them. It was a sad smile - yet still a smile. Because if anyone could smile through down times, it was Lucy.

**********

The Pevensies, Y/N and Trumpkin came to the edge of the forest to find men shouting things like  'Timber!' and 'Look out!'. What their sight brought them was dozens and dozens of men chopping up trees to use the wood for weapons. They ducked when they heard the neighing of horses entering the scene. Edmund had his back against the logs they were hiding behind. Y/N curled up beside him, using her shield like a shell.
"Perhaps this wasn't the best way to come, after all," Susan whispered to Peter.
After they observed the scene in front of them for a little longer, Peter led the group back into the wood.

**********

"So... where exactly do you think you saw Aslan?" Peter asked his youngest sister.
"I wish you'd all stop trying to sound like grown-ups," Lucy said.
Obviously, this opinion wasn't directed towards Y/N or Edmund.
"I don't think I saw him; I did see him," Lucy said.
"I am a grown-up," Trumpkin mumbled, making Y/N let out a small breathy laugh.
"It was right over..." Lucy began, but replaced her words with a loud scream.
The piece of ground on which Lucy was standing had fallen apart.
"Lucy!" Susan and Y/N shouted.
When they peeked over the edge, they saw that Lucy was on a piece of land below and that she was perfectly alright.

"...here," she finished.