A storm took over the course of the ship as it neared the Dark Island, ready to face whatever held for it the next day. But for one particular crew member, what held for them in the next few minutes was going to change her life forever. "I'll have to go out now, Lucy," Sophie said, wearing a tan-coloured shawl around her. "I'll be back soon. Please do not wait up for me. You will need the sleep."

"Now?" She asked in wonder as she got ready for bed.

"Caspian told me that he wanted to talk and he looked really tense back at the island." Sophie nibbled on her lower lip, tense about why he was tense. He wasn't the type to get riled up easily but something was definitely bothering him.

"But both of you better get to sleep soon. I don't want to see you unfocused tomorrow because you are sleepy."

"Aye aye, cap." Sophie gave her a salute before closing the door as she headed for her spot. "Caspian?" She whispered as she entered the deck.

"Sophie." He stood up in a hurry, having been staring at the ground before she had called out his name. He had been reliving what had happened on Ramandu's Island, and he was going through what he wanted to say to Sophie once she came, but seeing her standing before him, he lost all thoughts. She was the most important person in his life and it was time for him to start caring for her more. "Thank you for coming, I...."

"Caspian, you're scaring me." She walked towards him. "What is it?"

"I think that it will be better if we sit down."

"Are you okay?" Sophie asked him as they sat on a short cardboard bench.

"I'm fine." He gave a shaky laugh and then looked at the floor. "Sophie, I need to confess something." Caspian was a lot taller than Sophie but he looked very small that night. His shoulders were dropped and his hair was falling over his eyes. "I believe that you overhead me telling Lilliandil that she was the most beautiful today and I needed to tell you that.....I have to tell you that-"

"Is that why you have been so worried about?" She scoffed. "I cannot believe that you took that one sentence into your head and got worried about it! You were away from me the entire night and you didn't even eat properly and-"

"Sophie." He placed some loose hair behind her ear.

"Caspian, don't worry about that." She held his hands in hers. "I know that you would never do anything to hurt me. I trust you more than anyone, more than myself. And believe me, I don't trust myself. Like....at all!"

"But I shouldn't have said that in the first place. I-I don't know why I feel like I have betrayed you or.....or that I have taken your love for granted and-"

"Hey." She placed her hand on his cheek. "I trust you."

He took her hand and kissed her palm. "Can you forgive me?"

"There is nothing to forgive you for. Besides, she really was beautiful." Sophie smiled. "I don't blame you at all. Even I would have fallen for her, but hey, I have a tall tree sitting right in front of me who makes everyone else seem incapable."

Caspian laughed for the first time that night. "Thank you. Truly."

Sophie smiled as she saw the colour returning to his face. "I really cannot believe that you were worried about such a small thing and you had me worried all night as well! And Lucy asked us to go to bed early. I think she has caught on to us."

"Well, we better listen to her. I really don't want to face her angry side."

"It is not pretty," she told him, remembering the only time that she had seen the youngest Pevensie get angry. "And, for your information, I not only trust you with the truth. I trust you with my life."

"And I you with mine." He smiled. "I also wanted to talk to you about some.....rumours that were going around. I cannot hold it in any longer and-"

"I know," she said, softly, bumping her shoulder against his. "I know about them."

"You do?"

"They were going to come out one day or another. A secret can never be kept hidden. Someone someday will unfurl it." She shrugged. "But they don't matter to me."

"What?" He asked, surprised about her opinion. He would have thought that she would be at least a little upset but she seemed to be quite silent about it.

"None of it matters. You do. It was all my mistake and entirely my fault. I shouldn't have gone to face Jadis alone and it was because of me that you were being pestered to get into an alliance-"

"Sophie, it isn't your fault at all. You did the right thing and I do not blame you for it. You shouldn't either. What happened....it was much needed for us to realise how much we took each other for granted. At least that's what I understood from it."

"You're right." Sophie nodded. "I feel the same way. And I don't blame you for whatever you are feeling guilty about. About Lilliandil or whoever it is may have approached you with an alliance proposal. The person that I am in love with may be the King of Narnia but I fell for the man that you are. I love you, Caspian. You. And nothing in this world can change that."

"I only wanted you to know that I wasn't planning to accept any alliance that was going to come my way. I am only in love with one person. And that is you."

"You are the first person to ever love me for who I am, Cas. I've always wanted to tell you that but...." She chuckled. "I guess that I've always tried to hide myself. I don't want to do that any more."

