A/n: My love for Edmund Pevensie came crashing back when I returned to thinking about Narnia one night and I was flabbergasted to realize that is was exactly as passionate as it was two years ago when I started the "Boy With the Secret Smile" series... so... I may pick that back up again. WE'll see. For now, enjoy these imagines!

- Book Two -

It really was the craziest thing.

War was scary. Bombs and guns and death and blood and knives and insanity. The screaming echoed through the night as a small, young girl tiptoed far out of sight but still too close for comfort. Close enough to hear the sounds of battle and the death of her fellow man as they murdered each other for reasons she simply could not understand.

The girl's green eyes followed a sudden light, going suddenly still in pure terror as she feared the worst. A gun had gone off. Or a bomb. Now she was dead. The pain would come any second. Would there be a light like people always described? Would it truly hurt as much as it had always seemed like it had? Would she fall and pass out or would she feel the life drain from her inch by inch until she slowly faded away into nothing, the agony there by her side and nothing else in her last moments?

Pain didn't come, though. Her eyes adjust after the deep, impenetrable blackness around her so that she could look over to see what the source of light was. Really, it was crazy. One second she stood to one side of the tree and it was normal, if not a little twisted and gnarled. The next, she stepped right in front of it and it looked... weird. Kind of like when one holds a mirror up to another mirror and then steps between them and watches their reflection do weird things as they look around. Except, she was not reflected in the mirror, and there was nothing behind her. Just this tree that suddenly became a line of trees. The trunks seemed to twist into something that looked to be half stairs and half stepping stones, the branches winding together into some sort of arch.

A chilly breeze pushed at her, tugging at her thin clothes and moving her choppy hair from her shoulders to behind her, the strands resting against her back. Her body relaxed as the sunlight seemed to beckon to her, the wind shifting so that it seemed to tug her into the trees instead of fiddling with and displacing her.

Unable to resist, a childish grin pulled at her lips as she moved to the trees, her moment of paused hesitation passed. She had no where to go, no one expecting her. Maybe she had been shot. Maybe this was Heaven. If this was death, it really wasn't bad at all.

She walked what seemed quite some time, until the trees ahead of her seemed endless but whens he turned back around to try and return and give up her strange adventure, the trees on that end seemed endless too and walking all that way back seemed exhausting. She had gotten this far and the forrest couldn't be THAT big. She would find an end to this strange tunnel soon-

When she turned back around to continue her path, the trees had suddenly disappeared and she stepped down from the last stepping path piece onto a snowy ground. The world of pure white was painfully bright and made her close her eyes. She felt like a splotch of ugliness on the pristine canvas that was this perfectly paradise she had found. Caked in dirt and trembling as her arms rose to wrap around herself, she looked back at the trees again. But no. Now it was only one tree, as it had been before in the forrest of darkness and dirt.

Confused, she turned back to face the world in front of her. Suddenly it was day time? And so far in winter that everything was so thoroughly caked in snow? When had she ever seen such huge snowflakes that were so painfully cold to the touch? Dear heaven, how long had she been walking in the tunnel? And where had the tunnel gone?

Questions seemed to buzz around in her mind too fast to process and she just stood, shivering and curled into herself. She was scared and lost and even more unsure and unprepared than she had been when she at least knew where to avoid and what to expect with a war battle going on just a few miles away.

Trying to pull herself together, the girl shook her head and took a deep breath, trying to stabilize her body so it wouldn't shake. She breathed as her dad had taught her. In through the nose, eyes closed, slow and deep and precise. The cold burned her nose and the back of her eyes burned with unshed tears at the sensation but she ignored it, filling her lungs with the air so sharp it seemed to cut up her insides. Out through the mouth, hard and still slow, chin lowering and eyes slowly reopening. Her body stopped shaking and she straightened, moving forward through the woods but still keeping her arms around herself.

It hadn't taken the woman long to find the girl once the young one started exploring. A fox, pure white with beady black eyes, approached the child. His head tilted and the girl saw a tame life in his eyes that she had never seen in her life. She had come face to face with wild life so many times in her life, she could use the wildness that she often recognized in those animals to gauge the sanity of humans she met. This fox seemed more collected and intelligent than she was, its eyes watery but calm and peaceful and an almost human like half smile on its lips.

The fox didn't talk at first, but the girl found herself talking. Talking to the fox felt so natural and the thing looked and nodded as if it perfectly understood. "I need somewhere to go," the girl told the fox eventually. "Somewhere warm where I can take shelter. It's very cold, you see, and I don't have much more than shorts, a shirt, and this thin coat I carry on me- I have what you see before you. Do you know of somewhere I could go?"

