A/N: ...I had to wait 2 days to post this because of an upload glitch, but I hope it was worth it because I'm honestly not sure how well this story will go over unless you can see the big picture and where all of these little plots are going, and I honestly don't think it's obvious this chapter, but I wanted it to be like that... That being said, I hope you don't let the initial way I present these characters scare you off from following/continuing. This story IS going somewhere, and it's going somewhere BIG - I just can't tell you where yet or that would spoil the story.

Initial notes: This is a different type of story, as I think you will see if you give it a chance to go somewhere. This story starts in 1946, just barely post-WWII. The world was a whole lot different than it is today in many ways, but in many ways it was much the same. I tried to do my research on this to make things as accurate as possible, but when it comes down to it, I am American not British, so certain aspects may not be correct. If you have a better understanding of England circa 1940 than I do, then please let me know if things are incorrect so that I can fix them in future chapters. There will be (non-denominational) spiritual themes and possible controversial issues as well, so be aware. (I hate making terribly long notes, and this one will be long enough as it is, so I will delve more into explanations on these as they come up, or feel free to review/pm me and I'll be sure to reply.)

As for the presentation of the Pevensie siblings, I am aware it is NOT the way most people paint them. But, can I be honest for a moment and say that I don't think they were quite the perfect angels most writers make them seem? That's honestly one thing I really appreciated about the movie adaption of PC, despite that it made it a less faithful adaption. This story is about making a journey, so, please, let them make a journey.

Disclaimer: Oh, the usual. I don't own anything. Though can I say that C.S. Lewis was an absolute peach to promote fanfiction and fanart before the Internet was even a thing? Because he totally did, and I am in love with that fact. lol

Chapter One

Lucy scowled down at her feet, digging the toe of her shoe into the carpet, hoping the lecture would end with enough time to catch the earlier train home. She wanted to be there when Peter got in. Glancing at the clock, she saw that this hope was futile; the headmistress was only half done, and the train was leaving in less than fifteen minutes. Even if they left right now and sprinted the entire way, leaving their luggage behind, they wouldn't make it.

She sighed quietly. Of all the days to have sit through this…

Seven minutes, she estimated, glancing at the clock again. It was a bit sad, she had to admit, that she had sat through this same lecture so many times this term that she had it down to a science. Seven minutes… When she was so eager to see her brothers, she knew it would feel like an eternity. She would be angry about being delayed, but this situation was her own fault, so she would quietly endure it.

The headmistress sighed, catching Lucy's attention. "I don't understand why this is such a difficult concept for you, Ms. Pevensie."

Well, that was a change. Still, she wouldn't dignify that statement with a response. She thought the answer was quite obvious, after all.

The older woman plowed on. "How many times have we had this talk this term? If I'm honest, I don't think you've listened a single time."

That was certainly not true. She listened the first three times; after that, she had the timing down pat.

"What am I going to do with you, young lady?"

Once again, Lucy opted not to respond. The headmistress wouldn't understand anyway, so what was the point?

The headmistress leaned back in her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You can go, Ms. Pevensie."

Lucy finally looked up from her feet, surprised. "Ma'am?"

"Go. Get out of here."

She hesitated. "You're… not going to finish lecturing me?"

The older woman gave a wry smile. "Would you listen if I did? Besides, it's the holidays. I'm sure you and your sister are eager to get home."

Lucy stood up, deciding not to point out that their train was leaving in ten minutes so it was much too late to catch it. "Then… Thank you. Have a wonderful summer, ma'am."

"You as well."

Lucy closed the office door behind her and let out a heavy sigh. What she really wanted to do was scream, but that was most certainly unacceptable behavior for a girl of fourteen, so she would have to settle for a sigh and her sister's ear to vent to. She turned the corner and was met with her sister's unapproving glare. "Mum's going to be furious you got called in again, you know."

"And here I thought you'd be on my side."

"I am, Lucy, but this isn't Narnia. This world works a whole lot differently, whether you like it or not."

"Like I said, I thought you were on my side, but obviously not."

Susan sighed exasperatedly. "I promise you, I am. But everything in moderation, Lu; this world isn't quite ready for your revolution."

"It's so frustrating, though."

"I know." Susan offered a half-hearted smile. "But look on the brightside: you have the entire summer before you have to worry about getting that lecture again. And," she added, turning to leave the building, "the boys will be home when we get there."

