A/N: Okay, so this is an AU or AR fic. No incest.

Don't own Chronicles of Narnia

Please review!

**I revised the ending a little; the ages are slightly different, and there are some changes in the way I ended this chapter.

I suppose this story begins in the sky. For the instigator of these events came from there; for he was a star, by the name of Ramandu. A retired star, earth-bound and less mortal, but a star nonetheless. I, nor his daughters, ever learned in our lifetimes, ever learned his reasoning behind leaving behind the eternity of night sky for a quiet, terrestrial life in the Western Wood, near the general location of Beaversdam. The part of the Wood Ramandu chose to settle down in was secluded, and solitary. Ramandu adopted a woodcutter's life, and a woodcutter's name: Pevensie. Ramandu Pevensie was a likable man and star, and was able to make friends quickly, despite the location of his home. The closest of his friends being the charming Beavers and Tumnus the Faun, a red-headed half-goat who resided not so very far from his own dwelling.

Tumnus, in fact, was credited with the coincidence of Ramandu meeting Lirandil. Lirandil, too, was a star, a retired one who found herself in the same predicament as Ramandu.

On that fated day, Tumnus had asked Ramandu, as a friendly favor, to come help him collect his mail. Tumnus, despite his remote location, was a very socially active person, and had somehow managed to acquire friends and family throughout the whole of Narnia. These various and widespread relations always felt compelled to send Tumnus random stuff they thought he wanted or needed (he didn't, but he was too kind to send it anywhere else; he was almost a bit of a hoarder).

So, Ramandu, of course, agreed to help the faun collect the predicted onslaught of mail from the post office. A cynic as I was once would have said it was simply lucky circumstance, timing, and coincidence that Ramandu knocked into Lirandil as he was leaving the post office, but a true believer would have known it was cold, hard fate.

As I recall the story going, Lirandil emerged from the pile of pile of parcels and packages glowing angrily. She looked up at the man who had knocked her over to the ground. She was probably about to yell something indignant and clever, like, "What is the matter with you!" But she had looked up, and their eyes met, her sky blue ones looking into his dark sapphire eyes.

Even I must admit, it was love at first sight.

You have to give good old Ramandu some credit here. He was a fine enough looking guy, white-blond with blue eyes, but Lirandil was a true beauty, complete with sky blue eyes, button nose, and long, glowing gold hair, and he gets her to fall in love with him and marry him within days. Pretty impressive, if you ask me.

The first month was happy. It was the first phase of a relationship where your partner is Aslan-blessed and perfect in every way imaginable, and they think the same about you by some miracle.

Unfortunately, Lirandil had flaws. That's the problem with love at first sight. You can't always tell a person's faults after one glance. And everyone has some faults. No one is that perfect. One of Lirandil's faults, and unfortunately this fault stole the happiness from her marriage, was that she was restless. Too restless for her own good. Lirandil was unable to follow through on things, often becoming bored and losing interest, moving on to something else that seemed more interesting at the time. Being a woodcutter's wife in the quiet Western Woods was one of those things, and Lirandil tired of it. She criticized and complained, dreaming about places she could be while she stuck sweeping floors in a life where nothing ever changed.

This wore Ramandu down considerably, and luckily, they were blessed with something life-changing and interesting: their daughter, Lilliandil, was born. Unfortunately, Lilliandil's birth marked the end of Ramandu's first marriage, and of his wife.

Star women aren't as robust and strong as human women, and successful childbirth from a female star was a rarity. Lirandil's delicate star body couldn't handle the intense pain and damage from Lilliandil's birth, and she died.

Lilliandil was very much like her mother. They shared the same face, toothy smile, sparkly nature. She had her father's golden hair and sapphire blue eyes. But she was like her mother in that she was a slightly rowdy and unruly child, always getting into trouble with her father. But Ramandu could never force himself to chastise her, for the girl was so innocent-looking and charismatic, literally and figuratively lighting up the room she was in like a lantern, aside from the fact that all of Lilliandil's starlight was pure and for the most part, un-flickering. Lilliandil was a full-blooded star, her blood as pure as any star that had been born in the heavens, much less the Western Wood.