"You are... a Daughter of Eve, are you not?"

It was probably more weird that the girl wasn't surprised to hear the animal speak than the fact that the animal had actually uttered human words. What it had said did puzzle her though. "I am... a daughter of Salene and Arthur-"

The fox shook its head. "No, I mean... You are human?"

Chuckling, the girl nodded. "I am indeed. My name is Laura. Laura Andres. When I was younger, my friends would call me Andy. Before... before the war." Her face saddened and the fox seemed to ache for her. He knew all about losing those you were close to and cared about to a war. "Anyway, what is your name?"

"Timpletin, my little lady," the Fox offered, bowing deeply.

Maybe it was the air. Maybe it was the smile on Timpletin's face or the way he grinned and seemed so easy to talk to and be around. Maybe it was that a white fox was talking as a human in a land covered in snow that was widely, eternally, impossibly white. For whatever reason, though, Laura giggled. Through the dirt and grime, she seemed younger and happier and brighter already.

"Thank you. Now. Do you know of a place? A place... where am I?"

Timpletin looked at the human with curiosity, pausing. "Narnia," he told her. "Just a ways from the White W- Queen's palace." The stumble of words didn't catch Lucy's attention. "Do you wish me to take you there?"

Laura smiled. "Yes please, thank you."

They began walking as Timpletin nodded, motioning her to follow. She asked many questions, and he answered all of them as best he could without revealing the important details. He told her about Narnia and the surrounding lands. He told her about Aslan. He told her about the eternal winter and the ruling Queen that set it up. He told her about the no Christmas and about what being as Daughter of Eve meant. Not about the prophecy, but about being human. He told her about the other animals of this world. She was delighted to realize they could all talk.

All the time, she took the information with stride and Timpletin was impressed, honestly. He wondered if all humans were this open minded and flexible. When he inquired about it, she laughed and told stories of wars and arguments and disputes. Abuse and hardships and anger and hate. She told him that it was simply because she had always believed in magic and had played games as a child, using her imagination to cope with the war and her loneliness.

The more they talked, exchanging stories about each other, the more intrigued and drawn to the girl the fox felt. They reached the castle just as the sun was going down and Laura commented how strangely fast the journey had passed, since they had been walking since early morning sometime. 

Seeing her smile and the trust in her eyes, Timpletin immediately regretted his decision. He looked at the castle in fear, teetering between running with the child as fast as he could - Witch Wrath be damned- or continuing the way he had already gone so far down and seal this child's fate.

Just as he was deciding to run for it, turning to the girl with a serious expression that made her somber up and become tense, they were there. The wolves. They surrounded the pair and Timpletin hung his head in shame as he was excused. "The Queen will be most pleased. You may go. You will be rewarded for your loyalty, this we can promise." And with that, a wolf attacked the small, white fox. Laura screamed bloody murder and the animals paused. "Inside," the first wold ordered. "We will take them both to the Queen."

Timpletin in one of the wolf's mouths, the pack roughly guided Laura inside where she came face to face with the White... not Queen. No. She was too cold and Laura felt cold and terrible, like all the happiness had been drained from her, cold replacing everything so that her blood froze and her bones stiffened. She thought back to Timpletin's slip up. This woman was not a queen.

"Daughter of Eve," the White Woman declared, standing up with a staff in her hands. "You have come into my land on your own?"

"Yes," Laura confirmed. Disgust and anger rose in her at this woman's cold expression. There was a twist to her face and a glint in her eyes that made one recoil just as much as one would recoil from a cursed object or a rapid dog baring his fangs and foaming at the mouth. This woman was pure evil- so much that it emanated from her. Laura immediately felt the need to stand against her, fight her, and she knew that she would not - COULD not - show fear, trust, or back down in any way. This woman would not win over her.

The girl's sturdy courage bothered the Witch. "Good," she sneered. "Then you will die alone as well." The Witch was taken aback as Laura straightened up further, sticking her chin out instead of cowering or begging as expected. "You are strong willed." Laura had the audacity to smile. The Witch turned to Timpletin, who cowered and looked at Laura as if she was a glowing being of awe inspiring power. And she was. She did seem to glow, strong and daring even at her incredibly young age. "You. Fox." Timpletin flinched and the Witch grinned so wickedly that Laura stepped between her and the fox, putting herself between them. "You protect him even though he brought you here," the Witch noticed. "Even though he willingly brought you to your death."