Lucy offered her own half-hearted smile as she followed her sister. "I just wish we were on the train right now, but it is my own fault. I'm sorry, Susan, and thank you for waiting for me."

"I wouldn't be a very good sister if I made you ride alone, you know."

Lucy smirked. "Is that so? Or is it more because you want me around so you don't get mobbed by boys from Hartbee's?"

Susan only rolled her eyes in reply. Lucy laughed.

"So, Mr. Pevensie, how has this term treated you?"

"Just fine, sir." Edmund stared at his headmaster across the desk, carefully masking his anxiety. The headmaster didn't simply call random students to his office just for a chat, and certainly not on the last day of the term. Everything about this situation was suspicious, and he didn't like it.

"Are you sure about that?"

He gulped. What was the man getting at? He racked his brain for any possible thing he could be in trouble for and came up blank. "Yes?"

The headmaster sighed. "Word does get around, Mr. Pevensie. I overhear conversations between your teachers all the time. They do like to talk."

Edmund's heart kicked up a notch. "I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at, sir."

The man shuffled papers around on his desk for a moment before speaking. "You've had perfect or near perfect marks for the last three years. I'd say you're doing quite well, wouldn't you?"

It was safe to say that by this point, Edmund was nothing short of confused. While he'd had his share of conversations with the man, none had proven so enigmatic. Though he'd heard from his peers that the headmaster had a tendency to talk in circles, he himself had never experienced that until now. "Sir, if I may be so blunt, I haven't any idea what you are trying to tell me."

The headmaster set down the piece of paper he had been holding, and folded his hands on top of the desk. "You do very well academically, Mr. Pevensie, but you are bored."

Edmund hadn't been expecting that and wasn't sure how the man had gotten from point A to point B, and, as a result, was momentarily speechless. "Sir?"

"Your teachers talk, young man; they talk a lot. 'He's a brilliant mind,' they say. 'The writing in his essays are way beyond his years.' I've spoken with them all in the last few months, and they all seem to agree. You are knowledgeable beyond your years, and you are wasting your talents here."

He had to admit that the curriculum wasn't entirely to his taste and was somewhat boring at times - it was nothing like what he had studied while in Narnia, after all - but what could he do? It would be the same anywhere else. "I'm afraid I still don't quite understand, sir. What, exactly, are you trying to get at?"

"Well, first of all, would you agree with what I have said? Are you bored? And, along with that, do you want something more out of your education?"

Edmund shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I suppose, sir, if I am being perfectly honest, then, yes, I supposed I do find my studies a bit… dull."

"Good. Then I have a proposition for you, Mr. Pevensie, and I think you will rather like it."

Peter closed the door softly behind him, setting down his luggage just inside the entryway. The house was strangely quiet. He had thought his siblings would mug him the moment he had the door open, just like they had at Christmastime.

"I'm home!" he called. "Where is everyone?"

Helen Pevensie emerged from the kitchen, a bright smile on her face, and wrapped him in a hug.

"Hello, Mum. Where is everyone?"

She pulled away, her smile falling a little. "Susan called. Lucy got in trouble again, so they missed the first train. They should be home soon, though, dear."

He frowned. "Again? What has gotten into her these days?" He shook his head. "What about Ed?"

"You know, I don't know. I haven't heard anything from him." She shrugged. "I'm sure he just missed the first train, as well, and he'll show up when the girls do."

"Well," Peter sighed, bending over to retrieve his bags again. "I guess I will enjoy the silence while it lasts then." He trudged up the steps to the room he shared with his brother. The space seemed much too large and empty without Edmund in it with him. Deciding he'd rather unpack later, he dropped his things on his bed and returned to the living room. Picking a book at random from the bookcase, he settled in to wait.

"Susan! Lucy! I thought you wouldn't taken the early train."

"We could say the same for you," Susan smiled, turning fully to face her brother. "Lucy got into trouble again, so we got held up."

Edmund frowned down at his little sister where she was still emphatically hugging him, her arms thrown around his neck. "What did you do this time, Lucy?"

She pulled away with a huff. "Nothing I don't always do, Ed. I just stated my opinion."

Edmund opened his mouth to reply, but Lucy cut him off.

"And don't even say it, Ed. 'Everything in moderation;' I get it. But she was so completely wrong that I couldn't help myself."