When Lilliandil was little less than a year old, Ramandu met another woman. A half-star by the name of Philippa Parkson. Ramandu once again met his wife through his friends in the Western Woods. Philippa was visiting the Beavers, old friends of her human father's, when Ramandu dropped by with baby Lilliandil to borrow Mrs. Beaver's jam or something.

As Mrs. Beaver tells it, Philippa lost her heart not just to the woodcutter, but to the woodcutter's full-star daughter.

Needless to say, Ramandu took the half-star as his wife. It was somewhat of a miracle and a mystery of how Ramandu fell in love with the two very different women. Philippa was dark-haired, blue-eyes, and pale-skinned with rosy cheeks. She was very beautiful, but with a mortal, hardier sense as opposed to Lirandil's delicate physique. Philippa and Lirandil had only four things in common: they both loved Ramandu, they both were women, they both had star-blood, and their marriages were less than successful, despite the whole 'love at first sight' thing.

Philippa and Ramandu were happy at first, much like with Lirandil. Then, Philippa became pregnant. Her round stomach tied her to her husband and the dull, quiet life of a poor woodcutter's wife in the middle of nowhere. Philippa had grown up a wealthy merchant's daughter, and was accustomed to an easy and beautiful life full of fine, pretty things. Philippa was prone to being vain, and knew that her beauty alone could have made her the king's wife, but she had settled for a dirt poor fallen-star-turned-woodcutter, which was far beneath her standards. Philippa made it clear that he was lucky to have her, and was extremely critical about anything Ramandu ever did. She had convinced herself in her vanity and self-imposed blindness that she had dreamed up the starhood of her husband and stepdaughter.

Ramandu did truly love Philippa, for all her awful faults, almost as much as he had loved Lirandil.

And he loved his second daughter, a 3/4 star christened Susan, as much as he loved his full-star first-born.

Unfortunately for Philippa, she and Lirandil had a fifth thing in common: they both died from childbirth. Although Lirandil died from bleeding out after giving birth, Philippa made it a week before she caught a high fever, and died a few days later.

After Philippa died from what was probably puerperal fever, Ramandu was faced with a dilemma. He had two infant daughters, no wife, and a job and house he had to maintain. Taking Helen Moore as his third wife was done more out of necessity that love.

Helen was by far the plainest of his wives. She was fully human, without a drop of star-blood in her. Helen was actually pretty in a simple way, but she was nothing compared to the luminous stars that were his other wives. She was small and mousy, her hair light brown and wispy. She was a quiet, practical soul. She was also the most bookish and intellectual of the Pevensie brides, being the daughter of a University professor from Archenland. Helen was sweet to him, compassionate to her stepdaughters, and Ramandu learned to love her more than his previous wives, put together.

She was the only wife who made him feel as if he was worthy of her.

Helen's human blood proved her to be the strongest and most resilient of his brides when she was the only one who wasn't taken from him upon the birth of their daughter.

Helen gave him Lucy when Lilliandil was four and Susan was three, and from then on, the Pevensie family was as happy as any family could ever be. Ramandu himself in those last few years shone brighter than he ever had, on earth or in the heavens.

Lucy, Lilliandil, and Susan grew up as sisters, all equally adored by their parents. Lilliandil and Susan weren't told that Helen wasn't their real mother until they were older.

Lucy idolized both of her sisters, following the two of them around everywhere. Neither of them were very welcoming towards the tag along. Susan believed herself too grown up to associate with 'little' Lucy, even though Lucy was only three years her junior. Lilliandil's head was always very far away, and she was often so far ahead of her sisters, she didn't notice them trying to keep up with her. Lilliandil, like her star mother, was restless, audacious, foolhardy, and stubborn to the point of recklessness. She got along the best with Lucy because they were alike in the fact that Lilliandil's reckless adventures fueled Lucy's powerful curiosity, and Lilliandil liked an audience to her daredevil moves. Lucy could be counted to go with her eldest sister almost anywhere, partially because her curiosity often willed her to explore the unknown, and because she was too gullible and innocent to realize that Lilliandil really didn't think too far ahead of, "That would be so incredibly thrilling!" to where she should have been thinking at, "That looks incredibly dangerous."

