Bonus: Silent Scream (Edmund One-Shot)

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The snow fell calmly, gently, dancing its way to the ground. The wind was cold but hardly blowing, chasing snowflakes everywhere. Edmund didn't see the beauty of the winter, didn't see anything but snowflakes falling angrily. The snow was dark, harsh, and cold- like his feelings. Like the world around him. The wind was biting and irritating.

Crunching his way through the piled snow, deviating from the path home from school, he found himself in front of a tree. Out in the middle of nowhere; alone. Edmund let out a yell from the very depths of his being. No words, just an angry, hurting shriek springing from a pain so deep down, he could no longer find the start. He yelled again and again, hurling his satchel, his mittens, every rock near his feet, into the tree ahead of him.

From somewhere inside, someplace he'd long hidden, tears started to spill down his cheeks. Angrily, he brushed his unmittened hands across his face, his freezing fingers meeting the warm tears as they continued to fall. He wanted his mum, his father; he wanted to go home. He felt forgotten. He knew they loved him, he never doubted that, it was a knowledge instilled within him since childhood, he just needed them. Needed reassurance.

He was tired of being strong, but he wanted to be. Needed to be, for Lucy. For Susan. Mostly for Peter. Peter didn't have to be strong alone, Edmund wanted to be there for him, yet he never knew how. Ed knew Peter had feelings too, he just wished Pete let him see them, to know- to let Edmund know he wasn't too broken yet.

He was tired.

He was angry.

But mostly, he was scared. So full of terror that if he ever even thought too much on it, he feared it would drown him. So he snapped, he teased, he hurt. He pushed them away- he had to keep them away, and he had to keep them safe- by hiding his fear and pain.

The problem he was quickly learning was that he couldn't seem to lose his bitter, angry attitude alone, but now, he almost couldn't share. He'd thought he could protect them, could keep himself safer this way, but it only seemed to cut them deeper and farther apart.

He saw Lucy's tears through her closed door. Her happiness falter. Peter's fear, exhaustion, and his need to protect, to guide. And he saw his feeling of failure. He knew. Saw Susan's faith shake, her joy become forced, her smiles fade. He saw it all.

Edmund felt himself break, then build up a tougher wall than before. He saw their hearts shatter as they believed they were losing him. And still, he did nothing. Maybe they wouldn't understand. Maybe they would.

He didn't know.

But he did know where this had started. What to blame.

The war.

Destroying families, killing joy, and ruining lives.

He wanted to see his parents, and he knew he would someday, but that wasn't today. That wouldn't heal him now. It couldn't help at this moment. Didn't change today. He just wanted an old life back. A happier life. Edmund was tired of trying- trying to smile, trying to be grateful, trying to make his life better.

With one final burst of angry ferocity, he slammed a fist into the tree, a loud crack echoing into the sky. Whether from the tree or his hand, he didn't care or know. He was too cold to feel; too bitter to care.

Ed collapsed, numb against the trunk sobbing, the snow soaking his clothes, and the tears, his face.

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