He chuckled. "Well, I won't lecture. I'm sure between Mum and Pete, you'll hear enough anyway."

Susan frowned. "So why are you leaving so late, Ed? Don't tell me you got into trouble too or something."

Edmund shifted uncomfortably, looking away. "No, nothing like that. I did get called in to the headmaster's office, though. I was there so long I thought I might miss this train, too."

The girls exchanged a look. "Edmund," Lucy stated quietly, "if you weren't in trouble, then what did he want?"

He glanced back at them to find them staring at him with probing expressions. Looking away again, he sighed. "To present me with the opportunity of a lifetime, apparently." He shook his head to silence their inevitable questions. "I'll explain when we get home. I'd rather only have to repeat everything once."

"That's fair," Susan shrugged.

"Do you supposed Peter's home already?" Lucy asked, changing the subject.

"I have no doubt he is," Edmund replied. "I can't wait to get home."

Lucy was the first to step through the door, and as soon as she was across the threshold, she dropped her luggage with a screech and all but jumped into her brother's waiting arms.

"It's good to see you, too, Lucy," Peter laughed. In the next moment, he turned completely serious. "But I heard why you two are late."

"Oh, not now, Peter, please!" Lucy begged. "We just got home! Let me be happy to see you for at least five minutes first."

After extracting himself from his youngest sibling's grip, he turned to greet Susan with a hug as well, and noticed his brother bringing up the rear. Hands on hips, one eyebrow raised, he addressed said brother. "I'll admit: as much as I want to hear why Lucy was in trouble, I'm just as curious to know why you're late as well, Ed."

"So are we," Susan interjected. "He wouldn't tell us."

Edmund rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I'll tell when Dad gets home. I don't want to repeat myself is all."

Peter finally stepped up and wrapped his brother in a hug as well. "Is this a good thing?" he asked quietly.

Edmund readily returned the embrace. "Maybe. I haven't decided yet."

Peter pulled away, questioning with his gaze.

"Later, Pete," he huffed.

Peter turned away with a smile. "So, Lucy. You've had your five minutes. What's this about getting in trouble?"

Lucy picked up her bags, making her way to the stairs. "Nothing you haven't heard already. Honestly. It is always the same things."

"Yes, but what happened?" Peter asked, following her up. Edmund and Susan were close behind.

"Well," Lucy huffed, dumping her things on the floor by her bed, "politics came up in what we were discussing, and someone asked how much power a woman ought to be allowed to have. That closed-minded Patricia Jenkins had to stand up and say she believed women have enough as high as they are allowed now. I just don't understand how a woman can be so against women's rights, Peter. I mean, the Queen of England has plenty of power, and no one says anything against her."

"So you stood up and chewed her out," Susan added.

"Well, I wasn't about to sit idly by! I just… said I what I thought, that's all."

Peter sighed. "With much less tact than you ought to have, I'm guessing."

Lucy sat down on her bed. "I'll admit, perhaps I got carried away." She shook her head. "I'll never understand why some women don't think that women are capable leaders. Even the teacher sided more with that awful Patricia than with me." She paused. "I know I have some extreme ideas, but why is it so unbelievable?"

Peter sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Royalty is different I suppose - not that I agree or could tell you why, only that it is. You were a queen once, but this isn't Narnia, Lu, and you aren't a queen in this world."

"I know that!" Lucy interrupted angrily, standing back up. "And don't you dare say 'everything in moderation,' either! I get it! But why is it so wrong that I want to change the status quo?"

"Lucy," Susan interjected calmly. "You know I feel the same way, but there is a time and a place for everything, and your classroom at school isn't the place."

Lucy whirled around. "If school - a place of learning - isn't the right place, then where is?"

"Someday it might be, but right now it's not. Before you can convince children of the truth, quite often you have to convince adults first, since that's where their ideas come from in the first place."

"Adults are so set in their ways that nothing will ever change, Susan."

"You stick to your convictions, Lucy," Edmund spoke up quietly from the doorway. "You don't give up, and one day the adult is you, and then you can make a bigger difference. Nothing great was ever achieved overnight. Something like this… You aren't alone, Lucy, but it will take time. But before you can make yourself heard, you have to prove you are worthy to be listened to."

