Sorry for the long wait, although I think it is appropriate with the time difference between the two stories! Makes it feel like a longer time. Anyway, please enjoy the first chapter :)

"Alberta Scrubb?"

"It's a typographical error. It's supposed to be Albert A. Scrubb." The man looked between the paper and Edmund with obvious suspicion, but the boy seemed confident in his answer.

"Edmund," a girl a few years younger than him called from the door. She smiled knowingly and held up a basket of food. "You're supposed to be helping me with the groceries." Edmund slowly looked from the girl back to the man at the table, his eyes pleading that his obvious exposure may be overlooked. However, without him able to think of an explanation quickly, and with Lucy obviously not going to back down, the man shook his head and laughed, throwing the paper back at him. Edmund sighed and took the paper, the man behind him pressing down on his head and pushing him over towards the door.

"Better luck next time, eh squirt?" he laughed, the rest of the men joining in. Edmund stumbled forward but quickly regained control of his steps, readjusting his hat and rolling his eyes.

"Squirt? He barely had two years on me," Edmund complained as they left. Lucy smiled as they approached their bikes, facing her irritated brother. "I'm a king. I've fought wars, and I've led armies."

"Not in this world," she reminded him, situating the basket on the bike.

"Yeah, instead I'm stuck here, doing battle with Eustace Clarence Scrubb, if anyone so deserves a name." As Edmund ranted, Lucy looked past him to where a young soldier stood with a pretty girl, her back resting against a pole as she faced the entranced boy. Lucy watched as the girl flirted, seeing how she captivated the man's attention and won his heart simply by pushing her hair behind her ear, gazing up at him as she did so. Lucy reached up and mirrored the lady's actions, pushing her hair back and wondering if it would have the same effect, if she were ever given the opportunity. "What are you doing?" Edmund asked, oblivious. She jumped at the sound of his voice, shaking her head in embarrassment.

"Nothing. Come on then." Lucy kept her head down as she moved forward, pushing her bike along. Edmund found her behavior particularly strange, looking behind him to see what she may have been gazing at. Her had noticed she had been acting strangely lately, but so had he. Jumping worlds tended to have a lasting effect. Although he couldn't decide what she may have been looking at, he noticed a man and a woman leaning against the building, and he quickly followed behind Lucy, his hands tight around the bike's handlebars. He wondered if the sting would ever go away. He wondered why he couldn't move on. There was no point in waiting any longer. But instead of seeking new affection, he distracted himself in pursuit of war.

They entered the house and Lucy greeted their uncle, asking if she should begin making soup for dinner. She placed the basket of food on the table and came back to look at her uncle after receiving no response. He held a newspaper in front of his face, unresponsive to her or Edmund's presence. "Uncle Harold?" she questioned, looking at Edmund when he still did not answer. Edmund shook his head and stuck out his tongue.

"Father!" a pestering voice immediately called from the stairs. Edmund looked back, recognizing the voice. "Edmund's making faces at you," he quickly tattled, lifting up a straw and spitting a ball at Edmund, hitting him in the neck. Edmund flinched and wiped it from his neck, glaring at the irritating boy.

"Why, you little!" he yelled, dashing up the stairs after him.

"Father, he's going to hit me!" Eustace cried, ducking in place as Edmund came closer.

"Edmund!" Lucy interrupted right as he clenched his hand into a fist. Edmund reluctantly stopped, lowering his hand and looking to Lucy, noticing the paper in her hand. "It's from Susan," she explained, although he already knew. Lucy and Susan had been writing to each other ever since she left for America, and they had been stuck living with their terrible cousin Eustace. For the most part Lucy was the only one to write, and so usually Susan wrote specifically to Lucy, but Edmund always listened to what she had to say. On occasion, Lucy would stop reading, and he could tell she would skip a few lines before continuing. That, he supposed, was something written only for her. He also figured it was about him, but he never questioned.

"It's been such an adventure, but nothing like our times in Narnia," Lucy read, sitting on the bed as Edmund came in and closed the door, shutting out the sound of Eustace complaining to his father downstairs about how Edmund always tried to hit him. Edmund sat down beside Lucy and looked at the letter, but as she continued reading he stood and walked to the other side of the room. He loved his sister, but she always seemed to bring up Narnia in her letters, and he wished they would all let it go. He had noticed, however, that in each letter it seemed to be mentioned less, and although he no longer wished to speak of it, he worried that Susan might be losing faith in it all. As if it were just a dream, and now she was simply entertaining their imagination, as if they were children and she were an adult. It was a terrible feeling, but it was one that came with being the youngest.

Lucy read about a party Susan was invited to by an officer, and she spoke of how she suspected he might fancy her. Lucy's voice dropped off, her eyes looking away from the letter for a moment. Edmund noticed her push her hair behind her ear like she had done earlier, and he furrowed his brows in confusion once again. Why was she acting so strangely? He lost interest in what was being said until Lucy read the part where Susan told them their mother expected them to remain in place a few months longer.

