I hope people like this one-shot. It's my first try in the Narnia fandom, but I just LOVE the whole Narnia thing. I've never read the books, though I'm trying to acquire them. I've only seen the movies, but have read about the books! So, if I'm wrong in something, please tell me. I know Lucy was actually eight, Edmund ten (I think), while Susan and Peter were around 12 and 13 in the books, but they do look older, much, much, much, older in the movies.

This is between The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Prince Caspian.

Read and Review!

Disclaimer: Narnia, unfortunately, is not mine…or I'm not in it, either!

More Than Meets the Eye

He was a child.

That was the phrase that kept going on her mind. They were all children.

"Hurry along, please."

She called, as she guided the four of them through the crowd in the middle of the market. Yet, it seemed surreal. Her oldest seemed to be the one guiding the other three. He seemed to be the parent instead of her.

He was a child.

She stopped, looking at some apples in a stand. It had been a long time since Finchley restored some of its normalcy and it was just nice to be able to be outside without the fear of a sudden attack.

And even though she was in a bit of a hurry, she smiled at the thought of purchasing some apples. She took one which looked ripe and appealing to her eyes.

"How much for the apples?" she asked the vendor.

"That's 20 shillings for ten apples, mistress." The woman selling them said with a smile. "They're quite in a good state and very fresh!"

She could only smile, noticing how her youngest moved towards the stand.

"What do you think Lucy?" she asked the child. It unnerved her how her nine year old regarded the apples, as if with experience, taking one in a hand and inhaling its scent.

"They're indeed fresh." She said at last with a knowing smile, as if giving her permission to purchase them. "Yet Susan has always been keener in this kind of matters."

It unnerved her how her nine and thirteen year old would know about this type of things. They shouldn't know, and for that she could only stare down at her daughter…a daughter that seemed and acted much older than her age.

"I would say, Mum, that the one you're holding is no good." one of her children said, startling her a bit.

"Pardon?" she asked, taken aback.

"The apple in your hand, Mum." Edmund said with a slight smile. A smile adults mostly reserved for children…a smile no normal child would give.

"What about it?" she asked, trying to give that same slight smile to him…and failing poorly she knew.

"It's ripper than it should be and not as fresh as it should." He stated. She couldn't help but notice Peter's proud smile as he looked at another batch of apples, seemingly ignoring his brother. It unnerved her, seeing a smile reserved mostly for fathers…a smile she had seen her husband give to their children on many occasions, a smile which shouldn't have been on her son's face while regarding his brother.

"I can assure you, Ma'am, these apples are ripe and fresh, and sweeter than anything you've ever had!" the saleswoman spoke, regarding the child with a raised brow, yet, that same boy just stood straight and smiled at her. The child she had given birth to, the child she had held as baby, the child she had scolded uncountable times for his sharp tongue, just smiled at the lady…a silent invitation for her to speak against his word. It unnerved her.

She looked down at the apple in her hand. They were only children.

"Lucy did say Susan was always…keener when to apples." She tried to recall her daughter's earlier words, yet failed once more. "Susan, darling?"

Susan, who was standing by Peter's side, shared a secret glance with her brother. It was as if they all could talk with no words. A glance for them was a million of words…it unnerved her, for she shared that same touch with one man. The man who had fathered her children and that same glance had taken them years to fulfill…it had taken them more than ten years. And yet, her children could communicate without words. They were only children.

"I would trust Edmund's judgment." She responded curtly…gently. The way she said "judgment" made her hairs stand a bit. A shrill went through her spine, as her youngest son's eyes shone with something she couldn't describe, as if he was having memories from far ago…as well as pain…pain from loss.

"Well, then, we better trust him." she said, trying to ease the pain somehow…yet, he only smiled at her sadly. She was even more surprised as Lucy moved by his side and softly slipped her hand in his. He squeezed her hand, letting it go quickly. She wasn't supposed to see that, she knew, yet she did. They were not children….they couldn't be her children.

"I assure you, ma'am, that all the apples are on perfect state!" the vendor finally sputtered as she placed the apple down.

"Yes…I'll just take others with me, instead of that one." she said with a smile. "Maybe you, children, can help me."

They had all clearly chosen a patch of them, as they quickly filled the bag with ten of them. Helen was surprised at how easily they seemed to do it, especially Lucy and Susan.

She quickly paid for the apples and started walking down. She stopped a moment, though, to notice the vendor picking the apple Edmund had discarded. She looked around and grabbed a knife splitting it in half. Just as Edmund had said, the apple wasn't as nice as it was in the inside as it seemed.

"Mum?" Susan called. She looked at her four children…they weren't just children at that moment. For weeks she had been trying to place a title to her children's behavior. They didn't act like children most of the time, and with pain in her heart she realized…they acted like adults. They were adults acting like children on most times.

The way Lucy smiled all the time, embracing life's joys while they seemed to last, a shine in her eyes which spoke of sorrow and grief. The words Edmund spoke most of the time, settling quarrels before they even began. The way he stood straight and dignified…yet his eyes spoke the same sorrow and grief.

Susan's eyes spoke the same, yet she was gentle in more ways than she herself could ever hope. She noticed how any of her children looked gratefully at her when she placed a hand on their shoulders, how she stood with dignity that no girl her age could acquire…that most women two times her age fought to acquire.

And lastly, Peter, who had began the rode to manhood since before all of her children, but had seemed to reach it before time. He stood regal before anyone. He didn't need to speak much for his siblings to know what he wanted, yet, his siblings obeyed him without much protest. He wasn't only the guiding hand for his siblings, but he was also that counselor, that shelter and comfort.

It was then, in the middle of an England market under the blazing summer sun, that she saw what had seemed to be hidden before. In her mind she could see two men and two women standing before her, her children's eyes the same as these, the old worn out outfits suddenly turned to soft and admirable fabric, forming gowns which she had never seen before. Crowns were upon the heads of the four adults before her. The two men, who were taller than the two women and herself, had each a sword, yet the women had no weapons, except for the youngest of the four, who had a small dagger at her waist.

They were all looking at her with worried expressions on their eyes, yet their faces spoke nothing but calmness. She looked around, and the market seemed to morph like in a dream. Instead of people walking around her…there were creatures she had only heard of in mythological stories. Animals such as bears, tigers, and badgers walked around…talking.

"Your highnesses." A beaver said, bowing before the four in front of her before moving on.

She stood, frozen to her place. Everything seemed to slur before her eyes, as the strange market started to turn into Flinchey's market once more and the animals and creatures morphed into people.

She glanced at the four, as their crowns disappeared, their clothes changed to dull colors and rasp clothes once more, and the men and women morphed into her children…the same expression of worry in their eyes…the same expression of calmness in their countenance.

"Mum?" Lucy said.

"I'm…fine." she smiled, blinking her eyes. "Hurry along, please." She smiled, ignoring the lion's roar that rang in her ears.