[twenty-three: Susan would be so proud]

There is part of growing up that is genuine, and part that disguises the greatest pain any parent can ever know. To take account of one's actions is growth; to protect others instead of being selfish is growth; to react to disaster with calm thought and decisive leadership is growth. The rest is a mental dislocation, a way to protect the developing brain from hurt it can't deal with. People aren't wired to watch their world be destroyed; they aren't born with the capacity to watch others suffer and do nothing to help; they aren't supposed to be herded like sheep with minds of dull compliance. As they grow they see problems they are told can't be fixed and so their minds break a little, removing the pain for their own protection.

Small children can't see suffering without suffering also and neither should the adults like Genevieve Pevensie, now forty years old as she watches her fifteen year old son Oliver train with her second in command Regulus. She had spent so long protecting her son and yet as soon as he hit the age of ten she was the first to take him out to the training ground and teach him how to wield his sword as she did at that age when she was fortunate enough to enter Narnia for the first time thirty years ago. However as her son aged she saw the potential of a great leader, a leader who she knew was to become King when he was merely twenty years old and she would disappear - not that she had told him that yet but she still had five years left for that. 

"Mum, please can I practice archery. I know I said I wanted to be a swordsman like dad but that was years ago and Regulus says I'm really good at it and that I could challenge aunt Susan for her talents." A fifteen year old Oliver Percy Pevensie begged his mother on the training ground, his heart set on collecting his bow from the archery station so that he could practice his skills.

"It's true your majesty, he does posses a talent I haven't seen since Queen Susan was here." Regulus admitted and Genevieve only smiled at her friend before looking at her son with a brighter smile as she took the sword away from him and placed it in one of the boxes before giving him a small smile.

"Don't let me stop you son." She whispered and watched as her sons face lifted vividly as he ran over to the archery station, his mother hot on his tail as Regulus set up the targets.

Oliver had been itching to get his hands on the various bows for days as he examined each one with a wistful eye! Bows made of wood and plastic and metal and materials he couldn't even name were placed there whilst arrows with feathers cut in flawless uniform lines were positioned beneath them just begging him to take one and shoot. Oliver chose a bow, strung it, and slung the matching quiver of arrows over his shoulder as he excitedly walked over to the playing field before positioning himself away from the target with a smile on his face.

He speaks as he shoots, straight and on target, whether anyone around him was ready or not. He has a way with the truth and there's no point arguing because it defends itself. Genevieve would love to argue back, show him where he's wrong but she couldn't as he was right to say that he had a talent that matched Susan as he truly did. So she only watched for a moment while he re-strings his bow, the deep wood flexing in the dawn. It takes just a moment, then he slings it behind him with the arrows, each as perfect as the last as it hits the target every time and it was no wonder her son had such a big ego because of this - but he didn't let his ego hurt him or damage him.

They say to lose the ego is the path to selflessness and helping others. It makes no sense to me. It is akin to saying a person isn't trusted and so the answer is to starve them. Oliver was strong because  he had a strong ego and that is because he had a massive self esteem that he used in order to help others. His healthy ego tells everyone, "I am great; I am a hero; my duty is to save others and help them to be strong, resilient, happy, fulfilled. That's one thing she loved deeply about her son, that he thought highly of himself but still didn't let it interfere with how he viewed others because he had a good sense of self-control that a true leader needed to carry on.

"Wow." Genevieve muttered as her son went to collect his arrows, every single one had hit the bulls eye  and she couldn't be prouder of her son that she was in that moment and she knew someone else would too. "Susan would be so proud."

Upon hearing the name of his aunt Oliver rose his head to look at his mother, silently pleading that she finally told him about what really happened to her father, aunts and uncle on the day they disappeared and what they were really like. Oliver dropped his bow and quiver of arrows before he walked over to his mother and met her honest eyes, knowing it was time to find out what really happened to his father and why he wasn't here anymore. Just be looking at his face Genevieve knew he was old enough to understand. To understand that nothing lasts forever and eventually she sighed as the two sat on the ground facing each other.  

"I suppose you're old enough to understand." Genevieve said as she closed her eyes and dug her hands into the soil, the golden rays that enchanted Oliver's childhood suddenly emitted as a series of pictures formed in the golden aura - almost like a movie that used to be placed at a theater back home.

As the pictures played out Oliver watched in amazement as he watched all the important moments in his parents love starting from the time they met and ending when he said the sad 'see you later' line that was written in every history book. After watching it all he knew why his mother kept this from here because as a young boy he wouldn't have understood but now he did understand as he was affected by them. The emptiness in his heart, the numbness pounding his brain, the salty tears that flowed unchecked from his eyes, the shear nothingness that now took hold of his soul threatened to engulf him entirely. His legs buckled, knees sinking into the sodden earth as he watched watched how his mother suffered after the day he left and the amount of times she had cried over him and the amount of walls she had built around herself to keep herself safe from being hurt again. 

Oliver looked towards his mother before pulling her into a hug, finally understanding why she was so secretive his whole life and he didn't mind because now he knew why she hid it all from him. Not only was he not ready to know but his mother simply hadn't been ready to tell him how his amazing father had disappeared into the unknown the day she was going to announce she was pregnant with him and he felt terrible about it. Leaving meant that she had to rule Narnia alone despite not wanting to be a Queen in the first place but simply wanting to be a knight who could be free to do as she pleased. Oliver couldn't stop the tears falling from his cheeks until his mother cupped his face and wiped the poor teens eyes, watching as the teen looked at her with sorrow clear in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry mum. I'm so sorry he did that to you." Oliver whispered but Genevieve only laughed as she ran her hands through the boys raven hair before making him look at her.

"You shouldn't be sorry because your father, despite it all, was a brilliant man and he gave me the best thing I could ever ask for." 

"What was that?" Oliver asked as his mother wiped the tears off his face and sent him a genuine smile.

"He gave me you." She whispered and watched as a smile lit up on Oliver's face. "My beautiful, brave son."

It was then Oliver tackled his mother with a hug as he cried into her chest, the love for his mother and father only growing as the days went on. Though he could never forgive his father for leaving his mother, he now had a broader understanding of who he was and why he was in Narnia in the first place. He now understood how brave of a woman his mother was for raising him on her own all these years when she could have simply returned to her own world and never return to Narnia again. But she didn't. She stayed and took care of him despite the fact that it scared her to do so. Despite the fact that he looked just like his father he knew he was nothing like him and that made him happy because he was able to learn from his fathers misdoings - accidental or not and he knew who he wanted to be.

He knew what his place in Narnia was and he knew that he would be a great King for his mother and the Narnians and not for anybody else because he was his mothers son and he knew he had to be strong.

For her more than anyone!