[fifteen: I like to think there's something there that wasn't there before]

"I can't believe he thinks that's acceptable." Genevieve rioted as she roughly kicked a few stones from the path they walked on, a sharp tone in her voice as she thought of what her husband had done not too long ago.

"It's an honest mistake Genevieve." Ron stated and Genevieve only sighed at his choice of words, it seemed Edmund had made many honest mistakes recently.

"An honest mistake? I can understand an honest mistake Ron but he's made so many in the last two days alone. After last night I thought..." Genevieve's voice trailed off as she stifled a sob against her lip, trying to stop the inevitable tears from falling.

"Thought what?" Ron urged her to continue as he stopped her, making her stop in the middle of the path as he placed a hand on her shoulder - Genevieve meeting his eye.

"I thought he would understand how short of time we have left." She whispered as a solitary tear fell from her cheek. "Once the seventh sword is on that table our time in Narnia will be up - I'll never see him again."

"Ahh," Ron said with a smirk as he looked at her. "but you will."

"No I won't Ron," Genevieve whispered as she slumped onto the ground looking over to the dark island. "everything has its time."

"Maybe in this world, but you have all the time in ours." Ron countered as he sat down next to her, Genevieve giving him a strange look.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see," Ron said with a smirk as he stood up and held his hand out to Genevieve. "I need to find Eustace."

"Is there something there?" Genevieve asked happily, watching as a small blush settled onto the boy's face as he thought of the Scrubb boy.

"I like to think there's something there that wasn't there before," Ron whispered with a wistful smile on his face before he chuckled. "obviously when he isn't a dragon of course." 

The giggle that came next was an auditory hug. It wended its way through the  air enveloping even Ron in its tickling embrace. Beneath a sky that only promised icy rain and with a stressful day ahead that threatened to stretched into infinity before nightfall, that childish eruption of pure glee was the gift they didn't know they needed. Ron then joined in with the giggle, thinking of the dragon who he had grown closer too over the last few months - though Ron wasn't sure the feeling he felt was strong enough to be called love.

He wouldn't know so until their plan took place the day they returned from Narnia.

+++

Edmund was conflicted.

It seemed unfair that no matter how much he strived to be the man his conscience wanted him to be and Genevieve deserved, it would keep taunting him with his failures. Each time the regrets reemerged he would diligently analyze them again, hoping that this time his mind would be satisfied with his self professed remorse, but it never was and he hated it. Like an unforgiving spectre it would be back tomorrow to haunt him all over again.

He hated it.

He hated how he even looked at the star with infatuation clear in his eyes. He hated the fact that he for a moment forgot about his wife who stood right beside him because of the radiant blue that surrounded a woman he didn't know. He hated it.

He hated himself.

With every step he took on the beach the sand shifted. With every motion forward there was some backward and down, just like walking in fresh fallen snow. Yet unlike the crystalline blanket of white bequeathed by the winter time, the fine grains under his foot gave him warmth from the suns rays. Like their sky-bound benefactor they are yellow, as if the sunshine itself is trapped inside these unmelting crystals of silicone and oxygen. Despite the heat Edmund found himself frozen in place once his eyes take in the ocean. The waves roll in white tipped, spreading themselves like fine lace over the beach after they crash in their soft way. Edmund sighed as he stayed behind the crew and planted himself in the sand away from the dragon who lay a while away - Genevieve singing him into sleep as Ron played with his scales.

The tears flowed unchecked down his cheeks and dripped from his chin. He was too sad to cry out or wail, he just sat there as still as a statue while the magnitude of his thoughts swept over him. Edmund watched the crew laugh and play on the shore from the corner of his eye with a frown. How could they be happy when he felt so sad? Part of him wanted them to feel his pain too, so he wouldn't be so lonely with it, but part of him was glad they couldn't, it was private after all. His eyes suddenly swam with tears and he hurried to scrub them from his face. He knew tears would lead to sympathy, and sympathy would lead to more tears.

"Edmund?" Somebody asked and he looked up at the person and looked down again. "May I sit?"

"I suppose so." He replied through his tears, wiping them on his sleeve as the figure sat next to him as they stared into the ocean - both in deep thought.

The silence in that moment was the most terrifying part of the day. Like before a bomb. It's a time for hope to grow or wither and it is a time for doubt to suddenly grow until its almost physical. The silence the most painful part more painful as you'd wish for it to happen instead of endure the silence. When you do endure the silence you'll wish for pain rather then endure. Edmund knew too well that the boy wanted to say something - the silence building tension in the air.

"She's scared." He whispered, Edmund turning his eyes to the boy in confusion as he looked at Ron in confusion.

"Scared of me?" Edmund asked as his lip quivered - the thought daunting him as Ron shook his head.

"No," Ron whispered as he turned to look him in the eye. "She's scared that your days are numbered."

"Numbered?" Edmund whispered back in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You need to understand," Ron murmured as he turned to face the boy with a stern look. "That as soon as the seventh sword is placed on that table that we will no longer be needed in Narnia. We'll have to leave."

"Genevieve and I can stay," Edmund countered with a smile on his face. "build a life here in Narnia whilst helping Caspian rule."

"How did that work out for you last time?" Ron asked him and Edmund sighed as he ran his hand down his face. "She's afraid that the end means she'll never see you again - that you'll forget her and move on whilst she suffers."

"I could never ever forget her." Edmund stated as he looked at Ron with a soft smile on her face. "I could live my life and get to know another girl, get married and have kids but I'd never truly love her. Genevieve will always be my first and only love. We're soulmates."

"So why are you over here when you should be there with her?" Ron asked him with a raised brow, watching as a familiar look passed through Edmund's eye as the boy stood up and dusted the sand of his tunic.

"Because I'm an idiot." Edmund stated before he walked away. "Her idiot."

Ron watched as the older boy walked away down the sandy bay, his grin widening as he saw Genevieve pull him into a hug. There was a huff behind him and Ron turned and saw Eustace sat behind him, Ron smirking at the dragon who sent him a knowing look.

"What? Can I not have a little fun?" He asked and Eustace only huffed and Ron rolled his eyes at the dragon. "You know the plan?"

Eustace only shook his head and Ron chuckled before he turned to the dragon and stroked his scales before whispering in his ear as the dragon nodded.

"You understand?" Ron asked and Eustace nodded whilst Ron smirked, leaning into the dragon's embrace as he looked at the married couple across the bay.

Operation Jill Pole was ago.