"And you are the first person to make me feel like I am home." Both of them were smiling sappily. They were happy yet sad about everything that was unsaid. "But I do feel bad, Sophie," he said after a while. "About everything. Is there any way that I can make it up to you?"

"You want to make it up to me?"

One crystal clear thought entered Sophie's mind - one that should have occurred to her way before.

"Yes."

"And you are willing to do anything....to make up for things that I don't hold you accountable for."

"Yes." Sophie could see that he was feeling better as she considered what he suggested, and he did.

Sophie was so glad that her brain was working properly that night. She was so glad that it gave her the idea that she had been waiting for the perfect time. "Well, there is one thing that you could do," she said in a voice that was going to build up the tension.

It was the perfect time.

"Anything." 

Caspian looked tense once again, looking at her with the dark beady eyes of his as if she would wish the world and he was ready to give it to her. Sophie could have asked for anything reasonable and Caspian would have gotten it for her. But that was the part that Sophie was worried about - for her. There was only one thing that she wanted more than anything in the world and that was all that mattered that night.

He was all that mattered.

"Marry me." He blinked, not having expected that. "Marry me, Caspian."

Caspian leant forward, holding the nape of Sophie's neck and kissed her like he had never before. His hands tangled up in her hair, the heat was rising in both their faces. "With all my heart, Sophie Adams. But I was going to do it tonight and you have interrupted the speech that I had planned to say tonight." He laughed. "I was going to propose if the time was right."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She held her cheeks as she realised that she was blushing. Whether it was from the kiss or what was about to happen, she did not care. She was with Caspian.

He pulled out the blue satin box that she had already seen, out of his pocket and knelt down in front of her. He took her left hand in his right and both of them couldn't help but blush because of each other. "Sophie," he started. "When we first met, I did not know that my life was going to change for the better. When we first talked, I knew that we had a connection but I couldn't tell you anything about it then. When we first danced, I knew that you were the partner that I was looking for.

"I've spent all of my life alone, looking behind me at all turns. But I want to look ahead now.....with you. I want to spend the rest of my sunsets with you. I couldn't hold this back at the night of the ball. I knew that if I was going to let anyone into my life, and my heart, it was going to be you.

"It was always you, Sophie. And it always will be. When I lost you....." He shook his head, taking that thought out. "I didn't know how I was supposed to live with myself. But seeing you back in Narnia and in front of me, I decided to never let you go again." He opened the box and Sophie once again gasped at the sight of the ring. "Sophie Helen Adams. Will you marry me?"

Sophie closed her mouth with her hands. "Yes! Yes yes, absolutely, yes!"

Caspian took a breath of relief as he pulled the ring out of its case and put it on her finger. Sophie had said that she would give her answer after the war, but actually hearing, he couldn't believe his fate. Sophie touched his face as they kissed. Both of them stood up without a care of the world and Caspian spun her around. "Oh, I'm so happy!"

"I can't believe it," she whispered to herself.

"Now, we just need to announce it. I hope Edmund doesn't kill me."

Sophie looked up at him. "I'll protect you."

"Of course you will, my love."

But what held for them the next day would change how everyone saw them.

Edmund spit out his water when he heard the announcement of Sophie and Caspian's engagement the next morning on the deck where everyone was gathered. "What!" He shouted, wiping his mouth.

"Congratulations!" Lucy pulled both of them into a hug that made them suffocate. Lucy may have been short but she was really strong. "Oh, I'm so happy! This is the best news!"

"You cannot possibly have-"

"Ed!"

Edmund was staring at Caspian in such a way that Sophie had to intervene. "You better take good care of her. She is my sister, after all."

Sophie hugged Edmund from behind but could feel him glaring at Caspian as he hugged her back. "I promise to love her for the rest of my life," Caspian spoke. "I always have loved her and I always will."

Right then, Eustace overheard them and grunted loudly near the shroud of the Dawn Treader. "Oh no," Sophie whispered, seeing the murderous look on his face as well. No wonder he and Edmund were cousins. "Eustace!" She shouted for him and pointed to the portside where they were standing. Eustace flew down and was flying parallel to the ship. "Eustace, buddy, calm down."

He started to stare at Caspian as well and moved his head to point him out. "This was a terrible idea," Caspian stated.

"Eustace, we're engaged."

