009.

                                    

                                          
	"You look like mum."
	Lazily, Birdie opens her eyes. It takes a while to readjust to how light it is, even with the sun setting down now. She's glad the leaves are responsible for blocking the view partly, though it causes her to shift against the trunk in order to look down on the ground, where the sound of Lucy's voice is coming from.
	It would be a lie to say that Birdie knows what the sisters are doing at the moment. She decided to keep them company - something which actually surprised her - once they were shown to their tent, but somehow she ended up high up in one of the trees nearby. In fact, Birdie was happy to find herself climbing once again, her fingers wrapped around the first branch. It reminded her of home; with her eyes closed, she can almost convince herself she's back in the Professor's garden.
	"Mum hasn't had a dress like this since before the war."
	Even though Susan's voice becomes serious by the end of her sentence, Lucy responds with a smile. "We should bring her one back," she says resolutely. "A whole trunk full!"
	Birdie thinks the Pevensie sisters both look pretty in their dresses. She might not be wearing one herself, but she can't deny that those clothes are something else entirely from what she's used to seeing back home... Not to mention that they're an improvement compared to the ones they've been wearing since they found themselves in Narnia a few days ago - having survived a tiring journey through the woods and the cold waters of the river, it was high time to say goodbye. Now, Susan and Lucy look like they've stepped out of the pages of some fairytale. As she watches them, Birdie can almost believe that the prophecy is true and the two girls are destined to become queens indeed.
	Though she's glad she insisted upon being given a pair of trousers instead. The dress she'd been offered was pretty, too, and Birdie would have very much liked to try it on if it wasn't for the circumstances. Considering there's probably still much in store for all of them, it feels far more practical not to worry about wearing a dress. It's almost like she was just working in the garden or wandering the Professor's grounds once again.
	It's almost a shame she has Peter to thank for that. The faun who brought them the fresh change of clothes was somewhat puzzled once she presented him with her plea. Not wanting to cause any problems - God knows they all have enough of that already - she'd almost made up her mind to back off and simply put on the dress when Peter suddenly handed her a pair of trousers, saying they were a bit too small for him. And with the trousers, of course, came a tunic, although Birdie had to put a belt around her waist due to its size.
	There's a part of her that suspects - knows, even, because he winked at her right after - that Peter was lying, that he said it just to help her. As much as she doesn't like it, that though makes her smile just the tiniest bit.
	But there are more important things to dwell on than the weirdly unsettling feeling that rises within her stomach. For example, how come there were... well, human clothes at the camp full of animals and creatures like centaurs? Have the Narnians just carried them around for ages in anticipation of the Pevensies' arrival?
	"If we ever get back."
	Down below, Lucy's smile slowly fades away. Birdie admires the younger girl's ability to remain happy and hopeful most of the times - especially when she herself cannot - but there's so much one can just smile upon. When a person one trusts and look up to speaks words of pessimism, it's only natural for their optimistic approach to falter.
	Susan must realise it, too. The corners of her lips rise, though Birdie suspects it's more of an act than genuine mimics. "I'm sorry I'm like that." It can't be easy to put her own worries aside, and yet there's so much softness in her gaze as she looks at her younger sister. "We used to have fun together, didn't we?"