"Another few months?" Lucy said, Edmund walking over and sitting next to her once again. "How will we survive?" Edmund took the letter from Lucy's hands and read it for himself, folding it up quickly and tossing it onto the bedside table.

"They're the lucky ones, going off on such adventures." Lucy walked over to the mirror on the wall, looking at it briefly.

"They're the oldest and we're the youngest. We don't matter as much," Edmund said resentfully, lying back onto the bed and looking up at the ceiling.

"Do you think I look anything like Susan?" Lucy asked, glancing at the mirror again and twirling the curls in her hair.

"I don't suppose," Edmund answered without paying much attention, closing his eyes. Lucy frowned and quickly looked away from the mirror, hoping her image wouldn't depress her any further. When she looked at Edmund, his eyes closed, she noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

"Are you still not getting much sleep?"

"It's hard to when sharing a room with that pest," he grumbled, his eyes remaining closed.

"You're not having that dream again, are you? Would you tell me if you were?"

"I'm fine, Lucy, and I wish you would drop it."

"I can't, Edmund. We're all worried about you-"

"It doesn't matter anyway. Things have changed. Susan is in America, Peter is off studying, and we are stuck here. And I mean here, Lucy."

"He said we would return-"

"It doesn't matter anymore!" Edmund sat up quickly.

"Don't say that."

"It's been a year, Lu. A year. She's been dead for centuries." Edmund fell back onto his back and closed his eyes, sighing heavily.

"Edmund, please, I beg you not say that," Lucy responded quietly.

"It's true." A moment of silence settled between them, and Lucy began wringing her hands.

"You act like no one could possibly understand how you feel, but you forget we all left people behind. Peter and Susan can't even go back. She was my friend, Edmund, as were many others. And Susan got fairly close to Caspian too, I'd say, but she'll never see him again." Lucy though for a moment, then changed tones, speaking quietly. "Although it doesn't seem so tragic, seeing as she already has suitors lining up. She doesn't have to worry about things like that-"

"People always say how terrible it is to grow old and outlive all your friends and your loved ones. I wonder what they'd say if they had to do it twice." Lucy nodded and stared sadly at her brother, wondering how long it would take for the two of them to forget everything and everyone they had lost—she cynically suspected the moment they adjusted, if they ever did, they would once again be thrown into the beautifully bitter world of Narnia. Now she couldn't imagine either her or Edmund finding much joy in the place. It would be too different.

She remembered the first few weeks after they had returned they waited breathlessly, flinching at any movement or noise, hoping to be pulled back in time to be reunited with the ones they cared about. She tried to remember when Edmund began to realize the time had long passed in Narnia. It was confusing trying to keep track of how the time progressed there in comparison to where they were now. But after a year, there was no longer any doubt. There was no stress in waiting to return, watching the clock and being aware of the time limit. Narnia had to be in a new age, and Lucy nearly cried as she imagined what Edmund was going through. He had opened up to her once a few months ago about a part of this reoccurring nightmare. Although he wouldn't reveal much in detail, he confessed that his dream always ended the same. He dreamed of Mary dying, him having never returned. He had often wondered, once he had accepted her to be dead, what she had done with her life in the few weeks of his that had passed so quickly.

"Have you seen this painting, Ed?" Lucy asked, finding the picture of the ship on the water more appealing than usual. There was something about the way the colors were blended that almost created an illusion of the water moving, and she was eager to find a change of topic—something to release the heavy tension.

"Have you seen this ship before?" Edmund asked as he got off of the bed, titling his head and approaching the painting. He ran his fingers over the design of the sails.

"Yes, it's very Narnian looking, isn't it?" Lucy offered carefully, gauging his mood.

"Yeah. Just another reminder that we're here and not there." Lucy was surprised by his comment, wondering if he still wanted to be there despite it all.

"There once were two orphans who wasted their time, believing in Narnian nursery rhymes," Eustace taunted as he slowly pushed open the door, revealing himself.

"Please let me hit him," Edmund said as he stepped forward, but Lucy put her arm out and stopped him."Don't you ever knock?" Edmund asked, rolling his eyes and stepping back.

"It's my house. I'll do as I please. You're just guests." Edmund and Lucy turned back to the painting, choosing to ignore him. Not feeling satisfied in his taunting, he decided to stay, walking over to the bed and sitting down. "What's so fascinating about that picture anyway? It's hideous," he responded, jealous that they were no longer paying attention to him.

"You won't see it from outside of the door," Edmund offered.

"Edmund, it looks like the water is actually moving." Lucy leaned closer to the painting and continued to ignore their cousin.

"What rubbish. See? That's what happens when you read all of those fanciful novels and fairy tales of yours." Eustace remained on the bed, but his feet bounced as he waited for a response.

"There once was a boy called Eustace, who read books full of facts that were useless." Lucy glanced sideways at her brother and shook her head, wishing he wouldn't play along.