Eustace opened his mouth and Sophie had to get in between him and Caspian. "Your family is a little crazy," Caspian whispered in her ear.

Sophie huffed. "No more than yours."

"Eustace, you can't burn Caspian," Edmund expressed, making Sophie turn to face him. "You should have told me about it first so that I could have restrained Sophie. Come on, Eustace! You should know better by now!"

"There it is." 

"Why is everyone trying to kill me? Not you, Lucy. You're an absolute angel and I am lucky to have you on board," Caspian said.

"The pleasure's mine." 

Eustace grunted once again. "I'm going to take that as your approval," Sophie said but he looked shocked at that answer. "We still need to announce it to everyone back at the castle. And the crew."

"Where is the ring?" Lucy pointed out, making Caspian and Sophie look at each other.

"We thought that it was best to keep it safe since we are going into an uncertain place. Everything's changing so quickly all at once," Sophie pointed out. "We are almost at the end of our journey."

"We still have time," Edmund said.

Sophie narrowed her eyes at him. "You are being awfully optimistic. Is everything okay?"

"I'm in Narnia, Soph." He shrugged. "Of course everything is okay!" He hugged his sister with one hand and Sophie knew that they were dreading what was about to happen. They would have to return to their world at the end of the journey because that was where they had to learn to live now.

"One last time?" Lucy asked.

Edmund nodded. "One last time." 

"Okay!" Sophie breathed out and clapped her hands together. "All of us are getting emotional. Obviously."

"Can we keep each other company tonight?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, of course." Caspian nodded.

Lucy and Sophie looked at each other and couldn't help but get emotional, which made Caspian hug the both of them and he pulled Edmund in as well. "Is everything alright, Your Majesties?" Reepicheep asked, walking across the overboard.

"Why don't you join the hug?" Sophie offered.

"Oh, I'm not really a hugger and I apologise for that, Your Majesties," he said. "Well, not really."

That night was one of the most memorable moments of their lives. All of them sat on the deck and had conversations on various topics while staring at the entrance to the Dark Island, seeing the emerald enchantment even there. "And then he grew so furious!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I couldn't help it," said Edmund. "She put a hand on my little sister's shoulder! You should have seen the way that young woman was looking at Lucy. I was very protective at the thought of what they could have been."

"She was helping me pick my books up! And who I choose to be with will be my decision!"

"Whatever the case, I do feel bad for wanting to threaten her."

"No, you don't."

"No, I don't."

"Let's rewrite history tonight," Sophie suggested. "Let's rewrite everything that we've ever wanted to do but never did. Everything we've wanted to say but never did? Let's do it tonight."

"That sounds perfect," whispered Lucy. 

"Who wants to go first?" Caspian asked.

"I'll go." Reepicheep proceeded to the empty deck and faced all of the rulers. "I have only had one dream all of my life. I have wanted to be an honourable mouse ever since I was born. I was brought up with the dream of seeing His country one day and no matter what happens tomorrow, I do hope that I have been the mouse that I've always wanted to be. And I am honoured to call all of you my friends." He bowed down at them.

"The honour is ours," expressed Edmund.

"I am a pretty impressive mouse."

Sophie smiled. "Yes, you are."

"Who's next?" Lucy asked.

Caspian kissed the back of Sophie's head before he got up from the steps and stood in front of everyone. "Lucy. Edmund. I know that we have never really talked to each other properly before. We were so busy with the battle that we never got a chance to. I just wanted you to know that the three of you," He looked at Sophie and she smiled. "In fact, the five of you are the only family that I've got."

Eustace was surprised at being included in that sentence but Sophie could see that he was almost in tears. "We consider you our family as well, Caspian," Edmund rejoiced.

"And more so since Sophie is our sister now." Lucy held her hand.

"I want to thank you.....for everything," Sophie started. "If you hadn't taken me in," She shook her head. "I don't know what I would have done."

"It was all Aslan," Lucy said, looking up at the sky. "He brought us all together."

There was a comfortable silence after all of them talked. "I think it's getting late," Edmund stated. "We should go to sleep."

"Big day tomorrow." Sophie gave a nervous laugh.

"In case we don't get through, whatever this is.....I want you to know that you are my family." Caspian started. "I wanted you to know that-" He looked at Sophie and smiled. "No goodbye talks." He remembered.

"No goodbye talks."

*****
Here you go 🤧