11Hello all!
So this was basically inspired by my birthday tomorrow. It's a big one and though I'm excited to be getting older and becoming more independent, there's also a part of me that wants to stay young and innocent. I think most girls/women can attest to that feeling, and I'm sure there are more than a few dads who want their daughters to stay his little girl forever.
But my dad's a bit wiser than that, and most of Mr. Pevensie's lines are pretty much a paraphrase of what my own father has told me. But he's also told me that I'll always be "his little girl" even though I won't be a little girl.
Yes, this is slightly AU, since Lucy (at least from what Lewis said) never married. But I don't think that it really matters, since that's not the heart of the fic.
Why does the past always seem safer? Maybe because at least we know we made it...
-Chris Rice, from the song 8th Grade
This was it. The night before her dream comes true. She was about to marry the most wonderful man in the world.
Adam and she hit it off almost at once, at a party that Susan had dragged her to. They met regularly after that, exchanging letters over long spans of time when they didn't see each other. Eventually, she felt herself falling for the handsome ensign. He admitted to returning the feelings she bravely confessed to him one day. They began to officially court, and about a year later, he got down on one knee and proposed.
The whole family was shocked (except for Mr. Pevensie, since Adam had asked him for permission beforehand) and thrilled at the announcement, and Susan had taken over as the main planner.
Finally, six months later, it was so close that Lucy could taste it. Soon, she would walk down the aisle, with her father giving her away to the love of her life.
Oh.
The thought sent a pang through her heart. Her father, the one who had protected and comforted her throughout the years, from the thunderstorms and heartbreaks, he had always been there. She was her daddy's little girl, hugging him goodnight every time she went to bed, dancing with him at weddings, sharing laughter over inside jokes. Suddenly, she felt very small and young again; a six year old, oblivious of Narnia, who just wanted her father home again.
She knew that nothing would change. She could still see him, could still hug and laugh with her father. Yet everything would change. Her heart no longer just belonged to only him. Adam also claimed a part of her love. And sometimes she just wished that it could go back to when her father was the only man in her life.
It wasn't that she didn't love Adam or didn't want to marry him. But there was something comforting and familiar about the past, the way things used to be.
"Hello, we're back!" Susan, Peter, Mr. Pevensie, and Mrs. Pevensie walked through the front door.
"Lucy?" Mr. Pevensie walked into the hallway, looking for his younger daughter. He saw Lucy in her room, staring misty-eyed at nothing in particular. He moved to intercept the rest of the family before they could see her. "Helen, why not go and join Ed at the hotel? I'll be there in a bit. You two go as well." He nodded to Susan and Peter.
"Alright." The three others left, getting the message that the daughter and father needed some alone time.
He entered Lucy's room with caution and sat down on the bed next to her. It creaked under their combined weight. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Lucy shrugged.
"I know something is off. So what is it?"
Lucy sighed. "Dad, you know how you said that you would treasure every stage of life you had with me? That you'd embrace every phase as it was and not hold me back or try to keep me a little girl forever?"
"Of course. I wouldn't be doing my duty as your father otherwise."
"Well, could I maybe be your little girl just a bit longer?" Lucy held back a sniffle and suddenly hugged her father.
Understanding flooded through him.
"Of course, sweetie." He rocked her back and forth, simply holding her.
Tomorrow, she would be a woman, ready to face the world. She would be married and the happiest person on earth.
But for now, was perfectly content. She was content to be held by her father and feel like she was six again.
Because no matter how old a woman gets, she is always daddy's little girl.
Fin