In that moment, Laura paused. Not in fear or hesitation - and the Witch could see it in the unfailing fire in the young girl's eyes - but in thought. "He is my friend," Laura said slowly. Timpletin looked up at her, moving to her legs and nudging it with his nose. That was all Laura needed to know he was eternally sorry and regretful. That he would do anything to change it. All she needed to know that she would die for this fox. "You rule in fear, using terror as a weapon and power as a shield. You make this eternal winter, draining the warmth and love and happiness from lives as you drain life from people. You threaten death as easily as one threatens minor retaliation. And I have faced death so many times over so many days and weeks and months that it is not something I fear, but a friend that I respect and use to guide and motivate me. I do not fear death. I fear you least of all."

The Witch sneered. "If you are so set on your little friend, then be prepared to die for him." Laura drew up to her full height, face set, as the Witch's staff caught her and she turned to stone. The last thing she heard-

"LONG LIVE ASLAN!"

Timpletin would die for the outburst, but he would die at the foot of his friend who he had betrayed and been forgiven by and he would die strong and proud and determined. Strong. And he would rather die that way then live in fear in the Witch's rule a single day longer.

It would be a long time until Laura's statue was recognized again. She was added to the garden by the Witch, shoved in a corner to be forgotten. But, almost magically, she would appear at the well known and often spoken of Table. And when everyone gathered together and Aslan would reach that destination with everyone, setting up camp, he would leave her there to affect the others.

Word would spread of the rumors of a fifth human - a third Daughter of Eve. The three Pevensies would sit around her or steal looks through out their day. No one would come to her as often as Edmund would though, when he was rescued and returned. She looked to be about his age and when he asked Aslan about it, he would say that she was a year younger, if she was alive. 

And then, for the final battle, he would wake her first. While the boys were fighting against the White Witch, Susan and Lucy would see Laura return to life first hand. They would see her collapse and gasp and almost fall to her knees- only for Aslan to step forward so that she landed against him, burying her face in his mane.

Aslan would first suggest that the girl stay and recover, but she would stand for no such thing. And so Aslan would ride to battle with Lucy and Susan and Laura on his back, an army behind him. He would put the three girls down and race to the Witch, just in time for the girls to see Edmund break the Witch's staff and then get stabbed. 

Laura would respect him instantly. Edmund would see her join the battle and be stunned by her grubbiness and the green color of her eyes and the sunlight illuminating her blonde hair. He had always imagined her with dark features, such as his sisters, who he saw as the prime standing of strength and the perfect example of bravery. But all of her features were light and soft and Edmund couldn't help but realize just how young and small she was. She fought using what he could only describe as street fighting mixed with fighting with maybe a dagger or a knife. She was half brutal strength and half weapon and it was odd but wonderful at the same time.

Thankfully though, the battle was practically over when Aslan showed up and ended the Witch. Otherwise, her stumbling and poor poise and lack of experience would have gotten her killed.

The last thing Edmund would see is her, fighting and screaming and as daring and powerful and formidable as she always seemed. As he imagined her when he pictured her standing up to the Witch.

After Lucy brought him back, she was the first face he would see and after the battle, he would approach her and ask her question after question, endlessly on, soaking up any and all details she offered about the stand off with the Witch. He would help him prepare for the coronation and tell him about her friend the Fox, Timpletin, who betrayed her and sold her out to the Witch but stood by her side in the end. The Fox who told her anything and everything she knew about the Land they were now in. She told him about she'd been able to hear everything and see everything as a statue, but that she was detached from her body- more a spirit stuck in one position than a living human frozen in her own body. She told him about how she liked seeing his other siblings but that she favored seeing him come the most, since the broken look mixed with pain and fear and guilt reminded her of her lost friend. The only she'd had in a very long time.

Just as Laura and Timpletin would have been best friends, Laura and Edmund now grew to be. She was at his side until the second she could only be part of the crowd as Mr. Tumnus placed the crowns on each of the King and Queen's heads. She was there to cheer for him and all through the party afterwards. She showed him the dances she knew from watching the Narnians while she was a statue as they danced and sang, trying to keep morale up as all hope seemed lost, before the four siblings joined their ranks.

In return, Edmund taught her sword fighting. Or, what he knew. And, as years passed, the siblings welcomed Laura into their family as one of them. 

- Book Three -

She was like a younger sister to Peter, who protected and guided her as he did Lucy. She was a peer to Lucy, who pulled her around for adventures and social events. She was a confidante for Susan, when the three girls would gather together to gossip and Lucy would lose interest. Susan could always depend on her for good advice; Lucy could always look to her for a good dancing partner; Peter could always look to her for her to lighten to the mood or boost his confidence when he was scared or unsure or nervous. 