That was where Susan came in. Lucy once described Susan as Lilliandil's 'little voice that says that this might be a dumb idea', for it appeared that the full-star Pevensie didn't have one in the first place. Susan was sensible and practical, her imagination rather limited and narrow-minded. Susan spent half her time trying to teach the Lilliandil her limits, for the full-star seemed to think that she was immortal, which she wasn't, and the other half trying to teach Lucy to be cautious and weary. Both were lost causes, for Lucy was simply too trusting and Lilliandil too rash.

Susan was far from adventurous, and her curiosity was as limited as her imagination. Susan was content with her life, because it was all she had ever known, and could never imagine anything better, as her mother could.

It was Susan's lack of wanderlust and venturesomeness that often saved the sisters from Lilliandil's impulsive actions and Lucy's inquisitiveness. Once, when Lilliandil was eight, Susan was seven, and Lucy was four, Lilliandil wondered if poking a sleeping bear really was a bad idea as the grown-ups insisted it was, or if it was some fun treat they kept from children for themselves. Lucy had never seen a bear, or a bear's den, so she was eager to go. Susan, however, was adamant that if Lilliandil or Lucy went anywhere near the bear, or its den, she would tattle to their mother about the sweets Lucy had assisted Lilliandil in stealing. Knowing Susan wasn't bluffing, Lilliandil and Lucy returned home unscathed.

As always when Susan saved her (and Lucy) from injury, Lilliandil was angry with her younger sister for depriving her of the fun she deserved. Lucy was quick to forgive, and even stubborn Lilliandil couldn't hold a grudge against Susan (try as she might) when she thought hard about what she'd been about to do (and drag Lucy into). Usually, once the thrill of promised danger was out of her system, Lilliandil realized it was a foolish idea and that Susan had meant to help.

Growing up, and even to this day, Lucy was not worth comparing in looks to her elder sisters. Lucy was a pretty child, with a lovely smile and the traditional Pevensie girl blue eyes. Her hair was a light brown with a tint of copper, cropped at her chin. Her face was round, chubby, and dimpled. Lucy, being the innocent that she was, didn't understand why Lilliandil and Susan got so fiercely protective over her whenever someone mentioned how beautiful Susan and/or Lilliandil was.

"Lucy's just as pretty as I am," was the cool reply, followed by Lucy being shepherded quickly away from the person, who usually just stood around looking confused. Lilliandil and Susan adored Lucy (try as they might to hide it), and thought highly of her general goodness and innocence, and it made them extremely and suddenly furious when someone overlooked Lucy (who was undoubtedly the plain one) in favor of one of the more beautiful Pevensie girls. It made them even angrier when someone dared to pity the youngest Pevensie simply because her looks weren't up to the standards of her elder sisters.

Lucy hadn't noticed any of this, and if she thought it odd, she kept it to herself. But the one mild jealousy she did mention was a petty one.

It started out with Ramandu entertaining his daughters with light he cast from his fingertips. "Remember, always reach for the stars!" And suddenly, Ramandu's hands were twinkling, and the girls squealed and attempted to reach them.

"Look, Dad. I reached for the stars!" Lilliandil exclaimed, making her own hands twinkle like diamonds. Susan, not wanting to be outdone, shouted, "Me too!" and with a little more effort involved than Lilliandil's instantaneous 'stars', she made her own hands twinkle, admittedly a little duller.

"Me too!" Lucy said. But, try as she might, Lucy couldn't get he hands to twinkle. Her hair and face acquired a dull, golden glow, which fizzed out almost immediately.

Lucy ran away to her mother, who had been waiting for something like this to happen.

"Why can't I do it, too?" Lucy asked, her eyes looking pleadingly at Helen.