"People who read fairy tales are always the sort that are hideous burdens for people like me who read books with real information."

"Hideous burden?" Edmund asked, turning to look at the young boy. Eustace rose from the bed and began backing away, realizing he had crossed the line. "I haven't seen you lift a finger since we've been here." As Eustace looked at the door, Edmund followed his eyes and quickly slammed it shut with his hand, standing in front of it and blocking his way out.

"Edmund?" Lucy could faintly hear as he threatened to tell on Eustace for stealing candy, but her eyes watched the painting as it looked more and more as if it were moving. She felt a slight breeze begin to move her hair, and she could swear she felt a mist falling on her face.

"I found them under your bed. And you know what? I licked every one of them."

"Ew, I'm infected with you," Eustace whined.

"Edmund!" The two boys looked as water began to trickle out from the picture's frame, increasing until Lucy had to move away as it poured onto the floor.

"What's going on here? Is it some sort of trick?" Eustace cried, watching as water began to pool around his feet and cover the floor.

"Do you think?" Edmund asked, looking to Lucy, both smiling. For some odd reason, they both became extremely excited by the thought that they were returning, despite the dread they had visited only moments earlier. And that was the thing with Aslan's promises—they were so easy to doubt, but the hope never fully left, and with just the slightest spark, the doubt and the despair was momentarily forgotten.

"Stop it, or I'm going to tell mother!" Eustace warned, backing himself up against the door. He watched as his cousins drew closer to the water-expelling picture, and from where he stood he believed the ship in the picture was moving closer to them. "Oh, maybe I'll just break the frame!" he yelled, pushing through the water and coming between Edmund and Lucy, pulling the picture from the wall and finding that the flowing water had added unbelievable weight to the previously light object. Edmund and Lucy panicked, holding the frame up and trying to pull it from Eustace.

"Let go!" Lucy yelled, the three trying to escape from drowning under the frame. The picture fell into the water that had been rising quickly, and if it were possible, the water continued to flow faster. The furniture in the room was lifted from the ground and began floating. The three struggled against an invisible current that pulled them back and then under, fully submerging them in an ocean apart from their previous room.

Lucy was the first to come up, followed by Edmund then Eustace. They didn't have much time to catch their breath, for the very ship they had taken notice of in the painting was headed their way.

"Swim!" Edmund yelled, the three swimming out of the ship's path. However, as the ship came closer, a group of men jumped off and began coming after them. As Lucy was farther back, she was the first one met by one of the sailors. She continued trying to swim away, but as the boy drew closer she kicked her legs in an attempt to force him to keep his distance. He was undeterred, though, and simply swam under her, surprising her as he came in front of her and blocked her from swimming any farther. "Edmund!" Lucy yelled as the boy held onto her, trying to keep them both from drowning as she fought against him.

"Miss, please, we're trying to help. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm trying to save you!" Lucy stopped her thrashing and looked at him, seeing past him that Edmund was swimming their way, another man coming with him.

"Are we in Narnia, then?"

"Yes ma'am, you are."

"Lucy, are you all right?" Edmund swam up to them and Lucy nodded.

"I am fine to swim on my own, thank you," she politely added, the boy smiling and letting her go.

"Then shall we go back to the ship?" He put his arm out and Lucy hesitantly began to swim forward, Edmund waiting for the boy to follow before he too headed for the ship. As they approached, Lucy heard the boy behind her yell up to the rest of the crew.

"Tell Caspian we retrieved the three!" he yelled, not noticing her surprised face as he guided her to where they would be pulled up.

"Caspian? Your captain is Caspian?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes, and technically our King, although it gets all confusing-"

"Edmund!" Lucy yelled, her smile uncontainable. "It's Caspian! Caspian is the captain of this ship!" Edmund swam faster to where Lucy was, struggling to understand her as he was being pushed by the waves.

"What was that, Lu-" But as he looked up on the ship to where the men stood ready to pull Lucy up, Edmund saw Caspian come through the crowd, their eyes locking and faces showing immediate recognition followed by overwhelming disbelief. And all Edmund could focus on was the fact that Caspian did not look like he had aged much more than a couple of years. In that moment, Edmund felt foolish that he had believed he could predict the time of Narnia.

Well, are you excited for the next chapter? Just some things to say, I'm sure you noticed Lucy was in this chapter more. I do plan for her to play a significant role in this story because I believe her development in this one is very important. Also, she may be getting her own romantic interest to help with some of the development. Another issue to address: age. In the last story I said Mary was sixteen, so in this story she will be nineteen. I'm pretty sure I implied Edmund was about seventeen, so he'll be eighteen in this one. Therefore, Lucy is about sixteen. I think these ages are different from the book or movie, but for the sake of this story it's how they needed to be. Anyway, let me know if something is wrong or what you think about the first chapter, and your thoughts for upcoming chapters. I hope you all continue to read the sequel, and I hope you liked it!