Lucy could only stare at her brother, suitably chastised by one of the very first lessons they had learned as monarchs. Visibly deflated, she plopped back down next to Peter on her bed. "I know - or, at least, I should have known. I'm sorry for getting angry. It's just not fair. Everyone else can openly state what they think, but my ideas are 'too radical' and 'unreasonable.' But you're right, Edmund. How could I forget something so important? I suppose I must learn to control my tongue until it can actually make a difference."

Peter sighed and wrapped his arm around his sister's shoulders again. "We all get a little over zealous sometimes. You might be in excess, however," he chided gently. "How many times has this happened this term now? Three?"

Lucy smiled a little. "Higher than that, big brother."

"In that case, I don't think I want to know," he chuckled. "Who knew that you would turn out to be the troublemaker?"

"Well, I always did," Edmund smirked. "But I've been sworn to silence for the last ten years, so I'm afraid I can't elaborate."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I may have snuck out a couple of times at night… among other things… but really."

"Well, that's not really any secret. I was well aware of that myself," Susan stated. "You were well looked after."

Lucy sat up straighter. "You sent guards after me?"

"Maybe."

"Oh." They all turned to face Edmund. "I thought… Well, I didn't know that Su knew, so I did, too."

"What?" Lucy exclaimed. "What is this?"

Edmund shrugged. "You really think I'd let you go out unattended in the middle of the night?"

Peter gaped at his siblings. "How am I the only one who didn't know about this?"

"I would say 'because I'm sneaky,' but obviously I am not," Lucy pouted.

Edmund turned towards the hallway suddenly, catching their attentions. Below them, they heard a door close. Edmund turned back with a smile. "Dad's home."

"And that is how I simultaneously won and lost the game," Peter concluded. "No one really knew what to do after that!"

Dinner had come and gone, the dishes had been washed and put away, and the family sat around the kitchen table, nursing cups of tea and telling stories. They all had to admit Peter certainly had the most entertaining ones to tell.

As the laughter faded away again, Edmund was beginning to believe that he wouldn't have to explain anything tonight. But, leave it to his brother not to forget a thing.

"So, Ed," Peter started, "you promised you'd tell us what your headmaster wanted once Dad got home. Well, we're all here now, so why don't you explain?"

All attention was suddenly on Edmund, and the knot of anxiety that had been festering in his chest all afternoon and evening tightened painfully. He swallowed harshly; there was no way to avoid it any longer. "Uhm, yeah, I guess I did say that," he muttered, his gaze falling to his teacup.

James Pevensie frowned. "You got called in? About what?"

His hands tightened around his teacup. He wasn't really sure how to explain. Taking a deep breath, he decided to spit it out as plainly and quickly as he could. "I… he recommended me and I was accepted to study at a private school - in America." The silence that followed made him wish the floor would suddenly open up and swallow him whole. He hadn't been sure what to expect, and, since he couldn't bring himself to meet anyone's gazes, he still didn't know what they thought.

Then: "Ed, that's wonderful!"

He almost dropped his tea at the excitement in his brother's voice. Finally looking around, he realized the rest of his family felt the same; Peter had simply been the first to find his voice.

"It certainly is," James stated. "How did this come about though? You certainly didn't say anything to any of us about studying abroad."

Edmund released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "That's because I didn't know anything about it until today. Apparently in the past year there has been a huge push to send students to study in other countries - you know, now that the war is over and everything. Though its mostly been university-based, there have been some secondary students, like myself, that have gone as well. Apparently the headmaster has connections to this American school so, because I've done so well these past years, he set the whole thing up. Once I get there, everything is paid for. The only thing we have to do is come up with the transportation." He paused before quickly adding, "If I go, anyway."

"Why would you not go?" James asked.

"You mean, I can?" he asked.

"It's a wonderful opportunity. I think you should." His father stood to refill his teacup. "Mind you, you don't have to. I certainly won't force you, but you should consider seriously if it would be something you would like to do."

"America is wonderful, Ed - at least, the part of it that I saw, anyway," Susan chimed in. "I think you would love it there."

Edmund nodded once, taking a sip of his tea. "Well… I don't know yet, but I would kind of like to. I need time to think about it, though."

As the conversation turned to other things again, he couldn't help but notice the anxious knot hadn't entirely gone away, and he had to wonder if it even would. Even with his family's full support, there was something there - something he couldn't identify - that held him back from making a decision. But, as Peter began another tale of his adventures at university, he decided he didn't need to figure out what that something was right that moment.

The summer holidays were just beginning; he had plenty of time.