With a sigh, Helen answered: "You're only a half-star. Lilly is a full-star, and Susie is nearly so." Lucy nodded, though she didn't understand it at the time.

It was within Lucy's seventh year (Susan's tenth and Lilliandil's eleventh) that word of trouble in the capital reached their ears from the source of Mr. Tumnus.

He had arrived at the Pevensie household out of breath. The adults had locked the door to the sitting room behind them, and were having a whispered conversation. Lilliandil had the idea to eavesdrop, and Lucy was curious as to what could have scared Tumnus so badly, so she went along with it. Susan was indignant about the impropriety of it all, but she was tempted.

"It's happened. She's declared war on King Frank." Tumnus said, and the girls heard Helen gasp.

"I knew that old witch was trouble! She gave me the chills just looking at her." Ramandu shuddered, and the girls exchanged looks of horror: their father- scared? You might as well ask, does winter never end? Or, does Aslan's roar not scare people? It was that preposterous, and it made the idea of this person declaring war even more frightening.

"Jadis gave everyone chills, dear heart. She's a snow witch!" Helen sighed. Lilliandil turned to Susan and Lucy, her pale face unusually pallid. White Witch, she mouthed, and Lucy clapped her hands to her mouth.

"I'd just be careful," Tumnus warned. The girls heard him move over to the window, and Lucy imagined him checking the window for secret listeners.

"What's he doing?" Susan mouthed/whispered to the others, her inferior imagination not conjuring up a picture of their parents and the faun. Lilliandil hurriedly shushed her, and they almost missed the next part.

Tumnus had continued in softer tones: "The Witch is hunting down the Order. Rogin and Bricklethumb're dead, you know."

"Poor Duffle." Helen sniffed, and Lucy imagined her mother was silently crying in grief for whoever Rogin and Bricklethumb were.

"Lion save us." Ramandu said, and the girls heard the other two adults mumble, "Amen."

"I came here personally to tell you to be on alert; couldn't risk sending a letter. But if I were you, I'd get the girls and get away."

"I am not a coward, Tumnus. We don't fear this Witch." Ramandu said boldly.

"I know, Ramandu, but I say- she's targeting Order members! I know, you and Helen are inactive, but that won't stop her!"

"I will not set that example for my daughters: when things get tough, run away!"

"You think the Witch cares about sparing the lives of the innocent children. As far as she's concerned, your daughters are guilty by association. She'll kill them, too." Tumnus said, and Lucy heard Helen gasp out in fear.

"I'd like to see her try." Was the cool reply from their father.

"Go Dad," Lilliandil said quietly.

"Did you hear something?" Helen asked, and they heard her feet marching towards the door. The girls dove into the wardrobe across the hall, swinging the door shut just as Helen opened the door of the sitting room.

"That was close," Lucy said a bit too loudly. The door swung open, and Helen, Ramandu, and Tumnus stood glaring down at the girls.

"I say. What are you children doing in the wardrobe?" Ramandu asked sternly.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you." Lilliandil said. The adults looked suspiciously from eldest, to elder, to youngest of the sisters, and back again.

"We were... uh, cleaning. It was Lilly's idea, if you can believe it. I mean, Lilly, doing chores of her own free will? If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would consider it impossible! But there you go." Susan covered up somewhat convincingly, if a bit too quickly.

Ramandu sighed. "Off to bed. Go."

They did not need telling twice. They exited the wardrobe, ran into their room, and huddled together to discuss what they'd heard.

"Father's scared," Susan said. "Something bad is happening."

"Is She really going to hurt us?" Lucy asked, and the elder two exchanged a look.

"Daddy won't let anything happen to us, or Mum." Susan said, somewhat confidently.

"We're safe here, in the middle of nowhere, where nothing ever happens," Lilliandil reassured, almost as if she wished it weren't true. Lucy was adequately comforted by these words from the two people in the world Lucy loved the most (after Aslan, of course).

If only those words had been true. But they weren't; And so, it begins.

A/N: Bless me with your opinions.

I'll try to get 2 up as fast as possible.