Hi everyone, sorry I haven't updated in a while, the real world caught hold of me again. This one might not makes sense cause my laptop is currently driving me nuts; I managed to reak the 'y' key and haven't been able to fix it properly so this drable was typed i supreme frustration and much swearing at keyboards in rage.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it at least.

#22 Compassion.

They walked out of their fantasy world and into one that was dark, depressing and a million shades of grey without a backward glance. Yet they wished they could have taken that chance to say one last goodbye to the only place that had truly been home. However they knew that if they took that one last look they would never be able to leave no matter how much they need to.

But life went on as it always did; the four of them went back to school and home and in their own way were even more reserved than before. Their smiles were touched with sadness for people and places they had known for barely a month. It seemed that they were calmer again; never letting things get to them as they had before their most recent trip to the one place where they knew who they were.

Yet it was Susan who seemed to lose herself the most. Hiding from the very people who knew her best and knew what she struggled with daily. It was Lucy who noticed it first; the stacks of make-up growing by the week then the nights spent away from home becoming more frequent.

She had become both entirely frivolous and completely introverted all at once, going out for an evening before returning home to write or draw in the solace of her room, barely saying a word to her family.

It had been a cold and rainy Sunday evening when Lucy first saw that her older sister was not completely lost to them. She had gone upstairs to tell Susan dinner was ready when she saw not Susan Pevensie the teenaged girl but Queen Susan the Gentle sitting by the window watching the rain fall.

"Su? Tea is ready."

Susan sighed before looking back at the picture she was currently working on before standing and leaving the room. Lucy lingered in the doorway for a moment, caught between her curiosity and wanting to respect her sister's privacy. Curiosity won out and she carefully turned over the topmost sheet of paper on Susan's abandoned chair. Lucy sighed, eyes filled with more compassion than she thought she could feel.

"I'm so sorry, Su. I suspect this is harder on you than we thought possible."

End.

~*~

Well hope you liked it and maybe (if my keyboard doesn't drive me insane) I'll be able to update a bit more often now that I have no classes or indeed a job to do.

3

Rewiews as always keep me going!

GalPhoe.