Edmund was closest to her of all though. They bonded over her strength that he fed off of and then which helped him grow his own. They bonded over his development as a person and they bonded over books and jokes and pranks. They were two halves of al hole. Every time Ed lacked courage or doubted himself during those especially bad days, she was there to remind him of his breaking the Witch's staff and all the accomplishments he'd made since then. When she was ignored or looked over because she was not a queen or a princes or a lady of high standing, simply a Daughter of Eve, Edmund was always there to have her back and then cheer her up afterwards and remind her of her incredible worth and strength. 

As they grew older, friendship grew so strong that any time spent without the other became physically painful. This often resulted in Edmund dragging Laura along to any and all journeys, only forcing her to stay home if things would get rocky or dangerous.

Ladies wished to court the young King or flirted with him or anything, and he brushed them off politely. Edmund swore it was because he was content being as he was now, but their friendship had grown into a deep, unbreakable love over the years and really anyone who was with them for more than a day knew immediately. It was intimidating, how well Laura knew Ed and how well they worked together. An almost perfect Yin and Yang, unbreakable and unwavering.

None of the Pevensies ever touched it though. They never pushed or prodded and let the two move smoothly without being interrupted. It seemed, though, that neither were aware of their feelings. They were so determined that the love they felt was simple friendship, having had no example of such connectivity to compare to anyone else. Edmund had never had a best friend- he'd only ever been close to his siblings. He was awkward and anti-social and guarded and cut off and shy. Laura moved too much. She jumped around, first moving around with her father since her mother had died at the very beginning of the war, but then being completely on her own for several months when her father had died as well. They'd both had no other best friend or even close friend and didn't know any better than what they knew of each other.

One day, Lucy had had enough.

She cornered Edmund as they made their way on a hunt after a stag that Tumnus had been telling them about, going on and on about how obvious it was. "Bring her along," Lu ordered. "Pull her aside. Tell her how you feel. For Aslan's sake, Ed, have mercy on the rest of us. It's painful to watch."

Unbeknownst to Edmund, Peter was having a similar conversation with Laura. "You love him." No rant, no lecture, no demanding, no long drawn out thing. Just those three words.

"Edmund is my best friend, Pete, of course I love him." Peter shot her a look and she sighed. "I do not love him like that."

Peter smirked, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "I never said I was talking about Edmund."

That was all that was needed and Peter and Lucy's plan was coming together perfectly. Susan was pleasantly surprised to see that things were working. Pete and Lu had told her about the plan so she knew what they were up to, but she kept out of it herself, choosing to watch it unfold as a third party instead.

When Edmund pulled short, his excuse would be that Philip was tired. His excuse would be that it had been a lot of running on a long journey and Philip would know from his King's voice that something was up, so the horse would not argue. Peter and Lucy would exchange grins and Susan would suggest a break for water. Edmund would dismount along with everyone else, leaving Philip to a nearby stream as he approached Laura with blood drained ski and nervously twitching hands he would hide behind his back.

Really, the conversation was quite normal and Edmund was wonderfully surprised how easy it was to talk to her. How easy it would to tell her he loved her as more than just a friend. Ask her if she felt the same. How easy it was to transition from "just friends" to "lovers", as if they had always been lovers from the start. And, honestly, maybe they had. In a way. Destined to come to this moment.

Just as he was about to confess everything that he had been leading up to, Laura looking at him with excitement and love and with eyes wide with anticipation, Lucy would notice the lamp post. She would notice the metal tree and she would remember Spare Oom. Without even thinking of Narnia or the plan she'd so perfectly put together with Peter to get her brother and her best friend together, she would rush off and her older siblings would yell for her, ruining the momentum Edmund had built up so that he and Laura looked over, exchanged looks with each other, and then took off after the youngest Pevensie as well. 

When the Pevesnies tumbled out of the wardrobe as their old selves in the house they only distantly remembered, startled and renewed and trying to catch up to what had just happened, Laura would stumble back into the wood. The bombs going off int eh distance still boomed and the night was thick. After the light in the forrest of Narnia, she would blink and stumble around and gasp. She'd look at her hands to see her grimy dress and coat - the coat, which was the last thing she had of her father. She see the dirt caked on her hands and feel the layers on her face and she would look around, eyes watery and fear consuming her.

She had lost Narnia. She had lost Edmund, just as she was sure he was finally going to tell her that he loved her. She had lost Peter and Lucy and Susan.

She was alone again, in the dark with nowhere to go and no one to turn to.

Laura would crumble to the ground, consumed with fear that shook her whole body and cut off her ability to breathe. Far away - too far away - Edmund would scream and pound on the wood, begging and screaming and demanding to know where Laura was.

And they would not see each other again for quite a long time.