Aria walked out of the stone table.
Still shaken by the fact that Jadis had almost returned, Aria wrapped her arms around herself.
Her eyes fell on Susan also walking away, her steps heavy with obvious disappointment.
Aria kept walking until her heart wasn't pounding insanely against her chest.
She turned a corner, her thoughts now of the boy she had kept ignoring for no reason.
She paused in a hallway, wrapping her hand around the wound on her arm.
How could she be so selfish?
She hated herself for the wall she had built up between them.
She resented him for leaving her even though she knew that he couldn't come back even when he wanted to.
All she could think about was how she had blocked him out despite it not being his fault at all and now she expected the boy to act as if she hadn't done so.
Peter had been bitter when they fought about the raid.
And he had hurt her feelings.
But somehow, the girl couldn't hold that against him.
She just couldn't.
"Aria!".
The girl almost thought she had imagined the voice in her head.
She turned around to see the blond haired boy running towards her.
Aria looked into his soft blue eyes, the ones she so dearly loved.
She didn't like her own brown eyes.
They were so dull and she didn't find them at all special.
But Peter's?
They were beautiful.
Aria held his gaze until the boy's shifted to the bloodied cloth around her arm.
"You didn't get your arm checked since the moment we got here. Did you even change the cloth?", he spoke.
The girl frowned and shook her head.
"It's nothing really. There are more wounded Narnians that need to be tended to".
Peter sighed.
He stared at the girl with annoyance but it was quick to be replaced with pity.
"Were you always like this when we left?", he whispered.
Aria evaded her gaze and shrugged.
"I'm alright really. It's nothing bad".
Peter exhaled and moved closer to the girl.
"You've been gripping your arm in pain so many times that I've lost count", he said.
"And I don't even want to imagine that you had passed on taking care of yourself all these years", Peter rambled on.
He stared straight at the girl, the look of annoyance back on his face.
"Look, I'm glad you've saved everyone and took care of the Narnians, but it's time someone told you, to take care of you".
Aria watched the boy in confusion.
She didn't exactly envision that this would be the conversation they would be having and she didn't know what to say.
Especially since he acted like nothing had happened a few minutes ago.
"I'm fine", Aria stated.
"No you're not, and furthermore, if you don't take care of you, think of all the people who need you in the future who won't have you!".
Aria frowned again but a tiny smile was threatening to form on her lips.
"Peter.... it's just a cut".
A single line of blood trickled down the length of her arm and the boy's eyes widened.
Aria glanced at her wound and she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the perfect timing.
"Can't you afford not being stubborn for a second?", Peter complained, his voice almost a plea.
"Please. You're hurt".
Aria stared at the boy.
Here stood the Peter she had known years back.
The boy who would assemble an army if it meant providing protection for her to visit the village.
The boy who would make her feel good in her worst days.
The boy who she shared countless memories with.
The boy who was her best friend.
Aria nodded slightly but unsure if he had noticed it the girl spoke, her voice almost a whisper.
"Alright".
•••○•••
Peter tilted Aria's chin up to get a better look at her face.
He delicately thumbed away the streak of blood by her lip, saying nothing as he examined it.
Aria rolled her eyes again at the wound that had also conveniently opened up when she had been trying to prove that she was alright.
The girl stared at the boy's face as he traced the scar on her cheek.
Aria's heart skipped a nervous beat as Peter looked her dead in the eye.
She was taken back to when they would sit together at a situation similar to this moment, nursing each other's wound after a battle.
"I will always hate the witch for giving you this", he would say, as he traced the scar.
It always made her heart beat a little faster at his touch and it was no exception now.
Aria released the breath she didn't know she was holding when Peter turned around to get new bandages.
He removed the old crusty cloth, frowning at the sight before him.
"You didn't think it was that bad? Are you looking at it?... you idiot".
Peter shook his head and dabbed a wet cloth around her wound.
Aria pursed her lips and smiled slightly.
"Shove off", she mumbled and the boy looked up at her.
He smiled when he noticed the smirk on her face.
Peter finished wrapping a new bandage around her arm, making sure that it was no longer bleeding.
He inspected the cut on her lips again and nodded when it was alright.
He sat up straight and stared at the girl as Aria did the same.
His gaze fell, a frown etched into his lips.
"I'm sorry about that night. I was being really rude to you when I should have listened to you. I have no excuses for what I did. I'm a terrible person. We finally talk and I just ruin it by saying the nastiest things. I'm sorry Aria". Peter spoke non stop.
His eyes then shifted to the girl.
"I'm truly sorry".
Aria smiled sadly and shook her head.
"It's alright".
"No it's not. And I'm sorry I abandoned you here. We were your family. And family isn't supposed to abandon each other", he spoke.
"I should have said all of this sooner and I don't know what kept me from doing so. But I'm truly sorry".
Aria opened her mouth to speak, but she pursed her lips, feeling tears burning the back of her throat.
"I don't want to lose you Aria. You're the best thing that happened to me in Narnia".
Aria looked away, noticing the tears in the boy's eyes.
She fought back her own, pressing her lips tightly together to stop herself from crying.
She had built up a wall and she felt she was underneath it, bearing the pain of trying to hold it together.
"What I feel for you is as real as anything I've ever felt", Peter let that hang in the air between them for a moment, feeling the truth of it.
"You feel it too", he said.
"I know you do".
She let go of the wall.
Once the first tear broke free, the rest followed in an unbroken stream.
"I'm sorry", she said.
"I'm sorry, that was cruel. I was really selfish even after knowing it wasn't your fault. I could have just been happy that you finally came back. But all I did was shut you out".
Her eyes continously watered and she wiped at them with her hand.
She had tried to make herself like stone, but her facade was falling away.
"You're right", she said.
"I care about you very much. That's why you leaving made it all so difficult".
"I know", he replied softly.
"I'm sorry too".
Peter opened his arms and Aria didn't hesitate to go into them.
"Please don't leave again."
The words hardly managed to break out as the sob's she was holding in chocked her voice back.
His chin rested on top of her head.
His arms clenched her tighter.
"I'll never leave you again. I promise."
It's been forever and many years since we last spoke. In this time we have become new people, yet at our core we are truly the same.
A/N : I just spent more time trying to find the perfect gifs than to write this chapter :')) and I still couldn't find one for Peter that fit his whole face